Work Ethics Practices and Employee Retention Towards Economic Recovery in the Brewery Industries of Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria

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Introduction The rationale behind the existence of any business organization is to meet the existing needs of the people in their locality or outside their locality and these identified needs must be satisfied satisfactorily for the organisation to attain the profit maximization objective. This organisation in question consists of people who will interact with the organisational resources to attain the objective amid competition on account of their unique characteristics such as character, skills, knowledge, ability, resilience, experience, qualifications, etc. The implication is that organisation is as good as the cream of people in her workforce which made human resource to be an important element among other resources (material, money, machine, method, market) as these people cannot be imitated nor substituted like other resources in the workplace [1]. Price [2] also buttressed the importance of people in the workplace without relegating the significance of other resources. It was however argued further that the stability of the workforce is the chief determinant of what happens within the operations of a business organisation as the frequent influx of people in and out of the organisation would be inimical to the overall attainment of the profit objective of a business. It is therefore expedient for the management to do what will encourage employees to stay in the organisation for a long time to sustain operational culture and avoid the unnecessary cost associated with labour turnover although Akindele [3] believed that there is no close organisation without movement in and out, this movement should be controlled to a bearable minimal level otherwise, it may lead to loss of good image, goodwill, and reputation among other negative implications. Since employee mobility is expected, organisations should strive to keep competent employees in other to meet business objectives. The earlier work of Oginni, Ogunlusi, and Faseyiku [4] had earlier raised the concern raised by Akindele and posited that the health and long-term success of any organization depends on employee retention wherein the operational culture of an organisation is sustained for improved productivity and good employment relationship characterised by industrial peace and harmony. Shibiti [5] asserted that employee retention connotes motivation at work that serves as a driving force encouraging employees to be willing to remain with the organisation over a considerably long period. This justifies the significance of MAN at work; therefore, the management of a business organisation must understand why people leave their present workplace for another and institute a strategy that is cost-effective for implementation with a focus on how to encourage employees to remain with the organisation over a long period [6]. Miller, Woehr, and Hudspeth [7] believed that this is a function of many motivational strategies often referred to as employee retention strategies including but not limited to job security, recognition and reward, infrastructural facilities, dignity and respect, competitive pay, training support, and work ethics, talent management, and succession planning, etc. Any of these or combination of these strategies could be adopted to make employees willing to remain with the organisation over a long period. The work of Price [2] on labour turnover and МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЙ ОПЫТ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОГО УПРАВЛЕНИЯ 249 Oginni B.O., Ayantunji I.O. et al. RUDN Journal of Public Administration,2023;10(2):248-268 organisational productivity revealed that most of the employee retention strategies could be costly and in the wake of economic recession, may not be practicable rather increase the overhead cost, however, posited that organisations should concentrate on the few ones that are not with financial incentive undertone such as dignity, recognition, and respect as well as work ethics although work ethics, in reality, was considered to subsume dignity, recognition, and respect. It involves the ascription of values to how work is being carried out on daily basis without prejudice to the interests of all the stakeholders. Adewale [8] believed that work ethics is a doubleedged sword among others; is a cost control strategy on account that it identified certain principles to be followed by employees in the workplace while discharging all work-related tasks assigned for effective and efficient performance and at the same time, shapes behaviour in the workplace i.e. a junction box where every other thing springs up in the organisation by determining the prevailing atmosphere in the work environment in terms of the performance of operations These certain principles include honesty, fair play, integrity, respectfulness, teamwork, courtesy, competence, professionalism, transparency, accountability, etc., and the operationalisation of these principles in the workplace is described as the work ethics practices [9]. Statement of the Problem As of today, the Nigerian economy is undergoing a lot of challenges, and this is affecting virtually every aspect of the operational activity of business organisations in the country without any exception and now tending towards economic meltdown. In response to this economic meltdown, most of the business organisations in the manufacturing industries have adopted cost control as a strategy to cope with these challenges to induce economic recovery and remain in business. The challenges tending towards economic meltdown have affected the ability of various organisations, especially the manufacturing industries to meet their obligations toward employees, especially their needs and aspirations thus becomes a potential source for employers’ inability to retain their valued employees which invariably made employees nomadic by seeking for jobs elsewhere and also one of the reasons behind loss of profit due to the instability of their workforce. The path out of this inability of organisations is to adopt a cost control strategy which ranges from renegotiating contracts with more favourable terms, getting more competitive bids from different vendors, improving product quality to reduce rework and scrap, reducing the number of items carried in inventory to reducing employee expenses with better expense management. In reality, employers find it very easy to go for the reducing employee expenses option as against any of the other options in the cost control strategy although this does not suggest that employers would develop a laissez-faire attitude to frequent disengagement of employees from their organisation either voluntarily or involuntarily rather find a way keep competent employees to attain her primary objective and this made employee retention critical to the long-term health and success of any business organizations since employees are 250 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Огинни Б.