Research Project: Employee Satisfaction Tools Impact on Performance

This research proposal investigates the impact of employee satisfaction tools on employee performance within the UK retail industry, focusing on Marks and Spencer during the COVID-19 pandemic. It aims to understand employee satisfaction, determine relevant strategies within the retail sector, and evaluate the relationship between these strategies and employee performance. The research employs a qualitative approach, utilizing thematic analysis of primary data collected via questionnaires from 30 Marks and Spencer employees, supplemented by secondary data from books, journals, and online articles. The study explores themes such as the concept of employee satisfaction, strategies used by Marks and Spencer, and the relationship between satisfaction strategies and employee performance, while also addressing ethical considerations and limitations related to time and resource availability. Ultimately, the research seeks to recommend strategies for improving employee engagement and overall company performance in the wake of the pandemic.

Research Proposal

Table of Contents
BACKGROUND.............................................................................................................................3
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES.............................................................................................................3
RATIONALE..................................................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY....................................................................................................6
TIMELINE......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................11

TITLE: To investigate the impact of using employee satisfaction tools upon employee
performance during pandemic situation within UK retail industry: A study on Marks and
Spencer.
BACKGROUND
In the current situation, the scope of retail industry is increasing rapidly and this sector
also contributes in the economic growth of the country. It is necessary for the company to
maintain healthy relationship with the employees during the time of Covid-19. In order to
balance the losses suffered by the organisation during pandemic it is very important to have
employees engagement in the working of the business. Furthermore, it can be analysed that there
are positive and negative impact of the crisis faced by Marks and Spencer. Due to the Lockdown,
various employees lost their job and work from home was adopted by several companies due to
various restrictions imposed by the government. The present study will be based on one of the
British multinational retail company i.e. Marks and Spencer of UK. This Research Proposal will
reflect on the impact of the tools that is related to employees satisfaction on the performance of
the employees.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
Aim:
The aim of the present investigation is to investigate the impact of using employee
satisfaction tools on the performance of the employees during pandemic in context of the Marks
and Spencer.
Objective:
 To understand the concept of employee satisfaction
 To determine the strategies associated with the employee satisfaction within retail
industry.
 To critically evaluate the relationship between employee satisfaction strategies and
employee performance.
 To recommend strategies that can improve the employee engagement by minimising the
challenges
Research question
 What are employee satisfaction and its importance?

 What strategies are employed by Marks and Spencer to improve the performance of the
employees?
 What kind of challenges faced by the company during the pandemic regarding the
employee engagement?
RATIONALE
The reason for conducting the research is to analyse the strategies that can helps in
improving the performance of the employees so that they put their efforts for improving the
overall performance of the company after outbreak of the pandemic which has badly affected the
profitability of the company. During Covid-19, there were various issues that faced by the
employees which affected their livelihood. Furthermore, to improve the performance of the
employee it is mandatory for the company to implement various strategies which can helps in
resolving this issue. Thus, by using the thematic analysis, the researcher can easily determine the
effective ways to improve the performance of the employees.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Theme-1 Concept of employee satisfaction
As per the view of Lasisi, and et.al., (2020) employee satisfaction is considered very
important for the employees in order to stay happy and satisfied which will helps in delivering
the work in effective manner. It is observed that satisfied employees are extremely loyal towards
the company perform their work keeping the organisational goal at priority and put their
maximum efforts to achieve the goals .On the other hand Jigjiddorjand et.al., (2021)believes that
organisation should understand the preferences and requirements of the employees and support
for improving their performance which will act as motivator and can be reflected on their
performance. According to Mohammadand et.al., (2019) satisfied employees take initiative in
performing the task and effectively achieve it within the given time frame.
On the other hand Islami, Mulolli, and Mustafa, (2018) states that dissatisfied
employees find unnecessary ways to get rid of the job which can negatively impact the
company's overall performance. The Kawiana, and et.al., (2018) believes that the employees who
are satisfied and happy with their work can handle and manage the stress and pressure and
overcome the challenges easily. Moreover, they support other employees and communicate with
their co-workers effectively resulting in creating favourable environment in the organisation. On

