Motivation, Team Work and Organizational Structure in a Company - Case Study Example

Name: Institution: Date: Introduction to Motivation as a Concept Kalburgi & Dinesh (2010) define motivation as the process in which a person’s intensity direction and persistence towards a certain goal is accounted. Motivation represents the energy driving people’s behavior. In turn, this behavior drives action whereas action leads to actuation. Motivation is one of the most important concepts in any organization and it represents a description of extrinsic conditions stimulating certain behaviors in human resource and intrinsic responses demonstrating that behavior in human resource. Therefore, each human being has intrinsic response which is sustainable through sources of energy referred to as motives, including drives, wants, and needs. Every human being has motives. The measure used to assess the level of motivation includes observing and recording behaviors. According to Guay et al. (2010), motivation may be generally said to be the “reasons that underlie behavior” (712). If one is deficient in these wants, needs, and drives, he/she will be stimulated to seek and achieve goals that will enable him/her achieve his/her goals in order to satisfy these needs. It is very important to take good care of employees through motivating them. According to Kalburgi & Dinesh (2010), motivation is an important concept in an organization because the quality of the output of an organization is largely dependent on motivation. Introduction to Teamwork as a Concept Teamwork represents one of the best guarantees for any organization. Teamwork ensures that teams of human resources in an organization are routinely working together towards a common organization goal. Higher productivity in an organization is assured with effective teamwork (Fapohunda, 2013). Teamwork minimizes human errors, maximizes job efficiency and productivity, and promotes job satisfaction. Other factors that teamwork helps in include maintaining safe working conditions even in stressful and complex environments. Teamwork as a concept helps improve the general and the most important conditions in an organization helping it accomplish its missions and goals. Teamwork involves two or more individuals who have complementary skills and backgrounds, sharing common goals, exercising their efforts in conducting assessments, planning, and evaluating a certain task that will help them achieve their goal (Fapohunda, 2013). For this to be achieved successfully there has to be existence of open communication, interdependent collaboration, and shared decision-making. The goal of developing effective teams is to bring out the best in a team, including leadership skills, ability to work closely together, self-development, and positive communication. Introduction to Organization Structure as a Concept Different organizations comparably differ from each other in all sort of ways. Each of these organizations has its own set of people and work plans that are arranged into some order based on specific logical relation existing between one individual and at least one in the set. The logic in which these people and plans are put in a set is referred to as a structure. According to Balign (2009), an organizational structure always has a set of two individuals or a single person at two different points, and one or two decisions to be made. Organization structure has an impact on organizational performance. According to Oke & Ajagbe (2015), it is impossible for an organization to exist without a definite structure. Organizational structure helps in dividing organization’s tasks and work among different members within the organization, and to coordinate them well in such a way that they will have a direction towards the objectives and goals of that particular organization. Through organizational structure, an organization becomes differentiated and integrated (Oke & Ajagbe, 2015). Organizational structure is a representation of relationships among different roles which organization’s units play. These authors have also emphasized that organizational structure represents the formal system of reporting relationships controlling, coordinating, and motivating employees to enable them cooperate towards achieving organization’s goals and objectives. An organization designs its structure based on the way in which it wants its members to act, the attitudes it intends to promote, the desires it intends its members to have, and in such a way that it will be able to support the development of cultural norms and values. Analysis of Motivation in Du, UAE In the recent past, the telecommunication industry has undergone various transformations that have changed and revolutionized the way people exchange information, do business, and share ideas. The telecommunication industry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been one of the fastest growing sectors in the Middle East. There is high support of operators within the telecommunication sector by the initiatives that have been put in place by the government, including friendly policies and other initiatives. Du represents one of the two major telecommunication operators in the UAE. As observed earlier in the paper, motivation is an important concept in an organization because the quality of the output of an organization is largely dependent on motivation (Kalburgi & Dinesh, 2010). Du has excellent ways of motivating its employees, including boosting staff wellness. Some of these motivational ways include providing employees with in-house clinic, swimming pool, gym, and a calendar full of fitness activities. Over 300 employees at Du have regular sessions in the gym where they engage in various activities, including yoga, circuit classes, weight loss competitions, and running classes. These classes usually have a free membership (Du, 2016). It is stated in Du’s website that a healthy worker is a happy worker stating that the organization strives to promote healthy living through providing its people with a well-equipped gym and a personal trainer, and a swimming pool. Other ways that Du uses to motivate its employees include flexible working hours, children’s educational assistance, free private healthcare, phone calls and data, airfare allowances, pension, awesame facilities, end of service gratuity, locally negotiated discounts, annual leaves, and free parking lots (Du, 2016). Every employee at Du is provided with free data for use