STAFF MOTIVATION AND PERFORMANCE IN EDO STATE LIBRARY
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1    Background to the Study
A lot of research has been done in the area of motivation in relation to the area of organizational management. This topic gained attention following the Hawthorne experiments by Elton Mayo (1924 – 1932) and since then, several theories have been formulated to explain the relationship between motivation and performance. Authors and researchers alike agree on the point that motivation is a crucial factor when relating to issues of productivity. However, they differ with regard to the things or elements that motivate.    
            Armstrong (2009) is of the opinion that motivation is concerned with the factors that influence people to behave in certain ways. Akinmayowa (2005), defines motivation as the feelings that drive someone towards a particular objective. Business dictionary.com (2015) defines motivation as internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested and committed to a job or to attain a goal. People or the individual in the organization’s behavior is determined by what motivates them and their performance is; at the end of the day, a product of both motivation and the individual’s ability level.
Motivation and job performance are inextricably connected because every worker must have some degree of motivation to work. Performance is the extent to which an organization’s goals have been achieved. The business dictionary (2015), states that performance is “the accomplishment of a given task measured against preset known standards”. There are three key elements in defining performance. They are; goals, measures and assessment. Goals direct attention to the required performance and mobilize efforts to accomplish higher levels. The extent to which goals have been accomplished must also be measured. The manager must ascertain to what extent the goals have been reached, and regular assessment of progress towards the goals focuses attention and efforts of the employee.
Lack of motivation in turn affects productivity, and this is evident in the low morale of staff, high employee turnover, declining productivity, increase in number of grievances, higher incidences of absenteeism. In organizations today, especially in governmental organizations, these symptoms are present and the Edo State Library is one of such organizations. The library like every other organization has its goals and objectives and its employees play an important role in the accomplishment of the set goals. This requires the directing of workers energy towards the stated goals. In essence, the worker has to be influenced to work towards the particular goal. Little effort will be put into work if the worker feels his personal goals are not being met by organizational goals. An organization can benefit substantially if it knows what individual attitudes contribute to job satisfaction.  
1.2       Research   Problem
Employee motivation has a fundamental role to play in the achievement of the goals and objectives of an organization. According to Rusu and Avasilcai (2013), there seems to be a direct relationship between employee’s motivation and performance obtained at the workplace. Over the course of the 20th century into the new millennium, scholars have developed theories and have amassed a large body of applied research investigating motivation across a variety of settings. Generally, there are empirical literatures on motivation and employees performance both in developed and developing countries. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is scarcity of empirical evidence on the validation of Herzberg’s two-factor theory in a developing country like Nigeria. This study seeks to fill the existing knowledge gap by providing empirical evidence to validate Hertzberg’s theory using the Edo State Library as a case study.
1.3          Research   Questions
Based on the foregoing, the following research questions have been raised:
Does Herzberg two factor theory exist in Edo State Library?
What influence to motivators have on employee performance in Edo State Library?
What influence do hygiene factors have on employee performance in Edo State Library?
What difference(s) (if any) exist between motivators and hygiene factors in employee performance in Edo State Library?
1.4             Objectives of the Study
                 The objectives include:
To ascertain the existence of the Herzberg two-factor theory on in Edo State Library.
To examine the influence of motivation factors on employee performance in Edo State Library.
To examine the influence of hygiene factors on employees performance in Edo State Library.
To determine the difference (if any) between motivators and hygiene factors influences on employees performance in Edo State Library.
1.5             Scope of the Study
    Using the purposive sampling method, the five chapters located in Benin City shall be used as the scope of this research. However, information from the Edo State Central Library in Benin City revealed that all other four chapters are not functional. This study shall therefore be restricted to the Central Library, Benin City. One hundred and forty eighty employees in this Library shall be the respondents to be used to obtain data for this research.                                                                                                          
1.6         Limitations of the Study  
The major limitation of this study is the difficulty in obtaining unbiased response from our respondents. This is usually one of the limitations encountered by researchers in social and management sciences. However, we intend to minimize this limitation by avoiding leading questions in our research instrument.
1.7          Significance of the Study
               The research study will help to inform the Edo State Government about the problems and develop strategies to minimize them. The research will also help the managers and workers to realize their obligations and responsibility towards optimum performance of the organization. The study will also add to the existing literature on the implementation of  motivational measures to improve performance in Edo State Library. The research will in totality, help to revive the organization to a functional state and guarantee its effective existence.