Abstract:
In recent times, the performance record of the employees of Nigerian public social welfare agencies has been a catalogue of disappointment and failure. This situation has, therefore, called for a drastic intervention through public perception to draw the attention of the employees to their responsibilities of providing services to the people in the most satisfactory manner and move the country forward in the attainment of the millennium development goals. This is the major premise of this study. In other words, the study sought to ascertain the dominant public perception or view of employees’ performance in social welfare agencies in Enugu State; South Eastern Nigeria.Questionnaire and in-depth interview were used to collect information from respondents. The data so collected were analysed using percentages and chisquare(x2) statistical analysis to explain variables and test the hypotheses raised in the study. The study findings showed that employees performance in public social welfare agencies in Enugu State is far from meeting their traditional roles and lofty expectations demanded by the general public. To this end, members of the public see the employees attached to our social agencies as epitome of corruption, laziness and inexperience. This situation they attribute to poor remuneration and other incentives of work, lack of proper education and training, improper or lack of adequate monitoring and supervision, amongst others. The cumulative effect resulted to some social upheavals such as poor quality counseling, lack of appropriate care for the aged and orphans, poor services for the handicapped and the sick, armed robbery, drug addiction, broken homes amongst others. However, considering the findings of the study and its implications to the Nigeria social policy, the search for a far reaching solutions should span the realm of giving attractive and competitive remunerations, introducing employees to development and training programme, adequate monitoring or supervision and strict adherence to merit during recruitment exercise. All these will enable the public social welfare agencies in the state to play their leading role in socio-economic transformation and human development.
