Engaged and disgruntled : exploring the psychological contract of survivors of downsizing in the Nigerian retail banking sector

This research focuses specifically on those non managerial staff and managers who have experienced downsizing in four major retail banks as a result of the consolidation and reform exercise in Nigeria which started in 2004. The study seeks to address this research gap by clarifying the concept of the psychological contract and its manifestation when downsizing occurs in the financial service industry by exploring the 'survivor' experience'. The conceptual framework will be guided through the lens of Social Exchange Theory (Blau, 1964) and the concept of organisational justice (Homans, 1974). An exploratory qualitative approach was adopted in which twenty-six semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty survivors and six managers in four top major banks in Nigeria that had experienced downsizing to explore their experience and perceptions. Data was collected and analysed using the thematic analysis approach. This research is steered using the philosophical arguments of Bhaskar's ontological depth of critical realism (Bhaskar, 1989), by using the three stratified layers - micro, macro, and organisational levels - to explore the evel of events, their structures and mechanisms. The influence of the thesis using critical realism is at the basic level rather than at a deeper level. The researcher's focus is on the relationships between the various mechanisms and how they develop over time, and not on any single structure but on all of the structures. It is found that there are differences in the features of the psychological contract (PC) as reported by survivors. Survivors do not seem to adjust to the changes in the banks and this has triggered negative concerns. In conclusion the theories used have proven that the state of the PC in the banks is weak. There is a lack of reciprocity in some instances where relations between employer (manager) and employee are perceived a uni­directional; traditional concepts of social exchange theory and organisational justice therefore do not fit well in the Nigeria context