Study of Employee Motivation - Research Proposal Example

Dissertation What methods can be used to measure employee motivation in Royal Mail? Brief Introduction Employee motivation is an interesting subject that has been attracting the interest of Human Resource Management practitioners and academic scholars. Motivation is vital to employees’ performance and therefore critical for the organizational performance as well (Armstrong and Stephens, 2005). The relationship between motivation and organizational outcome has been researched in several studies which validate the direct and positive correlation of the two constructs (Ramlall, 2004; Salaman et al., 2005). For this reason, the study of employee motivation continues to be a research area that can provide many insights as to the factors that influence motivation and thus offer solutions to organizations that seek to optimize corporate performance. Aim and Rationale of the Study Royal Mail is a UK based organization that offers postal and mail services. The company employs approximately 195.000 individuals in the UK market alone and is highly human resource sensitive organization as it operates in the services market. The human resource sensitivity is based on the notion that service firms rely heavily on their employees’ competencies, capabilities and skills in order to achieve competitive advantage (Frey and Osterloh, 2002). Therefore, employees become central to the organizational performance. As the relationship between organizational performance and employees is direct and straight forward, implications on the motivation emerge. The scope of the proposed research study is underscored by the attempt of the researcher to explore methods and models for measuring and assessing employees’ motivation in order to offer empirical and practical suggestions to Royal Mail and other organizations as to how motivation is promoted and stimulated. The research will draw from three different motivational models as developed by scholars and proposed in literature. The aim of the study is to discover and investigate the factors that influence motivation, the methods for measuring motivation of employees and eventually the means by which organizations should design and strategize their Human Resource Management and Employee relations practices. Objectives of the Study The objectives of the study are underscored by the commitment of the researcher to increase knowledge over the motivation of employees and particularly over the means or methods by which motivation can be measured. Measuring motivation is essential and critical because it addresses further implications on the factors that influence motivation and on the correlation between motivation and corporate performance. In details the objectives are: a. to propose a consistent model for assessing motivation of Royal Mail’s employees b. to unleash the critical role of motivation in employees’ performance and thus in the corporate performance c. to offer suggestions and recommendations for designing an effective employee relations and HR strategy based on the emphasis on motivation The research questions that are going to be answered by the study are: 1. How does employee motivation contribute to organizational performance in Royal Mail? 2. Which are the factors that influence employee motivation in Royal Mail? 3. How can Royal Mail increase the motivation of employees/? 4. How can employee motivation be measured at Royal Mail? 5. How can measurement of employee motivation be used as an origin for improving the actual motivation? Review of Relevant Literature Employees are vital ‘assets’ to the organizations especially in the services industry where firms tend to be heavily relying on their human resources in order to improve their performance and excel in the markets in which they operate (Bassett-Jones and Lloyd, 2005; Ramlall, 2004). Studies on the Human Resource Management have pointed explicitly the critical role of motivation in employees’ performance; motivated employees report higher rates of commitment, job satisfaction, trust and loyalty and in turn they are more focused on achieving the goals and objectives of the firms (Steers et al., 2004). In that respect, employee motivation is perceived as a pivotal construct which requires special attention on the part of the corporations. There are various motivational theories in books and academic journals, however this study will drawn on three particular models: the Expectancy theory of Motivation proposed by Vroom (1964), the Two Factor Theory of Motivation proposed by Herzberg et al. (1959) and the Goal – Setting Theory proposed by Locke (1968). These three models of employee motivation are dominant in the literature and enjoy great acknowledgement and acceptance by scholars. Vroom’s Expectancy theory of Motivation is based on the premise that employees are motivated on the basis of their own self – interests. In more details, individuals adopt specific behaviours on the basis of their expectations that the behaviours will result in the desired outcome (Isaac et al., 2001). Particularly, motivation (as a behaviour) is an outcome of three interactive variables: valence, expectancy and instrumentality. Valence is the desire to achieve an outcome (a reward stemming from the adopted behaviour), expectancy is the belief that the specific behaviour increases the probability that the outcome will be achieved eventually and instrumentality is the perceived link between the desired outcome and the desired reward (Isaac et al., 2001; Salaman et al., 2005) Measuring the three variables (valence, instrumentality and expectancy) eventually provides substantial assessment of the degree of employees’ motivation. The second theoretical model is the Two Factor Theory of Motivation developed by Herzberg. This theory states that motivation is a combination of extrinsic and intrinsic factors that relate to the job and the work environment. The model distinguishes two sets of factors; the hygiene factors and the motivators (Bassett – Jones and Lloyd, 2005) While the hygiene factors need to be present in order to initiate motivation, they are not responsible for actually motivating employees (Herzberg, 1987). It is the ‘motivators’ that contribute to this end. Hygiene factors are job – related issues such as pay, salary, company’s policies, job security, working conditions and supervision, whereas Motivators are more intrinsically oriented issues such as recognition, prospects for growth and achievement, advancement and appraisal (Ramlall, 2004). The existence of hygiene factors cannot guarantee motivation but their absence will certainly refrain motivation in employees (Herzberg, 1987; Steers et al., 2004). Measuring these factors