while in the United Arab Emirates. This data provision is made available to the employees’ family members. Therefore, the company motivates its employees not only by providing them with such incentives but by extending these incentives to their families. Also, to enable these employees visit their families on regular basis, the company provides them with airfare allowances which are provided on annual basis. In addition, the company is concerned with the health of their employees and it ensures that it provides them with high quality healthcare service. The company has its own doctor who addresses the health issues of its employees. The aim of having its personal doctor is to ensure that the health and personal wellness of the employees is optimized. These health services are extended to the families of these employees who are provided with private health insurance covers (Du, 2016). Also, the company offers its employees with 30 paid annual leave, in additional to other free days, such as public holidays per year. In addition to this leave, the company organizes its work in a way that will enable its employees have flexible schedules and also helps them with work life balance. After employment, employees are provided with retirement benefits, including pension schemes. In addition to incentives provided within the company, the company has also negotiated with other companies for discounts for its employees. These discounts are only exclusive to Du’s staff only and they include cars, banking services, and restaurant bills among other discounts (Du, 2016). In addition to these discounts, the company has constructed excellent facilities with facilities that allow employees to feel at home, including somewhere they can take coffee, meet with other employees, and have a chat, a place where they can play pool, and discuss about team projects. Parking fee is another thing that cuts into one’s income; however, Du has enough space within its facility which enables it to provide its employees with free parking. These incentives are very motivational to Du’s employees making them to offer their positive contribution to the company leading to high productivity. Analysis of Teamwork in Du, UAE There are several things that the company does to promote teamwork. First, each year, the company has the great manager award which is awarded to the managers who both lead by example and ensure that their teams become the best teams compared to other teams in the organization. During presentation of this award, the whole organization gathers while the award is given by the company’s CEO (Du, 2016). This award is meant to motivate leaders of teams. Analysis of Organization Structure in Du, UAE As observed earlier in the paper, it is impossible for an organization to exist without a definite structure. Organizational structure helps in dividing organization’s tasks and work among different members within the organization, and to coordinate them well in such a way that they will have a direction towards the objectives and goals of that particular organization. Through organizational structure, an organization becomes differentiated and integrated (Oke & Ajagbe, 2015). Du represents one of the fastest-growing telecommunications companies in the Middle East and to achieve this status, it has to have an effective organizational structure. Keeping in mind that the telecommunication industry has emerged to be one with most intense competition within it, Du continues to strengthen its capability and driving efficiencies in all its activities. To achieve this, the company keeps on transforming its organizational structure as a result of new emerging forms of competitions. In 2013, Du’s CEO, Osman Sultan emphasized that the company was entering a new phase of competition thus requiring every member to direct his/her focus on his/her role in the company. According to Du (2013), the company adopted a new organizational structure incorporating such features sharpening of leadership focus to enable leaders and employees enhance the value offered to the company’s employees. To achieve this, its organizational structure was adjusted in such a way that the B2B and B2B departments were elevated in such a way that they will be able to bring customer-centric tailor-made value (Du, 2013). Secondly, delivering enhance value to the company’s customers through improved efficiencies. To accomplish this, the company created an operations division appointing Farid Faraidooni as its Chief Operations Officer (COO). This division consolidates all the pillars thus paving way for enhanced end-to-end customer delivery and efficiencies. The departments that were integrated in the Operations division include Product Engineering, Operations Planning, Customer Operations, Network, Information Technology, Technology Security Risk, and Fraud Management (Du, 2013). Du always positions its organizational structure in such a way that its will promote best capabilities in order to service its customers better. As a result, the company constantly hires experienced and talented human resource to bring superior expertise and efficiency in the company to enable effective delivery of products and services. Du’s structure also ensures that the company engages with partners such as Huawei, IBM, Alcatel Lucent, TCS, and Ericsson. In addition, Du continually nurtures its leadership body to enable organizational leaders to nurture, hire, develop, and promote talents. Additionally, Du highly invests in its in-house UAE National employees to develop future leaders that can drive the company to even higher success and competitiveness. Suggestions of Improving Motivation, Teamwork, and Organization Structure in Du, UAE To enable employees to feel satisfied with their jobs and optimize their performance, the company has to have in place the most attractive motivational approaches. There are many ways to motivate employees and, different employees have different preferences (Ganta, 2014). While some employees are motivated by being given responsibilities, there are others who are motivated by financial incentives. Du has done its best to incorporate many types of motivational incentives; however, there are some very important incentives that the company has not incorporated in its motivational methods. For example, there are those people who will not be maximally motivated by any of the discussed motivational methods. Financial resources as incentives have not been included in