Employee Reward Management and Practice - Case Study Example

Your name Instructor Name Unit Name Date Findings and Analysis: Leadership and Motivation During the course of this discussion, the results obtained from the interviews conducted with managers in the UAE shall be presented in relation to the research objectives and questions posed in Chapter 1 of this paper. The main thread of this chapter is to analyze the data collected against the interview questions which included the definition of motivation; the motivation factors; the notion of empowerment as a key motivator; the concept of leaders being motivators; job design as motivator; and finally motivation across cultures. The findings shall be analyzed to discover whether they are in congruence with the Literature evaluated in the previous chapter or if they are actually in contradiction to them. Overall, the findings in this chapter shall serve to shed light on the research questions that this paper focuses on. MOTIVATION Motivation is the central theme of this discussion and indeed is crucial for the success any organization, multicultural or otherwise. Many leaders in top management positions have taken cognizance of the importance of motivation and incorporate it into their management style. However, assuming that all managers understand what exactly motivation is would be erroneous, particularly so within the context of the UAE. Determining the level of familiarity with the concept of motivation among UAE managers was thus necessary and this section of the chapter delves into this. The results from the interview were eye- opening and revealed that to a large extent, a majority of managers had a good idea about the definition of motivation. One of the most interesting answers likened motivation to a car ignition, defining it as “an ignition for a person to make him produce more; energize him, energy and activation.” Other definitions provided were that motivation is keeping employees switched on, always engaged to the organization, happy about the environment, always willing to add to day to day activities, willing to give, committed to the continuity of the organization’s work and towards achieving the mission of the organization. These definitions of motivation by the various managers were largely correct as they contained the gist of what motivation is. In relation to the definition accrued from the literature review in the previous chapter, there were many similarities in the definitions that had been given by leading scholars. There were some common terms such as “energize” and “engage.” For instance, the previous chapter revealed that the definition of motivation given by Porter et.al (2003) was something that directs, energizes and sustains someone’s desire to work, much like what the majority of respondents described in their answers. In most of the answers, the managers understood that it was their role to motivate the workers. Nevertheless, not every respondent understood the part they had to play in motivating employees and defined motivation in a manner in which the onus to become motivated was placed squarely on the shoulders of employees as opposed to employers. One such respondent defined motivation as whereby an employee is 100% committed to the job, comes early and is always busy at work while in contrast, an employee who is not motivated is one who is afraid to work hard. Such a definition is erroneous as it exonerates managers from blame with regards to motivating their staff and places the burden on employees. This attitude is quite prevalent amongst some leaders and managers should thus be educated that it is their duty to motivate their workers by the way they treat them and through the corporate environment they create instead of merely expecting the workers to motivate themselves regardless of the work conditions. MOTIVATION FACTORS The previous chapters reviewed the various motivation theories presented by a cross- section of scholars that shed light that on the motivation factors that ultimately determine employee motivation. Though not fully conversant with the existent motivation theories, the employees largely understood the basic factors that motivate employees and that are in direct relation to the various needs described by thinkers such as Maslow and Alderfer. The respondents named factors such as praise, encouragement, trust, empowerment, appreciation, respect and bonuses among other as crucial in boosting employee morale. These answers are insightful and prove that some of the motivation theories have merit. For instance, the needs within Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs theory include belongingness; esteem and self- actualization and they correspond to the factors given by the managers such as praise and encouragement. A factor such as appreciation feeds directly into the relatedness need explained in Alderfer's ERG theory. In short, all motivation factors are founded on our human needs and if fulfilled, will inevitably need to motivation in the workplace. EMPOWERMENT AS A MOTIVATOR Empowerment is one such factor and the respondents’ answers revealed that they were all unanimous that empowerment was important in improving employee motivation. They felt that the reason behind this is that if for instance a manager delegates work to their subordinate, the employee in question will feel trusted and appreciated and this will cause them to try and prove that the confidence their superior placed in them was justified. This finding thus proves that Harris and Moran (2004) were correct in thinking that the change of management styles into an inclusive one and giving workers the freedom to act is necessary for employee motivation. LEADERS AS MOTIVATORS According to the data collected, all respondents agreed that leaders can be motivators but only if they are positive in their leadership. In other words, they should recognize and reward good work; be realistic in their expectations of their workers and provide feedback of their employees’ work. The finding is in tandem with the work of Armstrong (2007) who greatly emphasises the role of leadership in boosting employee morale and he rightly believed the rewards, even non- monetary rewards were crucial in increasing employee confidence which in turn motivates them JOB DESIGN AS MOTIVATION The answers of the respondents were largely affirmative with regards to the use of job design as a motivating factor. The managers interviewed felt that job design is important. One such respondent eloquently explained that if you gave an employee a different job title with the same duties the employee will be so motivated because of the confidence boost brought about by the new job title. A word of caution was however provided by one respondent who opined that as much as job design is beneficial, all managers should take care to ensure that all in all, only the right employees are to be placed in the right jobs. These findings once again are in tandem with the ideas presented in the previous chapter and are embodied in the work of (Armstrong (2007) who was strongly in favour of job design, arguing that it raises the levels of employee productivity by giving non-monetary rewards job simplification, rotation, enrichment and enlargement (p. 38). MOTIVATION ACROSS CULTURES According to the findings, all respondents were in agreement that motivation across cultures was of the utmost importance and that managers should make efforts towards taking into consideration of their employees’ cultures and being sensitive to them. The respondents gave various examples such as knowing how to shake the hands of Japanese, how to treat women in Arab countries such as the UAE, understanding the values of each culture so as to get an understanding of what will motivate them for instance the Emarati who have a need to achieve and be recognized. All these cultural values have a direct impact on what motivates different people and should be taken into account when dealing with employees of varying backgrounds. This finding is in agreement with the position put across by Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) whose analysis of the cultural angle of motivation revealed that different motivation patterns exist for different clusters of countries (p. 124). Sensitivity to culture is thus evidently a major motivation factor in multi- cultural organizations. These are the findings of the interviews conducted with UAE managers and they have served in proving the hypotheses put forward in the Literature Review Chapter. Nonetheless, this research is still an ongoing one and further research is necessary to provide specific and conclusive answers to the various facets of this research. The following chapters will thus serve to achieve this purpose. Works Cited Armstrong, Michael. A handbook of employee reward management and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Kogan Page Publishers, 2007. Print. Hofstede, Geert and Hofstede, Gert Jan. Cultures and organizations: software of the Mind. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2005. Print. Harris, Philip R and Moran, Robert T. and. Managing cultural differences: Global Leadership strategies for the 21st century. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2004. Print. Parhizgar, Kamal Dean. Multicultural Behaviour and Global Business Environments. New York: Haworth Press Inc, 2001. Print. Porter, L. W et.al. Motivation and work behaviour. New York: McGraw Hill Publishers, 2003. Print. Read More