TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Approval Page ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgements v
Table of Contents vi
List of Tables x
List of Appendices xii
List of Figures xiii
Abstract xiv
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1
Background of the Study 1
Statement of the Problem 15
Purpose of the Study 17
Significance of the Study 18
Scope of the Study 22
Research Questions 22
Hypotheses 23
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 24
- Conceptual Framework 25
- Conceptual Model 26
- Concept of Seminaries 30
- Concept of Pentecostal Seminaries 33
- Concept of Management Practices 36
- Concept of Staff Management 37
- Rationale of Staff Management of Seminaries 42
- Objectives of Staff Management 45
- Elements of Staff Management in Pentecostal Seminaries: 48
- Staff Recruitment in Seminaries 48
- Staff Training and Development in Seminaries 50
- Staff Remuneration in Seminaries 53
- Staff Motivation in Seminaries 60
- Staff Supervision in Seminaries 64
- Staff Discipline in Seminaries 68
- Staff Performance Appraisal in Seminaries 73
– Historical Background of Staff Management in Pentecostal Seminaries in Nigeria 77
– Constraints to Staff Management of Pentecostal Seminaries 82
- Theoretical Framework 92
- Expectancy Theory 93
- Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory 96
- Human Resource Management (HRM) System Theory 97
- Theoretical Model for Staff Management Practices 99
- Review of Empirical Studies 105
- Strategies for Effective Staff Personnel Administration 105
- Survey of Staff Personnel Services 106
- Strategies for Improving Human Resources Management for Quality Education 107
- University Career Administrators’ Perception of the Influence of Performance Appraisal Strategies on Staff Work Performance 108
- Staff Training and Development in Small Scale Organizations 109
Strategies for Enhancing Teachers’ Commitment to the Teaching Profession 110
- Prospects of Staff Personnel Administration 111
- Job Satisfaction and Productivity 112
- Summary of Literature Reviewed 113
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHOD 115
Design of the Study 115
Area of the Study 115
Population of the Study 116
Sample and Sampling Technique 117
Instrument for Data Collection 117
Validation of the Instrument 118
Reliability of the Instrument 118
Method of Data Collection 119
Method of Data Analysis 119
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS 121
Research Question One 121
Research Question Two 123
Research Question Three 127
Research Question Four 130
Research Question Five 133
Research Question Six 136
Research Question Seven 139
Hypothesis One 142
Hypothesis Two 143
Hypothesis Three 144
Hypothesis Four 145
Hypothesis Five 145
Summary of Findings 146
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION OF RESULTS, CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUMMARY 149
Result One: The Procedures for Staff Recruitment in Pentecostal Seminaries 149
Result Two: The Approaches Adopted by Pentecostal Seminaries to Encourage Staff Development 150
Result Three: The Means used by Pentecostal Seminaries to Enhance Staff Remuneration 150
Result Four: Motivation of Staff in Pentecostal Seminaries 151
Result Five: Approaches to staff Supervision in Pentecostal Seminaries 152
Result Six: Factors Militating against Staff Management in Pentecostal Seminaries 153
Result Seven: Measures that can be used in Improving Staff Management in Pentecostal Seminaries 154
Conclusions 156
Educational Implications of the Study 157
Recommendations 159
Limitations of the Study 161
Suggestions for Further Studies 161
Summary of the Study 162
REFERENCES 164
APPENDICES 172
Appendix I: Letter of Introduction to the Respondents 172
Appendix II: Respondents’ Personal Bio–Data 173
Appendix III: Questionnaire: Staff Management practices in Pentecostal Seminaries Questionnaire (SMPPSQ) 174
Appendix IV: Population of Governing Council Members (GCM), Academic Staff (AS) and Non-academic Staff (NAS) in the Pentecostal Seminaries in the South-East, Nigeria. 177
Appendix V: Reliability Coefficient Analysis 180
Appendix VI: Means Analysis on Staff Management Practices in
Pentecostal Seminaries in South-East, Nigeria 181
Appendix VII: The Five States in the South-Eastern zone of Nigeria 182
Appendix VIII: Interview Schedule for Staff of Pentecostal Seminaries in South-East, Nigeria 183
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Mean Ratings and Standard Deviation of Governing Council Members, Academic and Non-academic Staff of the Pentecostal Seminaries on the Procedures Used in Staff Recruitment. 121
