The Issue Faced by Sainsbury's - Performance Appraisals and Motivation - Research Proposal Example

Develop a Proposal for a Research Project for an Organisation of Your Choice Table of Contents Introduction 3 Purpose and Problem of the Research 4 Motivation and Performance Appraisal Concepts 4 Best Practices in Sainsbury’s and Related Issue 6 Identification and Evaluation of Key Stakeholders 9 Evaluation of Secondary Sources 10 Data Collection Method of Primary Data 11 Findings 11 Conclusion 12 References 13 Introduction Human Resource Management is one of the important concepts for the growth and success of an organisation. Success of an organisation depends on the effectiveness and efficiency of human resource management. It is therefore vital for every organisation to focus on employees, their performance and motivation level with the help of proper performance appraisals. Business organisations implement various strategies in order to meet the needs of the employees. Satisfied employees lead to proper performance and helps in attaining the aims and goals of an organisation. In this proposed study, Sainsbury’s is taken into consideration for the investigation of the issues faced. The strategies implemented by the organisation to help in enhancing the psychological perspective of employees for a profitable market share. The issue faced by Sainsbury’s is with regard to the motivational aspects of employees based on performance appraisals. Major issue faced by the organisation is regarding the aspect of employee motivation and performance appraisal. The HR issues that need to be investigated with reference to Sainsbury’s is the motivational factors that influences the performance of employees for better sustainability and profitability (Bohlander & Snell, 2013). As stated above, Sainsbury’s holds a strong position in the market of the UK in the retail sector. The organisation is growing its market by enhancing performance and sales throughout the market of the UK. In this context, it can be stated that customer services of Sainsbury’s helps in providing the required output. Organisation needs to follow the best practices with regard to enhancing and motivating employees for a better sustainable output. The issue of performance appraisal is linked with various aspects of employee engagement (J Sainsbury plc, 2015). The investigation of the research topic is regarding performance appraisals that leads to motivation and enhance the practices of HRM. Purpose and Problem of the Research With the changing trend in the global platform and use of advanced technology in the retail sector, it is vital for the retail sector to enhance Sainsbury’s performances by implementing various strategies. Motivating the employees and providing proper appraisal is crucial, as it helps in attaining success. HRM philosophies are to be considered in this research proposal for the augmentation of employee performance. The issue considered in the proposal is related to the motivational factors that affect the employees of the organisation to perform effectively for the benefit of the stakeholders. Moreover, the proposed study elaborates on the needs of motivational and performance techniques for the success of the organisation. The purpose of the study is to elaborate on the facts that motivated employees with respect to performance appraisals techniques leads to success and develops a strong corporate image. Motivation and Performance Appraisal Concepts The issue as mentioned is related to the lack of motivation and performance appraisals for better employee engagement. Performance of individual depends on various aspects and one of the major elements is related to the motivation of employees. It is important for a company to motivate its employees for better outcomes or results. Motivation is important for every organisation and it helps to enhance the mindset of people to derive the actual objective. The ability to make employees perform to a considerable extent can be attained by motivating them. Motivation is required to accomplish a task effectively and for this, Sainsbury’s is taking effective measures. Performance of every employee is depended on motivation level. Motivation is a psychological factor that affects individuals by providing proper direction for the attainment of goals. It is the role and responsibility of the managers to motivate or create a willingness amid employees to meet the organisational as well as personal needs. Motivating staff members helps employees in attaining rewards and incentives. With regard to Sainsbury’s, it is crucial for the company to motivate its employees by addressing their requirement with provision of reward through monetary benefits or by providing a better work environment. Performance appraisal is another important aspect of human resource management. It acts as a motivating factor. However, appraisal of performance of employees is vital to encourage employees for a positive output. As per the concept of performance appraisal, it is a tool, which helps to judge an individual in a systematic manner. Performance of employees is judged on the basis of knowledge and ability that individual have with regard to potential performance. Performance appraisal is done through the assessment of the past records based on the behaviour and job output. The concept performance appraisals are related to promotions, confirmations and competency building in a transparent way. For every company, performance appraisal of employees is linked with the goals of the company. If the employees are able to meet the goals or objectives of a company, then appraisal of individual tends to be high. It is important for the employees to achieve their goals and meet the organisational objective (Bohlander & Snell, 2013). . The best practices followed in this context is that appraisals of employees should be transparent based on the appraisal tools. Moreover, for the performance to be appropriated, it is important to provide motivation by providing not only rewards and recognition, but also through monetary benefits in a transparent and genuine manner. Best Practices in Sainsbury’s and Related Issue Best practices imply to the benchmark that a company needs to follow as a standard. In this context, the best practice refers to the fact that every organisation needs to follow fairness in maintaining the objectivity of performance. Following the rules and strategies, providing appraisals and motivating employees is necessary. Performance appraisals need to be based on several scaling methods, so that performance measurement