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The main concern of the research were the challenges faced by the staff working in the Islamic banking
Industry. The study was conducted on Islam based banks between the 5th and 22nd of March 2020 to
identify the challenges faced by the staff. Again, the results obtained aided in ascertaining the correla-
tion between the staff challenges and its unique model of operation from conventional banks. Research
objectives included generating results that assisted in developing staff skills. Additionally, investigating
the nature and increase in sales and implementing methods of attracting customers to the banks were
the last objectives of the study. In the methodological part, the quantitative data collection focused on
questionnaires, whereas qualitative concentrated on interviews with the aid of descriptive statistics and
observation. The sample used was composed of 200 participants. A total number of 8 Islamic banks were
engaged in retrieving the necessary information from staff. The findings acquired through the SEM ap-
proach confirm that misdemeanor and personal problems have shown their negatively insignificant im-
pact on the productivity of the employees. Whereas, financial rewards contributed to the positive and
significant impact on the productivity factor. Banking sector management, specifically in Islamic banks,
would greatly benefit from acquainting themselves with the current study’s findings to increase the pro-
ductivity of their employees. However, significant attention is required to control the adverse influence
from the miscellaneous factors, and personal problem which are causing lower employee productivity.
1. Introduction1. Introduction
e Islamic banking industry (IBI) operates dier-
ently from other conventional banks, through oering
interest-free products. Abdul-Majid et al. (2010) stat-
ed that there are various strategies applied in Islamic
banks, and they have attracted not only praises but
also critiques by the interested observers. e indus-
try has received a considerable number of praise from
customers and other parties by transitioning from a
mere theory into a banking platform worth two tril-
lion US dollars. Importantly, IBI has attracted several
non-Muslim customers because its system tends to be
less risky, yet stable when compared to conventional
banks. It is, however, worth noting that the industry is
associated with various challenges, including late pay-
ments, unfavorable currency rates, and non-consider-
ation of the poor and small traders (Hassan and Aliyu,
2018). e unique mode of operation has attracted
critique, which reveals that the Islamic banking indus-
try has entirely ignored its underlying philosophy for
the last few decades. It is, however, worth noting that
the challenges have turned out to adversely impact the
sta members who are mandated to oversee the op-
eration of Islamic banks.
e Islamic banking sta has been struggling
with putting in place eective strategies for creating
awareness of its products, a situation that has reduced
sales volume performance among the sta. Equally,
The Major Issues Facing Sta in Islamic Banking
Industry and its Impact on Productivity
ABSTRACT
M10, M14, M40.
KEY WORDS:
JEL Classication:
employee’s productivity, nancial reward, job content, skills, banking industry
1
Azman Hashim International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia
2Business School, University Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to:
Harith Yas,
Azman Hashim International Business School, Univer-
siti Teknologi, Malaysia
. E-mail: harith.albayati@yahoo.com
Harith Yas1, Abbas Mardani1, and Ali Alfarttoosi2
Primary submission: 03.06.2020 | Final acceptance: 15.09.2020
393 Harith Yas, Abbas Mardani, Ali Alfarttoosi
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CONTEMPORARY ECONOMICS
Vol. 14 Issue 3 392-4052020
the public does not have a clear view of what Islamic
banking entails because the systems do not advocate
for prioritizing its products and services (Hassan and
Aliyu, 2018). e regulatory regime governing the
Islamic banking industry does not allow the sta to
harmonize their operations with those of the other
banks, there impacting skill development adversely.
Precisely, the team nds it challenging to shape their
expertise concerning advancing technology due to the
limited borrowing of techniques from conventional
banks (Bose, 2018b). Notably, Islamic regulators ad-
vocates for developing the industry to a higher scaled
baking sector as opposed to bringing in more custom-
ers and promoting the welfare of the sta. As a conse-
quence, the sta tends to be limited since they cannot
boost their sales volume by inviting more customers.
e research was vital in identifying the problems
facing the sta working in the Islamic banking indus-
try. Besides, the study contributed signicantly to the
nature of investigating and strategizing in order to in-
crease sales. Additionally, it is through research that
sta acquired methods of attracting customers to the
Islamic banking industry. e questions below aided
the researcher in covering and understanding the Is-
lamic banking mode of operation and the challenges
facing its sta. Can Islamic banking sta members
create awareness of bank products to the public? Does
the banking system allow for sta skill development
through adopting techniques applied in conventional
banks? Is the sta allowed to introduce the services
oered to other potential customers? How does the
Islamic bank thrive in the industry without charging
its customers an interest?
