Introduction
The banking sector in Nigeria is regarded as the second-largest industry in the African continent. Nigeria’s banking industry has assets that total over 65. Forty-eight trillion nairas as of June 2022 (Nwokoji, 2022). However, the industry encountered economic instability during the economic recession in the period of 2016. To rectify this problem, the industry had to adopt restructuring policies that led to the merging and acquisitions of its banks. Despite these efforts, the banks were still not able to satisfy the required minimum capital base and regulatory requirements (Yusuf & Raimi, 2019). Moreover, the banks continued to downsize due to the reconstruction processes, which resulted in the retrenchment of over 45,000 banking employees (Bolarinwa et al., 2019). In addition, the revival and performance of Nigeria’s banking sector were significantly affected by the drop in oil prices since the gas and oil companies owed a quarter of the industry’s lending (Osuma et al., 2019). For this reason, a majority of industries were left in disarray because of the currency crisis.
Following this, mass employee cutbacks and downsizing resurged in the banking sector as a majority of the banks were trying to find ways to reduce the costs of running the firms. The few workers that survived the retrenchment were put through salary cuts (Abubakar et al., 2020). Moreover, instead of using permanent employees, the banks opted for casual and contractual workers with the aim of reducing costs. For this reason, the performance of banks in the country is severely impacted, and they would need to invest in the human resource section to enhance their competitiveness. One way to accomplish this is by ensuring job satisfaction among banking employees, which would help retain and attract talented employees to ensure improved organizational performance in the industry.
Job Satisfaction and Employee Turnover Rates
Job satisfaction is a vital feature for companies that are looking to enhance their productivity. The perceptions of job satisfaction denote peoples’ general attitudes concerning their job or workplace (Oumwense, 2018). The aspect signifies a positive and pleasurable state of emotion ensuing from an individual’s job experience (Abosede & Obianuju, 2018). Moreover, job satisfaction is influenced by the views of the workers on how their jobs offer things that they believe are important to them. For this reason, it is necessary for employees to feel happy, comfortable, and content with their job profiles.
Job satisfaction has various functions in promoting organizational performance. According to Oumwense (2018), job satisfaction in the workplace helps in shaping employee turnover rates. This is because it is the most significant aspect that can help predict an employee’s intention to continue working in the organization. Moreover, Anthony et al. (2017) suggest that effective retention of banking workers is enhanced by employees’ loyalty to the organization resulting from high job satisfaction. As per Abosede and Obianuju (2018), job dissatisfaction leads to high turnover rates, which can be challenging, especially for Nigeria’s banking sector, as it causes the loss of talented, valued, and experienced employees leading to low overall performance. In addition, Anthony et al. (2017) contributed to the argument by suggesting that improving the working environment will foster career growth and job satisfaction among employees, which will then help promote employee retention, thereby enhancing organizational productivity and economic development. Therefore, getting to understand the links to job satisfaction among banking employees will aid employers or leaders in establishing effective approaches toward the retention of employees.
It is well understood that workers tend to perform better if they are more satisfied with their job descriptions and profiles. According to Ibrahim et al. (2016), this is because employee morale is mainly boosted by higher levels of job satisfaction which in turn helps reduce employee turnover. This will enable Nigeria’s banking sector to retain its talented employees and enhance their productivity which will help improve organizational performance. To support this, Oumwense (2018) justifies that the employee’s decision to leave or stay in an organization is largely influenced by the level of job satisfaction in the company. This is to mean that job satisfaction is negatively correlated to the turnover rates of employees. Therefore, dissatisfied workers are more likely to leave an organization compared to satisfied ones. As per James et al. (2018), employee satisfaction is guided by extrinsic and intrinsic aspects. The intrinsic part deals with internal rewards associated with personal growth and the job itself. On the other hand, the extrinsic aspect is related to organizational support, pay or salary, and the opportunities available for promotions (Manzoor, Wei & Asif, 2021). All these factors are critical in ensuring job satisfaction among employees, which will enhance employee retention by reducing turnover rates (Anthony et al., 2017; Jimoh & Kee, 2022). As a result, the banks will be able to retain their employees and improve their productivity which in turn promotes overall organizational performance.
