RELATIVE INFLUENCE OF WORKPLACE SAFETY AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT ON JOB PERFORMANCE OF UNIVERSITY NON-TEACHING STAFF IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examined the relative influence of workplace safety and conflict management on the job performance of university non-teaching staff in southwestern Nigeria. This study adopted the descriptive survey research design to establish the relationship that exists between the independent and dependent variables. The study sample was drawn from public universities in the southwestern states of Nigeria. This sample, thus drawn, formed the participant respondents in the study to which the research instruments were administered. The target population of the study consisted of 10,348 senior non-teaching staff of both the federal and state universities in southwestern Nigeria. This population was in focus because of the significant role the senior non-teaching staff plays in the achievement of university goals and objectives. Again, in most universities, the population of the non-teaching staff is larger; thus, this population cannot be underplayed in the attainment of universities’ vision and mission. The study adopted the multi-stage sampling procedure. In the first stage, the simple random sampling technique was adopted to select of five out of six states which represented eighty percent (80%) of states in southwestern Nigeria. In the second stage, stratified random sampling technique was used to sort federal and state universities into strata. Fifteen percent (15%) of the senior non-teaching staff, which is 1,142 respondents, were selected out of 7,607 total numbers of senior non-teaching staff. The Conflict management scale and Senior Non-Teaching Staff Job Performance Questionnaire were adapted from the harmonised annual performance evaluation reports of sampled public universities to elicit responses from senior non-teaching staff. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used to answer research question 1, while research question 2 was answered using Multiple Regression Analysis at p<0.05 level of significance. There is no significant relationship between conflict management and job performance (r = 0.06; p>0.05) of senior non- teaching staff in public universities in southwestern Nigeria. However, there is a significant relationship between workplace safety and job performance (r = 0.06; p>0.05) of senior non- teaching staff in public universities in southwestern Nigeria. Results reveal that there is no significant relative contribution of conflict management to job performance (β = -0.05; t = -1.04; p>0.05), and there is no significant relative contribution of workplace safety to job performance of the senior non-teaching staff (β = -0.04; t = -0.69; p>0.05). It was recommended that senior non-teaching staff should be encouraged to put in more effort in their job performance as their salary level increases. Attention should be paid to maintaining the practice of conflict management among senior non-teaching staff as it has been proven based on the study that it enhances job performance.