REPORT

ON
EMPLOYEE REWARDS &
RECOGNITION PROGRAMS

WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO

SONY INDIA PVT LTD

Towards Partial Fulfillment of Post Graduate Diploma in Management

(Approved by AICTE, Ministry of HRD)

UNDER THE SUPERVISIONOF SUBMITTED BY

Ms. Divya Singh Ankita Sharma
(Faculty HR) ROLL NO.-0840110008

Greater Noida Girls School of Business Management

Greater Noida
[A Unit of GNIT]
Session 2008-10
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Rewards and Recognition is the most vital part of management programme, both as a link between

theory and actual practices. It is an opportunity for hands on experience in corporate environment.

However this opportunity could only be utilized with the support and guidance of my mentors and

other individuals who indirectly helped me in completing my project.

I want to thank the management of company who gave me the permission to conduct research. I

would also like to thank all the employees and HR executives who empowered me with valuable

information.

I would like to convey thanks to MS. DIVYA SINGH, for her ready assistance, keen interest and

Valuable suggestions. Last, but not the least, I am extremely thankful to my parents, and all my

Friends for their unconditional support and ready assistance.

2
 ANKITA SHARMA

DECLARATION

I ANKITA SHARMA Roll No 08401100O8 PGDM (5th Semester) of the Greater Noida Girls

School Of Business Management hereby declare that the Dissertation Report entitled “REWARDS

AND RECOGNITION” in SONY is an original work and the same has not been submitted to any

other Institute for the award of any other degree.

A seminar presentation of the Training Report was made on and the------------- suggestions as

approved by the faculty were duly incorporated.

3
 ANKITA SHARMA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1) Company profile

2) Introduction of the topic

3) Research methodology

a) objective

b) Scope

c) Need and importance of Methodology

d) Limitations

4) Data interpretation and analysis

5) Findings

6) Recommendations/suggestion

7) Conclusion

8) Annexure

i) Questionnaire

9) Bibliography

4
COMPANY PROFILE

5
Company: Sony India Pvt. Ltd.

Managing
Mr. Masaru Tamagawa
Director:

Establishment
Date: November 17, 1994

Branch Delhi, Haryana, Ludhiana, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad,

Offices: Vijayawada, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Luck now, Pune, Ahmedabad, Indore, Cochin,
Coimbatore, Ghaziabad, Guwahati, Hubli and Ranchi

Business Marketing, Sales and After-Sales Service of electronic products & software exports
Activities:

Sony is a global manufacturer of audio, video, communications and information technology

products for consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, game and online

businesses, the company is uniquely positioned to be one of the world’s leading digital

entertainment brands, offering an outstanding portfolio of exciting multimedia content.

Executive Summary

Sony's current financial difficulties are tied into its corporate culture which was stated over 30

years ago. With such a large multinational corporation, greater planning and more use of

strategies should be pursued. Sony could start with the implementation of a new mission

statement, with profit and benefits of the company tied more closely to everyday operations.

Internally, the four forces, the management, the designers, the production and the marketing

should achieve better communication and cooperation. Alliance and cooperation between

competitors should also be actively sort after in order to create standards in new fields. Sony

should aim at being the leader instead of being the maverick. As for cost cutting, Sony should

seriously consider setting up operations in other Asian countries in order to take advantage of the

6
 cheap labour and the budding markets. Finally, diversification, instead of pursuing the fast

changing and easily imitated consumer goods market, Sony should use its technological know-

how for high-end business and office equipment

Sony Europe is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation with Corporate Headquarters located at the

Sony Center is Potsdamer Platz in Berlin. Its role is to manage and develop the company’s

electronics business across Europe.

Vision
To create exciting new digital entertainment experiences for consumers by bringing together

cutting-edge products with latest generation content and services.

Mission
Sony is committed to developing a wide range of innovative products and multimedia services that

challenge the way consumer’s access and enjoy digital entertainment. By ensuring synergy

between businesses within the organization, Sony is constantly striving to create exciting new

worlds of entertainment that can be experienced on a variety of different products.

Boosting Sony’s Electronics Business

A key focus for Sony is to strengthen its all-important electronics business and maintain market

leadership in high profile areas such as televisions, digital imaging, home video equipment and

portable audio. To achieve this, Sony is pursuing three corporate initiatives:

The Customer Viewpoint Initiative emphasizes the importance to staff of viewing Sony, its

products and services from a customer perspective.

The Technology Nr. 1 Initiative focuses on reinforcing Sony’s cutting-edge technologies in the

areas targeted for maximum investment of resources, including televisions, home video equipment,

7
digital imaging equipment and Walkman®.

The 'Genba' Initiative aims at strengthening frontline operations (‘genba’ in Japanese) such as

design locations, manufacturing facilities and sales offices.

Sony delivers thrilling digital entertainment experiences by capitalising on the synergy between its

electronics business, content creation capabilities and movie, music, mobile and computer games

interests. As a world leader in high definition, Sony already offers an exciting range of broadcast

and consumer HD products, as well as content assets that are driving the industry towards HD

digitization.

Sony is the only company that can deliver complete, end-to-end solutions for today's HD World.

We provide the tools for our customers to create, edit, store, share and enjoy High Definition

content. Sony Pictures and Sony Computer Entertainment create movies and games that maximize

the full power and potential of HD while independent film makers and programmed producers are

encouraged to realize their unique creative vision in full Sony HD.

Blu-ray Disc will also be a key driver of Sony’s HD business. This high capacity, next-generation

optical disc format is supported by leading companies in every major industry and offers vast

potential for content creators to develop a new generation of HD entertainment experiences.

8
 High-resolution, super-slim LCD televisions for the digital era

Half a century since the arrival of the first televisions, the TV market is going through a period of

significant change as technology moves from analog to digital and from cathode ray tube (CRT) to

flat panel. Sony has risen to this challenge with the launch in 2005 of its brand-new BRAVIA*

range of high-resolution, slim-profile LCD televisions.

In developing BRAVIA, Sony brought together its most advanced design, manufacturing and sales

capabilities. We incorporated newly developed Sony Panels and other technologies for outstanding

image quality and devised a high impact advertising programme. BRAVIA currently holds the

worldwide No. 1 position for LCD TVs (as of February 2007) and European BRAVIA sales went

from 1 million sets in 2005 to 2.5 million sets in 2006. Sony will continue to capture the hearts of

consumers with BRAVIA, a high-quality range of televisions uniquely suited to the digital, flat

panel era.

In announcing the arrival of the new BRAVIA LCD and SXRD ranges, Sony aimed to

communicate a simple message – that the colour you see on these screens is 'like.no.other'.

You can watch the latest commercial for Sony BRAVIA and a behind-the-scenes

documentary, as well as access gallery images and a range of download including an HD

9
version of the full length.

Radical Broadcasting

The use of Sony HD cameras, video tape recorders and editing equipment by major

broadcasters is helping to speed up the transition to HD broadcasting worldwide. Since

HDCAM™ was launched in 1997, this format has become the standard for HD content

creation with shipments of recording devices reaching over 31,000 units* worldwide. In

April 2006, Sony released the blue-violet, laser-based 'XDCAM' HD Professional Disc™

system which gained 6000 sales in its inaugural year. As high definition becomes more

commonplace, Sony continues to play a major support role by supplying HD equipment

perfectly suited to specific customer environments and needs.

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Powerful Digital Cinema

In 1999, Sony took the lead in the industry by commercializing CineAlta™, a 24-frame-per-

second HD professional movie production system. CineAlta paved the way for vast

improvements in movie production efficiency by shifting from tape to recording in digital

HD on tape. This makes it possible to shoot and edit digitally and achieve the same superb

image quality as film. The system has been adopted extensively, and is already credited with

the production of more than 400 movies to date. Sony continues to focus on the CineAta

brand and has strengthened the line-up with new additions including the new F23 digital

cinema camera.