Table 2: Mean Ratings and Standard Deviation of Governing Council Members, Academic and Non-academic Staff of the Pentecostal Seminaries on Encouragement of Staff Development. 124
Table 3: Mean Ratings and Standard Deviation of Governing Council Members, Academic and Non-academic Staff of the Pentecostal Seminaries on the Used to Staff Remuneration. 128
Table 4: Mean Ratings and Standard Deviation of Governing Council Members, Academic and Non-academic Staff of the Pentecostal Seminaries on Staff Motivation. 131
Table 5: Mean Ratings and Standard Deviation of Governing Council Members, Academic and Non-academic Staff of the Pentecostal Seminaries on Staff Supervision. 134
Table 6: Mean Ratings and Standard Deviation of Governing Council Members, Academic and Non-academic Staff of the Pentecostal Seminaries on the Factors that Militate Against Staff Management. 137
Table 7: Mean Ratings and Standard Deviation of Governing Council Members, Academic and Non-academic Staff of the Pentecostal Seminaries on the Measures Used in Improving Staff Management. 140
Table 8: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) of the Difference Between the Mean Ratings and Standard Deviation of Governing Council Members, Academic and Non-academic Staff of the Pentecostal Seminaries on the Procedures Used in Staff Recruitment. 143
Table 9: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) of the Difference Between the Mean Ratings and Standard Deviation of Governing Council Members, Academic and Non-academic Staff of the Pentecostal Seminaries on the Approaches Adopted for Staff Development. 143
Table 10: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) of the Difference Between the Mean Ratings and Standard Deviation of Governing Council Members, Academic and Non-academic Staff of the Pentecostal Seminaries on Staff Remuneration. 144
Table 11: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) of the Difference Between the Mean Ratings and Standard Deviation of Governing Council Members, Academic and Non-academic Staff of the Pentecostal Seminaries on Staff Motivation. 145
Table 12: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) of the Difference Between the Mean Ratings and Standard Deviation of Governing Council Members, Academic and Non-academic Staff of the Pentecostal Seminaries on the Approaches Used in the Supervision of Staff. 146
LIST OF APPENDICES
- Letter of Introduction to the Respondents 172
- Respondents’ Personal Bio-Data 173
- Questionnaire: Staff Management Practices in Pentecostal
Seminaries Questionnaire (SMPPSQ) 174
- Population of Governing Council Members (GCM), Academic Staff (AS) and Non-academic Staff (NAS) in 36 Pentecostal Seminaries in the South-East Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria 177
- Reliability Coefficient Analysis 180
- Means Analysis on Staff Management Practices in Pentecostal
Seminaries in South-East, Nigeria 181
- The five states in the South-Eastern Zone of Nigeria: Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo 182
- Interview Schedule for Staff of Pentecostal Seminaries in South-East, Nigeria 183
List of Figures
Figure 1. Conceptual Model for Staff Management Practices 26
Figure 2. The Basic Motivation Model 63
Figure 3. Theoretical Model for Staff Management Practices 99
ABSTRACT
The
main purpose of this study was to examine staff management practices in
Pentecostal seminaries in South-East, Nigeria comprising of Abia, Anambra,
Ebonyi Enugu and Imo States. The study specifically sought to examine staff
management practices with regard to: staff recruitment procedures; staff
development; staff remuneration; staff motivation; staff supervision; factors
militating against staff management and measures used in improving staff
management. Based on the purposes of the study, seven research questions and
five null hypotheses were used. The study adopted descriptive survey research
design. The population consisted of 601, made up of 230 governing council
members, 189 academic staff and 182 non-academic staff of the Pentecostal
Seminaries. The entire population was used for the study. Two instruments:
questionnaire and interview schedule were used. An instrument titled: Staff
Management Practices of Pentecostal Seminaries Questionnaire (SMPPSQ) was used
to collect data from the respondents. The interview schedule titled: Interview
Schedule for Governing Council Members, Rectors/Provosts and Academic Staff in
Pentecostal Seminaries (SGCMRPASPS) was used to gather information. The
interviews were conducted with the aid of a mobile phone, a camera and voice
recorder. The Cronbach Alpha Method was used to test the reliability of the
instrument. The internal consistency reliability co-efficient values yielded
