The Motivation and Job Satisfaction of Employees - Research Proposal Example

Research proposal of the research To assess the relationship between raise in wages and salary on the motivation and job satisfaction of employees Introduction: This research is about the impact of pay raise in salary and wages for the employees of the XXX organization. Generally, motivation can have a huge effect on the output of any business and concerns at levels of both quantity and quality. If we view it from another perspective, most organizations rely profoundly on the competence of the production staff so that products are made in such a way that they achieve the demand for the week. Linking the earlier statement with the XXX organization, if its employees lack the motivation to manufacture products so that the demand could be met, then the organization is facing a rather big problem that would eventually lead to catastrophic consequences. The current research would therefore be conducting a study on the XXX organization that is a FMCG company whose branches are located in ABC location with total number of 300 employees working. Background to the research Fodor, Wick & Conroy (2011) state that McClelland’s (1976) power-stress theory suggests that people who crave to be high in need for power undergo immense stress in actual social events, which shows that they want control or influence over others in order to achieve recognition for power-oriented behaviors. Thus, they stated one factor that directly effects the motivation of an individual. Guided by McClelland’s theory, the authors used a simulated dating service experiment that used a sample of college men, scoring high as well as low on the Picture Story Exercise (PSE) that explained the power motivation, and later observed a video displaying an interview. Chan, Kin and Lam (2010) reveal that the literature on empowerment serve as an internal marketing practice predominantly has constructive effects on employees’ job performance. By means of a laboratory experiment and a survey, this research unleashes that the perceived workload and motivational mechanisms have conflicting effects on employees’ service performance. As for Strawn, Greenberg, and Savner (2001), they sum up findings from three policies of institute studies, showing that when former welfare clients received higher wages, health care benefits, and paid vacation, the time of remaining employees became longer. All three of these factors are likely to motivate job retention among former welfare clients. Bamberger & Meshoulam, (2000) state that the organization’s financial reward system can have a positive impact on an employee’s job performance and the desire to remain employed. Jurkiewicz et al. (1998) in his study says that 629 public and private sector employees ranked 15 motivational factors according to both their relative desirability and the degree to which they are being received on the job. It was observed that what motivates the two sectors at the supervisory level and the striking differences apparent at the non-supervisory level were both quite similar to each other. Statistical analysis provides strong evidence of making vague impression of the two sectors on several key issues. According to Cappelli & Chauvin’s empirical research, efficient compensation can reduce the tendency of the employee to “shirk,” which includes factors like excessive absenteeism and reduced job effort that often leads to termination. Effective Compensation Practices will increase the ability of an organization to attract and retain the best employees for their organization. Compensation systems will continue to increase the scope and administrative complexity, and with this, employers have become more interested in benefit cost containment. The problem situation Employee motivation is one of the major issues faced by every organization. A manager is usually responsible for motivating his subordinates as well as those working under him, along with creating the ‘will to work’ attitude among the subordinates. However, if the same manager does not motivate his subordinates, and maintain a certain level of satisfaction level within his organization, it may so happen that the workers’ willingness to work greatly reduces, and even though he was immensely talented, he might not achieve anything. Thus, the organization as a whole should be able to make use of motivation to enthuse the employees. Of course, in XYZ Company this relationship has not been identified till now. Hence this study is focusing on the employee motivation in the XYZ organization so that it can be examined how a factor like salary or pay can affect such variable. Objectives To identify the crucial independent as well as dependent variables that is associated with employee motivation and job satisfaction. To develop hypothesis for motivation, pay and job satisfaction and test it using the analysis techniques to examine how the organization is affected. Research Questions Does an increase in pay actually increase job satisfaction of the employees? Does an increase in pay actually motivate the employees? Significance of the study Many business managers today are fully aware of the effects that motivation can (and does) have on their business; hence many studies have been conducted that examine motivation and job satisfaction in the workplace, and the effect it has on the organization if it is manipulated. The aim of this research paper is to help understand the importance and effects of motivation by identifying key factors that determine the rate of motivation in employees from the organization chosen, and further examines how it can either increase or decrease the job satisfaction of the same employees of XYZ company, as no study has ever been conducted at this organization before with the use of the earlier mentioned variables. The theoretical framework The study is intended to evaluate motivation and job satisfaction of employees in the organization. A first-rate motivational program in order to maintain the employees and their satisfaction is essential to achieve the objectives of the organization. Thus, there are obviously many factors that can affect these two variables. The number of factors, thus, identified that affect motivation and job satisfaction can be seen in the context of an individual’s physical and mental health, along with decreased productivity, increased absenteeism, and turnover. As for the employee delight, it has to be managed in more than one way. The current research will take salary of the employees as an independent variable, and thus