Employee Motivation: Organizational Success

Discuss about the Employee Motivation for Organizational Success.

Introduction:

The importance of employee motivation in bringing about organizational success cannot be overemphasized. The employees are the real assets of any organization, as it is the skill, enthusiasm as well as the working spirit of the workforce that determines the success of an organization. Hence, it is absolutely important to stimulate, inspire and induce the employees. It should be remembered that a motivated workforce will always imply increased rate of productivity and retention and decreased rate of absenteeism (Patrick 2013). The ulterior aim of any organization is profit maximization, yet to achieve the end, it is important to ensure that the employees do not lose interest in their dull, tedious jam-packed schedule. There remains a positive and interdependent relation between organizational effectiveness and employee motivation. An organization that fails to motivate its employees, fails to help the employees feel valued, and this ultimately leads to the loss of skilled workforce. Each organization nowadays should consider introducing several employee motivation programs, meant for increasing the efficiency and productivity of the employees (Graves et al. 2013). While financial incentives, in the form of bonus or promotion, has been the most commonly recognized methods of employee motivation, there is a variety of fresh, unique ways that form important parts of a motivational strategy of an organization. Often the employees, who are otherwise, paid an enormous amount of salary, do not look forward to monetary gains, but are desirous of being recognized. Hence, the introduction of talent and performance appraisal programs, or the process of spotlighting the “Employee of the Month” on the corporate websites of the organization, can be effective means of increasing employee engagement and employee motivation. It should be noted that apart from physical capital, human capital forms an important part of an organization, and an organization can achieve its full potential only by offering sufficient motivation to its employees (L?z?roiu 2015).

Discussion:

Motivation plays a vital role in bringing about organizational success of a firm, and keeping into consideration the importance of motivation, various theorists had introduced a variety of theories explaining the most effective way of employee motivation. It is important to understand the motivation theories propounded by Maslow and Herbergs.

According to Maslow, it is important for the management authority of any organization to have a clear understanding regarding the needs and expectations of its employees. In this context, Maslow had introduced the theory of Hierarchy of Needs, whereby he claims and describes the needs of the employees arranged in order of importance.

Figure 1: Diagram Showing the Hierarchy of Needs as Explained by Maslow

Source: Created by Author

As it can be understood from the above pyramid, though each employee is motivated by an organization that ensures healthy living, the most important factor that motivates and encourages him or her is self-realization. Hence, an organization should focus more on providing opportunities of training and skill development of the employees, so that apart from satisfying their financial needs, they can also professionally groom the employees. Maslow argues that once the lower layers of the pyramid fulfilling the basic needs and expectations of the employees, are fulfilled, the employer should not repeating the benefits, or enhancing the same. Rather, he must introduce employee recognition and appraisal programs, and offer training programs that can easily create a valuable relation with the employees.

Again, Herzberg has introduced Two Factor theory, whereby he claims there are two kinds of factors that are at play in a workplace. On the one hand, there are hygiene factors, such as the pay scale of an employee, the working conditions of the organization, or the fringe benefits, which may produce dissatisfaction, if are absent and yet once these are present these factors do not generate employee satisfaction. On the other hand, Herzberg explains and emphasizes the importance of Motivational factors, such as employee recognition, or promotional opportunities that truly yield employee satisfaction.

Woolworths is one of the most recognized organizations in Australia. Founded in the year of 1924, Woolworths has been able to retain its top market position over the years (Woolworths 2016). One of the major reasons behind the fact that Woolworths has succeeded in emerging as the second largest country in Australia, in terms of profitability and revenue earning capacity, is that it has never overlooked the importance of meting out a fair and just treatment to each of its employees. While in most of the times, the success of the organization has been credited to the introduction of outstanding strategies or the adoption of the novel ideas by Woolworths, the authority was aware all the while, that implementation of the innovative ideas could not be possible without the active engagement of the employees. It is undeniable that Woolworths has indeed gone a considerable way in introducing several employee engagement programs, to developing an index necessary for measuring the level and degree of motivation of each single employee. It is important to identify as well as to critically evaluate the motivational programs undertaken by Woolworths over the years (Dos Santos et al. 2014).

