Motivating Employees and Its Impact on the Organizations Competitive Advantage - Coursework Example

Running head: Human Resource Management Business Name Institute Date Introduction Modern organizational, business and market environments are characterized by increased globalization, advancement in technology, easier and efficient exchange of information, establishment of new organizations offering substitute products and emergence of more sophisticated and informed customers (Smit, 2007). In addition, the environments are coupled with rising customer demands and changing needs and expectations and shifting political, economical, social, cultural, financial, legal, environmental and technological forces. With such environments, firms and institutions both profit making and non-profit making, large and small and those either in the public or the private sectors are identifying and devising varied strategies and means of ensuring they acquire inimitable and valuable organizational resources to help effectively mitigate varied risks generated by the environment and deliver unique, valuable and quality products and services that totally satisfy their customers (Morse, 2003). In so doing, enhance their competitive advantage. Organizations are identifying and acquiring human resources as their most reliable and valuable resource and motivating them as a means to enhance competitiveness. This informs our report which critically analyzes current theoretical and empirical literature on how motivating employees as a strategy impact on an organization’s competitive advantage. Motivating Employees and its impact on organization’s competitive advantage According to (Kabst & Matiaske, 2005), strategic human resource is not only charged with effective selection and recruitment of employees, performance management, controlling organizational knowledge and skills, remuneration administration and managing the human resources, but also empowering and motivating the human resources. Smit, 2007 notes that establishing an inspired and motivated workforce is essential in enhancing an organization’s performance, nurturing creativity and innovation, increasing the rates of retention of valuable employees, improving employee’s responsibility and commitment to fully making the most of their skills, knowledge and potential. All these are crucial components for attaining set organizational vision, mission, goals and objectives and enhancing its sustainable competitive edge. However, it is important to note that motivating employees solely does not automatically translate to enhancing a firm’s competitive advantage. Other aspects such as teamwork, effective selection and recruitment, performance management, quality improvement and leadership among others are needed to ensure motivating employees does bear anticipated fruits. Employee motivation entails the degree of energy, dedication and creativity that an employee has when performing their roles and tasks. (Cappelli & Neumark, 2001) defines motivation is primarily about instigation, direction, passion and determination of behavior and conduct of the workforce. As indicated by Morse, (2003), in an organization, the HRM is accountable to motivating the employees to not only work towards supporting the firm in attaining its goals and vision but also, motivating them to work towards attaining their own personal and professional goals and vision. According to Maslow’s motivational theory which was established by Abraham Maslow suggests that there are five level of employee needs which if the organization identifies and satisfies, they can motivate and inspire them efficiently and effectively (Cianci & Gambrel, 2003). The theory is based on the assumptions that different employees have different needs and therefore, an organization require different motivators to motivate its workforce (Cianci & Gambrel, 2003). This means that the HRM need to provide varied set of motivations among different employees. Employees are more likely to be creative and exploit their full potential when they feel appreciated, motivated and challenged in what they do. Maslow points out that motivated employees whose needs are effectively and efficiently met are more likely to share their innovative and creative ideas, commit and take ownership of the company’s business goals and objectives, and will competitively endeavor to beat deadlines (Cianci & Gambrel, 2003). Findings from a study carried out by (Cianci & Gambrel, 2003) suggests that human resource management that invest in understanding the needs of each of its employee such as physiological, safety/security, social, self esteem and self actualization needs get more out of them hence enhanced performance which translates to improved competitiveness of the firm against its rivals within and outside the industry Salwan indicates that motivating employees is imperative. The author note that among ways the organization can motivate its employees includes job promotion, increasing the remuneration package, offering additional employment benefits like health insurance, share options and bonuses and providing job security by giving employees permanent contracts instead of temporal or casual terms of employment (Salwan, 2007). Nevertheless, (Peterson & Luthans, 2006) asserts that motivating employees should not be confined to offering employees monetary incentives but should integrate other forms of non-monetary motivators. The authors suggests motivating employees can be facilitated by using non-monetary motivators which includes recognizing and paying attention to the accomplishment of the employees, applauding the efforts and hard work put in by the employees and more importantly , engaging them in critical organizational processes such as decision making and problem solving. For example, it is futile to only offer suitable salary packages to valuable employees and fail to involve them in making decisions such as implementing change processes since, the fear and anxiety associated with change may override their need for better pay and thus, compel them to look for work elsewhere where they feel more job secure or where they feel their contribution is appreciated. Enhancing an organization’s competitiveness is more than merely establishing effective management but more so, attracting and retaining valuable employees who are innovative, capable, experienced and skilled. To acquire and retain such employees calls for offering appealing motivators that will attract valuable employees and retaining them even when the company is not doing particularly well. According to (Rankin, 2003), motivating employees result in retaining valuable ones and saving the organization from increased costs of selecting rehiring and costs generated by turnover of unmotivated employees. The author highlights that motivating employees by fulfilling their needs is an effective means of empowering them to be the best they can be at a professional and personal level which translates to more commitment, higher performance and innovativeness of workers which improves the competitiveness of the organization. For instance, when an employee feels their professional needs are being met such as skills development through training and continuous learning which helps them achieve their personal needs such as better living standards, they are more likely to offer the best of their skills and experience to the organization. This means better and quality products and services, better innovative strategies