О. и др. Вестник РУДН. Серия: Государственное и муниципальное управление. 2023. Т. 10. № 2. С. 248-268 considered as the life-wire of organisation upon whose survival of the organisation largely depends on. Out of many options that could be used to make competent employees remain with an organisation, work ethics practices become the viable option in the face of economic meltdown among all the retention strategies at the disposal of the organisation because it subsumes all other strategies and beneficial to both the organisation and employees. This explains why organisations in today’s business world are now prioritising work ethics practices upon which business activities are being conducted and none of these elements of work ethics practices could cost an organisation a fortune if established and operationalised rather, to reposition the organisation towards economic recovery and workforce stability. It is, therefore, pertinent and imperative to know the work ethics practices in the manufacturing industries, especially that of brewery industries in Lagos Metropolis, and to understand how the work ethics practices impacted the relationship with employee retention towards the economic recovery in the face economic meltdown and workforce stability. it is, however, worth noting that despite the enormous amount of literature on work ethics and employee retention, research studies in these areas have been few and have not been properly integrated and there is little evidence about work ethics practices and employee retention in Nigeria especially in the manufacturing industries, hence this study. Literature Review Work Ethics Work ethics is about an adaptation of standards codes of conduct, rules, and regulations to the operational activities of an organisation. i.e. it is a set of moral principles or values that an employee abides by and makes use of on daily basis in their job performance [10]. According to Heelas [11], work ethics involves the ascription of value to work performance. To Stephen [12]. It is a set of values centred on the importance of work and manifested by determination or desire to work hard which is contingent upon moral guidelines that an organization and the individuals who are in the workforce comply with without any violation of any existing laws. The earlier views of Agi [13] corroborated this position and posited that work ethics identified principles to be followed by workers in a workplace and it entails everything that surrounds the kind of work each employee does and also shapes their behaviour towards the assigned tasks within the work environment. Dimensions of Work ethics Practices Lawrence [14] postulated seven (7) work ethics practices with a belief that a strong work ethic is vital to an organisation achieving its goals. When any business is starting up or even ongoing, it is crucial to keep certain values in mind. МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЙ ОПЫТ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОГО УПРАВЛЕНИЯ 251 Oginni B.O., Ayantunji I.O. et al. RUDN Journal of Public Administration,2023;10(2):248-268 This allows the organisation to achieve maximum customer satisfaction thus increasing profits. These ethical practices include professionalism, accountability, respectfulness, dedication, determination, humility, and dependability. In the views of Odu and Akhigbe [10], work ethics practice revolves around hard work, dedication, discipline, and productivity however, posited that teamwork, integrity, responsibility, determination, and accountability as well as dependability, humility, respectfulness, and professionalism were integral elements of work ethics practices. This corroborated the earlier work of Heelas [11] and Lawton and Doig [15] where it was posited that work ethics practice is characterised by integrity, values, accountability, commitment, competence, transparency, honesty, respectfulness, non-conflict of interest, fairness, and equity in the interpersonal relationship [7]. This position was corroborated by Williams although trustworthiness was added to make the components of work ethics practices to be increased to eight (8) while Hammed and Sammad [16] placed a premium on integrity, professionalism, and humility as the work ethics practices and tools to drive attainment of organisational objectives and employees’ expectation from the workplace. However, the works of McShane and Von cited by Abiodun [17] on what constitutes work ethics practices summarised different elements constituting work ethics practices to include integrity, professionalism, accountability, and respectfulness. It was argued that all other elements of work ethics practices earlier identified by different scholars could be conveniently situated in any of the four dimensions identified. Work ethics practice relates to individuals in an organisational setting who believed that work and diligence have a moral benefit and it is an inherent ability, virtue, or value to strengthen character and individual abilities [18]. With this, Kumara and Dutta [19] believed that work ethics has a strong link with employees’ behaviour in the workplace, and the outcomes of this behaviour have an impact on the attainment of organisational objectives which could be positive or negative. This was also supported by the works of Owuor, Nyambegera, and Wainaina [20] who believed that there is a link to behaviouralism. Since it involves behavioural approach from employees to comply with the set standards of behaviour believed to be adequate for actualising the organisational objectives, it then implies that a set of stringent disciplines expected from employees such that honesty, loyalty, courtesy, fairness, courage, and commitment become paramount in the course of performing their duties vis-a-vis the expectation of work ethics embedded in integrity, values, accountability, commitment, competence, transparency, honesty, respectfulness, non-conflict of interest, fairness, and equity in interpersonal relationship. Adewale [8] asserted that the state of congruence between the work ethics expectation and behavioural pattern exhibited by employees in the workforce will have a combined effect on the movement of employees in and out of the organisation and on the part of the management, stability in the mobility of the workforce becomes paramount to accomplish the predetermined objectives of the organisation. This supported the earlier work of Hammed and 252 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Огинни Б.О. и др. Вестник РУДН. Серия: Государственное и муниципальное управление. 