How Motivation Leads to Higher Performance

Abstract

The main aim of this research study is to analyse the effect of the motivation of the workforce and its impact on the performance of the employees. In this research study, a number of hotels in Hong Kong have been used as a case study to underline the main aim of the study. The study relied on primary data using structured questions to explain the main objective. This research study attempts to explain the various employee motivational theories in details and correlates them to the real case studies and how the companies are in the developmental path by motivating the employees. For instance, the Hong Kong hotels offer long term incentives for those employees who have been found to be extraordinarily skilled and have given a great performance. The research design was a one-shot survey pre-experimental design. The data was measured by utilising counts through a formal survey.

The independent variables were the workers of the hospitality industry in Hong Kong. The independent variables were selected in terms of the workers’ commitment to their jobs when they are motivated; the level of motivation was also relative. The independent variables were measured against the workers’ satisfaction with the work, their commitment to work and their satisfaction with their employers’ commitments in terms of motivating them. The results of the survey were analysed using Chi-square analysis. The study found out that Employee motivation is a key element in accomplishing the company’s objectives like product quality and establishing a quality workplace. Other than financial compensation, other factors like personal achievements, self-actualisation, recognition, accomplishment, relationship with supervisors and co-employees, job interest, the nature and the magnitude of work supervision, the chances for growth and advancement and the trust and responsibility shall have to take into account for the success of any business.

Introduction

This chapter contains the background of motivation and its impacts on organisational performance. It also contains the summary definitions and base theory, the background of the host organisation, the rationale for the research area, the research, the research aims, objectives and hypothesis. It concludes with the outline methodology and the plan of the dissertation.

In order for an organisation to be successful, it is imperative that the needs of both the organisation and the employees are satisfied; the management should establish a cohesive relationship with the employees in order to steer the organisation forward (Muller, 2011, p.3). The employees have a role to play by adhering to the setup rules and regulations of the organisation. On the other hand, the employees anticipate favourable working conditions in terms of a good salary, good treatment, job security and enough attention from the managers. Both the organisation and employees have expectation over each other in addition to the black and white employment contract. The needs and anticipations of both the employers and the employees differ from one organisation to another. It is, therefore, of the essence for the organisation to consider the anticipations of the employees so as to come up with a better way to motivate the employees (Muller, 2011, p.5).

Every organisation has human resource policies, and it is upon the managers to interpret these policies to the employees in the best way that they can understand. In order to achieve this, the relevant managers should undergo extra training to equip them with the required confidence and capabilities to perform the task at hand. In addition, it is the duty of the line managers to put into operation schemes for rewarding the employees appropriately and Implement the scheme (Robbins, 2003, p.26). These reward strategies change from time to time, depending on the changing nature of the organisation.

The term motivation originated from the Latin word ‘movere’, meaning ‘to move’. In the present context, motivation symbolises those psychological procedures that create direction, stimulation, and persistence of voluntary actions that are target-directed (Mohanta and Charnov, 2008, p.250). Motivation directs job performance and behaviors (Kinicki, 2009, p.147). Employees’ job satisfaction and motivation significantly impact on organisation performance and efficiency. It is very important for an organisation to understand the relevance of motivation, how it functions and how it generates positive energy among the employees (Kinicki, 2009, p.147).

The positive energies play an important role in the elevation of the employees’ performances in the organisation and further improve their effectiveness. Motivation is perceived differently by different people at various levels of management. To some managers, it is a way of rewarding the workers for a job well done, and to other managers, it is a way of inspiring the workers to work more effectively and productively. Regardless of the interpretation, the end result of motivation is to provide high-quality work by the employees in the organisation. It is, therefore, imperative for the managers to structure the best way to stimulate the employees to do a perfect job. When the employees are not motivated well enough, the level of their efficiency will be greatly reduced; they will not complete the assigned tasks on time, they will boycott work, or they will behave in a certain manner that is considered to be unprofessional (Kinicki, 2009, p.147).

Some summary definitions and base theory

Robbins (2003, p.38) asserts that motivation is the readiness to put a greater magnitude of initiatives towards the objectives of the organisation. According to Fishbein and Ajzen (1975, p.55), employee motivation is a major tool and a necessity to offer incentives so as to promote innovative thinking and uphold higher grade motivation. In addition, Gitman and McDaniel (2009, p.41) suggest that administering employee incentives is a decisive factor in promoting competition, leveraging performance and flexibility for ability in tense labour markets. McGregor’s theory can be regarded as the basic theory of motivation as he emphasised on the significance of comprehending the associations between human behaviour and motivation. He pointed out that CEOs motivate the workforce either by a single or two basic strides, which he termed as Theory X and Theory Y (Mohanta and Charnov, 2008, p.250).

Work performance is the process by which the employees execute the assigned task; efficient employees have a higher performance rate than their inefficient counterparts (Robbins, 2003, p.26). A higher work performance leads to higher work output and vice versa.