2. Literature Review2. Literature Review
Customer services are vital for the success of any
bank. In connection, the Islamic banking industry
does not put much emphasis on promoting the services
oered to customers (Jan, 2018). e previous research
suggests that the Islamic banking industry focuses
strictly on Islamic customers and businesses with stable
nancial income, leaving out non-Muslims and other
types of customers. As a result, customers diverge their
interest to other institutions that have a well-grounded
history in service delivery (Maghyereh, 2018)
(Peppard, 2000), the Islamic banking industry is rated
among the stable sectors; however, it tends not to be
useful in developing the customer's services. Notably,
the Islamic banking industry demotes the motivation
of its sta since they are limited to the type and level of
customers to engage.
e Islamic banking industry tends to be reluctant
when it comes to developing sta skills. Furthermore,
total quality management is rarely applied, which in
turn impacts the level of sta competency adversely.
Bose (2018b) suggests that the sta working in a
banking environment are required to share their
opinions freely when faced with a challenge in a bid
to come up with informed decisions (Maghyereh,
2018). e previous research suggests that IBI
struggle with maintaining sta key competencies,
including management, technical, and humanitarian
skills (Hassan and Aliyu, 2018). Notably, the IBI does
not factor experience and personal qualities when
absorbing sta into the organization.
Islamic Banking institutions (IBI) employ sale
sta and other sta just like any functional company,
and they implement all means necessary to reach set
targets. e sales management team in the Islamic
banking industry does not encourage their peers to
work towards achieving sales targets (Hassan and
Aliyu, 2018). According to Jan (2018), the Islamic
banking industry rebuilds the skills of their stas in
sales management but only for the employees with
high-income earners. (Saeed, 1996) attests that the IBI
is reported to have stagnant, yet stable sales volume,
as they do not attract more customers. Overall, the
systems are designed in such a way that they only meet
the needs, desires, and preferences of high-income
earners, a condition that limits sta’s engagement with
diverse customers.
e IBI has fell short of coming up with new
marketing strategies that would attract more non-
Muslim customers. e process of attracting and
retaining customers is a complex undertaking since
it entails providing the best products and services
to other institutions. Azmat et al. (2015) reveal
that Islamic banking systems have been nding
it challenging to attract customers because of the
competitive national interest rate, which is induced by
the crowded industry. It is, however, worth noting that
some customers have lost condence in investing in the
nancial institution due to the continuous failures of
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The Major Issues Facing Staff in Islamic Banking Industry and its Impact on Productivity
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several Islamic banks. (Okumus, 2005) opines that the
Islamic banking industry can elevate its market score
by engaging in marketing campaigns to encourage
non-Muslim customers to take loans and making more
deposits. Importantly, Traditional marketing strategies
such as networking and communications should also
be encouraged while minding conventional tactics.
Aer reviewing the research relating to Islamic
banking, it was evident that researchers have not
provided enough critiques on the same (Gerrard and
Cunningham, 1997; Hussain et al., 2020). Again, there
is not enough research relating to how the Islamic
banking industry can utilize management skills to
attain better results (Hassan & Aliyu, 2018). Most of
the information provided in the literature review was
mainly concerned about the importance of adopting
sta skills, increasing sales, and providing the customers
in the community with necessary information relating
to banking. e information gathered while writing
the literature review contributes signicantly to the
understanding of the modes of operation in the IBI.
Additionally, it is through the literature review that
the reader can understand the nature of the IBI in
the United Arab Emirates (Bose, 2018a). Besides, the
Islamic banks can get access to skills they can apply
in their projects, and industry-related information to
realize improved results.