2023. Т. 10. № 2. С. 248-268 Sammad [16] although it was argued that the prevailing work ethics practices in the workplace would determine the behaviour of employees, especially retention decisions whether to identify with the organisation or not if to identify, would it be for a short or long period to come. The works of McShane and Von cited by Abiodun [17] on what constitutes work ethics practices in the workplace including accountability, respectfulness, professionalism, and integrity form the bedrock of this study on account that other forms of work ethics practices identified could say to be subsumed in these four practices proposed by McShane and Von. Accountability 1 This is about taking what is known as personal responsibility for every action and outcome in every situation in the world of work i.e. avoidance of excuses when things do not proceed as planned and admitting mistakes or oversight without shifting such mistakes or oversight to others [14]. At the same time, any error in decisionmaking or modus operandi should be considered as a learning experience curve and such should propel an environment that would encourage the employee to use initiative, creativity, and innovation in the course performing different tasks [9; 17]. To Williams, it signifies the degree of freedom enjoyed by employees in their place of work towards work performance which often determines their level of satisfaction with their job and this supported the earlier work of Shields and Ward that employees considered the degree of freedom enjoyed in their place of work either towards the performance of work or work environment caused by organisational policies. Brown and Treviño [21] position corroborated this and opined that accountability practices in the workplace influence employee decision on the desire to continue identifying with an organisation or leave an organisation [22]. Therefore, hypothesis 1 is hereby formulated to show thatH : there is a positive relationship between accountability practice and employee retention. Respectfulness This connotes showing diplomatic concerns i.e. respect for others irrespective of the prevailing circumstance whether it is under conducive, pressure, or difficult circumstances [17]. The position of Lawrence [14] was supported by that of Abiodun who believed that respectfulness in the workplace is about mutual respect between and among employees and employees, employees and management, and management and the host community, employee, management, and clients. It was argued further that where the respectfulness practice is found to be satisfactory, it builds feelings of trust, safety, and well-being in the workplace, especially in the labour-management relationship which further strengthens industrial stability, peace, and harmony. Adewale [8] believed that respectfulness as a practice in the world of work imbibed caring, courage, citizenship, honesty, and fairness as well as dignity often impacted the mobility of employees which every МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЙ ОПЫТ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОГО УПРАВЛЕНИЯ 253 Oginni B.O., Ayantunji I.O. et al. RUDN Journal of Public Administration,2023;10(2):248-268 2 business organisation must watch and, in the process, identified three dimensions of respectfulness are human recognition, status recognition, and appraisal respect. Hammed and Sammad [16] argued that respectfulness helps to promote a positive work culture in which employees are fulfilled, loyal, engaged, and motivated to perform at their best and placed, a premium on integrity, professionalism, and humility. Kumara and Dutta [19]; Stephen [12], and Hayat et al [18] corroborated the outcome of Hammed and Sammad’s work on respectfulness and posited that where the degree of respectfulness/humility is low, it poses threat to the health and success of the organisation and influences employees’ mobility on account of tension in the atmosphere of the work environment. Hence, the second hypothesis is postulated such that H : there is a positive relationship between respectfulness practice and employee retention. Professionalism 3 This is about the conduct of business activities under the dictate of the established rules and regulations of an organisation without any violation of the professional codes of ethics or a set of moral standards i.e. doing things right in an excellent way considered to be accepted without any infringement and this is characterised by competence, knowledge, conscientiousness, and confidence which forms the basis of employee performance at work [8; 16]. To Hammed and Sammad [16], professionalism connotes among other things ethics, morals, and standards of behaviour to imply acceptable attitude, appearance, and manners. For example, showing up at work on time, focusing on the task at hand, and cooperating with co-workers. In addition, the way one speaks, acts, looks, and makes decisions. Stephen [12] supported this and posited that professionalism involves caring about one’s job, the organisation, and co-workers and concluded that it helps to separate business affairs from personal affairs and keeps relationships limited to the context at hand. AlNashash, Panigrahi, and Darun, [23] the act of professionalism practices by an organisation gives employees a good image outside the work environment and this serves as an ego booster for the employees which has often been a reason for the employee employment decision. To Brown and Treviño [21], the organisational environment that provides enabling for professional practice is of paramount importance to employees, and congruence in the work demands and employees’ expectations raised concerns about their mobility [18]. Based on this, hypothesis 3 is formulated to show that H : there is a positive relationship between professionalism practice and employee retention. Integrity Abiodun [17] described integrity as a state of virtuousness in the behaviour of employees and the organisation thus serving as the basis for getting things done in the organisation i.e. doing the right thing because 254 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Огинни Б.О. и др. Вестник РУДН. Серия: Государственное и муниципальное управление. 2023. Т. 10. № 2. С. 248-268 4 it’s the right to do no matter what. It implies consistent behaviour without wavering on matters that could always discredit or question dependability and this embraces honesty, trustworthiness, and sound moral principle [20]. Kumara and Dutta [19] posited that integrity is more of personal behaviour and it is an inborn moral conviction to do what is right and forgo what is wrong regardless of the consequences that are attached to decisions. The work of Abiodun [17] agreed with the position of Kumara and Dutta [19] that integrity is an inborn moral conviction to do what is right and, on that basis, classified integrity into three namely internal integrity, external, and image integrity although it was argued further that the significance of integrity is not just restricted to the personal level, it is also significant at workplace level. Owuor et al, [20] asserted that an integrity atmosphere in the work environment fosters a positive workplace culture while distrustful behaviour can make the work environment uncomfortable and tense. In addition, postulated that organisation that is known for integrity practice performs better and earned credulity in the face of all the stakeholders. Akinlade, Gberevbie, and