0.66, 0.77, 0.74, 0.54, 0.80, 0.93 and 0.95 for clusters A, B, C, D, E, F and G
respectively and overall reliability figure of 0.77. The data collected were analyzed using
inferential statistics while mean scores and standard deviations were used to
answer the research questions. Analysis
of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of
significance. Findings showed too that procedures to staff recruitment were
practiced at a low degree in Pentecostal Seminaries in South-East Nigeria. The
degree (level) of encouragement of staff development of Pentecostal Seminaries
authorities is moderate. Findings also showed that staff remuneration in
Pentecostal Seminaries is moderate. Staff motivation is to a great extent not
in line with traditional management practices. Findings showed too that the
approaches to staff supervision were efficient and effective compared to what
is obtainable in educational management practices. Findings also showed that
the factors militating against staff management of Seminaries are high.
Findings showed too that the measures used in improving staff management in
Pentecostal seminaries in South-East, Nigeria, are high. Based on the findings,
it was recommended that recruitment of staff should be conducted based on
merit, devoid of favouritism, ethnicity and preferential treatment. Also, it
was recommended that administrators (rectors/provosts) of Pentecostal
Seminaries should adopt and adapt some measures for regular staff development
programme, and that seminary authorities should harmonize the salary structure
(remuneration/salaries and wages) of staff of Pentecostal seminaries to be in
line with that of the government.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The importance of staff management is increasingly being realized in the educational system. This realization is apparently as a result of increasing complexity of the tasks which administrators perform. There are perceived problems in the areas of recruitment, training and development, remuneration, motivation, supervision, discipline and performance appraisal of their staff. Pentecostal institutions are not insulated from such problems. While staff is a great asset to every educational institution, it becomes problematic if not properly managed. Hence the import of this study is to examine staff management practices in Pentecostal Seminaries in South-East, Nigeria.
Management has been variously defined. Obi (2003) is of the view that the word ‘manage’ seems to have come into English usage directly from Italian word “managerial”, meaning to “handle”. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the words manage and manager over appeared in usage, and today’s meaning of the word manage is coloured by these early variations. Management was originally a noun used to indicate the process for managing, training or directing. It was first applied to sports, to housekeeping and later to government and business organizations and from there to education. To manage is to forecast and plan, to organize, to command, to coordinate and to control (Obi, 2005). In Pentecostal Seminaries, each rector/provost, supervisor, director, executive among others, is a manager in the area of his responsibility. Each of
them co-ordinates and directs the efforts of others in a major part of the management job in the institution. Management is a process of creating, directing, maintaining and operating purposeful educational programmes through coordinated, cooperative human efforts. According to Ogunu (2000:1), “management is the effective organization and utilization of the human and material resources in a particular system for the achievement of identified objectives.” It is the effective handling of all school activities that go on within the educational system, which require judicious use of human and material resources towards the realization of objectives. Management has also been defined as “a social process which is designed to ensure the cooperation, participation, intervention and involvement of others in the effective achievement of a given or predetermined objective” (UNESCO, 1999). Nwadiani (1998), on his part, defined management as human and material resources and programmes available for education and carefully using them systematically for the achievement of educational objectives. In other words, management is the art, or science, of achieving goals through people. Since managers also supervise, it therefore implies that management means looking over, that is, ensuring that people do what they are supposed to do. Broadly then, management is the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals, working together in groups, efficiently accomplish selected aims of an institution.
