Annals of Libnuy Science and Documentation 1989,36(1-2),41-47

JOB ATTITUDES OF JUNIOR STAFF IN NIGERIAN UNIVERSITYLIBRARY: CALABAR

Studies the job attitudes and job satisfactionof junior staff in University of Calabar library.Data was gathered by a questionnaire from asample from the staff of university library.The analysis of data reveals that majority ofstaff are not satisfied with their pay, workingconditions and lack of facilities to improvetheir talents. Suggests interaction betweensubordinates and supervisors, provision of betterfacilities and involvement of junior staff indecision making.

INTRODUCTION

In any .modern organization, the attainmentof organizational objectives depends on theability of management to effectively utilizeits personnel or human resources. Abilityof management to do this is in turn dependenton understandino tot. - - • •.itudes r:-+ these workers,and how they feel about the organizationgenerally and their job in particular. The be-haviour of people at work is primarily a matterof individuals endeavouring to satisfy theirneeds and wants. Several studies have been doneboth in Nigeria and abroad to determine whyindividuals behave as they do in particularwork situations. Most of such studies [1]analyse the job attitudes of individual workersoccupying different positions in an organiza-tion.

The purpose of this paper is therefore toexamine the factors that influence the workattitudes 0'£ the junior staff in the University ofCalabar Library and how such factors influencetheir interpersonal relationships with theircolleagues, the readers whom they serve, theirsupervisory staff and their overall job perfor-mance, It is hoped that this paper will contri-

Vol 36 Nos 1-2 March & June 1989

Mfon E ETUKUniversity of Calabar LibraryPMB 1115CalabarNIGERIA

bute to knowledge in this area as it deals with agroup of workers in a third world' universitylibrary, namely, University of Calabar Library,Nigeria.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

In order to place the discussion in proper per-spective, job attitudes and job satisfaction needto be defined. Allport has remarked that "theconcept of attitude is probably the most dis-tinctive and indispensable concept in contempo-rary American social psychology. No other termappears more frequently in experimental andtheoretical literature ..... As may be expected ofso abstract and serviceable a term, it has come tosignify many things to many writers with in-evitable result that its meaning is somewhatindefinite, and its scientific status called intoquestion."[2] But after reviewing several defmi-don of attitude, Allport identified it as whatcould be referred to as a 'common thread'which could be described as a preparation orreadiness for response. It is in this context thathe defined attitude as :

..... a mental and neural state of readinessthrough experience exerting a directive ordynamic influence upon the individual'sresponse to all objects and situations withwhich it is related [3] .

Attitude comprises three major compo-nents, namely: cognitive, affective and conativecomponents. The cognitive component ofatti-tude refers to the perceptions, beliefs andexpectations that the individual holds aboutthe particular object of an attitude. Accordingto Asch, belief depends on available data;

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therefore differences in beliefs can be tracedat least in part to differences in informationand knowledge [4]. Thus attitudes are directedtowards phenomena that are known to exist inan individual's milieu [5] .

The affective component includes bothgeneral friendliness towards the object of theattitude and various specific feelings that giveattitude its affective colouring [6] . The conativecomponent of an attitude concerns the disposi-tion to take action of some kind towards anobject.

In this paper therefore, job attitudes areused synonymously with job satisfaction torefer to affective orientation on the part of thejunior library staff towards their roles in theUniversity of Calabar Library. Such roles,according to Vaughn and Dunn [7], are in-fluenced by the feelings an employee has abouthis pay, opportunity for promotion, co-workers,and supervisors.

DESIGN OF THE STUDY

Sample Selection

The research design utilized for this study wasthe survey research design. The populationsample for the study consisted of 66 juniorlibrary staff drawn from all the divisions of theUniversity of Calabar Library namely . Adminis-tration, Resource Development Division, Pro-cessing Unit, Central Lending Library, Referenceand Bibliographic Service Division, ResearchLibrary, Technical Services Division and theReprographic Unit.. ~ a result of the smallness of the popula-

tion, It was not necessary to select a sample.Rather, questionnaires designed to measure theattitudes of these junior staff towards selectedjob factors were distributed to 51 of the 66junior staff that formed the population for thestudy excluding only 15 of them who were onannual leave at the time of this study. This wasdone through the permission of the variousheads of divisions.

