Task identity of outsourced versus core employees in Nigerian financial institutions: exploring the role of employment status

The work environment in Nigerian financial institutions reflects the polarization and segregation of employees into different employment statuses. However, the implications of this on employee task identity are rarely discussed. This study, therefore, examined the difference in the task identity between the outsourced and core employees in Nigerian financial institutions. A cross-sectional survey research design was employed. A total of 359 employees were selected from six commercial banks in Southeast Nigeria using a multistage sampling method. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire. Pearson’s chi-square test was used to analyze data at the bi-variate level, while logistic regression analysis was used at the multi-variate level, all at p<0.05. Outsourced employees experienced a lower level of task identity than core employees. Employment status (OR =5.501, 95% CI 3.051-9.919) and education (OR=2.896, 95% CI 1.329-6.313) were significantly associated with task identity. Banks should design enriched jobs that will enable the completion of entire job functions for all employees without discrimination or favor to any groups or persons, as this will help employees to identify with their tasks when completed and feel pride


Introduction
Nigerian financial institutions' utilization of outsourced workers has increased dramatically (Fabian et al., 2023;Onyeonoru & Hlatshwayo, 2020).These institutions, especially banks, now hire workers through external provider firms to respond to the stiff competition and dynamic economic and technological changes, as well as meet unpredictable work demands (Onuoha, 2022).Most of them have performed very well in implementing the outsourcing principles with several benefits to show for it, such as the ability to reduce personnel costs, focus on core bank activities and remain competitive in the industry (Nwakanma et al., 2021).Nonetheless, to take advantage of these benefits offered by the business practice, they have neglected some crucial areas relating to the employees.For instance, designing a balanced work structure to improve the quality of work of both core and outsourced employees.Most outsourcing contracts not only have legal and physical restrictions but also restrict how jobs are designed, with negative consequences on job characteristics, motivation and job engagement (Nwakanma, & Onyeonoru, 2021;Davis-Blake & Broschak, 2009;Andersen & Ankerstjerne, 2010).
Job redesign and several work-related changes are associated with outsourcing practices (Fisher et al., 2008).The first change is a switch of employer.Initially, when outsourcing occurs, especially (staffing outsourcing), the common practice is the transfer of employees from the service provider to the client organization, which in itself is a substantial alteration.Another change that employees may experience is in working conditions.This can involve adjustments in compensation and benefits (which may need to be renegotiated), increased work intensity, expansion in the scope of responsibility, job insecurity, and adoption of new work methods (Andersen & Ankerstjerne, 2010).

