CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.

0 Background to the Study This study is part of the ongoing contributions to the subject of alignment of HR practices with organization missions and goals. Recent studies have confirmed that the survival of any organization is hinged on its ability to fully realize the potential of its human capital. According to the study by Shah and Bandi (2000) HR practices has to be focused on the core asset of human capital so as to enhance the capabilities of organizations in the knowledge intensive IT enabled services in India. Bontis (2006) empirically studied 38 software development organization of Egypt and found a positive correlation between human capital and organization performance. Organizations are slowly dawning to the realization that most people will only give their very best when they feel they are being adequately rewarded and valued for their work. Over the last ten years, the noise about scarcity of talent has reverberated until it has reached an all time high; escalating into the now famous talent war where people with valuable skills are being traded in the talent open market(Simpson, 2009:8). Organizations are currentlyfaced with extremely pricey talent, less focus on people development and fewer people willing to give that extra to win(2009:9). According to Okeakialam(2011:4), the differentiating factor between a high performance culture and no performance culture is when people are enthusiastic about contributing to the organization rather than giving minimal service out of merely doing a job. Organizations , no matter how small, have some functions to perform. They exist because certain objectives have to be achieved by them, and these organizations differ from place to place. However, they have some factors that are common to them. The factors according to Robbins and DeCenzo (1998) include people, objectives and structure. Therefore organizations are made up of people who are individual members of the society. Individuals, with different perceptions, learning, experience

and attitude to their working world are a central factor of any organization. The success of any organization largely depends on the effective management of people, their commitment and their involvement with the organization. The management of any organization involves many activities and the most essential ingredient of any organization is the ability to handle people effectively(Okubanjo, 2001). It is obvious from this point of view that without people there cannot be any organization and no meaningful activity could take place, for behind every action or document in an organization, there are people. People being referred to here are the individual members of the organization, who are very important to an organization and necessary in any setting whether acting in isolation or as part of a group. In response to expectations of the organization, or because of the external environment, people significantly differ from one another. Each has unique perception, personality and experience from life events. They have different ethnic backgrounds, different capabilities for learning and for handling responsibilities; different attitudes, beliefs and aspiration levels(Okubanjo, 2001). Human resources managers, therefore, need to be aware of various factors affecting individual behavior and making them different from one another within the organization. The focus on the individual largely differentiates employee engagement from other related constructs in organization behavior. Employee engagement has been defined and operationalized in many ways and researchers agreed that engagement can take different forms and that it is a complex construct(Meyer, Allen and Smith 1993; Mottaz 1998). According Saks (2006) practitioners and academics tend to agree that

consequences of employee engagement are positive. Moreover there is a general belief that there is a connection between employee engagement and business results (Harter et al, 2002:272). It must be noted, as earlier pointed out, that enagagement is an individual level construct and if it does lead to business results, it must first impact individual level outcomes(Kular et al, 2008:11). This consequently leads to the expectation that employee engagement is related to individuals attitudes,

intentions, and behaviours (2008:11) but then there is need to draw the line between employee engagement and similar organizational behavior constructs. Saks(2006) argues that organizational commitment differs from engagement in the sense that it refers to a persons attitude and attachment towards their organization, whilst an it could be argued that engagement is not merely an attitude but it is the degree to which an individual is attentive to their work and absorbed in the performance of their role in addition, while Organizationally Committed Behaviour involves voluntary and informal behaviours that can help co-workers and organization, the focus of engagement is ones formal role performance rather than purely extra-role and voluntary behavior. This view is also shared by Robbins et al (2004) by arguing that engagement contains many of the elements of both commitment and OCB but is by no means a perfect match with either. In addition, neither commitment nor OCB reflect sufficiently two aspects of engagement its two way nature and the extent to which engaged employees are expected to have an element of business outcomes. No doubts business leaders face certain workforce challenges which have great impact on business bottom-line. The Key workforce challenges in achieving organizational goals are as follows according to Kenny Ong(2011:3), former Vice President, CNI Holdings, Malaysia: Right person, wrong job[5%] Wrong person, right job[20%] Wrong person, wrong job[1%] Right person, right job but managed wrongly[74%]

The above is a pointer to the strategic importance of how people are managed on the job and it is no longer news that employee engagement is one of themost powerful deciding factors either in delivering excellent business results or in determining a companys demise. According to the Gallup

organization (2010:4), the worlds top-performing organizations understand that employee engagement is a force that drives performance outcomes. In the best organizations, engagement is more than a human resources initiative- it is a strategic foundation for the way they do business. This probably led Okeakialam(2011, p.5) to see a high performing organization as one where people can develop and contribute to their fullest potential, which indicates that performance is directly tied to employee. The significant issues that have confronted businesses in the last two or three decades is the increasing role of human capital as a key component of competitive advantage. Invariably other issues like changing regulatory environment, corporate re-engineering, creative destructions in especially the IT industry[to borrow Schumpeters popularized concept] and the ripple effects in the new media and financial industries have more than any other secured the place of people as a determinant of organizational performance. As a result of these, this study is concerned generally with the role human capital play in business performance and particularly with the relationship between employee engagement and business outcomes. Research suggests that many companies are not succeeding and a huge percentage of engine-room employees are disengaged(Haygroup,2001:8). Issues like Job burnout in contrast to vigour and passion for a job within a typical organization has been increasing over the years(Bayram et al,2010). Job burn out according to Maslach, Shaufelli and Leiter(2001) has three dimensions: exhaustion, cynicism and inefficiency. These situations have increasingly led to companies seeing people as a source of competitive advantage. Accordingly if people are a key source of competitive advantage, their engagement and performance levels can make any organizations strategy(Haygroup,2001:10). The study by Hay Group defined engaged performance as a result that is achieved by stimulating employees enthusiasm for their

work and directing it toward organizational success [and] this result can only be achieved when employers offer an implicit contract to their employees that elicits specific positive behaviours aligned with the organizational goals(Haygroup,2001:5) 1.1 Statement of Problem The Nigerian banking industry has witnessed a lot of turbulence in recent times. This, to much an extent, was due to banking sector reforms which led to consolidation of banks during the 2004-2007 period and the recent banking reforms which started after the global financial crises of 2008-2009 and which led to the summary acquisition of troubled banks by the government through the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2009. The reforms in the banking sector also led to the creation of special purpose vehicle that will enable the government to intervene in the sector and thereby ensure the stability of the financial system. The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) acquired toxic assets of banks and also managed the nursing back to financial health of the troubled institutions. These reforms had largely resulted in the employment of downsizing, pay-cuts, staff rationalizing to keep the financial institutions lean and mean. These measures had however resulted in the unintended consequences of creating uncertain employment future, low morale and general unsatisfaction within the sector. These consequences had started impacting on customer relations and business performance. It must be noted that researches have been conducted to find the causes of the problems in the Nigerian banking sector, no research work had tried to link employee engagement with business outcomes as other factors are mostly advanced for the favourable and unfavourable business outcomes. The high cost of doing business in Nigeria, the comatose level of social infrastructure and the general uncertain politico-economic environment have been related to business outcomes in Nigeria. For example the series of robbery events which targeted banks in many States in Nigeria this year had led to summary and temporary closing down of affected branches and this now doubt

will have significant impact on business performance of the affected banks. To much focus on the above challenges had obscured the role played by employee engagement in achieving business outcomes. Research done by Parasuraman and colleagues (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1988) serves as the foundation for the framework linking service quality, satisfaction and behavioral intention of customers. Frontline employees represent the organization and play a pivotal role in the employeecustomer interface. In other words service employees tend to the direct link between an organizationals goals and operational missions and the customers. However, while it is important to gain the perspectives of customer on satisfaction levels of service delivered, it is equally essential to essential to examine employees perceptions of organizational strategic practices to see how this related to their levels of engagement which helps to promote service quality (Johnson, 2011:37). Therefore since the tendency for most studies is to use the customers perspectives to gain insights into level of service quality, the problem which this study set out to solve is firstly linking employee engagement with service quality excellence. Secondly the study used employees perspectives to know if engagement can be used as antecedents to service quality excellence in financial services organizations. 1.2 Research Objectives This study has the general objective of investigating the effect of employee engagement on business outcomes in the Nigerian banking industry by using Access Bank Plc as case study. Importantly the study aims at: 1. examining the state of employee engagement in the Nigerian Financial industry. 2. Identifying the role of human resource management practices and employee engagement play as driver of service quality.

3. Contributing to the present scholarship on employee engagement and business performance management. 4. Documenting and sharing knowledge of best practices as far as HR functions and policies are concerned in Nigeria. 5. Understanding the effectiveness of employee engagement measures at bringing about desired customer-service oriented attitudes. 1.3 Research Questions The study provided answers to the following questions: What is the relationship between employee engagement and service excellence? To what extent does employee engagement constitute the antecedent of service quality excellence? 1.4 Scope of the Study The Study is strictly focused on identifying and measuring the variables of employee engagement and examining their effects on service quality. The study is however limited to the activities of Access Bank Nigeria Plc. in the financial years 2009 to 2010.

1.5 Significance of the Study There are both theoretical and practical aspects regarding the significance of conducting a research study of this nature. The outcomes of this research will improve the understanding of the relationship between employee engagement and business outcomes in the Nigerian banking industry. The theoretical significance of the study is demonstrated by the fact that it would contribute to the existing knowledge and literature on people management and organizational development. Stemming from this, evidence-based recommendations will be made so as to facilitate better strategies and policies aimed at creating and sustaining high performing businesses. From the practical point of

view, this study will aid practitioners of strategic human resource management by contributing to their knowledge on best practices in the linking human resource with the organization strategy. 1.6 Background /Business Context of Access Bank Plc Access Bank Plc is a Nigeria-based bank, engaged in the provision of money market activities, retail banking, granting of loans and advances, equipment leasing, corporate finance and foreign exchange operations. The Bank operates four business segments: Institutional Banking, which provides banking products and services to corporate organizations; Commercial Banking segment provides commercial banking products and services to the middle and retail segments of the Nigerian market; Investment Banking division offers financing and risk management solutions and advisory services for the Banks corporate and institutional customers, and Retail Banking segment provides private banking services, private customer current accounts, savings accounts deposits, investment savings products, custody, credit and debit cards, and customer loans. The Bank has nine foreign and three local subsidiaries include, among others, Access Bank (Gambia) Limited and Access Bank (Sierra Leone) Limited. The bank operates within the Nigerian financial system comprises several financial institutions, instruments and operators. These institutions include the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMF) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which are the major regulatory bodies. Others are the commercial banks, development banks such as the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigerian [FMBN], the Bank of Industry [BOI] among others. The banking Ordinance of 1952 was the first legal instrument that shaped the operation of banking business in Nigeria (Ekezie,1997). Prior to the ordiance, the era of 1892-1952 has been referred to the freebanking era. According to Ekezie:

Since anybody could go into a banking business only by having a company registered as a limited liability company under the companies act. It was an era without any banking legislation. Many banks opened their doors to the public, collecting deposits during this period, only to close their doors, after a few years [some ,one year] of operations against their depositors. Thus, this era was defined as an era during which money was thrown down the drains, especially through the establishment of indigenous banks. (Ekezie, 1997:128) The early 1990s witnessed reforms within the sector which led to gradual increase in the capital base of commercial banks from One billion naira in 1991 to the present 25 billion capital base. In their study, Inanga and Soyibo (1989) identified that the era of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) is characterized by shift from regulation to deregulation and this resulted in the second banking boom in the economy. As such the government assigned an increasing role to the market in the allocation of resources. Consequently this period has been identified with an increasing number of new commercial and merchant banks. According to Inang and Soyibo (1989), between 1986 and 1989, a total of 40 new commercial and merchant banks opened doors for business. One of such banks is the Access Bank Plc. At Present, the Access Bank Plc operates in an increasingly regulatory environment as the global financial crisis of 2008-2010 had demonstrated the need for increased regulation of the financial markets and indeed putting place mechanisms that will enhance government intervention so as to forestall a systemic collapse. 1.7 Need for the Study There is a general for a study of this proportion so as to empirically link employee engagement with service quality excellence in the financial services industry. Much of the studies on employee engagement had been from HRM consulting practitioners, hence the need to contribute to scholarly discourse on engagement.

