Employee Motivation in State Enterprises

Literature Review

Employee motivation is one of the widely discussed topics in the contemporary research world. Bulk of researches has been conducted in this regard across different fields and disciplines. However, much of the researches related to employee motivation have been concerned with privately held manufacturing and services industry while very few researches are conducted to explore the impact of staff motivation on state owned enterprise. Correspondingly, the current research aims to evaluate the Post office Modernisation based on staff motivation. In order to achieve this aims and to acquire more in-depth knowledge modernisation and staff motivation, this chapter presents a detailed review of extant literature staff motivation and change management. The method adopted for the review of literature is in line with the current practice in grounded research work. Moreover, due attention was laid on reviewing lately published journals and articles and systematic literature searching was carried out to find the key publications on staff motivation and change management. This chapter is broadly divided into six major sections. Accordingly, at the onset of the review of literature, the chapter offers brief background information on the current practices and condition of the Post Office. The second section illustrates and explains the motivation and the role of staff motivation in the contemporary organisations. The third section deals with exploring and evaluating literatures related to factors that contributed staff motivation. Similarly, the section four illustrates the factors which negatively influence the employee motivation. On further note, the fifth section offers rich insights and understanding regarding the staff motivation strategies adopted by the Post Office to motivate staff in local post office. Next, extensive research has been conducted to evaluate the aspect of change management in the current business environment. Finally, the chapter provides a summary of the relevant facts and information drawn from the literature review chapter along the research gaps.

1.1 Background information of organisation current situation

The Post Office is a public owned national institution and an important part of the local communities in the UK. The organisation has a vast network of around 11600 branches located across different locations in the UK. However, it only has 300 branches, which are directly run by the organisation while other are run by franchisees, which makes the operating structure of this nation’s most trusted institute immensely complex (Jacobs, 2015; The Post Office, 2014). Nevertheless, in the recent years, the government has revealed its firm commitment to make £1.34bn investments in the Post Office with the objective to modernise its operating network. It is worth to note that the central idea behind the modernisation of the Post Office is to introduce the two new style Post Offices. Accordingly, the modern Post Office envisioned by the leaders in the organisation is to establish local post offices branches that are easily accessible by the people and have longer hours that would contribute towards the ease and convenience of the customers. Other than the extended work hour, the Post Office through its modernisation process further aims to offer modern environment where most of the activities of the Post Office are digitalised. Besides, with its modernisation objectives it aims to attain financially sustainable business that would offer it with increased right and control over its business and services. Together with the additional services the organisation intends to continue with its tradition services. In other words, the modernised branches of the Post Office is anticipated to continue offering its customers with facilities such as travel money and other mail services such as special delivery, home shopping returns, bill payment, mobile top-up, local collect among others (The Post Office, 2016). However, amidst its modernisation process, uncertainty associated with declining market share of the Post Office has adversely influenced the employee motivation. Accordingly, due to the market challenges, the state-owned Post Office has lately introduced huge cut to the final salary pensions of the employees, which is more likely to influence the employee level of motivation and may have potential impact on its modernisation endeavour. In the year 2016, the organisation is also ascertained to have faced with widespread protest from the Communication Workers Union because of closing of some of its branches which eventually contributed to the loss of jobs for many of its staff members (Jones, 2016). The staff members of the organisation have been ascertained to threaten that they would go to strike if the organisation continues to cut jobs and pensions. Such consequences of the modernisation effort have eventually resulted in strained relationship between the staff and the organisation which in turn has adversely influenced the modernisation initiative carried out by it.

1.2 Staff Motivation

Over the years, sheer amount of researches have been conducted on motivation, staff motivation and the role of motivation in the contemporary organisation. Several scholars and researchers have conceptualised the notion of motivation in a quest to determine the relationship between the motivation and the organisation’s employees (Zameer et al., 2014; Devadass, 2011; Dobre, 2003). In this regard, Ganta (2014) defined motivation as “psychological processes that cause the arousal, direction and persistence of behavior”. In the similar context, Bartol & Martin (1998) noted motivation as a powerful tool which reinforces individual’s behaviour and prompts tendency to continue towards attaining a goal. Although different scholars have defined the concept of motivation differently based on their field of study and the subject background yet significant agreement can be identified with respect to the meaning of motivation (Bartol & Martin, 1998). According to Abbah (2014) in the current highly competitive and volatile business environment, every organisations are constantly striving attain greater competitive advantage and long lasting progress. In doing so the organisations, organisations are required to ensure effective utilisation of its available resources that financial economic and human resources. Among these resources the human resources is considered as the most important assets in order to ensure the effective use of the other resources. Similar views have been propounded in an empirical study conducted by Hafiza et al. (2011). According to them, human resource is one of the most important factors of organisation competitiveness and organisation can utilized these resources optimally by motivating it. In this context Abbah (2014) contended that the performance of the employees is largely influenced by several factors such as performance appraisal, employee satisfaction, employee motivation and compensation. Among these all these factors employee motivation has been a subject that has drawn considerable attention of the researchers and scholars. In the words of Abbah (2014) employee motivation is one of the policies devised by managers so as to influence and increase the effectual job management amongst the employees within the organisation. Accordingly, it has been argued that motivated employees are responsive to the specific goals and objectives to be achieved by him/her and exert his/ her efforts towards that direction.

