Physical, Health and Safety, and Job Design Conditions as Determinants of Employee Productivity of Polytechnics in Imo and Anambra States, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the effect of work conditions on employee productivity of polytechnics in Imo and Anambra States, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to assess the effect of physical work condition on knowledge transfer, to examine the effect of health and safety condition on teaching effectiveness, and to evaluate the effect of job design condition on intrinsic motivation of staff of polytechnics in Imo and Anambra States. The study was anchored on Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory and the Job Demands-Resources model; adopted a descriptive survey design. The population comprised 2,992 academic staff of four polytechnics, namely; Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Federal Polytechnic Oko, Anambra State Polytechnic, Mgbakwu, and Imo State Polytechnic, Omuma, from which a sample size of 341 was determined using the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) formula and allocated proportionately using Bowley's (1926) formula. The instrument was subjected to face, content and construct validity by experts, and reliability was established using Cronbach's alpha, with coefficients ranging from 0.868 to 0.885. Out of the 341 copies of the questionnaire distributed, 321 copies (94.1%) were correctly completed and used for analysis. The three hypotheses were tested using simple linear regression analysis with the aid of SPSS Version 23 at the 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that physical work condition has a positive significant effect on knowledge transfer, health and safety condition has a positive significant effect on teaching effectiveness, and job design condition has a positive significant effect on intrinsic motivation of polytechnics in Imo and Anambra States, with health and safety condition being the strongest predictor (R² = 0.324). The study concluded that favourable work conditions are not incidental to, but constitute a genuine determinant of, employee productivity in Nigerian polytechnics. It was recommended, among others, that polytechnic management should prioritize the provision and regular maintenance of functional classrooms, teaching equipment and office facilities, strengthen health safety and regular performance feedback.