Employee Motivation Factors in MDIS - Case Study Example

Employee Motivation Table of Contents Introduction 2 Issues related to employee motivation factors in MDIS – Primary Research 2 Findings from Primary Research 2 Analysis of Findings- Issues identified in employee motivation 8 Recommendations for issues 10 Conclusion 11 Reference 13 Appendix 14 Appendix 1- Questionnaire 14 Appendix 2- Findings and Analysis 20 Introduction The project seeks to bring forth some of the major human resource issues related to employee motivation faced by the Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS). It is the first non profit professional institute for lifelong learning in Singapore. It offers seminars, management services, well accredited courses, and opportunities for people to develop themselves through professionally academic programs in management and business, information technology, mass communication and various other spheres. The motivation issues are identified by conduction a primary research on the subject on the workforce of the organization. The questionnaire method is applied inclusive of questions from various workplace factors which directly affects motivation level of employees. Based on these issues a suitable of recommendations has been provided in the report for overcoming shortages and drawbacks in the human resource management system in the organization. Issues related to employee motivation factors in MDIS – Primary Research Findings from Primary Research The responses from 47% of the respondents show that they are content with the level of discretion that they are provided in the organization in carrying out their job activities independently. On the other hand a large majority of 42% of the candidates have also declared that they enjoy self direction depending on the nature of the tasks they undertake. The results from the responses are provided in the following figure. A large majority of 47% of the respondents maintains favorable relationship with colleagues, however, out of whom 26% maintains close relationship with each other. Very few of them, only 16% of them maintained formal or ‘so so’ relationships with colleagues while only 11% of them thought relationship with colleagues had nothing to do with motivation at the workplace and that the question was irrelevant. The responses are depicted in the following diagram. Majority of the respondents accounting for 84% of them have said that they are content with their salaries, while 11% feels excited about the same. Very few as 1 out of 19 respondents is really happy about their salary. Regarding the naure of their jobs, 53% of them find it really challenging and exciting; 42% feel tired and busy about their jobs while a small minority of 5% has no concrete response to the question. The above responses are provided in the figure below. Regardign the reward system in the organization, a large majority of them feel that 9 respondents out of 19 feel discontented with the reward they receive, while 5 of them are fairly satisfied with their rewards. However, the remaining 5 have reponded in a way which shows they are not quite concerned or involved with the system of rewards in the organization. Regarding the type of rewards that employees prefer, a small number of 4 respondents feel that recognition at the workplace would be a motivtaing reward for them; 9 respondents desire monetary rewards in the form of inectives appropriate for them while a small number of 6 respondents have no idea of their own reward expectations from the organization Regarding the way in which MDIS recognizes good performance of employees, only 3 of them have received time off with pay and 7 respondents each have received thank you notes and development opportunities from their employer. Only 1 have got an employee award while the remaining one respondent have not received any reward being new in the organization. It is also seen that 14 of the respondents are excited about their rewards, while a small number of 4 of them have no effect on the rewards system and only one of them is dissappointed with the rewards they receive. 8 repondents out of 19 are found to be motivated to perform their jobs while another 8 respondents remains motivated to a certain extent while only 3 are said to remain de-motivated or have no reasons for motivation in the organization. Considering the factors which account for their level of motivation in the organization, responses show that challenges in jobs and growth and promotion account for the most motivating factor for them followed by relationship with colleagues at the workplace. Pay packages and benefits, recognition account for a lower motivating factor for them in comparison to the above while the least motivating factor for them is company policies and administration. Lastly, considering the most important reasons why people must stay in the company, respondents have rated harmonious workplace along with opportunities of improvement of competencies and skills account for the two most important factors. This is followed by the compensation policies of the company and stability of their working life. Chances for