Author(s): Sunday Nwambam Aja, Fabian Ulo, Friday Ogbaga, Silas Nwankpu Igwe, Beatrice Osoego
The extent employees’ needs are met by their organization could influence their behaviour either positively or negatively which demands for further studies. This study investigated motivation as predictor of employees’ job performance with reference to Ebonyi State University Micro-Finance Bank Limited. The study adopted descriptive research design where the researcher used secondary data from other related studies to evaluate the behaviour EBSU MFB Ltd staff toward motivation. The data used were analyzed using Percentages and Pearson ‘r’ to describe their stand on the research topic. Regression and ANOVA were used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The result revealed that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation positively correlate with employees’ job performance. The result also show that there is no significant difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as they correlate with employees’ work performance thus settling the controversies surrounding the supremacy of either intrinsic or extrinsic motivation as panacea for enhancing staff job performance. The findings lead credence to two factor theory of motivation because while extrinsic motivational factors result in employee job satisfaction, intrinsic motivational factors prevent job dissatisfaction and both in both in extension may lead to increase or decrease in employee job performance as the case may be. The practical implication of this is that managers need to understand the interconnectivity of the two to bring about employee job satisfaction and improved job performance for the overall banks’ increase productivity to help revamp ailing developing economy like Nigeria especially with the scourge of Covid-19 pandemic. The researcher recommended that EBSU MFB Ltd like other banks and business organization should regularly access employees’ needs to ascertain what motivates to work. Bank managers should also put in place robust financial and non-financial incentives as motivating employees for increased productivity for local, national and global competitiveness.