Adesuyi, [24] opined that integrity in the workplace is mutually exclusive to both employee and employer as employees will not want to deal with an employer who does not keep their words and likewise employer will not want to deal with an employee who could not keep their words [18]. Hence, the postulation of the fourth hypothesis shows that H : there is a positive relationship between integrity practice and employee retention. Employee Retention In the views of Oginni and Lanre-Babalola [6], employee retention centres around how employees are treated in the workplace which is evident by the action or inaction of the management in the workplace that would invoke employee positive attitude in the work environment and that willingness to identify with an organisation over a while. This corroborated the views earlier expressed by Price [2] that retention is a systemic effort of the employer to create and foster an environment that would motivate employees to remain with a particular organisation either for a long period or till the completion of a project. It was posited that such an environment would be achieved through human resource policies and practices that address employee driver’s needs and was also corroborated by Oginni et al [14] that for employees to remain with an organisation over an identified period, it is a function of policies and practices adopted in the course of managing the human resource in the organisation. To Akindele [3] the policies and practices are put together to represent a term known as retention strategies which were described as what organisations put in place at any given time to reduce attrition ratio (a metric representing the percentage of employees who left an organisation over a specific period, which can either be voluntarily or involuntarily) and retain competent employees. МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЙ ОПЫТ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОГО УПРАВЛЕНИЯ 255 Oginni B.O., Ayantunji I.O. et al. RUDN Journal of Public Administration,2023;10(2):248-268 Akindele identified three results of retention strategy including retaining talented and productive employees; reducing employee labour turnover; and showing appreciation to employees for reasons best known to employers and concluded that retention strategy is the reality and application of motivational tools in the world of work and it varies from organisation to organisation on account of being contingent upon the nature and scope of the organisation while Van-Dyk [25] opined that the essence of retention strategy is to ensure that employee is identified with the organisation over a long period because salary alone could not be the basis for employee’s decision to remain with an organisation. Williams supported this position of variations in the retention strategies offered by organisations and adduced forward that these retention strategies are similar in concepts and scopes, but the peculiarity of each organisation is responsible for the variations from service industries to manufacturing industries. This is similar to the position of Shibiti [5] that the operationalisation of retention strategies is environmentally based i.e. the prevailing characteristics in each of the business environments concerning economic, political, socio-cultural, demographic, physical environments, etc would influence what is made to the employees. Based on the variation of retention strategies offered by organisations. Theoretical Review The underpinning theory for this study was the two-factor theory postulated by Herzberg i.e. motivation-hygiene theory. The theory revealed the contents of what constitutes satisfier and dissatisfier factors in the workplace. It was posited that satisfiers are workplace motivators made available in the working environments and employment circumstances such as responsibilities and tasks, promotion, job duties, growth and opportunity for advancement and achievement and recognition by peers and supervisors while dissatisfiers are hygiene factors such as; working conditions; wages and workplace policies; supervisor-employee relationships; relationships with co-workers; and subordinate position or overall supervision. The implication is that employees do not leave their job on account of low pay or inadequate reward but are motivated to look for jobs elsewhere if felt that their work or contributions are not valued, and cannot trust the leadership to provide what it takes to succeed on the job and self-fulfilment. However, dissatisfier factors do not suggest neglect otherwise, it may lead to the closure of such organisation as the factors can work against the health of the organisation, the focus was that these factors do not serve as primary factors compelling employees to look elsewhere for an alternative job. To be motivated, the satisfier factors must be matched with the employee’s qualifications, skills, interests, and personality and this is where work ethics practices come into being i.e. accountability, respectfulness, professionalism, and integrity as all are necessary elements in the workplace and also essential for business survival. Poor practice in any 256 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Огинни Б.О. и др. Вестник РУДН. Серия: Государственное и муниципальное управление. 2023. Т. 10. № 2. С. 248-268 of the work ethics practices has been adduced to be one of the primary reasons behind employees’ decision to seek employment opportunities elsewhere and vice versa. Fig. 1. Conceptual Framework for the Study Source: Own research, 2022. Methodology The study adopted a survey research design and primary data was the source of data used for the study while the Nigerian Breweries Plc in Lagos, Nigeria was the unit of analysis. The sample size for the study was 298 which was obtained through the use of Taro Yamane’s formulae from the population of 1187 representing 25 % of the population. The questionnaire used to elicit relevant data was adopted from the works of Shama and Rai [26] for the independent variables and the dependent variable was that of Chen and Zhang [27]. The measurement for the independent variable has four variables with 18 measurement items and that of the dependent variable has 12 measurement items. The questionnaire was in line with Likert 5-point rating scale that ranged from strongly agree to strongly disagree. However, before the administration of the questionnaire, a pilot study was conducted which lasted for 2months from July to August 2022 and the main study lasted for four months from October to January 2023. Overall, 300 questionnaires were administered randomly to the study’s respondents and 286 copies of the questionnaire were returned but 260 were found useful for the study’s analysis without prejudice to the features of the population and sample of the study. Data collected were analysed by using descriptive (percentage, frequency table, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (correlation). МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЙ ОПЫТ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОГО УПРАВЛЕНИЯ 257 Oginni B.O., Ayantunji I.O. et al. RUDN Journal of Public Administration,2023;10(2):248-268 Results Data collected from the respondents selected for the study were presented and interpreted with the aid of Table and explanation. Demographic Information of the Respondents Distribution of the Characteristics of the Demographic Information of the Respondents Table 1 Variables Respondents’ Characteristics Frequency Percentage Age Below 20yrs 20-30yrs 31-40yrs 41-50yrs 51yrs & above Total 20 37 54 95 54 260 8 % 14 % 21 % 37 % 21 % 100 % Gender Male Female Total 169 91 280 65 % 35 % 100 % Marital Status Single Married Widow Divorced Total 78 134 38 10 260 30 % 52 % 15 % 4 % 100 % Educational Qualifications SSCE OND/NCE B. Sc./HND M. Sc. Total 40 48 134 38 260 15 % 18 % 52 % 15 % 100 % Professional Qualifications No Membership Membership Total 189 71 260 73 % 27 % 100 % Work Experience Less than 5yrs 6.