Motivation And Performance of Staff in Universities in Uganda

The study examined the effect of motivation on the performance of university staff in Uganda. Specifically, the study established: the effect of monetary incentives on the performance of university staff in Uganda, the effect of organizational climate on the performance of university staff in Uganda, and the effect of recognition on the performance of university staff in Uganda. The study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive study design with only quantitative approaches. The sample size for the study was 313 university staff from both public and private universities in Uganda. The items/constructs used in this research were measured on a five-point Likert Scale. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy, factor analysis, and principle component analysis was used to extract the appropriate constructs of the study. A multiple linear regression model was used to examine the effect of predictor variables on the outcome variable. The findings revealed that monetary incentives had a positive and significant effect on the performance of university staff in Uganda (B=0.200, P-Value (0.001) <0.05). The findings indicated that organizational climate had a significant positive effect on the performance of university staff in Uganda (B=0.161, P-value (0.007) <0.05). Lastly, findings revealed that recognition had a significant and positive effect on the performance of university staff in Uganda (B=0.200, P-value (0.000)< 0.05). The study concludes that monetary incentives, organizational climate, and recognition play an instrumental role in influencing the performance of university staff in Uganda. The universities are recommended to design a well-structured and fair reward system that includes monetary incentives, such as performance-based bonuses, salary increments, and benefits that align with individual and organizational goals.


Introduction
Staff performance is greatly influenced by motivation, which is also widely acknowledged as a critical component of success for both individuals and organizations. Higher performance levels are ultimately the result of motivated employees being more engaged, productive, and committed to their work (Forson et al., 2021;Olusadum & Anulika, 2018). Numerous instances of industrial actions and disagreements between university workers and administration have recently occurred in local and international institutions. These conflicts frequently result in employees acting in an unproductive manner, which has a detrimental effect on the reputation and performance of the firm. There are observable examples of ineffective employee performance in public universities in Africa, including tardiness and early departure, failure to grade student assignments, frequent student strikes, irregular attendance at lectures and office hours, missed deadlines, and a high staff turnover rate, which ultimately leads to low productivity. 2019 (Magolo et al.). Industrial actions and disagreements between university workers and administration have occurred frequently recently in local and international institutions. Employees frequently engage in counterproductive conduct as a result of these clashes, which has a detrimental effect on the effectiveness and reputation of the firm. In Africa's public universities, it is evident when staff members perform ineffectively. Examples include showing up late or leaving early, failing to grade students' assignments, participating in frequent student strikes, attending lectures and office hours irregularly, missing deadlines, and having a high staff turnover rate, which all contribute to low productivity.
University staff members' performance in Uganda has fallen short of expectations. There are persistent complaints about the poor performance of the employees, which is highlighted by ineffective instruction, a paucity of publications, and problems landing and winning projects. Rwothumio et al. (2002) found that these problems are still present in many Ugandan universities. In some institutions, inconsistency among some staff members, disdain for teaching schedules, teaching on weekends as if they were part-time lecturers, delayed submission of results, and insufficient time management are only a few examples of areas where there are performance differences among university workers. According to Gada and Hassan (2018), there is a chance that if this situation continues, students may engage in disruptive and hostile behavior, which could erode the public's faith in particular universities. Universities in Uganda risk failing in the future if the importance of motivation in employee performance is ignored. As a result, this study investigates how motivation affects the productivity of university personnel in Uganda.
Examining the impact of motivation on the performance of university personnel in Uganda was the study's main objective. The study focused on three key areas: the impact of financial incentives on the performance of university faculty in Uganda, the impact of organizational climate on performance, and the impact of recognition on performance. Answers to the specific objectives were obtained using the alternative hypotheses.

Ha1: In Uganda, monetary incentives have a considerable impact on the productivity of university workers.
Ha2: The performance of university employees in Uganda is significantly impacted by the organizational climate.
Ha3: In Uganda, university faculty members' performance is significantly impacted by their level of recognition.

Literature Review
This chapter provides empirical research on the particular goals in order to contextualize the current investigation. It discusses the literature on the relationship between financial incentives and employee performance, as well as the relationship between organizational culture and employee performance.

Employee Performance and Financial Incentives
Financial incentives have a big impact on how well people perform in any firm. Employees are effectively motivated by financial incentives. Employee motivation to produce better results may be increased if they perceive a clear connection between their work and financial benefits. Their commitment, focus, and effort toward their task may rise if they believe they will receive greater compensation or benefits (Waqas & Saleem, 2014). In their study, Khan et al. (2020) discovered that financial incentives are one of the key elements that encourage employees to remain loyal to their companies, which also results in improved job performance. By providing financial incentives, a company can show that it appreciates and values the contributions of its staff members. Employees become more committed to the company when they feel valued and financially rewarded for their efforts (Tessema et al., 2013). According to Ekwochi and Okoene (2019), the compensation of directors significantly affected how well firms performed. Organizations may recruit and keep top personnel by providing competitive compensation packages. Prospective workers are more inclined to join and stay with an organization when they believe that the pay and perks on offer are reasonable and competitive. By doing this, the business is guaranteed a trained and driven personnel, which can lead to better performance (Iqbal et al., 2017;Terera & Ngirande, 2014). Zakwai (2023) discovered a similar association between financial incentives and employee performance.

