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EFFECT OF FEAR OF RETIREMENT ON JOB PERFORMANCE OF TEACHERS IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0   Background to the Study

Retirement which can be described as the termination of a working career, it is as sure as death and it may come in various forms. It may come suddenly as retrenchment or lay-off to workers whose employers decide to dispense with their services. It may come in form of a long notice. For example, government civil service reform policy stipulates that except for judges and university professors, all other workers should be prepared to go on compulsory retirement at age 60 or after 35 years of service whichever comes earlier. Industrial firms may suddenly retrench their workers for redundancy, low productivity or lack of raw materials. Trade union activists may lose their jobs if their employers regard their continuity in service as a threat to their organisation. Protracted illness or accident may incapacitate some workers who are eventually forced to retire (Omoegun, et al 1996). In most cases, people are not prepared for retirement, in terms of long range planning against a rain day, even when there is retirement insurance. Therefore many people fear to retire.

The fear of retirement is a very important factor militating against efficiency, integrity, loyalty, commitment, and dedication. The fear of retirement usually leads to psychological insecurity and unwillingness on the part of the worker to plan for the future. To some dedicated and committed workers, retirement may come as a rude shock that may shatter their hopes in future thereby leading to poor work performance (Ayo, 1998).

To most workers, the mere thought of retirement is dreadful, frightening and depressing because it may connote misery, loss of status and prestige, poverty, drastic reduction in income, boredom, loneliness, inactivity or even premature death. With this attitudes, workers who are approaching retiring age, who have not prepare for it, may not do their jobs as effectively as they could.

Retirement normally should be a period in the life of a worker to rest from the onerous tasks of previous years. It should be a period to sit back and enjoy the fruit of past labour. To ensure this, the guidance counsellor is called upon to educate adults on precautionary measures to be taken to make retirement a joy and not a misery. Anything that has a beginning most have an end and retirement of a worker is no exception. The time to start to prepare for retirement should be from the first day of employment (Adeleke, 2003).

Many questions such as these run riot in some potential retirees’ minds:

·                    To which place do I retire, my present place of work or my home town?

·                    What sex adjustment do I make as a retired person? Do I need to marry a new wife as a pensioner?

·                    How do I take care of my gratuity and pension? Do I put my gratuity in a fixed deposit or savings account?

·                    Do I invest my money in agricultural production? Do I use my gratuity to build a house in which to retire?

·                    Do I listen to the so-called experts in financial matters to go into business?

·                    How do I cope with my financial obligations to member of my extended family – cousins on holidays, relations with their newly married wives, hospital bills for sick relations, money for burials, etc?

·                    What other work activities do I need to do to avoid boredom and what voluntary services can you render to the community as a retiree?

Retirement is a period workers cease to be actively engaged in daily work or job activities. It is a time of rest and planning for successful retired life. Regrettably, many workers today do not prepare or plan for their retirement. These workers do not put necessary things in place towards planning for their compulsory retirement after active work life (Uzozie, 2004).

Many civil servants who are retired today regret their not planning well for their retirement from work. These workers did not embark on savings, investments in stocks or in profit-oriented ventures that will yield good dividend for them during their retirement. No wonder some people after retirement start to seek another employment almost immediately because they do not have the wherewithal to cushion the effect of retirement. Most retirees develop serious ailments such as hypertension due to much thinking resulting from sudden unplanned retirement. Others become psychologically imbalance due to the shock of their unplanned retirement and the uncertainty that await them during retirement, while many die as a result of distress during retirement (Mundi, 1999).

Often during the process of ageing, the individual looking forward to retirement dreams of a day when he can put aside the duties and responsibilities that chain him to his routine (Thoroman, 1998). Yet, when he takes a closer look at retirement, it possesses severe threat to age. It signals the decline of vital powers to the point where he is no longer acceptable as a working partner in the forward movement of the society; from a productive point of view, it closes the door on the future, when an executive lays down his pen and closes his files, his authority is gone. A king could only put aside his crown if he dies, and to some, retirement is a psychological death, after which life is vegetative. To others, it signals the onset of the twilight of the gods, a slow decline through which they fight a losing battle to keep prestige, status, and even self-respect. The older citizens are always “infested” with fear of employers, who will turn them down (Davidson, 1998). They have learnt while in regular employment, many companies consider workers of retiring age as potential source of difficulty. As a result, those workers have fear in their own faith, in their physical and mental abilities to perform adequately (Attah, 2001).

Bam (2003) stated that retirement means a loss of status and prestige, loss of established comfortable routine, loss of old social contacts and particularly loss of respect from others and self-respect. James (1998) claimed that to retire and move to a leisure stress and anxiety. Based on research evidence, an individual should anticipate and plan for retirement for a more satisfying retirement. In the study of self-concept and roles during old age, Cavan (2004) reported that at the point of compulsory retirement, the main means of carrying out the special roles disappears. The man is lawyer without a case, a book keeper without books, a teacher without pupils, a mechanic without tools. Secondly, he is excluded from his group of former co-workers, as an isolated person, he may be completely unable to function in his former roles. Thirdly, as a retired person, he begins to find a different evaluation of himself in the mind of others, from the evaluation he has as an employed person, he is no longer seen with  respect in the eyes of former subordinates, praise in the faces of former superior and approval in the mind of former co-workers. The looking glass composed of his former important group throws back a changed image; he is done for! An old timer, old fashion, on the shelf.

