The relationship between high-performance work practices and job performance in the Nigerian Polytechnics: moderated by working condition

Poor performance of lecturers in Nigerian Polytechnics warranted an independent research on lecturers' job performance, given that the poor performance can seriously affect educational development in the country. Substantial evidences from the extant literature
have highlighted that high-performance work practices (HPWPs) were significant predictors and drivers of enhanced performance. Also, the effectiveness of HR practices is context-dependent. Therefore, the current study investigated the effect of HPWPs
(recruitment and selection, training and development, compensation, performance appraisal and employee involvement) on lecturers' job performance in the context of Nigerian polytechnics. It also examined the moderating role of physical working condition in the HPWPs' relationship with lecturers' performance. Quantitative research approach with a cross-sectional technique, was used. Data were obtained from 722 academics in the North-west Nigerian polytechnics. The overall findings indicated that training and development, performance appraisal and employee involvement were significant predictors of enhanced lecturers' task performance while only training and development
and employee involvement significantly predicted the enhanced lecturers' contextual performance. Moreover, physical working condition strengthened the recruitment and selection-task performance connection; performance appraisal-task performance nexus; and employee involvement-task performance relationship. Likewise, physical working condition strengthened the training and development-contextual performance connection; performance appraisal-contextual performance nexus; and employee involvement contextual performance relationship. This implied that the: link between HR practices and enhanced performance could be affected by the environment within which organizations
operate. The present study focused mainly on the teaching staff of the polytechnics located in the north-west geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Thus, future research should examine other HPWPs such as job security, team work, organizational commitment, and work design in relation to job performance, and also to investigate physical working condition as potential mediator, different geopolitical zones and non-teaching staff from various polytechnics could be studied in future studies.