Ganta (2014) argued that driving employee motivation within an organisation has always been a challenging issue for the leaders and the managers. Accordingly, in the point of view of the author unmotivated employees are argued to exert less effort on their jobs and are more likely to avoid workplace which eventually contributes in the reduced quality output. Motivated employees on the other hand are argued to be put m more effort and use their creativity, innovation in turning out high quality work, which in turn benefits organisation in quality output and increased productivity (Lee & Tan, 2012). Alternatively, the employee motivation is argued to have significant impact on the organisation’s performance and competitiveness. It is thus claimed that leaders and managers in the organisation need to devise suitable policies and undertake measures that would contribute to increased employee motivation. At the same time, it has been contended the leaders and the manager’s needs to develop comprehensive understanding regarding the work of the employees and frame appropriate strategies to inspire and support employee motivation (Ganta, 2014).

1.3 Factors that contributes to Staff Motivation

According to Dobre (2003) salaries represents the most influential incentive for the employees as the primary objective for any employees for rendering their services is to earn reasonable salaries. Correspondingly, financial salaries is claimed to have significant impact on inspiring and motivating employees at diverse workplace environment. This assumption of the author is based on the fact that the employees can use the money earned in the form of salaries to satisfy their needs which eventually contribute in achieving employee commitment and diligence (Dobre, 2003). Nevertheless, Whitley, (2002) argued that financial incentives in the form of salaries are not enough to motivate employees. It is equally important for the organisation and leaders within the organisation to identify the financial and non-financial needs of the employees such as rewards for exceptional performance, social recognition, and promotion in order to motivate employees and seek their dedicated effort (Whitley, 2002). In this context Odukah (2016) noted that employees in the organisation want their achievement to recognised and rewarded. Accordingly, recognition of good performance of the employees in claimed to be an important factor contributing to increase motivation of employees and their morale. It has also been argued that timely feedback on the performance of the employees serve as an effective tool for motivating employees in the organisation (Odukah, 2016). However, it has been noted that in order to ensure that the reward scheme adopted by the organisation contributes towards the increased employee motivation, it is crucial for the organisation to maintain appropriate balance and ensure that all employees are treated equally and fairly (Hafiza et al., 2011). In addition Latif et al. (2014) argued that employee empowerment and participation are two vital factors that contribute towards increased employee motivation. Accordingly, it has been reasoned that employee participation in the organisation’ decision making improves the effectiveness as well as innovation which in turn enhance employee motivation and trust towards the organisation. Every employees within the organisation needs to be offered equal participation opportunity in order to ensure high employee motivation across all levels and units of the organisation. At the same time, it has been claimed that when employees are empowered to take action, it contributes towards ownership of their jobs. Correspondingly, empowerment is argued to increase employee level of commitment to take responsibility which in turn is anticipated to contribute towards increasing employee motivation and their self-esteem (Latif et al., 2014). Withey & Cooper (1989) affirmed that there employee training and their level of motivation are positively related. Accordingly, it has been noted that organisations are usually engaged in designing and implementing training programs due to dynamic changes in the business environment. Correspondingly, designing training programs that starts with the employee need assessment are argued to enhance the employee motivation level (Withey & Cooper, 1989).

Moreover, Maslow in his theory of hierarchy of needs identified five major needs of human beings that include self-actualization, esteem, affiliation, security and psychological needs. According to Maslow unless these needs of the employees are satisfied they are less likely to be motivated (Ondabu, 2014). In other words, the organisation in the contemporary business environment is needs to focus on satisfying these needs of the employees in order to achieve and enhance the employee motivation. Similarly, McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y suggests in order to enhance the employee level of motivation, employees needs to be offered with challenging tasks and a suitable workplace environment (Ondabu, 2014; Dobre, 2013).