the hand Kurdi, and et.al., (2020) It is the responsibility of the management to provide support
and encourage the members of the company which will boost their morale in effectively in
achieving the objectives and goals of the organisation.
Theme-2 Strategies associated with the employee satisfaction that is used by Marks and
Spencer upon the employee performance
As per the view of wor Itam, and Ghosh, (2020) working environment is very important
factor that influence the job as well as employees satisfaction in the company. In order to
enhance and improve the performance , Marks and Spencer uses various techniques such as
creating positive working environment in which the employees can openly communicate and
discuss on the work related topic which has helped in increasing the knowledge of the employees
and also build the trust. On the other hand Nwachukwu, and et.al., (2018) believes that feedback
form the superiors also increase the employees satisfaction as they will come to know about their
performance in the company and from other related employees.
The manager provide feedback to the members of the organisation which helps in finding
the areas where improvement is required for successfully performing their task. Furthermore,
M&S provide rewards and recognition to the employees for their performance for successfully
completing the task. The manager feels that rewarding the employees for their work will
encourage the employees and increases their productivity to perform the specific task with the
helps of skills and knowledge they have.
Theme-3 Relationship between employee satisfaction strategies and employee performance
According to Shan, and Tang, (2020) strategies related to job satisfaction directly affects
the performance of the employees of M&S. It is observed that improving the employee
satisfaction related strategies will affect the business. On the contrary Budrienė, and Diskienė,
(2020) states that employee satisfaction is one of the strongest predictors of long term positive
company performance. As per the Arndtand et.al., (2006) high job satisfaction id linked to the
performance of the employees which results into high profits for the organization. The
Mahmood, and et.al., (2019) viewed if the employees are satisfied it will reflect on their
performance which will result into high profits of the company. In addition to this if the
employees are happy with their work will reflect on their performance. It is important for the
management to create effective strategies which helps in motivating the employees and also

creates a job satisfaction and by this they will take initiative in performing the task assigned and
put their efforts in achieving the objectives of the company.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research type: Research type is classified into qualitative and quantitative. In the present study,
Qualitative research will be used which is based on the theoretical aspect related to the employee
satisfaction. Apart from this, various strategies have been used regarding the employee
satisfaction for improving the performance of the employees(Johnson, and et.al., 2020).
Furthermore, quantitative research is not used in the topic.
Research Approach: Research approach is segmented into two parts i.e. inductive and deductive.
The present study is associated with the inductive research approach that highlights the general
and specific details related to the strategies of employee satisfaction and it also helps in
contributing the qualitative method more effective which helps in fulfilling the aim of the
research study(Azungah, 2018).
Research Philosophy: Research philosophy is categorized into two parts i.e. Interpretivism and
Positivism. For conducting the present study Interpretivism study will be used in order to analyse
the qualitative data regarding the employee satisfaction in the time of Covid-19. Furthermore, it
will also help in finding the relevant data resulting into effective research regarding the employee
performance.
Data Collection: It refers to gathering collection of the information systematically. Along with
this the data can be collected from two sources primary and secondary data collection method.
For the present study both the methods have been used. Moreover, for primary research the
investigator will collected data by using the survey method through questionnaire of 30
employees of Marks and Spencer(Xu, and et.al., 2020). On the other hand, for collecting through
secondary method, the researcher refereed to books, journals and online articles that assist to
create better outcome.
Sampling: It refers to the statistical analysis in which specific number of observation is taken
from the employees of the company. In the present study, random sampling will be adopted
under purposive sampling where 30 employees of M&S selected in order to determine their
views regarding the impact on employees performance(Martino, and et.al., 2018).