Therefore, management entails the acquisition of managerial competence, and effectiveness in the areas of problem solving, administration, human resource management, and institutional leadership which most managers have not acquired. Management, according to Cole (2002), refers primarily to the activities of specialist staff responsible for implementing the key objectives of the institution in respect to its use of people (employees). Generally, staff management is concerned with the issues of recruitment, welfare, training, promotion, motivation, transfer and discipline of staff.
In essence, staff management connotes the activities of staff selection, recruitment, development, training, transfer/posting, welfare, discipline and supervision. Ogunu (2001) on his part, perceived personnel management as:
that specialized activity of the organization which caters for the employment, development and utilization of the organization’s human resources. It is that function of all enterprises which provides for effective utilization of human resources to achieve both the objectives of the enterprise and the satisfaction and development of the employees (p: 96).
In line with this perception, educational managers need to acquire some form of managerial skills either formally or informally to respond to the various challenges to their performance in office. The areas where Pentecostal seminaries affect the staff behaviour and performance are likely to be in staff recruitment, training and development, remuneration (salaries/wages), motivation, supervision, discipline, performance appraisal for general development of work norms to achieve educational goals and objectives. In an organization the staff personnel services is co-ordinated and supervised by a staff personnel manager or director or controller.
A
manager is one who performs a variety of roles, such as the roles of counselor,
mediator, company spokesman, problem-solver and change agent. From the above,
it implies that the personnel manager undertakes all those functions which are
concerned with human elements or relations as well as material elements in the
educational system. The focus of the personnel manager is to ensure that human
resources are purposefully utilized for the optimum good of the institutions
and the workforce. The basic role of the personnel manager is the management of
manpower resources of an organization. Management, according to Mamoria and
Gankar (2010), is concerned with leadership both in group and individual
relationship, and labour-management relations.
Staff who are motivated in terms of remuneration, training and development, supervision, discipline and appraised regularly tend to perform better in job orientation. This assertion is generally applied to every workforce globally, especially in Nigeria where material motivation in the form of compensation, remuneration, fringe benefits payments, promotion, leave allowances, among others, tend to facilitate workers’ motivation and effectiveness.
Seminaries are Christian educational
institutions established for the training of priests, ministers or rabbis who
are equipped both educationally, morally, and spiritually with the right kind
of knowledge, skills, attitudes and habits suitable to enhance spiritual
formation of their adherents for the development of the society (Allen and
Hollenweger,1999). Seminaries
in the context of Nigeria, and South-East states in particular, are believed to
be central to the restoration of human dignity even though it appears that
seminary education is the least in priority compared to other disciplines such
as engineering, law, medicine, offered in the institutions of higher learning
such as universities, colleges of educations and polytechnics. However,
Anibueze (2010) observed that Nigeria is still a developing nation which
exhibits various cultural, political, social, and economic features such as
poverty, high level
of illiteracy , over (50%) unemployment,
and very low human development index (0.943). In addition there is also high
level of corruption, poor investment on education (about 11.5% of annual
budget), erratic power supply, low-industrial-economy, very low knowledge
economy, ignorance, poor democratic culture, and problematic education system.
The current world economic recession or financial crash are serious lessons for the nation. It is a warning to all to learn to do the first things first, keep our homes in order, rely more on home grown policies and ideas meant to face the real challenges of the times and the future. This requires the development of enlightened and disciplined citizenry, manpower and human capital. Otherwise, as Anibueze (2010) opined, we seem to be doing everything upside down and “one step forward two steps backward”. This means that Nigeria of today is bedeviled by crisis in social, psychological, economic, political, religious, environmental and personal social vices that demand a lot of attention. This goes to imply that seminaries have to be abreast with problems and, be well remunerated, trained and developed, supervised, appraised, motivated and disciplined so as to create new approaches to solving human dilemma.
