PERCEPTION OF MOTIVATION PRACTICES OF MINING CAMPANIES ON EMPLOYEE MORALE: INSIGHTS FROM NEWMONT GHANA GOLD LIMITED

ABSTRACT The objectives of the study were to: identify employee motivation practices of Newmont Ghana; determine extent to which the motivation practices meet the expectations of the employees of the company; and determine employee perception of the effect of non-monetary motivation practices on their morale. Exiting literature on employee motivational practices helped generate questionnaire to collect data. Twenty items were pretested and appropriate corrections made to ensure the reliability of the instrument. Eighty staff members of the Ahafo division; Newmont Ghana Gold Limited; consisting of forty field and forty office staff were randomly selected as population. The instrument was then administered to the selected population, of which they were required to tick the options as appropriate to their situation. The application of descriptive statistics such as mean, and frequencies were used to explain the results. The results of the study revealed that majority of the motivation packages such as: personal health insurance; housing allowance; paid leave; opportunity for study leave; provident fund and loan support; and health insurance cover for some family members are enjoyed by all staff members, also a greater number of the office and field staff enjoy clothing, travel and overtime allowances, and a small number of field and office staff also enjoy car and fuel allowance although office staff dominate in this area. The next finding is that majority of the employees are not certain about how the motivation packages that they enjoy meet their expectations. Lastly the study revealed that majority of the employees perceive they are positively motivated by the non-monetary motivation practices. Therefore, the study recommends that the company should address how the employees view the motivation package systems through further research; leadership systems to work on employees drive needs to acquire and achieve, bond and belong, challenge and comprehend, and define and defend; and constantly review the motivation packages in use.