promotion are also considered important. Some of the least important factors like employees’ love for their jobs and growth potential of the company are considered less influential in determining employees’ stay at the workplace. Analysis of Findings- Issues identified in employee motivation The overall assessment from the responses that followed from the research reveals is that employees are quite content and satisfied with the organization. Some of the aspects which are most highly regarded in the organization by its employees are challenges at the workplace, prospects for growth within the organization and relationship with colleagues. In addition to this some of the crucial determinants which influence employees’ decisions to stay at the workplace and be loyal with their employers are a pleasant and harmonious working environment; opportunities of growing and enhancing existing skill levels; and compensation structures and policies in the organization. The most important issue which has been identified in MDIS is in regards to the company’s rewards structure. This is depicted by the large majority accounting for half of the respondents who have said that they have not received as much rewards as they have desired or expected out of the organization. Thus a substantial number of respondents have shown their dissatisfaction with the rewards structure of the organization which could be a potential de-motivating factor for them. Employees tend to equate their performance with the rewards they receive. Thus inadequate or scant rewards can be a reason for them to justify poor performance. Moreover 6 employees not knowing what they are rewarded about is also an important cause of concern for the organization. It shows reward structures are not so lucrative which could attract their attention and good performance (Gueutal & Stone, 2006, p, 141). One of the other crucial aspects of the organization is its compensation structure. On one hand employees regard compensation as most important source of motivation. On the other hand only 11% of the respondents feel positive about their compensation. A vast majority accounting for about 84% of the respondents have responded by saying that there is nothing bad about their salaries which depicts present compensation structures hardly contribute towards motivating employees. Monetary rewards in the form of incentives are highly rated by employees in comparison to non monetary rewards such as thank you notes. Rewards such as time off with pay and developmental opportunities are highly treasured by employees as being strong motivators. However it is seen that 37% of the respondents are rewarded by thank you notes which does not seem to be a very lucrative source of motivator for them. ‘Time of with pay’ which is also rated highly by employees is provided to small amount of 16% of the respondents in the organization. There appears to be a gap between employees’ expectation of rewards from their employer and the actual rewards and compensation system in the organization. This gaps needs to be removed so that rewards can act as true motivators and can be effective in encouraging employees in raising their performance levels in the organization. Besides motivation, rewards must also be such which can attain loyalty and faith of employees towards the organization (Armstrong, 2006, p.252). The other important issue in the organization is relationship among colleagues which act as strong motivators in employees. This organization depicts a picture where relationship among colleagues is not necessarily sour but lacks adequate intimacy or closeness between them. However, respondents have considered working conditions as being one of the major aspects of motivation. Improper or inadequate relationship among colleagues, lack of bonding between them could lead to inadequate communication within the organization hampering work processes and progress. The situation also demonstrates the fact that effective team work or group activities cannot be harnessed properly in the organization which could render work processes ineffective, slow down work processes and generate unfavorable working environment in the organization. Recommendations for issues The fact that employees are not getting rewarded as much as they are expecting can have damaging effects on the organization. Firstly it is required that rewards are provided in more frequent basis. It is not necessary that only big achievements are rewarded ignoring the smaller ones. Rewards must be provided for small achievements as well which would consequently meet up with employees’ expectations and motivate them to perform better for their employer. Compensation structures need to be revised. They act as most crucial motivators for employees and a source of competitive advantage in the market. Employees can easily leave an organization and join another which is more attractive in terms of compensation structures. It is recommended that instead of increasing overall compensation levels in the organization, the structure could be revised. In this, a greater percentage of variable pay could be added which would be directly related