Motivation, appraisal and staff productivity in the College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal resources and Biosecurity in Makerere University.

Abstract

The study sought to establish the relationship between motivation, appraisal and staff productivity in the College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resource and Biosecurity in Makerere University (COVAB). The performance of academic staff in COVAB had been identified to be poor. It was motivated by three objectives: To establish the relationship between motivation, appraisal on productivity of academic staff in COVAB. The study design was cross sectional, involving the use of qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study sample size involved 90 academic staff who were purposively selected. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire and interview guide. Quantitative data was analyzed at bivariate level and it was analyzed using correlation analysis. Qualitative data was thematically analyzed. The findings revealed a negative relationship between extrinsic motivation, result-oriented appraisal and staff productivity. However, the findings showed a significant positive relationship between intrinsic motivation and comparison employee appraisal and academic staff performance. It was concluded that the way extrinsic motivation and results-oriented appraisal are handled discourage academic staff productivity in COVAB. This productivity is however encouraged by the way intrinsic motivation and comparison employee appraisal are perceived. It was recommended that university council should not put more emphasis on extrinsic motivators as key factors determining performance of academic staff as this minimizes staff productivity. Instead they emphasize intrinsic rewards. Further, University authorities and colleges administrators should appraise staff by comparing the performance of lecturers in the various course units. It was also recommended that results-oriented appraisal of staff should not be majorly considered as one of the determinants of academic staff performance since it negatively related with productivity. Emphasis should rather be put on comparison employee appraisal as it as a motivator put on academic staff poor performance.