Job Satisfaction and Organizational Citizenship Behavior of Employees
Another role that job satisfaction plays in promoting organizational performance is it promotes organizational citizenship behavior of employees. Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) involves the actions or decisions taken without expecting compensation, reward, or recognition. The concept of OCB is characterized by a two-dimensional idea involving behaviors that target the entire company or organization and ones that are associated with intrapersonal relationships with coworkers or employees. Intrapersonal or coworker support helps in obtaining efficiency, effectiveness, and quality in individual performance. On the other hand, organizational support is linked with salaries and job security for employees, which help in ensuring job satisfaction among workers. According to Yaakobi and Weisberg (2020), OCB is helpful in reducing social friction and promoting social facilitation in the workplace. This enables group members to concentrate more on accomplishing their assigned tasks within the organization compared to conflicts arising from interpersonal relationships. Moreover, Fitrio et (al., 2019) suggest that OCB is directly associated with developing skills in coordination and collaboration in the workplace. With collaboration, employees will be able to share knowledge or ideas and contribute more to the company roles hence promoting productivity in the organization.
Employees require several resources, such as material, information, or social, to help them complete assigned projects or tasks. For this reason, interpersonal relations are regarded as a source or means of getting vital resources such as goal support and how to attain the set targets. Moreover, it helps ensure vitality among employees in the workplace, thereby enhancing cooperation as workers will be freer to participate in the organization (Ugoani, 2018; Fitrio et al., 2019). This can be attained by ensuring there is work cooperation in the workplace. Furthermore, Yaakobi and Weisberg (2020) argue that compared to poor cooperators, good cooperators are able to last longer and work better, thereby improving organizational performance. In support of this, Hidayah and Harnoto (2018) claim that fairness or organizational justice helps reduce troubles and offenses in the company, which can contribute to job satisfaction as employees will feel comfortable in their workplace. Thus, since the banking industry is experiencing difficulties with employee retention, establishing ways to ensure job satisfaction, such as job security, will help develop organizational citizenship behaviors (John & Kelechi, 2020). Additionally, employees will be motivated to increase efforts toward their productivity which will ultimately promote organizational performance.
Job Satisfaction and Loyalty
Job satisfaction in the organization is also vital in ensuring loyalty which helps establish trust between team members, boosts returns, and promotes the company’s reputation. According to Oumwense (2018), employee loyalty is associated with their feeling of belonging to the company. Moreover, Jigjiddorj et al. (2019) argue that loyalty is directly linked with employees considering themselves as a core part of the organization and will encourage them to put more effort into building their organization by improving their productivity hence fostering organizational performance. With company loyalty, employees are able to accept the organizational goals and objectives and will be committed to accomplishing them (Jigjiddorj et al., 2019). Job satisfaction gives ways to make employees feel appreciated and recognized in their workplace, which boosts their loyalty. Customer loyalty is largely influenced by the job satisfaction of employees following an ideal workplace environment. As per Anthony et al. (2017), this is because employees are inclined to be more productive and willing to conduct roles in the organization if they are content with their job profiles. For this reason, using job satisfaction in the banking industry in Nigeria will help the sector improve the productivity of employees and foster overall performance.
Furthermore, providing employees with career development and promotional opportunities gives them a reason to keep working in the company as they see a chance to advance themselves. Therefore, when an organization is able to steer its workers into remaining loyal to the company, it is able to reduce the loss of experienced and talented employees as well as motivate them to work towards the betterment of the organization (Oumwense, 2018). In addition, Abosede and Obianuju (2018) claim that when an organization can satisfy its workers’ needs, employees can remain motivated and happy to work towards helping the company retain its clients, increasing its customer base. As a result, enhancing customer loyalty through job satisfaction can be used by the banking industry in Nigeria to ensure they are able to retain their employees by motivating them to improve their performance which will, in turn, make the sector start thriving again. Moreover, the industry will be able to protect itself from employee poaching by other related industries that would be interested in gaining these employees’ skills.
