Maples Retail Organisation - Motivating Staff In the Recession - Case Study Example

Employee Motivation Name Course Lecture Date 1.0 Why HR motivates Employee 1.0 Why Motivate Employees According to Nayar (2010), human resources are the most essential and capable resource that can endow a competitive edge to a company. In times of recession business becomes scarce and it is thus important for Maples to motivate their employee to remain ahead of competitors. According to Webb (2007), employee motivation is one of the most influential factors in determining employee performance. Many Human Resource departments recognize the need for managers to be motivators in order for them to influence employees to perform better. HR also knows that motivated employees are more likely to work towards the goal or objectives set for them by the organization. According to Webb (2007), motivated employees look for opportunities where they can perform better in the organization. Times of recession are hard on employee who might have lost some income or their family member lost their jobs causing stress and affecting employee morale negatively. Employee motivation therefore acts to counter the negative effects of depression on employee morale. 1.1 Organizational Effectiveness According to Manzoor (2011), employee motivation also increases organizational effectiveness. Manzoor (2011) defines organizational effectiveness as the ability of an organization to generate the results it aims to generate. Motivated employees enable organizations to better transform inputs into outputs in an efficient manner. Through motivated employees organizations are able to use certain resources to fulfil its organizational objectives without depleting resources or placing undue strain on society. 1.2 Employees are the face of the Company Employee are the face of the company as it is them that employee that come into contact with while dealing with customers (Latham and Pinder 2005). This is especially true in the Fashion industry where Maples operates. Maples human resource would want its employee to show them in the best light to its sophisticated clientele. Maples cannot afford to be represented by employees who do not like their job or are bored as it will make the store look bad to both existing and potential customers. The need to have employees that deal with customers being highly motivated is reinforced by the way word of mouth spreads in the digital age (Litvin, Goldsmith and Pan 2008). News about a disinterested or bored employee at a Maple store is likely to reach thousands if not millions if a customer’s happens to complain on social media or make a negative review of the store on the internet. 1.3 Need to retain talented employees In the current work environment retention of the most talented employee is huge challenge to organizations. Other than the fact talented employees are more productive, high talent turnover is very costly; the cost of retaining employees is way lower than the cost of hiring and training new employees (Egan, Yang and Bartlett 2004). Motivated employees are likely to remain with a company in comparison to those who lack motivation. A HR department that is able to motivate its most talented employees is of great value to any organization in the race for top talents in the competitive labour market. 1.4 Lack of motivation is contagious If HR fails to address the problem of motivation, those employees who lack motivation are likely to be demotivating to colleagues. According to Lens and de Jesus (1999), lack of motivation is contiguous and is likely to affect the whole workforce if it is not addressed. Lens and de Jesus (1999) argues that nobody is going to work hard to achieve organizational goals if they feel fellow workers are not putting in equal effort. People who work in teams or lead employees who lack motivation are also likely to be frustrated of working with demotivated colleagues. 2.0 Strategies for Motivating Employee 2.1 Incentive Program Employee incentive programs remain the most important way to motivate employees. Incentives need not be monetary in nature. According to Stajkovic and Luthans (2001), recognizing and rewarding good work means motivation levels remain high. With limited budget, Maple’s HR can work with employee recognition programs like Employee of the Month or Employee of the year. Having these employee headline company advertisements and websites would also be a good way of recognizing their effort. Leavy (2005) asks organizations to build departmental recognition programs. Any good employee recognition programs should be built using employee input as this will enhance its acceptance and effectiveness on motivation. Recognition effort should be based on an employee’s effort towards realization of the company’s vision, mission and values. Employee who show dedication to Maple’s vision should be recognized and their contribution to this end mentioned explicitly. 2.2 Employee Feedback According to Leavy (2005), employee feedback programs also rank highly as employee motivation tools. It is important for Maples to make employee aware of their performance continuously rather than wait for the annual review of performance. Showing appreciation for work well-done will motivate employees significantly. Face-to-face continual feedback is a very effective method of motivating employees. According to Leavy (2005), feedback should also include constructive criticism that seeks to address issues that are affecting an employee’s performance. In the views of Leavy (2005) impromptu session with employee will provide important motivation to employees in contrast to annual and periodic performance reviews. Providing employee with feedback creates the impression that they are being heard and their opinions matter. It also shows them that they are playing an important role in ensuring the success of the organization. Another way of recognizing employee is praising them. Praising employee is identified as one of the most effective motivators (Wiley 1997). Maples can collectively and individually praise employees to ensure their morale remains high. Even when some endeavours fail, Maple’s can praise employees for their commitment and hard work despite the failure. 2.3 Positive work environment According to Shalley, Gilson and Blum (2000) setting a positive tone in the workplace can greatly motivate employees. Maples HR need to inspire employee to create and maintain a positive work environment. For example, Maples can create a positive tone by asking all receptionists and secretaries to greet people cordially. Positive work tones also come about in workplaces where employees are able to contribute their ideas freely. 2.4 Professional Development Professional development is a popular and widely used strategy used to motivate skilled employees. Maple’s should encourage its employees to advance their skills as this will motivate them and enable them serve their organization better (Ryan 2003). Maples should release interested employee to attend classes and training session especially when business volumes are low. Allowing employee to volunteer for professional events is another great way of ensuring that they are developing professionally. Maples HR should also inform employee of the career advancement opportunities available and set up a career counselling program for all employee. 2.5 Consult your staff According to Zhang and Bartol (2010) one of the most effective ways to motivate employee is to make them feel like their ideas matter. While searching for a solution to problems Maple should include employee to make them feel part of the solution. Collective solutions are important to the acceptance and support of organizational decision by employees. 2.7 Other Ways of motivating them According to Kaye and Jordan-Evans (2014), organization like Maples can take a number of deliberate steps to motivate their employees. As already discussed, Kaye and Jordan-Evans (2014), recognize the need to promote career growth, learning and development play in the motivation of employees as motivators for employees. Secondly, Maples can provide exciting and challenging work for their employee so they can remain engaged. Thirdly, Maples can show that working for them is meaningful and makes a contribution to the society. Furthermore encouraging teamwork is also another good way to motivate employees. Other ways suggested by Kaye and Jordan-Evans (2014) for motivating employees include Fun on the job. Autonomy over task; creates a sense of control over once work. Flexibility in working hours and dress code. Inspiring leadership. Enabling a good work-life balance. 3.0 Conclusion During times of recession organizations have scarce resources and are thus are unable to offer monetary incentives to their employees. Employees are the most important resource which has the capability of delivering a competitive edge to organizations during times of recession. Employees are more productive when they are motivated and since they are the interface between the organization and customers motivating them is important in maintaining a good public image. There are various ways Maples HR can motivate their employees without using money including non-monetary incentives, positive and constructive feedback, and professional development programs among others. Motivated employee will provide Maples a competitive edge to survive the recession. References Egan, TM, Yang, B & Bartlett, KR 2004, The effects of organizational learning culture and job satisfaction on motivation to transfer learning and turnover intention. Human resource development quarterly, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 279-301. 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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), 107-128. Read More