Oputa, Ebele Rose
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EFFECTS OF WORKPLACE COUNSELLING ON JOB COMMITMENT, PRODUCTIVITY AND RETENTION AMONG CALL CENTRE EMPLOYEES IN NIGERIA’S TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY BY OPUTA, EBELE ROSE 2014 i EFFECTS OF WORKPLACE COUNSELLING ON JOB COMMITMENT, PRODUCTIVITY AND RETENTION AMONG CALLL CENTRE EMPLOYEES IN NIGERIA’S TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY BY OPUTA, EBELE ROSE NCE (ENGLISH/RELIGION) COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, ABRAKA (1984) B. A. Ed (ENGLISH) DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY, ABRAKA (1998) M. Ed (GUIDANCE & COUNSELLING) UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS (2004) A THESIS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS (WITH EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY) SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Ph.D) IN GUIDANCE & COUNSELLING OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS FEBRUARY, 2014 ii APPROVAL THIS RESEARCH WORK HAS BEEN APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS, FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND THE SCHOOL OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS BY ………………………………… ….……………….. DR. I. P. NWADINIGWE DATE SUPERVISOR ………………………………… ….……………….. DR. M. B. UBANGHA DATE SUPERVISOR ………………………………… ….……………….. PROF. G. C. ILOGU DATE HEAD DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS (WITH EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY) iii SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS CERTIFICATION This is to certify that the Thesis “EFFECTS OF WORKPLACE COUNSELLING ON JOB COMMITMENT, PRODUCTIVITY AND RETENTION AMONG CALL CENTRE EMPLOYEES IN NIGERIA’S TELECOMMUINCATIONS INDUSTRY” Submitted to the School of Postgraduate Studies University of Lagos for the award of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Ph.D) is a record of original research carried out By OPUTA, ROSE EBELE in the Department of Educational Foundations (with Psychology) ……………………………..... …………………… ……………….. AUTHOR’S NAME SIGNATURE DATE ……………………………..... …………………… ……………….. 1ST SUPERVISOR’S NAME SIGNATURE DATE ……………………………..... …………………… ……………….. 2ND SUPERVISOR’S NAME SIGNATURE DATE ……………………………..... …………………… ……………….. 1ST INTERNAL EXAMINER SIGNATURE DATE ……………………………..... …………………… ……………….. 2ND INTERNAL EXAMINER SIGNATURE DATE ……………………………..... …………………… ……………….. EXTERNAL EXAMINER SIGNATURE DATE ……………………………..... …………………… ……………….. SPGS REPRESENTATIVE SIGNATURE DATE iv DEDICATION This Research Work is Dedicated to Almighty God: My Saviour, My Guide, My Guard, My Wisdom and My All v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Glory to God Almighty for the great things he has done in my life. He alone gave credence to my very essence and the success of this research work. All support, care and love that I received in the course of my education came from Him. I thank God for the opportunity to undertake and complete what He and I started together. I am grateful to Him for making my Ph.D a reality. My profound gratitude goes to my two supervisors, Dr. I. P. Nwadinigwe and Dr. M. B. Ubangha for their encouragement. Their strict instructions and guidance led to the completion of this work. I am forever grateful to them. I appreciate my fatherly Head of Department, Professor G. C. Ilogu for his quiet but persistent encouragement and his brotherly concern for my success. I am especially thankful to Prof. (Mrs.) A. M. Olusakin, my ever smiling and tireless teacher, friend and sister for her prayers and encouragement. To my most respectable Dr. (Mrs.) O. M. Alade, I am grateful for her good counsel. Her advice gave me wisdom that brought polish to this work. Thank you. Throughout the research process, my indefatigable lecturers were available to mentor, coach and motivate me; prodding me on with such gentleness and sometimes strictness that encouraged me. I am grateful to God for providing such good people as my lecturers – Prof. (Mrs.) Osarenren, Prof. (Mrs.) Omoegun, Dr. C. E. Okoli, Dr. (Mrs.) B. Makinde, Dr. (Mrs.) I. I. Abe, Dr. S. Aletan, Dr. S. Oni and Rev. (Fr.) F. M. Isichei. I pray that God Almighty will bless you all abundantly. The non-academic staff of my department were also helpful: Mrs. Shade Adefila (for her support and good will), Mrs. Kehinde Ogunlabi (for her sisterly advice), Madam J. Sobande and their colleagues. I thank Mr. Onoka of the Department of Science & Technology Education for his expert advice during some of my presentations. My sincere appreciation goes to the managers and supervisors of the call centres where I carried out the research work. I thank my bosom friend Bernard Ameh for giving me access to MTN and Globacom. I am also grateful to Peter Nwaeke (MTN), Helen Owuasu-Akinola (MTN), Mercy Alex (Globacom) and Ekah Nsia (Visafone) for their support in their different centres. My special thanks go