A Comparative Analysis of Staff Welfare Packages and their Effects on Male- and Female-Headed Small and Medium Enterprises

Abstract

This study set to compare the staff welfare packages and their effects in male- and female-headed small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Enugu. It employed multi-stage sampling technique to select 3 female-headed and 6 male-headed SMEs from the membership lists of the organised private sector groups and purposive method to select respondents from these enterprises. It used the likert-scale questionnaire to elicit information from the respondents and the average mean score technique to analyse the data. Results showed that staff welfare packages are poorer in female-headed SMEs than in male-headed ones. In the same vein, enterprise performance is better in male-headed SMEs than in female-headed ones. Poor staff welfare packages lead to lack of worker commitment and the attendant low productivity, customer dissatisfaction and low sales output. It also led to job dissatisfaction, staff turnover intentions and staff attrition because the worker felt shortchanged and exploited. Replacement of workers led to rise in overhead costs spent on recruitment and training, as well as the advantaged gained by competitors who absorbed the lost staff.