Strategies to Motivate Employees in an Organisation - Research Paper Example

Research Brief Purpose of the Brief in Relation to Assignment 2 Based on the previous study, this research brief serves to bridge and extend the investigation of the best possible strategies that can be used to motivate employees in an organisation. It primary purpose is to connect the past research on this topic with the future anticipation in a more comprehensive but summarised manner that give consummate details about this problem. This transitory report is essential in exposing the nuances of the issue about employee motivation. It links vividly the information that had extracted in the previous research with the current procedure thereby giving a practical procedure of how to best go about the research to achieve accurate outcomes. Introduction and Background of Research In the corporate world, the need for motivation cannot be undermined. One of the things that facilitate operations in an organisation is the drive which can either be intrinsic or extrinsic (Shields, 2007: 117). In the work setting, the human resource management are tasked with ensuring the employees are highly motivated if good performance and pleasant results are to be achieved. The strategy to use in order to raise and maintain high levels of motivations amongst workers has always been a great challenge for most organisation managers. The management gets into a dilemma when they seek to achieve high motivation amongst the workers while at the same time they pursue to incur the lowest possible cost (Diamond and Diamond, 2010: 101). It is a great challenge to find the best strategies that can minimise the amount of financial resources a firm spends to keep the employees highly motivated. Stress that comes from work is some of the many factors that demotivate employees leading to an economic downturn. Managers, therefore, are required to strategise on how well the workers can be rejuvenated so they may perform best (Tracy, 2013: 137). It is not always motivation in the form of monetary gains that works best for employees. According to Holden and Overmier (2014: 5), non-monetary schemes have been equally found to impact positively as a stimulus to the employees. Other than the financial grants, an organisation can resort to using intangible rewards such as recognition, affirmation among others to motivate its employees. Pension schemes are some of the strategies that are currently grounding as a rewarding initiative that can be used to motivate workers (Martin, 2010: 110). Conversely, myriad arguments have come up about the effectiveness of these non-monetary reward strategies. Do they enthuse and stir employees to deliver high performance? The research attempts to respond to these concerns and show how best employees can be stimulated to work passionately to drive the organisation towards meeting its objective. The results will be an eye-opener concerning how best staff can be motivated. Research Questions Based on literature review, several research questions will be constructed for investigation. There have been several debates about the most effective strategy to reward the employees. While there are many scholars supporting cash as the most consequential reward strategy, there are other positions that believe indirect financial rewards are equally beneficial in motivating employees. According to Fernandez and Pitts (2011: 206), employees are more likely to respond positively in terms of performance if they are handed cash rewards. This reward system directly stimulates individuals to work better as it is a concrete way of showing appreciation to the employees. Consequently, Gungor (2011: 1511) maintains that in the contemporary society, employees seem to be highly motivated by long-term non-monetary rewards. Indirect compensations such as pension schemes, car allowance, off leaves among others are some of the rewards that can have a great impact on employees’ motivation (Thomas, 2008: 33). These arguments, therefore, pose the following questions to be researched on: i. Which is the most effective strategy between monetary and non-monetary rewards? ii. How do the employees respond to pension as a reward strategy? iii. What is the most appropriate schedule that can be used to offer a reward? iv. To what extent does the staff motivation influence work outcome? Aims and Objectives i. To compare and determine the most effective strategy between monetary and non-monetary rewards ii. To explore the response of the employees to pension as a reward strategy iii. To evaluate the most appropriate schedule that can be used to offer a reward. iv. To determine the extent at which the staffs’ motivation influences work outcome. Proposed Research Methods Research Design, Type of Data and Justification In order to investigate and answer the above raised research questions, this study will use face to face interview to study a sample of 20 employees across different companies in which data will be directly collected from the samples of the identified population of employees. This involves asking relevant questions that are meant to investigate and give answers to the research problems that have been clearly stipulated. This research will collect primary data from the employees regarding to matters pertaining to motivation as outlined in the research question section. Justifiably, the face to face interview is recommended because it will allow the researcher to dig deep into evaluating the inner and deeper reactions of the subjects through their facial expressions. This method will ensure honesty and