The effects of motivation on productivity: the case of akim south district of Ghana education service

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of motivation on productivity in Ghana Education Service in the Akim South District of the Ashanti Region. Five research questions guided the study. Quantitative research design was employed. A sample of 160 respondents participated in the study through structured questionnaires, and in-depth interviews. All the respondents were professional teachers from the Asante Akim South District in the Ashanti Region. Sampling was done using the simple and stratified random sampling techniques to select teachers across the selected schools. Data analysis on the other hand was performed using the Statistical Products and Service Solutions (SPSS), version 17 using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Most of the incentives received by the respondents were non-monetary and that the major tangible incentive package available for teacher motivation is salary. In addition, the respondents were dissatisfied with the incentive system and highly demotivated by the incentives because they were non-monetary. It was concluded that teachers are poorly motivated and are dissatisfied with their living and working conditions compared with other professionals. Mass promotion of teachers, lack of career advancement opportunities, poor work environment, inadequate fringe benefits etc for teachers de-motivate teachers for higher productivity. It was recommended that teachers should be actively involved in the design of incentives packages by the GES since they are the beneficiaries of these packages and know best what they need.