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Outsourcing has also been noted to be a heterogeneous category, which takes many forms and involves different challenges and opportunities for both organizations and workers.It (particularly staffing outsourcing) polarizes workers into two employment statuses (outsourced and core).It creates disparities between them in the area of their working experience, including the type of tasks (single-task or multi-skilled) they perform, how the tasks are performed and with whom they perform the tasks (Fisher et al., 2008).These tremendously affect their task identity (Davis-Blake & Broschak, 2009), which also reflects high differences.Task identity, according to Hackman and Oldham (1980), is measured as the extent a job allows the accomplishment of a complete work potion from start to finish and with a tangible result.For instance, research has reported disparity in the experience of workers in terms of the opportunity they have to perform their tasks from start to finish (Ang & Slaughter, 2006).
This study focuses on task identity in work institutions that reflect the polarization and segregation of employees with implications for the creation of different employment statuses.Employees in the recent Nigerian financial institutions are polarized into two categories, the outsourced and the core employees, with disparities in opportunities and work conditions (Kalejaiye, 2020).Outsourced employees who are always on temporary or project-based employment arrangements often operate in different work arrangements and contracts that may impact their perceptions of task identity.These differences are not determined by the employees' qualifications or abilities but by their employment statuses as either outsourced or core employees (Nwakanma et al., 2021) instigated by some management control (Onyeonoru & Hlatshwayo, 2020) and business practices beyond their powers (Reich et al., 1973).
On another related note is the high degree of division of labor, which simplifies work into smaller units based on expertise, departments and expertise match.There is a belief that outsourcing organizations practice job specialization and division of labor to have the best team with the requisite knowledge and skills to accomplish job tasks efficiently (Oshri et al., 2018).However, the case is different in Nigerian financial institutions where there is continual division and subdivision of tasks or operations into minute and highly specialized activities, each of which is assigned to a different worker for control through reduction in the scope of work of the outsourced employees to limit their knowledge of the process (Aron et al., 2005) .These institutions first break down the work process and then dismember the worker, too, which creates what Braverman refers to as "detail workers" (Braverman, 1974;Ritzer, 1996), with a downside of the employees experiencing low task identity.
While earlier studies on outsourcing have dwelt on its benefits and complications (Osagie et al., 2023;Onafadeji et al., 2023), its effects on organizational performance (Fabian et al., 2023;Onuoha, 2022;Adesunkanmi, et al., 2022), firm productivity (Adesunkanmi & Nurain, 2022;Nwenekorum et al., 2022) and firm competitiveness (Bayero, 2023), none has been conducted on the influence of employment type on subjective work experiences and the challenges faced by different employee groups.Thus, understanding the differences in task identity between the outsourced and core employees is crucial for effective human resources practices.This study, therefore, adds to knowledge by examining the difference in work experience between the outsourced and core employees with particular reference to the task identity of outsourced staff compared to their core counterparts.Attention will also be paid to the relationship between employment status and task identity among employees in the Nigerian financial industry.
The study was conducted in commercial banks in the Southeast region of Nigeria.A cross-sectional survey research design was utilized, encompassing employees from both managerial and non-managerial ranks within the banks.Relevant data was collected through a self-administration of a structured questionnaire to a sample of 359 respondents.Data was subjected to two levels of analysis involving Pearson's chi-square test at the bivariate level and multiple logistic regression analysis at the multivariate level.The rest of this paper is arranged as follows: Section two presents a brief review of earlier studies on the subject; Section three presents the materials and method employed in the study; Section four presents the empirical results of the study; and Section five presents the conclusion and recommendations from the study.

Literature Review
Although differences among employees in Nigerian financial organizations seem blurred from the outside, clear differences exist internally.First, there are two different employment statuses (outsourced and core) with different employment contracts (kalejaiye, 2020).All these employees hang the organization's identity cards, which identify them as employees of that organization, but in reality, many of them are not seen as bonafide members.Outsourced employees are frequently regarded as temporary, while core employees are viewed as permanent (Nwakanma & Onyeonoru, 2021).Another area of distinction is in working conditions (kalejaiye, 2020) .For instance, there is often a significant gap in pay and benefits between permanent and outsourced staff (Fapohunda, 2012)).Job security is another aspect in which outsourced staff are constantly at a disadvantage compared to their permanent counterparts (Onyeonoru & Hlatshwayo, 2020).Pearce (1993) in his research on the aerospace sector, discovered that contract engineers and contract engineering technicians experienced less job stability.
Additionally, their job experience reflects their core or outsourced staff status.For instance, researchers have reported disparity in the experience of workers in terms of their task identity.They have argued that permanent staff are at an advantage in the area of task identity while outsourced staff are disadvantaged.For instance, in their study of information system professionals, Ang and Slaughter (2006) observed that organizations that outsource labor typically assign permanent staff to projects where they are responsible for the work's initiation and completion.This provided them with more opportunities to witness the entire project's completion, resulting in a strong sense of tsk identity.On the other hand, contractors were primarily engaged in coding tasks; as a result, they were not often privy to the final outcome when the work was implemented.They had only a partial perspective on their contributions and were unable to see the overall picture, leading to a weaker sense of task identity.
On the other hand, researchers have reported the rationalizations for differentiating work roles between these categories of workers.One of the justifications is that client firms do that to avoid dependence on outsourced workers.It is reported that organizations that outsource labor assign core and interdependent work activities to the in-house staff while the simpler ones are assigned to the outsourced workers to avoid dependence on outsourced workers (Pearce, 1993).Another reason is to reduce the scope of work of the outsourced employees and to limit their knowledge of the process.Organizations do this by breaking down work into smaller units.In an outsourcing work arrangement, organizations use an approach for structuring work to prevent the outsourced workers from gaining comprehensive knowledge about the entire package of work.This approach involves adjusting the way information is represented while preserving a connection between the representation and its underlying meaning, as well as the methods used to interpret it (Oshri et al (2018).Specifically, banks intentionally divide work into smaller units, which are then distributed among different outsourced workers who are capable of completing each portion of work by following similar procedures as the core workers, but without having a comprehensive understanding of the overall purpose of the individual work components (Aron et al., 2005).Based on earlier research findings establishing a difference in task identity among workers and linking the differences to employment status, this study proposes the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: Outsourced employees do not experience a lower level of task identity than core employees Hypothesis 2: Employment status is not a predictor of task identity among employees.