Respondents were given one week to com-pletc and return the questionnaires. Before theend of this period, rl total of 30 questionnaires;.,::r(; returned. This gave a response rate of

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58.8%. Data gathered from these questionnaireswere then classified, tabulated and made readyfor analysis.

ANALYSIS OF-DATA

Three groups of data were available for analysis.The first group of personal data comprisedsex, marital status, number of children de-,signation, educational qualifications and tliedivision of the library in which the respondentworked.

The second group of data comprised thesatisfaction the respondents got from selectedfactors associated with their job, namely, pay,opportunity for steady work (security), theextent to which their boss is fair, good workingconditions, the importance people attach tothe~ )ob, opportunity to participate in makingdec1SlOns.'respect from colleagues, recognitionand praiSe from boss, and opportunity toimprove upon talents. The third group of dataconsisted of ideas from respondents which theythought could help to improve their section.

Sample Characteristics

A total of 30 respondents returned usable ques-tionnaires for this study. of this number, 24were males while only 6 were females (Table 1).

Table 1 : Distribution of Respondents by Sex

Sex Number ofrespondents

Percentage ofrespondents

Male 24 80%

Female 6 20%

Marital Status

This is another important variable that has beenshown to influence. worker's job attitudes. Itwas found in this study that 23 of the res-pondents were married while 6 were single and1 was divorced/separated. Similarly, 21 of themsaid they had children while 9 said thev had no

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JOB ATTITUDES IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

children. The average number of children re-ported was 2 while the highest was 7. Otherimportant data supplied by respondents arepresented in Table 2 and 3.

RESULTS

The satisfactions that the junior library staff ofthe University of Calabar Library want fromtheir jobs were measured in the second part ofthe questionnaire which asked them to tick howsatisfied they were with 9 factors associatedwith their job. Each factor was rated on a threepoint scale ranging from one point for notsatisfied to three points for very satisfied. Themean scores and modal values for each jobfactor are presented in Table 4.

As shown in Table 4, 1 and 2 are the modelvalues for each of the job factors. This meansthat majority of the respondents said they werenot satisfied with each of the job factors whosemodal values were 1 but were satisfied withthose whose modal values were 2 (not satis-fied being represented by 1, satisfied by 2 andvery satisfied being represented by 3). Onlyvery few of the respondents said they were verysatisfied with some of the job factors (Table 5).

Table 2: Distribution of Respondents byHighest Educational Q}talification

Qualification Number of Percentagerespondents of respon-

dents

Firest SchoolLeaving Certi-ficate 6 20%

Class IV Certifi-cate 5 16.7%

School Certificateor its equivalent 16 53.3%

G.C.E. OrdinaryLevel 3 10%

Total : 30 100%

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DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

Data presented in the analysis above show thata majority of the junior staff (60%) in the Uni-versity of Calabar Library are not satisfied withtheir pay. Only 30% of them (Table 5) said theywere satisfied with their pay while only 10%said they were very satisfied with their pay.This means that a majority of them do not feelthat they are adequately compensated for thework they do. All the 18 (60%) of them whoexpressed dissatisfaction were married withchildren. They do not feel that their pay isenough to maintain them and members of thefamilies.As for opportunity for steady work, a majorityof them feel satisfied. Since the assurance ofcontinuous employment is a basic factor ofrelieving a worker of worry about the futureand concern for the welfare of his family andhimself, one can conclude that the library jobprovides the respondents job security and peaceof mind.

