It is often said that personnel management is the livewire of every organization. This assertion is evidently true and has full expression in the Nigeria’s private sector that is structured for maximum productivity. This accounts for the massive improvement in the service delivery currently witnessed in the private sector. But unfortunately, the opposite is the case in the public sector where productivity and efficient service delivery is almost none existence. The reason for this abysmal performance of public servants is still a matter of scholarly debate. Some argue that the absence of employee motivation and poor personnel management were responsible for the deep-rooted unproductive and inefficiency evident in the public service. In order to provide satisfactory explanations to why most Nigerian public servants fail to bring innovation and creativity to their jobs, at least an understanding of their work condition and welfare packages is necessary. It has been acknowledged therefore that most workers in Nigeria only commits to their jobs just for their daily survival and never dedicated to making meaningful impact in the society. This is partly because of poor personnel management system and lack of motivation. Despite the fact that rewards and incentives are found to stimulate innovation, creativity and productivity amongst workers, however, it is regrettable that the management structures in the Nigerian workspace particularly in government establishments have not been able to integrate the employee motivation schemes into the public service. The paper therefore seeks to dialectically analyze the deficiencies inherent in Nigeria’s public service, using the “university employees” as the basis for understanding the linkages between staff motivation and productivity. In addition, the paper argues that Nigeria’s public service including the university system since inception is conspicuously underperforming in terms of quality service delivery, innovation and creativity. Drawing from the Vroom’s Expectancy Theory of motivation and qualitative analytical techniques, the paper concludes that the university employees are highly unlikely to put in their best at work except the authorities adopts both the intrinsic and extrinsic approaches to personnel management, which could potentially motivate employees for outstanding creative performances.