The seminaries, apart from getting involved in the spiritual formation and development of their staff and students, also perform secular (civil) duties like paying taxes to the government, participating in community development, maintaining peace and order in the society requiring not only proper motivation but effective staff motivation if they are to perform optimally. In South-East, Nigeria, there are different types of seminaries run by different denominations – Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Anglicans, Methodists and Pentecostals. The researcher is interested in examining staff management practices of Pentecostals seminaries. This is because it is believed that one of the biggest problems facing management of Pentecostal seminaries in South-East, Nigeria is anchored on staff recruitment procedures, training and development, remuneration, staff motivation, staff supervision, staff discipline and staff performance appraisal.
Pentecostal churches in Nigeria are not homogenous entities. They have their own peculiar beliefs and theological framework. It is the convergence of African spirituality in the Pentecostal churches that gives fascination to Pentecostalism in Nigeria. These churches stress radical spiritual conversion, often called “born again,” through the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, recalling the Day of Pentecost. In addition, they emphasize speaking in tongues, divine healing and miracles. They profess that material success and prosperity of their members are signs of divine grace and benevolence.
These Pentecostal churches offer responses to the spiritual yearnings of the African people based on their pre- Pentecostal Christian formation and their life experiences. There is continuity between prophetic African churches and Pentecostal Charismatic. Both churches are engaged in what is termed the African primal quest for the sacred and the transcended (Kalu, 1998). The quest for healing, wellbeing, material success, and long life. Pentecostal churches exercise some degree of religious independence in that, unlike the Mission churches before them, they are not under large foreign mission. The churches derive their success from their appeal, however unacknowledged, to African spiritual sensibilities.
In harmony with global Pentecostalism, churches under the classical Pentecostalism include: The Apostolic Church of Nigeria, Assemblies of God, Nigeria, among others. The New- Pentecostal conglomerations are represented by the Deeper Life Bible Church, the Church of God Mission, the Latter Rain Assemblies, the Household of God, Christ Embassy, and Synagogue of All Nations, among others. Another typology of Pentecostal/charismatic churches initiated by the prosperity churches, following the trend of materialism, are scattered all over the country. The principal representatives are the Church of God, Riches of Christ, Universal Praying Church, and Christ Pentecostal Mission, amongst others.
In Pentecostal churches, services are characterized by lively singing with the opportunity at communion services for extemporary prayer and the exercise of the gifts of tongues, interpretation and prophecy by church members. Their emphasis, according to Mbefor (1990), was on dreams and visions. Healing and exorcism were seen as logical consequences of the divine intervention through prayer. God reveals His plans and ordinances to those who pray and even reveals his personal name to them, empowering them with the spiritual gifts. Atansuji (1990) is of the view that African’s instituted churches took into cognizance the socio-cultural context of Nigeria both in the theological formation and pastoral orientation. God intervenes in the world events to order them for the benefit of those who pray to Him. These churches did not only introduce an intensive practice of prayer into Nigerian Christianity, but also seek to liberate Christianity from the western practices. With the accentuation of prayers and demonstration of spiritual gifts by the emerging African indigenous Pentecostal churches, the Christian faith in Nigeria was given a Pentecostal direction.
For much of its early history, Pentecostalism was led mainly by evangelically oriented activists with little concern for academic biblical scholarship, extended theological education or social care. But these are now generally accepted as part of the work and mission of the church. Thus, Ferguson, Wright and Packer (1991) described formation in Pentecostal seminaries as,
The training of pastors usually undertaken at full-time colleges, and some churches run their own day schools or social care and rehabilitation centres. Having become conscious of its own history, Pentecostalism is now producing its own biblical scholars and church historians (P:505).