All-Action Home Entertainment

Sony brings powerful HD experiences to home entertainment through a wide array of

innovative equipment. Our HD LCD and SXRD rear-projection TVs reproduce HD

broadcasts with brilliant colour and sharpness. Just attach a Blu-ray Disc player and 5.1-

channel surround sound system to create an awesome high-definition, high-fidelity home

cinema experience.

Our high-performance Cell processor and RSX graphics processor are incorporated into

11
PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment consoles to enable enjoyment of the latest ultra-

realistic next generation games.

You can also link Sony Handy cam® HD camcorders featuring the ClearVID CMOS

Sensor™ with our top-spec VAIO PCs supporting HD imaging to allow editing of your own

personal movies at full image quality.

The Future is Blu-ray

High definition content and the media on which it is recorded represents a key element of the

new HD World. The incredible Blu-ray Disc format offers a storage capacity approximately

five times that of DVD – enough for more than three hours of HD-quality MPEG-2 video.

This makes it possible to store a full-length movie plus director’s cuts and interactive bonus

content on a single disc. Blu-ray Disc also includes a robust content protection mechanism

that features superior data encoding.

More than 170 partner companies from the consumer electronics, IT, game, movie and music

industries currently support Blu-ray Disc. Top studios including Sony Pictures Entertainment

Inc. (SPE), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (MGM), The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros.

Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, Lions Gate and Paramount Pictures will release titles

on Blu-ray Disc, which can be enjoyed on PCs, consumer electronic products and of course,

PLAYSTATION®3.

12
.

Introduction

The first thing that comes to people’s minds of the company and products of Sony is its high-

technology-filled-with-gadgets electronic goods and innovation. It was also this innovation that

makes Sony the greatest company that started in post-war Japan. Sony has used its innovation in

building markets out of thin air, created a multibillion, multinational electronic empire with products

such as the transistor radio, the Trinitron, the Walk-in and the VTR. that changed everyday

household lives forever. However, this consumer targeted quest for excellence and constant

innovation instead of targeting mainly at profit also has a lot to do with current crisis Sony is facing -

sales and profits are down or are slowing down, capital investment cost and R&D are climbing,

competitors are moving in with copycats, the battle between VHS and Beta and the search for a

13
smash hit product such as the Trinitron or the Walk-in. This volatility and emphasis (or gambling) on

new products instead of concentrating on profit and loss statements have always been a part of Sony

since its beginning days. For each successful product (i.e. transistor radio and Trinitron), R&D cost

often ran so high that the they pushed the firm to the verge of bankruptcy. This can also be seen

through the eyes of the investor in which although sales have increased tremendously throughout the

past twenty years, the stock price has remained relatively low.

History and Culture

The current Sony corporation has a unique culture which is firmly rooted in her history especially in

relationship to her two founders, Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita. Ibuka and Morita were both

dedicated electrical engineers and geniuses above their business talents. Both gave insights and

visions in what the company should make and how it should be made. Ibuka, especially, gave

constant advice and suggestions to the engineers involved in projects from the earlier on transistor

radios to Walkmans. This created the umbrella strategy in which Sony operates under where the top

management, especially Ibuka, Morita and now Norio Ohga gave the general direction in which the

lower engineers actively learned, developed and improved on the vision/idea. Therefore, although

14
there is a planned direction, the actual product development through launching is emergent with

great flexibility.

Although the research and development section of Sony differs greatly from other companies with its

great flexibility, Sony, in its essence is still a traditional Japanese company in many ways. There is

life-time employment, with strong norms and values which in turn create strategies through their

actions. Status is given (the crystal award) instead of bonuses (not significant amount) for superior

achievement. There is also the strong seniority system such as the mentor and apprentice relationship

that is typical of a Japanese firm. All this can be classified as the cultural school in which strategy

formation is of collective behaviour. Collective vision and stress on human resource, which is typical

of many Japanese, can be clearly seen in the mission statement "Management Policies".

Weaknesses and Threats

Referring to Exhibit 1, sales has slowed down considerably since the beginning of the 80s. In the

domestic market, sales actually decreased by 7.22%. The overseas market expanded both in real

terms and relative to total sales, but slowed down to around 10% a year. This can be seen as the

vacuum period between one hit product, the Walkman, and its succession. As mentioned by Ibuka,

business is conducted in a ten year cycle. However, in the eighties, the product might still take a few

years to develop, but the time reaping the results and profits might be much less. As seen in the VTR

example, both the VHS and Beta were developed by Sony. However, in a short time, Matsushita

could come up with a competitive product based on Sony's technology. Therefore, it is fair to say

that other electronic firms would be able to copy Sony's technology in a much shorter time while

15
offering more competitive prices. The margin for technology advancement is therefore diminishing.

Associated with innovation is the capital expenditure cost and return on investment ratio. As seen

from Exhibit 1, capital expenditure has risen dramatically, especially in 1981, due to the automation

of plants. However, the return on investment has decreased. Spending around 10% of sales on capital

investment is by all company standards an extremely high figure. The question is that does this high

rate of investment represent corresponding growth in profitability? As mentioned above, the

diminishing returns from product innovation is apparent. However, the internal dimension also poses

as much of a problem.

With its great freedom, research and development are divided into small teams which are free to

pursue their interest with little reference to "how it will fit into a market, what the product can do,

how well it will function or how it could be used by customers." Secret projects without management

Knowing about them until "secret reports" are submitted are of common practice. With this kind of

practice, there is lack of communication between management and R&D and threat of duplication of

resources among the small groups. There is also a lack of general direction. This would be especially

prominent when Ibuka and Morita, the symbolic leaders and founders retire. This is because the two

in many ways act as the main guidance and bridge between management and the engineers.

Therefore, there is also a succession problem.

Sony has always been a leader in technology, creating markets by looking for new markets where

bigger, well-established companies are not a threat. However, new products such as VTR, the Walk-

in and the Mavica involve both hardware and software. Sony can no longer just produce superb

quality machines and expect them to sell. The software would also have to be available. For the

Walkman, cassette tapes were well established but for the Beta system and Mavica, a standard has

yet to be set. For example, the images of Mavica would be held on a high density magnetic disk but

Kodak, 3M and Sony all have different systems and are not compatible. The Mavica system also

16
stands alone with little compatibility with conventional systems and little transitional interfaces.

This leads to the problem of cooperation where Sony is often the maverick, alone creating markets.

With Sony entering markets such as the VTR with no standards, it might be beneficial to both Sony

and other vendors if they cooperated instead of competing on conflicting software that supports the

systems. This could also be seen in Exhibit 2, the Porter competitive forces mode: new entrants from

other Asian countries, other Japanese industry competitors, substitutes and buyers are all strong and

much stronger than 20 years ago which reinforce the weakness of Sony acting alone.

Last but not least, Sony lacks strategy. Product development, manufacturing and marketing are all

well established but the firm lacks any formal long term direction. The original mission statement is

also outdated with its references to W.W.II. Short term strategy is also lacking and there is little

emphasis on profit and accountability of research and development of products. The result: a

company with strong components but unable to coordinate in a coherent way in order to achieve

maximum potential.

Strengths and Opportunities

The greatest asset of Sony is of its human capital, especially its engineers which make up the R&D

department. Their constant innovation is crucial for a consumer electronic firm which specializes in

audio-visual equipment and the higher profit margin, which comes from being the leader of the pact.

