Role of Employee Motivation in Improving Organisational Performance

Role of employee motivation in improving performance of an organisation
Introduction LITERATURE REVIEW
REFERENCES
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Employee motivation is a crucial aspect for each and every organisation that
leads it to performance of a department or the entire business entity. It is the
level of commitment, creativity and energy that employees of a company bring
to their jobs. In every organisation, it is necessary for management to ensure
that all the employees stay motivated at the workplace so, that are healthy
culture would maintain and they are encouraged to work more effectively
towards attainment of organisational goals . The chosen company for this
research is Marks and Spencer. It is a leading multinational retailer of United
Kingdom that offers high quality clothing, food and home products to its
customers. The research is based on the topic "role of employee motivation in
improving organisational performance".
Research methodology encompasses some specific techniques or procedures that are utilised to determine,
collect, process and analyse information or data on a particular topic. This is a crucial part in research which helps
researcher in conducting a particular investigation in systematic way. The Research onion framework is used to
determine the stages included in development of research work (Lou, Blanchard and Kennedy, 2015). The
different layers of research onion are mentioned below:
Research philosophy: it encompasses set of principles that are concerning the stance to which research is
performed. Three types of research philosophy are there including interpretivism, realism and positivism. Realism
philosophy enables researcher to use new research methods and it does not support scientific approach or
method. Interpretivism philosophy helps researcher in interpreting the way individuals see their actions. It assists
in understanding the culture of people along with their involvement in social life. Positivism philosophy utilise
questions of research that can be tested. In this particular research, positivism philosophy is utilised by researcher
as it helps researcher in finding out the detailed information on the topic by utilising generally accepted
knowledge of individuals (McGuire, 2015).
Research approach: it consists the procedure and plan that involves broad assumptions to descriptive data
collection methodologies, their appropriate analysis as well as interpretation. Inductive and deductive are the two
research approaches that can be utilised in research. In deductive approach, a hypothesis is developing on the
basis of pre-existing theory and then the approach is formulating to test it. On the other hand, inductive approach
allowed researcher to create a theory instead of adopting pre-existing one. In this research, inductive approach
selected as it is not requiring any framework that informs collection of data thus, the focus of research can be
formed after collection of data.
Research strategy: it is defined as the entire plan of performing a research study. It describes the way an
investigator intends to perform the work. There are several research strategies including survey, case study, action
research, experimental, interview, or systematic literature review (Merrell and Gimpel, 2014). In this research,
survey strategy is used as this helps researcher in collecting more authentic and reliable data in large amount that
will support in answering the research question. In this, a questionnaire will be prepared that consists of some set
of questions that require to be answered by respondent selected as a sample.
Time horizon: it is defined as the time frame within which the researcher will be completed. It describes the
needed time that is required by a researcher for completion of study. Two types of time horizon included in
research onion are cross sectional as well as longitudinal time horizon. In this study, cross sectional time horizon
will be used by researcher that is the one which is already established, whereby information must be gathered. As
the study is concerned with particular phenomenon at specified time, cross sectional time horizon will be the
most appropriate for this research.
Data collection method: it includes all the procedures and techniques that are used to gather data or information
over a particular topic (Naile and Selesho, 2014). There are two types of methods through which data can be
collected. This includes primary and secondary data collection method. In this research, both the methods will be
used. The primary data will be collect through using questionnaires and for gathering secondary data, online
websites, literatures, books, articles, journals or previously published data will be used.
Data analysis: it is referred as the process of analysing, recording, transforming and modelling data with the aim
of discovering useful information that helps in drawing valid conclusion of research. Thematic analysis technique
will be used in this research to identify, analyse and report pattern or themes in data that enables researcher to
understand various aspects of research (Njoroge and Yazdanifard, 2014).
LITERATURE REVIEW
Significance of employee motivation in business
Motivation is defined as the commitment, creativity and enthusiasm that workforce bring to an organisation on regular basis.
Employee motivation is directly proportional to the success of organisation (Aworanti, Taiwo and Iluobe, 2015). if employees are
motivated, they are more committed towards the activities and operations of business. As per the view point of Lodewijk Noordz,
(2013), motivation plays significant role in enhancing the performance of an organisation. Motivated workforce support in taking
an organisation to the next level. They ensure that a positive atmosphere can be maintained at workplace and they work hard
towards accomplishment of organisational goals. Employee motivation is significant in business due to several reasons. It allows
administration to meet the goals of company (What is employee motivation?, 2013). Motivated workforce leads the organisation
towards increased productivity and allow it to accomplish high output. It increases the satisfaction level of employees and
enhance their commitment towards company. If the employer motivate their employees, then it will improve their efficiency level
and they enable to work more effectively towards fulfillment of their assigned roles and responsibilities. This will lead the
company towards positive growth and help it in accomplishment of long-term success in market. This will help management in
ensuring that workers remain active at workplace and contribute in better performance. In addition to this, high motivation level
leads to lower absenteeism of employees and reducing turnover (Barlow, 2014).
