Employees’ Participation in Decision Making and Employees’ Productivity

This study on employees’ participation on decision making and employees’ productivity was elicited to determine the extent to which employee participation in developing the mission statement, employee participate in policies and procedure formulation, and employees’ participation in the bonus/benefit determination enhance employees’ productivity. A total of 3901 populations were studied and 363 sample sizes was used to determine the effect of employees’ participation in decision making on employees’ produc tivity in Ebonyi state. The survey method was adopted; questionnaires and interviews were used for data collection. Descriptive statistics and Simple linear regression model was used. The findings show that there is a significant positive relationship betw een employees’ participation in decision making and employees’ productivity. The study, therefore, recommends among others that the management of the institutions especially academic institutions should continue to allow employees to participate in the decision-making process for increasing productivity. This model implies that employees’’ productivity depended on employee’s Participation in decision making. However, employees’ participation is demerged into participation in mission statement formulation, participation in policies and procedures formulation, and participation in bonus and fringe benefits determination. suggest that employees may work harder if they share in decisions that affect them, while the enterprise will operate more efficiently. Engaged employees give more of what they have to offer, and they are more productive. A study by Ezennaya (2011) investigated employee participate in decision making and its impact on productivity: An appraisal of government printing press and two other private publishing firms in Enugu. The study made use of frequency and chi-square. It revealed that participation in decision making does not involve participation at all levels of management. The study also found out that participative management increases productivity. Owolabi and Abdul-Hameed(2011) study on employees’ involvement in decision making and firms’ performance in the manufacturing sector in Nigeria. The study made use of descriptive statistics, product moment correlation, regression analysis and Z-test. The study found out that there is a significant different between the performance of firms whose employee involvement in decision making are deep and the performance of firms whose employee in decision making are shallow. Also Tchapche(2013) investigated the impact of employee participation in decision making on faculty productivity at a university of technology in the Western Cape, South Africa. The research found out that employee participation has a positive impact on the faculty’s effectiveness, efficiency and productivity. A study by Isichel and Damachi (2015) on employees’ participation in decision making in the hospitality industry in Nigeria. The study made use of linear correlation and regression analysis. The study concludes that employee’s participation in decision making impacts the performance of hostels in Nigeria positively. Zubair, Bashir, Sajjad, Baig, and Hassan(2015), employee’s participation in decision making and manager’s encouragement of creativity; the mediating role of climate for creativity and change. The study made use of regression. The study revealed that employee’s productivity was positively related with employee’s participation in decision making. Ojokuku and Ademola (2014) in their study investigated the effect of employee’s participation in decision making on performance of selected small and medium scale enterprises in Lagos, Nigeria. The study used product moment correlation and simple regression analysis. The result shows that employee’s participation in decision had significant positive impact on organizational performance in the small and Medium Scale Enterprises(SMEs). According to the study conducted by Jules (2014), participation of employee’s in decision making in public enterprises: A case study of Rwadan communication enterprises. The study made use of Chi-square and descriptive statistics. It revealed that the participation in decision making is very low and only senior managers have access to participate in the decision making process. Mvelo Mchunu (2010) study in his study investigated the impact of employee participation in decision making in Engen. The study used non-probability sampling. The study suggests that the employee and Engen are satisfied with employee participation in decision making. Issifu, Amadu, Abdulai and Shafiwu (2014), participatory decision making and employee productivity: A case study of Community Bank in the upper East region of Ghana. The study made use of Chi-square. It found out that when employees participate in decision making in the various forms, decision implementation becomes easy, creates good working environment, increases commitment and satisfaction on decision taken and increases employee’s moral since they feel recognized.


