Influence of the Provision of Counselling Services on Employee Productivity in Ghana Cocoa Board

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of the provision of counselling services on employee productivity in Ghana Cocoa Board. Descriptive research design was adopted for this study. Proportional stratified method of sampling was used to select 311 participants from a population of 1630 employees in the Ghana Cocoa Board. The data were collected through the use of an adapted questionnaire, and both descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized in the analysis. The results of the study showed that, counselling was rarely provided for employees at Ghana Cocoa Board. Also, it was revealed that the respondents perceived counselling to be important at the workplace. The respondents also had the perception that workplace counselling is a sign of a caring organisation and also a symbol of good working conditions. Further, results showed that the respondents saw workplace counselling to be beneficial for employees and the organisation as a whole. In terms of challenges, the study found that the lack of professional counsellors, lack of awareness of counselling among employees and lack of resources needed for counselling were the main challenges hindering the provision of counselling. Finally, the findings showed that because counselling was rarely provided counselling service did not significantly affect productivity. From the findings, recommendations were made that authorities of the Ghana Cocoa Board should set up vibrant Counselling Units (Employee Assistant Programme) across all their offices to help employees resolve their issues at the workplace.