-10yrs 11 -15yrs 16-20yrs 21yrs & above Total 24 47 73 82 34 260 9 % 18 % 28 % 32 % 13 % 100 Source: Field Survey, 2022 Table 1 has information on the demographic characteristics of the Respondents. On the age of the respondents, it showed that the entire workforce is relatively young as the majority of the respondents were under the age of 51 years i.e. 79 % of the respondents. It was also of interest to note that 21 % of the respondents were within the range of 31-40 years and the same for 51 years. It can be extrapolated that an organisation with a young population may experience employee mobility except something is put in place to checkmate it. The Table also showed the gender of the respondents to imply more males than females in the organisation where 258 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Огинни Б.О. и др. Вестник РУДН. Серия: Государственное и муниципальное управление. 2023. Т. 10. № 2. С. 248-268 male respondents have 65 %. On the marital status, it was evident that most of the respondents were married representing 52 and 30 % were single which was also high. On the educational qualifications, the respondents were literate as none were without one certificate or the other. On work experience, it was evident that 73 % of the respondents have spent a minimum of 11 years in that organisation to imply that the respondents have overall knowledge of the organisation and were considered adequate to understand every aspect of work ethics practices. If the result of the work experience is linked with the age and marital status of the respondents, it implies that the organisation has done something that made employees stay for a longer period in the organisation Objective 1: Evaluate work ethics practices in the Nigerian Breweries, Lagos State towards employee retention Descriptive Analysis of Work Ethics Practices in Nigerian Breweries toward Employee Retention Table 2 Work Ethics Practices Measurement Scales/Percentage SD (1) D (2) N (3) A (4) SA (5) Mean Scores Std. Error Std. Deviation Rank Score R Accountability 55 (21) 48 (18) 78 (30) 40 (15) 39 (15) 3.04 0.011 1.345 4 A Respectfulness - 10 (4) 54 (21) 103 (40) 93 (36) 4.03 0.051 1.075 2 A Professionalism - 66 (25) 55 (21) 99 (38) 40 (15) 3.43 0.068 1.331 3 A Integrity - 4 (2) 25 (10) 120 (46) 111 (43) 4.30 0.014 1.004 1 A Source: Field Survey, 2022 Remarks = R where Agreement (A) is ≥ 3/0 and Disagreement (D) is ≤ 3.0 Table 2 has descriptive statistical information on objective one (1) which sought to evaluate work ethics practices found in operation in the Nigerian breweries, Lagos towards employee retention in the wake of economic recovery. Four work ethics practices were found to include accountability, respectfulness, and professionalism as well as integrity. The table showed that the mean score for integrity practice ranked highest which was 4.30 with a standard deviation of 1.004, followed by respectfulness practice with a mean score of 4.03 and standard deviation of 1.075, and next to this, was professionalism practice with a mean score of 3.43 and standard deviation was 1.331 while accountability practice was ranked last with a mean score of 3.04 and standard deviation was 1.345, The implication of this result was that integrity practice has the highest mean among other variables of work ethics practices and thus, should be given priority with high premium to drive employee retention. This was also supported by the agreement criterion where the mean score was set at ≥ 3.0 and 89 % of the respondents agreed that the pursuant of integrity in the work as evident through competence, initiative, and trust as well as dignity in mutual interaction would МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЙ ОПЫТ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОГО УПРАВЛЕНИЯ 259 Oginni B.O., Ayantunji I.O. et al. RUDN Journal of Public Administration,2023;10(2):248-268 sustain employee retention. However, this does not suggest that other practices do not have a potent force to drive employee retention as these practices also met the agreement criterion. Hence, objective 1 was achieved Objective 2: Investigate the relationship between Accountability Practice and Employee Retention in the Nigerian Breweries in Lagos State Table 3 Correlational Matrix Result for the Relationship between Accountability Practice and Employee Retention Accountability Practice Employee Retention Spearman’s rho Accountability Practice Employee Retention Correlation Coefficient Sig. (2-tailed) N Correlation Coefficient Sig. (2-tailed) N 1.000 260 .546** .000 260 .546** .000 260 1.000 260 **Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed) Objective 2 investigated the relationship between accountability practice and employee retention in the selected area of study. The correlational matrix depicted in Table 4 showed there was a positive relationship between accountability practice and employee retention where r = 0.546 indicating a moderate relationship. Similarly, the result of the Spearman test proves that the relationship is significant at 0.05 level of significance. Therefore, objective 2 and hypothesis 1 of the study were achieved. Objective 3: Examine the relationship between respectfulness practice and Employee Retention in the Nigerian Breweries in Lagos State. Table 4 Correlational Matrix Analysis for the Relationship between Respectfulness Practice and Employee Retention Respectfulness Practice Employee Retention Spearman’s rho Respectfulness Practice Employee Retention Correlation Coefficient Sig. (2-tailed) N Correlation Coefficient Sig. (2-tailed) N 1.000 260 .677** .003 260 .677** .003 260 1.000 260 **Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed) Objective 3 examined the relationship between respectfulness and employee retention in the selected area of study. The correlational matrix depicted in Table 5 showed there exists a positive relationship where r = 0.677 to imply a moderate 260 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Огинни Б.О. и др. Вестник РУДН. Серия: Государственное и муниципальное управление. 