High Salary Package:

There is no gain stating the fact that higher pay has always been an effective employee productivity motivator. Woolworths offers high and attractive salary package that not only increases the employee motivation, but also helps the organization in employee retention. While a cashier earns approximately $ 22 per hour, a department manager or a manager earns around $ 94 per hour (Rowley 2014). There is less discrimination in terms of the pay scale offered to the employees, and any employee holding any designation, such as store manager, customer service executive, sales manager, or a cashier enjoys the benefit of competitive salary package. Salary is a potential motivator for an employee, and hence offering a good amount of salary helps Woolworths increase the productivity of its workforce (Methner et al. 2015). It should be remembered that apart from the high rate of salary, Woolworths believes in providing long-term benefit to its employees that ultimately helps in reducing the rate of employee turnover.  The organization offers variable pay schemes to its employees, whereby the employees are not only eligible to enjoy short term gains but long term incentives such as pension, and other benefits as well (Recker et al. 2016).

Other Financial Benefits and Perks:

Apart from retirement funding schemes, Woolworths also offers added advantage to anyone who works under them. Any employee is eligible to enjoy attractive discounts and lucrative offers on any product produced under the brand name of Woolworths Limited. Such discount schemes not only help in motivating the employees, but at the same time, help the employee connect to the organization. The whole idea of this discount program, is to make each employee feel valued by the organization (Kasyoki and George 2013). While every employee works in an organization, there are employees who often work with greater enthusiasm and dedication. However, it would be unjust if these employees are being treated the same way as any other employee, and is not motivated to work harder in future. Woolworths values the incredible share of dedication offered by its employees, and hence reward these employees for their extraordinary contribution and strong efforts. The organization not only offers monetary rewards to the respective employees, but also recognizes and appreciates the employees at periodic intervals (Blumen 2015).

HealthCare Benefits and Disability Care Benefit:

It is highly important for any organization to ensure the well-being of its employees, and hence health care benefits are the most desirable benefits an employee look forward to it. The organization offers medical aid and other health benefits to its employees. Besides, it is worth mentioning here that the organization offers maternity as well as paternity benefits to its employees (Hülsheger et al. 2013). In case an organization terminates the service of female employees, just because they have conceived, it would be unjust, as it would imply the denial of the contribution of the concerned employees. Hence, the organization has been offering leave. Further, it is no less commendable that if an employee of Woolworths becomes disabled due to illness or serious accident, and his disability is being proved by medical tests, the employee will be able to avail the disability income replacement benefit till his death or recovery (Kanfer et al. 2013)

Training Program and Career Advancement Opportunity:

An employee does not always necessarily feel motivated by the financial gains he receives from an organization. In various situations, it has been noticed that an employee does not want to keep on working in the same designation he started his job with, and is eager to explore his potentialities. As such he is required to participate in a variety of training programs that can help him to up-skill his talent (Elnaga and Imran 2013. However, due to scarcity of time or sufficient money, he often fails to do so. Keeping this in consideration, an organization should introduce various training programs that can help in enhancing the skills of its employee. While on the one hand, improving the skills and potentialities of the existent employees helps the organization improve its performance without the need to hire fresh candidates, the training programs on the other hand, also help to motivate the employees who are eager to learn and develop their skills. As far as Woolworths Limited is concerned, it is worth mentioning here that the organization has invested as much as $32.2 million in the year of 2013 with the purpose of introducing various individual training sessions meant for the career advancement and professional development of the existent workforce. The organization arranged for as many as 845 training courses that were meant for nurturing and enhancing the skills of its employees, so that they can be capable of outperforming themselves (Pinder 2014).

The organization apart from training the existent employees, also arrange various internship as well as graduate programs, that helps in providing on-job training to the fresh employees so that they can explore the roles and the functions assigned to them. Woolworths offers training on a variety of internship streams such as Logistics, Big Data, Business leadership, IT and many more (Phillips and Phillips 2016). It often happens that the employees have sufficient skills, but yet they are unable to fully explore the same, as they are missing the tools, education or the organization necessary to achieve their full potential. However, Woolworths is well-aware of the fact that many of its employees are willing to enjoy the benefits of career advancement through their organization (Shields et al. 2015). While on the one hand, it will help in making the employee feel valued, and assist in employee retention, on the other hand, it also helps in increasing the productivity and work efficiency of the workgroups and teams. One of the most commendable features of Woolworths is that it intends to discover the leaner, faster and more efficient ways of developing the talent of its workforce, without sacrificing a single employee (Cherian and Jacob 2013. This is the reason as to why the management authority of Woolworths Limited ensures that each of its employees is equipped with the necessary training meant for upgrading their qualification or professional skills as and when required (Gagne 2014). The goal behind the introduction of the training programs introduced by Woolworths is to assist the employees gain industry insight as well as to improve their level of qualification. Although there are many organizations in Australia that offer training programs to its employees, there are very few organizations that have a systematic and organized approach to the situation (Gegenfurtner  and Vauras 2012). On the other hand, Woolworths does not train the employees once in a year, but follows a regular and well-structured pattern for the same. The organization ever fails to help its employees feel valued, and an important part of the organization they are working for. Hence, it arranges for the training programs as par the convenience of the employees. The trainee employees of Woolworths are given the opportunity of commencing the training course at any time, and at their own pace, so that their daily work or professional and social life remains unaffected by the participation in the programs (Jehanzeb et al. 2013).  Consequently, the employees feel motivated for being able to avail so many amenities at a time and that too in accordance with their own convenience. Further, the organization also offers online training programs to its employees that help the employees gain easy and swift access to the learning tools at their own pace.  Above all, one of the most attractive features of the training program introduced by Woolworths is the variety of areas and learning courses it offers (Latham 2012). Apart from professional training courses, the organization also introduces soft skill training and professional grooming courses that help in enhancing and improving the personality skills and communication skills of the employees (Pinder 2014).