is not biased and helps in motivating employees. With regard to Sainsbury’s, the issue faced is regarding lack of motivation and appraisal issues. It is evident that when a company follows the best practices with regard to performance, the judgement made is effective. As per the issue is concerned, it is evident that performance of employees are usually measured by the superiors. In this context, appraisal might tend to become bias, as it is based on individual’s feedback. In this context, it is vital for Sainsbury’s to evaluate the performance of employees based on performance tools such as the ranking method, Forced Distribution method, Critical Incident techniques as well as Checklists and Weighted Checklists. However, all these tools tend to be effective if considered in an unbiased way. Employees are needed to be motivated by their superiors, so that they are able to deliver expected output. In this context, there are various motivational theories that affect employees’ performances (Bohlander & Snell, 2013). Maslow’s Hierarchy theory motivates employees to perform effectively in an organisation, so that they can gain esteem and self-actualisation. As per Maslow’s hierarchy theory, employees tend to be motivated if the company takes into account this concept, wherein the individuals need are addressed for the attainment of goals. Moreover, as per the theory, managers need to assist the employees in meeting their stress level and perform better. By implementing this theory or model, Sainsbury’s will be able to meet with the issue related to lack of motivation (DuBrin, 2008). Another fact is that when employees are motivated and their needs are being addressed then employees will perform better and attain profit for a company at large. In terms of performance appraisals, it is observed that biasness is observed during appraisals and it depends upon the managers and peer review. Moreover, for the performance to be effective, it is vital that the managers follow the best practices and do not have any Horns and Halos Effect. This will again lead to performance biases, which might not be effective. The issue of performance appraisals can be mitigated by eradicating Purposeful Bias, Appraisal and self-bias. In this regard, to motivate employees to perform effectively, it is important for Sainsbury’s to implement 3600 Review analysis, benchmarking methods as well as Year-round Journaling and feedback. In this context, the impact would be positive, as the issue related to low performance would be mitigated. 3600 review analysis can be implemented by Sainsbury’s, as in this form of performance appraisal, the employers’ takes opinions from various sources and then concludes accordingly. This is regarded as a best practice, as it helps in mitigating the issue of biases leading to lower performance in future. Another form of analysis that helps employers to study performance and behaviour of employee is year round performance. In this form of analysis, the employers consider performance and behaviour of employees throughout the year. This is again a best practice to avoid biases and helps in motivating the employees for better performance and goal orientation (Rao, 2004). In this proposed study, Sainsbury’s can consider the process of benchmarking for managing performance or appraisal of individual depending on desired standard. Furthermore, to mitigate the issue of performance appraisal, Sainsbury’s managers need to monitor the performance of employees, so that appraisal proves to be effective. Therefore, regular monitoring of employee performance is important and this would lead to the enhancement of performance. It is observed that employee performance is related to the aspect of motivation. Employee will perform effectively and therefore, motivation is an important consideration in this aspect. Taking into consideration the aspect of motivation, it is observed that Sainsbury’s should consider Herzberg’s two factors theory, wherein the two concepts of motivation are related. As per this theory, there are two factors affecting motivation, one is hygiene and other is motivational factor. In this context, Sainsbury’s can provide proper hygiene to employees, so that they can perform effectively. Strict policies of Sainsbury’s can prove to be effective for the enhancement of employee performance. This theory implies to the aspect that the employees if are satisfied with the job environment, then they are motivated to perform better. Due to motivational and hygiene factor, employees will perform effectively. All these aspects will help to motivate and inspire employees to better performance and lead to strong performance appraisals (DuBrin, 2008). When talking about performance appraisal as an issue, it is worth mentioning that sometimes due to lack of motivation from employers, people are unable to perform effectively. In this context, for the progress of the company, the issue related to motivation needs to be addressed as a motivated employee can perform better and meet the organisational goals effectively. However, if the employee is not motivated, then the performance of a company also degrades considerably. Employee performance and appraisals creates a strong impact on the stakeholders as well. Employee performance of Sainsbury’s affects or creates a strong impact on the stakeholders, as it helps in increasing the profitability (Rao, 2004). Identification and Evaluation of Key Stakeholders Stakeholders are majorly affected due to the performance of employees at a large extent. The stakeholder of a company is its employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders. It is important in this respect to state that employees’ performance helps in creating value for customers and other stakeholders. Profitability is the core of every business and performing effectively by the employees leads to greater satisfaction. If the company follows a best practice in its appraisal process, then the employees will not be de-motivated and they will perform competently. The implementation of the two motivational theories will help the employees to perform better and thus affect stakeholders positively. Employee motivated due to proper performance appraisals performs better and attains the goals of the organisation (Miah & Hossan, 2012). Stakeholders are affected by the performance of employees as stated above that if an employee is motivated then performance of the same will be enhanced leading to greater profitability. Profitability is the main purpose and reason that affects the stakeholder to a large extent. The