There is particular need to examine the extent to organizational culture plays significant role in creating wellbeing in the workplace and an engaged workforce. 1.8 Structure of the Dissertation The first chapter introduced the study by providing the background to the study, statement of problem, research objectives and questions, scope and significance of the study, need for the study. The second chapter focused on the literature related to employee engagement in relation to the intellectual development of the concept, its related constructs and the differences. The chapter also examined the literature on service excellence and also hinged the study on the theoretical frameworks of organizational culture and social exchange. The third chapter is concerned with materials and methods. It included the introduction, research design, and population of the study, sampling and sampling technique, research instruments, procedure for data collection and method of data analysis. The fourth chapter analysed and interpreted the presented results of the study. It includes the general description of the data, presentation of results and discussion of findings. The fifth chapter summarized the findings of the study, inferred conclusion and provide recommendations based on the findings 1.9 Researchers Role The researcher is by no means connected to the Access Bank Plc as a staff or customer. The researchers role in this study is limited to requesting from the Human Resource director the permission to access the companys files and records in terms of labour relations. However the request was denied on the grounds of confidentiality. The researchers role in the study was largely limited to data collection with research instrument and analysis of such.

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2.0 Introduction Relevant literature materials of theoretical as well as empirical importance are reviewed in this chapter. It must be noted that employee engagement has received significant attention of human resource management scholars and practitioners but there is still need for a sustained query of its fundamental assumptions in the light of new evidences. 2.1 Review of Related Literature 2.1.1 Background Conceptual Issues According to Masson et al (2008), organizational researchers have long recognized that organizations cannot function through purely contractual relationships with employees. In their opinion, organizations require cooperation from employees rather than mere compliance. Strennel (1991) tested propositions concerning the relationship between organizational commitment, job satisfaction and perceived availability of alternative employment to intentions to leave or remain in child care work. Results indicated that commitment, satisfaction with pay and promotion opportunities and perceived job alternatives contributed significantly to variance in intention to leave. Surveys of 350 teacher trainees in Singapores training institution were used by Lam et al (1995) to examine relationships among quality of life, career commitment and job satisfaction amd withdrawal cognition. Career commitment and job satisfaction were important predictors of withdrawal cognition and perceptions of the social status of teaching strongly related to commitment to and satisfaction with teaching. Fresko and Barbara (1997) investigated a model for predicting commitment to teaching as measured by the extent to which Israeli teachers expressed an unwillingness to change careers. Surveys of

elementary and secondary teachers indicated that only job satisfaction directly predicted commitment; other factors such as professional self-image, abilities, gender, job advancement and pupil grade level indirectly predicted commitment. Billingsley and Cross (1992) indicate that work-related variables, such as leadership support, role conflict, role ambiguity and stress are better predictors of commitment and job satisfaction than are demographic variables. The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire was used by Sutter (1996) to survey 335 male and 81 female Ohio secondary assistant principals regarding predictors for job and career satisfaction. Respondents who believed they were accomplishing much on their jobs, their talents were being utilized and there were advancement opportunities, reported greater job satisfaction and therefore feel engaged. Women reported higher satisfaction than men. Friedman and Farber (1992) investigated the relationship between dimensions of teachers self concept and burnout and between teachers perception of of how significant others viewed them and burnout. Results indicated that teachers needed job satisfaction to avoid burnout. Teachers believed that others complicated their job failing to understand the complexity and stresses in teaching. Another determinant of employee engagement according to Schalkwyk, Du Toit, Bothma and Rothman (2010) is leadership empowerment behaviours. By focusing on the effect of the two aforementioned variables on employee engagement and intention to leave of employees working in a petrochemical laboratory, the study found out that engaging individuals at work plays important role in retaining them and also found out that there is no significant relationship between job insecurity and employee engagement while there is significant relationship leadership empowerment and engagement and low turnover intention. Swaminathan and Rajasekaran (2010) posited that engagement is the combination of job satisfaction, motivation and effectiveness in that order. Their views as related to job security seems to contrast

with , Du Toit, Bothma and Rothman (2010) above when they opined that the higher the job security, the more the willingness to continue work. In other words, job security is direct function of continued commitment. The study also has it that working hours schedule affect job satisfaction and the better the welfare facilities, the better contribution per employee. It must however be noted linking working hours schedule to job satisfaction is debatable and that the idea of better welfare facilities are part of Hertzbergs Hygeine (Hertzberg, 1959) factors which are dissatisfiers if not available but in way leads to higher satisfaction. The same also applies to job security which according to Hertzberg is an hygiene factor whose absence is a dissatisfier but presence not a satisfier. This is largely reinforced by , Du Toit, Bothma and Rothman (2010) which demonstrated no significant relationship between employee engagement and job insecurity. Other than commitment level, there are variables that can affect job performances and thus determines the level of employee engagement. These include availability of resources; time management skills and controls over the evaluated outcomes are some of these variables (Mayer and Allen 1997). It must however be noted that employee engagement as people management strategy involves direct and appropriate mix of different variables with the objective of producing favourable business outcomes. Along this line several scholars have paid attention to parts rather the whole of the system that make up the engagement strategy. For instance Bennett and Durkin (2000) focused on the impact environment on employee commitment and thus giving them more sense of involvement and consequently better satisfaction levels at work. According to them these characteristics are often able to depict variations in commitment among employee segments in organizations. They found out that organizational change significantly influences employee commitment to the organization, especially when the perceived values of the organization have changed. Maintaining and fostering commitment among employees during a period of radical change, according to some researchers, greatly contributes to speed and ease at which an

organizational transformation can occur.(Begley and Czajka 1993; Mowday 1982; Nijhof, de Jong and Beukhof 1998). The question, however, is that what strategy or practices is to be deployed to effect such commitment especially at a period of organizational transformations and turbulence as it is happening nowadays. This question formed the basis of Sardar, Rehman, Yousuf and Ajaz (2011) when investigation was carried out on the impact of HR practices on employee engagement in banking sector of Pakistan. The authors found out that HR practices of decision making/coordination, employee performance appraisals, performance reward systems, employee involvement, training and career development all influence employee engagement. Job satisfaction is part of employee engagement strategy which has the objective of alignining satisfaction with optimum performance and thus favourable business outcomes. Angle and Perry(1983) investiagated the effects of two forms of satisfaction: extrinsic and intrinsic on organizational commitment. The study, which was carried out among 1099 bus operators discovered that extrinsic satisfaction had a stronger effect on organizational commitment than intrinsic satisfaction. Angle and Perry explained that extrinsic rewards are more likely to be under the control of the organization. According to the norm of reciprocity, employees are prone to reciprocate in situations where the organization has the choice whether to grant or withhold rewards

(Gouldner,1960). Following this rationale, it would seem likely that extrinsic rewards, the award of which is at the discretion of the employer, constitute a dominant factor in influencing organizational commitment. In their analysis of Kosovo central public organizations that are in the process of privatization, Bytyqi and Reshani(2010) opined that job satisfaction and employee commitment is not a onetime process but changes constantly, especially when the organization deals with high level of employee work stress. According to them, work stress should not be taken for granted but pragmatic measures should be employed to deal with it and avoid eventual negative effect on both job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Organizations should help provide assistance

programs to help employees deal with work stress, by specifically helping them to live and deal with uncertain situations which are out of their control. In addition, it is very important to enhance employee empowerment and employee involvement by enabling them to have control over their work and letting them have input about the decisions made affecting their work. This view is also shared and supported by Lawler and Worley (2006) when according to them, for a high involvement work practice to be effective, and for it to have a positive impact on employee engagement, employee must be given power. They argued this will lead to having the ability to make decisions that are important to their performance and to the quality of their working lives. They further contend that that power can mean a relatively low level of influence as in providing input into decisions made by others or it can mean having final authority and accountability for their decisions and their outcomes. Involvement is maximized when the highest possible level of power is pushed down to the employees that have to carry out the decision, resulting in gaining the maximum level of encouragement possible for employees. 2.1.2 Employee Engagement: Conceptual Clarification For one thing, the discussion above has shown that there is no consensus as to what constitute the concepts of employee engagement and for another it had demonstrated its overlapping tendencies into related concepts, for example organizational commitment behavior. According to Kular et al(2008) , even though there is a great degree of interest in the subject, there is also a great deal of confusion. This perhaps, led Masson et al (2008) to admit that there is need for common frameworks for understanding what enagagement enatails(and what it does not) so as to ensure that studies of its consequences and antecedents are comparable and complementary. In their words to monitor and manage levels of engagement in the workplace, however, practitioners would benefit from a better developed measures of engagement and more complete understanding (2008:7).

The earliest work on employee engagement was Kahn(1990). By addressing a theoretical framework of personal engagement and disengagement, he defined engagement as a separate concept by using research and thereby conceptualized that the domains of meaningfulness, safety, and availability were important to understanding the development of engagement. According to him, personal engagement is the simultaneous employment and expression of a persons preferred self in task behaviors that promotes connection to work and to others, personal presence and active full role performances (1990:700). Maslach, Shanfeli and Leiter (2001) was the first major work on employee engagement after Kahn and is the other of the two early contributory theories on employee engagement. The Study pioneered reaching across academic boundaries for definitions of employee engagement and thereby conceptualizing the concept as the positive antithesis to burnout(Shuck and Wollard,2010). Employee engagement is defined as a persistent, positive, affective, motivational state of fulfillment in employees that is characterized by high levels of activation and pleasure (2001: 417). A further development in the employee engagement literature is the study by Harter, Schmidt and Hayes (2002) which examined the concept from the business unit level between the employee engagement satisfaction and business unit outcomes(profit). The study was one of the first to mention a profit linkage to employee engagement (Yousef, 2008). According to the study, employee engagement refers to individuals involvement and satisfaction with, as well as enthusiasm, for work(Harter et al, 2002:269). In 2002, May, Gilson and Harter published an empirical research testing Kahns(1990) conceptualization of employee engagement. The work did not explicitly define engagement but reference was made to Kahn(1990) as saying that in enagagement, people express themselves physically, cognitively and emotionally during role performances (May et al, 2004: 12).

Saks(2006) had been described as the first explicit research to test the antecedents and consequences to employee engagement in the academic literature (Yousef,2008). Prior to Saks (2006), practitioner research was the only body of work connecting employee engagement drivers to employee engagement consequences (Yousef, 2008:56). Saks defined employee engagement as a distinct and unique construct that consists of cognitive, emotional and behavioural components that are associated with individuals role performance (Saks, 2006:37). A further development in the body of work defining employee engagement is Macey and Schneider (2008). Shuck and Wollard, (2010) referred to it as the first to conceptualize trait and behavioural enagagement as separate but related constructs, presented in various organizational concepts that mignt feed the development of employee engagement within organizations. The study defined trait engagement as the inclination or orientation to experience the world from a particular vantage point (2008:5). Psychological engagement is defined as state antecedents to behavioural engagement , encompassing the constructs of satisfaction, involvement, commitment and empowerment (2008: 56). Behavioral engagement is defined in terms of discretionary effort (2008:7). In the light of the different positions by studies examined above, it is however difficult to pin down the concept of employee engagement to simple definition that will integrate every aspect of the metrics that any study of such concept can successfully measure. For instance, Thiagarajan and Remugadevi (2011) in their study identified what they called the nine factors that defines employee engagement as follows: Senior management has sincere interest in employee wellbeing. Company provides challenging work. Employees have appropriate decision-making authority Company cares a great deal about customer satisfaction

Employees have excellent career opportunities Company has a reputation as a good employer Employees work well in teams Employees have decision-making input Senior management communicates clear vision for long-term success.