Different ways through which an organisation can motivate its employees
As per the view point of Ilya Pozin, (2015), there are several ways that organisation can use to motivate its employees. Some of
the ways are mentioned below:
Open door policy: this i the way that help organisation in motivating its employees. In this, employees can freely share their views
and ideas to employer which encourage creativity and innovation within firm. This helps in making the employees feel that their
views matter a lot to the company and creates a sense of belongingness among them which in turn leads to improve motivation
level of employees and enhance organisational performance (Bradler, Dur and Non, 2016).
Recognise great work: it is the another way which highly contributes in increasing the motivation level of employees. By
recognise employees for their hard work and providing them with rewards for the work they have done will help the management
in effectively motivating its employees which in turn enables them to put more efforts towards accomplishment of organisational
goals (Lou, Blanchard and Kennedy, 2015).
Create healthy workplace: by developing a healthy work environment, a business entity can motivate its employees effectively.
This enables employees to spend much time in working in the office and they feel comfortable at workplace (Gresham, 2016). If
pleasant atmosphere is created by management of company at workplace, then it results in highly motivated employees as well as
improve organisational performance (14 Highly Effective Ways to Motivate Employees, 2015).
Encourage effective communication: proper communication at workplace helps employees in understanding their roles and
responsibilities in more appropriate way. This will also help in exchanging their information appropriately which ensures good
communication flow at workplace. This will help them in performing their roles and responsibilities effectively and accomplish
organisational goals. It also helps in enhancing motivation of employees and their retention in organisation for long term (Gubler,
Larkin and Pierce, 2016).
Role of employee motivation in improving organisational performance
As per the view point of Kuranchie-Mensah and Amponsah-Tawiah, (2016), Motivated employees a directly proportional to
improved organisational performance. Employees are the crucial asset of a company and plays significant role in improving the
productivity and performance of company. If an organisation emphasizes on motivating its employees then, it would result in their
improved performance (Naile and Selesho, 2014). Motivated employees work happily at workplace and are highly committed
towards organisational goals. So, their role is very significant in an organisation and their effective performance will lead the
organisation towards improved performance and profitability. If employees of an organisation are not motivated, then it will lead
the company towards failure. But, on the other hand, motivated employees highly contribute the organisation in gaining growth
and success and improving its productivity (Lăzăroiu, 2015).
RESEARCH LIMITATIONS
Some of the limitation of research includes that it focuses on only the employee motivation. The other aspects related to this are
not taken into consideration. Apart from this, convincing people to fill the questionnaire is also a challenge that may face by
researcher (Kuranchie-Mensah and Amponsah-Tawiah, 2016).
Background of research
Employee motivation plays very crucial role in growth and success of
organisation. Highly motivated employees are committed towards
accomplishment of organisational goals. This research is conducted on Marks
and Spencer which is a multinational clothing retailer of UK that deals in retail
industry. In year 2019, the total UK retail sales value was 394 billion pounds
and it was grown by 3.4% (UK RETAIL STATS & FACTS, 2020). In United
Kingdom, the contribution of retail industry in Gross domestic product of nation
is 5% and the annual yearly growth of online retail sales was 10% in year 2019.
This research intent to analyse the role of employee motivation in improving the
performance of an organisation.
Significance of research
Employee motivation plays very crucial role in growth and success of
organisation. Highly motivated employees are committed towards
accomplishment of organisational goals. This research is conducted on Marks
and Spencer which is a multinational clothing retailer of UK that deals in retail
industry. In year 2019, the total UK retail sales value was 394 billion pounds
and it was grow by 3.4% (UK RETAIL STATS & FACTS, 2020).
Research Aim
The aim of study is “To analyse the role of employee motivation in improving
performance of an organisation. A case study on Marks & Spencer”.
Objectives of Research
The objectives of this research are as follows:
To understand the concept of employee motivation.
To analyse different ways through which an organisation can motivate its
employees.
To assess the role of employee motivation in enhancing performance of firm.
Research Questions
The main questions of research are:
What is the significance of employee motivation in business?
What are the various ways through which a company can motivate its
employees?
How employee motivation helps in improving performance of an
organisation?
Rationale of research
By conducting research over the topic employee motivation, researcher will be
able to get deep insights on the topic which further helps in improving their
knowledge on the study area. Apart from this, it will also help the scholars in
future in conducting further research on the topic and drawing valid outcomes
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