Statement of the problem

This study sought answers on how motivation can lead to a higher performance of the employees. Heavy reliance has been made on modern approaches to this question of cognitive concepts. A nonexistent state of affairs can be symbolised by some insects, birds and even mammals (Herzberg, 1959, p.55). If there is a well-accepted notion, motivated demeanour can be considered to be manoeuvred by a response control scheme with a goal. A goal demonstrates an objective situation in which the regulation structure aims to materialise on. Demeanour is to regulate, not purely by existing internal or external stimulants alone, but through an evaluation between the desired state of affairs and the existing state of affairs, that is, the goal, or setpoint specified or registered within the mind (Gitman and McDaniel, 2009, p.41)

This type of motivation analysis assists in understanding the basic difference between complex motives in humans and simple motives. To bring about an imagined state of affairs, one has to be motivated to do whatever is required as the human motives are really intricate and can be estimated to be remote in the near future (Herzberg, 1959, p.58). Ethology can, therefore, be said to be another approach of motivation that has close relations with cognitive psychology (Gomez-Mejia and Welbourne, 1990, p.184). The best illustration for the above example is the broken-wing presentation of the piping plover. If a marauder comes so near to a nest with eggs, the parent bird will act as if wounded (hence simple victim) and misdirects the trespasser away from the nest.

This type of action is the unique trait of the taxonomic category and is untaught in its general topography; yet the bird checks the intruder’s demeanour and regulates the demonstration accordingly (Herzberg, 1959, p.58). If the intruder is not at first diverted from its path, the bird may approach more intimately and step up the display. Thus, in ways suggestive of purpose and goal direction, a species-typical action pattern can be employed to promote the goal of diverting the intruder (Gomez-Mejia and Welbourne, 1990, p.184). This illustration shows that without motivation, the workers are not happy at all, and they will do everything to show their disappointment with the working condition. The relevant managers should, therefore, know their workers well to determine the best motivational strategies that suit them.

Aim, Objectives and Research Question

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of motivation on the performance of the employees. Specifically, this study sought to bring out clearly the ways in which the performance of the employees is affected given any level of motivation. The premise is that motivation can help generate positive energy to the organisation so that the organisation’s performance can be improved. With this regard the specific objectives will be: (a) to investigate the relationship between the employee motivation and the performance of the organisation; (b) to analyse the role played by motivation in the organisation; and (c) to investigate the available ways to improve the employee motivation in order to enhance their performance.

The research questions were: (a) is there any relationship between the employee motivation and the performance of the organisation? ; (b) is there any role played by motivation in the organisation? ; (c) are there any available ways to improve the employee motivation in order to enhance their performance?.

Emotion and motivation are intimately associated. In fact, it has been disputed that emotions are the real motivators and that other features which are situational, internal, and cognitive take clutch of demeanour by way of the emotions they stir up. For centuries, as a general case, both the displeasure and pleasure have been acknowledged as having motivational force (Gomez-Mejia and Welbourne, 1990, p.184). In intricate instances, the part played by cognitive processes, like how a person believes about an incident, and what is carried about it, can rest more on how a person believes about it. The culture in which an individual is raised has a powerful effect on how the individual behaves (Gomez-Mejia and Welbourne, 1990, p.184).

Expected relevance of the study

The findings of this study will add to the body of knowledge with regard to the available scholarly articles focusing on the effectiveness of motivation on the performance of the employees. In addition, the study will help managers to adopt the best motivation strategies that comfortably suit the employees.

Literature Review

Introduction

The job of a manager is to finish the work with competence and great performance by the employees. In order to accomplish this goal, managers are required to stimulate the workforces. Motivation can be defined as the driving force for employees to accomplish the objectives. The understanding of human nature is regarded to be significant in comprehending motivation. This chapter explores the many motivational theories with regard to human nature.

The Meaning of Motivation

Employees who have engaged in productivity for so long and are more involved in organisational growth are known as motivated employees. Motivation can be described as the inclination of an individual to exert a high magnitude of efforts (Pride et al., 2011, p.255). Employees are able and willing to exert a high magnitude of effort when employee’s capability and the job match is in balance; when due recognition is made for their attainments and achievements; and when the prospect for growth are available for those employees who desire for that (Wentland, 2009, p.40). Low morale among employees is a sign of an organisational disease that signifies a lack of motivation and demands a high attentive treatment and cure. Hence, for any business organisation to accomplish its objectives and goals, high-spirited employees are the need of the hour. To make the employees give their best, motivation has become an ingredient fact.

Motivation is viewed as a procedure concerning preferences made by individuals or subordinate organisms among substitute forms of deliberate activity (Britton et al., 1999, p.27) Barcelo (2000, p.24) suggested that the present and immediate influence on the vigour, direction and persistence of action can be termed as motivation. According to Kinni (1980, p.14), business managers are striving to establish and maintain an atmosphere that is more favourable to the performance of individual employees who are striving together in groups towards attaining of pre-determined goals. In contrast, according to Robson (2002, p.62), motivation can be offered to workers as per the following methodologies: the customary or traditional approach; implicit bargaining; human relations approach; internalised motivation; and competition.

Employee Empowerment

Many business organisations are increasingly effecting employee satisfaction and motivation through the employment of the technique of empowerment. Empowerment is the process of giving the employees authority so that they can be more relevant to the business organisation by participating in the decision-making process (Britton et al., 1999, p.27). By introducing empowerment, there will be no flow of control from the top echelons of the business downwards. Empowered employees will make a decision on their own since they do have their own voice in what to do, when to do and how to do (Carter, 2009, p.260). When employees are empowered, they develop a sense of authority which is very instrumental in enhancing their performance. Non-empowered employees cannot offer a very high performance than their empowered counterparts as they lack the relevant moral authority to effect in their working environment (Wentland, 2009, p.40).

