The Role of Motivation to the Performance of Employees in Food Retail Sector of UK
1.0 Topic for Research
The topic chosen for this research is based on the operation of human resource management department, focusing on role of motivation and how it impacts the performance of the people working within the food retailing sector in the UK. The working title of this study is initially drafted as – The Role of Motivation to the Performance of Employees in Food Retail Sector of UK. This study is organisation-based and inputs will be collected from the staff of different food retailing organisations in the UK.
2.0 Rationale for the Chosen Topic
Common to all organizations is the fact that they are relying on their people for the continued survival and existence of their organization. People, or the employees, are the key in sustaining the organization and this importance in their role gives responsibility to the organization to motivate them so as they can function more effectively. Motivation gives impetus to behaviour by means of arousing, sustaining and directing such towards a thriving attainment of goals. Therefore, motivation is directly related with satisfaction and retention. While many organizations believe that motivation will positively affect the satisfaction of the employees, the changing nature of organizations, its dynamics and structure could affect the delivery of motivation.
Several previous studies have already proven the interplay between motivation and organizational performance and most organizations confirm the results. However, there are several emergent influencers of motivation today that affect the employees’ performance. Organizations from different industries have different organizational structures and functions, and the food retailing organizations are not an exemption. It would be then desirable to dig deeper into which among the several factors influence performance of food retailing employees in the UK context.
Large supermarkets and convenience stores dominate the UK food retail market. Supermarkets account for three-fourth of the sales and the rest is divided to convenience stores and other traditional retailers such as the discount stores. The primary basis of competition among the UK supermarket chains, further, is the price. Prices, however, had resulted in the low profit margins for the industry, affecting its growth in return. Such dwindling profits forced the supermarkets to look for new avenues to promote and sell their food products to remain competitive in the market. Product and process innovations are the areas where the UK retailers have focused their attention to (Defra, 2006).
Performance at individual level is being jeopardized and subjected to various organizational changes. Specifically, as food retailing organizations became larger, more complex and more problematic, concerns about organizational performance and competencies development and how these could likely to impact culture and direction of the organization have been in the forefronts of business dialogues. There had been much talk about the role of motivation and their development but very little has been done on developing motivation-based performance and much little progress on investigating organizational performance and its relative effect on employees working in the food retailing organizations.
The issue is decided to be investigated upon because of the many issues surrounding the correlation between motivation and job performance is an inconclusive ideology and that there are no established direct causality. Within the workplace, motivation will serve as the driving force in building and establishing relationships, persistence in accomplishing individual objectives, accomplishing difficult tasks and meeting deadlines at the very least. There is a drive then to ascertain the various effects of motivation on the ability of an individual to perform well on the job. Job performance is not predicted by cognitive ability alone but creativity, leadership ability, integrity and cooperation as well.
Dalal and Hulin (2008) defines motivation as the combined effect from three choice behaviors – choice to expend effort, choice of level of effort to expend, and choice to persist in the expenditure of that level of effort. As such, work experience, physical work conditions, lack of control over work content and processes, unrealistic demands and lack of understanding by the management are the underlying conditions. These resulted in alteration of working conditions and processes and strong control from the management, all of which contributes to the performance of the employees. There is the necessity then to explore motivation and how it impacts job performance. Job performance is one of the most misunderstood concepts in management. Motivation, according to Campbell (1990), is a precursor of effective job performance.
This study seeks to investigate the beneficial and detrimental effects of motivation on employee’s performance. The premise is that depending on the levels of motivation of the people it will cause outcomes and will yield to either productive or counterproductive practices especially in the workplace.
3.0 Statement of the Problem
A study on the relationship between employee motivation and employee performance within the UK food retail sector, this study intends to give answer to the following questions:
4.0 Objectives of the Study
In lieu with answering the above research questions, the study will address the following specific objectives:
5.0 Significance of the Study
This study is undertaken to advance the awareness in various human resource management issues within the UK food retailing sector which will provide greater efficiency to the organizations. Understanding the issues and how these affect the conduct of the company can further the human resource management processes proactive and advantageous. Among the human resources issues to be addressed in this study are employee motivation, job satisfaction, staff retention and staff turnover. The study is also important as it can relate the factors affecting the likelihood of success through effective employer-employee relationship that is buffered by the human resource department.
On a more personal note, I am expecting a role in the business environment in the future hence it is my role to contribute to literatures concerning understanding strategic human resource management or how relationships within the food retailing sector can be made more strategic.
6.0 Scope and Limitations of the Study
The study is limited on the elements of human resource management unique to the UK food retailing organizations. The utilization of a company as the basis of the case study is another limitation because of the fact that it cannot make generalizations. To compensate, a recommendation for future study will be provided so as to promote the continuous investigation on the issue. In this way, a continuum of learning through investigation on this issue could be promoted.
