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1. STAFF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR OPTIMAL PRODUCTIVITY PRESENTED AT THE 10TH BABCOCK UNIVERSITY STAFF COLLOQUIUM AUGUST 12 – 16, 2008 By: Professor Dayo Alao
2. Rainey, Hal. G. (1991 .50) a Management Scholar, observes that: It is only specialists that have the qualifications to establish and police standards as today’s job tends towards professionalism.
This is to say that the age of “Jack of all trades……master of none” is gone.
3. Researchers in Administration have offered many definitions of “Profession”. They include:
Application of a skill based on theoretical knowledge
Requirements for advanced education and training.
Testing of competence through examinations of other methods.
Organization into an association.
Existence of a code of conduct and adherence to it.
4. Characteristics of Professionals Individual professionals according to House Rilley and Mitchell (1974) exhibits the following characteristics.
They believe they are experts in the body of abstract knowledge applicable to the profession.
They believe that they have autonomy in work activities and decision making.
5. They identify with the profession and fellow professionals.
They show commitment to the work as a calling or life’s work.
They exhibit a feeling of ethical obligation to render service to clients without self interest and with emotional neutrality.
They believe in self-regulation and collegial maintenance and regulation of standards.
6. Basic Needs of Staff as they affect professionalism
What are basic needs of staff in relation to their professional callings? Apart from the complexities of human needs as identified by Murray (1938), Maslow (1954), Alderfer (1972) and Rokeach (1973) that dwelt with needs for self actualization, self esteem, social needs, safety needs and physiological needs, staff expect other needs that Robert Heller and Tim Handle describe as “Hygiene factors”.
7. Staff needs in this category include:
Salary and benefits – fringe income, benefits and allowances.
Working conditions – working hours, facilities, equipment, environment, nature of job.
Company policy - formal/informal rules and regulations governing employee.
Status - rank, authority, reporting line.
8. Job security - continued employment, contract agreement, stability of employment.
Supervision and autonomy - the extent and level of staff control, limit of employer’s power on staff
Office life - type of interpersonal relationship, friendly/hostile environment.
9. Theories of Motivation and Professionalism Opportunity of professional development is part of job motivation, but staff responses to incentives depend on many factors out of which two would be needed for this lecture.
Incentives in relation to performance
staff perception to fairness of incentives.
None has ever proved fully adequate, but they all add to the processes of motivation.
10. 1. Mc Gregor’s theory X and Theory Y Mc Gregor Douglas (1960) observed two alternative views on staff that guide managers. Theory X manager does not trust his staff. He view staff as lazy and in need of direction and control. Theory Y manager believes that staff are dependable, they can work hard if motivated.
11. Babcock University has these two types of managers. But in order to achieve optimal performance, managers who believe in Theory Y are those needed in the new Babcock.
2. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
The theory encourages employers to motivate staff by creating an enabling working environment for staff development.
12. Managers must also avoid negative techniques of controlling or directing staff. Job setting must be arranged to provide growth, achievements and recognition. This requires job enrichment programs designed to make the job interesting.
Equity Theory (Balancing Act)
Stacy Adam (1965) argued that a sense of equity in contributions and rewards has a major influence on work behaviour. A sense of inequity brings discomfort, and people act to reduce or avoid it.
13. Staff are in the habit of judging the balance between their inputs to an organization and the reward that they receive from it.
Expectancy Theory
This is the most promising of all the theories. It holds that the higher the result of staff performance the higher the rate of motivation.
14. The more Babcock University remains a model University, attract more students, and grants locally and internationally, the more the management would be able to provide more incentive to workers in the area of professional training.
High Productivity = High incentives
Low Productivity = Poor incentives
15. Adventist Employer/Employee Relationship Theory Statements of Guidelines and other documents of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (1985, 134-135) said the workplace environment should be characterized by an atmosphere of mutual service and mutual respect, adversarial relationships between employer and employee, born of suspicion, self interest and needs of society (James 5: 1-6).
16. The workplace should not dehumanize people. Employees should have access to a process of consultation and genuine discussions in matters affecting their labour. Conduct of the business or industry that employs their talents and skills (1 Kings 12:6-7; Mk 10: 42-45; Phil 2:3-8). This is saying that Babcock University and by extension, the Church does not discriminate but open its doors to all those who share or respect the beliefs of the Church.
17. Character and Attitude to Work
Professional development especially where it involves sponsorship has to do with staff character and attitude to work.
Maxwell, John C.(1999) admonishes that in seeking professional help, “don’t think that the valley you are in will part with time, more money, or increased prestige.
18. Unaddressed cracks in character only get deeper and more destructive with time. Many staff have character problems that adversely affect professional development.
Maxwell recommends the followings:
Search for the cracks. Spend time to look at major areas of your life (work, marriage, family, service, finance, etc.) and identify anywhere you might have cut corners, compromised or let people down. Write down every instance you recall in the past two months.
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Look for patterns. Examine the responses you wrote down. Is there a particular area of weakness, or do you have a type of problem that keeps surfacing? Detectable pattern will help you diagnose character issues.