Motivation theories

Fredrick Taylor was one of the earliest writers to write about employee motivation over a hundred year ago. Taylor developed a new concept of motivating the employees, and he termed it as scientific management. Taylor’s doctrines were based on the concept that the employees were economically encouraged and were allowed to work in order to earn as much money as they could (Wentland, 2009, p.40). Taylor’s main assumption was that economic gain was the chief motivator that encouraged employees to perform well in their duties. The other assumption of Taylor’s theory was that work was innately obnoxious for the majority of the workforce and that the money that the employees earned was more significant to the employees than the nature of the job they were executing (Carter, 2009, p.260). Taylor can be said to be the father of the motivation theories, but his theory has a drawback as it considers only monetary benefits and has ignored other motivational factors (McGarvey, 1997, p.32).

Taylor’s scientific management theory was supplanted by the human relations approach in the late 1930s. The human relation theory is based on the assumption that: the employees desire to feel important and useful; the employees have strong social needs, and these requirements are more significant than fiscal money in motivating the employees. Supporters of the human relations approach advised the business managers to make employees to feel more significant and to permit them a degree of self-control and self-direction in accomplishing their day to day activities. The mirage of importance and involvement were anticipated to please an employee’s social requirements. For instance, a manager might permit an employee group to engage in making a business decision despite the fact that he had previously decided what the decision would be. Thus, the emblematic gesture of appearing to permit participation was anticipated to stimulate motivation, despite the fact that no actual participation took place (Griffin and Moorhead, 2011, p.92).

The human resource approach in the motivation of employees includes the doctrine of needs and motivation. The human relationships are founded on the principle that the chimaera of participation and contribution would stimulate the motivation whereas the human resource view which started to appear in the 1950s presumes the contributions themselves are precious to both organisations and to the individuals. It is based on the assumption that employees want to contribute and are able to make real and genuine contributions. Thus, it has become an inevitable task on the part of the management to support such participation by employees and to establish a work atmosphere that makes full use of the human resources available.

Abraham Maslow (1943, p.372) developed the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and suggested that people have desires and wants that affect their behaviour; since there are many needs, they are categorised according to the importance, and the person advances to the next level of needs only after he or she achieves the lower needs; the higher the hierarchy of needs, the more psychological healthier a person becomes. (Maslow, 1943, p. 372). The five needs are physiological needs, security needs, love, self-esteem needs, and self-actualisation needs. Physiological needs are the most basic needs, including the need for food, water, sleep, etc. When the basic needs are satisfied, people advance to the security needs (against danger, or job security).

When these needs are satisfied, a person moves on to the next needs for love and a sense of belonging. People at this level are looking for friendship and desire to belong to a group. In the next level, people need the recognition and appreciation of the others; it is the self-esteem and self-respect level. Finally, it is the self-actualisation needs, which people look to fulfil themselves and in the pursuit of self-development, job satisfaction, and creativity. A criticism on Maslow’s theory is that in the past, the management rewarded employees focusing on the physiological needs and security needs, while currently, the management reward system has chosen to satisfy the higher needs of the employees such as self-esteem needs and self-actualisation needs (Griffin and Moorhead, 2011, p.92).

For studying the behaviours of the individuals at work, Douglas formulated two models which he called Theory X and Theory Y. They represent two very different attitudes toward employee motivation (Nelson, 1998, p.235). The two models are based on the work of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, in which. McGregor had the view that the management could use either theory to motivate the employees (Nelson, 1998, p.235). If the company could integrate the individual needs with the organisational goals, the employees would achieve the self-esteem needs or even the self-actualisation needs. Thus, the motivation would be self-sustaining. Nowadays, Theory Y has influence in the policy design for personnel and shapes the ideas of pay for the working performance (Nelson, 1998, p.235). However, Theory X and Theory Y are rarely used explicitly since they represent extreme situations. In practice, managers and employees fall under somewhere between the poles of the dichotomy (Nelson, 1998, p.235).

David McClelland’s concept of achievement motivation is another theory that has a great impact on management with motivation issues. It is also related to Herzberg’s hygiene-motivation theory. It is observed that in individuals with higher levels of accomplishments, motivation seems to be more vested in their jobs. They tend to set high and obtainable goals and want feedback on how they performed in the job rather than how people think of them. Further, they are more interested in personal accomplishments rather than honours. However, high achievement-motivated people might not make an effective manager. Moreover, the necessity for accomplishments can be instructed, and McClelland also had put forth some training programs for this (Gitman and McDaniel, 2009, p.146).

As mentioned above, the statement had illustrated some of the hypotheses about motivations. Different scientists hold different views and theories. The hierarchy of needs as postulated by Maslow demonstrates that the manager requires taking into account the requirements of the workforces and gratifying them so as to motivate them. Herzberg’s hygiene and motivation theory tells the manager that in order to motivate the employees the organisation needs to consider the hygiene factors (not dissatisfied employees in the working environment), then develop the intrinsic motivation for employees. McClelland’s concept of achievement motivation discusses the characteristics of high achievement-motivated people, and it shows that the ability of achievement-oriented can be learned.

