Abstract

Human resources constitute one of the main assets of most if not every organization. Without motivated people, most organizations will face serious difficulties to meet their objectives. This is true for both private and public organizations.

Reasons why this study sought to assess the effect of motivation on the performance of employees of the Cameroon Customs Administration which is a fiscal administration of the ministry of finance.  The motivation was considered to be financially provided or non-financially induced.

The Littoral 1 Customs sector located at the Douala Sea Port was the case study for this research. This study made use of both primary data obtained through questionnaires and secondary data obtained from the Customs statistics department. This data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential analysis with the use of the SPSS version 25.

The results led to the conclusion that financial motivation and nonfinancial motivation can greatly influence and improve the performance of the employees of the Littoral 1 Customs sector, Douala Sea Port.

Therefore in order for the employees of the Littoral 1 Customs sector to provide high-quality output, they should be financially motivated through improved salary, increased bonuses, improved allowances and also be granted non-financial motivational incentives such as promotion, recognition of work, improved working conditions and opportunity of training and advancement in grade.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Both Public and private enterprises worldwide in their quest for efficiency have usually sought for means of motivating their staffs to give their best in achieving organisational goals.

Motivation of personnel has always constituted one of the essential duties of top management to make sure workers are continuously dedicated and focused on set objectives at all times during the production or service provision process of the organisation.

All organisations are concerned with what should be done to achieve sustained high levels of performance through workers. Therefore, the issue of adequate incentives for workers is primordial as many attempts have been made by several management practitioners to look for the best way to manage resources so as to accomplish the objective or mission of the organization with the human resources available. Highly motivated employees are a critical factor in the long term success of many organisations (Sajjad, 2014)

Motivation as defined by the Cambridge dictionary is the need or reason for doing something. A motive is an impulse that causes a person to act and therefore motivation is an internal process that makes a person move towards a goal.

Motivation is important in almost every aspect of human behaviour and so when a choice is made by an individual, the choice is certainly guided by the motivational state of that individual. This could be in everyday situations like learning, competition or even at the place of work (Kou, 2018)

Many researchers have looked into motivation in terms of that which comes within usually referred to as intrinsic motivation and that which is exogenously generated which is usually referred to as extrinsic motivation.

According to Beata (2019) all motivation comes from within whether it is triggered by rewards or endeavours that enhance one’s self image or it simply comes from intrinsically motivating activities that an individual engages in for no reward other than the enjoyment these activities bring him or her.

Organisations that provide their members with meaningful, engaging work not only contribute to the growth of their bottom line but also create a sense of utility and fulfilment that echoes across their organisational culture and their employees’ personal lives (Beata, 2019).

Therefore an understanding of motivation in a work place could be applied to improve employee performance and to structure jobs or tasks so that they offer optimal levels of challenge, control variety and collaboration.

Motivation in view of organisational performance imposes the exploration of  aspects of financial motivation and non-financial motivation in the like of salaries, bonuses, allowances, letter of acknowledgement, promotion, recognition and training.

It comes at a time when Cameroon has been facing serious calls from international organisations to improve its economy through the improvement of administrative practices with regards to the  facilitation of doing business, facilitation of trade, improving  the fight against corruption and so on.

Cameroon was ranked by the world bank in its Doing Business report of 2020 as the 167th country out of 190 countries analysed, with a doing business score of 46.1(World Bank, 2020)

This rank which was as a result of many factors affecting the business environment in Cameroon, stressed the need for the government of Cameroon to improve in the area of cross border trade facilitation, a domain where the Cameroon Customs is a major actor.

Facilitation of trade requires improving procedures of clearance of goods and all related cross border activities. These activities could be in terms of the creation of a single window for customs clearance of goods, reducing the passage of goods at customs, increasing the use of information and communication technology, increase automation, increase collaboration among actors of the trade corridor and so on (Peterson, 2017)

This will therefore require well motivated customs staffs who are either motivated as a result of financial incentives given to them by hierarchy in the form of financial motivation or non financial incentives that will spur them to do their work well.