Face the music. The beginning of character repair comes when you face your flaws, apologize, and deal with the consequences of your action, then follow through with sincere apologies.
20. Rebuild It is one thing to face up to your past actions, it is another to build a new future. Now that you’ve identified areas of weakness, create a plan that will prevent you from making the same mistakes again.
The meeting of staff professional need is predicated on the personal attitude of staff to life, that studies in Social Research have classified as follows:
21. The Easy going lifestyle
The Futuristic lifestyle
The Retrogressive lifestyle
The Resilient lifestyle
The Aggressive lifestyle
Plan for professional Success
The common adage is relevant here. “When you fail to plan, you plan to fail”.
Robert Heller & Tim Hindle (1998) said:
22. “You cannot decide what to deal with today unless you know where you want to be tomorrow”.
In setting an overall professional target therefore, there is a need for long term professional goals.
23. Why Organizations invest in professional development
to address changes in organization’s policy
to educate staff on new products
to display vision statement and to reinforce the organization’s position
to encourage teamwork
to highlight achievements
to increase the number of capable staff
24. Training could be
Formal – such as
classroom setting
factory experimentation or
Informal – such as
Learning on the job
Acquiring factory experience
Comparison of Staff Professional attributes
25. Easy to train The following type of staff are easy to train A staff that is analytical in his/her approach and can get to the root of a problem quickly.
A staff that has a great grasp of the details of a task.
A staff that is capable of tackling task with confidence.
A staff who is excellent and willing, an all rounder.
A staff who is good at organizing schedules and budgets
A staff who is an enthusiastic and co-operative team player
26. Staff that are difficult to train
A staff that can not handle pressure
A staff that is a slow learner
A staff who cannot apply himself to a long term project
A staff who does not show enough initiative
A staff who is not confident when working with supervision
27. Relating Personal Goals with Corporate Goals Vision sharing
Mission sharing
Action sharing
Staff Employers would not invest on
A lazy staff
A sickly staff
28. A visionless and mission-less staff
A cheat (spending official time for personal business)
A staff without sense of time management
BU staff on work/study make the follow mistakes
failure to seek for an official permission from administration [divided loyalty]
Taking courses that are not related to job specification or professional calling [Accountant studying in Educational Management]
Undergoing unnecessary stress
29. Babcock University staff are caught between: Short term personal goal and long term personal goals Short term professional goals and long term professional goals.
30. Two major types of professional Planning Vertical (Machiavellian - end will justify the means)
Horizontal (Gradual/Progressive)
31. Hints on Goal Setting Think of what you want to become in an organization
Write them down one after the other
Classify goals into personal and professional
Group goals into short term or long term
State whether goals are realizable or not.
32. Hindrances to Professional Goal Setting Cultural /traditional beliefs (lawyers/Doctors)
Religion beliefs (no piggery)
Health condition
Financial situation
Family responsibility
Non availability of time.
33. Benefits of professionalism to an organization Always available for technical and professional advise.
Evidence of staff improvement in day-to-day assignment
Accomplish more than expected
Inspire others
34. To leaders, the following recommendations are essential for optimal productivity:
Have a leader head – understand people and share in their successes and failures.
Have a leader heart – love people, not fake love. Appraise them rightly and don’t be a stumbling block to their progress.
Extend a leader hand –help people where you can, in the area of financial support, encouragement/counseling, and in spiritual development.
35. Bias or tribal sentiment must be avoided in the in professional development of Babcock staff.
Existing Staff Professional benefits in BU
Freedom to be a member of recognized professional associations – ICAN, NBA, NUJ, NIB, CIBN, CMCIN, NIPR, APCON etc.
Opportunity for Babcock University sponsorship to professional conferences and associations renewal of membership.
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Permission of staff to spend part of BU working days to attend and perform legitimate assignments of professional associations without deduction in pay packet.
But the question is how are we developing ourselves professionally? And to what extent are our training relevant to our callings? These are food for thought.
37. Conclusion Babcock University affords opportunities for academic and professional development. Many have benefited from this in the past and a host of others are still benefiting. All that is needed is to involve administration in your professional plans and the sky will not only be the limit but the beginning of your limit.
Thank you for your attention.
38. References Alderfer, C. P. (1972) Existence Relatedness, and Growth: Human Needs in Organizational Settings. New York: Free Press.
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist (1985) Statements of Guidelines and other documents of the Seventh-day Adventists Church, Washington DC.
House, R. J., and Mitchell, T. R. (1974, 3, 81-97) “Path-Goal Theory of Leadership.” Journal of Contemporary business,
39. Rainey G. W. (1990) Implementation and managerial Creativity: A study of the Development of Client-Centered unit in human Service Programs in D.J. Palumbo and D. J. Calista, “Implementation and the Policy Process, New York: Greenwood Press.
Rokeach, M. ( 1973.) The Nasture of human Values. New York: Free Press.
40. Maslow, A H. (1954) Motivations and Personality. New York: Harper & Row.
Maxwell, John, (1999) Qualities of a leader Tennessee: Nelson Books.
McGregor, D. (1960) The human Side of Enterprise. New York: McGraw Hill.
Murray, C. (1984) Losing Ground. New York: Basic books.