Data source, sample and sampling techniques
A cross-sectional survey research design was employed with a study population comprising employees of banks (both managerial and non-managerial ranks), cutting across both core and outsourced employees.While those in the managerial position were all core employees, those in the non-managerial position comprised both outsourced and core employees.The study excluded outsourced employees who did not perform core banking activities, such as cleaners and security agents, from the study.A multistage sampling technique of six stages was employed, beginning with systematically selecting the banking sector from other financial institutions.This is because banks exhibit the most substantial growth in outsourcing compared to other financial sectors (Ohikhena, 2017;Nwakanma et al., 2021;Kabuoh et al., 2014).The second stage was the selection of the Southeast region of Nigeria because of the high percentage of outsourced employees in the region (Nwakanma & Onyeonoru, 2021).In the third stage of the process, three states were selected systematically out of the five states that comprised South-East Nigeria, namely, Abia, Enugu and Imo States.During the fourth stage, commercial banks were systematically selected out of the three categories of banks operating in Nigeria (Onafadeji, 2023).The fifth stage was the systematic selection of three banks, each from the list of banks operating on a national commercial and international level authorization based on the Central Bank of Nigeria licensing category (Ojo, 2021), arriving at six banks.For ethical purposes, the names of the banks are not revealed as approved by the banks.During the sixth and the last stage of the sampling process, employees were randomly selected to participate in the study using Taro Yamen's (1976) formula, as shown below: Where n = sample size, N = study population (1,759), e = margin of error (0.05).n = 1,759/1 + 1,759 (0.05) 2 n = 1,759/1 + 1,759 * 0.0025 n = 1,759/1 + 4.39 n = 1,759/5.39n = 326 + 10% (32.6) attrition = 359.
Data relevant to the study was collected through a structured questionnaire.Although 359 copies of the questionnaire were administered, 12 respondents did not respond to questions of interest; thus, they were dropped from the analysis.Therefore, 347 copies were considered suitable and used for the analysis.This implies a return rate of 97%.

Outcome variable
The outcome variable was employee task identity.The task identity was measured as the extent a job allows the accomplishment of a complete work potion from start to finish and with a tangible result by asking questions on the category of employees (outsourced or core) having more opportunity to perform tasks from start to finish and the opportunity the individual employees have to complete a whole task.

Explanatory variable
The explanatory variable was employment status.Outsourcing polarizes and segregates employees into two different employment statuses, and different employment status determines different work experience.Therefore, respondents' employment status was 137 derived by asking them to respond to either "outsourced or core" to a question on their mode of employment.Aside from the key explanatory variable, other co-variables such as age, sex, marital status, education, length of service, unit/department and designation were included.In coding designation, several designations, such as regional managers, zonal managers, area managers, area operation managers, and internal control officers, were merged as "others" to avoid having empty cells because the number of respondents in those categories was few.

Measurement of Task Identity
The job characteristics model by Hackman and Oldham (1980) which identified task identity as one of the five core characteristics of a job was adopted while task identity was measured using a combination of three items related to task identity from the job descriptive survey (JDS) they developed in 1975.However, the "Yes" and "No" responses were used instead of the Likert scale to allow for easy responses from the respondents.It also allowed for filtering by groups (outsourced and core employees) and by questions to know the respondents that answered the questions of interest.The questions on task identity included "I perform an entire and identifiable piece of work"; "My job is arranged in a way that I can complete an entire piece of work from start to finish"; "My job provides me with the opportunity to finish a piece of work I begin.

