Delegation of Authority and Employee Performance: An Empirical Evidence from Ikeja Division in Lagos State 103 Delegation of Authority and Employee Performance: An Empirical Evidence from Ikeja Division in Lagos State OLAJIDE Olubayo Thomas Ph.D (Corresponding Author)* Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences, Lagos State University Bayolajide@yahoo.com OKUNBANJO Olajide Idowu Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences, Lagos State University Okunbanjoolajide@yahoo.com ADEOYE Abayomi Olarewaju Ph.D Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences, Lagos State University Eveyom@yahoo.com Abstract: It is perceived that employees in SMEs usually ind it dificult to exercise au- thority on behalf of their bosses hence delay in rendering services to customers. This study investigates delegation of authority and employee performance in Ikeja Division in Lagos State. There are limitations to the service employees in SMEs can render to custom- ers which causes delay in rendering of service. Survey design method was employed via administering structured questionnaire to the target respondents. Three hundred (300) questionnaires were administered, of which 211 were returned and usable. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were employed to analyse the obtained data from the respondents. The indings of the study showed that delegation of authority has a signiicant effect on employee effectiveness with p-value of 0.001 which is less than p-value of 0.05. Therefore, this study recommends among others that more authority should be delegated to employees of SMEs in Ikeja Division in Lagos State and the authority should be clearly and precisely speciied. And also, employees should be educated on the necessity of del- egating authority to them. Key words: Delegation of authority, authorization, employee effectiveness, Employee Performance І. Introduction One of the aims of setting up a business organization is to gain competitive advantage and to make proit. Without the employees discharging their assigned responsibilities, the objectives of the organizations may not be achieved easily and timely. Thus, employee performance is a crucial determinant of organizational goals.According to Al-Jammal, Al- Khasawpeh & Hamadat (2015), employees who are engaged in their work and commit- ted to their organizations give the organisations crucial competitive advantages including higher productivity and lower employee turnover. Thus, it is not surprising that most of today’sorganizations ind ways to make the employee to be committed by delegating some managerial authority to them.Due to the competitive nature of business activities which could be traced to globalization, the task of carrying the burden of the business activities cannot be done by the business owner(s) or managers alone. Therefore, there is need for some responsibilities to be shifted or assigned to the employees which will reduced the workload and pressure of the business owner(s) or managers. According to Koontz, O’ Donnell and Weihrich (1983), the primary purpose of delegation of authority is to make sure that no one in an enterprise should do all the tasks alone.