Knowledge Sharing Behavior, Mentoring and Motivation as Determinants of Employee Performance in Selected New Generation Banks, Lagos, Nigeria

Introduction

Employee performance is critical to organizational success. This is especially true in the banking industry with its high level of competition and volatility. Banking is a knowledge intensive industry; hence, banks often invest heavily in the training and development of their employees. The goal is not just to improve their performance but to also encourage innovativeness which is critical to survival and competitiveness in the industry. Unfortunately, high rate of employee turnover and downsizing which characterize the industry could lower employee morale and lead to loss of knowledge and expertise the banks have invested in for years. It is therefore imperative for banking institutions to adopt organizational practices such as knowledge sharing behaviour, mentoring and motivation which could help them retain and develop existing knowledge capital, and ultimately improve employee performance.

Knowledge sharing behavior has been defined as the manner and the extent to which employees share knowledge among themselves within an organization (Yi, 2009). Knowledge sharing is an active process during which intellectual assets are exchanged, evaluated, refined and integrated to create new knowledge (Baju & Babalola, 2017). It is an important stage in knowledge creation which enables people to contribute to and receive from the ideas, experience and insights of others. Laeeque (2014), citing several authors submits that knowledge sharing is the most important building block of innovation. Knowledge sharing behavior is necessary for the exchange of both tacit and explicit job-related knowledge among employees. Studies have established a nexus between knowledge sharing and employee performance in various organizational contexts (Mutimba & Kanyua, 2017; Sarpong, 2016; Chweya, Ochieng, Ojera, & Riwo-Abudho, 2014). Incidentally, employees do not always exhibit knowledge sharing behavior for reasons that may be personal, social or organizational (Pangil & Nasurddin, 2013).

Another factor that has been identified as one of the drivers of employee performance is mentoring. Mentoring refers to the nurturing relationship whereby an experienced person known as mentor helps to develop the personal and professional capacity of a less experienced one called mentee. Mentoring is one of the knowledge management tools used by organizations because it facilitates the capturing, sharing and retaining of organizational knowledge (Mavuso, 2007). Mentoring provides both career and psychosocial support for mentees. While career mentoring aids career advancement and career progression of the protégé, psycho-social support helps to build his self-esteem and confidence through personal advice and timely feedback. In spite of these benefits, some organizations are yet to realize the importance of organizing mentoring programs or evaluating the impact of existing mentoring programmes on employee performance.

The role of employee motivation in employee performance has long been established in the literature. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs indicates that people have certain physiological, social and psychological needs that must be met at a given point in time and anything that has the potential to satisfy such needs becomes a motivation. Employee motivation is a force that stimulates and energizes an employee towards attaining specific goals in the interest of the organization (Omollo, 2015). Intrinsic motivation suggests factors within an individual that drives him or her towards achieving specific goals. These inner drives may include pleasure, curiosity, intellectual stimulation or personal satisfaction derived from doing something. Extrinsic motivation on the other hand refers to the forces outside the individual that propels him/ her towards achieving a goal. They include salary, bonuses, recognition by others, promotion, job security among others (Underhill, 2016). Employees who are intrinsically motivated do whatever they do for the sheer pleasure of doing it whereas, those who are extrinsically motivated do it for the benefits it attracts (Ryan & Deci, 2000).