The difficulty presented by the different, overlapping and related definitions and explanations of employee engagement makes this present study to adopt the definition advanced by Shuck and Wollard,(2010). According to them, employee engagement is an individual employees cognitive, emotional, and behavioral state directed toward desired organizational outcomes. (2010: 105). This definition is appropriate because it encompasses three important areas that will form the basis of metrics that can be used to measure impacts on business outcomes. 2.1.3 Employee Engagement and Environmental/ Situational Factors Several Studies had examined the relationship between employee engagement and environment factors. As mentioned earlier, hygiene factors are not the source of satisfaction but these issues must be dealt with first to create an environment in which employee satisfaction and motivation and consequently engagement is possible. The optimal work environment is one where the individual has a chance to make a difference on the job, experience new skills, exercise discretion, receive feedback on performance and thrive in an environment that is characterized by support, participation and equitable treatment. (Ebby et al. 1999; Hackman and Oldman, 1975 and 1976; Thomas and Velthous, 1990). Research has also shown that attitudes held by an individual about the environment are predictive of turnover behavior in that those who ultimately leave have less favourable attitudes than those who stay (Porter, Steer, Mowday and Boulain, 1974). Organizations have a vested interest in seeing that employees who stay do so because they are loyal to their institutions. One of the ways to

protect this interest is to provide a workplace that fosters employees affective commitment, which is a veritable indicator of an engaged workforce. According to Okubanjo (2000), building such an engaged workforce is no easy task as efforts can get gnarled in politics or sidetracked by changing aspirations of top management. For instance, patterns of employment, occupation and service in public organizations substantially differ from those of private or semi-public systems. In most countries wages of public servants are lower than those of private sector employees, promotion is slower and rewards are generally not related to work outcomes (Rainey, 1991). On the other hand, public organizations usually offer a stable work environment, higher job security and some even a challenge of serving a large and heterogenous population. Hence, the possible unique effect of internal politics on public agencies and public servants is still unclear and deserves more attention. Employees reactions to organizational politics in the public sector were examined in two ways. Previous studies, for example Bozeman et al. 1996, Cropanzano et al. 1997 predicted that organizational politics would be negatively related to job satisfaction, organization commitment and employee engagement. Researchers have also suggested that employee attitudes, including job satisfaction and intent to stay, are developed through interactions with other people ( for example, supervisors) within the context of the work environment (Salancik and Pfeifer, 1978; Naumann, 1993). This argument offer another explanation for how loyalty to supervisor will influence employees job satisfaction and intent to stay. According to the definition of loyalty to supervisor, if an employee is loyal to the supervisor, he or she will share similar values with the supervisor and will psychologically be attached to the supervisor (Chen et al. 1998). When interacting with this particular supervisor, the employee may feel the work experience is more satisfying. Thus the employee may develop a positive attitude toward the job or feel more satisfied with the job. On the other hand, should an employee should be loyal to the supervisor, by definition; he/she will be willing to stay with the supervisor (Chen et al. 1998), who is

the agent of the organization. As a result, the loyal employee may have a tendency to remain with the organization. Thus it can be said that leadership issues, a key environmental factor, constitute an important feature of an effective engagement strategy. In a study by Gustafson and Mumford (1995), personal style patterns and environmental constraints and opportunities of the workgroup were identifies by 367 Navy personel and 114 supervisors. Personal style predicted different job outcomes performance, satisfaction and withdrawal across the organization and within groups. Recognition of personal style and environmental patterns could enhance environment fit. Meir (1997) found that environmental congruence (fit between personality and environment) was modestly related to job satisfaction. The magnitude of the effect of importance of belonging to a group was considerably higher after several months. Jagger (1992) examined relationship between congruence (fit between personality and occupational choice) and job satisfaction of successfully rehabilitated vocational rehabilitation clients. He found significant positive correlation between job satisfaction and congruence. Findings suggest that rehabilitation counselor education programmes should provide counseling students with specific training in Hollands person-environment congruence model. Lauver and Kristof-Brown (2001) found a low correlation between person-job fit and personoccupation fit. Person-occupation fit better-predicted intention to quit, both types influenced job satisfaction and results supported distinction between the two constructs. Engagement is an emerging job attitude that has been theoretically linked to both leadership and personality variables as well as important work outcomes. However, given the variations in construct definitions of engagement as well as limited existing empirical research, Wefald, Reichard and Serrano (2011) empirically examined the nomological network of multiple measures of engagement

based on Schaufelis three-factor engagement, Shiroms vigor, and Britts one-factor engagement. Using data from an online survey of 382 working professionals, the authors conducted a series of hierarchical regression analyses and structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses. Results indicate strong relationships between engagement measures and personality (especially positive affect) and weaker relationships between engagement and leadership. Furthermore, multiple measures of engagement demonstrated significant relationships with the important work outcomes of turnover intentions, job satisfaction, and affective commitment. This research contributes to the literature on engagement by simultaneously examining multiple conceptualizations and measurements of work engagement and demonstrating leverage points for leaders to influence the state-like construct of engagement. Results suggested that engagement is related to important organizational outcomes and that engagement mediates the relationship between personality and organizational outcomes. 2.1.3 Service Excellence Businesses are waking up to the reality that after more than a decade of initiatives of managing quality and very few success stories, the main conclusion that has surfaced is that people are the key to both creating and sustaining quality. According to Peters and Austin (1994:98) irrespective of the state of technology, quality comes from people. Therefore customers perception of service value are increasingly recognized as central to an organizations continued success. According Kandampully and Coupolon () customers focus has shifted from the product and service obtained to that of the result achieved. Surprenant and Solomon, (1987) posits that service providers not only deliver and create the service but are often seen as synonymous in the eyes of the customer. Therefore in defining what constitutes service Parasuraman et al has it that the service product is described as an abstract and illusions construct due to the three inherent features unique to services: Intangibility, heterogeneity, and inseparability of production and consumption. (1985:72). Moreover

services are acknowledged as people intensive, rendering hitherto heterogeneity not only a unique characteristic (Sasser, 1976) but one that affects quality variation in almost all service output. In a study by Barsky and Labagh (1992), customers ranked employee attitude to be the most important and influential attribute of services. This view is also supported by Crotts and Ford, (2008) when it opined that the ultimate key to excellent service is the individual employee who delivers service to customers. Services are characterized by high degrees of person-to-person interaction. The strong relational bond between the service personnel and the customers renders the firm able to anticipate customers unexpressed needs. This emotional bonds leads the customer to buy repeatedly or exclusively from that service provider. Many services are designed to assist, serve, or fulfill customers personal needs and it is in such situations that the customer commonly seeks to establish and maintain a relationship with the service provider. The most important dimension in meeting customers expectations, the human elements of assurance, responsiveness, and empathy are the most important in exceeding customer expectations. (Parasuraman etal, 1991). Therefore exceptional services that leads to

customer delight require organizations to undertake a continous transformation of service, not in terms of what is being offered but rather how it is being offered. In relation to the above, Archie Hoschschild coined and popularized the phrase emotional labour in 1983 to describe the work service employees perform that goes beyond physical or mental duties. Kruml and Geddes (2000) has the opinion that emotional labour rests heavily on demonstrative behavior, for example making eye conact, delivering smiles and showing genuine concern for customers needs. Johanson and Hoods (2008) proposed that successful strategies to be used in identifying and developing the emotional element in service excellence are: recruitment and selection strategies; training and support strategies; empowerment. In relation to this view, Crotts and Ford (2008) cited above has it that underlying the concept of fit, congruence, consistency and alignment is a belief that a firm whose internal policies, procedures and systems are in alignment with its external

contingencies will perform better than one in which these features are not aligned. They therefore propose that management cannot make satisfied and committed employees unless policies and systems are aligned with ones mission and if what management says, writes or does is not aligned with the mission, then the employees attitudes and behaviours are not likely to be aligned either. Prabhu and Robson(2000) shared similar views when they commented that effective leadership via a senior management commitment is one of the most crucial factors in the implementation of change within an organization and without such a positive commitment, it is arguable that any strategy for change is likely to fail. On the whole, Khan and Matlay () opined that service excellence starts with caring for the employees of an organization and it should not be referred to as an approach or programme but as a continous journey to deliver high quality service. The question which the present study is confronting is that if service excellence is noted as an important source of competitive advantage in the service oriented industries, why has it being difficult to implement and achieve? 2.2 Theoretical Frameworks Social Exchange Theory [SET] This theory has its roots in the social psychology and sociological studies and it seeks to explain social change and stability as a process of negotiated exchanges between parties. The theory posits that all human relationships are formed by the use of a subjective cost-benefits analysis and the comparison of alternatives. The following are the basic concepts behind the theory: 1. Costs- They are the components of relationships that have negative value to a person such as the effort put into a relationship and the negatives of a partner (Costs can be time, money, effort )

2. Rewards- They are the elements of a relationship that have positive value and it can be sense of acceptance, support and companionships, to mention but a few. The theory argues that people calculate the overall worth of a particular relationship by subtracting its costs from the rewards it provides (Wikipedia, 2011). Therefore if worth is a positive number, it is positive relationship while a negative number points towards a negative relationship. Accord to the Wikipedia (2011), Social Exchange theory posits that the major force in interpersonal relationships is the satisfaction of peoples self interest and self interest is not considered necessarily bad and can be used to enhance relationships. (2011: para.4). Laura(2008) observes that social exchanges and economic exchanges have some level of differences. For instance social exchanges involve a connection with person and it has more to do with trust and less to do with legal obligations; social exchanges are more flexible, and rarely involve explicit bargaining (2008:18). Interpersonal exchanges are thought to be similar to economic exchanges where people are satisfied when they receive a fair reward for their expenditures. A major indicator of such fair rewards are benefits. Benefits are but not limited to things such as material or financial gains, social status and emotional comforts. In general, costs consist of expenditures of time, money or lost opportunities[opportunity costs]. As a rule, outcome is defined as the difference between the benefits and the costs (Wikipedia, 201). The following are the basic assumptions of the theory: Individuals have different expectations concerning relationships and an individuals satisfaction with a relationship depends on more than just the outcome. For any two people with the same outcomes, their level of satisfaction may differ based on their expectations: one person may not expect very large outcomes, and therefore would be more easily satisfied in relationships than someone who expects more. That is to say, there are people who stay in

unhappy relationships as well as those leave happy relationships, what determines whether an individual stays in a relationship or leaves is the set of alternate relationships available. If there are many alternatives available to an individual, then that individual is less dependent on the relationship. The situations are formalized thus: Satisfaction= Outcome Comparison Level [EquationOne] Dependence on a relationship= Outcomes Comparison Level of Alternatives[Equation Two] Outcomes= Benefits Costs [Equation Three] Source: Wikipedia(2011) Social Exchange Theory www.wikipedia.org/Soical-exchangetheory accessed and retrieved on 13th December 2011

Humans seek reward and avoid punishment (West, Turner and lynn, 2007) Humans are rational beings The standards that human use to evaluate costs and rewards vary over time and from person to person.

Relationships are interdependent and relational life is a process.

Applications of SET in Human Resource Management Research Wayne et al. (1997) used the perspectives of social exchange theory to examine the role of Perceived Organizational Support [POS] between leaders and members. The evidence from the study suggests that the relationship between leaders and members are positively related to organizational citizenships behavior and organizational performance. In other words, employees who regard advantages put forward by leaders as exchangeable, conditions to working well, thus contributing to organizational outcomes.

