Motivation & Employee Performance: A Walmart, US Case Study

This essay investigates the impact of motivation on employee performance, using Walmart in the United States as a case study. It begins with an outline detailing the essay's structure, including an introduction to the topic, a discussion of motivation theories and their application to employee performance, and a concluding note assessing the thesis statement. The working thesis statement focuses on assessing the impact of motivation on employee performance at Walmart, leveraging the author's perspective as an employee and supporting arguments with theories and statements from critics, journals, books, and newspaper articles. Feedback reflection emphasizes the role of motivation in enhancing employee performance, highlighting the importance of assessing employee needs, job satisfaction, and the direct correlation between motivation and performance. The essay further discusses how motivation transforms employee behavior, facilitates skill development through training, and fosters stability in employee-manager relationships, ultimately leading to achievement and organized performance through goal setting and evaluation.

Running head: RESEARCH AND WRITING
Outline, thesis and draft about Impact of motivation on employee performance: A case study
of Walmart, United States
Name of the student:
Name of the university: Strayer University
Course name:
Name of the professor:

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Table of contents
Section 1.....................................................................................................................................2
Outline....................................................................................................................................2
Section 2.....................................................................................................................................3
Working thesis statement.......................................................................................................3
Section 4.....................................................................................................................................3
Feedback reflection................................................................................................................3
References..................................................................................................................................7

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Section 1
Outline
Essays need to be critical for grabbing the attention of the readers. Argumentative
essays therefore, following a definite pattern is crucial in terms of informing the readers
about the basic subject matter. The initial stage involves introducing the topic. This is where
the knowledge of the readers would be enhanced on the aspects, “motivation, employee
performance and the business dynamics of organizations like Walmart. Inclusion of the thesis
statement would inform the readers about the crux of the essay. Precise and straight forward
approach towards the thesis statement would be beneficial for the readers in terms of catching
the main ideas of the essay.
After the introduction, discussion would be done on the subject matter. Theories of
motivation would be applied for assessing the performance of the employees in the
workplace. Within this, the propositions made by the scholars and critics would be included
for giving practical examples to the businesspersons. The assumptions proposed by the
scholars would act as a supporting evidence for the ideas and facts presented by the author.
At this stage, the use of journal articles would be maximum. Inclusion and exclusion criteria
would be adhered in terms of using the journal articles. Only those articles, which have been
published not more than 10 years, would be included in the discussion section.
At the final stage, concluding note would be produced. Here, references would be
drawn to the proposed thesis statement. The focus would be on assessment of the thesis
statement to that of the propositions and assumption. Moreover, it would be examined
whether the essay proves successful in informing the readers about the impact of motivation
on the employee performance of Walmart, United States.

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Apart from this, references would be cited for avoiding the instance of plagiarism and
collusion.
Section 2
Working thesis statement
The thesis statement of the essay would be: To assess the impact of motivation on
employee performance”. The example of Walmart, United States would be used as an
example in terms of enlivening the knowledge of the businesspersons about enhancing the
professional skills of the employees. Being an employee, I would be able to assess my
position within the workplace in response to the motivation and encouragement provided by
the managers. I would support the assumptions through theories and statement of the critics.
Including journals, books and newspaper articles in the discussion segment would develop
reliability, validity and authenticity for the ideas and propositions.
Newspaper articles would enhance the reliability of the readers regarding the impact
of motivation on employee performance. Specifically, the articles would develop a
comparative study between the Walmart and the other organizations. This comparative study
would act as a supporting element for the proposed thesis statement.
Section 4
Feedback reflection
“Role of motivation in employee performance”
Motivation brings drastic transformation in the performance of the individuals.
Specifically, motivation possesses the flexibility to generate urge within the individuals
regarding the exposure of better performance. However, at the initial stage, the need of the
employees need to be assessed for gaining an insight into the level of motivation needed