Data Analysis: For the present study, the researcher will have adopted the thematic approach in
order to interpret the key findings. Furthermore, themes will be designed in order to present the
research study in better way.
Ethical Consideration: To conduct the research in effective manner, it is necessary to comply
with the ethical principles. So to fulfil the ethical aspect the signature of the participant has been
taken that will reflect their willingness to answer the questions. Furthermore, reference list has
been added that represent that the data has been collected form reliable sources.
Limitations: In the present research study the key limitations are time and unavailability of the
resources that is required to conduct the research study(Greenhalgh, and et.al., 2018).
Furthermore, thematic analysis has been used in order to complete the research successfully.
Validity and Reliability: For the present study, the researcher has to make use of reliable sources
and the data has been collected from the sources that is already published (Rose, and Johnson,
2020). Moreover, the articles related to the employee satisfaction has been also taken into
account to meet the aim of the study.

TIMELINE
Activities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Research
topic
selection
Developin
g aims and
objectives
and also
research
questions
Developin
g literature
review
Designing
questionna
ire
Collecting
the data
Analysing
and
interpretin
g
Conclusio
n and
recommen
dation

Submissio
n
Waiting
for
feedback
Modificati
on and
submissio
n

References
Arndtand et.al., 2006. The effects of polychronic-orientation upon retail employee satisfaction
and turnover. Journal of Retailing. 82(4). pp.319-330.
Azungah, T., 2018. Qualitative research: deductive and inductive approaches to data
analysis. Qualitative research journal.
Budrienė, D. and Diskienė, D., 2020. Employee engagement: types, levels and relationship with
practice of HRM. Malaysian e commerce journal. 4(2). pp.42-47.
Greenhalgh, and et.al., 2018. Time to challenge the spurious hierarchy of systematic over
narrative reviews?. European journal of clinical investigation. 48(6).
Islami, X., Mulolli, E. and Mustafa, N., 2018. Using Management by Objectives as a
performance appraisal tool for employee satisfaction. Future Business Journal.4(1).
pp.94-108.
Itam, U. and Ghosh, N., 2020. Employee experience management: A new paradigm shift in HR
thinking. International Journal of Human Capital and Information Technology
Professionals (IJHCITP). 11(2). pp.39-49.
Jigjiddorjand et.al., 2021. Relationship between organizational culture, employee satisfaction
and organizational commitment. In SHS Web of Conferences (Vol. 90, p. 02004). EDP
Sciences.
Johnson, and et.al., 2020. A review of the quality indicators of rigor in qualitative
research. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 84(1).
Kawiana, and et.al., 2018. The influence of organizational culture, employee satisfaction,
personality, and organizational commitment towards employee
performance. International research journal of management, IT and social
sciences. 5(3). pp.35-45.
Kurdi, and et.al., 2020. The impact of employee satisfaction on customer satisfaction:
Theoretical and empirical underpinning. Management Science Letters.10(15). pp.3561-
3570.
Lasisi, and et.al., 2020. Explanatory investigation of the moderating role of employee proactivity
on the causal relationship between innovation‐based human resource management and
employee satisfaction. Journal of Public Affairs. 20(2). p.e2051.

Mahmood, and et.al., 2019. Specific HR practices and employee commitment: the mediating role
of job satisfaction. Employee Relations: The International Journal.
Martino, and et.al., 2018. Independent random sampling methods (pp. 65-113). Martino:
Springer International Publishing.
Mohammadand et.al., 2019. Workplace internet leisure and employees’ productivity: the
mediating role of employee satisfaction. Internet Research.
Nwachukwu, and et.al., 2018. The Relationship between employee commitment to strategy
implementation and employee satisfaction. Trends Economics and Management. 12(31).
pp.46-56.
Rose, J. and Johnson, C.W., 2020. Contextualizing reliability and validity in qualitative research:
toward more rigorous and trustworthy qualitative social science in leisure
research. Journal of Leisure Research. 51(4). pp.432-451.
Shan, C. and Tang, D.Y., 2020. The value of employee satisfaction in disastrous times: Evidence
from COVID-19. Available at SSRN 3560919.
Xu, and et.al., 2020. Advanced data collection and analysis in data-driven manufacturing
process. Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering. 33(1). pp.1-21.