Employee motivation can be explained as the magnitude of commitment, vigour, and originality that an organisation’s employees relate to their jobs. For many managers, amidst ever gradually increasing more aggressive business atmosphere of recent years, finding out, means to motivate workforces. In reality, a variety of varied hypotheses and means of employee motivation have appeared, extending from increased involvement to monetary incentives and employee empowerment. For small businesses, employee motivation can occasionally be predominantly challenging where the promoters have frequently worked for many years for establishing a company that he may be reluctant to delegate significant authorities to others. But the business owners should be aware of such drawbacks. Some of the issues connected with unmotivated employees include deteriorating morale, less contentment and widespread dissuasion. If permitted to prolong, these issues can lessen earnings, competitiveness, and productivity, especially for small business.

For fostering employee motivation, small businesses can offer a perfect ambience, since employees are able to witness the outcomes of their contributions in a new method than in giant organisations. In addition to increasing competitiveness and productivity, highly stimulated employees can make the owner of a small business abandon operational control on a day-to-day basis and in its place focus on long-run goals to develop the business (Pride et al., 2011, p.295). Business coach Don Maruska told Entrepreneur that employees who actually do desire to be enthused about their employment do work efficiently, harder, and smarter (Griffin and Moorhead, 2011, p.92). They flourish in surroundings where they can create a subtle distinction, and where the majority of employees in a company are capable and pushing together to move the business ahead. Fittingly structured recognition and fiscal reward programs are significant, but not limited in this blend (Gronstedt, 2000, p.92).

One other way to achieve employee motivation has been to look into plug-ins to a person’s job as the principal elements in enhancing performance. Never-ending combination of employee remunerations like life insurance, health care, employee stock ownership plans, exercise facilities, profit sharing, child care availability, company cars, subsidised meal plans and more, have been employed by businesses as their initiatives to retain a contented workforce in the faith that contented workforce are motivated employees. However, majority of contemporary theorists, consider that the motivation is nothing but how an employee senses toward his or her profession and has less to do with fiscal incentives than with the blueprint of the occupation itself (Griffin and Moorhead, 2011, p.94). Early research studies that had been carried out as early as the 1950s have demonstrated that highly simplified and segmented occupations ended in lower employee output and morale (Robbins, 2003, p.150). Low employee motivation may culminate to high labour turnover and absenteeism, and none of them is advantageous to the future of the business. As a result, in the 1950s, job enlargement started to emerge up in major companies.

Some schemes are widespread across all business organisations endeavouring to enhance the motivation of employees. The paramount employee motivation initiatives will spotlight on what the employees believe to be significant. Giving the workforce more decision making power and accountability augments their spheres of control over the assignments for which they are held accountable and efficiently equips them to accomplish those jobs. At the outset, beliefs of disturbances developing from being held answerable for some action for which an employee does not have the sources to perform are weakened. Here, employee energy is sidetracked from self-saving to enhanced task achievement (Nelson, 1998, p.235).

When the authority to make in the organisation is pressed from the top to down line personnel, workers who are adequately experienced in a service job, or product, are offered with the chance to make use of their schemes to develop it. The authority to make motivations among employees projects the business to have more flexible employees. In addition, it exploits more shrewdly the knowledge of its workforces and enhances the swapping of information and ideas among the departments and the employees. Habitually, these schemes ameliorate employees’ postures toward the customer and the business, while boosting self-confidence. Backing on this finding, an examination of elements which control motivation-to-learn established that it is straight away associated with the degree to which training members considers that such involvement will distress their career or job value. Thus, if the body of information benefited can be employed to the job to be consummated, then the gaining of that awareness will be a meaningful event for the employer and employee.

Many research studies have discovered that the chief efficient motivators of workers are non-fiscal in nature. Fiscal incentives are deficient motivators in part since prospects often surpass outcomes and inequality between salaried individuals may split instead of uniting the workforces. Recognised non-monetary optimistic motivators encourage team strength and include appreciation, progression and accountability (Armstrong, 2002, p.25). Business managers, who identify the small wins of workforces encourage democratic atmospheres and treat workforces with respect and fairness and see to it that their workforces are extremely motivated. One organisation’s administrator cogitated to line up with thirty powerful non-fiscal incentives that cost nothing or little to execute. The very successful incentives like time off from work and letters of acclamation, improved individual self-respect and fulfilment (Kouhy et al., 2009, p.147). Consequently, a plan that satisfies inherent, self-actualising personal needs and mingles monetary reward systems may be the most effective employee stimulator (Gitman and McDaniel, 2009, p.235).

Motivation encompasses the instructing of the workers and rewarding them accordingly as per the good work done. The workers are motivated through various measures in order to make them enthusiastic about performing better; the motivational strategies enables the workers to perform a greater job continuously as they expect better things to come (Aswathappa, 2005, p.26).

Employees in any business require somewhat to remain working. Virtually at all times, the pay of the employee is adequate to enable them to continue working for an establishment. Nonetheless, working just for wages is not adequate for employees to be inherent in an organisation. A worker must be prompted to work for an organisation or company. If no stimulus is present in a worker, then that worker’s eminence for the job or all effort, in general, will worsen (Bryman and Bell, 2003, p.147). Different people require different motivation strategies as they have varied needs and specifications. Common motivational schemes include personality type and soft sell against hard sell. Soft sell schemes have logical applications, praises, emotional appeals, and advice. On the other hand, hard-sell schemes have to outnumber barter ranks and pressure (Clark, Gregory and Robert, 1993, p.147). For educational psychologists, motivation has fastidious attention because of the vital part it has in student knowledge. Nonetheless, the precise sort of motivation that is examined in the dedicated scenery of education disagrees qualitatively with the more common kinds of motivation considered by psychologists in other areas. In education, motivation can have some outcomes on how students study and how they perform towards the subject issue. It could be: straight demeanour toward specific objectives; direct to enhanced energy and effort; increase persistence in, and initiation of, performance; improve cognitive working; establishing what outcomes are rewarding; and guiding to enhanced performance.

