Motivation - Case Study - Quality Footwear Ltd - Maslow Hierarchy of Needs

1. Introduction It can be said that motivation within the workforce plays a key role in the overall productivity of the organisation. Pinder (2014) noticed that motivated staffs mean highly productive workers, which ultimately assists in accomplishing the overall goals and objectives of the organisation. Thus, substantial measures of motivating the workers should be made in order to be effective in the competitive business environment. This paper demonstrates the definition of motivation and its theory. It further reviews the case study of Quality Footwear Ltd and states the key differences between old and new management. In addition, Application of Maslow theory is also discussed and key recommendations are highlighted.

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1.1.Motivation

Various scholars have defined motivation in different ways; however, as per Cho & Perry (2012) motivation is recognised as a process of stimulating individuals to perform and execute activities to achieve the objectives. Within the work setting, it can be said that there are certain factors which can contribute in motivating the behavior of the worker and they comprise the craving for money, accomplishment, acknowledgment, job-satisfaction, coordination and etc.

1.2.The Theory of Motivation

It has been observed that the theories of motivation were primarily developed in the mid of the nineteenth century. These theories can be alienated in two groups which include Content Theories, which emphasises the aspects that stimulate and start motivated conduct start and the Process Theories which sees the behavior itself as they give emphasis on the ways motivation takes place (Gupta & Tayal, 2013). Within the content theories there are numerous motivational theories; however, one of these theories is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

1.2.1.      Maslow Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow Taormina & Gao (2013) observed that an individual is inclined to accomplish needs one after another. Consequently, this means that when one need is satisfied, workers seek to achieve the second. In addition to this, the most common form of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs comprises five motivational essentials, which is usually represented within a pyramid under three groups or categories which are Self-fulfilment needs, psychological needs and the Basic needs (Lester, 2013). Self-fulfilment needs comprise self-actualisation needs; Psychological needs include esteem needs such as the feeling of accomplishment Belongingness and love needs like coordination and teamwork, relationships etc. as well as Basic needs that embrace safety needs like security and safety at the workplace and  physiological needs such as food, water, rest, and etc.

2.  Case Study

2.1.Brief Overview

Quality Footwear (QF) is a limited company which is recognised a safety footwear producer within one of the rural areas of the UK. It not only supplies its production in the UK but also exports it safety footwears to US and Australia. The company produces its footwear for the workers involved in construction sites as well as also for the mountain climbers.

2.2.Old Management VS New Management

It has been observed from the case that under the directorship of the old CEO, the employees within the Quality Footwear Company were highly motivated since democratic leadership style was followed. Employees were given opportunities to work in a team working environment where job rotation was common and on the other hand, continuous training for further improvements was provided (Jerome, 2013). They were rewarded with monthly award schemes and different gatherings and night outs were sponsored under her management approach. She believed that a happy employee is a productive employee, and thus, employees felt recognised under her management approach as each employee was called by their first names which are known as one of the most encouraging factors for the employees.

In contrast to these management approaches, the new CEO had its own way of working and leading. With a task-centred approach the new CEO was worried about sorting out work, characterising parts, setting up very much characterised channels of correspondence and methods for completing works (Pinder, 2014). Change working examples and presented division of work in order to build profitability and operational effectiveness. Representatives were currently doled out on a perpetual premise to one occupation just, and strict working methods were produced for every employment. Overseers were likewise utilised in every office to screen staff and guarantee that strategies are entirely watched. One of the most important demotivating factors was to reduce the training as well as changing the payment systems which led to the production of poorer quality footwear. Thus, it can be said that the key difference between old and new CEO is that the old CEO followed democratic leadership style, however, the new CEO followed the autocratic style of leadership (Wallo & Ellström, 2013).

2.3.Application of Maslow Theory

It has been observed that Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory remains a significant as well as a modest motivation tool for executives to comprehend and implement. He considered the hierarchy of need as key motivational factors that every organisation must follow in order to keep their employees motivated for improved productivity (Jerome, 2013). As within this case, the old CEO seems to follow this hierarchy and therefore, got better results since the level of motivation among employees were high.

2.3.1.      Physiological Needs

Firstly, biological and physiological needs include anything of fundamental requirements that a person has. For example; breathing, excretion, food, water and sleep etc. The longer a person goes without food the more hungry they would become and consequently, it would not only decrease the level of motivation but the level of productivity too (Lester, 2013).

2.3.2.      Esteem Needs

Employees need recognition for their hard work which is one of the key aspects of motivation. Since it was not executed within the workplace of Quality Footwear the esteem needs were not satisfied (Taormina & Gao, 2013). Esteem needs comprise recognising staff for outstanding contributions to the work as well as ensuring all workers comprehend the extent to which they are essential to the project.

3.  Conclusion

It can be concluded that motivation plays an important role in developing and improving the organisational productivity. It has been identified by Maslow that there are certain needs which every employer must execute in order to keep workers highly motivated. This is clearly evidenced by looking to the case study in which the old CEO followed all the procedures which were satisfying the needs of the employees as compared to the new CEO who was task oriented and applied approaches which were not encouraging, rather demotivating for the employees. This was also evident as the overall sales were dropped with 50% diminishing the market share of the company. Therefore, it can be said that motivation within employees results in fruitful outcomes.

4.  Recommendations

Generally, each and every senior member of the organisation should be aware of all the motivational factors which are essential in the growth and development of an organisation. Managers must keep their employees motivated not only by providing them incentives but by delivering all physiological, biological as well as esteem and basic needs which are required at the workplace as identified above. By considering the case, the new CEO must take certain motivational factors into consideration to bounce back from the lower level of sales to the higher levels. Democratic style of leadership should be followed significantly in order to improve the performance since it will produce motivation among employees of Quality Footwear Ltd.

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