3. Methodology3. Methodology
Te primary purpose of the methodology was to
provide the strategies that were used during data col-
lection and analysis. e research methodology was
dened as the discovery and systematic pursuit of
knowledge. Kumar et al. (2008) suggested that the re-
search methodology provides a plan for digging deep
into a study in an eort to generate concrete results. In
this paper, an approach was determined that aided the
researcher during the study. e research focused on
both quantitative and qualitative data collection. e
quantitative part of data collection focused on ques-
tionnaires (covering various factors which are directly
or indirectly impacting on the productivity of the em-
ployees, working in dierent Islamic banking rms),
whereas qualitative concentrated on interviews. Ques-
tionnaires were designed to retrieve information about
the critical problems experienced by Islamic bank sta
members. e questionnaires were formulated in such
a way to gather the necessary information from the dis-
tribution sample of sta from various Islamic banks.
Research objectives were was achieved through con-
ducting research, particularly by collecting technical
data with the aid of the questionnaire and interviews. It
is through the questionnaires that the researcher got a
clear view of the problems facing the sta in the Islamic
banking industry. Additionally, the questions provide
a direction while designing data collection methods.
Sta members from various Islamic banks were in-
terviewed to obtain views towards their challenges.
During the interviews, the employees’ opinion was
recorded to arrive at an overall analysis. Two hundred
sta members were interviewed, and the results ob-
tained are representative of the entire sta in the IBI.
e participants were encouraged to provide honest
answers to aid the study process and to achieve a reli-
able outcome. e questionnaires used in the process
were clear enough to the interviewees in addition to
addressing the intended purpose of the research. As
a result, the questions asked required short answers
such as yes or no. e following set of opinions and
questions overruled the interview process. Can Is-
lamic banking sta create awareness of products to
the public? Does the banking system allow sta skill
development through adopting techniques applied in
conventional banks? Are the sta members allowed to
introduce the services oered to other potential cus-
tomers? Research questions were analyzed with the
help of an IBI case study. e purpose of the case study
was to reveal the challenges faced by the sta operating
in the IBI. e case study analyzed obstacles faced by
the team while trying to attract more customers to the
bank. It is through the case study that the researcher
got to know the sales and skill development challenges
faced by the Islamic bank sta. Both the participants
and interviewees were given questionnaires and the
selection was made randomly from 8 Islamic banks.
e sample size for the study consisted in 200 respon-
dents from the departments of various Islamic banks.
e study was conducted on eight banks in the IBI. For
clarity, the current study’s analyses are divided into two
categories. Firstly, opinions of the respondents against
four stated queries were provided through descriptive
and percentage scores. Secondly, structural equation
modelling (SEM) technique was applied to examine
the inuence of miscellaneous factors, personal prob-
395 Harith Yas, Abbas Mardani, Ali Alfarttoosi
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lems, job content, manager’s attitude, organizational
culture, and nancial reward on the productivity of the
employees in the targeted banking industry.
4. Study Results I4. Study Results I
e questionnaire was composed of four questions
that aided in achieving the goal of research. e
group of respondents included 120 males and 80
males, totaling to 200 participants. In the current
study, the frequency percentages were presented us-
ing statistical tables. A statistical program was used
for tabulation, open space classication, and the
testing correlation between variables.
Based on Figure 2, it evident that a large number
of sta members from the Islamic banking industry
(82%) stress the need to develop sta skills in the
bank . Developing skills is vital since only 15% of
the total persons interviewed disagreed with opin-
ion, and 3% could not assess their views towards the
use of technology to shape the competency of sta
in a bank.
Figure 3 clearly demonstrates that 87 partici-
pants had a strong interest in bringing customers
into the banks, 53 were on average status, 13 small,
43 not clear, and four did not know. e above re-
sults bring forth an illustration that the IBI does not
involve stas in the process of making decisions
and planning processes. Figure 4 shows that 48.5%
of participants had a keen interest in developing the
skills of sta in the bank, 32% were on average sta-
tus, 7.5 % small, 11.5 % not clear, and 0.5% did not
know. e above results show that half of the sta
did not understand the rationale behind the core
competency for the success of the Islamic banking
in du str y.