Motivation can be explained as follows: First, inherent motivation happens when persons are motivated internally to do something since it either offers them happiness or they sense that what they are acquiring is important. It has been exposed that inherent motivation for learning plunges from marks 3-9 though the precise reason cannot be determined. Moreover, in younger pupils, it has been exposed that contextualising substance that would or else be demonstrated in a conceptual way augments the inherent motivation of these students (Coates and Jennifer, 1994, p.15). Secondly and lastly, extrinsic motivation emerges when a student is required to do incredible or act in a positive method since these elements are external to him/her, for instance, getting cash awards for excelling academically.

Summary

In summary, every manager of an organisation knows the importance of motivation; hence, improving employee motivation could help organisations improve performance and efficiency. This is due to the fact that motivation brings out a hard-working culture on employees; this culture makes them perform their work diligently, hence improving their performance. The importance the employee motivation is, therefore, given much consideration. The study purposes of investigating ways of improving employee motivation in order to enhance an organisation’s performance.

Study Site

Introduction

The study site section covers the Hong Kong hospitality industry and further goes on into extensive research.

The hospitality industry in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is well known for its luxurious hotels. The hospitality industry in Hong Kong provides an excellent service to all the customers in line with its commitment to serve everyone equally despite their race, gender or nationality. The hotels in Hong Kong are some of the best in the world and attract high-quality employees. The employees have a favourable working environment and are offered competitive remunerations based on their performance. Motivation is the key role related to work performance.

Motivation of employees in the hospitality industry in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Hotels offer short-run incentives to the employees mainly to encourage them to give out the maximum output. These short-run incentives will assist the hotels in attaining their business goals and also offering due recognition to an employee if they deserve it. The hotel offers bonus schemes to its employees which are designed to extract the maximum levels of performance from them. The base pay of an employee in the hotel has been designed in such a way that it mirrors the employee’s role, his/her performance and his/her overall commitment and contributions to the entire company. Every year, the base pay of each and every employee of the hotel is reviewed so that it remains competitive. For those employees who have been found extraordinarily skilled and have given a great performance, the hotels offer them long term incentives. The long-term incentives are designed mainly to offer them greater objectives to aim for, with greater monetary rewards to cheer them to remain with the company and to accomplish their goals.

The hotels have two schemes of long-term incentives such as the shares from the hotel’s performance cash plan which is being reimbursed in cash as well as the hotel’s performance share plan which is designed on actual share. In addition, the hotel offers a variety of other fringe benefits like holiday schemes, where every employee gets a minimum of 23 leave days every year with bank holidays on a priority basis. The rationale for the study is to indicate how employees’ motivation can be related to an individual staff’s working performance. It is an opportunity to determine payment as a particular application in the hospitality industry.

The philosophy of the report will be best fitted with realism. The research is going to find out feedbacks from a number employees on the current pay-roll associated with their working performance which is not a tradition of the natural scientist research; positivism is not adoptable in this case. It will also not be a human mind’s study as the research topic focuses alone on employee motivation with a number of participants. Thus, the philosophy of realism should be adopted in this research. The research is indicating the past theories with new research and analysis to add-on to the previous theory; therefore, a combined research method was adopted in this case. The research method was a mixed one in order to use both qualitative and quantitative methods. The structured questions were utilised in this study in order to receive the maximum results for the researcher to analyse the result.

A case study would be the best strategy in this case because the research and result were only suited to the food and beverage departments within the Hong Kong hotels; therefore, a case study was best preferred. The duration of the cross-sectional research was based on the limitation of time. The research did not follow the trends over-time or determine the contrast of currency and consumption of society. Secondly, the objective of the study can be identified for more studies in a similar area. For data collections, several works of literature, majorly scholarly articles were reviewed so as to build a strong case on the effectiveness of motivation on the performance of the employees. For primary research, structured questions were used in this study. The questions were set in a structured style with open-end and close-end sections.

Research Methodology

Introduction

The methodology is the process of instructing the ways to do the research. It is, therefore, convenient for conducting the research and for analysing the research questions. The process of methodology insists that much care should be given to the kinds and nature of procedures to be adhered to in accomplishing a given set of procedures or an objective. This section contains the research design, study population and the sampling techniques that will be used to collect data for the study. It also details the data analysis methods, ethical considerations, validity and reliability of data and the limitation of the study.

Research philosophy

For this part, choosing a philosophy of research design is the choice between the positivist and the social constructionist (Easterby, Thorp and Lowe, 2008, p.67). The positivist view shows that social worlds exist externally, and its properties are supposed to be measured objectively, rather than being inferred subjectively through feelings, intuition, or reflection. The basic beliefs for the positivist view are that the observer is independent, and science is free of value. The researchers should always concentrate on facts, look for causality and basic laws, reduce phenomenon to simplest elements, and form hypotheses and test them.

