PERCEIVED INFLUENCE OF LEADERSHIP ACCOUNTABILITY AND DECISIVENESS ON STAFF PRODUCTIVITY IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN RIVERS STATE

Abstract

The researcher studied on Perceived influence of Leadership accountability and Decisiveness on Staff Productivity in Public Universities in Rivers state. The descriptive survey research was carried out in three public universities in Rivers state. The population of the study includes the teaching and non-teaching staff in the three public universities in Rivers State which is about 3,419 staff (Uniport - 1,442, RSU – 1,584, Ajuru – 393) the teaching staff 1,519 and non-teaching staff 1,900.  13% of the entire population was sampled; 200  teaching and 250 non-teaching staff. The instrument for data collection was a researcher made questionnaire titled Perceived influence of Leadership Accountability and Decisiveness on Staff Productivity in Public Universities (PLADSPPU). The instrument used was a 10-item questionnaire developed on the modified four-point Likert scale, with responses ranging from Very High Extent, High Extent, Very Low Extent and Low Extent (VHE=4, HE=3, VLE=2 and LE=1) to answer the two research questions. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation was adopted in determining the reliability of the instrument. The mean and standard deviation was used to answer the research questions while the t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 alpha levels. Results showed that transparency and resilience as measures of effective leadership quality influence staff productivity in public universities in Rivers State. The researcher concludes that there is an understandable relationship between accountable and decisive leadership qualities and employee productivity. Therefore, the research also concludes that effective leadership is a means of creating and planning, securing resources and looking out for and improving errors plays an essential role in motivating employees. Recommendations among others were made that the management of academic institutions in Nigeria such as Universities in particular, should lay emphasis on accountable leadership as a factor of employee staff productivity.