Organizational Climate's Impact on Employee Performance
Employee performance is greatly influenced by the organizational climate, commonly referred to as the work environment or corporate culture. Employee engagement and motivation are promoted by an encouraging and constructive work environment. Employees are more likely to be motivated to give their best work when they believe their workplace is supportive of their growth, development, and well-being. Employee motivation and engagement can be greatly increased, which will result in better performance, in an environment that values open communication, teamwork, and the recognition of accomplishments (Gaviria-Rivera & Lopez-Zapata, 2019). According to research by Haryono et al. (2019), district coordinators' job performance was highly impacted by the organizational climate. District coordinators are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs in a favorable work environment. They are more likely to feel valued, respected, and appreciated if they believe that their workplace is supportive and good. In turn, this raises their level of job satisfaction and motivates them to give their best effort. According to Luqman et al. (2020), Instructors' Physical Education not only made them feel at ease in a positive work environment, but it also improved their level of performance. Organizational commitment and perceived performance were both positively correlated with organizational climate, according to Berberoglu (2018). In a similar vein, Khan (2019) discovered that teachers' dedication was positively impacted by school climate. Effect of Employee Recognition on Performance Employee performance and motivation are critically impacted by recognition. Recognizing and appreciating employees' efforts has a number of beneficial consequences on their performance and general job satisfaction. Recognition demonstrates that an organization values and recognizes the contributions made by its employees. Their sense of fulfillment at work and contentment are increased by this acknowledgement. Employee satisfaction improves performance and lowers turnover because happy employees are more likely to be dedicated to their work and stick with the company (Danish & Usman, 2010).

Effect of Recognition on performance
Recognition of effort improved employees' performance, according to Omo-Odiagbe et al. (2020). An effective motivator is when an employee's efforts are recognized. By receiving recognition, people can learn that their efforts and commitment are valued. Employee incentive to continue giving high-caliber work increases as a result of the sense of purpose and contribution validation provided by this acknowledgement. At Mercubuana University, job promotion was found by Rinny et al. (2020) to have a favorable and significant impact on employee performance. It was also discovered by Chikungwa and Chamisa (2013) that academic staff members were more content and motivated when their efforts were acknowledged.

Methods
Using exclusively quantitative methods, the study used a cross-sectional descriptive study design. As a result, the influence of subjective biases and individual perspectives on research findings is diminished (Choy, 2014). Quantitative techniques offer an impartial means to evaluate and interpret data. 313 university employees from public and private universities made up the study's sample size.

Measuring scales
The research's constructs were created based on the literature reviews of earlier studies. According to a five-point Likert scale, the following items/constructs were evaluated in this study: 1 = strongly disagree; 2 = disagree; 3 = not sure; 4 = agree; and 5 = strongly agree. Ten constructions, nine constructs, eight constructs, and six constructs, respectively, were used to measure employee performance, financial incentives, organizational climate, and recognition. Table 1.  My organization provides salary increment every year to its staff.

Organizational climate
The organizational climate at this workplace helps workers to provide a service above self.

0.513
The climate of the organization allows staff to undertake professional development programmes 0.598 The organization climate prioritizes fun for the staff 0.603 The organizational climate allows top management to delegate responsibilities to lower level managers 0.566 The organizational climate allows me to do my personal work

0.664
The organizational climate is that of high standards 0.635 The climate in the organization renders financial cooperation among staff for personal development.

0.594
The organizational climate helps staff to have a proportional work-life balance.

Recognition
Financial recognition is the most used type of recognition given to staff who perform well in my organization. Staff performance is different because they have different targets.

0.563
The performance of staff in my organization has risen because managers appreciate their good work.

0.631
Good performance of staff at my organizations is due to giving staff development opportunities to staff.

0.577
The staff performance has improved due to putting in place good reward systems.

0.564
Good staff performance is my organization is due to the positive work culture set by the organization.

0.682
Good planning in this organization has brought about good employee performance.

0.555
The good staff performance in my organization is due to encouragement of diversity in terms of staffing. 0.572 I perform well in my organization because the organization has proper performance appraisal methods 0.566

Data Collection
The data was collected from both public and private universities that only accredited taught courses. Universities teaching expired programmes as listed in NCHE website were excluded from the study. While selecting the participants for the study from the selected Universities the study considered staff gender, specialization, qualifications, academic levels, staff category, and whether they were motivated or not as staff attributes. Multi-stage random sampling was used to select the respondents for the study. The structured questionnaire was used for data collection from the selected university staff. This tool was considered because it reduces the risk of researcher bias, as the questions are pre-determined and presented in a standardized way, rather than being improvised by the researcher during the interview or survey (Bergelson et al., 2022).