Subsidiaries are also well established, such as in the United States and Europe which give Sony a

distinct local hands-on knowledge of the local market. It also makes Sony an international

corporation, bringing together the talents and best of strategies of both worlds to the organization.

Besides the employees, the two founders, Ibuka and Morita also legends in their fields which they

create vision and sense of direction for the organization. The also acts as bridges between the

employees and the management.

17
The self promoting system and job rotating systems creates satisfaction for employees and give them

greater exposure to all aspects of the business. Ideally, this would produce better products as

engineers gain knowledge on consumer needs while marketing people engaged in the production and

can give their point of view.

The innovative style also stems from the "never copy others" culture, the generous funding of the

R&D and huge amounts in capital investments. As described by Ibuka,"It also stems from consumer

driven in which technology is targeted at consumers or business while American electronic industries

are spoiled is military and space applications."

Sony has been ahead in the race of Video Tape Recorders and digital imaging techniques in Mavica

which both offer tremendous potential of household penetration and sales. It also has the opportunity

to set up standards and dominate the field. Sony has also acquired enough technology to increase

width by going into the high technology business fields. With the rise of the Asian countries, Sony

also has the opportunity to make use of them for markets and for cheap labour.

Companies related to Sony

Parent Company

• Sony Ericsson

Divisions

•Sony Online Entertainment

•Sony Electronics

•Sony Pictures Entertainment

•Sony Computer Entertainment America

18
Subsidiaries

•SN Systems

•Sony Music Entertainment

Sony’s Presence in India

(1) Sony India Pvt. Ltd.

Set up: 1995

Business Domain: Marketing and Sales of all Color television, audio, IT

Products, Recording Media and other Broadcast & professional products

(2) Sony Entertainment Television

Set up: 1995

Business Domain: Runs a Hindi TV channel in India Channel focuses on

Entertainment programs viz. blockbuster movies, soap etc

19
 (3) Sony Pictures Entertainment
Set up: 1997

Business Domain: Distribution of Hollywood Films. Dubbing of Hollywood movies

(4) Sony Music India

Set up: 1997

Business Domain: Full service record company doing market promotion,

Cassette duplication & nationwide distribution.

(5) Sony Ericsson

Set up: 2003:

Business Domain – Mobile Phone and accessories

20
 INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC

Employee recognition is the acknowledgement of an individual or team's behavior, effort and

accomplishments that support the organization's goals and values.A reward is an item or experience

with monetary value that is provided for a desired behavior or performance, often with

accompanying recognition.

Recognition is a positive consequence provided to a person for a behavior or result in the form of

acknowledgement, approval, or the expression of gratitude. It indicates appreciation for something

someone has done for you, your group, or your organization.

In an Organization, employee recognition is a tool that reinforces and rewards the most important

outcomes people create for our business. Reward & Recognition program is designed to reward

21
employees who have excelled in their work and convey our sincere “thank you” for a specific job

well done. Rewards and Recognition not only helps an employee stay focused and committed to his

work but also helps the company to retain talent.

Employee recognition is the acknowledgement of an individual or team's behavior, effort and

accomplishments that support the organization's goals and values.A reward is an item or experience

with monetary value that is provided for a desired behavior or performance, often with

accompanying recognition.

Recognition is a positive consequence provided to a person for a behavior or result in the form of

acknowledgement, approval, or the expression of gratitude. It indicates appreciation for something

someone has done for you, your group, or your organization.

In an Organization, employee recognition is a tool that reinforces and rewards the most important

outcomes people create for our business. Reward & Recognition program is designed to reward

employees who have excelled in their work and convey our sincere “thank you” for a specific job

well done. Rewards and Recognition not only helps an employee stay focused and committed to his

work but also helps the company to retain talent.

Employee recognition is the acknowledgement of an individual or team's behavior, effort and

accomplishments that support the organization's goals and values. A reward is an item or experience

with monetary value that is provided for a desired behavior or performance, often with

accompanying recognition.

Recognition is a positive consequence provided to a person for a behavior or result in the form of

22
acknowledgement, approval, or the expression of gratitude. It indicates appreciation for something

someone has done for you, your group, or your organization.

In an Organization, employee recognition is a tool that reinforces and rewards the most important

outcomes people create for our business. Reward & Recognition program is designed to reward

employees who have excelled in their work and convey our sincere “thank you” for a specific job

well done. Rewards and Recognition not only helps an employee stay focused and committed to his

work but also helps the company to retain talent.

Employee recognition is the acknowledgement of an individual or team's behavior, effort and

accomplishments that support the organization's goals and values.

A reward is an item or experience with monetary value that is provided for a desired behavior or

performance, often with accompanying recognition.

What is Reward ?

Reward is the benefit received for performing a task. Total reward embraces everything that

employee’s value in employment relationship. It means all the tools available to the employer that

may be used to attract, motivate and retain employees.

Fig: Reward System Model

Financial
Reward

Business
strategy

23
 Enhanced
Reward Non-Financial Individual & Enhanced
Strategy Reward Group Organizational
Performance functioning &
Effectiveness

HRM
Strategy

Why bother with Reward and Recognition?

Reward and Recognition plays a part in at least these areas

- Employee Satisfaction – influencing retention and motivation

- Performance Management – creating a workplace environment that provides

positive reinforcement of behaviours necessary to achieve results and business goals

What’s the difference between reward and recognition?

Recognition = reinforcing behaviours

Reward = rewarding results

What’s the difference between formal and informal rewards?

Formal = part of a predetermined program

Informal = spontaneous

Basics for Effective Rewards and Recognition

24
• Use the person’s name

• Strive to be timely

• The compliment is the only topic discussed

• Make it specific so the person knows why they are getting the

recognition

• Describe how what they did helps the organization; how it will be

used

• Follow-up a verbal compliment with a note

• Make it public if appropriate, especially if the performer could serve

as a resource to others

25
 Rewarding

According to Colin Pitts et al. (1995) reward is the benefit that arise from performing a task,

rendering a service or discharging a responsibility. In general, the principal reward is pay. Besides

the pay, employers also quite often offer the whole reward package that include not only wages and

salaries but many other rewards such as bonus, pension scheme, health insurance, allocated cars, and

mortgage assistance, beneficial loans, subsidized meals, and profit sharing, share schemes, share

options and so on.

There are two kinds of rewards including: intrinsic rewards and extrinsic rewards.

Intrinsic rewards are the satisfaction or accomplishment an employee gets from the job itself. For

example, an employee works overtime because he or she likes the job that he or she is doing. He or

she also motivates with the challenging project, the opportunities for learning and personal growth

from the project

Extrinsic rewards are rewards an employee gets from the employer such as praise,money, a

promotion, or benefits, etc. For example, an employee works overtime because he or she wants to get

more money or overtime payment

A survey also shows that the employees also satisfied with extrinsic factors, such as working

environment, their co-workers and the professional work climate, benefits, job securities and

flexible/normal work hours Another study performed showed that extrinsic rewards were positive for

employees occupying simple jobs and negative for employees having jobs that were difficult and

challenging.

Extrinsic rewards are divided into two groups: Financial and Non-financial rewards.

26
Financial rewards can be financial directly or indirectly. The employees can get directly financial

reward such as wages, bonuses and profit sharing. They can also get

Participate in Financial ,decision making Greater job freedom and discretion More responsibility

More interesting work Opportunities for personal growth Diversity of activities Non Financial

Extrinsic Rewards Intrinsic indirectly supportive benefits such as pension plans, paid vacations,

paid sick leaves and purchase discounts.

Research shows that some employees are motivated by financial rewards and that money is a strong

motivator for them. A survey that was conducted in Malaysian organizations found that most of the

employees prefer to have a cash reward.

