ABSTRACT

This Research study was made to find out what motivation tactics have been implemented in company X and if they have influenced the overall performance of employees. The company is located in Nairobi, Kenya and is the second largest retailing brand in the country. Motivation of employees is an important element to organizations that needs to be keenly addressed especially in this day and age of tough competition and economic decline. Many firms are reducing workforce in order to cut costs and employees are required to put extra effort and work more strategically so as to ensure that levels of productivity and profitability are maintained. For this reason, employers should be proactive now more than ever and implement the suitable motivation policies to keep their staff motivation high.

A theoretical review detailing the motivation theories and the connection between it and performance was made. Additionally the influence of rewards on motivation, role of Human resource in regards to motivating employees as well as communication methods utilized in the company was also reviewed. The empirical research was conducted using the qualitative method through the help of a multiple choice questionnaire for employees, whose responses later aided in creating a questionnaire that was used during a personal interview session with the manager.

The results of the empirical research indicated that motivation is very important to sustain performance levels. Employers need to identify what is really important to their workforce to ensure that they successfully cater to their needs. Aspects of money, recognition, career progression and development, supervision, inter-personal relations, healthy communication channels emerged as key factors that led to motivation behaviour and influenced good performance behaviour. Additionally good working relationship between the workforce and management is significant and both staff and the employer should strive to maintain healthy working relations. Both parties should work together to ensure that they implement the right motivation tactics that will benefit the company and employees.

1 INTRODUCTION

All over the world organizations seem to be competing for survival due to the ever rising challenges and unstable markets. Working hard and implementing new business models that focus on what the customer wants is not enough to translate to higher levels of productivity. Companies need to also look into the employee motivation and performance as powerful tools that can help the company in achieving long-term success. The employee motivation concept is a central issue among many leaders and business owners and this is because individuals who are unmotivated tend to spend little or no effort in their respective jobs, produce work that is of low quality and in some cases they try to avoid the workplace or exit the company if an opportunity presents itself. On the other hand workers who are motivated are likely to be creative and productive, give high quality work and are willingly to take the necessary steps in ensuring that they give their best in all they do. It is therefore very crucial that organizations ensure that the needs of their employees are well taken care of in the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects.

Today many firms have designed new ways to ensure that their employees’ needs are not neglected through the introduction of different mechanisms that induce motivation behaviour. Many firms are embracing different tactics that are aimed at keeping staff focused on their delegated duties and also tapping into their talents and competencies with the goal of achieving the company’s set goals and objectives. Some the techniques include promotions, compensation programmes, awards and recognition (Kimani 2015). All these measures are being deployed, because companies are now realizing that investing in your employees is the best decision an employer could ever make. When the staff feels that the organization cares about them it is more likely to translate in how they carry out their work duties. The employees will be more self-driven and inspired to do a good job and take care of their clients, thus creating a win-win situation for everyone (Schwartz 2013). Neglecting the needs of employees creates a rift between them and the management and in worst case scenario employees reach their breaking point and either quit the job or protest in the streets demanding an audience with the management.

Recently there has been a rise in the number of strikes in Kenya, especially in the public sector. The most affected are workers in the health and education categories who agonize over being underpaid. The situation is bound to become the norm if the demands and requests concerning pay and benefits working conditions are not addressed (Kimenyi 2013). Despite the public sector being adversely affected the private corporations have also had a fair share of labour strikes. The cases of workers from private corporations downing their tools has been on the rise. Just recently in June 2015 the workers from Darling Kenya a hair and cosmetics-products company marched on the streets of Nairobi complaining over poor pay. The Kenya Union of Hair and Beauty chairperson Mr. Maina did assert that some of the workers received 6000 Kenyan Shillings approximately 60 Euros, at the end of the month, a salary that is quite meagre given that the cost of living in Kenya keeps rising. Even though talks had been held between the management and employees to raise the minimum wage to 12 percent the company had not complied with these changes. Moreover, most of the employees had been denied the chance to join a beauty products workers union and those who are already members of the union face constant threats by management that they will not be promoted because of their membership status in the Union (Musambi 2015). It is quite clear how this type of conflict would negatively impact the motivation of employees and lead performance levels to drop. When employees feel that their woes are not being addressed chances of being motivated to perform better are likely to be lowered. The management therefore, needs to carefully examine the current state of motivation among their employees and find out what is working and abandon those policies that are no longer serving their workers’ needs.

In Kenya the retail market is dominated by four major supermarket chain stores namely Company X, Company Y, Company Z and Company C. Three of them, except Company C, have already crossed borders into the neighbouring countries. According to a Citi Group study, Kenya topped the list by scooping second position as the most advanced retail market with about 30 percent of retail business being conducted in formal outlets in the region of Sub-Saharan Africa. There are also over 200 small scale supermarkets in Kenya which are spread over all the eight provinces. The supermarkets growth seems to be quite high due to the rapid