with employee’s performances. This would be effective in instilling greater competition among employees and motivate them to perform better in order to earn greater compensation. Performance based variable pay would also harness fairness in the structure and remove chances of bias or partiality. Employees always seek for equity and fairness in judgments and tend to compare their rewards with that of others. Fairness in compensation system would ensure their trust, faith and loyalty towards the employer. Rewards system must comprise of more monetary components rather than non-financial components. A ‘time off with pay’ is always more valued instead of ‘thank you notes’. Cash incentives could be given greater priority in the rewards structures rather than non financial incentives like employee awards. Greater developmental opportunities provided to employees could also act as a strong motivator for them. It could make employees feel that their performances are valued and treasured in the organization and this could act as a true motivator for them too. The organization must also enhance its communication network with the view to bring together the workforce and generate closeness among them. The idea is to provide a collaborative environment through increasing team work and group activities which increase interactions between them, increased mutual interdependence and consequently strengthens bonds between colleagues. This could bind them together and help in the creation of an environment of cooperation and collaboration conducive for healthy and constructive working (Dessler & Varkkey, 2009, p.98). Conclusion The overall scenario in the organization looks favorable and conducive for attaining the favorable attitude of workers. However certain loopholes have been identified through the responses provided by a sample of the organization's workforce which requires improving. Firstly, discontentment regarding the frequency or availability of rewards for employees has been noted. Organization's efforts towards rewarding employees seem to fall short of their expectations of employees. Thus it is recommended that rewards are provided on a more frequent basis for both big and small achievements which would consequently keep them driven towards their goals and objectives in the organization. Another important area where improvement could be done is the rewards structure. More emphasis on non monetary rewards seems to motivate employees to a lesser extent than monetary rewards. In this context a right combination of monetary and non monetary rewards is suggested with greater emphasis on aspects like cash incentives. Moreover a change in the compensation structures is recommended which includes a variable pay directly linked with employee performance. This is suggested to enhance competitiveness, bring about fairness of compensation structures and trigger employee efforts towards accomplishing individual and consequently organizational goals and objectives. Lastly enhancement of the communication system in the organization is suggested for increasing collaborative performance, cooperation and mutual interdependence among employees for the creation of the healthy working environment conducive for efficient working. Reference Armstrong, M. A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. Kogan Page Publishers. (2006). Dessler, G. & Varkkey, B. Human Resource Management, 11/e. Pearson Education India. (2009). Gueutal, H. G. & Stone, D. L. The Brave New World Of Her. Wiley-India. (2006). Appendix Appendix 1- Questionnaire Dear respondents, I am a final year degree student. This is my final year project. I would like to do a survey about how you guys are motivated and what is the most powerful driving force that motivates you to enhance your job performance. Please be assured this survey will be kept confidential and used solely for my academic research purpose. Thanks and highly appreciate for your kind of assistance. Please click or fill x (for email format) on your choice Demographical Data 1. Gender ( ) Male ( ) Female 2. Age ( ) 18 - 25 ( ) 26 - 35 ( ) 36 - 45 ( ) 46 above 4. Years of employment with the school ( ) 1 - 2 years ( ) 3 - 5 years ( ) 5 years above Motivational factors 1. In your department can you exercise self – direction? ( ) Yes ( ) No ( ) It is depending on which task I perform 2. What is your relationship with your colleagues? ( ) Close ( ) Good ( ) So so ( ) Irrelevant 3. How is your salary status? ( ) Excellent ( ) Good ( ) Okay ( ) Poor 4. How do you get a promotion? 5. What do you feel about your current job? ( ) Excited & Challenging ( ) Busy and tired ( ) Boring 6. What is the best reward you have received? 7. Do you feel that you have received reward fairly for the work you done? ( ) Not enough ( ) No idea ( ) Yes, definitely 8. How would you like to be rewarded? 