AN INVESTIGATION INTO HOW MOTIVATIONAL STRATEGIES IMPACT ON OVERALL ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMNCE, A CASE OF LILONGWE CITY COUNCIL, MALAWI.

Abstract

Employee motivation and organizational performance of employees are essential tools for delivery of quality services. The study was conducted to investigate the impact of motivational strategies to overall organizational performance of the Lilongwe City Council (LCC,) in Malawi. The council faces the challenge of balancing administrative efficiency and service quality while ensuring the well - being and productivity of its workforce as highlighted in the 2020 – 2025 Strategic Plan. Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi is a significant contributor to the country’s economy being a hub for government administration, business and commerce.

This is in line with the Piller 3: Urbanization that is in the Malawi 2063 Development Agenda and its Enablers 2 and 3 which states that the country needs effective government systems and institutions with strict adherence to the rule of law and enhanced public sector performance respectively. In the same vein, urban centres are very critical to the economy of any country such as Malawi. According to National Statistics Office survey (2019), the Central Region , where Lilongwe is located contributed around 43% to Malawi’s GDP.

 In the contemporary work environment, the role of managing the human capital in shaping employee performance has gained significant attention. However, despite the recognition of the importance of human capital to organizational success, there remains a gap in the understanding of how motivational strategies directly influence the performance of employees. The study premised on its potential to bridge the gap between theory and practice, offering practical solutions and recommendations to management of the city council. The study used a mixed approach, i.e. qualitative and quantitative methods.

Furthermore, the study used structured questionnaires, interviews, and desk research for data collection . The data analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) in order to obtain meanings and insights in the context of the LCC. The data obtained was  processed where simple descriptive and inferential statistical calculation on frequencies of research variables were converted to percentages ratings.

The LCC has the following main motivational strategies in place, i.e. rewards, staff training, job rotation, employer’s support, promotions and teamwork amongst employees. These motivational strategies are consistent and properly monitored. However, although the LCC has a good pool of employees who are conversant to their work demands, they often face challenges of inadequate financial resources for implementation of planned activities. There is also the challenges of political interference that renders their decisions to be ineffective.

Therefore, the researcher recommended that the central government should give full autonomy to the LCC to manage its activities in accordance with their mandate some of which could be to fully implement the decentralization process.