The need for a well motivated customs workforce is also a prescription by the World Customs Organisation (WCO) in the revised Arusha declaration for good governance and integrity in Customs of June 2003.This declaration in its point 8 stresses on human resource management in Customs administrations. Point 8 demands that there be;

• Sufficient salaries and other remunerations paid to customs personnel to ensure that they are able to maintain a decent standard of living
• Promotion procedures should be free of bias and favouritism and be based on the principles of merit
• Provision of adequate training and professional development to customs personnel upon recruitment and throughout their careers to continually promote and reinforce the importance of maintaining high ethical and professional standards
• And the continuous collaboration with private sector actors (users)

The WCO in its framework of principles and practices on customs professionalism stresses the role of human capital as the most valuable asset to keep pace with an ever-changing environment.

To meet challenges of the modern customs environment, there is need for human assets to be well motivated to work since human resources play a strategic role in the attainment of results.

The WCO demands that they be considered as strategic partners and champions of change, an orientation which demands financial and non financial motivators to be put in place for the attainment of best possible results.

Hamilton (2005) in his USAID sponsored paper: establishing and implementing a customs integrity program also recommends a mix of various types of monetary and non monetary incentives and types of recognition for customs officers. In component 12 of his suggestions he proposes performance incentive programs which recognises superior performance, special achievements such as completing of a special project or task in a short time, stopping of smuggling attempts or the detection of significant fraudulent attempt to circumvent customs laws and requirements and also demonstrated high levels of integrity and professionalism. He also stresses the fact that written performance standards are required to be available or known before performance can be rewarded.

Several ministers of finance in Cameroon have stressed the importance of the customs administration as an important department in the ministry in its role of providing up to a quarter of the government’s fiscal revenue.

In June 2018, Mr Louis Paul Motaze minister of finance during a working visit at the Littoral 1 and 2 customs sector reemphasized the role played by the customs in meeting government fiscal and other objectives, while  focusing on the major part played by the human resources of this department, he promised the amelioration of incentives at their disposal (Customs review 2019)

The performance of Cameroon customs employees is therefore related to their level of motivation be it financial otherwise known as monetary or non financial otherwise known as non monetary motivation.

The performance contract launched in 2009 under the then director general showed that inspectors who were motivated by financial rewards and other non financial promises like promotion and recognition made by the Director General in exchange for their outstanding performance led to an increase in revenues collected for the period per inspector and hence general increase in performance (Bilagna et al 2011)

These motivational incentives role in influencing the performance of the sector captured in terms of financial performance (revenue collected by the customs sector as against the budgetary prescription assigned by the hierarchy) and on the other hand operational performance captured by the perception of users of the service.

Employees expect financial and non-financial rewards for their efforts. Especially in a world in which there is constant increase in cost of living and increased inflation rates. Employees need financial rewards for them to continue to perform as required not belittling the role played by non-financial rewards which are very necessary to motivate employees in any organisation.

The Cameroon Customs Administration is not an exception to this rule. In the absence of equitable pay, training, recognition and comfortable environment the employees become dissatisfied and that makes them to be de- motivated.

Organisations with positive ambitions could make an availability of a framework within which high levels of motivation could be achieved through non-financial reward systems by the provision of opportunities of training, recognition, job security, empowerment (Tahani, Benard, & Ondabu, 2015).

Non-financial motivation is also seriously essential for workers because it gives employees confidence that their managers care about their feelings.

Apart from that, it leads to the completion of organisational goals, it builds friendly relationship between the organisation and its employees and leads to stability of the work-force through a high retention rate and low employee turnover.

Since individuals are special in their own way, it is important that managers identify the individual needs of their employees and motivate them accordingly so as to bring out the best in them. Knowing the employee problems and trying to solve it, makes them motivated which will let them put more effort in their productivity (Broni, 2012).

It is vital to know that the concept of non-financial recognition does not mean the motivation provided should have no financial value, it simply means whatever is given is not monetary.

Non-financial recognition provides employees with something tangible that they will remember like a special day out or great meal, recognition, either informal (oral) or formal (written remarks and events), have been the most cost effective way to strengthen required actions for productivity within organisations (Wilson, 2003).

Training as a non-financial motivation affects employee productivity. The more trained an employee is, the lesser are the chances of committing accidents in the execution of his job and the more proficient the employee becomes.

Training improves efficiency and productivity of employees. Well trained employees are both quantitatively and qualitatively productive. There is less time wastage, money and resources if employees are properly trained (Ongango & Wanyoike, 2014).

Comparable working conditions also play an important role in enhancing the employee morale. The favourable working conditions also involve comfort issues like proper ventilation, lighting and no noise in the work place.