Generally, then, it appears that apart from ministerial training in the seminaries and theological faculties, there are various denominational and interdenominational centres established for training and formation of the faithful either for evangelical works or for their general Christian formation. These Pentecostal institutions are now common in Nigeria and South-East States in particular, offering training in evangelization and ministry to those who cannot afford professional theological education.
Pentecostal Seminaries are owned by private individuals or organizations. The seminaries have been operating by personal or individual ownership in which assets and properties belonging to the institutions are controlled and proceeds of their operations manned by an individual. With the exception of few institutions owned by some organized organizations, such as, Assemblies of God, Deeper Life Bible Church, The Redeemed Christian Church, Christian Pentecostal Mission and The Apostolic Church amongst others, these institutions have the advantage of being easy to set up and dissolved because there are no laws or policies to regulate their operations (Bergstrom, 2005).
Pentecostal Seminaries in South-East states of Nigeria have governing council members, academic staff and non-academic staff charged with the responsibility of planning, controlling, organizing, staffing, directing and decision-making relative to the effective management of the institutions. Besides, to a certain degree, it seems that there are similarities in management practices with other seminaries owned by orthodox (denominations) churches like, Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Baptist in terms of objectives for which the institutions were established ranging from recruitment, training and development, remuneration, motivation, supervision, discipline and performance appraisal aimed at evangelizing the world, using the Bible as major curriculum in the dispensation of Christian values.
Staff in the seminaries perform both spiritual duties (preaching, teaching, counseling, exorcism-deliverance, prayers, etc) and academic and social duties. Other staff (non-academic staff), like gardeners, drivers, gate keepers, clerks/typists, messengers, electricians, carpenters, masons, among others, constitute academic staff in the institutions. The management practices commonly observed in Pentecostal Seminaries includes employment, welfare, training, discipline, motivation and performance appraisal, among others.
The researcher’s interest in staff management practices in Pentecostal Seminaries is due to the perceived problems of management practices in the institutions in the areas of recruitment, training and development, remuneration, motivation, discipline, supervision and performance appraisal of their staff. With respect to welfare of staff, Cole (2002) noted that, welfare, in the sense of financial provision, is covered by pay and salary administration. Thus pensions, sickness benefits, health schemes and the like are provided for as part of the total remuneration of employees. Unfortunately, in Pentecostal Seminaries staff incentive payment methods, staff training and development, motivation, supervision, discipline and performance appraisal seemed less frequently used or reflected in any documented policy, neither are they if any, uniformly carried out in the institutions in South-East, Nigeria.
The major worry in staff management in Pentecostal seminaries is about the way staff are recruited, trained and developed, remunerated, motivated, supervised, disciplined and appraised. Evidently, the staff management practices in Pentecostal seminaries do not appear to cohere or fall in line with conventional managerial practices of other higher institutions like universities, colleges of education and polytechnics.
Regrettably, it has been observed that Pentecostal Seminaries do not have competent staff management structure that could respond adequately to the social, political, economic and intellectual needs of its workforce. There are reports of lamentation by the clergy over the inability of foreign missions, agencies and national denominations to produce visionary and pragmatic educational administrators. Allegations of inadequacy of remuneration to governing council members, academic and non-academic staff have caused or led staff to pursue material objectives and devote less time to the central goal of the seminaries (Kalu, 2008). These challenges affect staff management in many ways.