Non-financial rewards such as having lunch with the boss of the company or preferred lunch hours,

receiving the office furnishing, having a change to work with congenial colleagues, and achieving a

desired work assignments or an assignments where the worker can operate without close supervision.

Non-monetary rewards can help to build feelings of confidence and satisfaction in the employees.

Research has revealed that non-monetary awards may be more rewarding than monetary awards to

many employees .

Recognition

Recognition is also a strong motivator, because it is a normal human need to long for. Dubrin et al.

(2004) states that ‘motivating others by giving them recognition and praise can be considered a

direct application of positive reinforcement’. Studies conducted since 50 years ago have indicated

that employees welcome praise for a job well done as much as they welcome a regular paycheck

27
Recognizing an employee can be seen as expressing appreciation for his or her efforts, is a good and

positive practice for both parts. Recognition must be consistent, given in a regular basis, and most

important, part of the organization.

There are two kinds of recognitions: informal recognitions and formal recognitions.

Informal recognition can be described as an individual thing. It could be from a work partner to

another, from a manager to his or her subordinate.

some examples of informal recognition, as follows:

Time off with pay

Lunch “on the house”

Cards and letters for all occasions (Birthdays, Thank You Notes)

Certificates for outstanding service, ideas, top productivity (giving the extra mile)

Formal Recognitions are concentrated from an organizational achievement perspective, where

employees are recognized when they achieve organizational objectives, when they meet performance

goals, solving departmental organizational problems Bowen states that compared with informal

recognition, the formal recognition programs lean to:

Look out over longer time horizons

Incorporate benchmarks, e.g., years of services or achievements, profit objectives, etc.

Be performed-based

Focus on the value of the organization, e.g., employee commitment, market appreciation, investor

loyalty, etc.

Be connected with the organization’s compensation programs

28
 Importance of Employee Recognitions

Employee recognition is important because it:

1. Lets employees know that their work is valued and appreciated

2. Gives employees a sense of ownership and belonging in their place of work
3. Improves morale
4. Enhances loyalty
5. Helps build a supportive work environment
6. Increases employee motivation
7. Improves employee retention
8. Increase Employee Productivity
9. Reduce Employee Absenteeism
10. Achieve Cost Savings
11. Increase Customer Satisfaction

Recognising and rewarding employees

This tool provides a list of reward and recognition options for team leaders to consider. Successful

use of reward and recognition in the work place will help team leaders to ensure that team members

feel supported, valued and enjoy job satisfaction.

When used appropriately in an environment of trust, recognition and reward supports the

development and enhancement of:

• Productive work cultures

• Commitment

• Attraction and retention of outstanding staff

29
• Career and professional development

• Positive and constructive work environments

• Ongoing learning

• Collaboration

• Employee satisfaction

How to recognise and reward team members

To be effective, the process of providing recognition and reward should adhere to the following

principles:

• It should always be genuine and sincere – that is, you must believe it is worth giving

• It should not be used in a manipulative or inequitable way

• It should reward and recognize achievements that further the collective cause of the team and is

linked to this common vision as well as individual success

• It should be linked to the leadership principles of having high expectations of others and having a

credible record of achievement oneself

• Recognition of self-evaluation and of learning from mistakes is as important as recognition of

achievement

• Recognition should be an everyday informal activity, as well as a ceremonial one

• Recognition and reward shouldn’t be ‘overdone’

Types of recognition and reward

General types of recognition and reward include:

• A simple thank you for a job well done

• Praise on specific accomplishments or efforts and in the presence of others

• Spontaneous praise

30
• Formal public recognition

• Informal acknowledgements such saying thank you face-to-face or via email

• Letters of appreciation (from a more senior manager)

• Publicity (mention in staff newsletter)

• Being selected to represent the school or work unit at special meetings

• Attending a senior managers’ meeting and/or event as an observer or as a presenter

• Sending team members to a professional development activity as a group to further enhance team

building

• Recognition of workloads

Types of recognition and reward related specifically to work tasks include:

• More frequent assignment of duties that the team member likes

• Working on an assignment with a partner that the team member likes to work with

• Opportunity for advanced professional development

• Assignment of new or more challenging duties (not additional to current work load)

• Access to one-on-one coaching

In seeking to enrich jobs, team leaders often make the mistake of horizontal job loading, such as

adding tasks or rotating job assignments that enlarge a job without enriching it. In contrast, vertical

job loading enriches the job by giving a team member more responsibility or opportunities for

growth

Types of recognition and reward related specifically to job responsibilities include:

• Opportunity for more self-management and autonomy

• More authority to decide or implement decisions

• More frequent decision-making or participation in decision-making

31
• More frequent invitations to provide input into decisions

• Opportunities to undertake higher duties, even for short periods

Types of recognition and reward that involve social activities include:

• Morning teas

• Lunch

• Coffee with team leader

Types of recognition and reward related specifically to workplace flexibility include:

• Time off (particularly when unpaid overtime has been worked)

• Flexible working hours

• Working from home

Types of recognition and reward related specifically to career development include:

• Access to courses (internal and external) not normally available to team members

• Access to secondment opportunities

• Encouraging team members to build on their own ideas or work, and then allowing them to check

this out with another relevant area

• Participation in a new project

• Deliver critical presentation or ideas

• Providing for a day away from regular duties to undertake professional research or reading

• Participate as a member of a committee

• Mentoring and work shadowing opportunities

• Short-term work exchange in another area of the Department

• Attendance and/or presentations at conferences

32
• Access to coaching on a particular area the team member wishes to enhance

• Invitation to the team member to provide coaching and/or provide a short presentation to other

members of the work team on an area of their expertise

• Work shadowing a member of staff

• Paid trips to professional meetings

Tips for team leaders

To recognise and reward performance skilfully is a difficult and complex task, and team leaders

should consider the following:

• Every team member is different and needs to be recognised for good performance in a different

way

• Team members may appreciate different reward and recognition mechanisms at different stages of

their careers and in different contexts

• Simple recognition and positive acknowledgement are very important

• Don’t assume people feel valued just because they continue to be productive

• Don’t assume that what you value in recognition and reward will be the same for your team

members

• Ask team members what recognition and reward they value

33
Team leader checklist for reward and recognition

As a team leader, do you do the following on a regular basis:

□ Personally thank team members for a job well done?

□ Provide feedback that is timely and specific?

□ Make time to meet with and listen to team members on a regular basis?

□ Ensure the environment in your workplace is open, trusting and fun?

□ Encourage and reward initiatives and new ideas?

□ Share information about the Department with team members on a regular basis?

□ Involve team members in decisions, especially those that will affect them?

□ Provide team members with a sense of ownership of their jobs?

□ Give team members a chance to learn new skills?

□ Try where possible to promote from within?

□ Celebrate the success of individuals, as well as your work team as a whole?

□ Reward and/or recognise team members based on their performance?

□ Offer rewards and/or recognition based, where possible and within the constraints of policy and

procedures, on what individual staff members really value?

□ Praise and provide feedback generously and genuinely?