Reliability and Validity
The reliability and validity of the instrument were examined to get reliable statistical conclusions on the study items. The second level involved evaluating the constructs using factor analysis to evaluate their dimensionality and reliability. The items which loaded above 50% were considered appropriate for the study as indicated in Table 1. The principle component analysis in Table 2 revealed that five factors with eigenvalues above one accounted for 57.32% of the cumulative variances. The KMO and Bartlett's Test in Table 3 show that the selected constructs   .000

Results
The first step involved in running a multiple linear regression was to study whether there was no multicollinearity between the predictor variables. It is important to test for multicollinearity in regression analysis to ensure that the independent variables are not highly correlated to avoid spurious findings (Tu et al., 2005). The multicollinearity test was performed using a pairwise correlation matrix and the results in Table 4 indicate that there was no multicollinearity between the independent variables since their correlation values were below 80%.

Multiple Regression Analysis
Multiple linear regression was used to examine the effect of motivation on the performance of university staff in Uganda. The model addressed: the effect of monetary incentives on the performance of university staff in Uganda, the effect of organizational climate on the performance of university staff in Uganda, and the effect of recognition on the performance of university staff in Uganda. The model findings in Table 5 revealed that monetary incentives had a positive and significant effect on the performance of university staff in Uganda (B=0.200, P-Value (0.001) <0.05). The findings are consistent with the previous studies which found that monetary incentives had a positive and significant effect on employee performance (Ekwochi & Okoene, 2019;Khan et al., 2020;Zakwai, 2023). The findings can be explained in the following perspective, with the prospect of monetary rewards, university staff may be more inclined to go above and beyond their regular responsibilities. This can lead to increased productivity and efficiency in various aspects of their work, such as research output, teaching effectiveness, administrative tasks, and student support (Liu & Liu, 2021). The model findings revealed that organizational climate had a significant positive effect on the performance of university staff in Uganda (B=0.161, P-value (0.007) <0.05). The findings are in agreement with the previous studies which found a significant positive effect of organizational climate on employee performance (Berberoglu, 2018;Haryono et al., 2019). A positive organizational climate encourages collaboration, teamwork, and mutual support among staff members. It promotes a culture of open communication, trust, and respect, which are essential for effective collaboration. University staff in Uganda would be more likely to work together, share knowledge, and leverage each other's strengths, leading to better performance (Galimaka, 2012). The findings may imply that recognized university staff members in Uganda are likely to be more engaged in their roles. They may feel a stronger sense of commitment to their work and go above and beyond their regular responsibilities. This heightened engagement can lead to increased productivity, improved performance, and a willingness to contribute innovative ideas and solutions (Lutz, 2021). The results from the ANOVA table show that monetary incentives, organizational climate, and recognition had an overall significant effect on the performance of university staff in Uganda (F(3, 309)= 19.780, Pvalue (0.000)<0.05). The adjusted R-squared show that monetary incentives, organizational climate, and recognition account for 15.3% of the total variations in the performance of university staff in Uganda, and the remaining 84.7% of the variations are explained by other factors.

Conclusions
The study concludes that monetary incentives, organizational climate, and recognition play an instrumental role in influencing the performance of university staff in Uganda. The study suggests that when staff members are motivated, they are more likely to perform at a higher level and contribute positively to the university's goals and objectives. This conclusion highlights the significance of addressing motivational factors to optimize staff performance and the overall effectiveness of Universities in Uganda.

Recommendations
Universities in Uganda should design a well-structured and fair reward system that includes monetary incentives, such as performance-based bonuses, salary increments, and benefits that align with individual and organizational goals. Ensure that the criteria for receiving rewards are transparent, measurable, and achievable. Consider a mix of short-term and long-term incentives to provide motivation and recognize sustained performance. Universities should foster a positive work environment that emphasizes trust, open communication, and collaboration. Encourage supportive leadership practices that empower staff, promote teamwork, and provide opportunities for professional growth. Invest in training and development programs that enhance leadership skills and create a culture of continuous improvement. Establish a structured recognition program that acknowledges and appreciates staff achievements and contributions. Recognize both individual and team accomplishments, considering various forms of recognition, such as awards, certificates, public appreciation, and opportunities for professional visibility. Involve staff in the design and implementation of the recognition program to ensure it resonates with their preferences and needs.