Extrinsic Motivation Contributing to Employee Performance in Tesco - Case Study Example

Extrinsic Motivation contributing to employee performance in Tesco Table of Contents Introduction 3 1 Research Aim 3 2 Research Objective 3 3Research Question 3 1.4 Methodology 3 1.4.1 Type of Investigation 3 1.4.2 Data Collection Method 4 1.4.3 Sample 5 1.4.4 Ethical Issues 5 1.4.5 Data Analysis Plan 5 1.4.6 Timeline (Gantt chart) 6 2. Theoretical Analysis 6 2.1 Academic Theory Concepts and Models 6 2.2 Current State of Research Models 9 2.3 Argument presented by researcher 10 3. Conclusion 10 3.1 Summary of the Chapter 10 3.2 Future Recommendation 11 Reference List 12 1. Introduction Tesco is considered as the world’s largest grocery retailer in the UK that has successfully set up its business (Turner and Wilson, 2006). It is said that Tesco’s success is mainly due to the employee performance within the organization and the work culture that has motivated the employees to perform well and the company has set up its position in the market (Woods, 2007). Tesco considers the employees and the managers as important assets of the organization. 1.1 Research Aim The aim of the research is to analyse the impact of extrinsic motivation on the employees that contributed to Tesco’s performance. It offers the researcher with the scope to carry out qualitative research on the managers of the organization regarding Tesco’s performance. 1.2 Research Objective The researcher plans to carry out a Quantitative analysis on the managers of Tesco in order to determine the impact of the strategies that were taken by the managers to motivate the employees. The analysis would further determine the impact of motivation on the employee performance. 1.3 Research Question How far has the extrinsic motivation improved the performance of employees within Tesco? 1.4 Methodology 1.4.1 Type of Investigation An evaluation has to be carried out regarding the impact of extrinsic motivation on the employees’ performance in the organization. As the performance of the organization is determined by the efficiency of the employees and the managers, the researcher decides to carry out a qualitative research on the managers of Tesco (Janssen and Van Yperen, 2004). The analysis would need a visit to the company and an interview to be conducted for at least two of the managers regarding the employee performance and the strategies used by them to motivate the employees. 1.4.2 Data Collection Method Data will be collected and the interview of the managers is conducted on different aspects. The interview would be conducted for the managers in order to gather information regarding their planning and implementation of the strategies to motivate the employees for good performance (Grant, 2007). The managers are questioned on various aspects related to the all round performance of the organization and the new projects that are handled. The questions also cover the initiatives taken by the organization to motivate the employees and make them accustomed to the new technology (Zhang and Bartol, 2010). The interview questions must be framed in such a way that it covers the objective of carrying out the research. For example, the questions can be as such: What is the gross profit of the organization for the last five years? What are the initiatives taken by the organization for the performance management of the employees? How have the employees been able to cope up with challenges that the organization faces? What are the various projects that the organization handles? 1.4.3 Sample The managers of Tesco will be considered as the sample for the study. Since the information required for conducting the research has can be provided only by these managers hence they are considered as ideal for conducting interview. They can provide valuable information regarding the performance of the company. The total sample size will be 5. An interview will be conducted by the researcher to gather pertinent data and later it will be used to gain in-depth insights into the subject of study. 1.4.4 Ethical Issues While conducting the interviews, the interviewer has to be careful about the questions that are to be asked in the interview process to the managers. The questions should not be such that it hurts the sentiments of the managers (Zhang and Bartol, 2010). Further, the managers should not be forced to answer questions that they are not willing to answer. The interviewer must have a pleasing personality to convince the managers in order to get valuable information necessary for conducting the research. The interview must be conducted by taking prior permission from the managers and an appointment must be fixed with the managers in order to avoid any controversy (Zhang and Bartol, 2010). 1.4.5 Data Analysis Plan Based on the collected data, the analysis is conducted regarding the overall performance of the organization and the contribution of the employees to the company’s success. The questions would cover valuable information for deriving conclusion related to the employee performance (Zhang and Bartol, 2010). It would also help the researcher understand the strategies used for motivating the employees. Further, the secondary data regarding the company’s annual profit and sales can be collected from the authentic websites and journals and can be analysed for the growth of the company over the last five years (Zhang and Bartol, 2010). If the sales and profit show an increasing trend then the conclusion can be derived regarding the performance of Tesco and the primary data collected from the interviews helps in finding the impact of motivation on the performance of the employees. 