Item 3,5,6,7 and 8, namely, the extent towhich your boss is fair, importance peopleattach to your job, opportunity to participatein making decisions, respect you get frommembers of your group, and recognition andpraise you get from your boss and all those youserve are items that were included to test thelevel of cordial relationships that exist betweenthe junior staff, their colleagues, their bossesand the readers.

Findings incidate that 70% of the res-pondents said they were satisfied as to thefairness of the boss to the employees; 56%of them were satisfied with the importancepeople attach to their job; 53% of them weresatisfied with the respect they got from mem-bers of their group and another 53% of themwere satisfied with the recognition and praisethey got from their boss and the readers theyserve. However, a majority of them i.e. 63%were not satisfied with the opportunity they getto participate in making decisions. These find-ings show that good' human relationships existbetween junior staff, their bosses and readersin the University of caIabar Library.

Finally, respondents said they were notsatisfied with the conditions under which they

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..Table 3 : Library Divisions and Designation of Respondents

Designation Number and Percentage of Respondents

--~------------------------------------------------~-----~------~-----------~----S.No. Division T/BS TotalsCS CSLA LAS LAT P T

1. Central Lending Library 1(3.3%) 3(10%) 3(10%) - 1(3.3%) 1(3.3%) - - 9(30%)

2. Bindery/Technical Services Division - - - - - - - 5(16.7%) 5(16.7%)

3. Resource Development Division 4(13.3%) 1(3.3%) - 1(3.3%) - - 1(3'.3%) - 7(23.3%)

4. Reference and Bibliographic - 2(6.7%) - - - - - - 2(6.7%) trjSource Division ~c:

l:I'::5. Processing Division 3(10%) 1(3.3%) 1(3.3%) - - - - - 5(16.7%)

6. Administration - - - - 1(3.3%) - - - 1(3.3%)

7. Research Library - 1(3.3%) - - - - - - 1(3.3%)

Total : 8(26.7%) 8(26.7%) 4(13.3%) 1(3.3%) 2(6.7%) 1(3.3%) 1(3.3%) 5(16.7%) 30(100%)---~----------------------------------------------------~-----------------------~--Legend: SLA - Senior Library Assistant; LAS - Library Assistant: LAT - Library Attendant; CS - derical Staff; C - Cleaners;

P - Porter;. T - Typist; T/BS - Technical/Bindery Staff.