can provide an initial conceptualization of the degree of employee motivation in organizations. The third theoretical approach to employee motivation is the Goal Setting Theory. According to this model, motivation is an outcome of the perceived fit between an employee’s behaviour and the desired performance (Salaman et al., 2005). In more details, the Goal Setting theory suggests that employees will adopt a particular behaviour in the work environment and will ‘test’ whether this behaviour brings the desired results (improvement in performance and thus reward); if they realize that the behaviour does not produce the desired outcome then they will most likely change it especially if the reward is desirable (Locke and Lathan, 2002). One again, this theory links motivation with rewards and expected recognition (Salaman et al., 2005). The measurement of the perceptions of employees on the suitability and effectiveness of rewards provides evidence on the degree of their motivation as well. These three models which exist in the literature on motivation of employees will form the three fundamental domains of the research study. Drawing from all three theories, the researcher will propose a consistent model for measuring employee motivation. Methodology The study on employee motivation in Royal Mail will be implemented through primary research. The use of secondary research will be dominant in the research subject but not the research study itself. The researcher will use a number of books, academic journals, newspaper and articles in order to substantiate the literature body surrounding the issue of employee motivation and the measurement of motivation. Nevertheless, in terms of the actual study, the author will use the primary approach. According to Bryman and Bell (2007) primary research involves the direct investigation of the research subject from the ‘primary’ sources of information. In this case, the primary sources of information will be the Human Resource managers of Royal Mail themselves. The particular approach of the methodology is a mixed method of qualitative and quantitative research approaches. According Gummesson (2000) qualitative research is the one that focuses not on the quantification of the results which tend to simply describe the research subject, but on the qualification of the results which allows more depth in the research area. However, mixed methods are often used in studies because they are more holistic in their nature and their scope. (Amaratunga et al., 2002). The scope of the study is to propose a consistent model for measuring employee motivation and therefore the need to focus on the HR management orientation towards motivation is imperative. The specific method for conducting the research study is based on a combination of two different strategies addressed to two different subjects: the HR managers and the employees themselves. The first strategy is the face to face interviews with the Human Resource Managers of Royal Mail. Face to face interviews are very common in employee and HR research studies and particularly in qualitative nature inquiries, where the purpose is to understand and explain the interactivities that emerge within the framework of motivation. According to Bryman and Bell (2007) face to face interviews have the advantage to ‘deepening’ into specific subjects and issues which are vital and critical for the study and which would alternatively (through a simple questionnaire for example) not be investigated. The interviews with the HR managers will also offer relevant insight to how motivation is measured currently, which factors are considered by Royal Mail as important in influencing employee motivation and finally how motivation is fostered in the organization. With regards to the second group of subjects (the employees) the study will use two strategies: questionnaires and focus groups. The research on the employees themselves is also a vital aspect of the research scope; it is the employees that experience motivation and therefore it is their ‘input’ that also needs to be greatly considered in the study. The questionnaires (quantitative research) will be addressed to the employees in order to generate results (descriptive statistics) on the motivation and the factors that influence motivation. The focus groups will enable the researcher to deepen the subject of motivation with the participants (the employees) and will provide a more generic approach. Timescale for the Tasks necessary for the completion of the Dissertation Task March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010 August 2010 September 2010 Collection of Literature Sources               Preparation of the Literature Review               Design of Interview Questions, Questionnaires and Focus Groups               Collection of Data through Interviews               Analysis of Data               Preparation of the Research Findings               Completion of the Dissertation               List of References Amaratunga, D., Baldry, D., Sarshar, M. and Newton, R. (2002). Quantitative and Qualitative Research in the Build Environment: Application of ‘mixed’ Research Approach. Work Study. 51(1), pp. 17 – 31 Armstrong, M. and Stephens, T. (2005). Employee Reward Management and Practice. London: Kogan Page Limited Bassett-Jones, N. and Lloyd, G.C. (2005). Does Herzberg’s motivation theory have staying power? Journal of Management Development, 24(10), pp. 929 – 943 Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2007). Business Research Methods. Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press Frey, B.S. and Osterloh, M. (2002). Successful Management by Motivation: Balancing Intrinsic and Extrinsic Incentives. Germany: Springer Verlag Gummesson, E. (2000) Qualitative Methods in Management Research. London. Sage. Herzberg, F. (1987). One more time: How do you motivate employees? Harvard Business Review. September – October, pp. 1 – 15 Isaac, R.J., Zerbe, W.J. and Pitt, D.C. (2001). Leadership and Motivation: the effective application of Expectancy theory. Journal of Managerial Issues, 13(2), pp. 212-226 Locke, E. and Lathan, G.P. (2002). Building a Practically Useful Theory of Goal Setting and Task Motivation. American Psychologist, 57(9), pp. 705 - 717 Ramlall, S. (2004). A Review of Employee Motivation Theories and their Implications for Employee Retention within Organizations. The Journal of American Academy of Business, September, pp. 52-63 Salaman, G., Storey, J. and Pillsberry, J. (2005). Strategic Human Resource Management: theory and practice. Second Edition. London: Sage Steers, R.M., Mowday, R.T. and Shapiro, D.L. (2004). The future of work motivation theory. Academy of Management Review, 29(3), pp. 379–387. Read More