If the employees have negative perceptions of their working conditions, they are likely to be absent, have stress related illnesses, and their productivity and commitment tends to be low. On the other hand, organisations which have a friendly, trusting, and safe environment, experience greater productivity, improved communication and greater creativity (Lameck, 2011).

In the context of Africa, Kotler and Kallen (2007) describe how non-financial motivation results in employee motivation and how it positively affects their behaviour in that employee stay loyal to the organisation and speak positively about the organisation in comparison to newer employees. Robbins and Judge (2007) indicated that satisfied employees drive the organisation to have an increased productivity.

In the Cameroonian society and context and according to general observation, there is lack of financial and non-financial motivation in many organisations, be they private and even more especially in some public institutions, although there is some considerable level of motivation in the CCA.

The employees working with the different ministries within Cameroon are not rewarded favourably, something which results in de-motivation and provision of lousy work. The government of Cameroon in general and administration of CCA in particular has not sought to carry out satisfaction surveys among employees even though it’s clear that employees are the most important resource any organisation can have.

In most organisations in Cameroon the government hours of work are from 7.30 am to 3.30pm and even by 11 am some employees start leaving work to return only the next day unlike in the private sector where employees work from 7.30 am to 5.00pm.

This is of great concern to a developing country since even for developed countries employees still work for long hours i.e between 8am to 5pm with possibility of overtime. Apart from the fact that employees in developed countries are paid well, overtime pay is usually double the normal hourly pay.

The general perception of employee motivation in most public offices in Cameroon is bleak since the employees are usually perceived as coerced to work for very small pay and usually in poor working conditions; the administration has certain motivational facilities that are aimed at encouraging employees to perform.

Generally, if the country is to develop, the employees in Cameroon must be motivated to work for longer hours to increase both financial output and operational quality output. Understanding motivation and employees’ productivity in the CCA will be helpful since the findings will be replicated to all sectors and especially public institutions in Cameroon

High employee absenteeism is a product of de-motivation on the part of employees whose end result is delayed service delivery and decrease in employee productivity.

The non-meeting of set deadlines and early closure from work reduces employee productivity (Stella, 2008).

In the Cameroonian context, lack of motivation on the part of employees is exhibited by late reporting to work and early closure even as early as 11 am in some government ministries.

This has resulted into delayed productivity and low rates of development for the country at large. In order to overcome this, government ministries need to identify and know how to tackle the common factors that enhance employee motivation so as to upscale service delivery.

1.2 Statement of problem

From table 1.1 above with the Littoral 1 Customs sector expected to always bring in about 70% of the forecasted budget due to the level of activity at the Port of Douala as compared to other sectors, the realisation of these targets have been very challenging to the hierarchy of the Littoral 1 sector in particular and the entire administration in general due to different obstacles such as the drop in international trade activities and drop in import activities, the continuous increase in customs revenue deterring imports, the bureaucratic and administrative bottlenecks involved with clearing

goods, the lack of adequate infrastructures at Ports and other border posts, the political instability affecting several parts of the country and worst of it unmotivated and dissatisfied employees who are continuously put under pressure to realise these results no matter the circumstances.

The importance of a satisfied human resource in the customs for better results for makes it necessary to explore in this study the role played by a well-motivated workforce in meeting these targets and the impact motivation can have on the performance of the employees of this administration.

The need to continually outperform fiscal objectives assigned by the government, increased complaints of harassments from users by customs agents and the general public demands for the customs administration to ameliorate its services and to implement proper ethical standards makes it very necessary for us to study and investigate ways in which the employees of this important governmental department can be motivated to give their best to meet the administrations budgetary target, and how these motivational incentives can improve the performance of the personnel in view of achieving their objectives and accomplishing their missions.

This study will help narrow the gap on employee motivation in public administrations and in the Cameroon Customs Administration in particular by exploring the potential of both financial and non-financial motivational incentives for employees working at different levels at the CCA. The Littoral 1 customs sector (Douala Port) is used as case study.

1.3 Research Questions

The main research question is;

What effect does motivation have on employee performance at the Littoral 1 customs sector of the Cameroon Customs Administration?

The specific research questions are:

1. How does financial motivation affect employee performance at the Littoral 1 Customs sector of the Cameroon Customs Administration?
2. What effect does non-financial motivation have on employee performance at the Littoral 1 Customs sector of the Cameroon Customs Administration?