Figure 5 conrmed that 80% of 200 participants
had a strong belief that the services oered to the
customers are of much importance. 16.5% of the
participants seemed to agree with the above state-
ment partially, 1.5 did not know, 1% disagreed, and
1% strongly disagreed. e results show that the IBI
has tried to inform its sta on the benets accrued
from the developmental management of customer
service.
e above-presented Figure 6 conrms that the
sta members in the Islamic banking industry have
a rm idea that sales volume needs to be increased.
Approximately three-quarters of the total popula-
tion, which is
140 participants strongly agreed that sales re-
quired to be boosted, 40 partially agreed, ve did
not know, 11 disagreed, and 4 had a strong feeling
that there was no need for increasing sales.
e results generated in the section conrmed
that most of the sta in the Islamic banks has a
clear view that the development of skills is vital in
an organization. It is worth noting that the Islamic
banking industry has been educating its members
on skill development, which would aid in achiev-
ing their goals and meeting the challenges facing
the new Islamic banks (Maghyereh, 2018). e
question relating to bringing customers into the
Islamic banks did not attract much attention to al-
most half of the bank's sta. Precisely, only 78 out
of 200 participants showed keen interest in encour-
aging customers to seek nancial services from the
Islamic banking industry (Tiwari et al., 2006). As a
result, the industry needs to put more emphasis on
the planning process while cooperating with vari-
ous departments to bring customers in the Islamic
banks, thereby increasing the number of service us-
ers.
Figure 4 conrmed that 48% of sta had a strong
feeling that their skills needed to be developed.
erefore, there seems to be no positive relation-
ship between skill development and training as
well as high academic performance. Based on the
above illustration, it is evident that the Islamic
banks have not been putting eorts to improve the
performance of sta concerning the technological
advancement. e Islamic banking industry stas
have a clear view that the services oered to the
customers are vital in developing the activities of
the Islamic banking industry. e results conrmed
that over 80% of the sta had a strong feeling that
the services oered to the customer are signicant
in taking the organization to the next level (Bose,
2018b). e Islamic banking industry can boost its
service provision through sales promotion, engag-
ing with customers at a personal level, and oering
other services that are not provided in other con-
ventional banks. e question on sta suggestion
was vital in proving the validity of the previous
data that planning is pivotal in boosting the Islamic
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The Major Issues Facing Staff in Islamic Banking Industry and its Impact on Productivity
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Figure 1. Respondents' distribution.
Figure 2. Development of staff skills.
397 Harith Yas, Abbas Mardani, Ali Alfarttoosi
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Figure 3. Islamic banks' interest in bringing customers.
Figure 4. Development of staff skills interest among banks.
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Figure 5. Staff benefits for the bank from customer service.
Figure 6. Suggestions for an increase in sales.
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bank's sta skills as well as sales volume. Notably,
140 respondents out of 200 suggested that they
would actively support the strategies for increasing
sales volume. e Islamic banking industry should
get it clear that boosting sales volume is a complex
undertaking since it entails eective management
of nances, administrative activities, human re-
sources, and general organizational aspects (Hassan
and Aliyu, 2018).
5. Study Results 25. Study Results 2
Our study has divided the key factors aecting the
employees’ productivity into dierent categories
like miscellaneous, organizational culture, personal
problems, manager’s attitude, job content and nan-
cial reward. As per the mean score for the rst four
items entitled as miscellaneous items aecting the
productivity of the employees, a higher mean score
of above 4.45 was observed for the stang skills,
bringing customers, services to customers, and sug-
gestions for the sales. Furthermore, organizational
culture is reected through four items with the rela-
tive mean score of 3.47, 4.51, 3.51, and 4.50 respec-
tively. It means that there is a higher as well as aver-
age means trend in the four items of organizational
culture. For the personal problem our study reects
only the PP1 is showing a mean score of below 4
which is 3.50, where the mean trend for the remain-
ing items was observed as 4.51,4.53, 4.47, and 4.55.
