PERCEIVED EFFECTS OF REWARDS AND REMUNERATIONS ON RESULT-ORIENTED SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION IN KWANDE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract
The study investigated the perceived effect of rewards and remunerations on result-oriented school administration in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population of the study was 620 staff in 13 public secondary schools in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State. The purposive sampling technique was used to sample 169 respondents out of the total population of 620 staff. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for research questions while chi-square was used to test the hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance. Findings of the study showed that payment of salaries and performance recognition has a positive significant perceived effect on result-oriented school administration in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. The study, therefore, recommended prompt and timely payment of staff salaries by the government as well as the encouragement of performance recognition of staff after they have completed a given task by school administrators in secondary schools for result-oriented school administration to be achieved.
Keywords: Rewards, Remunerations, Result Oriented Schools, Performance recognition
Introduction
Education is the means through which the citizenry of a nation could be transformed from the mere human population to human resources. It is a continuous process of developing the personality of an individual and getting him or her prepared to be a useful member of his or her society (Amaechi, 2014). Odaudu (2016) opines that people and governments place tremendous faith in the transformational power of education as a means of development. The Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN, 2014) describes education as an instrument for national development. Hence the importance of education for individual and national development informs the reason for a result-oriented school administration. The administration of secondary education as stated in the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2014) requires highly conceptual, technical, and critical planning through the use of suitable policy initiation, strategies, and effective implementation strategies for a result-oriented achievement of its objectives.
Administration connotes the coordination of activities of a unit, department, or institution to achieve set goals and objectives. Okwori and Ede (2012) see the administration as the systematic arrangement of human and material resources and programmes that are available and carefully using them systematically within defined guidelines or policies to achieve goals. It also involves the integration of various aspects of tasks into a whole aimed at arriving at a desirable result in secondary schools. A result-oriented school administration could therefore mean that school administration is capable of producing a desirable result by meeting the yearning aspirations of education stakeholders for which an educational institution is established to achieve. Akuegwu and Uchendu (2016) note that secondary school administration is action and practice-oriented, hence way and manner the action and practice are carried out determine the result to be achieved. This means that good school administration could breed good results. It is for this quest that Akuegwu, et al. (2016) note that, many school administrators strive to ensure a result-oriented achievement of school administration by putting in place various administrative strategies. One of such strategies is rewards and remuneration of staff which is the human resource component of secondary schools.
Human resource is one of the most important components of any educational institution without whom the various functions cannot be performed. According to Dessler (2013), people (human resources) who work in organizations today unlike in the past, are considered one of the most valuable assets an organization can acquire, maintain and develop to attain a competitive advantage. Thus, the most successful organizations are those that can acquire, develop, reward and remunerate to maintain high-quality staff. The secondary schools in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State are the center of learning where the necessary knowledge, skills, attributes, and values are inculcated and acquired. They are established to meet the needs of society. The schools have the paramount objectives of educating and socializing the learners all of which are possible through the performance of staff. If the staff of secondary schools are adequately rewarded and remunerated as they perform their functions it may lead to result-oriented administration but if they are not, the reverse may be the case.
Secondary schools in Kwande Local Government Area operate in a dynamic and competitive environment where they need to develop strategies to acquire and retain a competent workforce. Ojeleye and Okoro (2016) note that nowadays human assets are considered to be the most important asset of any organization and to get efficient and effective results from human resource motivation is necessary. It is therefore important for staff reward and remuneration systems to be put in place by various secondary school administrators in Kwande Local Government Area for a result-oriented school administration.
A Reward system refers to all the monetary, non-monetary, and psychological payments that an organization provides for its employees in exchange for the work they perform. According to Schultz (2016), the term rewards can be defined as a particular monetary return, object, or event that an employee receives in exchange for his/her work or for having done something well. School organizations need high-performing individuals to meet their goals, deliver the products and services they specialize in, and finally achieve a competitive advantage. Performance is also important for the individual staff for result-oriented school administration. More often, performance if it is recognized within the organization is rewarded by financial and other benefits. Reward systems in form of salaries and wages, performance recognition, benefit, staff promotion, study leave with pay, compensation, bonuses, and favourable working condition among others may ultimately enhance result-oriented school administration.
Remuneration on the other hand is traditionally seen as the total income of an individual and may comprise a range of separate payments determined according to different rules. Babagana and Dagunus (2016) define remuneration as pay or reward given to individuals for work done. They further identified the indicators of remuneration to include: basic salary, wages, health schemes, pension schemes, transport allowances, overtime allowances, and responsibility allowances. The total remuneration of staff may comprise a capitation fee and a fee for services, or it may include a salary and shared financial risk (Sajuyigbe, Olaoye & Adeyemi, 2010). Accomplishing tasks and performing at a high level in school administration can be a source of satisfaction, with feelings of mastery and pride which all seems to be associated with remuneration practices. The importance of a rewards system and remuneration cannot be overemphasized with all things being equal if result-oriented school administration is to be achieved. With this fact in mind, this study examined specifically the effect of paying salaries and performance recognition as rewards and remuneration practices on result-oriented school administration in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria.
Payment of salaries is a very important aspect of school administration. Muo (2013) states that if salaries are promptly and well paid, it stimulates and energizes staff to perform their duties creditable, if not promptly and well paid it demoralizes staff to perform their duties effectively. Opataye (2010) found that some staff due to non-payment of salaries poses negative attitudes to work as they report to duty late and closes before time; some do go about with theirbusinesses instead of concentrating on their assigned responsibilities. When such situations are experienced in schools it becomes difficult for the effective realization of school objectives. Performance recognition, on the other hand, is the timely, informal, or formal acknowledgment of a person’s or team’s behavior, effort, or business result that supports the organization’s goals and values, and which has been beyond normal expectations (Bernardin, 2007). To achieve a result-oriented school administration, school administrators need to understand the importance of praising others for their good work, applying the principles of employee recognition, and encouraging others to initiate it in their working relationships. Based on the above background this study seeks to investigate the perceived effect of rewards and remuneration on result-oriented school administration in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria.