EFFECT OF WORKFORCE AUTOMATION ON EMPLOYEES’ ENGAGEMENT IN DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS IN LAGOS

Abstract

The rapid integration of workforce automation in the banking sector has raised critical concerns about its impact on employee engagement. While automation offers significant benefits such as operational efficiency and cost reduction, its emotional and psychological implications for employees remain insufficiently examined, particularly within Nigeria’s Tier-1 deposit money banks. This study investigates how workforce automation, specifically technological infrastructure, process automation, process efficiency, and task completion rate affect the affective, behavioural, and cognitive engagement of employees in selected commercial banks in Lagos. Using a quantitative research approach, structured questionnaires were administered across five major banks: First Bank, UBA, Access Bank, GTBank, and Zenith Bank. From the 144 distributed questionnaires, 119 valid responses were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to evaluate the strength of relationships between the variables. The findings indicate that all four components of workforce automation significantly enhance employee engagement, with technological infrastructure and task completion rate showing the most substantial positive effects across all dimensions. These insights emphasize the need for bank management and policymakers to approach automation not merely as a tool for efficiency but as a strategic asset for sustaining human engagement. By investing in inclusive technological systems, offering continuous digital training, and involving employees in automation-related decisions, organizations can build a resilient and emotionally invested workforce capable of thriving in an increasingly automated environment.