Effect of Job Recognition and Training on Employee Performance: Mediating Role of Intrinsic Motivation

Employee performance is a vital issue that attracts the attention of scholars, researchers and practitioners across the globe. In Nigeria, employee performance is becoming an important matter in both public and private organizations. Manufacturing sector in the country is believed to be an engine of economic growth and development. However, the sector has largely been left out of growth process due to its low contribution to the nation’s gross domestic product. Similarly, report on the analysis of Nigerian manufacturing sector by Central Bank of Nigeria revealed that the total contribution of the sector has been declining. Thus, this study examined the effect of job recognition and training on employee performance in manufacturing firms: mediating role of intrinsic motivation. Cross-sectional research design was used to collect data from the 327 respondents. The population of the study comprises of all employees of four major pharmaceutical manufacturing firms in Kano State. The data collected were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) version 3. The result shows that training and job recognition have positive and significant effect on employee performance. At the mediation model, it was found that intrinsic motivation does not significantly mediate the relationship between job recognition, training and employee performance. The study therefore, made recommendations based on the findings.