the Du’s motivational package. Therefore, it is important that Du incorporates financial incentives in its motivational package. Everywhere in the world, financial incentives are the ones which are highly regarded by employees as motivational. Second, this paper recommends that Du incorporates job rotation within its work schedule. This will allow employee to learn different skills. This motivational method could be especially motivational for individuals who like learning new techniques apart from the ones they know. According to the review conducted, teamwork appears not to be highly regarded at Du. There is absence of high emphasis on teamwork with the motivational rewards for best teamwork being awarded to team leaders while leaving other employees to enjoy other general benefits. There are many ways in which Du can improve motivation, teamwork, and organizational structure. As discussed earlier in this paper, teamwork ensures that teams of human resources in an organization are routinely working together towards a common organization goal. However, if individuals perceive that their organization is not promoting teamwork, they will not be inclined to act within teams. Therefore, it is important that Du come up with an incorporative approach that will encourage and motivate employees to work in teams. This paper recommends that, the company sets up teamwork training to every employee with an aim of increasing collaboration and communication within the organization. More team activities and projects should be encouraged. Therefore, teams work hard to make a difference in the company. For an organization to be successful, its activities have to involve a lot of communication and interaction between members in that particular organization. (Tohidi, 2010). For these activities to be successful, they have to rely on the ability of teams that share a common understanding of the process, the task, and the respective role of each team member. For these members to operate effectively within their teams, the company must have structures that will help the members of different teams. The success of these team members is also dependent on leadership training, rewards, motivation, information technology, wage size, and goals among other factors. The exploration conducted in the present paper shows that Du lacks some of these important factors, or falls short in some of them, including financial rewards. Therefore, for Du to maximize its human resource output there has to be close integration of motivation, teamwork, and organizational structure without any of these being left behind. As discussed earlier, organizational structure helps in dividing organization’s tasks and work among different members within the organization, and to coordinate them well in such a way that they will have a direction towards the objectives and goals of that particular organization. Through organizational structure, an organization becomes differentiated and integrated (Oke & Ajagbe, 2015). Implications of Recommendations Besides demonstrating the value of motivation and organizational structure using Du as an example, the present paper has investigated the value of effective teams. Most employees prefer working in teams because teams allow them to share information. Effective teams are essential in an organization because there is shared knowledge which is advantageous to the organization. Therefore, Du must do everything to inspire its employees to work in teams by having organizational structures that support these teams. At Du, there has been less emphasis on teamwork, and more emphasis on motivation and organizational structure. First, the organizational leaders must be trained in the use of teams so that they can impart this knowledge on the members of teams. Conclusions The present paper has extensively discussed the effectiveness of functional teamwork, motivation, and organizational structure in raising and sustaining the productivity of an organization with special focus on Du Telecommunications, UAE. The investigation has revealed the importance and value of motivation and organizational structure. Du has been found to have good motivational activities and a functional organizational structure. However, the company has been found to be lacking in ensuring its members work within teams. Therefore, it has concluded that Du needs to engage its members in teams so as to realize the full benefits of working in teams while improving on its motivation approaches and regularly transforming its organizational structures to match with the ever changing competitive environment. References Baligh, H. (2009). Organization Structures: Theory and Design, Analysis and Prescription. New York: Springer Science & Business and Business Media. Du.(2016). Retrieved from http://www.du.ae/personal/at-home Du (2013). Du geared up for next growth phase; announces revised organisational structure. Retrieved from http://www.du.ae/about-us/media-centre/newsdetail/du-geared-up-for-next-growth-phase-and-announces-revised-organisational-structure Fapohunda, T. (2013). Towards Effective Team Building in the Workplace. International Journal of Education and Research, 1(4), 1-12. Ganta, V. (2014). Motivation in the Workplace to Improve the Employee Performance. International Journal of Engineering Technology, Management, and Applied Sciences, 2(6), 221-230. Guay, F., Chanal, J., Ratelle, C., Marsh, H., Larose, S. & Boivin, M. (2010). Intrinsic, identified, and controlled types of motivation for school subjects in young elementary school children. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(4), 711–735. Kaburgi, M. & Dinesh, G. (2010). Motivation as a Tool for Productivity in Public Sector Unit. Asian Journal of Management Research. Retrieved from http://www.ipublishing.co.in/ajmrvol1no1/sped12011/AJMRSP1012.pdf Oke, A. & Ajagbe, M. (2015). Impacts of Organizational Structure on Organizational Performance. International Conference on African Development Issues. Retrieved from http://eprints.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/5296/1/Paper%20140.pdf Swansburg, R. & Swansburg, R. (2002).Introduction to Management and Leadership for Nurse Managers. Sadbury: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Tohidi, H. (2011). Teamwork productivity & effectiveness in an organization base on rewards, leadership, training, goals, wage, size, motivation, and measurement and information technology. Elsevier, 3, 1137-1146. Read More