Data Analysis
Data was subjected to two levels of analysis.At the bivariate level, Pearson's chi-square test was used to test the difference in the outcome variable, and the multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to test for relationships between the explanatory variable, other co-variables, and the outcome variable.It was important to test the strength and direction of the relationship between various socio-demographic variables and the likelihood of employees having the opportunity to complete a whole task from start to finish.Odds ratios greater than 1 indicate a higher likelihood, while those less than 1 indicate a lower likelihood.The p-values associated with each coefficient tell whether these relationships are statistically significant.Smaller p-values (typically less than 0.05) indicate a stronger statistical significance.The 95% confidence interval also provides a range within which the true odds ratio will likely fall.Variables not significant at the bi-variate level were dropped and did not advance to multi-variate regression analysis.They include sex, age, marital status and designation.Some designation categories were merged as "others", including regional managers, zonal managers, area managers, area operation managers, and internal control officers because they had few responses and constituted empty cells.Although Information technology was a stand-alone category in the unit/department variable, it was not included in the logistic regression analysis because it did not meet the regression assumption.All analyses were done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.

Task Identity by employment status and socio-demographic factors
Table 2 shows the bivariate relationship between task identity, employment status (key explanatory variable), and other sociodemographic factors (co-variables).Results show that employment status and other socio-demographic variables such as education, duration of service and unit/department were significantly associated with task identity.However, other socio-demographic variables such as sex, age, marital status, and designation did show any association with task identity.The relationship between employment status and task identity showed that core employees had higher task identity than outsourced (57.7%; 0.000), indicating a highly significant difference in task identity between outsourced and core employees.The null hypothesis, which states that outsourced employees do not experience a lower level of task identity than core employees, is rejected and, therefore, states that outsourced employees experience a lower level of task identity than core employees.In the same vein, the second null hypothesis, which states that employment status is not a predictor of task identity among employees, is rejected and states that employment status is a predictor of task identity among employees.
The employees with higher education levels had higher task identity than employees with lower education levels-first degree (44.9; 0.021) and postgraduate (39.6).Employees who have worked in their banks for 11-15 years had the highest task identity (54.3; 0.016) than others with other service durations.Employees in the internal control (87.5; 0.003) and information technology units/departments (60.0) had higher task identity than employees in other units.Although designation did not show a significant relationship with task identity, the result shows that those in the "others" category had the highest task identity than employees in the other designations (63.2).Similarly, age showed potential differences in task identity among age groups.However, it was not strong enough to be considered statistically significant.Employees aged 30-39 experienced the highest task identity (47.5), followed by employees aged 20-29 years (34.0).Table 3 shows the logistic regression of employees' likelihood of having task identity.The results indicate that core employees were 5.5 times more likely to have task identity than outsourced employees (OR =5.501, 95% CI 3.051-9.919).Employees with OND/NCE 139 (OR=2.896,95% CI 1.329-6.313) and First Degree/ HND (OR 2.671, CI 1.063-6.713)education qualifications were 2.9 and 2.7 times, respectively more likely to have task identity compared to employees with O'level education qualification.Employees with postgraduate qualifications were 1.1 times more likely to have task identity than the reference category (OR=1.091,95% CI 0.718-1.473).Employees in customer service (OR= 1.791, 95% CI 0.882-3.637),internal control (OR=2.353,95% CI 2.105-3.750),and information technology units (OR=1.693,95% CI 0.216-3.282)were 1.8, 2 and 1.7 times respectively more likely to have task identity than the reference category (tellering unit) while employees in the marketing unit were 66% less likely to have task identity than the reference category (OR=0.668,95% CI 0.363-1.230).While the employees who have worked for their banks for 11-15 years (OR=0.989,95% CI 0.383-2.551),16-20 years (OR=0.418,95% CI 0.136-1.286),and 20 years and above (OR=0.617,95% 0.148-2.548)were 98%, 41%, and 61% respectively less likely to have task identity, those who have worked for 6-10 years were 1.4 times more likely to have task identity.