2023. Т. 10. № 2. С. 248-268 positive relationship since the value of r (0.677) is < 0.7. Spearman’s result showed that the relationship is significant at 0.05 level of significance. Therefore, objective 3 and hypothesis 2 of the study were achieved. Objectives 4: Determine the relationship between Professionalism Practice and Employee Retention in the Nigerian Breweries in Lagos State Table 5 Correlational Matrix Analysis for the Relationship between Professionalism Practice and Employee Retention Professionalism Practice Employee Retention Spearman’s rho Professionalism Practice Employee Retention Correlation Coefficient Sig. (2 tailed) N Correlation Coefficient Sig. (2 tailed) N 1.000 260 .658** .000 260 .658** .000 260 1.000 260 **Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed) Objective 4 was to determine the relationship between professionalism practice and employee retention in the selected area of study. The correlational matrix depicted in Table 6 showed that there exists a relationship between professionalism practice and employee retention where the value of r = 0.658 indicates a moderate relationship since the value of r (0.658) < 0.7. The result of the Spearman test proves that the degree of relationship was significant at 0.05 level of significance. Therefore, objective 4 and hypothesis 3 of the study were achieved. Objective 5: Examine the relationship between Integrity Practices and Employee Retention in the Nigerian Breweries in Lagos State. Correlational Matrix Analysis for the Relationship between Integrity Practice and Employee Retention Table 6 Integrity Practice Employee Retention Spearman’s rho Integrity Practice Employee Retention Correlation Coefficient Sig. (2-tailed) N Correlation Coefficient Sig. (2-tailed) N 1.000 260 .748** .001 260 .748** .001 260 1.000 260 **Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed) МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЙ ОПЫТ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОГО УПРАВЛЕНИЯ 261 Oginni B.O., Ayantunji I.O. et al. RUDN Journal of Public Administration,2023;10(2):248-268 Objective 5 examined the relationship between integrity practice and employee retention in the selected area of study. The correlational matrix depicted in Table 6 showed that there was a positive relationship between integrity practice and employee retention where r = 0.748 to imply a strong relationship since the value of r (0.748) > 0.7. The result of the Spearman test proves that the relationship was significant at 0.05 level of significance. Therefore, objective 5 and hypothesis 4 of the study were achieved. Discussion of Findings Based on the results of the analysis, it was found that the industry was dominated by the male gender as opposed to the female gender. It was also found that the workforce was relatively young with relative stability and the majority were educated with a higher institution qualification. Concerning objective 1, four different work ethics practices were identified in the brewery industries concerning Nigerian Breweries, the unit of analysis such as accountability, respectfulness, professionalism, and as well as integrity. This agreed with the positions of Lawrence [14] and Williams who listed professionalism, accountability,respectfulness,dedication,determination,humility,anddependability as the major components of work ethics practices that can drive the attainment of veritable objectives of any organisation. The result also revealed that integrity was found to be a prominent and prevailing practice in the Nigerian Breweries out of the variables of work ethics practices identified. This was supported by Hammed and Sammad [16] that integrity, professionalism, and humility are the best work ethics practices that can propel an enduring relationship between employees and the work organisation in such a way that business objectives and psychological contract of employees are projected and met mutually without prejudice to any of the parties in the workplace. Stephen [12] also opined that the conduct of business and employment relationship with honesty, probity, uprightness, rectitude, and honour should be the hallmark of business organisations with profitability and retention in focus. The outcome of the result also confirmed the earlier position of Miller et al [7] on what constitutes work ethics in the workplace, and which are more profitable to pursue as a practice likewise, Odu and Akhigbe, [10] listed respectfulness, integrity, and civility as part of the work ethics practices in the workplace. The result obtained from the analysis of the data collected for objective 2 which focused on the relationship between accountability practices and employee retention revealed that there was a relationship between accountability practices and employee retention. Aside from this, the existing relationship was found to be a moderately positive relationship in the Nigerian Breweries. The outcome of the analysis for this study conformed with the earlier work of Shields and Ward and of Brown and Treviño [21] as well as that of Saheed and Mohammed [22] where it was concluded that there exists a strong and positive relationship between accountability practices and staff retention in the service industry, i.e. improvement 262 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Огинни Б.О. и др. Вестник РУДН. Серия: Государственное и муниципальное управление. 2023. Т. 10. № 2. С. 248-268 in employee accountability would give a commensurate improvement on staff retention. However, the degree of relationship of the study negated that of Shields and Ward and Brown and Treviño [21] which asserted that the relationship between accountability practices and staff retention was strong and positive while that of this study concluded that the relationship was moderate positive relationship although the strong and positive relationship in the service industry, unlike this study in the manufacturing industries. The focus of objective 3 was on the relationship between respectfulness practices and employee retention in the Nigerian Breweries in Lagos State. From the result of the study, it was found that there exists a relationship between respectfulness practices and employee retention and the relationship was a positive and direct one which was found to be a moderate relationship in the Nigerian Breweries, the study area. The outcome of this study was in tandem with the work of Saheed and Mohammed [22] which asserted that how employees are being treated by the employer, especially the case of dignity, respect, and appreciation impacted the team spirit and work culture of the organisation thus creating an atmosphere that serves as morale booster where respectfulness practices are high and otherwise where it was low. It was concluded that the relationship between respectfulness practices and employee retention was positive. The result also corroborated the earlier work of Oginni, Ogunlusi, and Faseyiku [4] that there exists a relationship between respectfulness and employee retention. It was revealed that employees’ treatment concerning respect, dignity, and