1.1   Statement of the Problems

Lack of planning in life tends to make people to become imbalance psychologically, socially and in most cases, economically. For instance, many civil servants today, do not plan and put things in place in anticipation of their retirement. Most civil servants during their working days, behave as if there will not be a time to stay away from active service. Their orientation is to live freely and enjoy whatever they have. They do not have the perception to save for the rainy day. They fail to invest their money in money yielding ventures and most fail to train their children. The resultant effect of this unplannessness by some civil servants, is the problem of shock, disbelieve and hopelessness which often lead to frustration, regret with attendant ill-health and sudden death (Adiele, 1995). Some are carried away with pressures of office such as free cars, houses and others to plan for their retirement. There have been cases of poor health leading to sudden death of the retired person. If this trend is not checkmated, there is need to professional assist potential retirees to avoid fear on retirement.

This therefore, gave rise to the investigation into the effect of fear of retirement on job performance of teachers in selected secondary schools in Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State.

1.2   Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study among other things include:

(1)         To find out whether fear of retirement affects job performance of teachers.

(2)         To examine whether lack of planning influences teachers retirement.

(3)         To investigate whether there is relationship between planned and unplanned retirement of teachers in secondary schools.

(4)         To determine whether there is difference between teachers who planned for retirement and those who did not.

(5)         To find out whether there is difference between the perception of male and female teachers towards retirement.

(6)         To find out whether there is effect of fear on retirement among teachers.

(7)         To find out possible solution to fear of sudden/unplanned retirement and its implications for counselling.

1.3   Research Questions

The following research questions were raised in this study:

1.           Does fear of retirement affect job performance among teachers?

2.           Does lack of planning influences retirement of teachers?

3.           Is there any relationship between fear and retirement among teachers?

4.           Will there be any difference between teachers who planned for retirement and those who did not?

5.           To what extend will there be difference between the perception of male and female teachers on fear of retirement?

6.           What are the effects of fear of retirement on teachers?

7.           To what extent can we find possible solutions to the problem of fear of retirement among teachers?

8.           What are the implications for counselling on fear of retirement among teachers?

1.4   Research Hypotheses

The following hypotheses were formulated in this study:

1.           There will be no significant influence of fear of retirement on teachers’ job performance.

2.           There will be no significant difference in the fear of retirement between male and female teachers.

3.           There will be no significant difference between duration of service and the fear of retirement among teachers.

4.           There will be no significant difference between qualification of teachers and the fear of retirement.

5.           There will be no significant difference between the ages of teachers and the fear of retirement.

1.5   Significance of the Study

This study will be beneficial to the following:

This study will help those who are about to go on retirement to make proper preparations for their retirement. It will also enable them to understand that working as a civil servant does not last forever and therefore, they would be expected to stop work either as a result of old age or attainment of work period as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Therefore, this work will help workers to make adequate preparation in terms of savings, setting an apartment or a home for themselves, investing in stocks or other profit-oriented businesses so as to be happy when they are retired.

Employers such as school authority, would benefit from this study, because the content and recommendations of this study would enable them to have immense information on the perceived effect of fear on retirement and job performance. With this study, employers at all levels of our educational system would be enlightened on what it takes for workers to plan well for the rainy day in retirement.

Government – The government will no doubt, have good policies regarding the retirement of workers, especially the teachers who are the core educators of the nation’s children and even adults. Government, especially the Ministry of Education, will find this study, especially its recommendations very relevant as it will help the employers of the teachers to formulate policies and create good environment that will enable teachers to plan well and retire comfortably without any recourse to fear of the unknown.

Counsellors would also benefit from the findings and recommendations of this study because, they would use the recommendations to counsel those who are afraid of retirement, especially teachers who fear and have perceived anxiety due to retirement. 

1.6   Limitation of the Study

In this study, finance, time, sourcing of materials would be the constraints of carrying out this work successfully and in due time. Also, the apathy of some respondents would pose a constraint to the collection of opinions or information from the selected subjects.

1.7   Definition of Terms

The following terms were defined in this study:

(1)         Retirement: The period at which one stops active participation in a paid employment voluntarily and involuntarily.

(2)         Retirement Benefit: This refers to profit; advantage; good effect, money provided by government as a right especially, in sickness or unemployment; an event, especially, a theatrical performance to raise money for some person or special purpose. Money or reward paid to a worker as a right by the government or the employer.

(3)         Fear of Job Performance: This is a term which refers to anxiety and pressure on an individuals job performance in any organisation or institution.

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