Job Satisfaction and Employee Motivation
Lack of motivation in the workplace is another factor that can promote the loss of performing employees, especially in the banking sector. One way to provide inspiration to employees is to ensure there is job satisfaction among workers giving them the drive to keep working towards the accomplishment of the company goals (Varma, 2018). Motivation in the workplace can be achieved by ensuring that the employees’ needs and aspirations are in line with the organizational goals (Jigjiddorj et al., 2019). This will give workers a reason to increase efforts and better their performance and productivity.
In addition, motivation can be influenced by creating a working environment that is comfortable for specific employees and caters to workers’ needs for growth and development. As per Jigjiddorj et al. (2019), satisfied employees are more motivated to give excellent customer service and experience with the aim of ensuring client retention, attraction, and loyalty, thereby promoting increased profitability which translates to improved organizational performance. This will enable the maintenance of a competitive edge within the industry and enhance productivity. Furthermore, Varma (2018) disputes that effective job satisfaction promotes intrinsic motivation among employees, which drives them to better their performance and apply their skills to improve productivity in the organization. Moreover, Jigjiddorj et al. (2019) claim that satisfied and motivated employees feel obligated to complete tasks assigned to try and prove their worth to the organization so as not to lose their value in the company. In support of this, Rita et al. (2018) argue that unsatisfied employees have no motivation or reason to aid in the success of an organization. As such, they tend to be disinterested in their place of work and hence put let effort into the achievement of the company objectives. As such, with efficient motivation and job satisfaction, Nigeria’s banking industry will be able to drive its employees to improve their performance which in turn helps increase overall organizational performance.
Job Satisfaction and Absenteeism
Absenteeism is another factor that is highly promoted by low job satisfaction. Employees that are contented with their jobs tend to report to work on a daily basis without absenteeism to ensure that their company is able to retain its valuable clients and competitive edge. Oumwense (2018) argued that increased employee absenteeism negatively influences the individual productivity of workers meaning. This means that employees that are absent from work tend to work less and hence will have a low operational output which will greatly reduce the organizational performance. In addition, Haywood (2020) argued that the rate of absenteeism among workers indicates or portrays their level of satisfaction. In addition, it helps organizations determine their employees’ level of commitment toward the accomplishment of the company’s goals and objectives (Kumari, 2019). Increasing job satisfaction in the workplace can help reduce the rates of absenteeism which will improve employee productivity, thereby enhancing overall organizational performance (Oumwense, 2018). As a result, using job satisfaction as a tool for curbing absenteeism is a tool that the banking industry of Nigeria can effectively use to enhance employee performance.
Furthermore, when working conditions, job responsibilities, compensation, and organizational structure fall below employees’ expectations, job satisfaction among workers drops. This will, in turn, make the rates of absenteeism climb or increase. According to Haywood (2020), employees can take medical leaves for no significant reason. On the other hand, Kumari (2019) claims that there are instances where employees can exhibit low frequencies of absenteeism in the workplace by missing work only when it becomes necessary, indicating that the worker is highly satisfied. Moreover, it is possible for highly motivated workers to put up with or endure terrible workplace conditions yet maintain their high productivity, especially when there is economic leadership.
Job Satisfaction and Employee Commitment
Job satisfaction in the workplace plays a very vital role in promoting employee commitment and motivation towards value creation in the company and attaining organizational effectiveness. According to Oumwense (2018), workers commit themselves to organizations following various reasons, and job satisfaction can be one factor. In support of this, Aziz et al. (2021) argue that the organizational culture of a company has the ability to enhance the levels of job satisfaction among employees, which will, in turn, force them to be highly committed to the place of work and improve organizational performance. As per Dalkrani and Dimitriadis (2018), this is because workers with strong commitments towards the organization are only inclined to stay or remain in the company since they consider it to be the correct thing to do. Similarly, Rita et al. (2018) claim that the dissatisfaction of employees is largely attributed to a drastic decline in organizational commitment. This is to mean that employees are only interested in their assigned duties and remain committed to their place of work only with they are satisfied with their jobs.