Survey is the primary means in the study in collecting data. The study is also limited only the pieces of information that the respondents are willing to disclose. It is limited to the respondents’ capability to answer such questions. There may be commercial information also that may not be disclosed because of its commercial confidentiality.
7.0 Conceptual Framework
The most basic theory of motivation is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as shown in Fig. 1. Such theory explains the motivating factor as the desire to achieve or maintain a condition where satisfaction rests. The five needs Maslow relates are the physiological, safety, love and belongingness, esteem and self-actualization needs. Physiological needs sustain our physical life. Security needs refer to people’s physiological needs of safety, shelter and economic security. Love and belongingness needs conform to affiliations and affinities. This third need is a direct requirement for the fourth one which is esteem needs or a healthy personal life. Self-actualization needs are growth needs that are forward-looking and forward-driven (Maslow, 1943, pp. 394-395).
Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1 Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
The second theory that the study will going to make use of is the Porter and Lawler model. This model depends upon the expectancy theory where the basis is the perceived degree of relationship between how much effort an individual expends and the performance that results from that effort (Muchinsky, 2008, p. 380). The Porter and Lawler motivation model emphasizes that actual performance in a job is primarily determined by the effort spent. However, motivation is also affected by the individual’s ability to perform the job and by the individual’s perception of what the required task is. Such performance could lead to intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, in conjunction with the equity of individual, resulting to satisfaction. Thereby, the satisfaction of an individual in performing a task depends upon the justice of rewards (Shah and Shah, 2008). As McKenna (2000) puts it, the message conveyed by the model is that should not only to enrichment through challenge, variety and autonomy but also empowerment achieved through extrinsic rewards (p. 108).
8.0 Organisation of the Study
The thesis shall be divided into five chapters in order to provide clarity and coherence on the discussion of the role of motivation in performance of employees working in food retailing organizations in the UK. The first part of the dissertation will be discussing the background, problem statement, questions and objectives and the significance and limitations.
The second chapter shall be discussing the relevance of the study in the existing literature. It shall provide studies on information sharing processes, supply chain and buyer-supplier relationship. After the presentation of the existing related literature, the researcher shall provide a synthesis of the whole chapter in relation to the study.
The third part of the study shall be discussing the methods and procedures used in the study. The chapter shall comprise of the presentation of the utilized techniques for data collection and research methodology. Similarly, it shall also contain a discussion on the used techniques in data analysis as well as the tools used to acquire the said data.
The fourth chapter shall be discussion of the results of the study. Data to be presented will be statistically treated in order to uncover the relationship of the variable involved in the study. With the said data, the chapter seeks to address the statement of the problem noted in the first chapter.
The last chapter shall comprise of two sections: the conclusions of the study, and the recommendations. With the three portions, the chapter shall be able to address the problem stated in the initial chapters of the study.
2.0 Literature Review
2.1 Motivation theory
Motivation gives impetus to behaviour by means of arousing, sustaining and directing such towards a thriving attainment of goals. Movers which literally means to move is the foundation of motivation which then takes the meaning as an internal drive that activates one’s behaviour and gives it direction. Psychologically, motivation refers to the biological, emotional, cognitive or social forces that activate and direct behaviour. Managerially, motivation involves activities of managers and leaders to persuade individuals to produce the desired results. To put it in context, motivation has a direct interrelation with ability and performance, purporting to minimize dissatisfaction among the employees. Individual empowerment is the key which is perceived as a precursor to higher productivity and higher quality. This is central to understanding the employee needs and expectations.
When this comes to these aspects, there are content and process theories to motivation. Basic difference is that the former focuses on internal factors which direct behaviour while the latter provides an opportunity to understand though processes that influence behaviour. Levels of interest and satisfaction of works; the significance and meaning or work; and expectations and communal needs all relates to theories of motivation. Thereby, business entities must adapt only the necessary motivational elements that present and future situations require, that can be align with cultural variability, the needs of the people, the corporate culture and values and that resonate with the differences of attitudes and behaviours toward work, for instance.
Although motivation theory is tended on attaining goals, it is more emphasized on issues of economic realities of reward such as increase in salaries, promotions and benefits. To wit, what motivates people to act (or perform) could be measured by the idea that effort could result in performance which then could be rewarded and with the value of reward depending on the exerted effort. Put simply, when an employee wants more pay, s/he tends to believe that working harder could probably result in getting more pay. As such, they will work harder and perform better for these employees to attain and get more pay according to that level of performance (Muchinsky, 2008, p. 380). Fudge and Schlacter (1994) made mention that emphasizing individual perceptions of the environment mean performing based on personal expectations.
The strong points of motivation theories lie on the conception that there are extrinsic motivators that explain behaviours exhibited within the workplace whereby external rewards are envisioned as motivation inducers that fuel behaviours that are derived as a consequence of internal forces as enjoyment of work for instance. As such, the result of these three beliefs is motivation embedded on individual factors such as personality, skills, knowledge, experience and abilities.