34
35
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

36
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Following are the objectives to study the project are:

1. To identify schemes which recognize good or best practice in organizations;

2. To examine how these schemes work, their scope (number of participants, industry sectors,

subject areas, etc.), and the recognition that is achieved;

3. To identify those schemes that has undergone robust evaluation and the findings resulting from

those evaluations;

4. To identify the changes in behavior that occurred due to successful schemes (the outcomes) and

the impact they have had on the participants or the topic area;

5. To identify the costs associated with successful schemes and how these are met and administered;

and

6. To examine and identify the key features of successful schemes.

7. To provide guidelines to recognize specific, unique, value added and critical performance

incidents within or beyond expected & predefined performance objectives

8. To align employee performance and achievements in line with Company’s Value Charters &

Mission Objectives

9. To reward these performance incidents in monetary or non-monetary terms indicating

organizational recognition and appreciation towards the employees

To make the research successful and meet its objectives, it was essential to plan the study within the

37
given time scale and word limit. Obviously, all research creates its own risk and uncertainty; this is

where it was important to keep a personal diary, which kept account of what was to be done, by

when and how. The research is organisational culture powerful enough to motivate or de-motivate

employees. Since such a link between organisation culture and employee motivation has not been

made before or if it had than the author was not aware of it, therefore it was a challenge making

connection between the two.

Sources of Information

In such a research obviously there needs to be a wide range of material studied. Relevant data needs

to be collected and analysed in order to gain an insight into the subject area. Below is a list of the

sources of information and methods used to carry out the investigation into the impact of

organisation culture on employee motivation.

Journals

These included, Journal of Management Development, Project Appraisal, International Journal of

Human Resource Management and many others. They were quite helpful in gaining a background

understanding of the subject matter. The journals did provide useful examples of different types of

organisation cultures and also factors that motivate people at work.

Computerised Technology

The Internet was another useful source, which provided examples, which were relevant for the

research topic. However, the connection between organisation culture and employee motivation had

38
limited capacity, may be because this concept had not been linked before.

Library Facilities

This was excellent in obtaining much literature material. From the books studied it was possible to

gain a greater understanding of the research.

Methodology

There are many ways to undertake research methodology. This research concentrates on a particular

section of an organisation (organisation culture).

This research is exploratory and a cross sectional study. Due to the time and resource constraints

involved, conducting a longitudinal research would not be feasible. The research however, involves

the analysis of historical data. Even though it is cross-sectional, the study would be able to provide a

fair amount of insight into the research question. According to Hussey (1997), A sample is made up

of some of the members of population. It is representative of the population from which it is drawn.

According to Bryman and Bell (2003), there are two types of sampling: probability sampling and

Non-probability sampling. According to Saunders et al. (2003), heterogeneous non-probability

sampling (convenience sampling, snowball sampling, purposive sampling and quota sampling) is

best for case study research. On the contrary, Bryman and Bell (2003) said that the greater the

heterogeneity of a population, the larger a sample will need to be. The homogeneous, instead of

heterogeneous is relatively good for the members of a company where the amount of variation is

less. The research will be based on the convenience sampling of ten people working in different

backgrounds from sales advisor to HR manager in organisation, which is simply available by virtue

of its accessibility.

39
The primary data and secondary data have been used to get all necessary information for this

research. As a secondary data, author has used books, journals, Internet and literatures. For the

primary data there are lots of sources like interview, survey, questionnaire, protocol analysis,

observation, diaries and so on (According to Gill & Johnson, 2002). According to Saunders M. et al.,

(2003), an interview is a purposeful discussion between two or more person. The use of interviews

helps to gather valid and reliable data that are relevant to the research questions and objectives.

However, interviews particularly unstructured and semi-structured are very time consuming,

expensive. Questions should be open ended. According to Hussey (1997), as the whole process can

be very time consuming and expensive, in some cases a short questionnaire may be more

appropriate.

Questionnaires are a popular method for collecting data. It is cheaper and less time consuming than

interviews and very large samples can be taken. This questionnaire contends questions intended to

asked cover various aspects of our research about organisation culture is powerful to motivate

employees. However, on the contrary, According to Gill & Johnson, (2002), the questionnaire is

based on more closed questions, whereas interviews would give room for more open answers.

Interviews would allow the respondent to give a more complete answer rather than just a ‘yes’ or

‘no’. For the research purpose, researcher has conducted interviews with 10 employees of SHS

International Bakery. Although the sample size is small in interview, it was decided that results

obtained would produce a truer picture for the purpose of the research.

Data Collection

In quantitative analysis, data can be measured. In other words, numbers and what they stand for are

the material of analysis. We can make direct comparison between two organisations through valid

40
sampling and techniques and it is also useful to conduct exploratory data analysis (Hussey, 1997).

However, by contrast, according to Saunders et al. (2003), quantitative analysis is less reliable than

qualitative analysis as qualitative analysis deals in words and standardized procedures than statistical

analysis. Qualitative analysis provides shared ground rules for drawing conclusions and verifying

their sturdiness. According to Saunders et al. (2003) there is relative lack of standardization in

quantitative analysis, which focuses considerable misunderstanding. The method used in research

will be qualitative analysis as it is related to complete and detailed description of the research topic.

Scope and Limitations

The interviews will be conducted with various people from different working backgrounds in the

organisation to obtain a comprehensive feedback. Realistic future recommendations will be given to

organisation on how to improve their culture and in turn increase staff motivation. The research will

concentrate only on ‘organisation culture’ and not on national or regional culture. It is arguable that

organisational culture has become the single most active research arena. The research will not go

into much depth due to word, cost and time limitations.

41
DATA INTERPRETATAION

AND ANALYSIS

42
43
Questionnaire

Employee Details

Name:
Company Name:
Designation:
Employee Contract:
A. Part time
B. Full time (on probation)
C. Full time (Permanent)
D. Outsourced

Questions:

1. What is the purpose of Rewards & Recognitions in your organization?

Comments:

44
2. Which are the commonly followed practices in your organization to motivate the employees?
(Please highlight)

S.No Type
1 Recognitions
2 Gift Certificates/Dinners/Movie Tickets
3 Special Events
4 Cash Awards
5 Merchandise incentives
6. Email/print communication
7. Variable pay
8. Sponsored trips

If any other, Please specify

Comments:

3. In order to achieve the following organizational objective what source of motivation do you
observe is more effective. Please Comment.

(i)Creating Positive Internal Communication

Comments:

(ii)Teamwork
Comments:

(iii)Motivating specific tasks/behaviors

Comments:

(iv)Increasing Retention/Loyalty
Comments:

(v)Reinforcing organization values or culture

Comments:

(vi) Enhancing Performance

Comments:

(vii) Boosting Morale

45
Comments:

(viii) Improving Productivity

Comments:

4. Why was / is reward programs initiated in your organization?

To reward some/all the causes listed

S.no Type
1 Time,work,money saving Ideas
2 Solutions to difficult problems
3 Outstanding Achievements
4 Outstanding Attendance
5 Customer compliments/satisfaction
6 General ongoing contribution you would like to acknowledge
7 Remarkable Performance & Achievement of Targets
8 To appreciate Seniority and Loyalty towards the organization

If any other, Please specify

Comments:

5. The recipients of the rewards are based on (Rank in ascending order of preference from 1-4)

Performance
Effort & Skills
Job difficulty
Seniority

If any other, Please specify

Comments:

6. a. How do you ensure that the “Rewards & Recognitions” scheme has been effectively executed?
Please comment

Comments:

b. Rank these parameters in ascending order of preference form 1-5

Importance of the reward to the recipient

Visibility of the reward
Equitable distribution of reward

46
 Low cost from organization point of view

7. Are there any informal methods of Rewarding & recognizing the employees in your organization?

Comments:

8. The frequency of rewards in your organization is

A. As and when you perform

B Quarterly
C Bi-annually
D Annually

9. Do you think your organization has been successful in retaining the employees by using “Rewards
& Recognitions”?

A. Yes B. No
Comments:

10. Do you think “Rewards & Recognitions” is an effective tool to motivate the employees to
perform better?

A. Yes B. No

Comments:

11. Do you think “Rewards & Recognitions” is an effective tool to enhance the morale of the
employees?

A. Yes B. No

Comments:

47
12. Do you think “Rewards & Recognitions” helps in increasing productivity?

