Let's take into account Maslow's hierarchy of needs (a Content theory) and the Goal setting theory (Process theory). Maslow's hierarchy of needs shows what worker's are motivated by e.g. their social needs being met. In this case, the "what" is the "social needs". The Goal setting theory however shows that setting challenging and specific goals can be very motivating. The "how" in this case is the "goals" themselves e.g. "how" are the workers going to achieve the goals set. This shows clearly that the difference between Content and Process theories are "what" and "how".
John Lewis Primary Research:
I carried out a short Questionnaire over the phone with one of the managers at High Wycombe's John Lewis branch to see how and what motivates the workers at John Lewis and if John Lewis effectively motivates their workers.
1. Do you think that John Lewis effectively motivates it's workers in the work environment?
Yes
No
Answer: Yes
2. If so, how does John Lewis motivate it's workers?
Answer: John Lewis motivates it's workers by treating employees in the company as individuals rather than collectively. We do this so we feel we can meet the social needs of each worker. For example, the social needs of one worker may be different from another. Examples of some ways that we motivate employees include delegating responsibility to hard working employees, creating different teams in the workplace in order to meet worker's social needs as well as on the spot praise for their performance/s if they have been working hard. From a financial perspective, we motivate our employees by offering reduced air fare travel as well as travel discounts, offering what we consider a very generous holiday entitlement, contributory pension and private healthcare schemes, a profit share scheme as well as a employee share scheme. You can find more information about this on our website.
Me: Thanks for your time.
John Lewis Secondary Research:
According to Anon 1. (n.d.):
"Your remuneration package will be determined by your individual contract of employment. Whilst this varies from business to business, typical benefits include:
- Opportunities for reduced air fare travel and travel discounts*
- Generous holiday entitlement
- Contributory pension and private healthcare schemes
- Profit share scheme*
- Bonus*
- Employee share scheme*
- Superb sports and social amenities & opportunity to join BA Clubs
- Subsidised staff restaurants
Robertson (2007) states that:
"Although relatively few firms now operate standalone profit-sharing schemes, some employers still see a value in doing so. At the John Lewis Partnership, which employs 64,000 staff, for example, profit sharing remains central to its partnership ethos.
Chris Charman, a senior consultant in executive compensation and rewards at Towers Perrin, believes the John Lewis Partnership is an ideal type of organisation to offer a profit-sharing scheme because it enables front-line retail staff to identify how they impact on the business' profitability.
"You can see it when you walk in the door, with [workers'] level of product knowledge and service. Even in terms of its procurement and wastage, [staff] will [realise the] impact on the bottom line."
Last year, John Lewis Partnership paid out £106m through its scheme, which equated to a 14% supplement to workers' annual salaries.
For the past 10 years, John Lewis Partnership has paid an annual partnership bonus of between 9% and 22% of annual salary.The bonus is based on profits for the trading year beginning each February, and is determined by the organisation's partnership board. After any capital is held back for reinvestment, the remaining profit is distributed among its 64,000 employees.
Sam Hinton-Smith, a spokesman for John Lewis Partnership, claims employees place a high value on the scheme because the organisation also ensures it also pays market-rate wages."
Kmietowicz (2009) maintains that:“Adopting principles from employee owned organisations, such as the major UK retail group the John Lewis Partnership, may help the NHS engage staff and deliver better services, says a report from the Nuffield Trust.
The Trust, which carries out research in healthcare services, looked at the international evidence on the effects of employee ownership on performance, including the operation of four such organisations: the John Lewis Partnership; Kaiser Permanente, a US healthcare provider; Circle, a European private healthcare provider; and Central Surrey Health, a provider of nursing and community healthcare services.
It found that employee owned companies that allow staff to participate in making decisions on how the workplace is run can deliver a range of benefits, such as better productivity and performance, less staff turnover and sickness absence, greater innovation, and higher levels of motivation and commitment among the staff.”
Game Primary Research:
I carried out a short Questionnaire over the phone with one of the managers at Hemel Hempstead's Game branch to see how and what motivates the workers at Game and if Game effectively motivates their workers.
1. Do you think that Game motivates it's workers in the work environment?
Yes
No
Answer: Yes
2. If so, how does Game motivate it's workers?
Answer: Game motivates it's workers by placing a great emphasis on training. In total, we have 5 different training schemes all of which are / will be extremely important and motivating to our workers. These include Excellence in Practise (EIP), Deputy Manager Finishing School, Excellence in Leadership, Apprenticeship/NVQ and Conference. We have found that these training schemes are very motivating to workers who like to expand their knowledge, skills and performance in the workplace (which is a lot of them!). You can find more information about this on our website. We also offer financial means to motivate our workers such as offering Employee Discounts and Pension Schemes. From our own research, we have found that these are also very successful in motivating our workers as contrary to popular belief, money does motivate. These are the ways in which we motivate our workers in Game.
Me: Thanks for your time.
Game Secondary Research:
"Our success at GAME is underpinned by a comprehensive suite of training programmes which are in place at all levels of the business. We have written about a few below to give you a taster of what you can expect if you join GAME.