Initially, motivating the people is intended for career advancements. Motivation theories intend to teach organizations and its members how to set goals from team and organizational levels. Individuals thereby devise goals by using organizational objectives, statement of values and vision and mission statements. These theories are thus strategic when it comes to implementing goals in the workplace. Strategic goal setting skills of individuals could lead to development and implementation of action plans while also identifying the factors that could influence strategic goals and putting the organization and individual goals into action (Harvey and Brown, 2007). There is the need to identify goals mentally to be followed by comparing performance against these goals. The pressure, however, is on creating a working environment where individuals are contributing.
2.2 Employee motivation
The term motivation has both psychological and managerial connotation. The psychological meaning of behaviour refers to the internal mental state of a person that relates to the initiation, direction, persistence, intensity and termination of behaviour. The managerial meaning of motivation deals with the activity of managers and leaders to induce others in order to produce results desired or outlined by the organization or by the manager. The managerial concept of motivation conforms to a relationship between motivation, ability and performance. The main purpose of motivating your workplace is to minimize dissatisfaction and to keep people within the organization. There are so many factors that an individual employee may be motivated. Examples of this are technical supervision, interpersonal relations, salary, working conditions, status, company policy and job security (Tosi et al, 2000, pp. 129-133).
Further, reward systems, most especially, are the considered as forerunners of employee motivation (Caruth and Handlogten, 2001, p1). Since the people and their knowledge, skills and abilities are the most important driving force to the success of any organization, continuing commitment and support to them could be realized through looking for effective ways to reward their contributions, loyalty, dedication and efforts.
Reward systems, for instance, must be created in such a way that employees will be compensated to enhance motivation, growth and productivity while also encouraging them to align their efforts with the company's objectives, philosophies, culture and values. Reward and punishment is composed of direct and indirect monetary incentives. The latter consists of pay and rewards received by employees in the form of wages and salaries, incentives, bonuses and commissions whereas the former comprises of the benefits supplied by the employers. According to Sims (2002), these non-financial compensations include employee recognition programs, rewarding jobs and flexible work hours to accommodate personal needs.
An ideology is that commitment and motivation are an outgrowth from organizational behaviour that place emphasis on management strategy connecting human resource management with organizational behaviour and management strategy (Guest, 1987). An incremental function of human resource management is central on the emergence of better educated workforces and higher individual expectations.
Employees would be motivated to perform even more through more incentive. Eventually, employee turnover rates would be lessened and positive reinforcement would lead to higher job satisfaction. The drive is to provide challenging and interesting work, recognitions and rewards for accomplishments and provide an opportunity for fast career growth and advancement. At the individual attitudes/behavior level of the best fit model, and in schemes of total human development, an effective management is characterized by the promotion of attitudes that value contribution and performance.
Further, reward systems, most especially, are the considered as forerunners of employee motivation (Caruth and Handlogten, 2001, p1). An ideology is that commitment and motivation are an outgrowth from organizational behaviour that place emphasis on management strategy connecting HRM with organizational behaviour and management strategy (as cited in Caruth and Handlogten, 2001). An incremental function of HRM is central on the emergence of better educated workforces and higher individual expectations.
Employees would be motivated to perform even more through more incentive. Eventually, employee turnover rates would be lessened and positive reinforcement would lead to higher job satisfaction. The drive is to provide challenging and interesting work, recognitions and rewards for accomplishments and provide an opportunity for fast career growth and advancement. At the individual attitudes/behavior level of the best fit model, and in schemes of total human development, an effective management is characterized by the promotion of attitudes that value contribution and performance.
2.3 Motivation and other HR functions
As already noted, reward systems are considered as the frontrunners of employee motivation, as according to Caruth and Handlogten (2001, p1). It is in this sense that organizations should reorganize the existing pay elements to reflect the pay requirements in the global and local scales. As well, it should also reflect Healthcare’s continuing commitment and support to the employees by looking at effective ways to reward contributions, loyalty, dedication and efforts. Reward systems have psychological dimensions of work leading to job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is the degree of one’s job is valued through reward systems.
As Caruth and Handlogten puts it, compensation as reward encompasses all of tangible and intangible, monetary and non-monetary and physical and psychological rewards that an organization provides its employees in exchange for the work perform (2002, p. 6). With this said, it would be necessary to determine how reward systems could move along with the changes in the workplace particularly in terms of global to local contexts. In terms of locally adapting variable pay, the explanation is simple. Supervisor biases, inaccurate or unfair performance measures, difficulty in assessment, inertia, and the like, undermine the intent of rewarding individual performance, particularly when combined with traditional compensation practices that prevent above-average performers from being paid appreciably more than average or poor counterparts (Caruth and Handlogten, 2002).