It means that there is a good trend from the sample
of 200 respondents including both male and females
while providing their valuable responses against ve
points likert scale.
e factor of personal problem is also measured
through ve items and their relative mean scores are
showing a higher trend, whereas, standard deviation
for each of the stated item is relatively low. Mean-
while, MA items representatives the measurement
of manager’s attitude where mean score is above 4.
It shows that there is a good trend from the respon-
dents while providing their responses over ve points
likert scale. In addition, both the items for job con-
tent and nancial rewards are also presented through
mean and standard deviation. Lastly, employee’s pro-
ductivity is reected through RP1 to PR3 with the
mean values of 4.50, 4.44, and 4.53 respectively.
Aer descriptive scores, factor loadings are gener-
ated and provided in Table 2. It is observed that mis-
cellaneous items are providing the factor loadings of
.71, .68, 69. and .71 respectively. For organizational
culture, factor loadings are .58, .82, .82, and .78. For
personal problems, factor loadings are .82, .71, .63,
.78, and .69 respectively. Manger’s attitude is reected
through the loadings of .72, .77, .82,.66, and .62. For
job content, it is observed that loadings for the three
items are .61, .73, and .72. For nancial reward, CFA
is providing a score of .69, .52, 69, .82 and .87. In the
end, productivity items are providing the loading val-
ues of .66, .87, and .82.
Figure 7 shows the structural model of our re-
search, covering the Misc. factors, organizational
culture, job content, personal problems, manager’s
attitude, and nancial reward as main exogenous
constructs with their relative items. For measuring
the employees’ productivity, three sub items are add-
ed and assuming it as main endogenous construct
under present study. e single headed arrows in the
gure below are presenting the overall impact of se-
lected exogenous variables on the productivity of the
employees working in the IBI.
Finally, the ndings for the structural model as
presented under Figure 7 are provided in Table 3.
While going for the discussion of the results, our
study has tested the following null and alternative
hypotheses.
H0: Productivity of the employees working in Is-
lamic banking sector is not inuenced by Miscella-
neous factors.
H-a: Productivity of the employees working in
Islamic banking sector is signicantly inuenced by
Miscellaneous factors.
H0: Productivity of the employees working in Is-
lamic banking sector is not inuenced by personal
problems.
H-b: Productivity of the employees working in
Islamic banking sector is signicantly inuenced by
personal problems.
H0: Productivity of the employees working in Is-
lamic banking sector is not inuenced by organiza-
tional culture.
H-c: Productivity of the employees working in
Islamic banking sector is signicantly inuenced by
organizational culture.
H0: Productivity of the employees working in Is-
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Variable Obs Mean Std.
Dev.
Vari-
able
Obs Mean Std.Dev.
STAFFSKILLS 200 4.488 0.501 MA3 200 4.537 0.521
BRINGINGCU~S 200 4.493 0.501 MA4 200 4.478 0.501
SERVICESTO~S 200 4.537 0.552 MA5 200 4.498 0.501
SUGGESTION~S 200 4.458 0.499 JC1 200 4.453 0.499
OC1 200 3.478 0.501 JC2 200 4.453 0.499
OC2 200 4.517 0.501 JC3 200 4.493 0.501
OC3 200 3.517 0.505 FR1 200 4.547 0.499
OC4 200 4.507 0.501 FR2 200 4.483 0.501
PP1 200 3.507 0.506 FR3 200 4.547 0.499
PP2 200 4.512 0.501 FR4 200 4.473 0.501
PP3 200 4.537 0.520 FR5 200 4.468 0.552
PP4 200 4.473 0.520 PR1 200 4.507 0.501
PP5 200 4.557 0.498 PR2 200 4.443 0.498
MA1 200 4.502 0.501 PR3 200 4.537 0.514
MA2 Obs=200 Mean=4.512 Std.Dev.0.501
Table 1.