As a result, companies will find it challenging to attain or accomplish the set targets if there is a decline in commitment among employees, which is a result of employee dissatisfaction. For this reason, Oumwense (2018) suggested that since the organizational commitment was positively correlated with performance-based approaches, banking organizations will have to align their performance evaluations with rewards and compensation to improve the chances for employee commitment. This will give the baking sector a chance to enhance or boost employee performance through commitment as a result of satisfaction with the workplace (Rita et al., 2018). As per James et al. (2018), this is because employees are inclined to display positive organizational commitment when they are contented with their jobs. Therefore, it is necessary for banking institutions to adequately invest in job satisfaction among employees if they are looking to improve improving productivity in the industry.
Job Satisfaction and Employee engagement
Job satisfaction is a key element that can be used to effectively improve the level of employee engagement. According to Solomon and Olaniyan (2019), a positive effect on the engagement of employees is highly influenced by the level of job satisfaction in an organization which, when high, can greatly improve per. In support of this, Lukman (2022) argued that the quality and quantity of production are greatly impacted by the engagement of workers, which is guided by job satisfaction in the workplace. As per Reissova and Papay (2021)., this is because job satisfaction among employees opens opportunities for creative innovation that result from employee engagement. Moreover, employees that actively participate in an organization feel more socially and emotionally connected to the company’s goals and missions which will increase their efforts to ensure that their performance and productivity are improved.
Furthermore, employees that engage themselves in the workplace tend to portray high loyalty levels, which benefits organizations as they get to retain their talented and experienced workers. In addition, employees that are satisfied with their jobs are inclined to participate or be involved more in efforts to accomplish their assigned tasks, improve customer satisfaction and enhance overall company performance (Reissova & Papay, 2021). According to Tentama et al. (2019), employee engagement is highly related to the quality of services and customer satisfaction. This is because, with employee engagement, the company will be able to have access to various solutions to problems and perceptions of situations which will help guide the decision-making activities and hence promote organizational performance (Solomon & Olaniyan, 2019). For this reason, Nigeria’s making institutions will significantly gain in investing in job satisfaction to improve employee engagement which will foster effective productivity and performance. This, in turn, will help the banking sector maintain its competitive advantage as its employees will be motivated to optimize their skills and work harder towards enhancing performance.
Conclusion
In conclusion, job satisfaction is an essential tool that can be used to improve organizational performance in the banking sector in Nigeria. First, job satisfaction plays a significant role in decreasing employee turnover rates. This is because they tend to have a positive attitude towards their job if they feel recognized, well treated, and equitably rewarded for their contributions to the company, which will, in turn, improve overall productivity. Second, job satisfaction helps promote the organizational citizenship behavior of employees. This is where employees will be involved in the workplace towards improving productivity without expecting compensation, reward, or recognition. Third, job satisfaction contributes to increased employee loyalty, which builds team trust, increases profits, and enhances the company’s reputation overall.
Fourth, job satisfaction plays a crucial role in enhancing employee motivation, where workers can increase efforts and improve their performance and productivity. Fifth, it can also be used to reduce the rates of absenteeism which will, in turn, impact organizational performance. This is due to the fact that happy employees are more likely to show up for work every day without missing any days, which helps their business keep its important customers and competitive advantage. Sixth, it helps to build employee commitment because when workers are happy with their occupations, they are more interested in their given responsibilities and stay dedicated to their workplace, which leads to an improvement in performance. Last but not least, job satisfaction contributes to increased employee engagement, which enables people to actively engage in a firm where they feel more emotionally and socially attached to its objectives. They then put forth more effort to guarantee that their output and performance are enhanced.
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