Background of the Study
As the years pass by, organizational management practice demands that employers would expect workers to do the work that is set before them. While organizational management practice is a perfectly typical method of getting results through others during the early days of the assembly line and scientific management, the trend has changed management expectations in that they expect more from its workers than doing simply what is set before them. More is expected from workers as they are required to work according to the direction of the boss. However, with the rise of participative management and with increasing recognition employees often have something valuable to contribute. Many organizations are now seeking ways of getting employees to participate more in decisions that affect them. The workers expect to be asked how he\she feels about his\her job and his\her ideas are on how the work can be done more easily, better and quicker. The reason for this change is that management has discovered that there are tangible business values in appealing and using the ideas of people at all levels in the organization. However, the main objectives of every business organization are long term survival and in addition to having a competitive advantage over and above its competitors. The increase in productivity can only be achieved through the organizational workforce. It starts with the improvement of individual self-worth, self-esteem and helping an employee to develop a higher degree of self-regard. Employee participation in decision making has been recognized as managerial tools for employees' productivity by striving for the shared goals of employees and managers. Decision making is, however, one of the most important demands of management. It has been the preoccupation of all the management of the multifarious organization to multinational corporations. Employee participation is a joint decision making between managers and subordinates (Locke and schweiger,1997), and the involvement of employees in decision making is concerned with shared decision making in the work situation (Mitchell 1973 (2013), cited in Ojokuku and Sajuyigbe (2014), says that employees' participation in decision making has become a significant topic in human resource management and is regarded as one of the major ingredients of employees to which management scholars have observed to be a growing management concept. Thus the involvement of workers in decision making is considered as a tool for motivation in workers leading to positive work attitude and high productivity (Noah, 2008). The author argued that employee involvement in decision making serves to create a sense of belonging among the workers as well as a suitable environment in which both the management and the workers voluntarily contribute to healthy industrial relations. In essence, worker's participation in management decision making will reduce industrial or organizational conflict, raise workers' productivity, ensure rapid grievance procedure and motivate workers (Adewumi,1997). It is observed that decision making and participatory management in Nigeria, has come a long way. However, employee participation in decision making in Nigeria has become a debate whether or not it exists because authors in Nigeria are of the view that it does not exist, but in few cases was it partially exists, it is not willingly welcomed by the management or well-practiced in the organization. The reason deduced for this is predicated on Nigeria's underdeveloped state, inexperience in the democratic process, political instability and economic instability caused by the frequent change in economic policy by the federal government hence the negative attitude to work by Nigerian workers.
The negative attitude of Nigerian workers to work does not encourage participatory management, they are more interested in what they will get from the employer in terms of salaries and other employee benefits and not the job itself. Such an attitude definitely cannot give rise to effective participation. One of the problems is anchored on the feeling of managers that the right to the decision-making process is their exclusive official right. As a result, such assumed exclusive rights should be protected. This precludes the employees from decision-making inputs given that employees are not incorporated in the development of the mission statement, determination of bonus/benefits pay determination, promotion, and establishment of policies and procedures.
In the light of the above, the study seeks to examine the effect of employee participation in decision making on workers' productivity in higher institutions using the staff of Federal University Ndufu-alike Ikwo and Ebonyi State University as study unit. However, the following specific objectives were formulated for the study: 1.To determine the extent to which employees participate in developing the mission statement enhances employees' productivity. 2. To ascertain the influence of employee's participation in policies and procedure formulation on employees' productivity.
3. To ascertain the extent to which employees participate in bonus/benefit determination will enhance employees' productivity. found out that when an employee feels connected to the mission of their organization, they bring more of themselves to their work. It elevates an employee's dedication to finding realistic and creative solutions to your organization's problems. There is no more powerful way to motivate ones employees than by connecting with their values. When employees feel aligned to a company's mission, they are in return more engaged, passionate and ultimately productive. And it's not just any kind of productivity; it is the kind that has purpose.

HO1:
Employee participation in developing the mission statement does not have any significant influence on employees' productivity.

Policies/Procedures and Workers Productivity
Employee participation in mission formulation inevitably gives them the opportunity to participate in policy formulation. This is because the policy of an organization provides the premises upon which its mission may be executed. The organization's policy is supported by rules, regulations and procedures for the accomplishment of the mission. It is against this scenario that the participative model of management supports team involvement in the designing of such rules. Vander Westhuizen (1995) cited in Mvelo Mchunu (2010, indicates that collective formulation of the policy and the rules that support it ensures employee commitment to the rules and procedures that support the Policy. It also ensures successful delegation of duties and authority.
HO2: Incorporating employee in the establishment of policies and procedure does not have any significant influence on employees' productivity.

Incentive Determination and Workers Productivity
According to Lisa McQuerrey (2017), incentives are used by organization to encourage, recognize and reward exceptional performance in their employees. Incentive surpass standard salary and benefit agreements and usually are given in the form of cash bonuses, extra paid vacation days or gift items of non-monetary value. When employee participates in deciding the bonus and incentives that will motivate them, there is every likelihood that they will perform better and their productivity will significantly increase.
HO3: Employee participation in bonus/benefit determination does not have any significant influence on employees' productivity.