Asselage and Eisenberger (2003) identified that in the development of exchange relationships between employees and organizations, exchanging valued social and emotional resources is important. The study further opined that the contributions from one party to another are valuable in the exchange relations. Thirdly that procedural justice is regarded as an important antecedent of the relationship between high-quality employees and an organization (Asselage and Eisenberger, 2003:75). Scheins Theory of Organization Culture Organizational culture broadly refers to a relatively stable set of beliefs, values and behaviours commonly held by a group (Lim, 1995). According to Schein (1992) culture is the most difficult organizational attribute to change, outlasting organizational products, services, founders and leadership and all other physical attribute of the organization. It is a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaption and internal integration; that has worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems (Schein, 1992:12) The main reasons why cultures develop in organizations, according to Schein (1992:67) is due to external adaptation and internal integration. Scheins three cognitive levels of organizational culture shall the model of the study. According to Schein (1992) the first level of organizational culture model refers attributes that can be seen, felt and heard by the uninitiated observer collectively known as artifacts. This include facilities, offices, furnishings, dress code of members, visible awards, mode of interaction, slogans, mission, statements and creed. Artifacts comprise the physical components of the organization relay meaning. The second level relates to the values or professed culture of members. Information on both the first and the second and first level can be ferreted out with the use of questionnaire and this leads to an understanding of employee attitudes.

The third level of organizational culture relates to the tacit assumptions. These are elements of culture that are not seen and not cognitively identified in daily interactions of members. Those with sufficient experience in the organization and who could understand this level of culture usually become acclimatized to its attributes over time, thus reinforcing the invisibility. At this level, surveys and casual interviews with members cannot draw out these attributes. A much more indepth means is required to first identify and then understand organizational culture at this level.

2.3 Justification of the Study The literature materials reviewed above and the theoretical framework had demonstrated the gap in the scholarship. This gap is shown by the lack of firstly, adequate linkage between employee engagement and service quality. In other words, employee engagement has been largely treated as an end in itself even though most scholars and practitioners agree that business organizations will benefit immensely from an engaged workforce. In addition the reviewed materials had demonstrated the need for the present study in the sense that much work has been done on the linkage between employees engagement and business outcomes in the Nigerian context. On the whole this study will prove valuable by contributing firstly to the growing literature on employee engagement; demonstrate whether it is a mere fad or an important workforce and business development strategy; and finally provide insights from a Nigerian perspective.

CHAPTER THREE: MATERIALS AND METHODS 3.0 Introduction This section presents the research design, population and sample used and the sampling procedure , instrument development and data collection method. Also to be contained in this section is the method for data analysis. 3.1 Research Design The study employed the descriptive research design of ex-post facto type. This is because the variables being studied have already occurred . The task here is to see the extent to which the independent variables of independent variables of employee engagement indicators affect and influence the dependent variables of service quality excellence. 3.2 Population of the Study The target population of this study consists of all employees of Access Bank Nigeria Plc. 3.3 Sampling techniques and Sample 1. Sampling frame The sampling frame contains the basic details of all members of the population from which samples are to be drawn[Omotoso,2009]. The sampling frame for this study is the employee register of Access bank Plc. 2. Sampling Technique The Sampling technique adopted for this study is the stratified and random sampling technique. This is because of the study area, Access Bank Plc in Nigeria is structured along 100 branch network and hence the need for stratified sampling on branch basis and then

simple random sampling per branch. The participating Branches of the Access bank were selected based on the criterion of the proximity of each branch to at least three other Banks branches within a 300 metres radius. Consequently, 12 respondents per branch, were randomly selected from each branchs employee register in a sequence of the third nominal position after the previous. In all the sample consists of 120 respondents as the researcher thought that this is appropriate for the study location of Lagos, being the commercial capital of Nigeria. 3.4 Research Instrument The survey research instrument used for this study was an adaptation of Nigerias Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) employee engagement measurement into a service oriented structure. The CIPM measure fits into the HRM practices of Asset Bank and indeed the Nigerian Financial services industry. The design of the questionnaire included a first part that addressed the demographic issues, job descriptions and branch location. The questionnaire consisted 32 items and was structured in Likert Scale format so as to elicit the level to which respondents feel about a questionnaire item. 3.5 Validation and reliability of the instruments The research instrument was validated by the assigned project supervisor from Middlesex University Business School. The reliability of the instrument was ascertained through a pilot study made of 15 respondents. The pilot study revealed some internal validity problems and therefore necessitated the need for a new design of the questionnaire. 3.6 Process and Participants The participants in the research are made up of the permanent staff in the three departments of banking Operations, Marketing and Office support of Access Bank Plc. The permanent staff are those employees that works directly with the Bank, that is on payroll and have entitlement to other

benefits like housing, transport, health insurance, annual leave among others. The approval to administer the question on the staff was gotten from the Group Head, Human Resource Management, through the regional manager, Lagos 2. 3.7 Method of Data Analysis The Statistical Package for the Social Science [SPSSVersion 15] was used to analyze the collected data. The data was nominally code so as to facilitate input on the variable view. The analysis was achieved with the use of descriptive statistics, particularly measures of central tendencies, frequencies and simple percentages.

CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION OF RESULTS, DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 4.0 Introduction This chapter presents the results, data analysis and interpretation of results. The study set out to examine how well employee engagement can be linked with and drive service quality excellence in the Nigerian banking industry. The Data was collected on a branch by branch basis with the help of two research assistants employed by the researcher. The researcher also got permission from the Banks Director of Human resources to administer the questionnaire on the member of staff in the selected branches. It must be noted, however, that the Bank did not permit the employees to use work-time to answer the questionnaires but were encouraged to take the questions home so as to provide the answers. Access Bank Branches were selected based on the criterion of their proximity to at least three other Banks branches within a 300 meters radius. The reason for this criterion was to situate the study within a competitive context. On the whole, twelve branches in Lagos satisfied this criterion and ten employees per branch were sampled. The Collected data was analyzed through the use of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences [SPSS] Descriptive Statistics. The data was coded by the input of ordinal data. 4.1 Characteristics of the Respondents The overall number male respondents is 49 and the female respondents, 71. In other words, about 41% of the respondents are male. The age range of the respondents is between 22 years and 46 years. Of the total respondents, 23 responded YES to the question do you supervise any-one?. This shows that 80% of the respondents have non-supervisory role and therefore closer to the customers because of their frontline role.

4.2 Presentation of Results and Interpretation of Findings This section presents the results of the analyzed data. The researcher administered 120 questionnaires and the study recorded a hundred percent rate of completion and return. This was made possible by simplicity and understandability of the questions asked the relevance of the questions to the respondents experience. Importantly the researcher gave adequate to the respondents to fill the questionnaires and also followed up on them. Table 4.1 Descriptive Statistics Analysis of Result Variables Relationship between work and corporate goal Intention and ability to build career in the Bank The bank values hard work and Commitment among employees It is in the interest of employees that the Bank remain a going concern Organizational Advocacy level of balance btw organizational interest and Customer delight Empowerment to use discretion Empowerment to use discretion Grassroots ownership and contribution to business process Bank's employee welfare score Level of Trust that the organization has on its employees Business Process Technology Adequacy Customer Service Technology deployment level Technology Reliability as facilitator of efficiency Commitment towards Superior Customer Service Level of Employee Identification with Corporate Social Responsibilities Level of Employee involvment in CSR fomulation N-Valid 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 N Missing 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Median 1.0000 3.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 3.0000 3.0000 3.0000 3.0000 3.0000 5.0000 1.0000 2.0000 1.0000 2.5000 1.0000 2.0000 Mode 1.00 3.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 5.00 1.00 2.00 1.00 3.00 1.00 2.00

The Level of Value that Bank places on 120 Grass-roots opinion Relationship btw Supervisors and junior 120 colleagues Espirit De Corp 120 Physical Environment suitability 120 Opinion on fellow colleagues 120 Job-Ability Congruence 120 Professionl/Personal Development 120 Encouragement level Personal Development Opportunities 120 Intention to leave 120 Labour Market Opportunities 120 Human Resource Stategy 120 Competitiveness of Reward and Pay 120 Recruitment 120 Adequacy of Training and Induction at Entry 120 Employee Voice and Grievance Resolution 120 Mechanism Source: SPSS Analysis of Authors field Survey, 2012

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

3.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 2.0000 2.0000 2.0000 3.0000 5.0000 5.0000 1.0000 2.0000 2.0000 2.0000 1.0000

3.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 3.00 5.00 5.00 1.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 1.00

Question One: My work in this Bank is central to our customers financial well-being. Table 4.2Relationship between work and corporate goal Frequen cy Valid Percent 70.8 20.0 .8 8.3 100.0 Cumulative Percent 70.8 90.8 91.7 100.0

Percent

Valid Strongly 85 70.8 Agree Agree 24 20.0 Neutral 1 .8 Disagree 10 8.3 Total 120 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey 2012

Relationship between work and corporate goal

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree

Figure 4.1 Interpretation of Findings: From the figure and tables above, it has been shown that most respondents understand what is expected of them at the workplace and could connect their work with the corporate bottom-line, which is the customers financial well-being. . According to Wrzesniewski et al (1997) employees that can connect their work to a larger meaningful mission or purpose of the overall organization are likely to have higher levels of interest. This is much better when such interest is directed towards the customer. Question 2: I see myself working in this Bank in the next 3 to fives years with expanded roles and responsibilies. Table 4.3 Intention and ability to build career in the Bank Frequen Valid Cumulative cy Percent Percent Percent Valid Strongly 35 29.2 29.2 29.2 Agree Agree 20 16.7 16.7 45.8 Neutral 55 45.8 45.8 91.7 Disagree 10 8.3 8.3 100.0 Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey 2012

Figure 4.2

Intention and ability to build career in the Bank

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree

Interpretations of findings: Men and women do not come to work-places just to work as they also come there to make and build a career. However and as shown by by Kutty (2008:633), in most organizations, especially services, managements biggest challenge is how to kindle enthusiasm and get the silent at the branch office, call-centre or field level- to bring life into what they do . Tables 4.3 and 4.4 above shows that when asked about intention to build a career in the Bank, most respondents were neutral with only few disagreeing. This shows that the employees believe that there are opportunities to build a career in the Bank and perceive that there are such opportunities in the bank . A focus on achieving career outcomes is certainly far superior to just drifting as it lifts employees out of the inertia and dullness that would envelope them other otherwise. Question 3: The Bank values hardwork, goodwork and commitment and recognizes such when found in any member of staff.

Table 4.4The bank values hard work and Commitment among employees Frequen cy Valid Percent 54.2 45.8 100.0 Cumulative Percent 54.2 100.0

Percent

Valid Strongly 65 54.2 Agree Agree 55 45.8 Total 120 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey 2012 Figure 4.3

The bank values hard work and Commitment among employees

Strongly Agree Agree

Interpretation of Findings: Tables 4.6 and 4.7 above shows that at all the respondent agrees that the bank values hardwork, good-work and commitment and also recoginizes such. This shows that the Bank engage its employees by upholding procedural justice. According to Gaertner and Nollen (1998) the successful organization is likely to be one that can manage employment practices and perceptions of those practices by all groups of employees in a way that results in positive job related outcomes. Question 4: I understand that the failure of this Bank will affect me directly as our customers are protected by the government laws and provisions. Table 4.5 It is in the interest of employees that the Bank remain a going concern

Frequen cy Percent Valid Strongly Agree 72 60.0 Agree 30 25.0 Neutral 3 2.5 Disagree 10 8.3 Strongly 5 4.2 Disagree Total 120 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey, 2012

Valid Percent 60.0 25.0 2.5 8.3 4.2 100.0

Cumulative Percent 60.0 85.0 87.5 95.8 100.0

Interpretation of Findings: The tables and above shows the level of understanding of the responsibility of the employees to the Bank as an on-going concern. This is necessary as it influences the employees decision and action while on the job. The figure above shows that employees strongly agree to the view that they will be directly hit if the Bank should fail. Therefore this fact creates an high motivation for the employee identify with the corporate mission and goal. This is the task significance element of Hackman and Oldham (1975) three dimensions of meaningfulness of job. Question 5: It is not unusual for Staff members [including me] to brag about the bank being the best place to work and to do business. Table 4. 6 Organizational Advocacy Frequen cy Valid Percent 75.0 5.8 19.2 100.0 Cumulative Percent 75.0 80.8 100.0

Percent

Valid Strongly 90 75.0 Agree Agree 7 5.8 Neutral 23 19.2 Total 120 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey 2012