Preferred methods for positivism consist of making concepts operational and taking large samples. The view of the social constructionists is that reality is a one-sided phenomenon and can be constructed socially in order to gain a new significance to the people. The researchers should concentrate on meaning, look for understanding, for what really happened and develop ideas with regard to the data. Preferred methods for the social constructionists include using different approaches to establish different views of the phenomenon and small samples evaluated in-depth or over time (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009, p.87). For the case of analysing the impacts of the motivation of employees on their job performance, the philosophy of the social constructionists was used for carrying out the research. Because it tends to produce qualitative data, and the data are subjective since the gathering process would also be subjective due to the involvement of the researcher.

Research design

This research design was a one-shot survey pre-experimental design. The data was measured by utilising counts through a formal survey. The independent variables were the workers of the hospitality industry in Hong Kong. The independent variables were selected in terms of the workers’ commitment to their jobs when they are motivated; the level of motivation was also relative. The independent variables were measured against the workers’ satisfaction with the work, their commitment to work and their satisfaction with their employers’ commitments in terms of motivating them. The results of the survey were analysed using Chi-square analysis.

Study group

The study group consisted of 150 Hong Kong hotel employees who responded to the survey. Initially, 50 surveys were sent out; 54.55% of the workers worked in 5-star hotels, and 45.45% worked in 4-star and 3-star hotels. The majority of respondents (42%) were veteran employees 15 or more years experience, 23% had worked for 11-15 years, while 35% of the workers had 1-10 years of hotel experience.

Research approach

Qualitative research is a way of research question captured in various academic fields of study, conventionally used in the social sciences, but also in research on the market and other areas. The qualitative method investigates the question as to how and why decision making is carried out; hence, focused and smaller samples are more frequently preferred to huge samples. The information and the findings that were brought into being by the qualitative approaches were viewed to be significant and relevant to the research approach. Quantitative methods, on the other hand-verified the validity and truthfulness of the hypotheses. Qualitative methods can be explained as a source of data or an explanation based on the dimensions of the graph or a non-mathematical data collection.

Data Collection and Instrumentation

A non-experimental one-shot survey was used to collect counts data. The survey instrument consisted of questions focused on how motivation leads to higher performance of workers in the hospitality industry in Hong Kong. Fifty surveys were sent to the area hotel workers with 31 of them responding within three weeks of the date the survey was mailed.

Data Analysis Methods

Data from the survey were entered into the Excel spreadsheet program for future analysis. Using ASP statistical software, Chi-square analysis was conducted to challenge the research questions.

Limitation of data collection methods

There have been a lot of concerns on additional budgetary expenses for collection of the data, regardless of whether the gathered data is really genuine or not and whether there may be an explicit conclusion when interpreting and analysing the data (Parker, 2001, p.203).

In addition, some employees were reluctant to offer some information they deemed confidential and unsafe in the hands of their competitors. This posed a great challenge to the research as the researcher had to take a longer time to find employees who were willing to give out adequate information.

Validity and reliability

The validity of the data represents the data integrity, and it connotes that the data is accurate and much consistent. Validity has been explained as a descriptive evaluation of the association between actions and interpretations and empirical evidence deduced from the data (Russell and Taylor-Iii, 2008, p.14). The canyon of validity is applicable to all guises of evaluation (which are both qualitative and quantitative) by coalescing scientific inquiry and rational debates to prove or disprove the outcomes and interpretations emanating from the data collected (Coates and Jennifer, 1994, p.39).

It is to be observed that no statistical data in any way offers assurance on the accuracy of any data. More precaution should be taken especially when a comparison is made between employee motivation and organisational growth. Employee motivation may differ from business to business and may not be identical in an industry. Reliability of the data is the outcome of a series of actions which commences with the proper explanation of the issues to be resolved. This may push on to a clear recognition of the yardsticks concerned. It contains the target samples to be chosen, the proper sampling strategy, and the sampling methods to be employed. When necessary samples have to be studied, the outcomes should be illustrated in such a style that those who arrive at the findings and initiate actions can do so with all adequate guarantees (Cofer and Appley, 1967, p.62).

Data Analysis and Findings

Introduction

This section covers the analysis of the data, presentation and interpretation. In a research study conducted at the hotels in Hong Kong, it was found that it is the employee-oriented behaviour which intends to cater to the emotional and social needs of group members. Early research studies also revealed the significance and the relevance of motivation toward improving the performance of the employees at the workplace.

Research findings

According to the findings, employee motivation is a key element in accomplishing the company’s objectives, like product quality and establishing a quality workplace. Other than financial compensation, other factors like achievements, self-actualisation, recognition, accomplishment, relationship with supervisors and co-employees, job interest, the nature and the magnitude of work supervision, the chances for growth and advancement and the trust and responsibility shall have to be taken into account for the success of any business.

With regard to the survey made among the workforce of the hotels in Hong Kong, about 91 per cent of its employees voted for job satisfaction and productivity, about 71 per cent voted for opportunity and growth development (Chi-square = 1.436; p = 0.382; when compared to a criterion Alpha level of 0.20). The employee presence rate (attendance) stood at 98 per cent for the last six years, and the turnover rate of the employees remained at just 1 per cent. Employee motivation proves to be the building block of excellent performance in the organisation. Motivation enables the employees to set and achieve organisational targets on time and to meet the demands of the job. The hotel can be better placed when motivation is carried out in a great manner that offers job satisfaction and job protection for the employees. Thus, the employees will feel much secure when they work in such a suitable environment that offers opportunities for potential growth.