Theoretical Framework
This study hinges on Management by Objective (MBO). The principle of Management by Objectives (MBO) was first developed by Peter Drucker in 1954 in his book ''the practice of management''. Management by Objective is the process of defining specific objectives within an organization that management can convey to organization members, then deciding on how to achieve each objective in sequence. It is the process of employers attempting to manage their subordinates by introducing a set of specific goals that both the employee and the company strive to achieve in the near future and working to meet those goals. Management by Objective is a management model that aims to improve performance of an organization by clearly defining objectives that are agreed to by both management and employees. According to the theory, having a say in goal setting and action plans should ensure better participation and commitment among employees as well as alignment of objectives across the organization. He suggests that objectives should not be imposed on subordinates but should be decided collectively by a concerned with the management. This concentrates attention on the accomplishment of objectives through participation of all concerned person. It is participative and democratic style of management. Here extensive scope is given to subordinates with higher statues and participative roles.

Empirical Review
Many scholars have talked about employees' participation in decision making and its effect on organizational productivity. A study by Cook (2008) suggests that organizations that engage its employees in decision making outperform their competitors in terms of performance, productivity and profitability. The study emphasizes that in the case of public higher institution, employee participation will result to the delivery of quality services to the students and it will improve the number of graduates (productivity). Shelley (2000)  suggest that employees may work harder if they share in decisions that affect them, while the enterprise will operate more efficiently. Engaged employees give more of what they have to offer, and they are more productive. A study by Ezennaya (2011) investigated employee participate in decision making and its impact on productivity: An appraisal of government printing press and two other private publishing firms in Enugu. The study made use of frequency and chi-square. It revealed that participation in decision making does not involve participation at all levels of management. The study also found out that participative management increases productivity. Owolabi and Abdul-Hameed(2011) study on employees' involvement in decision making and firms' performance in the manufacturing sector in Nigeria. The study made use of descriptive statistics, product moment correlation, regression analysis and Z-test. The study found out that there is a significant different between the performance of firms whose employee involvement in decision making are deep and the performance of firms whose employee in decision making are shallow. Also Tchapche(2013) investigated the impact of employee participation in decision making on faculty productivity at a university of technology in the Western Cape, South Africa. The research found out that employee participation has a positive impact on the faculty's effectiveness, efficiency and productivity. A study by Isichel and Damachi (2015) on employees' participation in decision making in the hospitality industry in Nigeria. The study made use of linear correlation and regression analysis. The study concludes that employee's participation in decision making impacts the performance of hostels in Nigeria positively. Zubair, Bashir, Sajjad, Baig, and Hassan(2015), employee's participation in decision making and manager's encouragement of creativity; the mediating role of climate for creativity and change. The study made use of regression. The study revealed that employee's productivity was positively related with employee's participation in decision making. Ojokuku and Ademola (2014) in their study investigated the effect of employee's participation in decision making on performance of selected small and medium scale enterprises in Lagos, Nigeria. The study used product moment correlation and simple regression analysis. The result shows that employee's participation in decision had significant positive impact on organizational performance in the small and Medium Scale Enterprises(SMEs). According to the study conducted by Jules (2014), participation of employee's in decision making in public enterprises: A case study of Rwadan communication enterprises. The study made use of Chi-square and descriptive statistics. It revealed that the participation in decision making is very low and only senior managers have access to participate in the decision making process. Mvelo Mchunu (2010) study in his study investigated the impact of employee participation in decision making in Engen. The study used non-probability sampling. The study suggests that the employee and Engen are satisfied with employee participation in decision making. Issifu, Amadu, Abdulai and Shafiwu (2014), participatory decision making and employee productivity: A case study of Community Bank in the upper East region of Ghana. The study made use of Chi-square. It found out that when employees participate in decision making in the various forms, decision implementation becomes easy, creates good working environment, increases commitment and satisfaction on decision taken and increases employee's moral since they feel recognized.

