Effect of Employees Psychological Availability of an Employee at Work on Business Performance of Revenue Authorities in Tanzania: A Case of Zanzibar Revenue Board

Tresphory Othumary Mgeni^*
*Correspondence: Tresphory Othumary Mgeni, Department of Economics and Management Sciences, Institute Of Finance Management, Shaaban Robert Street, Dar es salaam, Tanzania, Tel: + 255754615627, Email:

Keywords

Zanzibar revenue board • Psychological availability • Business performance

Introduction

People are complex with a number of distinctive features and along with features; the personality is one of the important factors. People are naturally multi-dimensional, and it means that people don’t have only physical features but also psychological, cognitive and social skills. All these features complement one another and constitute the personality. Psychological availability has been one of areas that have been less researched and little is known about it effect on business performance of the organization. Global competition, economic uncertainty, and swift technological differences are some of the factors which lead to psychological absence of employees at work. Previous studies have associated psychological absence of employees at work to the increasing decide in performance in organization in the 21st century. According to Suklun H [1] 3 out of every 5 employees are physically present and mentally absent at work.

Psychological Availability of an employee at work is currently becoming hot topic in most of Literature about the growing trend of mentally absent employees in public sector. Researches show that actively absent indeed employees continue to outnumber workers with psychological wellbeing at a rate of nearly 2-to-1. Psychological Availability of an employee at work will be an increasingly important concern for countries and organizations seeking to improve labor productivity as the global economy continues its rapid pace of change. According to the Gallup, W. Report on State of the Global Work Place, only 13% of employees across 142 countries worldwide work while they are psychologically available at work in their jobs. Gallup, W.,’s report on the State of the American Employees (2018) from more than 350,000 respondents reveals that 30% of employees are psychologically available at work. 52% are not psychologically available while working whereas, 18% are actively absent minded. These finding show that more than 70% if American employees are not engaged or actively disengaged and are emotionally disconnected from their workplaces and less likely to be productive. Estimates that these actively disengaged employees cost the U.S. between $450 billion to $550 billion each year lost in productivity [2].

Generally looking at the literature we can argue that current literature suggests the importance of Psychological Availability of an employee at work and that it has significant effect on business performance in organizations. Although there is considerably enough literature on the effect of psychological availability of employees at work on business performance of organizations, this study found no studies from Tanzania on this topic with the scope of literature search. This article thus attempts to bridge the knowledge gap on the effect of psychological availability of employees at work on business performance of Zanzibar Revenue Board [3-7].

Literature Review

Recently, Psychological Availability of an employee at work has emerged as a new phenomenon in the business performance of organizations. Organizations are very eager to have employees who not only complying and fulfilling their daily schedules and assignments, but also who are creative, attached to the organizations, and who can walk extra mile- contributing significantly to the organization success [8,9]. Previous studies shows that present minded employees at work are more productive, contented with their jobs, portray and protect company reputation, likely to stay more in the organization, than absent minded workers.

There is no universally agreed definition of Psychological Availability of an employee at work to academicians and Management and Human Resource consultants and psychologists/ human behaviorists. The reasons are, as it stands, Psychological Availability of an employee at work is the combination of a number of strategies of organization to ensure that employees are committed to the organization corporate goals and values and are willing to positively contribute to the organization success while fulfilling their personal goals. When speaking of psychological availability, you can never omit to cite the work of Kahn WA [7] uses the term “present minded employees” and “absent minded employees” to conceptualize the concept of Psychological Availability of an employee at work in the work places. Present minded employee is the one who is psychologically present at work whereas absent minded employees entails psychological absence of the employee at work. According to Kahn WA [7] psychological availability at work is among the three psychological conditions necessary for engagement. According to Khan other contributing factors are psychological meaningfulness and the level of employee’s perception.

Psychological meaningfulness: A perception by employees that their effort and perseverance on their work will attract return on investment. Tasks, roles and work relations are pinpointed to have influence in creating psychological meaningfulness. Job enrichment, work role fit, co-workers relations are the most factors in the organizations to creating meaningfulness [10] Psychological safety: A feeling of discretionary by employees to devote fully to their roles in the organizations without fear of negative consequences to self-image, status and career. Environment are said to be safe when an employee understands demarcation surrounding work acceptable behaviors. However, when the working environment is ambiguous, unpredictable and threatening an employee perceives it at unsafe environment which remove psychological safety. In connection to that, supervisory and co-workers behaviors have great contributions in creating safety in working environment. When a relationship of an employee with his immediate manager is supportive and trustworthy the perception of the safety work environment is likely to increase. Immediate supervisors can enhance a safety working environment by listening and encourage his subordinates to air out his concerns, paying attention to their needs, providing feedback regularly, assist them to develop new skills including that of solving their own problems.