recognition was pivotal to organisational survival. It was concluded that a high degree of employee treatment concerning respect, dignity, and recognition reduces the exodus of employees thus, improving organisational survival. The outcome also buttressed the works of Odu and Akhigbe [10] where respectfulness was among the variables listed as part of the work ethics practices in the workplace that can influence employee retention positively or negatively. On objective 4, the focus was to determine the relationship between professionalism practices and employee retention in the Nigerian Breweries in Lagos State. The result obtained from the study showed that there was a relationship between professionalism practice and employee retention and the nature of the relationship was a direct positive relationship considered to be a moderate relationship i.e. any increase in the professionalism practices in the Nigerian Breweries will also lead to increase in the employee retention. The result of the study is in agreement with that of Al-Nashash, Panigrahi, and Darun, [23] where it was revealed that work ethics improve employee job satisfaction positively and the act professionalism practices by an organisation give employees a good image outside the work environment and this serves as an ego booster for the employees leading to employee retention. Akinlade, Gberevbie, and Adesuyi, [24] also corroborated the outcome of the study. It was revealed that professionalism practices favour quality service delivery with a high impact on undue influence thus, enhancing employee retention which also confirmed the earlier work of Agi [13]. Although Al-Nashash, et al [23] believed there was a strong relationship between professionalism practices and employee МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЙ ОПЫТ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОГО УПРАВЛЕНИЯ 263 Oginni B.O., Ayantunji I.O. et al. RUDN Journal of Public Administration,2023;10(2):248-268 retention, it was concluded that professionalism practices must be in tandem with the socio-cultural environment of the organisation for it to be practicable and attainable and this can be used to explain the rationale behind the outcome of the study that showed that the relationship between professionalism practices and employee retention is moderate. Objective 5 set out to examine the relationship between integrity practices and employee retention in the Nigerian Breweries in Lagos State. From the data collected and analysed, it was found that there exists a relationship between integrity practices and employee retention. The nature of the relationship showed that there exists a direct positive relationship which was found to be high. The implication was that the higher the level of integrity practices, the higher the degree of employee retention in Nigerian Breweries. The outcome of the works corroborated the positions of Owuor, Nyambegera, and Wainaina [20] where it was established the relationship between work ethics practices and employee labour turnover was inverse relationship i.e. the higher the practice of any of the variables, the lower the employee labour turnover but single out integrity, fairness, and equity to have a more significant effect on employee labour turnover and improvement on any of these variables enhances employee retention. The outcome of the study also supported the earlier work of Lawton and Doig [15] when it was evident that integrity practice as one of the variables of work ethics practices has a significant influence on employee retention and showed a positive and direct relationship between integrity practices and employee retention. Similarly, Kumara and Dutta [19] work supported that work ethics has a significant effect on employees’ intention to quit and integrity was a major factor in employees’ intention to quit an organisation, poor work ethics was inversely correlated with employees’ intention to quit an organisation and that of quality work life and corporate image has a direct correction. Conclusion Thestudyfocusedontherelationshipbetweenworkethicspracticesandemployee retention in the Nigerian Breweries, Iganmu, Lagos as the unit of analysis. The study identified five different objectives along the work ethics practices components such as accountability, respectfulness, professionalism, and integrity to know the level of relationship between work ethics practices and employee retention in Nigerian Breweries as a cost control strategy in the wake of economic recession and recovery. All these variables (accountability, respectfulness, professionalism, and integrity) were found to be operational and from the descriptive analysis, integrity was the most unique among all the variables of the work ethics that can herald employee retention without incurring additional cost while others also have a potent force to influence the direction of employee retention. Integrity has the highest mean among other variables of work ethics practices and should be given priority with a high premium to drive employee retention in the selected area of study. It was also found there was a significant and positive relationship among all the variables Based on the results and discussion of findings of the study, the study concluded that work ethics practice is a good cost control strategy to sustain employee retention without incurring any additional cost that could further increase the overhead budget, especially in the wake of economic recession and recovery. To increase or sustain the employee retention ratio in the area of study, the work ethics practices should be increased/sustained as it is evident in the relationship results to be linear relationship i.e. an increase in the quantum of any of the work ethics variable (accountability, respectfulness, professionalism, and integrity) will result into a corresponding increase in the employee retention i.e. if the work ethics practices in the organisation are good, the implication is good employee retention and where it is poor, the employee retention will also be poor. Therefore, the higher the work ethics practices in Nigerian breweries, the higher the stake of employee retention. Recommendations Based on the findings and the conclusion drawn from the study, the following recommendations were proffered to foster employee retention through work ethics practices in the workplace such that management should endeavour to institutionalise the work ethics practices and educate every member of the organisation to understand the essence of the practice and to align the work ethics practices with the social-cultural environment of the workplace to be practicable. Management should understand the psychological contract of the employees which informs their perception about the operational activities of the organisation and should ensure strict compliance with the work ethics practices as laid down without compromise while the interests of employees and that of the organisation must be screened at the recruitment point to ensure congruence with work ethics practices.