1.4 Factors that negatively influence Staff Motivation

According to Saeed et al. (2013) employee motivation is directly related to their performance. Correspondingly, negative impact on the level of employee motivation is claimed to have direct effect on the performance of the employees (Saeed et al., 2013). In the words of Baldoni (2005) various factors can negatively influence the employee motivation which the organisation should recognise to improve its performance and achieve its long term goals and objectives. In this regard, lack of proper leaders and management system is argued as one of the major factors that adversely influences the employee motivation. Besides, low level of employee trust on the organisation is also argued negatively influence the employee motivation (Baldoni, 2005). According to Armstrong (2001), lack of career development opportunities for the employees in the organisation is also contended to have negative impact on the employee motivation. In this regard, it has been claimed that the organisation that places little attention of the development and enhancing employee related aspects such as employee actualization and self-esteem are likely to experience low employee motivation compared to those that offers its employees with adequate options to develop their skills and competencies (Armstrong, 2001). In the similar context, Garg & Rastogi (2006) argued that type of job designed also has significant impact on the employee level of motivation. Notably, job design is defined as the process of systemizing the organisation’s task duties and responsibilities. Accordingly, t has been argued that the job that is associated with repetition of work often creates monotony and boredom and some time it can even lead to employee frustration. Thus, it has been argued that poor job designs often negatively influence the employee motivation which in turn has severe impact on the performance of the employees as well as their productivity (Garg & Rastogi, 2006). In addition Akhtar et al (2014) noted that increased level of supervision and work pressure also have adverse impact on the employee motivation.

Likewise, Nzuve (2007) affirmed that lack of proper working condition has adverse impact on the employee level of motivation. Accordingly, it has been argued that employees are willing to work in secure workplace environment, where they can work without stress and mental pressure. Correspondingly, failure of the organisation to offer ideal workplace environment is argued to result in generation of feeling of insecurity and threat to their health which in turn is believed to have negative impact on employee motivation as well as on their job satisfaction level (Chandrasekar, 2011; Nzuve (2007). At the same time, lack of well organised training and induction program followed by limited access to career development are further claimed to have unfavourable impact on employee motivation (Elnaga & Imran, 2013).

1.5 Staff Motivation in Local Post Office

Several scholars and researchers have stated the importance of the employee motivation in the context of organisation (Singh, 2015; Alhaji & Yusoff, 2012). Accordingly, it has been observed that organisations that have highly motivated employees offer them with invaluable assets. At the same time, increased employee motivation is argued play an instrumental role in attaining greater organisational competitiveness as well as attaining operational efficiency. In other words, building motivated workforce for organisations in the current highly volatile and competitive business environment is not an option rather it is necessary for organisations not only of ensuring competitiveness and operational efficiency but also to meet the customers and public requirement in the most effective manner. Almost all organisations that deal with human resources whether it is profited business organisation or non-profit oriented organisation are regularly striving to attain motivated workforce. With respect to Post Office, the organisation is also identified to actively engage in enhancing employee motivation across its diverse areas of operations. In this regard, it has been noted that in order to motivate staff at local level, Post Office is committed to ensure safety of its staff and has placed this aspect related to employee motivation on their priority list. The increased focus of Post Office in promoting safety of employees is not only based on attaining employee motivation but with motivated employees, Post Office aims to make its operation more efficient (The Post Office,2014). It has been observed that Post Office in the current context to motivate staff at local post office has deployed numbers of employee safety strategies. In this regard, safety leadership, safety management programs, promoting employee engagement, competency building programs are few major safety related strategies that have been undertake by Post Office to motivate staff across all their branches and zones. At the same time, the Post Office over the last few years has also been engaged in formulating employee well-being programs with the objective promote good health of its employees as well as to enhance the staff motivation at all its branches (The Post Office,2014).

In addition, Post Office views recognition and rewarding employee achievement as an important aspect to attain motivated workforce. At the same time, the organisation has adopted competitive salary structure and strategies and other benefits packages to drive staff motivation. Besides, for female employees it has established a paid maternity leave while male employees are also granted with paid paternity leave. The primary goal behind such initiatives of Post Office is to contribute towards employee motivation so that the employees in the organisation reveal their commitment towards the attainment of mutual goals and objectives. Furthermore, Post Office has been ascertained to be committed towards promoting life-long learning of the staff at its local branches and to drive this initiative, it is regularly engaged in conducting training and development program. In addition, Post Office has also revealed their firm commitment towards the social security needs of the staff in the local post office. Correspondingly, it has adopted pension and life insurance arrangement for the staff in local post office so that they feel secure about their jobs and are motivated to contribute their best services towards the achievement of the broad organisational goals and objectives.