9. How MDIS recognize your good performance? ( ) Time off with pay ( ) Thank you note ( ) Development opportunities ( ) Employee award ( ) Other ______________ 10. How did you feel after you got that recognition? ( ) Excited ( ) No effect ( ) Disappointed 11. Are you motivated to do your job? ( ) Yes, always ( ) To some extent ( ) Not at all 12. Arrange the following motivational factors in order of your preference from 1 to 6, where 1 is the best and 6 is the least. ( ) Promotion and growth in the organization ( ) Challenging and interesting job ( ) Recognition ( ) Pay and benefits ( ) Relationship with colleagues ( ) Company policy and administration 13. Arrange the most important reasons from 1 to 7 for you to stay with the company, where 1 is the most important one and 7 is the least important one. ( ) Stability for my working life ( ) Company compensation policies ( ) Promote to higher position ( ) Harmonious workplace environment ( ) Chances to improve my skills and competencies ( ) Simply I love this job ( ) The company has a potential growth 14. If you have chance to switch your job, do you take it? Why? End of Questionnaire Appendix 2- Findings and Analysis 1. Sample characteristics Mdis Gender Male 7 Female 12 Age 18 – 25 7 26 – 35 10 36 – 45 0 46 above 2 Level of seniority 1 – 2 years 16 3 – 5 years 1 Above 5 years 2 Demographic table There are 19 respondents out of 20 in which involve 12 female and 7 male. The characteristic of the group shows a fair representation of age within the profession. In total 7 people falling into 18 – 25, 10 within 26 – 35 and only two are above 46. Finally almost of respondents are new as there are 16 of them who have worked less than 2 year. Only one has worked more than 3 years. The two respondents who have worked more than five years are also the 2 eldest one. 2. Research on motivation factors Question 1: “In your department can you exercise self – direction?” Chart 1: 9 out of 19 respondents clicked on yes. They feel free to do their jobs independently. 8 respondents choice depend on which task they perform. And the other two mentioned no room for self direction. Question 2: “How is your salary status?” MDIS Valid Frequency Percentage Excellence 1 5% Good 2 11% Okay 16 84% Poor 0 0% Total 19 100% Table 2: Majority of respondents feel that their salary is not bad 84%, followed by around 11% feel positive about their fixed salary and only 1 out of 19 happy about their pay. Lastly no one feel unhappy about their salary. Question 5: “What do you feel about your current job?” Graphic 3: 10 out of 19 respondents feel their job is excited and challenging, followed by 8 people thought their job is busy and tired and only one person has no comment on this question. Question 7: “Do you feel that you have received reward fairly for the work done?” Chart 4: There are nearly half of the respondent people (9 out of 19) feel that they have not received enough reward for what they have done. 5 of them are happy with their rewards and another 5 have no idea on what they are rewarded. Question 8: “How would you like to be rewarded?” Chart 5: there are 4 respondents out of 19 expect recognitions as a reward for their good performance. There is no surprise when most of employees 9 out of 19 expect monetary incentives as their expected reward. Finally 6 respondents have no idea for the reward they expect. Question 9: How MDIS recognize your good performance? MDIS Valid Frequency Percentage Time off with pay 3 16% Thank you note 7 37% Development opportunities 7 37% Employee award 1 5% Have not get any 1 5% Total 19 100% Table 6: Mdis recognized their employee’s good performance by thank you letter or offer employee chances to upgrade their skills and knowledge. It is quite rate that they recognize good performance by letting their employees have time off with pay as only 3 out of 19. Employee award is quite valuable with school because only 1 out 19 people received as recognition for her contributions. This one is the oldest one and stayed with the school for more than 5 year. And the last respondent is a newcomer that why he has not get any recognition. Question 10: How did you feel when you get that recognition? 4 out of 19 have no effect on the recognition. Only one was disappointed and the rest feel excited when they get recognition from MDIS. Question 11: Are you motivated to do your job? 8 out of 19 say to some extent they are motivated to do their jobs. And 3 of 19 do have any motivation to do their job and the rest are always motivated to do their jobs. 12. Arrange the following motivational factors in order of your preference from 1 to 6, where 1 is the best and 6 is the least. Variables: V1: Promotion and growth in the organization V2: Challenging and interesting job V3: Recognition V4: Pay and benefits V5: Relationship with colleagues V6: Company policy and administration Lowest total points as the most preferable variable was “Challenging and interesting job”, Followed by Promotion and growth in the organization and relationship with colleagues. 13. Arrange the most important reasons from 1 to 7 for you to stay with the company, where 1 is the most important one and 7 is the least important one Variables: V1: Stability for my working life V2: Company compensation policies V3: Promote to higher position V4: Harmonious workplace environment V5: Chances to improve my skills and competencies V6: Simply I love this job V7: The company has a potential growth Read More