An Analysis of Motivational Techniques at Jack Stores

This report examines motivational techniques applicable to 'Jack Stores,' a discount retail chain. It begins with an introduction to motivation in the workplace and an overview of the case study, which focuses on how Jack Stores can motivate its employees to improve their performance and customer service. The main body of the report analyzes two key motivational theories: Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Hertzberg's two-factor theory. Maslow's theory is discussed in detail, outlining how Jack Stores can address employees' physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization needs to enhance motivation. Hertzberg's theory is then explored, differentiating between hygiene factors and motivators, and how Jack Stores can use these factors to increase job satisfaction. The report concludes by summarizing the effectiveness of these theories in the context of Jack Stores, emphasizing their potential to boost employee retention, create a positive work environment, and drive sales through improved performance and customer satisfaction. References to books and journals are also included.

Motivational Techniques
at ‘Jack Stores’

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................3
Overview of case study..........................................................................................................3
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory.......................................................................................3
Hertzberg’s two factor theory.................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

Introduction
Motivation relates to the internal desire, needs, wants or drives of an individual which stimulate
and encourage them to put actions and efforts in achieving their goals. In an organisation it is
important that the employees are highly motivated so that they can give their best performance
and help the company in achieving its goals and objectives on time. The managers and leaders of
company should motivate their employees so that their productivity can be enhanced and they
can become more committed towards their work. In this report the motivational theories that can
be used by the managers of ‘Jack stores’ is discussed so that the employees can be highly
motivated to improve their performance so that high quality of services can be given to
customers.
Main Body
Overview of case study
Tesco is aiming at opening discount stores ‘Jack’ so that customers can be offered products
at discounted prices following the competitive pricing policy similar to Aldi and Lidl. The Jack
stores will have similar culture and values as Tesco so that an effective working environment can
be created and high customer satisfaction can be achieved by creating high value for them. In
order to keep the staff members at Jack stores highly motivated the managers can apply certain
motivational theories so that their work performance can be increased.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory
This theory was given by Abraham Maslow according to which an individual has a
hierarchy of needs which must be fulfilled in a specific order so that they can stay motivated and
can improve their work performance. In this theory the needs hierarchy moves from the basic
needs to other needs of a person while gradually moving upwards the pyramid of needs. Once
the lower needs are satisfied they do not serve as a motivator and the other higher needs must be
satisfied so that the person can remain motivated to improve their performance and use their
complete potential in achieving certain goals (Camaj, 2019).

Source: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, 2020
As per this theory following are the hierarchical needs of a person:
 Psychological needs: These refer to the basic need of the individual like water, food and
other biological needs. These needs can be fulfilled by the managers of Jack stores by
giving the employees minimum salary that can help them in satisfying their basic needs.
 Safety needs: These are the needs related to safety at work, secure jobs, healthy working
environment so that they do not fall sick etc. The managers of Jack stores can fulfil these
needs by giving the workers a safe and healthy working environment and also increasing
the job security through certain policies and rules (Ellis, 2016).
 Social needs: These needs are related with social well being so that good relations can be
made with other employees and managers which can help in making a friendly working
environment and improving the work performance. At Jack stores the managers can
ensure high participation of workers so that healthy working environment can be
established.
 Self esteem needs: These needs are related with being respected by other peers,
recognition and appreciation of their work so that they can feel motivated to work better.

Performance appraisals, rewards system etc. can be adopted at Jack stores so that these
needs can be met.
 Self actualisation: These needs are related with personal development and growth so that
job satisfaction can be achieved and employees can become more committed towards
their work. Training and development programmes can be used at Jack stores so that
employees can acquire new skills, accept new challenges and can grow and develop both
personally and professionally.
Advantages
 This theory is simple to understand and can be easily applied in Jack stores to motivate its
employees so that their needs are fulfilled and they can be motivated.
 This theory can help in building good relations in Jack stores so that the employees can
be satisfied with their jobs and provide high quality services to customers thereby
achieving customer satisfaction (Ryan and Berbegal-Mirabent, 2016).
Disadvantages
 The needs of people vary from one person to other which can affect its effective
application.
 The satisfaction level of people is difficult to measure as it is a psychological factor and
can lead to different motivation in different people.
Hertzberg’s two factor theory
This theory of motivation helps in determining the factors which satisfy the employees at
job and the factors which dissatisfy them. The working environment of an individual has two
types of factors which are labelled as hygiene factors and motivators depending on their impact
on the performance of employees. The hygienic factors include motivating factors like company
policies, supervision, working condition, salary, job security etc. which help in motivating the
employees to perform their work well. The absence of these factors can affect the motivation of
employees and they do not use their potential efficiently (Koh, 2016). Motivators on the other
hand are the factors like achievement, recognition, interesting work, increased responsibilities,
advancement and growth etc. which encourage the employees to perform well.

Source: Hertzberg’s two factor theory, 2020
Advantages
 Through this theory the managers of Jack stores can focus on the hygienic factors that
can help in motivating employees.
 This theory focus on motivation from within which can help in motivating employees to
perform better at Jack stores (Brown and Capozza, 2016).
Disadvantages
 The theory is subjective and is difficult to practically apply in Jack stores.
 Job satisfaction may not lead to increase in job productivity always.
From the above two theories it can be said that Jack stores can apply Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs theory so as to motivate the employees by meeting their needs and encouraging them to
perform better which can help them in achieving their self actualisation. It can also help them in
being committed to company so that they can achieve high customer satisfaction so that strong
brand image can be built and sales can be increased.

Conclusion
From this report it can be said that motivation plays an important role in encouraging
employees to work towards achieving company goals. It can also help in increasing employee
retention and creating a healthy working environment so that performance and productivity can
be improved and high sales can be achieved.

References
Books and Journals
Brown, R. and Capozza, D. eds., 2016. Social identities: Motivational, emotional, cultural
influences. Psychology Press.
Camaj, L., 2019. Motivational theories of agenda-setting effects: An information selection and
processing model of attribute agenda-setting. International Journal of Public Opinion
Research, 31(3), pp.441-462.
Ellis, L.E., Nunn, S.G. and Avella, J.T., 2016. Digital badges and micro-credentials: Historical
overview, motivational aspects, issues, and challenges. In Foundation of Digital
Badges and Micro-Credentials (pp. 3-21). Springer, Cham.
Ryan, J.C. and Berbegal-Mirabent, J., 2016. Motivational recipes and research performance: A
fuzzy set analysis of the motivational profile of high performing research
scientists. Journal of Business Research, 69(11), pp.5299-5304.
Koh, C., 2016. Translating motivational theory into application of information technology in the
classroom. In Building Autonomous Learners (pp. 245-258). Springer, Singapore.
Online
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs .2020. [Online] Available through:
<https://www.knowledgehut.com/tutorials/project-management/motivation-theories>
Hertzberg’s two factor theory .2020. [Online] Available through:
<https://www.knowledgehut.com/tutorials/project-management/motivation-theories>