Motivation and Retention of Graduates in the Public Sector : A Study of Nurses and Teachers in the Ayawaso District of the Greater Accra Region in Ghana

The concept of motivation is an important factor especially considering teachers and health workers worldwide. There is a general disparity in the level of motivation among workers in developed countries compared to developing countries. The disparity further worsens in Africa where motivation among teachers and health workers are disproportionate with workers in the West African sub-region not well paid compared to those in South Africa. This has resulted generally in brain drain of skilled personnel from the low motivated areas especially in the West African sub-region (Bennel, 2004). The low motivation among workers especially in the health and teaching profession has prompted many policy makers and employers of health professionals to adopt several ways and means to motivate its workforce to stay. In Ghana, most of the industrial strikes that have occurred have been undertaken by personnel either in the health or teaching profession. These two areas also employ the largest number of personnel in the public sector in the country. For instance, according to nurses, they work longer hours but their level of remuneration is very low when compared to workers in other sectors such as the financial and construction sectors. With respect to teachers, their major complaints have been the fact that they are posted to deprived areas of the country sometimes with no electricity and access routes. They also state that they train most of the workforce who move to other sectors and earn salaries twice what they are earning. The driving force of teachers’ agitation stem from the fact that when they join the public sector, it takes almost six months to receive their first salaries. This difficulty in receiving first salary when nurses and teachers are first engaged in the public sector has been attributed to the Controller and Accountants Generals Department’s inability to enroll new employees on its payroll. The motivation to undertake this research arises from the fact that teachers and nurses comprise the largest majority of employees in the country. It is important, therefore, to ascertain the major factors that can contribute to the motivation of this group of workers. People are motivated when they expect that a course of action is likely to lead to the attainment of a goal and valued reward— one that satisfies their needs. Well-motivated people are those with clearly defined goals who take action that they expect will achieve those goals. Such people may be self-motivated. As long as this means they are going in the right direction to achieve what they are there to achieve, this is the best form of motivation. Most people, however, need to be motivated to a greater or lesser degree (Armstrong, 2009). The organization, as a whole, can provide the context within which high levels of motivation can be achieved by providing incentives and rewards, satisfying work and opportunities for learning and growth. Managers of public sector organizations in Ghana still have a major part to play in using their motivating skills to get employees to give off their best and to make good use of the motivational processes provided by the organization. The public sector of Ghana is the largest employer of most Ghanaians. However, it is also the sector with the most agitated workers over the years as a result of poor remuneration and low motivation in the sector. There have been several commissions and committees set up by governments over the years to attempt to address these concerns for workers in this sector. Reports by committees aimed at addressing motivation issues in the public sector have been rejected by workers for reasons that all their concerns were either not addressed or only met halfway. Teachers and health workers form a majority of unsatisfied workers in Ghana and the country has witnessed major strikes and agitations especially from this group. A typical example is the recent strike by teachers and health workers concerning the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS). It is for this reason that this research seeks to examine and compare the level of motivation and retention among teachers and nurses in Greater Accra. The main objective of this research is to examine the role of motivation and retention of teachers and nurses in the public sectors in the Ayawaso West Sub-Metro in Ghana. Specifically, this research sought to identify and examine the major motivating needs of teachers and nurses in Accra. It also sought to identify the major challenges that nurses and teachers face in the performance of their duties and also make recommendations for improving motivation and retention of teachers and nurses.