Effective Motivation Strategies for Jack's Discount Store Employees

This report examines motivation techniques suitable for Jack's discount stores, a subsidiary of Tesco. It begins by defining motivation and its importance in achieving organizational goals. The main body analyzes two key theories: Adam's Equity Theory, which emphasizes fair treatment and equal rewards, and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, which focuses on fulfilling employees' physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization needs. The report discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each theory, considering their practical application within Jack's store environment. The conclusion highlights the significance of motivation in boosting employee productivity and performance, emphasizing the relevance of these theories in the context of Jack's stores. The report references various academic journals and online resources to support its analysis.

Motivation Techniques of
Jack
1

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Concept of motivation.................................................................................................................3
Theories of Motivation................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6
2

INTRODUCTION
Motivation can be defined as the process of encouraging people to take actions in order to
achieve certain goals and objectives (Chasanidou, 2018). Jack stores are a set of discounted
stores that were founded by Tesco in order to compete with competitive brands like Aldi and
Lidl. Tesco came up with this concept to maintain its standard as well as increase its overall
share in the market. The report analyses various theories of motivation and their advantages and
disadvantages for Jack discounted stores.
MAIN BODY
Concept of motivation
Motivation can be defined as the drive, desire and needs within people to achieve
something. Motivation helps in boosting their confidence so that they are able to achieve set
goals and objectives. Managers and leaders within organisations have the responsibility of
motivating their team members and subordinates to work enthusiastically. This not only leads to
a sense of job satisfaction in them but they also become loyal towards the company.
Theories of Motivation
Tesco is the leading chain of retail stores in the United Kingdom which provides products
in order to fulfil the needs and requirements of its customers. Due to fierce competition forced by
its rivals, the company was not able to perform in the way it used to do earlier as the competitors
like Aldi and Lidl offered the same products at affordable and cheap prices. Experiencing this,
the management of the respective company decided to come up with the concept of discounted
stores “Jack's” that were named after the founder of the company, Jack Cohen in order to
increase the overall sales and profits (Farholm and Sørensen, 2016). The main objective of these
stores was to offer products at affordable and pocket friendly rates. Thus, in a such a situation the
company needs to ensure that its employees are highly motivated to work to achieving the set
goals and objectives. This can be done by opting and implementing the most relevant theories of
motivation to make sure that the new employees that are hired by the company and appointed to
work in these stores are motivated. Relevant theories that might work for Jack stores are
explained below with their advantages and disadvantages -
Adam's Equity Theory
This is an important theory of management that is used by organisations across the world
3

to motivate their employees to achieve the goals and objectives. The main idea of the theory is to
treat all the employees of the company equally and without any discrimination (Kearney, 2018).
Thus, Tesco should ensure that its overall output like rewards, bonuses etc. is equal to the the
amount of efforts that are put in as inputs like working hours, commitment towards work etc.
The company should also ensure that the employees are motivated at al times and make efforts to
reach new heights. The theory requires combined efforts of the employees as well as the
management to overcome competition and gain an edge against rivals.
The major advantages of this theory are maintenance of a healthy relationship among the
employees and their equal treatment. Also, the managers realise that the theory contributes
towards both practice as well as theory of motivation whereas disadvantages include a difference
in the perspectives of different people. Also, the respective theory does not clearly specify the
actions that must be taken by an individual with no standard measurement of efforts and rewards
which means that an exact comparison of a person with other people is not possible.
Maslow's Need Hierarchy Theory
Maslow's Need Hierarchy theory is considered to be the most relevant and significant
theory of motivation which assists the organisations in paying attention towards fulfilling the
basic needs of people and gradually moving towards fulfilling more complex needs. The
management of Tesco can use this theory to motivate its employees who are newly appointed in
the Jack stores to provide them with a sense of satisfaction and encouraging them to work
towards achieving the goals and objectives of the company. If the employees are motivated, it
will automatically lead them to perform in a better way by putting in their capabilities more
effectively. The theory comprises of five stages which are described below in context to Jack
stores - Psychological needs : These comprise of the most basic needs like food, clothes, shelter,
education etc. that are needed by an individual to survive (Knittle and et. al., 2018).
These needs are considered to be most significant for the people who move in society. Safety needs : Everyone wants to feel safe regarding their jobs and personal life and can
include safety, security, good health etc. Thus, employees who are hired to work in Jack
stores should be provided a sense that their jobs are secure, safe working environment
etc.
4

 Social needs : People need a sense of belongingness and this can be in the form of
friends, family, relatives etc. Thus, the employees should be provided with a comfortable
and healthy environment to work so that goals and objectives are achieved much more
effectively (Lazowski and Hulleman, 2016). Esteem needs : This stage comprise of people with an increased importance of gaining
respect and appreciation from others (The 5 Levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs,
2020). Also, there is a need to accomplish goals and their efforts getting recognised.
 Self actualisation needs : When a person attains these needs he has reached the full
potential of his needs and judges his own needs to fulfil dreams.
The main advantages of this theory are that it is easy to understand as well as implement
and can be apply in all fields. On the other hand, disadvantages include difficult to measure and
there may be a difference in the culture of the employees.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that motivation plays an important role in
increasing the productivity and performance of the employees in an organisation. Also, there are
many theories of motivation that organisations can implement to motivate their employees in
order to attain the goals and objectives.
5

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Chasanidou, D., 2018. Design for motivation: evaluation of a design tool. Multimodal
Technologies and Interaction. 2(1). p.6.
Farholm, A. and Sørensen, M., 2016. Motivation for physical activity and exercise in severe
mental illness: A systematic review of intervention studies. International journal of
mental health nursing. 25(3). pp.194-205.
Kearney, R., 2018. Public sector performance: management, motivation, and measurement.
Routledge.
Knittle, K. and et. al., 2018. How can interventions increase motivation for physical activity? A
systematic review and meta-analysis. Health psychology review. 12(3). pp.211-230.
Lazowski, R. A. and Hulleman, C. S., 2016. Motivation interventions in education: A meta-
analytic review. Review of Educational research. 86(2). pp.602-640.
Online
The 5 Levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. 2020. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-4136760>.
6