RESEARCH PROPOSAL: CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE FACTORS AFFECTING ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE DUE TO LACK OF MOTIVATION OF EMPLOYEES - A CASE STUDY OF UNILEVER
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Introduction
Background of the research
Employees are the most vital and integral parts of the organisations and they are required to be managed properly to have support in improving organisational productivity as well as profitability. In other words, performance is an ability and the perception of the employees who are directly linked with the motivation of them to provide the best possible efforts in the process. Motivated employees are capable of leading the organisations to success in which the organisations will have an opportunity to make a proper impact on their profitability. Hence, this study has been chosen to find the proper impact of employee motivation on the business performances of Unilever to highlight the major essential factors. Therefore, the research will be effective at finding the strategies, which will be playing a crucial role in improving the performances of Unilever using the support of motivated employees.
Research aim and objectives
Research aim
This research aims to critically evaluate the effectiveness of employee motivation and its impact on the organisational performance of Unilever.
Research objectives
To find out the impact of the employee motivation on the performance of Unilever
To highlight the major factors, which are making the employee motivation
To evaluate the significant challenges, which are making an influence on the motivation of the employees
To develop strategies, which will be essential to have a better outcome in the organisations
Research questions
What is the impact of employee motivation on the performance of Unilever?
What kind of factors are influencing the motivation of the employees of Unilever?
What are the major challenges that are capable of affecting the motivation of the employees of Unilever?
Which strategy will be effective to bring a positive impact on the performance of the organisations along with the employee motivation?
Literature review
Conceptual framework
Figure 1: Conceptual framework
(Source: Developed by the learner, 2022)
Overview of the employee motivation
Employee motivation can be described as the process, which is capable of improving the level of energy, commitment and creativity of the employees within the organisations to boost their confidence while performing. In the opinion of Ozkeser, (2019), employee motivation can be defined as the set of strategies, which is applied properly to bring positive impacts in their performances to contribute towards the organisation. In support of this, the efficiency of the employee motivation needs to be perfect as it is capable of influencing the quality of the organisational performance on a large scale. Therefore, the environment of the organisation should be perfect to make the employees properly motivated to have proper support in the outcome.
Theoretical aspects
Herzberg’s two-factor theory
As per this theory, two major factors are influencing the quality of the motivation of the individuals and those are Hygiene and motivators. In the view of Yousaf, (2020), hygiene is about the work environment including the condition, wages and policies, while motivators refer to recognition, promotion and achievement. These are the factors, which are required to be managed properly to motivate the employees to stay focused on the organisational responsibilities to improve the scenario. Therefore, this theory can be playing a better role if the organisations are using it to provide a proper shape to the strategic measures to motivate employees.
Factors affecting the employee motivation
Employee motivation is depending upon many factors, which must be a major concern of the organisations to control to improve their participation in the organisations to have a better outcome. As opined by Baqir et al., (2020), one of the major factors affecting the employee's motivation is the reward and recognition to improve the efficiency of the process to make a quantifiable impact on the productivity. In light of this, organisations are required to be managing the quality of employee motivation by providing them with proper scope to be recognised and rewarded properly. On the contrary, Johari et al., (2018), indicated that having no proper scope to manage the work-life balance is also affecting the motivation of the employees to work for the organisation. It is also the responsibility of the organisations to provide the opportunity to the employees to manage the between the work and life.
Literature gap
The above literature at describing the major facts about employee motivation and its impact on organisational performances. However, some of the areas like the considerable challenges and strategies have not been described properly to meet the objectives, therefore it will be managed through the utilisation of the enhanced research methods.
Research methodology
Research approach
The research approach refers to the methods, which are effective to be used to improve the conduction of the research operations with the support of the appropriate direction to meet the goals. In the opinion of Mitchell, (2018), the approaches of research is been found in essential parts which are inductive, deductive and abductive. Considering this, the inductive research approach will be applied to form the theories from the observation of the findings within the study.