Recognition and Appraisal:

It is needless to state here that appraisal and sufficient recognition has always been the key to motivate the employees. The bestowal of recognition, such as the title, “Employee of the Month”, or the nomination of an employee for a scholarship program, will never fail to impress and satisfy the needs of recognition of an employee. An employee will tend to feel de-motivated, and discouraged, if he is not rewarded for his extraordinary contribution to the work, and consequently he will cease to work enthusiastically, to help the organization achieve its goals. Hence, it is absolutely important for an organization to recognize an individual skill and teamwork. Woolworths offers scholarship programs to its employees, such as the Jack Shewmaker Scholarship programs, that are used for rewarding the employees for their innovation and new, novel ideas (Bradler et al. 2016). Those employees who are capable of executing their duties in an outstanding way, or those who outperform other employees, are eligible to be enrolled for this scholarship program. The organization recognizes the skills and expertise of its employees, and rewards anyone who comes up with best retail practices and in the process merit recognition. For example, in case of the Jack Shewmaker scholarship program, the organization offers $20,000 worth of study opportunities that rewards an employee for clearly articulating a new idea or for having exhibited extraordinary leadership skills (Parker 2014). Innovative ideas often help an organization go ahead in business, and enjoy organizational success. Hence, Woolworths Limited rewards innovation and novel ideas of the employees, thereby encouraging its employees to think outside the box (Mazoor 2012).

A Comparative Study of the Motivational Strategies of Woolworths and Other Australian Organizations:

Apart from Woolworths, other Australian organizations such as Coles, Wesmayers, also are willing to motivate and retain higher caliber talent. Research suggests that the Australian workers are far more motivated than the employees of any other country, and hence it is important to evaluate the motivation strategies adopted by the Australian organizations. While speaking of the issue of employee motivation, Coles has always remained a leading name. The organization offers high and attractive salary package and great workplace culture to its employees. The organization, however, is accused of not providing much career advancement options to its employees, as a result of which the employees fail to upgrade their skills and potentialities. While Woolworths, apart from organizing training programs, also arranges various seminars and workshops that largely help in up-skilling and enhancing the professional skills of the employees, the Coles employees fails to avail them similar kind of benefits. However, Coles offers flexible work schedule to its employees, which are however absent in case of Woolworths. Though it is less acknowledged by the organizations, yet it is undeniable that good working schedules help an organization motivate its employees by increasing their level of satisfaction. Although Woolworths offers the option of work from home facility to its employees in case of special occasions, its employees complain about the lack of flexibility in the working hours. One of the most impressive and innovative motivational strategy recently adopted by Coles, is that it has started focusing on the physical and mental well-being of its employees as well.  The organization recently has collaborated with Fitbit Wellness Enterprise that is responsible for improving the physical as well as the mental well-being of the employees, and boosting their productivity. It is noteworthy here that not only Coles, but also other Australian organizations such as Wesfarmers, Lend Lease, IBM and Medibank have also teamed up with the enterprise for improving the health and consequently the efficiency and productivity of the employees. The management authority of Coles claimed that internal research suggested that most of the employees were inactive, and were suffering from a loss of enthusiasm. Hence, the organization thought of introducing such health programs that is useful in easily motivating the employees.