Descriptive Statistics
lamic banking sector is not inuenced by manager’s
attitude.
H-d: Productivity of the employees working in
Islamic banking sector is signicantly inuenced by
manager’s attitude.
H0: Productivity of the employees working in Is-
lamic banking sector is not inuenced by job con-
tents.
H-e: Productivity of the employees working in
Islamic banking sector is signicantly inuenced by
job contents.
H0: Productivity of the employees working in Is-
lamic banking sector is not inuenced by nancial
reward.
H-f: Productivity of the employees working in Is-
lamic banking sector is signicantly inuenced by
nancial reward.
e results for the structural model are provided
in Table 3. At rst, we examined that miscellaneous
factors have provided a coecient of -.151 which re-
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CONTEMPORARY ECONOMICS
Vol. 14 Issue 3 392-4052020
VARIABLE FACTOR LOADINGS
STAFFSKILLS 0.712
BRINGINGCU~S 0.687
SERVICESTO~S 0.698
SUGGESTION~S 0.718
OC1 0.581
OC2 0.821
OC3 0.827
OC4 0.783
PP1 0.827
PP2 0.716
PP3 0.639
PP4 0.782
PP5 0.698
MA1 0.728
MA2 0.772
MA3 0.828
MA4 0.662
MA5 0.628
JC1 0.619
JC2 0.737
JC3 0.729
FR1 0.697
Table 2.
Factor Loadings Through CFA
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ects their overall negative impact on the employees’
productivity in the Islamic banking industry. is
would show that for every unit increase in the mis-
cellaneous factors, there is an adverse impact on the
productivity factor. is coecient has also shown a
standard error of 0.071 and critical ration of -2.12.
Finally, based on this critical ration p-value of 0.035
was achieved which is signicant at 5 percent. is
means that there is a negative and signicant impact
of miscellaneous factors on the productivity of the
employees in Islamic banking industry. is nega-
tive inuence further justies that more attention is
required for controlling the negative eects of fac-
tors on the productivity of the employees. Based on
these ndings, our study supports the argument that
Productivity of the employees working in Islamic
banking sector is signicantly inuenced by Miscel-
laneous factors (H-a). rough organizational cul-
ture, our study found no evidence for its signicant
impact on the productivity factor. However, coe-
cient of organizational culture is -0.084 and standard
error of 0.082. ese results provide a critical ration
of -1.02, hence insignicant p-value. It means that
there is an insignicant impact of organizational
culture on the productivity of Islamic banking em-
ployees.
For the factor of personal problem, coecient is
-.915 which reects a negative impact on the pro-
ductivity of the employees. In addition, the critical
ration of -12.88 is achieved through a standard error
of 0.070. Finally, we achieved a signicant level of 1
percent. It means that there is a signicant and nega-
tive impact of personal problems on the productivity
of the employees, providing the evidence that higher
personal problems are leading towards lower level of
employees’ productivity and vice versa. erefore,
H-b (Productivity of the employees working in Is-
lamic banking sector is signicantly inuenced by
personal problems) is supported in our study.
In addition, the factors of manager’s attitude and
job content show their positively insignicant im-
pact on the productivity of the employees as p-val-
ues are found to be insignicant under full sample
consideration. For the nancial reward, coecient
is 0.119 which would indicate that higher nancial
reward is leading towards more productivity from
the employees in Islamic banking sector. is result
is justied through a standard error of 0.052, and
critical ration of 2.28 with the p-value of 0.038. It
means that there is a positive and signicant impact
of nancial reward on the employees productivity,
hence, H-f (Productivity of the employees working
in Islamic banking sector is signicantly inuenced
by nancial reward) is supported.
VARIABLE FACTOR LOADINGS
FR2 0.528
FR3 0.692
FR4 0.827
FR5 0.874
PR1 0.669
PR2 0.874
PR3 0.825
Table 2.
Factor Loadings Through CFA (Continued)
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Vol. 14 Issue 3 392-4052020
Figure 7. Structural model of the study.
Figure 8. Output for the Structural Model with significant coefficients.
