The Chairman, Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria, Mr. Mohammed Aliyu, and Director, Centre  for Peace  and Strategic  Studies, University of Ilorin, Dr. Joseph Fayeye, have identified motivation as a stimulant to higher organisational productivity.

They spoke during a workshop on 'Creative reward management: A motivational tool for higher productivity', in Ilorin on  Tuesday.

Aliyu said adequate motivation of employees would ginger them to contribute their utmost to the growth of the organisation.

He appealed to the government to make mandatory for all public employees to be paid extra salaries, termed '13th month,' after the end of each year.

"If workers are not rewarded, they will relent in their performances.

"Rewards promotes employees commitment to increased performance and thereby enhances organizations productivity and sustainability.

"Personnel should be put where they are fit. Those who are not fit to work in certain places and they are put there, there will be lowered performance, the end users will suffer for it.  If you put square pegs in round holes, no good result will come out from it," Aliyu said.

Fayeye said there should be a national policy whereby 13 month's salary should be made compulsory at all levels.  He added that it will go a long way to motivate the workers as according to him when a worker is well motivated,  there will be higher productivity.

He said well motivated staff will be encouraged to put in their best at all times. According to him, motivation encourages high productivity and organisational growth.

He advocated fairness of rewards; and performance encouragement.

Fayeye said  while some organisations emphasize external competitiveness of pay to attract a competent work force, other organisations tend to emphasize internal equity of pay, and place less emphasis on external competitiveness.

He said the policy on external competitiveness was important if the organisation was going to attract, retain and make innovation of controlling labour costs and complying with pay legislation.

According to him, reward management is said to be directly related to the other elements of the  human resource management cycle.

He stated that in the selection process, pay could be a major factor in attracting highly qualified and competent people to an organisation.