JOB ATI'ITUDES IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

Table 4 : Mean Satisfaction Ratings and Modal Values for Selected Job Factors

S.No. Job Factors Mean Score Modal Values

1. Your Pay 1.5 1

2. Opportunity for steady work (Security) 2.1 2

3. The extent to which your boss is fair to you 2.3 2

4. Good working conditions 1.7 1

5. The importance people attach to your job 1.8 2

6. The opportunity your ~ob offers you toparticipate in making ecisions for yoursection 1.4 1

7. The respect you get from members ofyour group 2.0 2

8. The recognition and praise you get fromyour boss and those you serve 1.9 2

9. Opportunity to improve upon your talents. 1.4 1------------------------------------------------------~---

Table 5 : Respondents' Rating of Job Factors

S.No. Job Factor Very Satisfied Satisfied Not Satisfied

1. Your pay 3(10%) 9(30%) 18(60%)

2. Opportunity for steady work(security) 6(20%) 23(76.7%) 1(3.3%)

3. The extent to which your boss isfair to you 9(30%) 21(70%)

4. Good working conditions 6(20%) 9(30%) 15(50%)

5. The importance people attachto your job 3(10%) 17(56.7%) 10{33.3%)

6. Opportunity your job offers you to. participate in making decision foryour section 3(10%) 8(26.7%) 19(63.3%)

7. Respect you get from members ofyour group 7(23.3%) 16(53.3%) 7(23.3%)

8. Recognition and praise you get fromyour boss and those you serve 4(13.3%) 21(70%) 5(16.7%)

9. Opportunity to improve uponyour talents 2(6.7%) 8(26.7%) 20(66.6%)

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work as well as the opportunity the libraryoffers them to improve upon their talents.However, all of those who were not satisfiedwith the working condition belonged to theProcessing Division and Research Library. Thisis not surprising, because at the time of thisstudy these sections did not have the necessaryfacilities available in the old library as it was anew and incomplete building.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The findings of this study show that the atti-tudes of the junior cadre of staff in the Univer-sity of Calabar Library are influenced by whatthey want from their job. Specifically, thestudy has shown that a majority of them aresatisfied with their boss, opportunity for steadywork, fairness of the boss, the importancepeople attach to their job, the respect theyget from their peers, and the recognition andpraise they get from their bosses and those theyserve. On the other hand, most of them werenot satisfied with their pay, working conditions,

1 the opportunity they get for decision-making,and to improve upon their talents.

The implications of these findings for librarypersonnel manage men t is that the supervisorystaff should try to understand their subordi-nate staff especially their work goals, incentivesand frustrations. It is by doing this that theywill know how to motivate these staff to in-crease their productivity.

Based on the suggestions made by the res-pondents on the questionnaires, the followingrecommendations were made:

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1. More interaction between subordinates andsupervisory personnel should be encouragedthrough short courses and seminars.

2. Supervisory staff should get their junior staffinvolved in decision-making particularly withregard to matters that affect them and theirwork.

3. Effort should be made to provide morefacilities and manpower to those divisionsthat need them.

REFERENCES

1. Porter L : Job attitudes in management. Journal ofApplied Psychology 1962,46,375-384 and EjioforP N 0, Amagoh V A: Managing the Nigerian work-er. Ibadan: Longman Nigeria, 1984.

2. Allport, Gordon W: Handbook of social psychology(3d.). Murchison C., Clark University Press Mass,1935.

3. Ibid

4. Asch, Solomon: Social psychology. EaglewoodCliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1965.

5. Ibid

6. Harding, H Pro shansky , Kutner B, Cheir I:Prejudice and ethnic relations. In Lindzey, G,Aronson E(Eds.): Addison - Wesley, 1969, 1-76.

7. Vaughn, William J, Dunn J D : A stu dy of j ob satis-faction in six university libraries. College and Re-search Libraries 1979, 35,175.

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JOB ATTITUDES IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

APPENDIX

QUESTIONNAIRE ON THE JOB ATTITUDES OF JUNIOR STAFF INA NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY: A CASE OF THE

UNIVERSITY OF CALABAR LIBRARY

This questionnaire has been developed to determine how you feel about your job. The informa-tion you will provide in this survey will be held in strictest confidence and will be used only foracademic purposes. It will also enable the library administration to develop better personnelmanagement strategies to the benefit of us all. please cooperate by completing this questionnaire.

1. What is your sex? Male Female .

2. Marital status (a) Married. (b) Single (c) Divorced/Separated

3. Do you have children? (a) Yes (b) No .If yes, how many? .

4. Designation (a) Senior Library Assistant(c) Library Attendant (d) Typist(f) Messenger (g) Cleaner

(b) Libary Assistant(e) Clerical Staff

5. (a) What is your educational qualification?(i) FSLC (ii) Class IV Certificate(ill) School Certificate or its equivalent(iv) Any other - please specify .................•................................................................

(b) What Divisionof the Library do you work? please specify .

6. How satisfied are you with the following factors associated with your job? please tick (only one:

Very Satisfied Satisfied Not Satisfied1. Your pay

2. Opportunity for steady work(security)

3. The extent to which your bossis fair to you.

4. Good working condition

S. The importance people attachto yourjob, .

6. Opportunity your job offers youto participate in making decisionsfor your section.

7. The respect you get frommembers of your group.

8. Recognition and praise you getfrom your boss and those youserve.

9. Opportunity to improve uponyour talents

7. please use the space below to express your ideas which could help to improve your section.

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