1.4.6 Timeline (Gantt chart) 2. Theoretical Analysis 2.1 Academic Theory Concepts and Models Employee performance within an organization depends on the level of commitment that the employees have towards their organization. The willingness to work plays a key role on behalf of the employees to dedicate themselves for company’s success (Kinnie, et al., 2005). Motivation received by the employees from their employers creates an environment of mutual trust that has a positive impact on their work performance. Researcher says that the companies with dedicated workers reduce the probability of absenteeism among the employees (Gagne and Deci, 2005). The dedicated employees can perform well under pressure and the company is able to compete with the rivals. Full dedication towards the job reduces errors in the work performed by employees. It is said by the researcher that the dedicated employees would strive to take the company to the new level and thus lead to development within the organization. Likewise, the management within Tesco is strong enough to hire employees who are efficient as well as dedicated towards their work. The company has a strong employee engagement and it further aims to improve its work culture. The efficient managers within the organization handle the projects in various teams and the team members are highly motivated by the team leaders. There is a strong coordination between the team leaders and the team members and the team members are allowed to share their views in order to carry out the business (Armstrong and Baron, 2000). It is the motivation given to the employees by the team leaders that helps the employees to work under pressure and in the challenging atmosphere. Tesco has got wide range of customers for its retail market and the employees are highly trained to serve the huge customer base (Roberts, Hann and Slaughter, 2006). It also aims at expanding its business in the international markets to create brand awareness about its products. Due to the position of Tesco in the international markets, it has gained brand loyalty for its products. The performance management of the employees within the organization leads to a rise in productivity of the employees and this contributes to the overall performance of the organization in the international markets. The strategies used by the company to motivate its employees are very innovative and the employees are offered huge incentives for their performance (Frey and Jegen, 2001). These incentives in turn motivate the employees to work hard and contribute to the organization’s performance. Tesco conducts training of the employees and uses various motivational skills to help the employees perform well. Performance appraisal is collected from the employees to evaluate their work performance and the company undertakes initiatives to improve their performance which would be in turn beneficial for the employees (Van der Heijden, Verhagen and Creemers, 2003). Performance appraisal is a form of performance management system conducted within the organization that would lead the organization in the path of development. This system reflects the organization’s strategic plan and is used by the managers of Tesco to evaluate the performance of employees. Researcher says that it is very important for the organization to collect performance appraisal from the employees in order to know about the employees’ job satisfaction (Grant, 2008). The company rewards the employees for their outstanding job performance which in turn encourages them to deliver a good performance in future (Grant, 2008). The employees’ performance in turn decides the company’s future growth prospect and a strong motivation makes the employees to serve the organization for a longer time. Tesco uses various strategies to maintain ethical work culture within the company such that the employees have a healthy work atmosphere. The managers and the team leaders are responsible to maintain ethical relationship with the team members as well as the clients and the stakeholders (Meyer, Becker and Vandenberghe, 2004). The managers of Tesco communicate with the clients and the stakeholders in order to understand their intentions and explain the projects to the teams accordingly such that they perform well. The company’s protocol deals with maintaining an ethical relationship with the clients, stakeholders and the employees such that it can maintain its position in the market. The company often collects customers’ feedback to know about their intentions and plan out strategies in order to invent new products (Ellemers, De Gilder and Haslam, 2004). The employees are also motivated through various skill development programs that are conducted within the organization to train the employees to overcome challenges. The managers within the organization are also well trained to handle situations when the company faces competition from the rivals. However, despite facing a lot of competition from the rival firms the company has successfully launched its new products and created brand awareness in the international markets (Ellemers, De Gilder and Haslam, 2004). 