Measuring the performance therefore requires the decision to consider rates of return. Pay-performance sensitivities emerge in relation to time hence it appears that the organization’s cost relative to the employees both in headquarters and in subsidiaries is determined not by the performance alone but also the time that employee will spend on the organization. With this, compensation represents the employee’s share of value creation.
Notably, if an organization’s reward system revolves around group or division or unit performance; similar financial rewards for each unit, group or division can create individual perceptions of inequity as individual contributions are likely to be dissimilar. Such inequities are thought to be resolved by these groups, units and divisions by developing their own intangible rewards such as recognition (Morris, 2004). This is the main reason why the pay components of individual and my unit and broader context are exchanged. Reward system supports job satisfaction when there is reciprocity between behaviors and rewards.
According to Caruth and Handlogten (2001), the compensation system should focus on providing individual rewards that recognize and reinforce individual performance. Outstanding individuals are often eligible to receive performance bonuses or recognition awards. The emphasis on individual rewards often fosters a spirit of competition.
When it comes to fringe benefit which is placed on both sides, the truth is that maximizing personal compensation is not the only motivation that people have in their work. As we move up Maslow's hierarchy of needs, we discover that once our basic material needs are satisfied, money becomes less important to us. In my experience, deeper purpose, personal growth, self-actualization, and caring relationships provide very powerful motivations and are more important than financial compensation for creating both loyalty and a high performing organization.
Employees are basically motivated by extrinsic rewards which also guides them to illicit the expected attitudes and behaviours among them. In modifying the current global performance management system, employees would be motivated to perform better through justifiable incentives. Eventually, employee turnover rates would be lessened and positive reinforcement would lead to higher job satisfaction (Rummler and Brache, 1990).
There is the drive to provide challenging and interesting work, recognitions and rewards for accomplishments and provide an opportunity for fast career growth and advancement. An effective pay management considered at the global context should be characterized by the promotion of attitudes that value contribution and performance (Morris, 2004). Pay for performance has emerged as a strategy for responding to demands for increased productivity and management accountability. Long-term and short-term incentives then are critical.
The explicit nature of reward or pay system is realized on cash compensation and performance. While year to year performance of the employee is measured and analyzed to determine the pay, the contract of the employees conforms to time trends. This means that the organization also invests in the employees in both short and long-term.
2.4 Motivation and performance
Individual empowerment refers to providing them decision powers and sense of ownership as this was perceived to bring higher productivity and higher quality. The key element is to align individual purpose and vision to the organization’s culture that could lead to interest, concern, commitment and responsibility. As Michael Armstrong put it, paying for performance and competence provide the employers and the business a competitive edge (2002, p. 28). The challenge herein peruses on employee’s motivation and ability. How can a company reach a competitive advantage when workers are continuously coming in and out of the company? Are the skills and competence of the newly hire workers can compensate the demands of the job? Thus, companies are usually tended to hire only those whom they can immediately align their potentials with the company’s expectations at a fixed rate despite the high performance of the workers.
Maintaining commitment to a core strategy means to enable the people within that organization. Enabling also means to hone a participative and responsive culture. In this way, the enthusiasm of the people regarding organizational changes will be sustained, for instance. The height of the momentum will enable them to fully commit in terms of performance and productivity (Fitz-Enz, 2005). Further, sustaining commitment is always directed to the future. To wit, competitive advantage could be only achieved one the organization learned to develop strategic capabilities that are appreciated by all its stakeholders. The key is to convert core human competencies into human strategic commitment. The drivers of human development are knowledge and skills, relationship management and conceptual thinking.
Rummler and Brache (1990) assert that there are three levels of performance within an organization such as organization, process and individual. In the organization level, strategies, goals and measures are considered as both the drivers and bases of performance. Nevertheless, the main work of the organization occurs in the second level which is multifunctional. Individuals who often find themselves as part of more than a single process perform in relation to others. These levels and their interplay serve as the vantage points of any organization (Rothwell et al, 2007). Performance accrues competitive advantage or the position that any firm occupies against its competitors. Porter (1985) argued that the basis of above-average performance within any given industry is sustainable competitive advantage. As such, an organization can only achieve sustainable competitive advantage when its value-creating processes and position have not been able to be duplicated or imitated by other firms.
Rothwell et al (2007, p. 49) stated that competitive advantage at individual levels centers the collective performance resulting to organizational process that contributes to the attainment of organizational goals. When it comes to managing individual performance, performance management purports on establishing a culture, sharing expectations, creating interrelationships and a joint-holistic-continuous process which also involves planning and measurement (Sims, 2002). As such, organizations seek informations to improve systems and on which to base rewards through assessing the performance. Simply performance appraisal, employee’s contribution to the organization during a specified period of time is evaluated so that specific corresponding reward could be determined.
References
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