CORRELATION BETWEEN DIGNITY, EMPATHY AND EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY AMONG WORKERS IN PRIVATE HOSPITALS IN RIVERS STATE

Workplace humanization, when effectively managed can be instrumental in steering an organization towards efficient, and effective work processes. It is on this backdrop that this study aimed at determining the inter-relationship between employee productivity, dignity and empathy.

This was a cross-sectional study that identified the relationship between the study variables. It was conducted among 233 randomly selected employees of private hospitals in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used to assess the study variables. Data analysis was conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software and the relationship between variables tested using the Spearman correlation test. Statistical significance was set at 0.05.

The indicators of employee dignity, empathy and productivity were found to have high mean values which were above the threshold of 2.0. A strong positive significant correlation was found to exist between dignity and task accomplishment (r2: 0.796, p-value: <0.001) as well as empathy and task accomplishment (r2: 0.843, p-value: <0.001). Also, a moderate positive statistically significant correlation was found to exist between dignity and service quality (r2=0.373, p-value: <0.001) as well as between employee empathy and service quality (r2= 0.402, p-value: <0.001).

The dignity of an employee alongside empathy as measures of work humanization are significant correlates of employee productivity which can be exploited for organizational growth. It is recommended that organizations through institutionalized policies can successfully manage their workplace for optimal productivity via improved employee dignity and empathy as a means of increasing job satisfaction and reduce brain drain.