It is impossible to avoid change in all facets of life, and the management of any transformation is broadly diverse and different in various forms of businesses and institutions. The management dynamics resulting in change can either lead to negativity or transform an adverse situation into a productive one enhancing outcomes. The management intended to assist organizations through the principal process of change that will influence workers’ need to ensure the operation is recognizable in the office setting and estimate the attitudes, beliefs, and values of their subjects using surveys. The surveys enable the administrations an outlook of how employees perceive the concept of change before the start of implementation.
The business side of management at higher learning institutions such as universities has changed to be similar to the corporate organizational structure. This extreme transformation affects the management criteria for people. Whether public or private, universities operate as corporate entities and hence need to consider employees as assets for their business activities to be successful (Dada & Fogg, 2016). To ensure that the best workers remain loyal to the universities, they have to embrace job satisfaction which depends on the work environment and work-related aspects like remuneration, promotion, recognition support, and the job itself (Dada & Fogg, 2016). These factors depend on an individual worker’s perception of the importance of each element and the measure of satisfaction the employee places on each aspect.
Concept of Motivation
Motivation is similarly essential, along with perception, attitude, and learning, in understanding behavior. Motivation is a psychological requirement that fosters a behavior or drives towards a worthwhile goal and hence depends on three elements: drive, needs, and incentives. The element is crucial since it contributes to commitment which is vital towards achieving organizational goals (Bradler et al., 2016). Motivation is a direct determinant of the satisfaction of an employee’s self-esteem, social security, and self-actualization standards. Motivation enhances job satisfaction, describing the employee’s recognition, responsibility, and opportunity for advancement motivation factors.
Management Changes in Organizations
Organizational performance plays a critical role in attaining organizational goals, which are the main reason for its activities. Numerous pieces of literature have studied corporate changes with negative and positive results. A study of management changes that affect employee motivation in universities is also critical. Universities have adopted changes to manage the increase in student enrolment with the limited resources that had initially resulted in adverse effects in various universities in England (Rastgoo, 2016).
Such massive student enrollment has resulted in overworking employees performing double functions beyond regular working hours (Hilton, 2017). The increase in admissions also led to difficulties in attracting and retaining highly-qualified workers in various departments (Hilton, 2017). A management committee to supervise the changes that included hiring more staff in the admission offices and transferring some duties to other offices is one strategy for creating change.
Employees have demands, wants, and preferences that require consideration. Research by Ramli (2019) showed that job satisfaction would enable employees to perform more efficiently and effectively, leading to better performance and high production. Extrinsic and intrinsic factors are both critical determinants of job satisfaction. Extrinsic factors include pay and promotion and are usually outside the job and essential for organizations to demonstrate value to an individual’s or a team’s contribution. Mikkelsen et al. (2017) explain that intrinsic factors are related to the job itself and include acknowledgment, support from the subordinate, and personal advancement. The significance of intrinsic motivation is the feeling of achievement and self-esteem.
Yousef (2017) investigated the direct and indirect relationship between employee commitment, attitude, and employee satisfaction towards organizational change and other parameters. Employees in local government are comfortable with supervision and colleagues, while the level of satisfaction with the working environment and job security is relatively low. However, the level of satisfaction with their jobs’ pay and promotion elements is low (Yousef, 2017). Therefore, organizations may consider other significant factors when enhancing management changes and fail to recognize employee promotion as a factor of job satisfaction to drive change.
The review of the past research findings indicates that all the researchers recognize the significance of employee aspects on organizational performance and success. Yousef (2017) identifies the level of satisfaction as an essential factor in promoting change around the employees.
Research Problem and Research Question
Higher learning institutions have transformed their operations and are functioning as corporate organizations to achieve academic and business achievement and sustainability. Universities have been significant in stimulating research in several fields and the economic development of the country (Dada & Fogg, 2016). These organizations have established various strategies to bring changes to the organizations. However, few universities and colleges recognize the significance of employee motivation and recognition as aspects of job satisfaction in promoting organizational changes.
The following research questions result from the research problem statement:
- What is the significance of pay on job satisfaction for university employees?
- What is the impact of promotion on the job satisfaction of university employees?
- What is the effect of employee recognition on job satisfaction?
- What is the significance of the level of promotion and recognition of organizational change?
Research Method and Justification
The main research question is: what is the effect of motivation and recognition on assisting and involving employees with change management in improving the performance and productivity of universities? The research design for the study consists of a correlation method and a causal method to determine how pay, promotion, and recognition affect job satisfaction in organizational change management in universities. The aim of the research also involves identifying the most critical factor for job satisfaction in change management.
The no-probability sampling method is appropriate for selecting a sample of participants in the study from the university administrators, academic and non-academic staff. Semi-structured interviews, non-structured interviews, and questionnaires are essential in data collection based on the Likert scale ranging from 1-5, increasing levels of job satisfaction (Rastgoo, 2016). The interview would enable intensive and extensive data collection involving an exchange of ideas and experiences of the past, present, and also cavass into the future likelihoods (Gehman et al., 2018). The questionnaires for use in the research are similar to the PMW questionnaires and are applicable in this research process.
Debeer M. J’s questionnaire is appropriate for determining the variables of pay, promotion, and recognition. Data collection involves online and physical questionnaires for the participants. The resultant data for the study needs to be primary data from the university administration and the academic and non-teaching staff of the institution. The treatment of the data through SPSS software is a vital step for analyzing the collected data.
The method of research using the holistic analysis and questionnaire technique would enable employees to reveal their concerns with motivation as a factor of their involvement in change management. Combination of the results to determine the perceptions of the employees concerning motivation and its impact of their involvement in change management compared to pay and recognition.
References
Bradler, C., Dur, R., Neckermann, S., & Non, A. (2016). Employee recognition and performance: A field experiment. Management Science, 62(11), 3085-3099. Web.
Dada, O., & Fogg, H. (2016). Organizational learning, entrepreneurial orientation, and the role of university engagement in SMEs. International Small Business Journal, 34(1), 86-104. Web.
Gehman, J., Glaser, V. L., Eisenhardt, K. M., Gioia, D., Langley, A., & Corley, K. G. (2018). Finding theory–method fit: A comparison of three qualitative approaches to theory building. Journal of Management Inquiry, 27(3), 284-300. Web.
Hilton, G. L. (2017). Disappearing teachers: An exploration of a variety of views as to the causes of the problems affecting teacher recruitment and retention in England. Bulgarian Comparative Education Society.
Mikkelsen, M. F., Jacobsen, C. B., & Andersen, L. B. (2017). Managing employee motivation: Exploring the connections between managers’ enforcement actions, employee perceptions, and employee intrinsic motivation. International Public Management Journal, 20(2), 183-205. Web.
Ramli, A. H. (2019). Compensation, job satisfaction and employee performance in health services. Business and Entrepreneurial Review, 18(2), 177-186. Web.
Rastgoo, P. (2016). The relationship of talent management and organizational development with job motivation of employees. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 64(2), 653-662. Web.
Yousef, D. A. (2017). Organizational commitment, job satisfaction and attitudes toward organizational change: A study in the local government. International Journal of Public Administration, 40(1), 77-88. Web.