Every organisation has human resource guiding principles, and it is upon the managers to interpret these policies to the employees in the best way that they can comprehend. In order to achieve this, the relevant managers should undergo extra training to equip them with the required confidence and capabilities to carry out the task at hand. In addition, it is the duty of the line managers to set up schemes for rewarding the employees appropriately and Implement the scheme (Muller, 2011, p.3). These reward strategies change from time to time, depending on the changing nature of the organisation.

The effective performance evaluation system that has been adopted by the hotel has assisted the organisation to recognise its low performers so that their defects might be set right through appropriate training and other initiatives. An organisation’s performance appraisal process can be evaluated by periodic audits of the performance appraisal system which can be an efficient devise for evaluating their appropriateness and effectiveness at the same time (Snell and Dean, 1992, p.480). Its services have improved to achieve world-class status. The main focus of the research was to explore the ways of appreciating and motivating employees in order to achieve employee satisfaction. The relevance of motivation is seen in the satisfaction that they derive from executing their jobs. Motivation is postulated to have a greater impact on the performance and productivity of the organisation.

The way of motivating employees in Hong Kong hotels

The Hong Kong hotels make much effort to attract potential employees and retain the existing employees in order to sustain the excellent track record that it has in terms of employee satisfaction and higher productivity. There are various ways and tactics that are used by the hotel to motivate its workers in order to achieve organisational success. The outstanding motivating ideas of the hotel include: offering liberal remunerations to the employees; providing adequate fun and recreational facilities to the employees; offering financial grants to the employees in order to cater for their welfare; granting the employees an annual minimum of 23 leave days; allowing the employees to join and form trade unions that help to fight for their rights at the workplace; and offering a suitable working environment that fosters the growth of the employees among others.

Because of the motivational factors that are offered by the Hong Kong hotels to their employees, the hotels have emerged to be a force to reckon in the hospitality industry in China. 95 per cent of the employees of the hotels were greatly satisfied by the services provided by the Human Resource Department of the institution (Chi-square = 1.083; p = 0.517; when compared to a criterion Alpha level of 0.20). The Human Resource Department is so much impartial when it comes to hiring and firing the employees. The conditions for work are also excellent, and no employee has been prejudiced as a result of racial origin or gender-related issues.

Another 97 per cent of the employees agreed that the top management plays an important role in terms of motivating the workers (Chi-square = 1.269; p = 0.342; when compared to a criterion Alpha level of 0.20). They always engage the employees in setting the targets of the organisation and also in setting the working conditions. 96 per cent of the workers were greatly contented with the incentives that are offered by the top management of the hotel. Among the motivating factors offered by the hotel, 96 per cent of the employees agreed that promotion and change of grades was the element that motivated them the most. Only 2 per cent of the employees agreed that recognition was the most outstanding element of motivation (Chi-square = 1.014; p = 0.218; when compared to a criterion Alpha level of 0.20). The research on the hotel also revealed that all the workers were involved in the company’s decision making. They also agreed that motivation plays a key role in terms of enhancing their performance.

Employee recognition as a motivating factor

Recognition can be termed as one of the vibrant instruments of motivation. Employees are not only concerned to know about how they have accomplished their goals or their work but also how their accomplishments are priced. It is to be observed that recognition requirements are tied up with the esteemed needs in Maslow’s (1954, p.64) power structure of needs. Maslow has defined it as the need to have a firm, stable based self-esteem and to have the prestige. Monetary rewards, particularly, achievement bonuses, were given instantly after an accomplishment which is the clear indicators of recognition on to which tangible financial advantages are embedded (Coopers, 2005, p.364).

To act in the organisation’s interest and to perform well over time, the employee reward policy should be designed to coordinate the workforces with the organisational stratagem by offering incentives for accomplishing employees. Expectancy theory is concerned with the confidence of employees that they should feel that their initiatives would impact the financial incentives they get from the employer. If an employee decides whether to remain in the organisation and accomplish the valuable benefits to the business, then they will always be influenced by the perception of equity theory. It is to be observed that external equity is concerned with the magnitude to which an organisation’s pay-structure matches with the external labour market. The magnitude to which an organisation discriminates the employee pay-structure on the footing of its performance in analogue jobs is known as internal equity (Creech, 1995, p.33).

Employee performance recognition includes performance-contingent incentives, which obviously are payoffs through job contingent incentives, performance excellence, where pay is reliant on job taxonomy and person-concerned incentives, in which pay structure is reliant on capabilities of the employee (David, 1965, p.68). In its quest to enhance the organisational effectiveness and performance, employee reward policy can be regarded as one of the pillars of management from company to company. This should stay as probably one of the most intricate and underutilised tools for pushing the company’s performance.

The intricacy and the significance of associating incentive strategies to business objectives in a systematic style and has been a consistent debate in the area of the study of employee motivation as has the significance and intricacy of associating incentives to the long-term outlook of the organisation (De Wit and Meyer, 2004, p.215). The elucidation of reward processes which are competent for the strengthening of demeanours that are critical to business stratagems like short-run versus long-run and financial results and customer focus has been stressed with the strongest level of linkage by placing more emphasis on Lawler’s (1990, p.32) reward policy. The chief aim of the rewarding practice is to offer larger suppleness to reward, the gaining of competencies and wider skills, without the requirement of the workforces in each situation or case. On the other hand, the common approach contains the salary compensation for successfully accomplishing work goals or for demonstrating job-oriented capabilities or the combination of both. Thus, it has been observed that this monetary award practice can be resourceful for retaining and motivating skilful workforce (Hill, 2008, p.211).