Excellence in Practice (EIP)
This programme is the foundation of our stores training and doubles up as a reference and training tool for our store staff. The programme equips all staff to effectively operate all aspects of a GAME store. 80% of the training is on the job and it takes up to three months to complete. Every member of staff and management will go through this programme when they start and will then go through regular refresher training.
Deputy Manager Finishing School
At GAME we've identified that good Deputy Managers need some help and guidance before they will become good Store Managers. The finishing school allows individuals to identify their own personal skills gaps with their mentor and work on these areas drawing on the network of resource around them.
Excellence in Leadership
A course aimed at the select few, those at the top of their game at store level. This course was set up to deliver Regional Managers of the future. It opens doors for these individuals, encourages them to drive their own development and challenges them to stretch out of their comfort zones. It gets managers to think at a higher level, to think like leaders and develop the potential that we have seen in them. The course involves theory, self learning, exams, secondments, project work and presentations.
Apprenticeship/NVQ
Whether you have just finished EIP or you are a new deputy Manager the Apprenticeship programme can help to take your career to the next level. Apprenticeships are available to all staff who have worked at GAME for 6 months. They combine practical on-the-job coaching with structured training to give you a nationally recognised qualification and the experience you need to progress.
Conference
Conference lets you join up with all the other managers in the business once a year to be the first in the country and often the world to see new technology and preview new releases of hardware and software that will drive our business at Christmas. This action packed three day event lets our managers network and talk directly with our suppliers, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft being just a few of the big names.
And it isn't all work, interactive entertainment nights that we lay on for our managers ensure you are thoroughly spoilt and thanked for the work that you do in our stores. Once you've experienced a GAME conference you'll understand why people say they are second to none."
[Anon 2.] (2007)
- "Training Programmes
- Employee Discount
- Pension Scheme
- Save As You Earn
- Life Assurance
- Service Awards"
Answer: John Lewis motivates it's workers by treating employees in the company as individuals rather than collectively. We do this so we feel we can meet the social needs of each worker. For example, the social needs of one worker may be different from another. Examples of some ways that we motivate employees include delegating responsibility to hard working employees, creating different teams in the workplace in order to meet worker's social needs as well as on the spot praise for their performance/s if they have been working hard. From a financial perspective, we motivate our employees by offering reduced air fare travel as well as travel discounts, offering what we consider a very generous holiday entitlement, contributory pension and private healthcare schemes, a profit share scheme as well as a employee share scheme. You can find more information about this on our website.
The main motivation model that John Lewis appears to use in practise is Mayo's two way theory. This is because the emphasis is on meeting the worker's social needs. For example, as quoted from the Questionnaire, the workers are treated "as individuals rather than collectively". Some examples of the ways in which John Lewis attempt to meet these social needs include delegating responsibility to employees that are working hard, creating teams in order to make the workplace more social as well as on the spot praise for worker's that are working very hard currently. These examples show clearly that John Lewis uses Mayo's social needs theory in practise as they directly correspond to Mayo's theory of meeting the worker's social needs for motivation.
In addition, John Lewis appears to use Mayo's two way theory in practise from a financial perspective too (as Mayo takes into account that workers are also motivated by financial means). For example, John Lewis offers workers reduced air fare travel, travel discounts, a "very generous" holiday entitlement, contributory pension and private healthcare schemes, a profit share scheme as well as a employee share scheme. This shows that not only does John Lewis appear to use Mayo's theory from a social perspective, it also shows that John Lewis uses Mayo's theory from a financial perspective. As a result, John Lewis appears to use both the social and financial side of Mayo's motivation theory without any gaps.
In conclusion, I found out that huge business's like Game and John Lewis put a large amount of time and effort into motivating their workers, more so than I had imagined. I found out this information by carrying out both primary and secondary research. I also found out that business's genuinely do try and motivate their worker's from a social perspective, as I originally believed that it was a myth that business's try and motivate their worker's socially in practise. I also found out this information from the primary and secondary research that I carried out.
References:
[Anon 1.] [n.d.] Rewards and Benefits. [online]. [n.k.] [s.n.] Available from: http://www.britishairwaysjobs.com/baweb1/?newms=info3, [Accessed 16 October 2009].
[Anon 2.] (2007) Store Management Training Programmes [online]. [n.k.] [s.n.] Available from: http://retailjobs.game.co.uk/Training-Programmes/ [Accessed 16 October 2009]
Robertson, J (2007) Profit sharing - how it works. [online]. [n.k.] [s.n.] Available from: http://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/item/2029/23/320/3 [Accessed 16 October 2009].
1 comment:
Well done for taking the initiative and actually contacting John Lewis and Game for your primary research. The answers provided added much more information than is readily available on the website. you still need to develop the art of collecting all the information you need for the blog, then analysing it and putting it in your own words. The information you identified is all very relevant, but you cannot cimply include it all by cutting and pasting from the website. you must put it in your own words and paraphrase. Your research skills are obviously very good, and you take a great deal of time collecting the information, but you now need to learn how to analyse and present that information, succinctly and in your own words. Well done for all the effort!
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