Other conditions for safety at work places are co-workers relations and co-workers norms. Interpersonal interactions among co-workers create safety as individual possess relatedness needs. Psychological Availability of an employee at work can as well be referred as to emotional attachment an employee has to work, organization supervisor and fellows tresses cognitive and emotional elements when he defines Psychological Availability of an employee at work as a situation where an employee is both emotionally and intellectually committed to the work and organization. Shaffer and put emphasis on behavioral product irrespective of the motives when defines employee engagement. He defines engagement as the employee willingness to discretionary put extra effort on the job. According to Walker Information the outcome of engagement is viewed as employee retention. In most literature psychological availability of employees has been used to mean employees engagement probably because is the biggest attribute which define employees engagement. For the purpose of this article psychological availability and employee engagement are concepts that are used interchangeably.

Effects of psychological availability of an employee at work on business performance

Studies show that availability of an employee at work increase employee’s engagement. Employees who feel more engaged are likely to become more productive than their counterpart [7]. They are not only likely to “work smarter” as in looking for areas of improvement with little supervision, but also they are more likely to be compatible with colleagues in teams and management for the overall benefit of the organization hence increased operational performance and higher profit.

Also, engaged employees are more likely to stay with an organization on a long term basis, hence, saving the business of the large costs associated to frequent recruitment, development and replacement. Though, employee retention should not be relied as the sole indicator for Psychological Availability of an employee at work since some people stay in jobs they dislike or feel unengaged by simple as a lack of other options. In addition, engaged employees strive to improve customer service and customer satisfaction. Happy employees are understandable, like their job and hence affect their customers immediately and significantly. On top of that, engaged employees are the reasons for the organization’s survival. They are creative; produce quality products and hence creating an appealing organization’s reputation [11]. They generally tend to make better atmosphere which is a paramount for achieving organizational goals and meet strategic objectives [12].

Other benefits KPMG [13] of Psychological Availability of an employee at work include; Engaged employees are tougher ambassadors who recommend the organization products and services; Low recruitment costs due to the higher retention rate; Make the organization to have strong people brand which attracts superior quality candidates and reduce recruitment costs; Engaged employees are very committed and often go extra mile to deliver outstanding services and products for the benefit of the organization

Empirical literature review

The study conducted by May, Gilson RL & LM Harter [4] concluded that drivers of Psychological Availability of an employee at work were rewarding co-worker and supporting line manager relationship, job enrichment and fit, and availability of tools and financial resources. To be engaged, employees should have a feeling of being secured from all kinds of employment threats like harsh supervisor, leadership should be that of supportive and visionary as well job content should be enriched one, challenging with connection to the organization success.

Again, Maslach C, et al. [12] found that significant driver of Psychological Availability of an employee at work was a workplace surrounded with social and emotional support from line managers and top leaders. Lack of such of support of immediate supervisors, top management, rewards and recognition, fairness and justice were directly linked to employee burnout which is a sign of disengaged employees. Other revealed factors for Psychological Availability of an employee at work were work distribution and autonomy, job content and rewarding system.

On their Talent Report, Towers Perrin (2004) discovered that feelings of employees that their organizations care and support them were top drivers of employee engagement. They affirm that an emotion that an employee is engaged has great influence on employee retention. According to Bates, S. it is not how much employees receive extrinsic rewards such as pay and incentive that matter their engagement but how much they feel. On the research on the Effect of Leadership on Employee Engagement, Rossato found leadership to be the key driver of employee engagement. Relationship between employees and their leader has significant value in creating level of engagement. Therefore, there is close relationship between leadership behavior and employee engagement.

Heikkeri (2010) findings revealed that employee disengagement is contributed by poor management and leadership, lack of psychological meaningfulness of work, lack of psychological safety at work. It was also found that level of engagement influences employee behavior in the workplaces and the success of the business. She revealed a distortion of health, low morale, poor performance, poor customer care, diminishing creativity and innovation, and intention to quit being the uppermost signs of employee disengagement.

On his research, Knight [5] found the main three drivers of Psychological Availability of an employee at work to be better rewards, job rotation and enrichment, opportunity for growth and upward mobility within the organization. He concluded that, when organization addresses the mentioned factors, it will reduce the intention to quit of its potential employees. In a survey of over 7500 individuals and interview with line managers, Blessing White found that quarter of Generation Y employees are worldwide disengaged with excluding India, where the lever of engagement across the generations is higher than other regions. This implies that the older the employee the higher they are engaged. Employees who were born from 1980 were least engaged, while baby boomers are more likely to feel engaged as a result of expectation to hold power and positions, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Tanzania, studied Health Worker engagement by exploring the relationship between engagement and performance. The study revealed that more engaged workers perform better and are more productive in health and other sectors.