study related to motivation and performance of employees affects the stakeholder to a considerable extent. The need of shareholder is profit attainment and customers’ objective is to attain proper services from the employees. In this context, performance of employees leads to better profitability for stakeholders and with regard to better service that can be attained through satisfying the needs of the employees. It is important for the organisation to meet stakeholders’ expectation and this can be attained by motivating employees and fulfilling the needs of employees through following the best practices (Harris, 1994). Evaluation of Secondary Sources In order to complete the proposed study, various secondary sources have been used with regard to performance appraisals and motivational aspects. With respect to secondary sources, it is important to state that not every source is accurate and reliable. Therefore, for the research work to be effective, secondary data will be collected from peer-reviewed articles, journals and company’s websites. In this context, data collected will be reliable to identify the issues faced with the implementation of proper strategies. Various authentic journals, articles as well as academic books will be used to identify the needs of Sainsbury’s with regard to the issue of performance and motivation (Stewart & Kamins, 2013). The articles that will be used for the completion of the study will be effective in meeting needs of project. Through the evaluation of the secondary sources, the issues of motivation and its consequences will be identified. The need to resolve the issue and the mitigation strategies can be effectively used in the study for better results. These secondary sources help in influencing the findings and deriving proper results as per the issues faced by the company. Various articles related to human recourses can be used for better evaluation of the research assignment. The data to be used are authentic and accordingly expresses reliability to a considerable extent. Secondary sources that will help in analysing the research proposal are provided below: Sources Contribution Bohlander, G. W., & Snell, S., 2013. Managing Human Resources. Cengage, pp. 292-340. This source is relevant, as it provides a basic understanding about the aspect of performance appraisal and motivation with regard to human resources Harris, M.M., 1994. Rater Motivation in the Performance Appraisal Context: A Theoretical Framework. Journal of Management, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 737-756. The source is vital to analyse the effect of motivation on performance and increasing productivity Data Collection Method of Primary Data Data collection method is one of the vital aspects when considering a research work. Primary data tends to be accurate, as it reveals the perceptions and views of people who are sampled in the research study. Primary data can be collected through various techniques such as through questionnaire survey, interview and observation for deriving accurate and valid data. Primary data collection method should consider data accuracy and ethicality while attaining data. The data can be collected on the basis of certain sample population, so that perceptions of people are evaluated. The strength of this method is that data are valid and evaluates perception of people without biases. However, the weakness is related with the size of the sample considered. For this proposed research, primary data will be conducted through survey, so that perceptions of employees are evaluated on the issue of motivation and performance appraisals. Findings As per the proposal, the issue that is faced by Sainsbury’s is regarded with performance appraisals and motivation. It is important for a company to motivate its employees for better performance. Motivated employees are more inclined towards achieving the goals of the organisation. This leads to the success of the organisation. In this context, for the benefit of the stakeholders, Sainsbury’s can consider the motivational theory and appraisal techniques to avoid biases. Sainsbury’s needs to follow the best practices for performance appraisal, so that employees are provided with required recognition and reward. This will motivate them to perform better and help in meeting the requirements of the stakeholders. The factors that affect employees’ performance can be presented with the help of comparative analysis using graphs for better understanding. It is important to communicate the findings to stakeholders as a form of recommendation, so that they can implement various policies for the benefit of the organisation and employees. Moreover, the stakeholders need to be provided with the results effectively through the help of charts and data, so that adequate understandings are obtained from the increased productivity and sustainability. Conclusion The issue faced by Sainsbury’s is regarding performance appraisals and motivation, which is important for the success of the organisation. Profitability of the organisation is linked with the performance of employees. Employees need to perform effectively, so that the company can achieve its goals successfully. In this scenario, it is vital for the company to motivate employees by providing a better environment and monetary benefits in the form of performance appraisals. The aim of the proposal is to provide determine the different procedures based on which employees can be motivated without any biases. References Bohlander, G. W., & Snell, S., 2013. Managing Human Resources. Cengage, pp. 292-340. DuBrin, A., 2008. Essentials of Management. Cengage Learning. Harris, M.M., 1994. Rater Motivation in the Performance Appraisal Context: A Theoretical Framework. Journal of Management, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 737-756. J Sainsbury plc, 2015. Sainsbury’s. About us. [Online] Available at: http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/about-us/ [Accessed March 31, 2015]. Miah, M.K. & Hossan, C.G., 2012. Performance Management System In UK Retail Industry: A Case Study. Far East Journal of Psychology and Business, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 13-25. Rao, T.V., 2004. Performance Management and Appraisal Systems: HR Tools for Global Competitiveness. SAGE Publications. Stewart, D.W. & Kamins, M.A., 2013. Secondary Research Evaluating Secondary Sources. Sage, pp. 2-18. Taylor, A., 2014. A researcher proposal on Investigation of what motivation factors influence in retail sector in UK? Masters of Business Administration, pp. 4-26. Read More