ADRIAN DANIELS        UNIT 9-MANAGING AND DEVELOPING

INTRODUCTION

“Big labels, small prices”. This simple motto of T.K Maxx is short but was effective enough to convince me to join their excellent team. As a fashion-conscious person, it just about sums up what I am looking for when it comes to fashion, and this is why this job appealed to me. By joining their team, I knew I would be able to claim a staff discount on the big fashion labels I like and even get a preview of the new range of their stock that they deliver every day, even before their customers’ do, which for me is an exclusive experience. This alone was sufficient motivation for me to keep working there and maintain high productivity levels.

Therefore, I couldn’t have selected a better firm than TK Maxx to explain motivation, company performance and management.

In this essay, I will be cover company motivation. I will explain what benefits me and my team colleagues in TK Maxx like financial and non financial incentives. On the other hand, I will explain what de-motivates me and my team colleagues in TK Maxx. Also, I will make evaluate the firm’s motivational techniques and suggest suitable improvements.

Furthermore, I will cover conflict between hierarchies and team management. I will explain what factors TK Maxx managers need to recognise to be the best managers possible. Also, I will evaluate the management leadership styles that previous and current TK Maxx managers have adopted, and as a result, recommend the most suitable and effective one where appropriate at situations.

For all aspects of the essay, I will relate to theorists and support with practical examples where appropriate.


FINANCIAL INCENTIVES

Financial incentives are a means of a company rewarding and motivating their employees financially. These include company discounts and a pay rise. These are important because financial incentives such as the ones listed above can lead to a more comfortable, better standard of living, with a more handsome salary. The employee can then be able to afford luxuries and enjoy life. More importantly, the incentives can help the associate to meet the basic needs of life including a shelter and warmth.

Discounts

TK Maxx offer ten percent discounts immediately after recruiting of an employee. This can motivate me, as a fashion enthusiast, to maintain consistent standards of productivity at all times in the workplace, so that so as long as I am part of this firm, I can always get good value for money and make savings with my company discount.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’ theory suggests that higher needs such as self esteem and self realisation can only be attained if lower needs such as physical survival and safety were met.

As a result, the discount benefits offered by TK Maxx can assist me in achieving my ‘physical survival’ needs; including ‘clothing’ that can be purchased at a reduced price due to these benefits.

Pay

A significant financial incentive that initially attracts me to the firm is the money involved. TK Maxx pay rates are above the national minimum wage, unlike some businesses. However, the company could potentially increase their net profits by offering TK Maxx employees like me, the national minimum wage, which is not violating the laws of the land (i.e. the UK Government). The firm’s rate for eighteen year olds and above is ‘£5.95 per hour. This is far more favourable than the £4.60 per hour development rate for eighteen to twenty-one year olds.

Although the firm could be more profitable, TK Maxx is conscious of the highly competitive business world they are part of. They acknowledge the fact that other businesses that exist also need to recruit potential employees to help them achieve their company aims and objectives including “To maximise profit”. Therefore, TK Maxx must offer unique pay schemes and competitive pay rates to draw their attention to potential employees.

Some people ignore what other business are offering. This is due to non-financial incentives such as social interaction. This will be expanded later on in the essay. However, some people like me are motivated mainly by pay rates to join a company like TK Maxx. This can be related to ‘Taylor’s scientific management theory’.

Taylor’s Scientific Management theory

Taylor believed that workers were lazy and were only interested in earning money.

The theory was that because workers are controlled by managers their productivity will improve. In practice, it was not very successful mainly because of the boredom that results from doing the same tasks all day and every day.

However, work bosses and working conditions were very different a long time ago, and in this modern age, workers want more things than just money.

According to ‘Maslow’, would only build the foundation of motivation for the employee and not motivate them since it is an essential and instinctive need for all human beings to be able to survive through being able to afford shelter, food, clothing and warmth. Once the physiological needs are met, then other needs like safety would need to be provided by firms, before motivation can actually take place.

As a result, I not solely motivated by just pay due to the boredom of doing monotonous tasks such as serving customers at the TK Maxx tills. There are other factors at work that TK Maxx incorporate to motivate me.

NON-FINANCIAL INCENTIVES

Non- financial incentives are non-financially related schemes that TK Maxx uses to supplement pay of their employees, and to keep them working for them and not other firms. TK Maxx is aware that pay is not the only factor at work in motivating their recruits, so they invest more money into the employee benefits. These include things like social interaction and praise.

These non-financial incentives can help associates of TK Maxx to achieve their higher needs not of a financial quality, including social and self esteem.

Elton Mayo’s Human Relations School

 

Taylor’s ideas were introduced and sometimes they worked and failed. As a result, people thought there must be more to motivation than just money.

Mayo thought that workers are motivated whenever a manager takes a personal interest in them, and in the workers perspective, this admiration is perceived as a complement to them. For example in involving them in the decision making process.

Social Factors

For instance, when it came to the planning of the Christmas party, the manager involved all the employees by asking them where they would like the venue to be.

Elton Mayo also thought that firms need to meet the personal satisfaction of their workers; firms need to recognise that employees have personal goals, as well as company goals they want to attain. Therefore, firms should encourage teams of employees to socialise with each other.

Join now!

As a result, TK Maxx organises annually Christmas parties, to enable their associates to meet personal goals such as social esteem, and enable opportunities for social interaction.

With these social factors at work, my productivity levels will be enhanced and due to a greater sense of satisfaction from the workplace. This can also bring about less boredom as the company of others can keep me happy and being involved in the firm’s decision making process can be rewarding. By gaining social approval from my colleagues during social interaction and a self sense of value in the firm, an ...

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