1.6 Change Management

According to Pieterse et al (2012) argued that change in the current business environment s inevitable and organisations needs to introduce change in order to remain competitive and to sustain business profitably. The authors further argued that change process in an organisation is driven by various strategic considerations such as organisation need to achieve more integrated ways of operating business and need to enhance the performance of the staff and the organisation itself. In the words of Aljohani (2016), it is important for the organisations to effectively manage the change initiatives. Accordingly, failure to manage the change initiative by the organisations is argued to create strains in the achievement the objectives and goals that the organisation intends to attain through the introduction of the change initiatives. In addition, Gilley et al (2009) stressed on the importance of employee motivation while undertaking change initiatives. Parallel to the statement, Boohene & Williams (2012) argued that traditionally, the concept of employee motivation was predominately studied in the context of improving organisation effectiveness and productivity but in the recent years the role of employee motivation has acquired immense attention from change management scholars, who are placing greater importance on employee motivation for effective management of change. In this regard, Aljohani (2016) argued that one of the common challenges that are faced by the organisation and the leaders while introducing change initiative is related with the employee of resistance to change. Accordingly, it has been argued that most of the employees in the organisations are unwilling to change as they believe that any changes introduced in the organisation would disrupt their regular schedule. In line with the statement, Islam & Ismail (2008) argued in order to drive and manage change initiatives successfully it is important the employees within the organisation are committed and willing to embrace change. However, the author contended, it is quite difficult for the managers and leaders in the organisation to achieve committed employees unless they are motivated. By this statement, the author implies that employee motivation is an important element to eliminate the employee anxiety and fear associated with the change and for seeking adequate support from the employees for effective management of the change initiatives. In the similar context, Husain (2013) affirmed that in order to motivate and seek support from the employees during the change introduction stage, it is very important that the change agents or the leaders within the organisation are actively engaged in communicating the change objectives and seek employee participation. Such endeavour of the change agents is argued to have positive impact on the employee level of motivation. Likewise, Wanza & Nkuraru (2016) noted leaders in the organisation are required to create motivation for change and they should they should exert efforts on understanding what motivates employees in the organisation for effective change management. More specifically, in an empirical study conducted by Boohene & Williams (2012) on resistance to organisational change, the authors found employee motivation and their resistance change are inversely related to each other. In other words, the author concluded that the more the employees are motivated less they resists to the change.

1.7 Summary

To summarize, the review of literature postulated that motivation is psychological processes that has significant impact on the behaviour of an individual and triggers employees to demonstrate continues efforts towards the achievement of their goals and objectives. The literature review chapter further illustrated that in the current business environment, employee motivation is a prerequisite element for the organisations to ensure their competitiveness and long term survival. However, it was also observed from the survey of previous work on staff motivation that attaining high level of employee motivation is often a default and challenging tasks. It is for this reason that leaders in the organisation are argued to acquire considerable understanding about the factors that contribute towards staff motivation and the factors that adversely influences the staff motivation. Accordingly, various factors were recognised to contribute towards the staff motivation. In this regard, few major factors were identified as reward and recognition, employee participation and empowerment, training and career development programs among others. On the other hand, the poor workplace condition, lack of proper leadership, lack of challenging tasks, and repetitive and monotonous jobs were recognised to negatively influence the staff motivation. With respect to staff motivation strategies adopted by the Post Office to motivate staff in the local post office, it has been observed from the review of literature that the organisation has implemented several strategies such as continuous training and development of employees, satisfying social security needs of employees, employee wellbeing programs, employee safety, and recognition and reward scheme among others. At the same time, the literature review chapter illustrated that employee motivation is plays an important role in ensuring effective change management. In this regard, the chapter highlighted that unless the employees in the organisation are committed and motivated, organisations are less likely to succeed in introducing change initiatives. On further note, the evaluation of the current condition of the Post Office illustrated that the organisation is extensively engaged in introducing change in the form of business modernisation process. Nevertheless, it has been noted from the review of literature that currently the organisation is faced with serious problems as a result of its modernisation initiative which has resulted in cut in the jobs and reducing the pension amount of the staff members. Such strategies have further been ascertained to have created stressed among the employees which has adversely influence the change initiatives of the Post Office. The review of literature although offered a significant understanding about staff motivation, change management and the case organisation but certain gaps in the literatures were identified. In this regard, bulk of researches were identified releated staff motivation and change management but most of the researches failed to specifically illustrate the role of staff motivation on change management. Besides, the review also highlighted several issues that are being faced by the Post Office in relation to its modernisation process and employee motivation. Correspondingly, the current research is an attempt to fill this research gaps with the objective to broaden the existing knowledge base in this filed and draw reliable inferences that would aid the Post Office to deal with the issues related to its modernisation initiative and staff motivation.

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