Interpretation of findings: The tables above show that employees of Access bank strongly agree that the bank is the best place to work and do business and they are ready to let others know this fact. Organizational advocacy is significant element of organizational citizenship behavior and it goes a long way in driving up service quality. The tendency of organizational citizenship behavior has been

directly linked with higher levels of engagement among employees according to Dyne and Graham (1994). Question 6 and 8: It is true that Customers are always right but I will be severely sanctioned if I violate rules and established procedures if I help a customer fix a legitimate problem and Even if it is to the ultimate benefit of the Bank, I will have no supervisor to back me up if I take a unilateral position in relation to a customers needs or problems : Table 4.7level of balance btw organizational interest and Customer delight Frequen cy Percent Valid Strongly Agree 8 6.7 Agree 2 1.7 Neutral 98 81.7 Disagree 3 2.5 Strongly 9 7.5 Disagree Total 120 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey, 2012 Table 4.8 Empowerment to use discretion Frequen cy Percent Valid Strongly Agree 4 3.3 Agree 16 13.3 Neutral 65 54.2 Disagree 20 16.7 Strongly 15 12.5 Disagree Total 120 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey,2012 Valid Percent 6.7 1.7 81.7 2.5 7.5 100.0 Cumulative Percent 6.7 8.3 90.0 92.5 100.0

Valid Percent 3.3 13.3 54.2 16.7 12.5 100.0

Cumulative Percent 3.3 16.7 70.8 87.5 100.0

Interpretation of findings: The two questions above were posed to test the level of power that employees enjoy to make decisions under uncertainty and also to balance organizational interest with customer delight. It must be noted that this situation carries an element of risk and it depends on the level of trust that the organization has in its workforce. The tables above shows that while employees while employees largely disagreed that they will be severely sanctioned if they violate rules and

established procedures to help a customer fix a legitimate problem and also disagree that in case of taking unilateral position in relationship to a customers need, they are however largely neutral in both cases. These show that the Bank largely empowers its employees to use their discretion on good judgment, while the employees are aware of this fact and would largely be guided by the situation on ground. According to Conger and Kanungo (1988), employee empowerment would be able to give employee a control over job related situation and decisions. Hartline et al(2000) submitted that with this control, employees are able to be flexible and adaptive in the face of changing customer needs and resulting in customer oriented behavior. Question 7: No matter the uniqueness of the situation, the standard rules apply at all times when dealing with customers. Table 4.8 Decision-making under risk and uncertainty Valid Cumulative Frequency Percent Percent Percent Valid Strongly Agree 8 6.7 6.7 6.7 Agree 2 1.7 1.7 8.3 Neutral 72 60.0 60.0 68.3 Disagree 25 20.8 20.8 89.2 Strongly 13 10.8 10.8 100.0 Disagree Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey, 2012 Interpretation of Findings: This questionnaire item was included with the sole purpose of reinforcing the response in question 6 and 7 as regards the degree of empowerment. The findings from the table above still affirmed the tendency in the last two questions, which suggests that employees either disagree or are largely neutral that the will not have organizational support if they take unilateral position in a situation of a customer need. This perhaps suggests that the type of customers needs will play a crucial role in this situation but they will have organizational support for their position. Organizational support goes a long way in engaging employees and thereby increasing service quality as employees are assured of support. Saks (2005) showed that perceived supervisor

support is antecedent of employee engagement and this can have significant impact customer service quality. Question 9 and 11: No matter our individual and collective resolve, suggestions and opinion in this branch office, the head-office always have its way at all times and going against the head-office is highly risky and It does not matter if the customer is delayed infinitely but when Im not certain about a situation, even if no harm will be done, I must refer the issue to my superiors as I cant use my discretion at all. Table 4.8Grassroots ownership and contribution to business process Frequen Valid Cumulative cy Percent Percent Percent Valid Strongly Agree 4 3.3 3.3 3.3 Agree 16 13.3 13.3 16.7 Neutral 65 54.2 54.2 70.8 Disagree 20 16.7 16.7 87.5 Strongly 15 12.5 12.5 100.0 Disagree Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey 2012 Table 4.9Level of Trust that the organization has on its employees Frequen Valid Cumulative cy Percent Percent Percent Valid Strongly Agree 2 1.7 1.7 1.7 Agree 8 6.7 6.7 8.3 Neutral 16 13.3 13.3 21.7 Disagree 9 7.5 7.5 29.2 Strongly 85 70.8 70.8 100.0 Disagree Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey, 2012 Interpretation of findings: Grass-roots ownership of business process initiatives is function of the level of trust that employers have on employees. The tables above shows that most of the employee were neutral when asked that No matter our individual and collective resolve, suggestions and opinion in this branch office, the head-office always have its way at all times and going against the

head-office is highly risky but vociferously disagreed that It does not matter if the customer is delayed infinitely but when Im not certain about a situation, even if no harm will be done, I must refer the issue to my superiors as I cant use my discretion at all. The fact that respondents were largely neutral to the first question shows that frontlline employees at the input into the overall direction of the organization in some situations which is supported and encouraged by the head office. This situation is called political will defined by Kutty (2008) as when people decide together to do things by coming together on a platfoam. The fact this was encouraged is in line with the principle of political authority which according to Kutty (2008) is the will of the authority to back and implement the collective decision. The second question shows the level of individual empowerment felt by employees and the fact that a majority strongly disagreed with the stated notion shows the degree of empowerment enjoyed by the frontline staff. According to Lawler and Worley(2006) for a high involvement work practices to be effective, and for it to have a positive impact on employee engagement, employees must be given power as they argued that this will lead to employees having the ability to make decisions that are important to their performance and to the quality of the of their working lives, thus engaging them in their works. They further contend that power can mean having final authority and accountability for decisions and their outcomes because involvement is maximized when the highest level of power is pushed down to the employees that have to carry out the decision, resulting in gaining maximum level of engagement possible from employees. Question 10: All that the Bank cares about is its profits and business position: Employees are just mere tools to achieve this objective. Table 4.9Bank's employee welfare score Frequen cy Percent Valid Strongly Agree 4 3.3 Agree 3 2.5

Valid Percent 3.3 2.5

Cumulative Percent 3.3 5.8

Neutral 69 Disagree 26 Strongly 18 Disagree Total 120 Source: Authors Field Survey, 2012

57.5 21.7 15.0 100.0

57.5 21.7 15.0 100.0

63.3 85.0 100.0

Bank's employee welfare score

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

Fig.4.11 Interpretation of Findings: Employee welfare is a significant component of the exchange that occurs within the employer-employee relationship. The Tables above shows that most employees see the Bank in a favouable light by either disagreeing with the question posed or being neutral.It must be noted that this is an issue that most employees will not endeavor to hide their feelings on.More on this will be discussed under reward and pay. Question 12, 13 and 14: The Bank has enough technology to complement my efforts of serving the customers and The customers are well motivated to use self-help technologies like ATM, Internet banking , Call-centres and The internet connection, software and hardware have always been reliable for my customer service operations. Table 4.11 Business Process Technology Adequacy Valid Frequency Percent Percent Valid Strongly 78 65.0 65.0 Agree Agree 42 35.0 35.0 Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey Table 4.12 Customer Service Technology deployment level

Cumulative Percent 65.0 100.0

Frequen Cumulative cy Percent Valid Percent Percent Valid Strongly Agree 38 31.7 31.7 31.7 Agree 45 37.5 37.5 69.2 Neutral 16 13.3 13.3 82.5 Disagree 9 7.5 7.5 90.0 Strongly 12 10.0 10.0 100.0 Disagree Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source:Authors Field Survey 2012 and SPSS Output Table 4.13 Commitment towards Superior Customer Service Frequen Valid Cumulative cy Percent Percent Percent Valid Strongly Agree 41 34.2 34.2 34.2 Agree 19 15.8 15.8 50.0 Neutral 42 35.0 35.0 85.0 Disagree 8 6.7 6.7 91.7 Strongly 10 8.3 8.3 100.0 Disagree Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Authors field survey, 2012 Figure 4.12

Business Process Technology Adequacy

80

60

Frequency

40

20

Mean =1.35 Std. Dev. =0.479 N =120 0 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50

Business Process Technology Adequacy

Figure 4.13

Customer Service Technology deployment level

50

40

Frequency

30

20

10 Mean =2.27 Std. Dev. =1.262 N =120 0 0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00

Customer Service Technology deployment level

Figure 4.14

Commitment towards Superior Customer Service

50

40

Frequency

30

20

10 Mean =2.39 Std. Dev. =1.252 N =120 0 0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00

Commitment towards Superior Customer Service

Interpretation of Findings: The findings from the tables and figures above shows that most employee agree that technology deployed to make their jobs easier is adequate, technology is well deployed to make customers help themselves. Job performance is enhanced when delays are

eliminated from business process. Basic needs in the workplace start with clarity of expectation and basic materials and equipment being provided. To some extent, when these needs are met, it reflects the credibility of the organization to the employee. Bart (1998); Bart, Bontis and Taggar (2001) submit that the degree to which an organization aligns its internal policies, structure and procedures with its mission was positively associated with employee behavior which in turn had the most direct relationship with financial performance. Question 15: I can call or call on a customer at my cost without option of reimbursement if a customer filled a request form wrongly or possibly might need a service. Table 4.12 Commitment towards Superior Customer Service Frequen cy Percent Valid Percent Valid Strongly Agree 41 34.2 34.2 Agree 19 15.8 15.8 Neutral 42 35.0 35.0 Disagree 8 6.7 6.7 Strongly 10 8.3 8.3 Disagree Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey, 2012
Histogram

Cumulative Percent 34.2 50.0 85.0 91.7 100.0

50

40

Frequency

30

20

10 Mean =2.39 Std. Dev. =1.252 N =120 0 0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00

Commitment towards Superior Customer Service

Figure.4.15

Interpretation of Findings: This questionaire item set out measure the degree of extra effort that employees are willing to take on behalf of the organization so as to influence the quality of service delivered. The tables above shows that employees are highly willing to go extra mile to deliver a superior customer service even if it will be at their cost. These finding tends to support the views o entrepreneurial orientation as a consequence of employee engagement. According to Dess and Lumpkin (2005) the five dimensions entrepreneurial orientation are innovativeness, proactivity, risk taking, competitive aggressiveness and autonomy while at individual level includes personal initiative ( Krauss, Fresse, Freidrich and Unger, 2005). The impact of entrepreneurial orientation is that it affects positively the organizations perception in the eyes of the customer. The entrepreneurial orientation is however a function of intrinsic motivation which according to Deci and Ryan (2005) as the desire to exert effort on a task in the absence of external constraints or contingencies. According to Gayne and Deci (2005) , it is promoted by both work contexts and individual

differences that foster feelings of competence, autonomy and relatedness. Question 16 and 17: The bank had always carried out genuine CSR that I really love and which keeps up with my beliefs and the aspirations of the external community and I have had opportunity to suggest CSR initiatives and even if my suggestions have not been adopted, I believe that mine will be adopted in future. Table 4.13Level of Employee Identification with Corporate Social Responsibilities Perce Cumulative Frequency nt Valid Percent Percent Valid Strongly Agree 72 60.0 60.0 60.0 Agree 38 31.7 31.7 91.7 Neutral 6 5.0 5.0 96.7 Disagree 2 1.7 1.7 98.3 Strongly 2 1.7 1.7 100.0 Disagree Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey, 2012 Table 4.14 Level of Employee involvment in CSR fomulation

Frequency Valid Strongly 23 Agree Agree 74 Neutral 23 Total 120 Source; Authors Field Survey, 2012 Figure 4.