to all the call centre vi employees of these companies who agreed to participate in this study. It was their resilience that got the results for this study. God bless them all richly. I am sincerely grateful to my three field assistants whose competence and meticulousness aided my data collection and collation. I appreciate my colleagues on the Ph.D programme: Dr. Favour Nwolisa for her prayers and strong words of encouragement (her consistency kept me focused), Dr. Akin Akinteye for his comradeship (his not ever getting discouraged was a strong point for me), Dr. Johnson Fakorede, Dr. Ijeoma Aneke, Dr. Stella Anyama, Dr. Bamidele, Mrs. Atuegbu, Mrs. Babatola, Mrs. Obadere-Akpata, Mrs. Nkechi Iwuagwu, Mrs. Ify Madueke and all other Ph.D students in the department. I also humbly offer my encouragement to my peers not to relent but to push on and achieve their target. To my friends, I say thank you. They supported me in different ways throughout this work: Bola Andrew-Bello (you are a friend and sister indeed), Emmanuel Sunday, Oghenekevwe Odejeh, Jacob Tofio and Chiedu Olu (your contribution is not quantifiable), David Bedgood (never failed to buy me any book I requested), Paul Nicholson (for your PUSH-PUSH philosophy), Adewuyi Adeyanju and Uche Uwah (my IT specialists), Femi Ariba, Toyin Lolu-Ogunmade, Francis Akpomedaye, Benedict Iheukwumere, Henry Ajayi, Oliver Ogbuonye, Israel James (made my life easier), Kato Tabara (for his strong support for this work and for me) and Mrs. Kumbi Oke (my ever smiling prayerful neighbour). Special thanks to Bassey U. for his friendship, constructive criticisms, gentle prodding, insightful comments and careful editing that made my work richer. I am really grateful for those kind words and works and laughter from you all that lifted my heart and kept me going. God bless you all. My greatest appreciation is to my family: my sister Adaobi Larry-Agugor (my best friend, comrade and supporter); my sister Ngozi Owuasu for her constant prayers; and my brothers Ifeanyichukwu and Azubuike Oputa for their love, support and care. God‘s gift to me is Chiedozie Olu, my friend, companion and confidant. I appreciate his love, strength, advice, prayers and the quiet and peaceful support that gave me peace of mind and kept me focused to achieve success. God bless you in every way. EBELE ROSE OPUTA vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page i - ii Approval iii Certification iv Dedication v Acknowledgements vi - vii Table of Contents viii - x List of tables xi - xii List of figures xiii List of appendices xiv Abstract xv Chapter One: Introduction 1.1 Background to the study 1 – 13 1.2 Statement of the problem 13 – 17 1.3 Theoretical Framework 17 – 44 1.4 Purpose of the study 44 - 45 1.5 Research Questions 45 1.6 Research Hypotheses 46 1.7 Significance of the study 46 – 47 1.8 Scope of the study 48 1.9 Limitations of the study 48 1.10 Operational Definition of Terms 49 – 51 viii Chapter Two: Literature Review 2.1 The meaning and significance of Workplace Counselling 53 – 62 2.2 History of Counselling in the Workplace and its Impact in 62 – 81 America, United Kingdom, Malaysia: Lessons for Nigeria 2.3 Workplace Counselling and Employee Commitment 81 – 93 2.4 Workplace Counselling and Employee Productivity 93 – 102 2.5 Workplace Counselling and Employee Retention 102 – 111 2.6 Demographic Factors Affecting Employee Commitment, Productivity and Retention in Telecommunications Industry: 111 – 127 Gender, Age, Qualification, Professionalism/Course of Study and Organizational Tenure 2.7 Studies in Gestalt Therapy 127 – 136 2.8 The Place of Workplace Counselling in the Curriculum of 136 – 140 Nigeria Universities 2.9 Summary of Reviewed Literature 140 – 142 Chapter Three: Methodology 3.1 The Study Area 143 - 144 3.2 Research Design 144 - 145 3.3 Population 145 3.4 Sample and Sampling Procedure 145 – 148 3.5 Instrumentation 149 – 155 3.6 Reliability and Validity of the Instruments 156 – 159 3.7 Recruitment and Training of Research Assistants 159 – 160 3.8 Procedure for Data Collection 160 – 171 3.9 Method of Data Analysis 171 ix Chapter Four: Results, Discussion of Findings 4.1 Test of Hypotheses 172 – 198 4.2 Summary of Findings 199 – 200 4.3 Discussion of Findings 200 – 213 Chapter Five: Implications, Recommendations, Suggestions for Further Research, Summary and Conclusion 5.1 Summary of the study 214 – 215 5.2 Conclusion 216 5.3 Implications for Counselling 216 – 217 5.4 Recommendations 217 – 218 5.5 Contributions to knowledge 219 5.6 Suggestions for further research 219 - 220 References 221 – 253 Appendices 254 – 267 x LIST OF TABLES TABLE TITLE PAGE Table 1 EAP Clients average, Self-ratings- Pre & post EAP Utilization 98 Spread of Participants by Stratification according to Organization, Table 2 146 Gender and Age Spread of Participants by Stratification according to Organization, Table 3 147 Gender and Organizational Tenure Spread of Participants by Stratification