About the authors

Babalola O. Oginni

Osun State University

Author for correspondence.
Email: babalola.oginni@uniosun.edu.ng
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5248-6837

Senior Lecturer of the Department of Human Resource Development

4494, Osogbo, Nigeria

Isola O. Ayantunji

Osun State University

Email: isola.ayantunji@uniosun.edu.ng

Associate Professor of the Department of Human Resource Development

4494, Osogbo, Nigeria

Folakemi O. Larnre-Babalola

Osun State University

Email: folake.lanre-babalola@uniosun.edu.ng
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7034-9097

Senior Lecturer of the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences

4494, Osogbo, Nigeria

Zacchaeus O. Olonade

Osun State University

Email: zaccheaus.olonade@uniosun.edu.ng
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8815-5677

Lecturer of the Department of Human Resource Development

4494, Osogbo, Nigeria

Kolawole S. Ajibola

Osun State University

Email: ksajibola@uniosun.edu.ng
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7430-3894

Lecturer of the Department of Human Resource Development

4494, Osogbo, Nigeria

Ramat A. Balogun

Osun State University

Email: adetoun.balogun@uniosun.edu.ng
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4299-4421

Lecturer of the Department of Human Resource Development

4494, Osogbo, Nigeria

Waseeu G. Adebayo

Osun State University

Email: adewas02@gmail.com

M.Sc. student Department of Human Resource Development

4494, Osogbo, Nigeria

References