2.2 Current State of Research Models Researcher says that a strict corporate culture plays a key role in the deterioration of performance of the employees within the organization. Creating a lot of internal pressure on the employees may discourage the employees and it leads to a lot of errors in their work (Zhang and Bartol, 2010). Their poor performance has a negative impact on the organization which in turn results in failure of projects and the company loses trust of its loyal customers. However, Tesco has got a team of efficient employees who are well trained to face challenges and work according to the clients’ demands. Poor performance by the company may also lead to loss of shares by the company in the international markets. This in turn affects the company’s reputation in the market and the company loses its monopoly power. Tesco takes care of the clients and the stakeholders by planning out its strategies as per the demands of the clients and uses innovative technologies to make the work easier (Ramus and Steger, 2000). As the aim of the company is to serve a large number of customers and further expanding its business by attracting new target customers, Tesco highly focuses on the employees’ work invented in order to reduce the work load of the employees (Ramus and Steger, 2000). The company trains the employees in order to make them accustomed to the new technology invented by the company. The company achieves its mission of serving a large number of customers through opening online retail markets that is easily accessible by the customers (Ramus and Steger, 2000). The efficient managers have undertaken technological innovation within the organization and have recently introduced their online retail business. The employees are trained in such a way that they can handle the online databases of the company and the accounts as well in order to keep track of the annual sales of the company and the profit earned by it. 2.3 Argument presented by researcher The team leaders of the organization play an important role in making the employees perform well. They are efficient in managing teams in case of any controversies that arise. This is extremely important on behalf of the team leaders because the controversies among the employees may spoil the ethical culture of the organization. The ethical atmosphere of the organization is maintained both by the employees as well as the managers and a healthy work culture results in better organizational performance. 3. Conclusion Tesco has proved to be the biggest retailer serving a large number of customers. The company conducts performance management programs in order to motivate the employees so that they can contribute to its performance. It has invented new technology as well as trained its employees to get them well versed with the technology. The company has collected the performance appraisals from the employees in order to evaluate their overall performance contributing to the success of Tesco. Tesco has its future plans to expand its business in other parts of the world and hence the managers within Tesco adopt strategies to create brand awareness in the international markets. 3.1 Summary of the Chapter The main objective of conducting this research is to determine how the extrinsic motivation techniques by Tesco have improved the efficiency of the employees within the organization. Tesco has conducted various motivational training programs that have improved the employee performance of the organization and the company has successfully set up its position in the international markets. The researcher has planned to conduct interviews of the managers and carry out their analysis based on the response of the managers of Tesco. However the researcher considered the ethical aspects while conducting the research. The researcher also plans to collect secondary data from authentic journals to carry out the analysis. 3.2 Future Recommendation The researcher plans to conduct qualitative analysis by interviewing the managers of the organization. Hence, it is highly recommended that the researcher while conducting the interview must consider the ethical aspects. The researcher must not force or hurt the sentiments of the managers. They must not try to derive any information illegally without taking prior permission from the managers. Further, the secondary data collected by the researcher must be from authentic journals and sources and the researchers must pre-register themselves for the online journals accessible to them. It is recommended to carry out a detailed analysis of the available data and information and find out how well Tesco uses its motivational strategies to improve its employee performance within the organization. Reference List Armstrong, M. and Baron, A., 2000. Performance management. Human resource management, pp. 69-84. Ellemers, N., De Gilder, D. and Haslam, S. A., 2004. Motivating individuals and groups at work: A social identity perspective on leadership and group performance. Academy of Management Review, 29(3), pp. 459-478. Frey, B. S. and Jegen, R., 2001. Motivation crowding theory. Journal of economic surveys, 155, pp. 589-611. Gagne, M. and Deci, E. L., 2005. Self‐determination theory and work motivation.Journal of Organizational behavior, 26(4), pp. 331-362. Grant, A. M., 2007. 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Linking empowering leadership and employee creativity: The influence of psychological empowerment, intrinsic motivation, and creative process engagement. Academy of Management Journal, 53(1), pp. 107-128. Read More