A. Yes B. No

Comments:

ANALYSIS

Scope Applicability:
Whole of employees / divisions / functions or regions (define as it suits and organization needs it)

General Rules:

Nomination: (Individuals / Teams / Groups):

All Managers / Department Heads (along with inputs from immediate Superiors / Reporting

Authorities wherever applicable) can nominate employees/teams who have shown reward-worthy

performance, behavior, skills or competence.

Periodicity:
Assessments and recommendations can be done on Quarterly / Half yearly / Yearly basis and one

employee can be nominated multiple times in different quarters. Further spot achievement awards

can be recommended during shorter terms of quarterly basis. For ongoing performance achievements

these awards can be assessed either half yearly or yearly basis.

Performance Management Link:

A special consideration and weightage can be given in PLI (Incentives/Bonus) for employee’s

winning Rewards & Awards in Appraisal year. This can be an additional 15% to 20% Incentives

increase over and above the recommended PLI by Appraisers during yearly Appraisal process.

48
Benchmarking Reward-worthy Performance/Behavior/Competence

In order to align employee performance to Company’s Values & Mission Objectives, the standards

can be set against the 4 value & mission objectives. Employee showcasing exceptional examples of

following up these values can be considered for Rewards & Recognition Program.

The 4 Values are

Customer Focus
Innovation
Accountability
Teamwork

Assessment Parameters

Some of the parameters can be listed as under.

CIP - Critical Incident Performance – During floods, political issues, lack of resources/manpower,

higher deadline pressures a special performance and accountability is showcased by an individual or

team

IP - Innovative Performance – Finding out a creative and innovative ways to solve any customer

issues or technical issues or any other problems

49
DMP - Deadline meeting Performance – Achieving performance targets within or on stipulated

deadline thereby showing high caliber individual as well as team performance

TOP - Target Oriented Performance - Over achieving targets, exceeding expectations, very excellent

performance

CAP - Customer Appreciated Performance – Based on mutual or case-to-case basis customer

feedback on issues resolved, comfort level with customer, AT and TOCs received from customer,

support provided or any such incidents / behaviors bringing in significant impact on customer’s

perception and Company’s image building etc.

Rewards & Awards Options:

Rewards Descriptions
Cash Rewards (can be Rs.5000 to Rs.20000/-
Cash Reward + Certificate for Appreciation (by MD / Dir HR)
Cash Reward + Certificate for Appreciation (by MD / Dir HR) + Lunch / Tea with MD /
Director HR
Certificate for Appreciation (by MD / Dir HR)
Certificate for Appreciation (by MD / Dir HR) + Lunch / Tea with MD / Director HR
Team Trophy (for individual members as well as whole team with each team member’s
name embossed on the trophy)
Team Trophy (for individual members as well as whole team with each team member’s
name embossed on the trophy) + Lunch / Tea with MD / Director HR
Cash Reward for Team (with freedom to use on their own)
Team Parties / Picnic / Tours / Holiday Package etc.) (Only Domestic)
Individual Holiday Package (National / International) with family
Gift Vouchers (between Rs.5000 to Rs.15000/-)
Business + Pleasure Trips (sponsorship for special trainings / exhibitions / seminars /
conferences + one night-out sponsored in a pub/disco etc. (for teams or individual)
Sponsorships for specific seminars / exhibitions / trade fares / conferences etc.)
Sponsorship for specific Technical / Functional Certification Courses
Sponsorship for customized Management / Business Schools Programs with reputed
institutes like IIMs, ISB, IITs, etc.
POB Award – for small on the spot achievements, special letter from immediate superior
or HOD with nominal cash amount.
Annual Outstanding Employee Award (National Level / South Asia level)
Best Idea Award (based on cost & time effectiveness parameters along with validations or
idea-evaluation panel
Project Specific Awards (on completion or over achievement of specified assignment with

50
cash or certificate or both)

51
FINDINGS

52
A steady progression of the research was being made, up until the designing of questions to ask

participants. This was very time consuming and took longer then expected. At first, questionnaire is

being created which would help to obtain the type of information necessary to complete the research.

It can be seen in Appendix attached. However, after a long consultation, it was decided that it would

be better and more sufficient information would be obtained if a small sample of ten people were

interviewed rather than 100 questionnaires sent out.

The people to be interviewed were from different working backgrounds, from a sales advisor to a

human resource manager. The idea was to understand how motivated people in different positions

and jobs are and what the connection with organisation culture was. The questions asked in the

interview are shown in Appendix attached. It was decided to have a small number of questions for

the interviews, as it may put people off and they may not take part. Only the most crucial questions

required for the purpose of the dissertation were included in the interviews. Although they were kept

to a minimum, it was still difficult to make people participate. Respondents made numerous excuses

for not taking part; therefore this part of the research really did slow down the speed of completing

the dissertation. Obviously to meet the aim of the research it was important to continue approaching

people for interview purpose. Since most people were interviewed at their workplace, they were not

able to give as detailed answers as expected due to time constraint. Also even though participants

were told that the information received would be totally confidential, people still did not seem to

open up. The results show that the initial factor that attracts the employees to the organisation is the

company’s reputation. People prefer to work for an organisation with a high profile/status. Although

there were a couple of people who made it clear that they were only interested in getting a wage

packet at the end of the week. For these people the status of the organisation is not of importance

53
since they are attracted to the salary. One individual was attracted to the part time hours offered by

their workplace. This is because not all companies provide flexible working hours, an employee who

can only work certain hours may find himself/herself working for an organisation that they may not

like but due to circumstances they may have to seek employment there.

Apart from salary/wages, the interviewees receive rewards and incentives such as discount on

company products, bonus if they reach to their target, training in their particular area of work. It must

be noted that most interviewees worked on performance related pay. This must obviously be a

successful system since when the participants were asked to describe their relationship with their

boss, subordinate and peers, the majority was very happy with their working relationships. This goes

to show that there is no competition amongst employees and there is no resentment towards

management for setting targets. However, the interviews do show that it was the female interviewees

that claim to work together as a team with excellent communication. The male participants were

found to be working in a not so friendly environment, where people are there for just one purpose-to

makes money. One male participant stated that he was working in a very false environment. A

difficult situation was also found in a sales department, where a sales manager claimed that the

constant change of management made it hard to establish good relationships. This type of

environment is not healthy, because by the time the employees get used to the manager’s leadership

style there is a change of management. Too many changes can de-motivate employees as they may

not be able to cope with constantly changing demands. However regardless of the answers obtained

from the previous question, when asked whether it is important to have a good relationship with boss

and peers all participants thought it was necessary to have good relationships with all workforce.