Method
This study adopted descriptive survey design and co-relational survey design to elicit the characteristic features of the respondents and as well find out the influences and associations between the variables under study. Eheduru (1995) in Nwosu (2014) define research design as the specification of method and procedure for acquiring the information needed for the research while descriptive survey research design according to Oso andOnen,(2009) in Nwosu (2015) is the systematic collection of data in standardized form from an identifiable population or representative.
Primary data was collected with the use of pre-tested and structured questionnaire administered on the respondents. The research studied two universities located in Ebonyi state which comprises both a federal and a state owned universities. The population of the study consists of the total staff of the two (2) selected universities employees. Random sampling technique was adopted because it gives every unit in the population the equal chance of being selected in the sample. A 5 point likert scale was used to design the questions and the scale ranged from very low, low, high, to very high scaling on a power of 1 to 5 point. The copies of questionnaire were self-administered on the respondents that satisfy the critical elements of the sample. The researcher shared the questionnaire in the offices of the target population which facilitated very high respondent rate. Proportionality formula is further used to give a proper representation of the two (2)  Source: Microsoft SPSS The descriptive statistics on employees' participation in mission statement is shown in table1a. The mean score for all the measuring variables shows that respondents agree and support all facts raised. On the 5-point scale, the mean score that ranges from 3.02 to 3.29 is significantly positive while the standard deviation for all the items revolves between 1.342 and 1.512 is very good. Therefore we conclude that employee participation in formulation of mission statement has positive effect on employees' productivity.  Table 2a shows descriptive statistics to test employees' involvement in organizational policy and procedure development. The mean score for all the measuring variables which ranges from 2.72 to 3.37 is significantly positive while the standard deviation for all the items revolves between 1.227 and 1.464 is very good. Therefore we infer that employees' involvement in organizational policy and procedure development has positive effect on employees' productivity. The descriptive statistics on employees' participation in bonus/benefit is shown in table 3a. The mean score for all the measuring variables shows that respondents agree and support all facts raised. On the 5-point scale, the mean score that ranges from 3.23 to 3.41 is significantly positive while the standard deviation for all the items ranges between 1.147 and 1.408 is very good. Therefore we conclude that employee participation in planning for bonus and fringe benefits has positive effect on employees' productivity.

HO1:
Employee participation in developing the mission statement does not have any significant influence on workers' productivity.      Source: Microsoft SPSS a. Productivity b. Dependent Variable: employee participation in bonus determination helps to encourage workers to put in more efforts

4.3: Discussion of findings
The study was carried out to determine the effect of employee participation in decision making on employees' productivity. Three hypotheses were tested and the finding is as follows:

Hypothesis One
The r 2 =0.537. This implies that 53.7% of the dependent variable (workers' productivity) is explained by all the items in the independent variable (Encouraging employees to contribute in mission statement). Employee participation in mission statement development helps to encourage employee to put in more efforts at work, encourages workers put in more hours of work, and enhances efficient utilization capital of materials by employees.
The F statistics is greater than 1.96 which means that the model is statistical significant and the probability is less than 0.05 which indicates that there is goodness of fit.
Encouraging employees to contribute in mission statement development to enhance workers' productivity is related to Employee's participation in mission statement development to foster employee commitment whereby an increase in Encouraging employees to contribute in mission statement development to enhance workers' productivity will increase Employee's participation in mission statement development to foster employee commitment. The t-statistics is less than 1.96 which means that encouraging employees to contribute in mission statement development to enhance workers' productivity is insignificant in determining Employee's participation in mission statement development to foster employee commitment. The significant level is greater than 0.05.
Employee participation in mission statement development to encourage employee to put in more efforts at work is positively related to Employee's participation in mission statement development to foster employee commitment whereby a decrease in Employee participation in mission statement development to encourage employee to put in more efforts at work will increase Employee's participation in mission statement development to foster employee commitment. A one percent (1%) increase Employee participation in mission statement development to encourage employee to put in more efforts at work will increase Employee's participation in mission statement development to foster employee commitment by 32.9%. The t-statistics is greater than 1.96 which means that Employee participation in mission statement development to encourage employee to put in more efforts at work is significant in determining Employee's participation in mission statement development to foster employee commitment. The significant level is less than 0.05.
Participation of employee in mission statement development encourages workers to put in more hours of work is positively related to Employee's participation in mission statement development to foster employee commitment whereby a decrease in Participation of employee in mission statement development encourages workers to put in more hours of work will increase Employee's participation in mission statement development to foster employee commitment. The t-statistics is greater than 1.96 which means that Participation of employee in mission statement development encourages workers to put in more hours of work is significant in determining Employee's participation in mission statement development to foster employee commitment. The significant level is less than 0.05.
Allowing employee to participate in mission statement development to enhance the chance of workers efficient utilization of capital materials is positively related to Employee's participation in mission statement development to foster employee commitment. The t-statistics is greater than 1.96 which means that allowing employee to participate in mission statement development to enhance the chance of workers effective utilization of capital materials is significant in determining Employee's participation in mission statement development to foster employee commitment. The significant level is less than 0.05.