Again, LandLease as a famous multinational property and infrastructure company, ensures the physical well-being and health of its employees. The organization not only provides health insurance benefits to each of its employees, but also offers Workcover Queensland’s Recover at Work (RAW) host employment program that enables the employees avail free treatment so that they can recover and cure fast before returning to work. An organization should take the responsibility of each single employee, and it is worth-mentioning that though Woolworths offers disability benefits to its employees, it has yet not adopted any health promotion program, nor does it offer financial assistance to the injured workers of the organization.  It is to be noted here that Landlease set up its Landlease foundation responsible for promoting the well-being, health and happiness of its employees and his family members as well. However, the training opportunities offered by the organization are very limited, in comparison to Woolworths. The organization offers the opportunity to its employees to maximize their personal and career potential by enrolling in five day personal training sessions arranged by the organization, and yet such training sessions are not being arranged at regular intervals by the organization. However, Woolworths offers attractive training sessions, workshops and seminars to its employees, and each of these training sessions are arranged at periodic intervals. It is commendable here that the systematic and organized approach towards the method of training the employees is being adopted by Woolworths. The scope and opportunities of career advancement is much wider in Woolworths (Belias, D. and Koustelios 2014).

Wesmayers employs the salary increment strategy as a means of incentivizing the employees. The salary package offered by the organization is high, and attractive enough that helps the organization in increased rate of employee motivation and employee retention. However, on the other hand at Woolworths, though the employees are being offered attractive salary package at the start, the organization does not offer much opportunity for promotion to its employees. The continual method of increment and promotion should be adopted by Woolworths, as it helps in constantly reminding the employees why they should work harder for contributing to the success of the organization.  However, Woolworths offers various lucrative benefits and perks to its employees, such as staff discount cards, paid sick leave for 9 days a year, discount across the Woolies Group brand, paid vacation that helps in motivating its employees as well.

Recommendations:

Employee motivation plays an integral role in increasing the engagement of the employees that ultimately leads to organizational success. From the above discussion, it is evident that Woolworths prioritizes its employees and their benefits, while chalking out its motivational strategies. However, there are areas that may require recommendations to help the organization improve the quality of its employee experience. The organization should provide flexible work schedules to the employees, so that the employees can continue working at their own convenience (Kanfer et al. 2013). Woolworths offers a very tight schedule that may de-motivate the employees, and especially the employees who are single parents, find it difficult to meet family needs, personal obligations and life responsibilities, while working in the organization. The increment of salary is a very powerful means of motivating the employees and hence the organization should not merely try to offer an attractive salary at the beginning, but it must continue to offer increment to the employees at regular intervals. It would be advisable for the organization to offer a comparatively low salary package at the start, but it must ensure that as the employee completes several years in the organization, his loyalty is rewarded by offering him promotion and necessary career growth opportunities. It has been observed that the employees of Woolworths are discontent with the work environment of the organization, and hence apart from the professional skills of the employees, the communication skills of the employees should also be improved. As it is being known, Woolworths has introduced a diverse workforce, and hence it is important for the employees to be trained soft skills. Soft skill training improves the experience of the employees, and motivates them to work more productively (Praker 2014).

Besides, the organization also needs to increase the number of sick leaves an employee is entitled to receive on a single day. Woolworths offers nine paid leaves to its employees, but owing to the work pressure, the employees may get ill once in a month, and hence it is necessary to offer at least one sick leave during each month. Again, it should be remembered that any kind of incentive or perk is a short term gain, and the employees may leave the organization as and when they find an organization offering better amenities. Keeping this in mind, Woolworths must focus more on building personal relation with the employees (Miner 2015). Recognizing the talent of the skillful employees is surely a commendable thing, but the organization is required to motivate the less skilled workforce as well. This can be done by arranging greater number of training sessions and workshops for them, by offering health benefits and health insurance policies for the employees, and also by funding the treatment expense of the injured employees. It is important to offer assistance to the employees as and when they need it, as it will help in creating a valued relation between the employer and the employee that in turn will be helpful in motivating the employee to work for the benefit of the organization (Williams 2016).

Conclusion:

The importance of motivation in the organizational success cannot be overemphasized. However, it should be remembered that it is not sufficient to motivate the employees. It is equally important to align the motivational strategies of an organization with the goals, mission and vision of the organization. In case the organization motivates the employees by offering greater incentive to the employees than they actually deserve, it will bring out a financial loss to the organization. Hence, an organization must adopt and employ the most effective motivational strategies that will help the organization increase the productivity and efficiency of the employees, that will ultimately bring organizational success. 

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