Recruitment is the discovering of potential applicants for actual or anticipated seminary vacancies. In other words, it is linking and bringing together those with jobs and those seeking for jobs. That is, recruitment is a two-way street: it takes a recruiter (management) and a recruitee (job seeker). The recruiter chooses whom to recruit and whom not. So also the prospective employee (recruitee) has to make the decision if he should apply for that seminary job. Thus, recruitment, as opined by Mamoria and Ganker (2010), entails the discovery of potential applicants for actual or anticipated organizational vacancies. It is an activity that brings together those with jobs and those who seek jobs. The principal purpose of recruitment activities in Pentecostal Seminaries is to attract sufficient and suitable staff to apply for vacancies. Hence detailed plans and procedures for recruitment are to be devised and put in place. These are necessary to ensure that recruitment practices are systematic, consistent and responsive to internal needs. Recruitment plans typically contain references to quantity, quality, time and cost as well as identifying those responsible for achieving the required results of the institutions.
Staff remuneration on the other hand, is the mechanism by which the seminary authorities plan on how to attract, retain, reward and motivate its salaried (staff); that is those who are paid monthly under the terms of an annual rate of pay. It includes employees benefits. Staff remuneration is not just about pay, that is, wages and salaries. It is also concerned with non-pay benefits, or benefits –in-kind. These non-pay benefit are known as ‘employee benefits’ and sometimes as ‘fringe benefits or ‘perks’
Staff
remuneration, which has to do with wage and salary administration, means any
economic compensation paid by the employer under some contract to the employees
for the services rendered. Wages include family allowances, relief pay,
financial support and other benefits. But, in the narrower sense wages are the
price paid for the services of labour in the process of production and include
only performance wages or wage proper. It is just one of the many expenses which
must be incurred regularly in running educational institutions (Lunenburg and
Ornesterin, 2008). This is probably the most important single cause of
dissatisfaction expressed amongst staff of Pentecostal Seminaries due to the
authorities’ inaction to establish a principle of fair compensation for
services rendered or work performed.
Training is any learning activity which is directed towards the acquisition of specific knowledge and skills for the purpose of an occupation or task. The focus of training is the job or task. Development on the other hand is any learning activity which is directed towards future needs rather than presents needs, and which is concerned more with career growth than immediate performance. The focus of development tends to be primarily on seminaries future manpower requirements, and secondly on the growth needs of individuals in the institution. In general, Pentecostal seminaries provide the bulk of the church education activities carried out in the society. Mission agencies create the training and development opportunities required to prepare the individuals for future roles in the institutions.
Furthermore, staff development, according to Mamoria and Ganker (2010), is a complex process and is concerned with increasing the capabilities of individuals and groups so that they may contribute effectively to the attainment of organizational goals. It is an effort made by management authorities to provide staff with the abilities they will need in future. This is not the case in Pentecostal Seminaries. In other words, development of staff tends to focus on long term requirements for the overall enrichment of the institutions’ human resources.
Moreover, supervision has to do with seminary authorities efforts to indoctrinate staff with specific details regarding the sections and jobs where they are to be assigned such as safety rules, pay, promotion, transfer, lay-off or discharge. It is a practice whereby management prepares requisition outlining specific qualifications of employees needed to fill specific positions; help create reputation that will attract public interest and make specific job assignments that will utilize the staff highest skills to promote maximum production in the institutions. Igwe, (1990) defined personnel supervision,
as set of activities which are carried out by the supervisors with the basic aim of sensitizing, mobilizing and motivating staff in schools towards performing their duties optimally in line with the achievement of the stated aims and objectives of the educational system (P:10).
In seminaries, it appears that the main constraints associated with staff supervision are lack of qualified rectors/provosts who do not understand the importance of supervision while carrying out the duties of a supervisor. Appointment of rectors/provosts seems to have been politicized and discriminatory. This situation tends to pose a huge threat to effective supervision of Pentecostal Seminaries.
Also, staff Motivation is concerned with the ‘goal-directed’ aspect of human personality. Cole (2002) saw this more in terms of how the individual has achieved his or needs and ambitions, rather than with trying to identify these needs. From this point of view, staff motivation encompasses the process, both instinctive and rational, which occupies in an individual when seeking to satisfy perceived needs and wants in a work environment in Pentecostal seminaries.