Hypothesis Two
The r 2 =0.512. This implies that 51.2% of the dependent variable (worker's productivity) is explained in all items in the independent variable (Involving the employees in the establishment of policies and procedure). Incorporation of employees in the establishment of the policies and procedure will help to improve workers job output, and help to reduce workers stress.
The F statistics is greater than 1.96 (13.926 >1.96) which means that the model is statistical significant and the probability is less than 0.05 and this indicates that there is goodness of fit.
Involving the employees in the establishment of policies and procedure to enhance workers punctuality is positively related to Incorporation of employee in the establishment of the policies and procedure to foster employees' commitment whereby a decrease in involving the employees in the establishment of policies and procedure to enhance workers punctuality will increase Incorporation of employee in the establishment of the policies and procedure to foster employees' commitment. The t-statistics is greater than 1.96 (2.091 > 1.96) which means that Involving the employees in the establishment of policies and procedure to enhance workers punctuality is significant in determining Incorporation of employee in the establishment of the policies and procedure to foster employees' commitment. The significant level is greater than 0.05.
Incorporation of employees in the establishment of the policies and procedure to improve workers job output is positively related to Incorporation of employee in the establishment of the policies and procedure to foster employees' commitment whereby a decrease in Incorporation of employees in the establishment of the policies and procedure to improve workers job output will increase Incorporation of employee in the establishment of the policies and procedure to foster employees' commitment. A one percent (1%) increase in Incorporation of employees in the establishment of the policies and procedure to improve workers job output will increase Incorporation of employee in the establishment of the policies and procedure to foster employees' commitment by 15.9%. The t-statistics is greater than 1.96 (2.876 > 1.96) which means that Incorporation of employees in the establishment of the policies and procedure to improve workers job output is significant in determining Incorporation of employee in the establishment of the policies and procedure to foster employees' commitment. The significant level is less than 0.05.
Incorporation of employee in the establishment of the policies and procedure to reduce workers stress is positively related to Incorporation of employee in the establishment of the policies and procedure to foster employees' commitment. The t-statistics is greater than 1.96(2.192 > 1.96) which means that Incorporation of employee in the establishment of the policies and procedure to reduce workers stress is significant in determining Incorporation of employee in the establishment of the policies and procedure to foster employees' commitment. The significant level is less than 0.05.

Hypothesis Three
The r 2 = 0. 524. This implies that 52.4% of the dependent (employees' productivity) is explained by all the independent (Employee participation in the planning of pension/fringe benefit). The scheme encourages an increase in worker's input, putting in more effort by employees, and enhances the motivation of workers to be effective.
The F statistics are greater than 1.96 (39.428 >1.96) which means that the model is statistically significant and the probability is less than 0.05 and that this indicates the goodness of fit.
Employee participation in the planning of pension scheme to encourage an increase in worker's input is positively related to employee participation in bonus determination to encourage workers to put in more efforts whereby a decrease in Employee participation in the planning of pension scheme encourages an increase in workers input will increase. The tstatistics is greater than 1.96 (2.628 >1.96) which means that Employee participation in the planning of pension scheme to encourage an increase in worker's input is significant in determining employee participation in bonus determination to encourage workers to put in more efforts. The significant level is less than 0.05.
Incorporation of the employee in bonus determination to enhance the motivation of workers to be effective is positively related to employee participation in bonus determination to encourage workers to put in more efforts whereby a decrease in Incorporation of the employee in bonus determination to enhance the motivation of workers to be effective will increase employee participation in bonus determination to encourage workers to put in more efforts. The t-statistics is greater than 1.96 (3.344 >1.96) which means that the Incorporation of the employee in bonus determination to enhance the motivation of workers to be effective is significant in determining employee participation in bonus determination to encourage workers to put in more efforts. The significant level is less than 0.05.
Allowing employees in the determination of their gratuity to enhance job performance is positively related to employee participation in bonus determination to encourage workers to put in more effort. The t-statistics is greater than 1.96 (5.041>1.96) which means that Allowing employees in the determination of their gratuity to enhance job performance is significant in determining employee participation in bonus determination to encourage workers to put in more efforts. The significant level is less than 0.05.

Conclusion and Recommendation
Employee participation in decision making has been out to have a significant effect on employees' productivity, commitment and attitude toward work. Therefore, employee participation in decision making should be seen as an unavoidable tool in any organization. In this study, some recommendations have been made to increase the importance and benefits of employee participation in decision making. It is evident that almost all of the respondents believe that employee participation has a positive effect on the workers' effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity. The researcher, therefore, recommends that 1. The management of the institutions should continue to allow employees to participate in the decision-making process. This, as can be deduced from the responses of the respondents that decision making will make them render services of good quality and rendering services of good quality, will have a positive effect on the effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity of the institutions. 2. The management should always allow the employee to participate in decision making because it fosters commitment. 3. The management should allow employees to participate in decision making because it motivates them to be more effective.