and higher productivity that helps enhance a firm’s competitiveness in terms of customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and profitability and market shares. Nevertheless, pegging the performance of employees and success of the organization on fulfillment of each and every need of the employee although effective can backfire on the organization if they do not correctly identify the needs of each employee (Cappelli & Neumark, 2001). In addition, there are varied aspects of management that can help enhance a firm’s competitiveness other than solely relying on employee motivation which includes effective leadership, continuous learning, continuous quality improvement, and knowledge exchange and workforce diversity among others. Employees can be motivated based on the equity theory of motivation which was established by John Stacey Adam. The theory suggests that an organization can effectively and sustainably enhance its competitive edge by treating its workforce fairly in terms of equal compensation of the employee’s inputs in relation to their colleagues as a means to motivate them. The equity theory is based on the linkage of inputs, outcomes and equity. For organizations to get what it wants out of its employees which is commitment, accountability, active participation, teamwork, loyalty and high performance, it must be willing to be perceived by the employees as being fair and offering equality in relation to what the employees brings into the company as inputs and what they get in return as outcomes as demonstrated by (Hopp, 2004). According to (Hopp, 2004), the inputs generated by the employees in terms of time, creativity, innovativeness, hard work, commitment, forbearance, skills and flexibility must be reciprocated in varied outcomes such as offering employees their salaries in good time and offering them additional and regular training to sharpen their skills and equip them with emerging knowledge. In addition, promoting high performing and deserving employees, providing employees with favorable working conditions and environment, offering them leadership roles, offering them work breaks and providing them with additional responsibilities to challenge their skills and abilities as echoed by (Salwan, 2007). Through such, the perceptions of the employees on equity will be influenced positively as they may feel the inputs are fairly balanced with the outcomes and the ratios are equal to those of their colleagues working at the same or different organizational status and level within the firm and across the industry. This will influence their performance, productivity, loyalty, dedication and accountability and more importantly, take ownership of organizational business goals and objectives, which is a step towards enhancing an organization’s competitiveness. Motivating employees as a means to enhance a firm’s competitive advantage is also explained by the expectancy theory of motivation. The expectancy theory was developed by Victor Vroom. The theory implies that employee motivation involves interlinking the elements of expectancy where employees are more likely to be motivated to worker harder and help an organization attain its goals such as remain competitive when they believe that their abilities and efforts will result in performance, the element of valance which is the importance and worth the employee places on the expected outcomes and the element of instrumentality where employee is highly motivated when they believe that when they perform exceptionally well in their assigned roles and responsibilities, they will influence favorable and positive results (Hallowell, 2005). As noted in a study carried out by Morse, 2003, an employee can be made to improve their performance and help the organization achieve its anticipated business outcomes only when they feel that working hard will convert to superior results in terms of benefits, that when they apply their best skills and efforts and offer the best performance, it will generate into better outcomes such as personal and professional growth and development in terms of job promotion, training opportunities, salary increments and when the outcomes are of significance and worth to the employee. Majority of the current theoretical and empirical literature indicate that motivation is a must have component in managing the human resources since it is effective in attracting and retaining valuable employees and ensuring a firm attains its anticipated business outcomes. Nevertheless, the literature cautions against organizational management relying on remunerations as the only strategy to motivating its employees to help sustain their competitive advantage. They recommend the incorporation of both monetary and non-monetary motivators as the surest way to obtain the commitment, loyalty, trust, accountability and participation of employees which translates to improving the competiveness of the organization through higher performance, production and delivery of quality and inimitable products and services, creativity and innovation as noted by Peterson & Luthans, (2006). The notion that one size fits all motivational techniques and programs to motivate all employees is misplaced since employees are not only individually different, but they react and act in different ways and therefore are motivated by varied motivators. Therefore, an organization needs to tailor its motivational techniques to the unique characteristics, needs and expectations of the employee to attain their objective. Conclusion In a rapidly changing business and market environment, modern organizations have no option but to identify ways and means to enhance their uniqueness, inimitability and value and so enhance their competitive advantage against competitors within and across industries. As discussed in the report, motivating employees although it is not the only way for organizations to enhance their competitiveness, is crucial and important for organizations that seek to obtain the best employees, retain them and produce and deliver the best in terms of quality and valuable products and services compared to its competitors. Motivating employees as highlighted in majority of the theoretical and empirical literature should not be confined to offering employees monetary incentives but should include other motivators such as training, offering additional responsibilities, engaging employees in important business processes such as decision making and solving problems and recognizing and appreciating the efforts and hard work put in by workers. In addition, offering work breaks, employment benefits such as health insurance and share options and providing them with bonuses and compensation, job and financial security. Nevertheless, motivating employees should be integrated with other business aspects such as effective leadership, continuous learning, continuous quality improvement, effective selection and motivation and performance management among others. References Cappelli, P. & Neumark, D. 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The impact of financial and nonfinancial incentives on business-unit outcomes over time. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 156–165; Rankin, N. (2003). IRS best practice in HR handbook. London: Butterworth-Heinemann. Salwan, P. (2007). Best Business Practices for Global Competitiveness. Sidney: Pvt. Ltd. Smit, P.J. (2007). Management Principles: A Contemporary Edition for Africa. Sidney: Juta and Company Ltd. Read More