Conceptual framework

This study conceptualizes Psychological availability of employee at work as an independent variable and business performance as its dependent variable. Kan 1990 theory is used to conceptualize the independent variable and establish its metrics. On the other hand Wu, 2009 theory of business performance is used to conceptualize business performance as an independent variable and establish its metrics. As shown on Table 1.0, this article attempts to determine the effect of Psychological Availability of an Employee at Work on Business Performance of Zanzibar Revenue Board. Psychological availability of employees at work refers to being present minded at work of the employee which is a psychological attribute defining employee engagement.

According to Kahn WA [7] psychological availability of employees at work comprise of their elements namely self-consciousness, resource assurance and desire for outside work or activities. Self-consciousness is defined as the quality of being carried out deliberately and with full awareness, especially in an affected way. According to McClean Resources is defined as anything that is available to be used by someone to satisfy oneself that has ability to motivate someone. In this context resource is used to mean monetary motivation. Business performance is measured by three elements comprises of Growth in market shares Quality of products and services offered,, Growth of returns on assets (ROA), Growth of return on investment (ROI), Growth of return in equity (ROE) and Growth of return on sales (Figure 1).

Research question

Based on the literature review and the conceptual framework, this study attempts to answer the following research questions:

• What is the effect of Employee’s Self-consciousness on Business Performance at Zanzibar Revenue Board?

• What is the effect of Resource Access Perception of Employees on Business Performance of Zanzibar Revenue Board?

• What is the effect of Desire to Work outside the Organization on Business Performance of Zanzibar Revenue Board?

Methodology

This is a case study designed study based on 100 respondents from Zanzibar Revenue Board. Data was collected by questionnaire and analyzed by descriptive statistics by Microsoft excel software and its findings presented in the form of Tables. The Sample of 100 respondents who are staff of Zanzibar Revenue Board was drawn from a population of 300 staff of Zanzibar revenue board. Since Zanzibar revenue board has 300 staff thus 100 respondents is an adequate sample. According to Lane 2009 one third (1/3) of the sample is enough to represent the characteristics of the population from where it is drawn. The sample was prepared by non-probability sampling method by convenient sampling technique because it was to get all the respondents in a defined schedule due to the nature of their works thus these who were available at a time and place convenient to researcher were administered with questionnaires. This study employed qualitative research method because of the nature of the study and the objective of the study. The study is still nascent and of such it requires qualitative study as there is no enough literature to establish hypotheses for testing [10,11].

Data analysis and presentation of findings

Effect of employee’s self-consciousness on business performance at Zanzibar revenue board: To answer the research question on the “Effect of Employee’s Self-consciousness on Business Performance of Zanzibar Revenue Board” data from 100 respondents were analyzed by descriptive statistics by Microsoft word and excel for cross validation of the findings and its output are resented in Table 1.

As shown in Table 1, 59.8% of the respondents said they have not been affected by self-consciousness because they have not experienced being absent minded while they are at work. 7.2% of the employees said that their self-consciousness were increasing rapidly thus improving their works and hence the business performance of the organization while 33% said they have been negatively affected being self-unconscious well known as being absent minded and thus affected their works and business performance of the organization.

Effect of employee’s perception on their access to resources on business performance of Zanzibar revenue board: To answer the research question on the “Effect of Employee’s Perception on Access to Resources on Business Performance of Zanzibar Revenue Board” data from 100 respondents were analyzed by descriptive statistics by Microsoft word and excel for cross validation of the findings and its output are resented in Table 2. As shown in Table 2, 43.4 of staff at Zanzibar Revenue Board said have been negatively affected psychological disorder caused by uncertainties in access to resources hence affecting their psychological availability at work. 27.9% have been less affected by the uncertainty perceptions hence their work are not significantly affected. Based on the evidence, it can be concluded that, worker’s psychological availability as an aspect of Psychological Availability of an employee at work has a high effect on business performance of Zanzibar Revenue Board in Tanzania [12-13].