Participant believed that they do need to support each other for effective work. One individual said,

54
“If the manager is not good at his job then I would not perform my best.” It shows the need for total

commitment and teamwork in the workplace. All the people who being interviewed stressed the

importance of a good working relationship, because you can build up a team spirit and it makes it

easier to solve problems and resolve any conflicts. A female supervisor said, “a good working

relationship makes my job easier.” If all participants recognise the importance of having good

relations at work that why are they working in environments where this strong relationship is not

visible? Question seven on the interview also got a very similar response from everyone. People

believe that if training is given then you hold the company’s interest at heart. The interviewees tend

to believe that training will encourage people to work harder and employees may be able to reach

their target. The results of the interviews were very much similar to the studies examined previously

in literature review. For example, in Hofstede’s study in Amsterdam it was discovered that unskilled

workers were the least motivated in the workplace and it was managers and other skilled workers

that were more motivated. All participants made it clear that training is important to remove

employee’s weaknesses and improve on their good points. It is obvious that people can progress in

the company through training. But do all organisations want to invest in the training of all

employees’ especially unskilled workers? When asked about the importance of salary it was

interesting to know that supervisors and managers claim that a high salary is as important as job

satisfaction. On the other hand people with not so high positions value a high salary more than

anything else. An union leader states that, “if you are master in the job then a good salary is really

important.” This is a fair comment, however some people interviewed were working on part time

bases or in an unskilled job, to them they need the job for an income not for a career. This is apparent

in the study carried out by Hofstede (2001) in the factory in Amsterdam, where the workers only

came to work for a salary and they were very dissatisfied with their job, but their need for money

kept them in the job. This was also identified in Taylor’s research when he suggested the

55
performance was limited by physiological fatigue and motivation was increased when employers

gave employees high wages. From the literature we have studied, it is clear that increased

responsibility can also motivate people to work harder, since they feel that their contribution makes a

difference. Most participants did prefer to have a high level of responsibility since it gave them a

sense of ownership. However, not everyone responded to responsibility in such a way. A person

from Human Resource Department claimed that when he did not have many responsibilities he felt

useless and then when his level of responsibilities was increased he found it difficult to deal with the

pressure. A similar view was expressed by a supervisor of the company who claimed that having

responsibility is good as long as there is someone else to fall back on. It is obvious that the issue of

responsibilities depends on the individual whether he/she can cope with so many responsibilities and

work under pressure. Question ten on the interview was one of the most vital questions. As expected

the answers varied from person to person. As mentioned before different aspects in the workplace

motivate different people. When they being asked that what motivate you at work, the answers were

as follows, “I am motivated when I get praised for my work and the fact that my manager is good

and he treats me as I am a team leader. Some people were motivated by selling products to customers

and by meeting new people through their job. A general feedback from managers and supervisors

show that they are most motivated when they get a positive feedback from customers and staff.

Working in a friendly and pleasant environment is also a motivator for few of them. The most

common motivators identified were a high salary, promotion and recognition. When interviewees

were being asked what motivate their colleagues at work, the general reply was ‘high salary’. A

finance manager said that recently lots of staff has left to work for another organisation but doing the

same job only because the salary is better in the new employment. A sales consultant said that his

colleagues were motivated when they knew they had come to the end of their working contract and

56
would be leaving work soon. It is obvious that salary is not only of great value to the interviewees

but also to their colleagues.

Interviewees’ mostly described their organisation culture as collectivist. People work together as a

team in a friendly and enabling environment. Although two people out of ten claimed to be working

in an environment where there is no commitment from managers. People are there to do their job and

get their wages at the end of the week. This type of culture has come about due to lack of

commitment from senior managers has brought about a culture which is considerate to employees

and enabling. As mentioned in literature review, managers and personnel specialists are in the

business of influencing behaviour in directions that will meet the needs of the enterprise. Therefore,

it is in their hands to create an appropriate culture that will meet the needs of the organisation as well

as the workforce. The response for question fourteen was a mixture, a few people were not too happy

with the working environment and they were only there until a better job opportunity came along.

Four people were quite content. They claim that a friendly environment encourages people to work

harder and when a strong management team is around it allows a smooth running of the business.

Two participants claimed that it makes them happy to know that the organisation invests a lot of

money and time in training them. It shows they have a keen interest in people. As expected all

interviewees do agree that there is a connection between organisation culture and motivation. If the

culture is people oriented, committed and there are good communication channels then naturally

people will be motivated. However, some people have been in the same job for the last seven to eight

years and never been promoted, these are the least motivated people. This suggests that an

organisation culture should be considerate towards its people and offer them training, benefits and

promotion that will motivate them in the workplace to perform better. A manager’s view on this

matter is that if culture creates a negative atmosphere and keeps management detached from staff

then employees will feel de-motivated.

57
Therefore, to increase motivation, there should be competition between departments to beat targets.

They are likely to be motivated if they achieve their goal. On the other hand those who do not beat

the other department will naturally be de-motivated, as they may have worked to the best of their

ability. This can bring about a power culture as Harrison mentioned earlier, where people are more

interested in meeting individual goals rather than working together to achieve company targets.

People can become motivated if they are working along side a motivated team. However, if

managers are not keen then employees are not likely to be keen, resulting in a de-motivated

workforce. One employee from an organisation suggested, in order to improve organisation culture

and increase staff motivation, the company needs to review the company standards. This is because

people are leaving the company so often; therefore it is important for management to discuss

development opportunities with staff to find out what they want. If employee’s well-being is taken

into consideration then they are likely to be motivated on the other hand if employees are neglected

then they will be de-motivated.

Summary of Findings

On the whole the interviews produced some results that were expected and others that were not

predicted. It is very much clear that most people are motivated with a high salary. However, there

were others who were motivated by recognition and by establishing good relationships within the

workplace. People did stress that the culture of an organisation is created by management and they

need to establish an environment that is people friendly, approachable and committed in order to

have a motivated team of workers, who will perform their best.

Chapter five draws conclusion from the findings and relates them to the original hypothesis.

58
RECOMMENDATIONS

59
Every business needs timely, actionable information to thrive. To measure demands on resources, to

identify customer needs and trends, to predict future requirements and to plan ahead to make

optimum use of resources, requires much dedication from the workforce. This research is not only

beneficial for the author but also throws light on critical decisions about managing people at work,

including how to:

• Make organisations aware of where they are going wrong.

• Make management aware of areas in which employees are unhappy.

• Improve the organisation culture to meet the values of the employees.

• Provide a better working environment with motivated staff that meets a high level of

performance.

Management must realise the importance of the connection between organisation culture and

motivation, if they want to be successful in their day-to-day operations. As we identified in literature

that Mitchell (1982) claims motivation is multifaceted. It is important to understand the factors that

get people activated and the forces of an individual to engage in desired behaviour. Only then an

organisation can establish a culture, which is ‘employee friendly’.

Keeping in mind the feedback received from the interviewees the following recommendations have

been suggested. These can positively influence the future of any organisation, making it a strong

committed culture with highly motivated employees.

Increased Salary

The importance of a competitive salary cannot be stressed enough. Obviously this does not mean

paying people a huge sum of money, when their job is not worth all that money. But in order to gain

60
some form of loyalty businesses are going to have to set wages in relation to achievable targets that

employees believe are fair and realistic.

Good Relationship

The culture of the organisation can only be pleasant if people are friendly with one another. This

requires much attention on teamwork, staff appraisals, and as mentioned in chapter two, quality

circles, all of which can potentially allow people to confront their problems and understand each

other better. Line managers and supervisors should communicate with employees regularly. This

should be both on one to one bases and in groups. The aim is to enable the company to be more

aware of any problem that employees put forward. Here, remedy can be provided for situations

almost immediately.

Training/Staff Development Opportunities

Management should offer staff development opportunities, since people are more motivated to work

harder when they know the organisation is investing in them. Having increased knowledge in their

particular area of work also increases their morale. Therefore, all employees should be given training

to improve their knowledge, skills, attitude and give the opportunity for promotion.

Effective Management

Management must have to understand members at work. One way to obtain feedback from

employees is by giving ‘employee’s cards’ to fill out. Here the workforce can give their viewpoint on

certain aspects of the business. This method is very effective when aiming for total employee

satisfaction within the organization. Employees can tell management the problems they are facing at

present and even if they cannot meet all the demands of the employee they should explain the

constraints to the employee. If the workforce is aware that the organisation is trying its best to meet

their needs then they in turn will do their best to meet the organisation goals. A dissatisfied employee

61
should be acknowledged and attended without delay. Employees must always be dealt with in a

polite and helpful manner and their complaints will receive immediate action.