identify its effect on motivation and job satisfaction of employees, as dependent variables of this research. The current study would take the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs with it that states that every need of an individual is structured into a hierarchy. More specifically, the theory states that until one level of need is not met, the individual does not move on to the next level. This hierarchy is therefore divided into five levels, which state human needs in 5 stages. The needs are therefore, the Physiological needs, the Safety needs, Social needs, Esteem needs and Self-actualization needs. It was also stated that each employee of an organization is at a different level while working in the organization, and thus after this study has been conducted, the XYZ organization must consider this factor before applying to any strategy for motivation which should not be standardized in any way (Tutor, 2012). Source: Tutor, 2012 Hypothesis: The hypothesis generated for the current research will be: H0: There is no relationship between pay raise and employee motivation HA: There is a relationship between pay raise and employee motivation H0: There is no relationship between pay raise and employee job satisfaction HA: There is a relationship between pay raise and employee job satisfaction Research methods It has been observed that the study to be conducted owns the nature of a Cross Sectional Research as it will be examining the impact of the independent variable over the dependent variable at one point in time. The population size identified would be a total number of 300 employees working in the XYZ organization that is understudy. They are not the actual respondents, but are a group through which a sample is generated later in the study. However, they can be added later on in the study given the need. The characteristic of the population is a blend of diverse ages, gender, cadre and religion. Therefore, since these are the overall employees of the XYZ organization, these potential respondents are a part of the population size. More specifically, the cadre that will be examined is higher and middle ranked employees with the genders of male and female in nature. As for the sample size, the respondents will be selected through random sampling technique which will be no less than 10 percent of the population. For this study, the sample size chosen is a total of 100 employees working in ABC branch of the XYZ organization. The respondents will be more than 25 years of age, with an experience of over 2 years and will examine males as well as females working in the departments understudy. Data collection techniques: In order to conduct the research, three ways of data collection will be used. For the primary research, it will be made sure that efficient questionnaires are developed and customized according to the need of the organization and research. Along with that, it will be made sure that informal discussion with a few number of employees is carried out that aids the data collection and proves as a backup for the results. As for the secondary data, the literature review will use published sources like journals and books to review any background research. Ethical issues It will be made sure while conducting the research that it considers all ethical standards that must be considered before conducting any research. During the study it will be made sure that confidentiality is maintained and identities are protected; also that the participation remains voluntary and data collected is correctly credited. Data analysis techniques The proposed data analysis technique for the research will be the SPSS. Also known as the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, the SPSS is considered as a computer based application that analyzes the data in a statistical manner. The reason for choosing this package is because it will provide an in depth analysis and thus provide reliable results to be further analyzed. Contributions Of this study This study is worth conducting because it aims to carry out a research study that has never been conducted at this organization before. The results will thus help the XYZ organization to identify whether or not an increase in pay has had any effect over the job satisfaction and motivation of its employees. Thus, with that identified, the XYZ organization will be better able to understand if a change in pay, salary or wages actually affected any of its employees, and if the employees currently working in the XYZ organization are actually motivated enough to provide profit to the organization in the long run. This study will thus prove as a good reality check for the company. Plan that shows resources, timescales, tasks to be carried out Duration Course Work Dissertation write-up Course Work for Pre- Dissertation Proposal Development 2 Weeks 2 Weeks 2 Weeks 3 Weeks 3 Weeks Proposal Defense 4th Jan 2012 Review of Literature 20thFeb 2012 Conceptual Framework; 5th Mar 2012 Research design/ Data collection 26th Mar 2012 Findings & conclusion; Submission of Dissertation 30th April 2012 References: Bamberger, P., & Meshoulam, I, Human resource strategy: Formulation, implementation, and impact. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2000 Bamberger, P., & Meshoulam, I, Human resource strategy: Formulation, implementation, and impact. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2001 Beer, J. S and Hughes, B.L, Self-Enhancement: A Social Neuroscience Perspective, Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, 2011 Cappelli, P., & Chauvin, K, An interplant test of the efficiency wage hypothesis. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 106, 760–787 1991 Chan, Kimmy W., Chi Kin (Bennett) Yim, and Simon K. Lam, “Is Customer Participation in Value Creation a Double-Edged Sword? Evidence from Professional Financial Services Across Cultures”, Journal of Marketing, 74(3), 48-64, 2010 Fodor, E.M., Wick, D.P., & Conroy, N.E., Power Motivation as an Influence on Reaction to a Feminist Potential Dating Partner. Motivation and Emotion, 2011 Jurkiewicz, Carole L., Massey jr, Tom K., and Brown, Roger G. Motivation in Public and Private Organizations: A Comparative Study, Public Productivity and Management Review, vol. 21 (3), pp. 230-250, 1988 Strawn, J., Greenberg, M., &Savner, S, Improving employment outcomes under TANF, In R. M. Blank & R. Haskins (Eds.), The new world of welfare (pp. 223–244). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. Succesvolverander management.pdf, 2001 Tutor, Motivation theories, Accessed 24th April, 2012 Read More