Effect of employee’s desire to work outside the organization on business performance of Zanzibar revenue board: To answer the research question on the “Effect of Employee’s Desire to Work outside the Organization on Business Performance of Zanzibar Revenue Board” data from 100 respondents were analyzed by descriptive statistics by Microsoft word and excel for cross validation of the findings and its output are resented in Table 2. The findings r shows that the employees working at Zanzibar Revenue Board in Tanzania have big problems in access to resources, and less in desiring outside works while self-consciousness have affected few people. Generally, the study has found, Psychological Availability of an employee at work to have high effect on business performance of Zanzibar Revenue Board in Tanzania. The findings further show that the employees working at Zanzibar Revenue Board in Tanzania have big problems in access to resources, and less in desiring outside works while self-consciousness have affected few people. Generally, the study has found, Psychological Availability of an employee at work to have high effect on business performance of Zanzibar Revenue Board in Tanzania (Table 3).

Discussion of the Findings

The findings of this study suggest that self-consciousness has least effect on business performance of Zanzibar Revenue Board, where feeling of not being assured to get resources such as monetary incentives and desire to have extra work outside the organization to increase personal income have the highest effects on business performance of Zanzibar revenue board. This imply that being absent minded of the workers is not largely a function of self-awareness resulting from psychological illness but is more of rational calculations of what one gets and does not get when is fully engaged to a particular job.

According to literature there were various reasons for the utilization of employees in the organization the noted reasons includes engaged employees boost productivity, Psychological Availability of an employee at work increases customer satisfaction, assists to retain best people, Psychological Availability of an employee at work enhances organization culture as well as engagement is a symptom of success. It was also revealed that these programs involve employees in the decision making process, or when designing any strategy that touches the interest of the employees and in the areas that affect their jobs in order to make the organization more efficient and to increase commitment from the employees to the organization's success. It was revealed that, through meetings, employees and management team can have opportunities to exchange ideas and discuss the organization’s objectives though some organizations think that meetings are not necessary and they run their organizations without holding any meeting unless there are emergency issues [14].

Several reasons contribute to employees’ engagement at the place of work. However, the contribution of these reasons varies in strength and appeal to workers. Pay and benefits has the strongest contribution to engagement while Mission statement and Mobile phones has the least contribution. It must also be pointed out that punishment can positively influence engagement. This finding has a strategic implication for human resource managers and scholars. It was established that employees in the study area are disengaged. This was evidenced by distraction from work and dissatisfaction with levels of pay and benefit; work life balance and difficulties associated with freedom of expression [15-16].

Recommendations

Management should communicate the concept of worker’s engagement to all employees to ensure workers work to achieve individual objectives and organizational objectives parallel by illustrating how individual tasks are aligned with organizational goals and make workers feel as part of organization’s successes. The Government, through policy making bodies, should formulate policies and issue circulars which will demand every organization, especially public institution to have a Psychological Availability of an employee at work strategy and focus more on Psychological Availability of an employee at work as a key driver of the organization’s productivity

The Management should focus on the involvement of staff which will motivate them to develop themselves within the organization and be aware of what is going on in the organization especially in areas that touch them directly this in one way or another, will bring positive effects to employees and the organization as whole and in turn will maintain and improve the engagement levels. The practice of the Psychological Availability of an employee at work dimensions would be a matter for further research for the purpose of providing deeper understanding into practices of dimension of Psychological Availability of an employee at work in different organizations both public and private. Moreover, comparative study can be done to private and public organization in Tanzania and other countries to find out more factors for employee engagement.

Limitation of the Study

This study is done as a partial fulfillment for academic master’s degree in business administration and as such it has been done in a very limited time to comply with the deadlines given. The study calls for further studies in this title using stronger tools of data analysis and reasonably bigger sample n different industries to see if the finding will be similar.

Conclusion

Based on the findings, this study concludes that psychological availability of an employee at work affect the business performance of Zanzibar Revenue Board. However, the nature of the effects varied depending on the aspect of employee’s psychological availability at work. The findings of this study suggest that self-consciousness has least effect on business performance of Zanzibar Revenue Board, where feeling of not being assured to get resources such as monetary incentives and desire to have extra work outside the organization to increase personal income have the highest effects on business performance of Zanzibar revenue board. This imply that being absent minded of the workers is not largely a function of self-awareness resulting from psychological illness but is more of rational calculations of what one gets and does not get when is fully engaged to a particular job Previous studies such as Bakker & Demerouti, 2008, Robinson, Perryman and Hayday, 2004, Penna, 2007, Aon Hewitt, 2013, Corporate Leadership Council, 2014, Mercer, 2007, Mercer, 2007, MacLeod and Clarke, 2009, Kumar and Swether, 2011, May, D. R., Gilson, R. L., & Harter, L. M, 2004, Saks, 2006, Bates, S., 2004, Heikkeri, 2010, and Knight, 2011 reported similar findings.

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