Documented Business Processes and Employee Performance and Organizational Efficiency Among MSMEs in Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria (Published)
This study investigates the critical role of well-documented business processes in enhancing employee performance and organizational efficiency among Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) operating within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nigeria. Despite constituting over 90% of businesses and contributing nearly half of the national GDP, MSMEs in this region are characterized by pervasive informality, relying heavily on tacit knowledge and ad-hoc practices. This reliance leads to significant operational challenges, including role ambiguity, inconsistent service delivery, high training costs, and managerial bottlenecks, which collectively constrain growth and sustainability. Drawing on a comprehensive review of literature and empirical insights, this paper argues that systematic process documentation—encompassing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), workflow diagrams, and formal policies—serves as a foundational mechanism for standardizing operations, clarifying roles, and facilitating knowledge transfer. The analysis demonstrates that documented processes directly improve employee performance by reducing ambiguity and errors, while simultaneously boosting organizational efficiency through streamlined workflows, reduced training time, and enhanced scalability. The study also identifies key barriers to adoption, such as limited knowledge, time constraints, and resistance to change. Based on these findings, the paper concludes with actionable, evidence-based recommendations for MSMEs, including the development of SOPs, adoption of digital documentation tools, and investment in employee training. It further calls for supportive interventions from government agencies like the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) to promote business process management (BPM) practices. This research contributes to the discourse on MSME development by highlighting process formalization as a vital strategy for achieving operational excellence and competitive advantage in a dynamic urban economy like the FCT.
Keywords: Knowledge Management, SME productivity, business process management (BPM), operational inefficiency, role ambiguity