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The Major Issues Facing Staff in Islamic Banking Industry and its Impact on Productivity
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6. Conclusions6. Conclusions
A
ll in all, the Islamic banking industry contributes
hugely to community growth through funding
customers' activities, thereby providing a balance
between demand and supply of services oered. Islamic
banking industry contributes signicantly to developing
the economy through the mobilization of savings and
providing a cost-eective environment for money
exchange. However, the Islamic banking industry
has been experiencing various challenges, including
the need for sales increase, convincing customers,
developing sta’s skills, and the development of
competency among the sta. As a result, the research
has provided recommendations for the above challenges
and directives for further analysis. Need for Sales
increase, bringing more customers, developing sta
skills, and the need for competency among the sta are
crucial aspects discussed in the research.
Aer reviewing the information provided by the
Islamic banking industry sta, it is evident that the
Islamic banking industry is falling short of eective
communication with the subordinate sta (Bose,
2018). Also, it lacks acceptable skills in the eld of
banking because it cannot accommodate the demands
of the industry. e bank should review its policies on
accommodation and rehabilitation of sta to ensure
that core competencies are upheld while minding
economic and humanitarian dimensions. e Islamic
banking industry has been struggling with the issue
of boosting its sales volume due to poor planning
and making uninformed decisions. e sta does not
have the necessary skills for marketing the products
provided by the Islamic banks (Abdul-Majid et al.,
2010). e banks will need to put in place interventions
for boosting its administrative functions, marketing,
sales, and operational strategies. ese interventions
will pave the way for winning more customers and
creating a substantial competitive edge.
Productivity Reg. Coef S.E C.R p-value Sig.
Miscellaneous Factors -0.151 0.071 -2.12 0.035 **
Organizational Culture -0.084 0.082 -1.02 0.342
Personal Problems -0.915 0.070 -12.88 0.000 ***
Manager’s Attitude 0.037 0.810 0.045 0.603
Job Content 0.010 0.071 0.14 0.885
Financial Reward 0.119 0.052 2.28 0.038 **
_cons 3.522 0.758 4.64 0.000 ***
Mean dependent var 4.507 SD dependent var 0.501
R-squared 0.251 Number of observations 200
F-test 8.2015 Prob > F 0.000
*** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, * p<0.1
Table 3.
Findings for Structural Model: Factors Affecting the Employees Productivity in Islamic Banking
405 Harith Yas, Abbas Mardani, Ali Alfarttoosi
10.5709/ce.1897-9254.412DOI:
CONTEMPORARY ECONOMICS
Vol. 14 Issue 3 392-4052020
In addition, the methodologies used limited
research. e study encountered challenges from
the interviewees. Some of the sta did not ll the
questionnaires issued to them, thereby diminishing
the reliability of research ndings. Some of the
techniques used, such as sampling, did not help
in obtaining the opinions of sta attached to the
remotely located branches. Also, most of the online
interviews and questionnaires were not responded
on time, which delayed the research ndings. In the
future, I would suggest the use of advanced tools that
gather information from a larger population rather
than focusing on samples. e existing research
indicates that Islamic banking has been stable, yet it
does not depend on low-income earners and small
businesses. I would recommend for the examination
of the strategies it has put in place to maintain
stability. Notably, the Islamic banking industry has
been facing challenges when it comes to raising the
standards of services provided to be in line with the
customer's demands. According to the underlying,
sta in the Islamic banking industry does not have the
capability of coping up with the ever-advancing level
of technology (Ahmed, 2007). e bank’s management
should put more emphasis on employing only the
potential candidates in addition to shaping their skills
based on technological advancements. e research
conrmed that the Islamic banking industry has been
facing challenges in attracting customers to the banks.
Hassan and Aliyu (2018) suggest that the primary
cause of this issue is poor marketing strategies, which
cannot induce a potential customer to have condence
in the services provided. Besides, the Islamic banking
industry can boost its service provision through sales
promotion, engaging with customers at a personal
level, and oering other services not provided in other
conventional banks.
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