Recognition

As we have seen from the interviews both managers and staff are motivated if they receive praise for

their work. This means giving employees recognition for good work. Positive feedback is likely to

encourage people to perform better. If people know their work is appreciated they will naturally want

to create more good work.

Responsibilities

As we have seen earlier that some people prefer to have a high level of responsibilities, it gives them

a sense of ownership. It is important to find out what employees want from an organisation rather

than delegating tasks. People who enjoy a high level of responsibility should be given the chance to

carry out such tasks, being more involved will make a person feel naturally motivated. Those who

cannot cope with so many responsibilities should be given training, which will help them, overcome

the pressure of stress.

Recommendations for Further Research

This research lacked depth, due to several reasons. Therefore, a much-detailed study is required to

gain a better understanding of the subject matter.

In the case of further research, a much larger sample size should be interviewed. It is necessary to

obtain a much wider view on the dissertation topic. Here, the sample size is too small to obtain a

wide and varied feedback, which is not biased. People from different cities and towns should be

interviewed, since cultural variance in different regions can have an influence on motivation. It

would be interesting to concentrate on the organisation culture of two or more companies and look at

the impact of that particular culture on the motivation of different social groups in the workplace. For

62
example are young people more motivated at work than the older workplace, or is the culture of the

organisation more male oriented than female oriented. This type of research would give much depth

to the study.

CONCLUSION

63
The initial research was based on the impact of organisation culture on employee motivation.

However since the research area was too wide, it was decided to change the dissertation title to ‘is

organisation culture powerful enough to motivate or de-motivate employees. The conclusion aims to

identify the relevant findings, made in the previous chapter and draw conclusion from the original

hypothesis made.

Relating the findings to the hypothesis

To discuss the findings relating to the hypothesis it is necessary to review the hypotheses. The

objective of the research was to investigate the impact of organisation culture on employee

motivation. The hypothesis being, ‘that although organisation culture has been the main component

of a business, most companies till this day do not believe that the culture of an organisation can

influence the behaviour of the employees. It is claimed that the culture of an organisation is one of

the most important factors within the working environment to have an impact on the motivation of

people within it.’

The results of the research support the hypothesis, in that organisation culture is the main component

of a business and it has a most significant impact on the motivation of the employees in the

workplace. Although people from various working backgrounds and different positions were

interviewed it was possible to identify some common features among all participants. For example

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most people wanted to work in an organisation, which had a high profile. However, there were some

that were just interested in a high salary. Does that mean that those who were interested in an

organisation’s reputation were not interested in the salary? In the middle of interviews it became

obvious that all participants were attracted to a good income.

Another motivator was very common among people of good relationships at work. As Harrison

mentioned ‘people culture’ is important to establish in order to get the most out of their employees.

If management builds strong relations with their workforce it will help them understand each other

and bring about effective teamwork. Training was an area, which almost all participants felt sturdily

about it. This requires a culture where there is continuous interest in the personnel growth of an

employee. An area, in terms of responsibilities, the response got never being expected. From the

interviews it was discovered that most people became de-motivated when placed with a lot of

responsibilities. Even managers and supervisors claimed to get very stressed when given too many

responsibilities. Recognition was another area for what some people was not bothered if they will get

it or not as long as they got their wages.

Thus, the factors found to be most important motivators were high salary, staff development and

good relationships at work. Obviously people have to be catered these things otherwise these could

have a negative impact on the business. The more de-motivated staff becomes, the more performance

level will fall. In terms of suggestions for a planned change, participants stressed the importance of a

good, approachable management team, an environment that was enabling, a competitive salary, and

staff development opportunities. Though the interviews it was possible to see the relevance of

Bennett’s (1981) three-fold classification for the motivation to work. Participants were motivated by

economic rewards, intrinsic satisfaction and/or social relationships. Management must understand

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the needs of their employees and make changes according to that. Even if all needs of the workforce

are not met, they must be assured that the organisation is trying its best for employee’s satisfaction.

As organisation culture has much influence on efficiency and effectiveness, it is necessary to create a

culture that meets the needs of internal customers, who will then meet the needs of the external

customers by performing to their best.

Has the Research met its Objectives?

The research has highlighted many key factors in the area of study. It concentrates on a mixture of

perceptions that were gathered from people in different fields of life and of varying backgrounds.

The investigation conducted on employee motivation raises two questions, either management are

not aware of the impact an organisation culture has on its employees motivation level or

organisation’s are not willing to spend the time, effort and money to establish a culture that will

achieve the best results for the organisation and the people within it. The objective of the research

was to identify and discuss factors in the organisation culture that would affect employee motivation

in a positive and negative way. Although sample size was small it is still possible to see a continuous

pattern and the connection between culture and employee motivation. Therefore it can be said that

the study undertaken has met the objectives of the research. Chapter six will provide some

recommendations that organisations should consider, in order to motivate their employees and in

turn enhance their customer strategy and corporate image. As stated previously if the internal

customer is happy then the external customer will be happy to.

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 ANNEXURE

Interview Questions

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1. What is your job title?

2. What attracts you to the organisation you are currently working for?

3. Apart from salary/wages what are the rewards and incentives of this job?

4. How would you describe your working relationship with your boss, peers and

subordinates?

5. Do you think it is important to have a good relationship with peers and subordinates? Give

reason.

6. Do you think a company should offer staff development opportunities? Give reason.

7. How important is a high salary to you?

8. What sort of responsibilities do you have in your job? Do you like to have a high level of

responsibility at work?

9. What motivates you in the workplace?

10. Do you know what factors motivate your colleagues?

11. How would you describe the ‘culture’ of the organisation you work for?

12. How did this ‘culture’ come about?

13. Are you happy with your working environment and how do your own values about the

workplace fit in with your organisation culture?

14. Do you think there is a connection between ‘culture’ and ‘motivation’ and if so how does the

former affect the latter?

15. Is it possible to think of a planned change in culture affecting the level of motivation? What

sort of change would increase it?

Thank you for taking part in this interview.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Al-Faleh, M. Cultural Influences on Arab Management Development: A Case Study of Jordon,

Journal of Management Development, University of Jordon, pp.19-30.

Armstorng, M. (1992), Human Resource Management-Strategy and Action.

Barley, S. (1983) as quoted in Martin, J. (1992), Cultures in Organisations – Three Perspectives,

Oxford University Press, New York.

Bashinsky A., (2004), Human Resources-Leadership, Culture and Employee Engagement, [Online]

[Available at: http://www.humanresourcesmagazine.com.au/articles/db/0c0216db.asp accessed on

4th March, 2006].

Becker, H. & Geer, B. adapted from Mullins, L.J. (2005), Management and Organisational

Behaviour, 7th Edition, Prentice Hall.

Bennett, R. (1981), Managing Personnel and Performance, Business Books.

Bennett, R (1997), Management, 3rd Edition, Pearson Professional Limited, Esse

http://www.hrvs-rhsbc.ca/hr-toolkit/keeping-people-employee-recognition.cfm

http://www.in.lge.com/Experience%20LG/exp-bestplace2work.aspx

http://www.infosys.com/BPO-services/careers/default.asp

http://www.infosysinternational.com/awards.aspx

http://www.marriott.com/incentives/incentive-travel-programs.mi

http://business.outlookindia.com/inner.aspx?

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articleid=2638&subcatgid=1196&editionid=72&catgid=1

http://www.drreddys.com/careers/working_recognition.html

http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac227/csr2008/our-employees/engaging-our-employees.html

http://www.itc.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=71&Itemid=46

And various other websites of organizations, & articles, journals, etc.

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