Percent 19.2 61.7 19.2 100.0

Valid Percent 19.2 61.7 19.2 100.0

Cumulative Percent 19.2 80.8 100.0

Level of Employee Identification with Corporate Social Responsibilities

80

60

Frequency

40

20

0 0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00

Mean =1.53 Std. Dev. =0.809 N =120

Level of Employee Identification with Corporate Social Responsibilities

Figure 4.
Level of Employee involvment in CSR fomulation

80

60

Frequency

40

20

Mean =2.00 Std. Dev. =0.622 N =120 0 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50

Level of Employee involvment in CSR fomulation

Interpretation of findings: Corporate Social Responsibilities are an organization altruistic initiatives in its relation with external community. Part of CSR success largely depends on the level of identification with it by its internal customers, the employees. The tables above shows that not only are employees knowledgeable about the Banks CSR initiatives but also take part in their

formulation. This fosters the two-way communication between the Bank and its employees thus increasing their perception of being valued. Question18: The Bank values our reports about customer needs and act on them at all times The Level of Value that Bank places on Grass-roots opinion Frequen cy Valid Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Total 35 20 65 120 Percent 29.2 16.7 54.2 100.0 Valid Percent 29.2 16.7 54.2 100.0 Cumulative Percent 29.2 45.8 100.0

Source: Authors Field Survey, 2012 Interpretation of Findings: From the tables above, the results suggest that most employees believe that the Bank values their reports and views on the customers and the situations affecting them. This also creates a high level of involvement which had been found to be a key driver of employee engagement. When this is achieved, it can have significant impact on service quality excellence. Robinson (2006) suggests that there is considerable evidence that many employees are greatly underutilized in the work place through the lack of involvement in work-based decisions. Employee involvement is seen as a central principle of soft HRM where the emphasis is on capturing the ideas of employees and securing their commitment (Beardwell and Claydon, 2006). Questions 19 and 20: Many times during the peak hours when customers are numerous, our supervisors join us in the front to attend to customers and Even though we have superiors, the truth is that everyone is treated with mutual respect as fellow team-members. Relationship between Supervisors and junior colleagues Frequen Valid Cumulative cy Percent Percent Percent Valid Strongly Agree 75 62.5 62.5 62.5 Agree 24 20.0 20.0 82.5 Neutral 1 .8 .8 83.3

Disagree Total

20 120

16.7 100.0

16.7 100.0

100.0

Source: Authors Field Survey, 2012 Espirit De Corp Frequency Percent Valid Strongly Agree 72 60.0 Agree 30 25.0 Neutral 3 2.5 Disagree 10 8.3 Strongly 5 4.2 Disagree Total 120 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey, 2012 Interpretation of findings: Supervisors support Valid Percent 60.0 25.0 2.5 8.3 4.2 100.0 is as important as organizational support to Cumulative Percent 60.0 85.0 87.5 95.8 100.0

employees. The tables above shows that supervisors in Access bank are largely seen as supportive and also treat other employees with mutual respect which is sine qua non of any team-work. Cufaude (2004) argues that when managers employ a philosophy of servant-leadership whereby a managers primary role is supportive and serving those around them, the environment becomes highly engaged. Question 21: The physical environment in my workplace is highly suitable for the job Im doing. Physical Environment suitability Frequen cy Percent Valid Strongly Agree 72 60.0 Agree 36 30.0 Neutral 3 2.5 Disagree 5 4.2 Strongly 4 3.3 Disagree Total 120 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey, 2012 Valid Percent 60.0 30.0 2.5 4.2 3.3 100.0 Cumulative Percent 60.0 90.0 92.5 96.7 100.0

Interpretations of Findings: Physical environment of the workplace can be seen as a hygiene factor which does not motivate high performance but absence of which may lead to de-motivation.

Question 22: My Colleagues are highly efficient. Opinion on fellow colleagues Frequen cy Percent Valid Strongly Agree 35 29.2 Agree 72 60.0 Neutral 4 3.3 Disagree 4 3.3 Strongly 5 4.2 Disagree Total 120 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey, 2012

Valid Percent 29.2 60.0 3.3 3.3 4.2 100.0

Cumulative Percent 29.2 89.2 92.5 95.8 100.0

Interpretation of Findings: The tables above shows that Access bank employees thinks highly of their fellow colleagues as being highly efficient. The relationship between employees and their opinion of co-workers goes a long way in determining the level of job turnover in an organization which is key driver of employee engagement. In their study, Walter and Buch (2008) has it that positive group affective similarity and within group relationship quality are reciprocally related in the form of a self reinforcing spiral which is driven by mechanism of affective sharing and affective similarity attraction between group members. This positive group effect spiral is proposed to strengthen both the similarity of group members positive effect and the quality of their interpersonal relationship (2008:12). Question 23: I get the opportunity to do what I do best everyday at work. Job-Ability Congruence Frequen cy Percent Valid Strongly Agree 36 30.0 Agree 71 59.2 Neutral 3 2.5 Disagree 5 4.2 Strongly 5 4.2 Disagree Total 120 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey, 2012 Valid Percent 30.0 59.2 2.5 4.2 4.2 100.0 Cumulative Percent 30.0 89.2 91.7 95.8 100.0

Figure 4.

Job-Ability Congruence
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

Interpretation of findings: The person-environment fit addresses the question of whether the individual employee have an opportunity to do what they do best in their current roles(Harter, Schmidt and Keyes, 2002:7). This is key driver of employee engagement which will in turn have significant impact on service quality as employees have the chance to do what fits their talents, qualifications and interest. The tables above shows that employees in Access bank largely agrees that they have the opportunity to do what they do best at work. Question 24: There is someone at work who encourages my development. Professionl/Personal Development Encouragement level Frequen Valid Cumulative cy Percent Percent Percent Valid Strongly Agree 38 31.7 31.7 31.7 Agree 69 57.5 57.5 89.2 Neutral 5 4.2 4.2 93.3 Disagree 3 2.5 2.5 95.8 Strongly 5 4.2 4.2 100.0 Disagree Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey, 2012

Interpretation of findings: The tables above shows that majority of the employees agree that there is somenone at work that encourages there growth and and development at workplace. More insight to this shall be gotten from the next question. Question 25: I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow in the last one year. Personal Development Opportunities Frequen cy Percent Valid Strongly Agree 17 14.2 Agree 21 17.5 Neutral 54 45.0 Disagree 13 10.8 Strongly 15 12.5 Disagree Total 120 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey, 2012

Valid Percent 14.2 17.5 45.0 10.8 12.5 100.0

Cumulative Percent 14.2 31.7 76.7 87.5 100.0

Interpretation of Findings: To the question of having had opportunities at work to learn and grow in the last one year, more than half of the respondents agree while sizable few remain neutral. This question is a follow-up to the previous one and it is know if the Bank encourages employees personal growth and development. Acccording to Harter Schmidt and Keyes (2002), creation of an environment in which employees have opportunities to discuss progress and growth leads to positive emotions that can build intellectual resources at work. According to Deci and Ryan (1987), when management is supportive of an employees self-determination, the trust between the two parties is enhanced. Question 26 and 27: I intend to quit this company in the next six months if the opportunity appears and If I quit this job today, it will be difficult to get another related job with same level of pay. Intention to leave

Frequen cy Percent Valid Strongly Agree 2 1.7 Agree 8 6.7 Neutral 26 21.7 Disagree 1 .8 Strongly 83 69.2 Disagree Total 120 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey, 2012 Figure 4.

Valid Percent 1.7 6.7 21.7 .8 69.2 100.0

Cumulative Percent 1.7 8.3 30.0 30.8 100.0

Intention to leave

100

80

Frequency

60

40

20 Mean =4.29 Std. Dev. =1.118 N =120 0 0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00

Intention to leave

Figure 4.

Labour Market Opportunities

80

60

Frequency

40

20

Mean =4.28 Std. Dev. =1.124 N =120 0 0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00

Labour Market Opportunities

Interpretation of Findings: The two questions are posed to determine if employees intends to stay and make a career within the bank and at the same time now if such decision is based on choice or by realities in the labour market as perceived by each respondent. The results of the fist question shows that employees demonstrated a high degree of willingness to stay with the bank while the second question shows that employees intends to stay out of choice and not because they will not find a job that is at least on the same level with their present job at the bank. Perhaps the most veritable indicator an engaged workforce is rate of intention to stay in relation to Labour market opportunities. Therefore the fact that most respondents agreed largely to the fist question and largely disagreed to the second shows there is high level of engagement among the employees. According to Hallberg and Schaufeli, (2006) more engaged employees will display higher levels of affective commitment and lower levels of intention to leave intention to leave the organization than their less engaged colleagues. Christian and Slaughter (2006), also show a negative relationship between engagement and turnover intentions. Question 28: I get rotated between departments and roles regularly. Human Resource Stategy Frequency Percent Valid Percent 75.0 5.8 19.2 100.0 Cumulative Percent 75.0 80.8 100.0

Valid Strongly 90 75.0 Agree Agree 7 5.8 Neutral 23 19.2 Total 120 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey, 2012

Interpretation of findings: The tables above shows that most responds strongly agree that they are rotated regularly between jobs and roles regularly. According to Sak (2006) job enrichment and role fit are possible predictors of engagement.

Question 29: When compared to the industry standard I am well remunerated for my job. Competitiveness of Reward and Pay Frequen cy Percent Valid Strongly Agree 7 5.8 Agree 90 75.0 Neutral 17 14.2 Disagree 2 1.7 Strongly 4 3.3 Disagree Total 120 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey, 2012 Valid Percent 5.8 75.0 14.2 1.7 3.3 100.0 Cumulative Percent 5.8 80.8 95.0 96.7 100.0

Interpretation of findings: Remuneration and pay item are posed as follow up on intention to leave. The tables above show that most respondents agree that remuneration is well above industry standard thus making the bank a great place to work. Question 30: The recruitment process is independent, fair and based on genuine need and merit. Recruitment Frequen cy Percent Valid Strongly Agree 8 6.7 Agree 89 74.2 Neutral 18 15.0 Disagree 2 1.7 Strongly 3 2.5 Disagree Total 120 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey, 2012 Valid Percent 6.7 74.2 15.0 1.7 2.5 100.0 Cumulative Percent 6.7 80.8 95.8 97.5 100.0

Interpretation of findings: The tables above show that a significant majority of the respondents agree that the recruitment process is fair and based on merit. This is key indicator of organizational distributive and procedural justice which according Saks (2006) is an antecedent of engagement and for this study could also be an indirect predictor of service quality excellence. According to Niehoff

and Moorman (1993) distributive justice is the degree to which rewards are allocated in an equitable manner and procedural justice refers to the degree to which those affected by allocation decisions perceive them to have been made according to fair methods and guidelines Question 31: I was well trained and inducted into the operation process when I joined the bank. Adequacy of Training and Induction at Entry Frequen Valid cy Percent Percent Valid Strongly Agree 16 13.3 13.3 Agree 81 67.5 67.5 Neutral 18 15.0 15.0 Disagree 2 1.7 1.7 Strongly 3 2.5 2.5 Disagree Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Authors Field Survey, 2012 Figure 4.

Cumulative Percent 13.3 80.8 95.8 97.5 100.0

Adequacy of Training and Induction at Entry

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

Interpretation of Findings: The tables above show that a significant majority of the respondents agree that they were well trained and inducted into the operational process of the bank when they joined it. Training and induction enhances the meaningfulness of the job and the role of the employee in achieving the jobs specifics. This is also in line with Hackman and Oldham (1975) already cited,

which states that perceived meaningfulness of a job depends on the presence of three core job dimensions- Skill variety, task identity and task significance. Question 32: The grievance resolution structure is visible, accessible and fair to all employees and customers. Employee Voice and Grievance Resolution Mechanism Frequen Valid Cumulative cy Percent Percent Percent Valid Strongly 90 75.0 75.0 75.0 Agree Agree 23 19.2 19.2 94.2 Neutral 7 5.8 5.8 100.0 Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Authors field survey, 2012

Histogram

100

80

Frequency

60

40

20 Mean =1.31 Std. Dev. =0.577 N =120 0 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50

Employee Voice and Grievance Resolution Mechanism

Figure 4. Interpretation of Findings: The tables above shows that most respondents agree that there is efficient and visible grievance reolution mechanism that is accessible to all employees and customer. It must be noted that employees would not have agreed to this question if it is non existence or ineffectual. This also underscores the concept of organizational justice discussed in the previous question.

