PROFESSOR ONYISHI CHALLENGES WORKERS TO TAKE CHARGE IN A CHALLENGING WORK ENVIRONMENT

From Chris Ugwuja, Nsukka

A Prof. of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, Prof. Ike Ernest Onyishi has said that one of the most agreed drivers of extra-role efforts at work is the employees positive state and that when workers are happy and enthusiastic about their jobs, they are dedicated to their jobs and perform them well, notting that scholars describe this high level of positive state as work engagement. He stressed that work engagement which is defined as positive, fulfilling, work -related state-of-mind characterized by vigour,  dedication and absorption.

 According to him, “It has been found to be related to many positive work behaviours, including engagement in extra-role behaviour and overall productivity”. He also said that “the possible links between citizenship behaviours and organizational success may contribute to organizational success by a) enhancing coworker and managerial productivity b) freeing up resources that can be used for more productive purpose c) reducing the need to devote scarce resources to purely maintenance functions d) helping to coordinate activities both within and across work group e) strengthening the organization’s ability to attract and retain the best employees f) increasing the stability of the organization’s performance and g) enabling the organization to adapt more effectively to environmental changes”.

Prof. Ike Ernest Onyishi, made the remarks during his 202 Inaugural Lecture at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) delivered recently at the Princess Alexandria Unity Hall and Theatre on the topic “Not-My-Job Syndrome: Getting Workers To Take Charge And Go The Extra Mile in A Challenging Work Environment “.

He said “although these studies were basic in nature, they formed part of my subsequent understanding of why workers in Nigeria may not see anything wrong in coming to work two hours after the beginning of the work period, while workers in other countries will feel ashamed to arrive to a meeting ten minutes late” adding,  “wealth and perception of wealth may differ across countries, as well as norms and violations of norms”.

Prof. Onyishi further said , “going forward, I shall sustain these interests in my current and further research exploits”, pointing out that “the consistent empirical support for positive relationships between extra -behaviours and organizational effectiveness on the one hand and negative relationships with counterproductive work behaviours on the other hand, points to the direction that research in the area will be sustained, at least for the near future”, adding, “I shall key into these trends to unravel more drivers of wellbeing at work, extra-role behaviours, including taking charge and job performance in my future research endeavours”.

According to him, most of the previous research projects have been extended to explore new possibilities and that there are many other new research projects that I intend to undertake which I have also become more actively involved in many of our international collaborations as I currently serve on steering committees of some of the large cross -cultural research projects and that what I have done in recent times, which I wish to sustain, is to encourage younger colleagues within and outside the Faculty, to join their research projects”, saying, “the purpose is to improve the research skills of junior members and expose them to best international practices”.

He added further, “I am glad that a good number of our colleagues are part of some of the projects and they are doing excellently well and that it is hoped that this approach, which has already started yielding dividends will enable us build a critical mass of Social science researchers in the country who will generate meaningful data-driven evidence that can influence policy and practice. “

“At the home front, he noted, “I shall vigorously develop more robust designs that will enable my collaborators and I to unravel why Nigerian workers appear to be difficult to manage and as I continue to explore more cross-cultural issues relating to work attitudes to further understand the similarities and dissimilarities across and within countries, there will deliberate attempts in my future studies to focus on the peculiarities of Nigerian work and social environment and produce evidence to help organizations in Nigeria elicit optimum performances from their employees “, he concluded.