Conclusions and Recommendations

Introduction

This chapter presents a summary of the findings and discussion of the results in accordance with the objectives of this study. Finally, the chapter contains conclusions and recommendations.

Conclusion and recommendations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of motivation on the performance of the employees. Specifically, this study sought to bring out clearly the ways in which the performance of the employees is affected given any level of motivation. The findings of this research are in line with earlier empirical studies and real case studies. The research found out that there are various ways that an organisation uses to motivate its employees. Employee motivation is instrumental in achieving organisational goals effectively and promptly. Motivating the employees of an organisation will result to enhanced employee’s productivity; reduced labour turnover¸ reduced industrial unrest if any, to fortify the staff and the management so as to foster a productivity culture in the business organisation.

In order for an organisation to be successful, it is imperative that the needs of both the organisation and the employees are satisfied; the management should establish an interconnected liaison with the employees in order to guide the organisation to the fore. The employees have a role to play by adhering to the setup rules and regulations of the organisation. On the other hand, the employees anticipate positive working conditions in terms of a good salary, good treatment, job security and enough attention from the managers. The needs and anticipations of both the employers and the employees differ from one organisation to another. It is, therefore, of the essence of the organisations to consider the anticipations of the workers so as to come up with a better way to inspire the workforce (Muller, 2011, p.3)

Many employees have expressed their confidence with the HR department’s performance in terms of treating the employees. In addition, the employees are allowed to participate in decision-making processes within the organisation. The top management also plays a greater role in terms of motivating the workers. Needless to say, the employees are greatly satisfied with the incentives they get from the organisation.

This research paper also found out whether a business organisation can rely on its employees to attain the desired productivity and efficiency levels and whether such business organisations can depend upon highly motivated employees that share aspirations and visions of the business. This research essay has, therefore, answered the following questions in an exhaustive manner: Is there any connection between greater productiveness and motivational elements? Have motivations of employees really resulted in the organisational growth? According to Wagner and Hollenbeck, work approaches were better, and there was a higher production in the groups directed by the supervisors who demonstrated employee-oriented behaviour.

To act in the organisation’s attention and to perform well over time, the employee reward policy should be deliberated to synchronise the workforces with the organisational ploy by offering incentives for accomplishing the tasks by the employees. Expectancy theory is concerned with the confident of human resources that they should feel that their initiatives would impact the financial incentives they get from the employer. If an employee decides whether to remain in the organisation and bring about the valuable benefits to the business, then they will always be influenced by the awareness of equity theory. It is to be observed that external equity is concerned with the magnitude to which an organisation’s pay-structure matches with the external labour market. The magnitude to which an organisation discriminates the employee pay-structure on the footing of its performance in analogue jobs is known as internal equity.

Empowerment connotes facilitating employees more associated with their employment and in the business operations of the organisation by enhancing their participation in the decision-making process. The part played by the employees is critical in the accomplishment of the organisation’s targeted performance. Further, teamwork among employees will have a major brunt on any organisational performance. Employees are recommended to choose a working environment in which all their needs are catered for. Without motivation, the overall performance of the employees will drastically fall. Motivation creates a level of competition in the job market. Thus, for companies or business organisations to attract and retain the best talents available, they should have a great motivation program for the workforce. When employees feel that they are not motivated well enough, they are at liberty to seek for alternative working environments that offer them their desired objectives. It is essential for an organisation to be aware of the significance of motivation, how it works and how it produces optimistic vigour among the workers. The optimistic energies play an important role in the increase of the employees’ performances in the organisation and further advance their effectiveness.

The study has revealed that motivation is the key to the employees’ success in the workplace. The more motivation an employee gets, the more effectively he becomes to the organisation. Motivation is, thus, necessary to foster good performance in an organisation. An organisation which does not motivate its employees is bound to lag behind in terms of competition in the market. Many potential employees are attracted by the motivating elements that exist in a company. Motivation also helps to retain the existing good workers that the organisation has. As an individual, I would rather choose to work in an organisation that motivates its employees because of the opportunities for growth that are present.

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Appendix

Appendix 1: Structured Questions

(Please make a tick mark where appropriate)

1. 1. How do you feel about the services of the HR Department of your Company?

• Greatly Satisfied
• Satisfied
• Not Satisfied
• Neutral

2. 2. Is the top management actually concerned with motivating the workforce in your company?

• Greatly Satisfied
• Satisfied
• Not Satisfied
• Neutral

3. 3. Are you satisfied with the incentives offered by the management?

• Greatly Satisfied
• Satisfied
• Not Satisfied
• Neutral

4. 4. Do you agree that both benefits and incentives will determine your performance?

• Influence
• No Influence at all
• Undecided

5. 5. Are you involved in the decision-making process of the company in your department?

• Agree
• Not Agreeing
• Periodically

6. 6. What Changes would you recommend to enhance the workplace atmosphere?

Please provide your feedback with the appropriate rating given as under:

(5-I agree hundred per cent, 4-Agree, 3-Unbiased, 2-Not agreeing, 1-Totally disagreeing).

7. Which of these elements motivate you at the most?

(3-Strongest, 2-Strong, and 1-Weak.)