How can ASDA (Farnborough) Improve Employee Motivation?

University Degree Business and Administrative studies

How can ASDA (Farnborough) Improve Employee Motivation?

The Problem

ASDA’s Farnborough store has problems with low employee motivation. Staff motivation is extremely important to every business but even more so to a company such as ASDA in the retail industry where staff are in direct contact with the customer. Staff in the retail industry play a very important part in the service the customer receives and therefore the reputation of the company. Staff are also essential for the day to day running of the store and if staff are unmotivated they will not work as well.

There are many reasons for the lack of motivation within the store and I will identify and suggest solutions to each. These include poor benefits, lack of training, lack of responsibility, too much responsibility, staff shortages, high staff turnover, poor management and lack of recognition. All of these problems are leading to lower motivation and therefore a lower standard of work.

Staff motivation should be a high priority to any retail company because low motivation can cause many problems. First of all with low motivation nothing will improve without something being done therefore the situation will gradually deteriorate. Low motivation could cause a poorer level of customer services, problems regarding quality, high staff turnover causing recruitment problems and ultimately sales will drop as more and more customers are affected. ASDA’s statement regarding motivation is “Getting things done, with and through others, willingly and well.” Taken from . In short the problem is to find the best solution to low motivation by tackling the individual areas mentioned above.

Background Knowledge

Many people believe that they are motivated simply by money, however this is not entirely true. There are many other factors like the workplace and the need to be appreciated for their work. A factor, which effects motivation, is that every person has different needs and so in-order to achieve good motivation every employee’s needs need to be found. This is shown in how lack of motivation causes reduced effort and lack of commitment. A good way of meeting these needs is to involve employee’s in discussions so that they feel recognised and wanted. Another good method is to discuss targets and goals together and then give the employee something to work towards.

In 1954 Abraham Maslow identified five classes of needs these included physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging, esteem needs and self-actualization. The needs, which Maslow identified at the bottom of the pyramid, are based on basic needs concerned with survival, and these must be satisfied before a person can go to the next level. Maslow argued that although everybody is capable, very few actually reach this level.

Objectives

I will set several objectives for my projects to ensure that nothing is overlooked and to ensure that my project is focused on solving the problem at hand, similar to ...

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Objectives

I will set several objectives for my projects to ensure that nothing is overlooked and to ensure that my project is focused on solving the problem at hand, similar to the reasons why businesses set objectives.

I will conduct both primary and secondary research in order to collect a range of data relevant to the problem. I will gather information regarding ASDA’s recruitment procedures, any problems with these procedures and if they could lead to poor motivation. I will look at benefits that ASDA staff are offered and the hierarchy of the store to see if the problem lies there. I will also collect feedback from staff regarding their opinions and what benefits they actually receive ad why they feel staff may be unmotivated.
I will provide a solution to any problems which are causing low motivation and evaluate their feasibility, the ease of implementation, their effectiveness, any weaknesses with my solutions and arguments for and against other possible solutions.
I will identify the underlying problem and provide a solution to it.
I will be as unbiased as possible throughout the whole project.

These objectives have been set out as a framework for my project and will serve as a checklist in my evaluation to determine the success of my investigation. My objectives do not represent my project in its entirety and as I continue I may well find that I encounter problems that I did not anticipate which therefore would not be included in my objectives. Objectives are made in advance and therefore are subject to change as new situations arise.

I will need to conduct research before anything else however I must ensure that the information I will gather is relevant. I know where the problems lie in motivation at ASDA through personal experience however in order to avoid bias ill will ask a wide range of questions allowing me to clearly identify the main causes of de-motivation. My only timescale for the project is the coursework deadline.

When I have collected all of my data and can present it in an easy to interpret form I will use my topic knowledge on motivational theories and apply it to my case.

Research

My secondary research is all obtained from the ASDA website() and as I use any of the information I will point out where I got it from. On the website I gathered information on ASDA’s recruitment, training, rewards, recognition and employee feedback policies. These policies are imposed company wide however it may be that these policies are at fault or that they are simply not being implemented and if not why not?

I have decided to conduct questionnaires for my primary research simply because this is the most effective way of me reaching the staff and I enables me to structure the questions how I want. I will conduct the questions on a one to one basis with each member of staff. I chose to conduct the questionnaires personally rather than mailing them etc because it guarantees I get the number of results required and it could prove difficult obtaining addresses of staff therefore it is much more convenient to conduct the questionnaires personally for both parties. This also enables the subject to ask questions about obscurities etc, although I will design my questionnaire to be as user friendly as possible. There are disadvantages in using questionnaires to conduct my primary research such as it is very time consuming and is subject to bias from me. As a precaution against bias I will let the subject fill out the questionnaire without prompting, disturbing or rushing them allowing them to make their own unbiased decisions.

The questions that I have included in my questionnaire are designed to clearly identify the main problem areas in a way I can present so that I can use my business knowledge to provide a solution. Below is a copy of my questionnaire;

------Please use tick boxes where provided------

Which department do you work on?

…………………………..

Do you work full or part time?

Full Time (30 or more hours a week)

Part Time (Less than 30 hours a week)

Do you feel well motivated and if not what do you think causes your lack of motivation? (If you feel that you are well motivated please skip to Q.4)

Pay and benefits

Managerial styles

Staff levels ----If you tick more than

1 box please number

Inadequate training them starting at 1 in

Order of priority----

Lack of responsibility

Lack of recognition

Is your job what you expected it to be when you applied for your position?

Yes

Do you feel that motivation is a problem in your ASDA store?

Yes

-----Thank you for your time!-----

As you can see my questionnaire is brief but to the point. It is simply trying to establish if there is a motivation problem within ASDA, if so what is causing it and if there is any variations between departments and full/part time colleagues enabling me to pinpoint specific problems or identify any trends. I have included 10 of the 100 questionnaires that I conducted in my appendix.

When I conducted my questionnaires I tried to obtain a fair sample of my target population. To do this I used uniform sampling where I simply asked 20 people from each of the 5 departments. I also tried to ask roughly the same number of full time as part time staff however it proved a little difficult finding enough full time staff considering ASDA as a whole employs 74000 part time staff but only 35000 full time staff (Figures taken from the ASDA website).

My secondary research shows that ASDA does have policies aimed at keeping staff motivation high and keeping colleagues involved and properly trained. In fact on the ASDA website ASDA claim that all of their checkout operators have been trained to pack customers bags in product order for example froze foods together. Although this is common sense to most people it serves as an example of how ASDA is not enforcing its policies seeing as not one person I asked on checkouts remembered being trained to pack bags. Interestingly ASDA was recently voted the number 1 company to work for by a Sunday Times survey. My secondary research shows that ASDA does have in place various methods to maintain high levels of motivation however it seems they are either not being implemented or are not being effective in ASDA Farnborough.

For my secondary research I also did some research about the history of motivation in business I obtained this from a CD Rom Business A-Level revision guide provided by The Times newspaper. From this I know what effects motivation and several methods of improving motivation