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(Alagaraja & Shuck, 2015). Conscious approach in this direction is an example of strategic
planning of Walmart in terms of preparing the employees. This strategic planning is crucial in
terms of systematizing the business activities. Theoretical consideration adds value to the
relationship between the trainers and the trainees. This is in terms of assessing the needs,
demands and requirements of the employees before allocating the tasks. This assessment is
assistance in terms of appraising the performance of the employees, which is, further
assistance in terms of making estimates about the progress (Bottomley et al., 2016).
Job satisfaction is crucial in terms of gaining the trust, loyalty and dependence of the
employees. Absence of satisfaction in the employment compels the managers to encounter
instances of customer turnover. This issue is a severe loss for companies like Walmart in
terms of fulfilling the needs, demands and requirements of the clients and the customers. For
this, effective policies and programs are needed. Typical example in this direction can be
salary hikes, promotions, rewards and recognition among others. However, these revisions
needs to be in alignment with the overall performance of the employees in the previous years
(Caillier, 2014).
Motivation and performance are directly proportional to each other. It can also be said
that motivation and performance are complementary to each other. Without motivation, the
employees can carry out the tasks, however, they would not be get conscious towards
performing according to the benchmark level of performance. They would take the allocated
tasks casually, which would increase the tendencies of mistakes and errors. This would
adversely affect the behaviour of the employees, deviating them from their goals
(Bhuvanaiah & Raya, 2015).
Motivation brings radical transformation in the behaviour of the employees. At the
initial stage of the employment, the employees lack the capability of performing the allocated

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tasks according to the expectations. However, with the provision of motivation, the
employees slowly and gradually gain the skills of performing the tasks according to the
expectation of the managers. Training forms the crucial activity in the transition period from
the stage of inexperience to the stage of gaining skills, expertise and knowledge. Inclusion of
the basic aspects within the course materials of the training is beneficial in terms of the
providing the employees of Walmart with a clear understanding of the business dynamics.
Motivation within the understanding improves the stability in the relationship between the
employees and the managers (Boxall, Guthrie & Paauwe, 2016). Moreover, the stability is
crucial in terms of gaining quality performance from the employees for completion of the
projects within the stipulated time.
Achievement is the ultimate outcome of motivation. Actually, it is the result of
evaluation conducted by both the employees and the managers of companies like Walmart.
For the managers, the evaluation is recollection of the exposed performance towards
enhancing the skills, expertise and knowledge of the employees. On the other hand, for the
employees, it is the recapitulation of the feasibility and prospect of the professional
development. Eagerness and willingness towards the execution of evaluation reflects the
alterations in the behaviour (Alagaraja & Shuck, 2015). Negligence approach towards the
evaluation indicates obstacles in the process of professional development.
Motivation helps the employees in organizing their performance. Typical example of
this includes setting goals. At the initial stage, the goals need to be short-termed. This
improves the focus of the employees into the allocated tasks. However, assistance, guidance
and supervision from the trainers is crucial in this stage in terms of setting the goals in the
proper manner. Consideration of goal setting theory proves beneficial in terms of assessing
the effectiveness, appropriateness and feasibility of the goals. This consideration helps the
employees and the managers to assess the extent to which they have been successful in

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reaching to the benchmark level of performance (Bottomley et al., 2016). Using checklists
and templates for evaluation is beneficial in terms of tracking the performance. This tracking
is essential in terms of examining the effectiveness of motivation towards professional
development.
Motivation arises expectations within the employees regarding their performance.
However, the managers need to control these expectations, otherwise they would be
extravagant, which is uncontrollable. For this, counselling needs to be organized for assessing
the mind-set of the employees after the provision of motivation and encouragement.
Counselling possesses flexibility towards preserving the safety and security of the personal
data of the employees (Caillier, 2014).

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References
Alagaraja, M., & Shuck, B. (2015). Exploring organizational alignment-employee
engagement linkages and impact on individual performance: A conceptual
model. Human Resource Development Review, 14(1), 17-37.
Bhuvanaiah, T., & Raya, R. P. (2015). Mechanism of improved performance: Intrinsic
motivation and employee engagement. SCMS Journal of Indian Management, 12(4),
92.
Bottomley, P., Mostafa, A. M. S., Gould‐Williams, J. S., & León‐Cázares, F. (2016). The
impact of transformational leadership on organizational citizenship behaviours: The
contingent role of public service motivation. British Journal of Management, 27(2),
390-405.
Boxall, P., Guthrie, J. P., & Paauwe, J. (2016). Editorial introduction: Progressing our
understanding of the mediating variables linking HRM, employee well‐being and
organisational performance. Human Resource Management Journal, 26(2), 103-111.
Caillier, J. G. (2014). Toward a better understanding of the relationship between
transformational leadership, public service motivation, mission valence, and
employee performance: A preliminary study. Public Personnel Management, 43(2),
218-239.