Employee relations and productivity: a study of selected publishing firms in the Accra Metropolis

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of employee relations on productivity of selected publishing firms in Accra Metropolis. Using the noninterventional quantitative research design, correlational study design, and multi-stage sampling method (lottery techniques, census method); structured questionnaires were administered to 135 regular staffs of six selected publishing firms in the Accra Metropolis. However, 125 questionnaires were valid and usable for the purposes of data analysis hence a response rate of 92.59%. Preceding the main survey collection, a pre-test on 30 staffs was conducted in a similar setup. All 30 questionnaires administered to the respondents were recovered. A self-administered questionnaire process was used to collect primary data for the main survey. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistical tools (median, mean) as well as inferential statistics (Pearson’s’ correlation coefficient) with the help of SPSS for windows version 21. The findings revealed that there is good employeeemployer relations in the selected publishing firms in Accra Metropolis. In ranking, shared goals and values had the highest degree of consent from employees, then human resource practices, followed by communication and then leadership styles and lastly, trust. Further analysis showed that, there is high level of productivity among the selected publishing firms in the Accra Metropolis over the past two years. More importantly, employee-employer relations had a positive and significant relationship with the productivity of the selected publishing firms in the Accra Metropolis (r = .608, n = 125, sig value < 0.01). The study concluded that employee-employer relationship is vital to the success of any company or business. It is recommended that future research extends the population to cover publishing firms across all the 10 regions in Ghana so as to establish the general situation of employee relations in publishing firms in Ghana. Also, mixed-method approach is recommended for future research in order to better explain the entire phenomenon in details.