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 5.0 Introduction In this chapter, the summary of the discussions in the previous chapter is provided as well as the conclusion of the study , recommendations and suggestions for future studies. 5.1 Summary of the study The aim of the study is to understand how and to what extent does employee engagement constitute antecedents to service quality excellence in the Nigerian Banking Industry, with Access Bank Plc as case study. Chapter one introduced the topic of the research. The chapter stated the aims and the objectives of the research, the need for study, significance of study, brief information about the study organisation and its industry were all discussed. Chapter two reviewed previous literature of some authors on employee engagement and service excellence. The chapter discussed largely what constitutes employee engagement, its predictors and set the study within the theoretical frameworks of the various job satisfaction theories and the Social Exchange Theory. Job satisfaction can affect labour market behavior and influence work productivity, work effort, employee absenteeism and staff turnover. Job satisfaction has been discovered to be a strong predictor of overall individual well-being. The social exchange theory posits that all human relationships are formed by the use of a subjective cost-benefits analysis and the comparison of alternatives. Chapter three presented the research methods used in carrying out this research. The participants in the research organisation were chosen randomly, and most of them were highly skilled employees.

Questionnaires were administered to 120 employees in order to have their views and also to get first hand information. The statistical tool chosen to analyse the data collected was with the use of SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). Chapter four also presented in detail the data analysis and its interpretation. With the use of SPSS, frequencies and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data collated in order to achieve the aims and objectives of the research. 5.2 Summary of Findings This section presents the key findings of the research which shows the level and the extent that employee engagement act as antecedent to service quality excellence. 5.2.1 Discussion of Empirical Findings The fact that more than 70% strongly agreed that they believe that their job is central to the customers financial wellbeing shows a high degree of organizational service orientation. According to Wrzesniewski et al (1997) employees that can connect their work to a larger meaningful mission or purpose of the overall organization are likely to have higher levels of interest. This is much better when such interest is directed towards the customer. In addition, the study had further extended the concept of organizational service orientation, which had been linked to employees attitudes such as organizational commitment (Lytle and Timmerman, 2006), job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior (Gonzalez and Gerazo, 2006), as a sine qua non of a service organization. It must however be noted that employees perception of the relationship of their roles with the customer cannot be seen as a stand-alone construct. Hence it has to be examined in relationship with their perception of the criticality of their roles within various aspects of the service delivery ladder. 85% of the respondents agreed that the failure of the bank will affect them directly. Therefore this fact creates an high motivation for the employee identify with the corporate mission and goal. This is the

task significance element of Hackman and Oldham (1975) three dimensions of meaningfulness of job. Only 8.3% disagreed to seeing themselves working in the bank in the next three to five years with expanded roles and responsibilities while around 40% were neutral. It must be noted that Men and women do not come to work-places just to work as they also come there to make and build a career. This shows that the employees believe that there are opportunities to build a career in the Bank and perceive that there are such opportunities in the bank . A focus on achieving career outcomes is certainly far superior to just drifting as it lifts employees out of the inertia and dullness that would envelope them other otherwise. The employees perception on career opportunities in the bank is best placed alongside other variables. Question three states that the Bank values hardwork, goodwork and commitment and recognizes such when found in any member of staff. This shows that the Bank engage its employees by upholding procedural justice. According to Gaertner and Nollen (1998) the successful organization is likely to be one that can manage employment practices and perceptions of those practices by all groups of employees in a way that results in positive job related outcomes. The person-environment fit addresses the question of whether the individual employee have an opportunity to do what they do best in their current roles(Harter, Schmidt and Keyes, 2002:7). This is key driver of employee engagement which will in turn have significant impact on service quality as employees have the chance to do what fits their talents, qualifications and interest. This variable is measured by the questionnaire 23, I get the opportunity to do what I do best everyday at work. That 69.2 % of the respondents strongly disagreed and 21.7% remained neutral when asked if they intend to quit the company in the next six months if the opportunity appears only tends to reinforce the perception that employees have high intention to build a career and stay with the bank, and this is not because they were constrained by the structure of the labour market. 69% also strongly disagreed

to the view that if they quit their jobs today, it will be difficult to get another related job with same level of pay. 75% of the respondents agreed that it is not unusual for the staff members to brag about the bank being the best place to work and do business. Organizational advocacy is significant element of organizational citizenship behavior and it goes a long way in driving up service quality. The tendency of organizational citizenship behavior has been directly linked with higher levels of engagement among employees according to Dyne and Graham (1994). 81.7% of the respondents are neutral when asked that is it true that customers are always right and whether they will be sanctioned severely if they violate rules and established procedures so as to cater for a customers legitimate request The question was posed to test the level of power that employees enjoy to make decisions under uncertainty and also to balance organizational interest with customer delight. It must be noted that this situation carries an element of risk and it depends on the level of trust that the organization has in its workforce. This shows that the Bank largely empowers its employees to use their discretion on good judgment, while the employees are aware of this fact and would largely be guided by the situation on ground. According to Conger and Kanungo (1988), employee empowerment would be able to give employee a control over job related situation and decisions. Hartline et al(2000) submitted that with this control, employees are able to be flexible and adaptive in the face of changing customer needs and resulting in customer oriented behavior. 60% of the respondents are neutral when asked whether if the standard rules apply, no matter the uniqueness the situation. This perhaps suggests that the type of customers needs will play a crucial role in this situation but they will have organizational support for their position. Organizational support goes a long way in engaging employees and thereby increasing service quality as employees are assured of support. Saks (2005) showed that perceived supervisor support is antecedent of

employee engagement and this can have significant impact customer service quality. Herkett etal (1996:164) has it that service managers are cognizant of the fact that frontline workers and customers need to be the center of the managements concern. 54.2% of the respondents are neutral when asked No matter our individual and collective resolve, suggestions and opinion in this branch office, the head-office always have its way at all times and going against the head-office is highly risky . The fact that respondents were largely neutral to the above question shows that frontlline employees at the input into the overall direction of the organization in some situations which is supported and encouraged by the head office. This situation is called political will defined by Kutty (2008) as when people decide together to do things by coming together on a platfoam. The fact this was encouraged is in line with the principle of political authority which according to Kutty (2008) is the will of the authority to back and implement the collective decision. 70.8% of the respondents disagreed when asked It does not matter if the customer is delayed infinitely but when Im not certain about a situation, even if no harm will be done, I must refer the issue to my superiors as I cant use my discretion at all. This shows the level of individual empowerment felt by employees and the fact that a majority strongly disagreed with the stated notion shows the degree of empowerment enjoyed by the frontline staff. According to Lawler and Worley(2006) for a high involvement work practices to be effective, and for it to have a positive impact on employee engagement, employees must be given power as they argued that this will lead to employees having the ability to make decisions that are important to their performance and to the quality of the of their working lives, thus engaging them in their works. They further contend that power can mean having final authority and accountability for decisions and their outcomes because involvement is maximized when the highest level of power is pushed down to the employees that have to carry out the decision, resulting in gaining maximum level of engagement possible from employees.

57.5% of the respondents are neutral when asked whether all the Bank cares about is its profits and business position and employees are just mere tools to achieve this objective. Employee welfare is a significant component of the exchange that occurs within the employer-employee relationship. 80% of the respondents agreed that when compared to the industry standard they are well remunerated for their jobs. 80% of the respondents also agreed that the banks recruitment process is independent, fair and based on genuine need and merit. According to Johnson (2011:25), HRM practices have

been found to have a strong relationship with Employee Engagement and these practices pertain to performance appraisal, benefits, reward, compensation, development and labour relations. Therefore employees who perceive their organizations as having sound and satisfactory HRM practices may be exchanging or paying back to their respective organizations by being positive, courteous and hospitable toward customers (Tsaur and Lin, 2004). Salary level has also been revealed as being significantly associated with organizational performance for both manager and non-managers (Fey, Bjorkman and Pavlovskaya, 1988). Schneider etal (1985) had also found out that employee perception of HRM practices were significantly related to customer perceptions of service quality. This is demonstrated by the around 50% rate of the respondents that agreed and 35% neutral when asked if they can call or call on a customer at their cost without option of reimbursement if a customer filled a request form wrongly or possibly might need a service. 65% of the respondents agreed while 35% strongly agreed that the Bank has enough technology to complement their efforts of serving the customers. 31.7% of the respondents strongly agreed, 37.5% agreed and 13.3 % are neutral when asked if the customers are well motivated to use self-help technologies like ATM, Internet banking , Call-centres . Around 50% of the respondents

agreed and 35% neutral when asked if the internet connection, software and hardware have always been reliable for my customer service operations. Job performance is enhanced when delays are eliminated from business process. Basic needs in the workplace start with clarity of expectation and

basic materials and equipment being provided. To some extent, when these needs are met, it reflects the credibility of the organization to the employee. Bart (1998); Bart, Bontis and Taggar (2001) submit that the degree to which an organization aligns its internal policies, structure and procedures with its mission was positively associated with employee behavior which in turn had the most direct relationship with financial performance. More than 90% of the respondents agreed that if the bank had always carried out genuine CSR that they really love and which keeps up with their beliefs and the aspirations of the external community. Around 80% of the respondents agreed when asked if they have had opportunity to suggest CSR initiatives and even if their suggestions have not been adopted ,will be adopted in future. 54.2 of the respondents are neutral while over 40% agreed when asked if the Bank values their reports about customer needs and act on them at all times. 62.% of the respondents strongly agreed and 20% agreed that many times during the peak hours when customers are numerous,their supervisors join them in the front to attend to customers. More than 80 % of the respondents agreed that even though they have superiors, the truth is that everyone is treated with mutual respect. This findings tends to support the view advocated in Church (1995) that it is important that leaders create a service culture that will promote servce giving attitudes of employees. Other studies have found that leadership behaviours of mangers are directly related to service quality and performance at the unit level in organizations with attitudes of managers and leaders shaping the service orientation of the organization( Berry, Parasuraman, Zeithaml, 1994). In a study of study of airline service employees, it was found that employees satisfaction with leadership and work demands were strongest predictor of service behavior. More than 80% of the respondents thought that each of the fellow colleagues are highly efficient and more than 80% of the respondents believed that they get the opportunity to do what they do best

everyday at work.

The relationship between employees and their opinion of co-workers and the

suitability of the work physical environment goes a long way in determining the level of job turnover in an organization which is key driver of employee engagement. In their study, Walter and Buch (2008) has it that positive group affective similarity and within group relationship quality are reciprocally related in the form of a self reinforcing spiral which is driven by mechanism of affective sharing and affective similarity attraction between group members. This positive group effect spiral is proposed to strengthen both the similarity of group members positive effect and the quality of their interpersonal relationship (2008:12). More than 80% of the respondents has the opinion that there is someone at work who encourages their development. 45% are neutral while around 30% agreed that they have had opportunities at work to learn and grow in the last one year. More than 70% of the respondents agreed that they were well trained and inducted into the operation process when they joined the bank.Several studies, for example Al-Emadi and Marquardt (2007), Bartlett (2001), Meyer and Smith (2000) and Hartline and Jones (1996), have shown that there is significant relationship between various measures of training and employee attitudes, especially higher level of employee service attitudes that been strongly correlated with training. The importance of opportunities for such training is underscored by Moorman and Felter (1990) by pointing out that influential situational characteristics to a great extent reside at leadership levels. Around 75% strongly agreed that the banks grievance resolution structure is visible, accessible and fair to all employees and customers. Schneider and Bowen (1993) have shown that internal organizational elements that are visible to employees spill over on the customers because of the psychological and physical closeness that is encountered between both parties.