Staff motivation on the other hand, come as a result of the internal forces that ignite, propel, energize, arouse, direct, regulate and sustain behaviour towards goal attainment. Motivation has been defined by Lunenburg and Ornstein (2008) as those processes within an individual that stimulate behaviour that benefit the organization as a whole; the forces acting on and coming from within a person that account, in part, for the willful direction of one’s efforts towards the achievement of specific goals. In Pentecostal Seminaries it is observed that staff are not motivated in terms of provision of adequate infrastructural facilities, which result to dissatisfaction, frustration, redundancy, leading to difficulty in attaining organizational goals.
Staff Discipline on the other hand, refers to administrative practice guided by a set of rules or guidelines for dealing with instances of bad behavior or rule-breaking amongst staff (employees) in the seminaries. The most common sanctions usually applied to recalcitrant staff are warnings, suspension and dismissal. In other words, discipline is a process of training a staff so that he can develop self-control and become more effective in his work place. It is a force that prompts an individual or group to observe the rules, regulations and procedures which are deemed to be necessary to the attainment of an objective in the education system such as Pentecostal seminaries.
Staff discipline in another sense, has to do with rules and regulations guiding behaviour. Cole (2002) observed that discipline is a question of devising appropriate rules of behaviour for employees and of providing fair and consistent means of enforcing them. That implies that the standards expected of staff are set out in various documents such as rule-books, staff (employee) handbooks and disciplinary procedures. Nowadays, in some cases, dismissals are prescribed by rectors without approval of the governing council members. These practices tend to undermine Christian values of Pentecostal Seminaries.
Managers of the education sector, Pentecostal seminaries inclusive, have realized that a multi-faceted approach to staff management, which must include staff training and development, motivation, supervision, discipline and performance appraisal are valuable and that their proper management can tremendously help the institutions maximize the quality of their products (graduates and staff) and ultimately achieve the goals for which they were established.
In addition, Performance appraisal is the process of evaluating the performance and qualification of the employee (staff) in terms of the requirements of the job for which he is employed. Its aim is for purposes of administration including placements, selection for promotions, providing financial rewards and other actions which require different treatment among staff as distinguished from actions affecting all members in Pentecostal seminaries.
The term appraisal, as perceived by Arvey and Murphy (1998), is a formed structured system for measuring, evaluating, and influencing an employee’s job related attributes, behaviours and outcomes. Staff performance appraisal is the act of evaluating in an unbiased manner staff performance on the job. However, performance appraisal in Pentecostal Seminaries is yet to be carried out effectively and efficiently in order to achieve the goals of the institutions. In Pentecostal Seminaries, it appears that poor recruitment procedures and selection of staff make the human resources management task very vulnerable to failure. Moreover, the relative remuneration based on the strata of the staff do not correspond with the contribution they make to the institution.
The challenging vicissitudes of the national economy, coupled with administrative lapses perceived in the management of Pentecostal Seminaries, tend to discourage the staff, and compel them to go in search of other schools to either teach or work in order to augment what they are being paid. Moreover, staff who are qualified by their training but are not given the opportunity to work at management positions, probably because of preferential treatment by their missions, are discouraged on the job. However, those trained by the missions are given management positions. This brings about resentment among staff leading to lack of cooperation in the institutions.
It seems therefore that Pentecostal Seminaries are not operating on any uniform standard as is obtainable in government or public institutions which are guided by policy guidelines from Ministry of Education. This appears to influence staff performance on the job for the achievement of the goals and objectives of the seminaries. Against this background, there is need to examine staff recruitment procedures, staff training and development, staff remuneration, staff motivation, staff supervision, staff discipline and staff performance appraisal of Pentecostal Seminaries, in South-East, Nigeria. Moreover, there is dearth of literature in this area of study which the researcher wants to make a contribution to with respect to knowledge dissemination in educational administration of Pentecostal Seminaries in South-East, Nigeria.
Statement of the Problem