Discussion
This study examined the task identity of outsourced versus core staff in the Nigerian financial industry, focusing on the role of employment status.Generally, the findings from bi-variate results revealed a strong significant association between employment status and task identity.Other socio-demographic variables such as education, duration of service and unit/department were also significantly associated with task identity.
Specifically, the findings from the study revealed a highly significant difference in task identity between outsourced and core employees.Outsourced employees' jobs were lower in task identity than their outsourced counterparts.This disparity in their task identity may be attributed to the limitations in the jobs of the outsourced staff in terms of job scope as reported by previous researchers (Nwakanma & Onyeonoru, 2021) and the less opportunity they had to finish whole tasks from beginning to end compared to their core counterparts as revealed in the study.Their tasks are broken into parts; as a result, they do not have the opportunity to perform whole tasks, which led to their low task identity.This practice is further characterized by the segregation of responsibilities on the basis of the status of the employees, which supports the outsourcing philosophies of organizations not assigning highly interdependent and whole-job tasks to outsourced employees to reduce their dependence on them as well as reduce their knowledge of the process (Pearce, 1993).The finding is also in consonance with Ang and Slaughter's (2006) study, where they observed that managers who outsourced labor actively engaged their permanent employees in projects from inception to conclusion.This involvement gave these employees significant opportunities to witness the entire project's completion, leading to high task identity.On the other hand, contract workers were predominantly assigned coding tasks, limiting their exposure to the outcomes when the system was implemented.As a result, they only had a partial view of their contributions, resulting in a low task identity.This is in tandem with Braverman's (1974) description of the control of the labor process, where he explained that in a bid to control labor, workers' tasks are broken down into simpler operations and directed and organized from above (management).This also coincides with Aron et al. (2005)'s report from their study that banks used a chunkification strategy to divide work processes into separate activities and assign them to separate firms to reduce their knowledge of the processes.As a result, the worker controls less and less of the work, which now requires more and more coordination from management.In contrast, Pons et al., (2017)' study found multiple instances of parttime faculty members experiencing a sense of task identity.Some of these individuals expressed that they had the opportunity to interact with broader range of students and contribute to a more extensive community.
In consonance with Besen et al. (2013) but in contrast with the study of Aldag & Brief (1976), age did not show a strong significant relationship with task identity.Although no strong association was found between age and task identity, the study revealed that younger employees between 20-29 and 30-39 years experienced the highest task identity compared to older employees.This indicates they have more opportunities to complete tasks from start to finish than the older employees.This particular finding is in line with that of Aldag & Brief (1976), who found in sample A of their study that younger employees responded positively to jobs with high task identity.The reason for this finding could be because banks employ more young, vibrant and trainable youths who they feel are capable of coping with the present-day competitive business demands (Nwakanma & Onyeonoru, 2021), as well as engage them in tasks that are larger in scope with the understanding that they place more emphasis on and respond better to needs for accomplishments, development and challenges (Aldag & Brief, 1976).
Similar to age, findings on sex and marital status did not suggest any significant difference in task identity.Sex and marital status do not seem to influence employees' opportunities to complete whole pieces of tasks from beginning to end.
Conversely, findings from the study revealed a strong significant association between education and task identity.High task identity was found only among employees with high educational qualifications.This implies that the jobs of the highly educated ones gave them better opportunities to engage in and complete whole pieces of tasks from start to finish.This may be because organizations have the confidence that employees with higher education levels possess stronger analytical and problem-solving skills, often associated with a better understanding of the entire work process (from start to finish) and these skills are acquired through education and training (Sun et al., 2010;Aliu et al., (2023) and are often rewarded with better and enriched jobs, substantial earnings and incentives (Ng & Feldman, 2010).) Relatedly, there were significant differences in task identity among employees with different Length of Service.Employees who have spent more extended periods with their banks (11-15 years, 6-10 years, and 16-20 years) had higher task identity than others.The length of time they have been with their banks may have impacted the opportunities they had to complete whole tasks from start to finish, which could be attributed to the accumulation of experience, expertise, and mastery of their tasks over time.With more years in the banks, the banks may have had more confidence and trust in them to assign whole job functions to them.
This study also showed significant differences among employees in different units/departments.Internal control employees had the highest task identity than those in other units, implying that they had more opportunities to perform whole functions from initiation to completion than other employees.The reason may be that internal control is a sensitive bank unit consisting of only core employees.This mirrors the widespread approach of organizations refraining from assigning outsourced employees to top and sensitive positions due to concerns related to their employment status, perceived lower trust and loyalty toward the organization (Nwakanma & Onyeonoru, 2021;Ang & Slaughter, 2006) and the aim of mitigating risks and reducing dependence on outsourced employees (Pearce, 1993).
While job designation did not demonstrate a statistically significant association with task identity, the outcome reveals that individuals in the 'others' category exhibited the highest level of task identity compared to employees in the remaining designations.This could be because the employees under the 'others' category were employees in high managerial positions (regional managers, zonal managers, area managers, area operation managers, internal control officers, etc) consisting of core employees only.As stated earlier in the findings, core employees had more opportunities to perform whole pieces of tasks from beginning to end relative to their core counterparts, so it is not surprising that this category of employees also had higher task identity than their counterparts.
The logistic regression analysis findings showed several associations between employment status, other socio-demographic variables and the likelihood of employees experiencing task identity.Core employees, those with higher education qualifications, and individuals in specific units/departments such as customer service, internal control and information technology were likelier to experience higher task identity.Contrary to the findings from the chi-square analysis, the relationship between length of service and task identity exhibited some complexities, suggesting that it may be influenced by factors beyond years of service alone, such as the nature and design of jobs (Davis-Blake & Broschak, 2009;Hackman & Oldham,1980)