Data collection
Data collection is the process, which will be used to improve the efficacy of the process of data extraction by assessing the reliable and valid sources to have a proper outcome. According to Blackstone, (2018), the data collection is managed with the use of qualitative and quantitative methods to collect both the primary and secondary data. In consideration of this, both approaches will be used using the survey and thematic analysis to gather essential data. However, the process of the survey will be done by selecting 25 employees, who belong to Unilever to take part in the data collection process.
Data analysis
Data analysis is done by having the support of the tools, which are considered effective for extracting the data from the huge volume of unstructured data. According to Vaske, (2019), the data analysis is generally conducted by the methods like descriptive and statistics. Hence, both the methods will be applied in the process using MS Excel and the thematic analysis to have a better outcome in the process. Therefore, having the support of such tools and effective skills will be improving the quality of the data analysis process to have a proper outcome to fulfil the objectives.
Limitations of the Study
The researcher has noted that time and financial restraints are the two limitations that the research project would face. In absence of sufficient time, the researcher would not be able to conduct a long data collection process. In absence of sufficient funds, the researcher would face difficulties in accessing journals that require subscriptions and books that are not available in digital data base.
Overcoming the Limitations
In order to overcome the above-identified limitations, the researcher would follow the deductive reasoning approach instead of the inductive approach as by doing so, the research work can be shortened. Effective time management skills have also helped in overcoming the time limitations. For overcoming the financial constraints, the researcher has opted to use relevant data and literature sources that are available for free on the internet.
Ethical Consideration
The research is including human participants and accordingly, the researcher would hand out consent form to the participants for ensuring their voluntary participation. The researcher would inform the participants of their rights to withdraw their consent at any stage of the research. The private information of the participants would not be disclosed and the research findings would be stored safely in databases. Prior to contacting the employees, the researcher would contact and collect the permission from the HR of Unilever.
Time Scale
Activity |
Start Date |
Duration |
End Date |
Background Study |
02-03-2022 |
4 |
06-03-2022 |
Research Aim and Objective Selection |
06-03-2022 |
4 |
10-03-2022 |
Literature Review |
10-03-2022 |
7 |
17-03-2022 |
Research Methodology |
17-03-2022 |
6 |
23-03-2022 |
Prepare Questionnaire |
23-03-2022 |
4 |
27-03-2022 |
Data Collection and Analysis |
27-03-2022 |
5 |
01-04-2022 |
Conclusions |
01-04-2022 |
7 |
08-04-2022 |
Recommendations |
08-04-2022 |
5 |
13-04-2022 |
Submission |
13-04-2022 |
1 |
14-04-2022 |
|
|
|
|
Table 1: Work Plan
Figure 1: Gantt Chart
Reference list
Baqir, M., Hussain, S., Waseem, R. and Islam, K.A., 2020. Impact of Reward and Recognition, Supervisor Support on Employee Engagement. American International Journal of Business and Management Studies, 2(3), pp.8-21.
Blackstone, A., 2018. Principles of sociological inquiry: Qualitative and quantitative methods.
Johari, J., Tan, F.Y. and Zulkarnain, Z.I.T., 2018. Autonomy, workload, work-life balance and job performance among teachers. International Journal of Educational Management.
Mitchell, A., 2018, July. A review of mixed methods, pragmatism and abduction techniques. In Proceedings of the European Conference on Research Methods for Business & Management Studies (pp. 269-277).
Ozkeser, B., 2019. Impact of training on employee motivation in human resources management. Procedia Computer Science, 158, pp.802-810.
Vaske, J.J., 2019. Survey research and analysis. Sagamore-Venture. 1807 North Federal Drive, Urbana, IL 61801.
Yousaf, S., 2020. Dissection of Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory to Predict Job Satisfaction: Empirical Evidence from the Telecommunication Industry of Pakistan Seeham Yousaf. The Lahore Journal of Business, 8(2), pp.85-128.