5.3 Conclusion The above findings suggest that there is high level of employee engagement as shown by the low intention to leave despite the fact that there is no constraint posed by the structure of the labour market. In other words, the Access Banks employees demonstrated high intention to stay with the bank because they have chosen to do so; because there are opportunities to make a career in the bank; because the Human Resource Management Practices, a significant component of organizational justice, is perceived to be fair and just by the employees; because the bank values the opinions of the employees in relation to the business process and empowers them to make discretionary decisions that will help the organization; because there are opportunities for personal development and learning and the management also encourages such; and finally because through adequate training and induction, the employees understand the mission of the Bank and the importance of their roles towards achieving this mission. Based on the above, the employees demonstrated engagement importantly by an high level of commitment to superior customer service as most are ready to incur personal costs to help the customers. This has shown that Access bank had managed to transform its employees into customers champions. Customer Champions are employees that are ready and motivated to serve the customer and make his day [Kutty,2008:676). The customer champion organizations are peopled with

employees who have the eye for quality and that are ready and willing to go the extra-mile to satisfy the customer. Therefore when employees are highly engaged in the financial services industry, the customers are the top gainers as they are kept satisfied by the internal customers of the organization who had in turn discovered that the only way to reward an organization to satisfies them both bodily and spiritually is to repay by giving their best at their jobs.

From the foregoing it could be generally submitted that employee engagement tends to act as antecedent to the achievement of service quality excellence in the Nigerian banking industry. This study is a contribution to the extant studies on the drivers of service quality in the service industry, especially the financial sector. According to Cronin and Taylor (1992), service quality, an antecedent of customer satisfaction measures how well the level of service delivered is compatible with the expectation of customers. 5.4 Theoretical Implications The study had shown that, for employee engagement to be a successful driver of service quality excellence, it had to be seeped within the organization culture and not as a one-off HR intervention or program. This is demonstrated by the suggestion of grass-root ownership and contributions to trivial issues like getting employee suggestions for CSR initiatives. Importantly the value placed by the Bank on employee reports, the carte-blanche given to the branch office by the head office in some issues all suggest an organizational culture of engagement. This had reinforced the theoretical underpinnings of the study: Theories of Organization Culture and Social Exchange. According to Bowen and Schneider (1988) and Gronroos (1990), the task of managing the relationship between employees and customers requires a service oriented culture. In service organizations, like banks, a strong and firmly rooted culture which develops an appreciation for good services is very important. This is more so when it is realized that situations vary in that customers behavior cannot be fully predetermined and standardized(Johnson, 2011:22). Therefore a service oriented culture is needed to convey to employees how they should respond to new and unforeseen circumstances. The study has shown that Access bank demonstrated a mastery of the service oriented culture by equipping employees with discretionary powers as 60% of the respondents are neutral, with a few disagreeing when asked whether if the standard rules apply, no matter the uniqueness the

situation. This perhaps suggests that the type of customers needs will play a crucial role in this situation but they will have organizational support for their position. The low intention to leave and the willingness to go extra-mile to satisfy the customer, perhaps provides an insight into the employee side of the social exchange occurring between the employer and employees. The research suggests that the employees are willing to make a career in the bank as there are opportunities for such, understood there role in ensuring that the bank remains a going concern and are ready to provide superior customer service. This understand that their jobs are crucial to customers financial wellbeing. The major theoretical implication of this study is that it had extended the bilateral model of Social Exchange Theory, that is employer-employee relations to a trilateral model of Employer-EmployeeCustomer relations, with employees being at the centre and thus the critical path for the exchange of values going on within the relationship portrayed. 5.5 Recommendations Stephen R. Covey in his book, The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness has it that people do have and make choices, whether consciously or subconsciously. According to Covey(2004:22), their choices can ascend incrementally from rebel or quit; engage in malicious obedient; willing is because the employees

compliance; cheerful cooperation; heartfelt commitment; to the highest rung of creative excitement. This study therefore recommends that: In the time of global economic crises, it is the onus of the leadership of the financial services organization to implement sound corporate governance because employees apart from earning money desire the job security that will provide the opportunities to build career. If unsound decisions by the corporate leadership lead to crises, experience has shown that it is

the hardworking frontline employees that become victim of downsizing or rightsizing. Hence service organizations had to get it right from the beginning. Stemming from above, the financial services organizations should understand that employees are really the tangible product as they are the ones that translate the intended meanings of the intangible services provided to the purchasing public. It is suggested that one-off HRM programmes will not work as they will betray the temporariness of such interventions. Therefore, what is needed is an organization culture of service orientation that is bent on creating the much needed win-win scenarios at all times. The major problem that is being witnessed in the Nigerian Insurance industry is that Insurance agents are not remunerated in terms of basic salary at all, hence they lack the financial security to start-off in the business. This had resulted into huge rate of agents turnover in that industry and the consequence is the low market penetration by the insurance industries. In fact according to Okeke(2012) most insurance companies in Nigeria depend and rely solely on government and institutional patronage. The greatest source of empowerment comes from adequate and consistent training and mentorship programs. Financial service organizations should take training as the canon of the business. Finally it is necessary for financial services organizations should periodically carry out organizational service climate surveys because as it has been noted several times, a hundred years of business success does not determine the future success. 5.6 Limitations of the Study and Suggestions for future research All research studies have limitations and this study is by no means an exception. The study largely suffers from limitation imposed by methodology. The use of survey research design is accompanied by several limitations that may have influenced the direction of the study. The study relied solely on

self-report questionnaire data and single source informants (employees at branch offices). As a result, common method variance could have created possible threat to internal validity. According to Gall, Gall and Borg,(2007), common method variance applies when variable are assessed using the same research method. In addition participants could have misinterpreted questions or deliberately

answered questions falsely. When this happens, there is a threat to internal validity. Moreover differences in individual motivation an knowledge of respondents are also limitations that are inherent in surveys (Schneider, etal, 1996). Based on the above limitations, the study suggests that the research should be extended to other areas of financial service industry with emphasis on the adoption of other methods of data collection like interviews, direct observations and focus group discussions to address the issue of limitations suffered by relying solely on surveys. This will, however, involve deployment of higher level of financial resources which is another limitation suffered by the present study.

CHAPTER SIX: LEARNING REVIEW 6.0 Introduction This section presents the researchers learning review which is a part of the dissertation process. Limitations, findings, expectations, strengths, and skills developed are discussed with some other identified issues. 6.1 Review The research had been intellectually renewing and interesting. This is because there were initial false starts but with the help of the project supervisor, the researcher was able to be guided in the right direction. At the end what had largely been tentative came to be empirically tested. Employee engagement, in the view of the researcher is not a new HRM fad but is a concept that is defining winning organizations in the new knowledge economy. Organizations that have discovered this key to success will always achieve business success. The researcher was exposed to insights in the area HR practices, especially employee enagement from a practical point of view and the study had largely shown that as far as the financial services industry is concerned, where the product remains inseparable from the mode of delivery or distribution, employee engagement is the sole determiner of service quality. Employees personalize good or bad service and it lies in the management to kindle the flame of creative excitement in their employees or go on with business as usual. The dissertation initially started with the topic the impact of employee engagement of business outcomes in the Nigerian financial services industry-A case study of Access Bank. However with the help of the supervisor, the researcher was able to firstly clarify the business outcome part of the topic as profits, credit ratings, customer perception/loyalty. This approach however created a

problem as the supervisor logically showed that it will be virtually impossible to interview or sample the opinions of customers. Besides, the supervisor also pointed out that there are several intervening variables between employee engagement and the business outcomes issues identified above. Consequently the topic witnessed metamorphosis until the researcher found out from literature reviews that there is gap in scholarship between employee engagement and service quality. In fact employee engagement in most literature materials tend to be treated as an end on it self and in cases where it is identified as a means to an end, the extant studies in a large part glossed over the issue. Therefore the research had been enlightening as it had contributed, howbeit in little way, to existing knowledge on employee engagement, where it is the antecedent to service quality excellence in the services industry. The researcher encountered some limitations while on the course of the study. For example the Access Bank Plc Officials did not provide the opportunity for employees to answer the qustioaire during work hours. This invariably increased the research cost as the researcher had to return at different times to retrieve the completed questionnaire. In fact, the researcher had to return to the same branch more than twice because an employee forgot to bring the completed questionnaire from home. The feedback on the research outcome has been sent by email to the Group Head, Human Resources Management, who initially gave the permission for the questionnaires to be administered on the employees. Om the whole, the researcher had learnt critical reasoning, problem analysis and a high level report writing skills. The researcher had also been exposed to dexterity in the use of search engines to get needed journal materials for the study. In fact the study relied 100% on online journal materials.

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APPENDIX I DEPARTMENT OF ----------------------------------------------------FACULTY OF ---------------------------------------------------------MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY------------------------------------------

Dear Sir/Madam, My name is Fasiku Abidemi and I am a student of the above named institution. I am conducting a research in partial fulfillment of the requirements of M.A Human Resource Management and I need you to answer the following questions honestly and within your ability. The research is strictly for academic purpose and all responses will be treated with utmost confidentiality and care. Thank you. PART A: RESPONDENTS BIO-DATA Please fill the below. Information you supply here shall strictly be treated confidentially. Age: .. Sex: Job Title Department... Branch Location: .

Do you supervise anyone[answer YES or NO]. Part B: I would like to get your opinion concerning your work in Access Bank Plc. This part deals extensively with your experience on the job as well as your general career objectives. You do not need to answer any question that you feel you do not want to answer. However what is needed is simply your views and feelings concerning your job experience your job experience. Strict confidentiality of responses is assured. There are no right or wrong answers so please tick the answer you feel is appropriate. Thank you S/No 1 2 3 Questions SD My work in this Bank is central to our customers financial wellbeing I see myself working in this bank in the next 3-5 years with expanded roles and responsibilities The Bank values hardwork, good-work and commitment and recognizes such when found in any staff member. I understand that the failure of this Bank will affect me directly as our customers are protected by the government laws and provisions. It is not unusual for Staff members [including me] to brag about the bank being the best place to work and to do business It is true that Customers are always right but I will be severely sanctioned if I violate rules and established procedures if I help a customer fix a legitimate problem No matter the uniqueness of the situation, the standard rules applies at all times when dealing with customers. Even if it is in ultimate benefit of the Bank, I will have no supervisor to back me up, if I take a unilateral position relating to a customer need No matter our collective resolve, suggestions and opinion in this Branch office, the head-office always have its way at all time and going against the headoffice directive is highly risky All that the Bank cares about is its profits and business position. Employees are just mere tools to achieve this objective It does not matter if the customer is delayed infinitely but when Im not certain about a situation, even if no harm will done, I must refer the issue to my superiors as I cant use my discretion at all The Bank has enough technology to complement my effort of serving the customers The customers are well motivated to use self-help D N A SA

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technologies like ATM, Internet banking and Callcentres and only some of the issues are resolved in the Banking hall The internet connection and the Software have always been reliable for my customer service operations I can call or call on a customer at my cost without option of reimbursement if a customer filled a request form wrongly or possibly might need a service,. The Bank had always carried out genuine CSR that I really love and keeps up with my beliefs and the aspirations of the external community I have had opportunity to suggest CSR initiatives and even if mine suggestions have not been adopted, I believe that mine can be adopted in future The Bank values our reports about customer needs and act on them at all times Many times during the peak hours when customers are numerous, our supervisors join us in the front to attend to customers Even though we have superiors, the truth is that everyone is treated with mutual respect as fellow team members. The physical environment in my workplace is highly suitable for the job Im doing My Colleagues are highly efficient I get the opportunity to do what I do best everyday at work There is someone at work who encourages my development I have had opportunities at work, learn and grow in the last one year I intend to quit this company in the next six months if the opportunity appears If I quit this job today, it will take me years to get another related job with same level of pay I get rotated between departments and roles regularly When compared to the industry standard I am well remunerated for my job. The recruitment process is independent, fair and based genuine need and merit I was well trained and inducted into the operation process when I joined the bank The grievance voicing and resolution mechanism is visible and accessible to all staff members and customers.