Conclusions
Core employees experienced high task identity, while the outsourced employees experienced low task identity.The low task identity experienced by the outsourced staff indicates that their jobs limited them from the opportunity to be engaged in whole pieces of job tasks from inception to completion because of their status as outsourced employees.Employees with higher education qualifications and employees in specific work units/departments (customer service, internal control and information technology) also experienced high task identity.The low task identity (which has to do with not engaging workers in whole tasks from beginning to end), which was found in the jobs of outsourced employees and others with low educational qualifications, marking department, etc., has the possibility of negatively affecting their ability to identify with the work at hand as more holistic and complete.The implication is that it will decrease the workers' sense of responsibility, ownership, and control over work activities.If a job is low on task identity, employees cannot evaluate themselves regarding the quality of work done.In the same vein, employees who do not have enlarged jobs and are involved in fewer tasks in their workflow are less likely to perform effectively.As for bank workers, involving them in fewer tasks will make them feel their tasks are not meaningful to the customers and the bank.For instance, workers not engaged in every stage in a specific workflow would feel they have not contributed enough to fulfil the customers' needs.Hence, they would not feel pride in the outcome of work activities, making them feel unimportant in their organization.This may lead to employee dissatisfaction and de-motivation towards work, decreasing banks' overall productivity.The study concludes, therefore, that: i. Outsourced employees experience a lower level of task identity than core employees. ii.
Employment status is a predictor of task identity among employees.
Banks should, as a matter of necessity, design work to consolidate fragmented tasks into cohesive ones, enabling employees to execute entire tasks from initiation to completion without discrimination or favor to any groups or persons.This will make job tasks more complex, challenging and exciting for all employees.It will result in employees identifying closely with their tasks when completed and feeling pride and importance, positively affecting employee motivation, satisfaction and commitment to their jobs and organizational goals.

Limitations of the study and suggestion for further studies
This study has some limitations, including the methodology used which was cross-sectional survey research design.This allowed for collection of data from participants at a specific point.Only a questionnaire was used to collect data, which may not have provided comprehensive responses from the study participants.Another limitation is the study's focus, which did not cover the entire financial institutions in Nigeria.The study covered only the banking institutions within the country's Southeast region, focusing only on three out of the five states that make up the region.This may not have been representative enough for generalizations.There could also be other factors influencing task identity not captured in the study.Therefore, more studies on the different experiences of employees from different employment statuses with their task identity are required in other financial institutions as well as other regions of the country using mixed methods to allow for deeper exploration of some aspects a questionnaire could not address.
Despite the limitations, the study provided evidence of the difference in task identity between the outsourced and core employees in the banking institutions and the predictive role of employment status in determining the task identity of employees in Nigerian banks.
Findings from this study will help human resource practitioners understand the challenges of different employee groups and how employment type influences subjective work experiences and to consider these in structuring work for enhanced employee motivation, satisfaction, and commitment.

Table 2 :
Chi-Square Analysis of Task Identity by Employment Status and Socio-Demographic Variables.

Table 3 :
Logistic Regression Coefficients of Respondents' Likelihood of Having Task Identity by Employment Status and Other Socio-Demographic Variables