accuracy from the subjects as the researcher can ask to verify responses given. The collected data will be analysed critically and findings recorded. Project plan, Budget and Timeline Due to the sample size of about 20 employees in every company to be interviewed, the budget may run between 1500-2500 US Dollars. Much of the money will specifically be spent on transport and stationery. Also, the researcher will need to meet the expenses of the research assistant whose contributions will be much needed to make the research successful. The study will run for a period of about four months. The first face of the study will be a pilot study that will be done to ensure reliability. The second phase will be the real research where data will be collected and the last phase will be at the researchers’ station where analysis of the findings and conclusion will be made. Issues to be considered A research of this nature is likely to be challenged by ethical concerns such as confidentiality, deception, dishonesty among others. The researchers are fully aware of the need to operate under the ethical guidelines that oblige them to abide by the research principles of informed consent, confidentiality and causing no harm among others. The study is, therefore, going to be approached with these in mind. Consequently, the likelihood of participants withdrawing from the study before completion is something that is probable and well prepared for. There are some data or information that may be needed from the companies’ administrations that may require prior written requests. Potential Use of Research Findings Based on the hypothesis constructed, it is likely that a large number of respondents may show preference to pension schemes as a real motivating item that stimulates them to undertake their duties diligently. According to Holden and Overmier (2014: 7), employees are shifting their preference from money rewards to non-monetary once as these are long-lasting and considerably consequential. Also, there is a possibility that many respondents will admit that their performances are highly influenced by rewards that are meant to motivate them. Korzynski (2013: 185) explains that in the contemporary society today where work has increased but compensation reduced, every employee looks up for any allowance that can supplement their megre salaries and wages (Zaptorius, 2013:277). It is predicted, therefore, that motivation is extensively influential in employees’ performances. It may be found that having a mixed schedule in which there are both fixed and varied times when they are rewarded can best work to serve as motivation stimulant to drive performance. Significantly, these findings may be used by the human resource managers to know how best to motivate their employees so as to achieve the best out of them. From the findings, a lacuna may also be identified to facilitate further research in the topic. Conclusion and Recommendation As seen in the study, motivation of the employees is a significant determinant of performance and production of workers and the management of an organisation should work round the clock to enhance it. Undoubtedly, there is a direct link between motivation and performance. To stir employees to work, the management through the human resource department should devise ways and strategies that are contingent to the work situation in the company. Evidentially, scheming pension plans as well as other long-term rewards that are consequentially impactful on the employees lives is necessary. In the current world, people need a sense of security; security of the future. It is profoundly motivating for most employees to realise they are working tirelessly but their future is well taken care of. Also, employees get motivated more when there is both set target that they are rewarded for when they meet while at the same time some other rewards may come variedly when they do not expect. It is, therefore, recommended that organisations embrace pension plans as a way of motivating the employees. Consequently, firms should deploy both the varied and fixed schedules of reinforcement to keep the employees on toes. References Diamond, H. & Diamond, L. (2010) Perfect phrases for motivating and rewarding employees, New York, McGraw-Hill. Fernandez, S. & Pitts, D. (2011) Understanding Employee Motivation to Innovate: Evidence from Front Line Employees in United States Federal Agencies, Australian Journal of Public Administration, vol. 70, no. 2, pp. 202-222. Gungör, P. (2011) The Relationship between Reward Management System and Employee Performance with the Mediating Role of Motivation: A Quantitative Study on Global Banks, Procedia - Social and Behavioural Sciences, vol. 24, pp. 1510-1520. Holden, J. & Overmier, J. (2014) Performance under differential outcomes: contributions of Reward-Specific Expectancies. Learning and Motivation, vol. 45, pp.1-14. Korzynski, P. (2013) Employee motivation in new working environment, International Journal of Academic Research, vol. 5, no. 5, pp. 184-188. Martin, J. (2010) Key concepts in human resource management, Los Angeles, SAGE. Shields, J. (2007) Managing employee performance and reward, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Thomas, K. (2009) Intrinsic motivation at work, San Francisco, Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Tracy, B. (2013) Motivation, New York, AMACOM, American Management Association. Zaptorius, J. (2013) Applying the priority distribution method for employee motivation. Business, Management and Education, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 256-280. Read More