D.E. Gberevbie

Organizational retention strategies and employee performance of Zenith Bank in Nigeria

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine employee-retention strategies and performance in the Nigerian banking sector over the period 2000-2005, with focus on Zenith Bank in Nigeria. The sector is unique in terms of its contribution to Nigerias gross domestic product. Design/methodology/approach - The survey research design involving the use of questionnaire and structured interview to obtain primary and secondary data from relevant books, journals and the internet were adopted. The paper also adopted the Findings - The study revealed that it is more profitable for organizations to put in place appropriate employee-retention strategies such as good organizations image, staff participation in decision making, enhanced and regular salary package, and humane treatment of employees as strategies for organizational performance. Practical implications - Particularly, organizations are likely to experience frequent employee turnover for as long as they fail to put in place appropriate employee-retention strategies, which is capable of preventing enhanced performance. Originality/value - This paper provides insight into what could enhance the performance of organizations in their quest for quality service delivery and profitability. Its findings could also be a source of motivation to organizations in other sectors in the area of employee performance.

Democracy, Democratic Institutions and Good Governance in Nigeria

Scholars such as Badru (2005), Im (2005), Babawale (2006), Mimiko (2007), and Oddih (2007) have argued that democracy is required in a society because it enhances good governance and development. With the analysis of secondary data, the paper examines democracy, democratic institutions and good governance in Nigeria. It identified the problems that have militated against Nigeria’s democratic sustainability in the past to include lack of proper democratic institutions. The paper concludes that for democracy to achieve its goals there is the need for the government to put in place measures to strengthen the nation’s democratic institutions and intensify political education amongst politicians and citizens as precursor to good governance and development in Nigeria.

Impact of Human Resource Development and Organizational Commitment on Financial Sector Employees in Nigeria

Abstract Studies have shown that for any organization to achieve enhanced service delivery and profitability; competent employees are required. In this regard, human resource development (HRD) of an organization could be seen as strategy to improve the capacity of employees, bring about organizational commitment (OC) and promote performance. The paper empirically examines the impact of HRD and OC on financial sector employees in Nigeria. Findings show a strong impact of HRD and OC on performance of employees. In addition, literature reveals the need to tackle the issue of unethical behaviour (corruption) amongst banks’ staff at all levels as basis to eliminate failure and bring about enhanced performance in the Nigerian banking sector. The paper therefore recommend among others the enforcement of stiffer penalty for bank employees found engaging in unethical practices as a way of overcoming the challenge of unethical behaviour of staff for sustainable growth in Nigeria.

Nigerian Federal Civil Service: Employee Recruitment, Retention and Performance

This study delved into the recruitment and retention of employees in the Nigerian Federal Civil Service (NFCS), to establish their impact on the effectiveness of the service. Data were collected through administration of questionnaires (to employees in the service) and structured interviews (with managers in the service). The findings were that employee recruitment into the civil service is based on federal character principle (i.e. equal representation of people from the geo-political zones of the country), merit and political considerations. In terms of employee retention, the study found that the service lagged behind in providing adequate incentives to retain its workforce for performance compared to what is obtainable from the private sector. Thus, the study recommends that, while the federal character principle is necessary (given the country’s “multi-ethnic,” religious and cultural diversity), its application should also pay attention to the merit of prospective employees. It is also recommended that the service raises its rewards to a level where they are competitive enough to attract and retain competent employees and enhance their performance.

ELECTRONIC GOVERNANCE PLATFORM: TOWARDS OVERCOMING THE CHALLENGES OF NON-INCLUSION OF CITIZENS IN PUBLIC POLICY FORMULATION AND IMPLEMENTATION IN NIGERIA

This paper examined electronic governance platforms ability to mitigate the hitherto non-inclusion of citizens in policy formulation and implementation in Nigeria. To achieve the objective of the study, secondary data collected from books, journals and government websites of 20 states were analysed to ascertain whether there are avenues for citizens to interact with governments in policy formulation as a way of promoting participatory governance. The study revealed that while electronic governance is a possible solution to overcoming the challenges of non-inclusion of citizens in the formulation of public policy; but its adoption is yet to be achieved due to the low level of literacy rate and government inability to provide the necessary infrastructure. It, therefore, recommends the need for the Federal Government of Nigeria to involve a sound and clear guideline on how to adopt electronic governance in policy formulation through an increase in budgetary allocation towards infrastructural development and mass education of citizens.

Accountability for Sustainable Development and the Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria, 1999-2015

Development of any society is meant to enhance the living standard of citizens. However, where there are challenges of accountability, development is more likely to be a mirage. Past studies in Nigeria on the challenges of leadership and sustainable development identified corruption and lack of required skills on the part of public officials to perform in terms of proper policy formulation and implementation among others. The main goal of this article is to explore the relationship between accountability for the sustainable development and the challenges of leadership in Nigeria. With the analysis of data obtained from secondary sources, this present study identified lack of accountability for sustainable development to include the challenges leadership, unethical behavior, poor maintenance culture, poor management of resources, corruption on the part of public officials, and inadequate funds to execute projects in Nigeria. This article therefore recommends, among others, the need for government to adopt a more practical approach to the promotion of accountability, a determined fight against corruption and unethical behavior, proper management of resources, and devotion of more funds to the execution of capital projects that could positively affect the lives of the people for improved standard of living.

Women in Governance and Sustainable Democracy in Nigeria, 1999-2012

Democracy is a system of government that abhors gender segregation in politics. Also, it has been observed that contribution to development in any society is not gender discriminatory. Utilizing secondary data, the paper shows that although female of ages 20 and above constitute 50.10 percent of the nation’s population; their appointment into positions of authority is infinitesimal compared to their male counterpart of the same age. It reveals further that the dominance of male in the nation’s politics, and the low involvement of women in the election participation and their appointment into positions of authority have created the politics of “near-exclusion” of women in favour of their male counterpart in the past. It therefore recommends among others the integration of women into the political process in terms of their actual involvement in public policy formulation and implementation as basis for sustainable democracy and development in Nigeria