CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1      BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The growth and success of any company or organization can be assessed in terms and conditions of several things, such as proper planning, good administrative system, system of working of employees, follow up rules and regulations, management of resources and many others. These are the some of the basic tips for the growth and promotion of any organization. But there are some other components must to be keeping in mind that is concern to human resource management (H.R.M) an organization is majorly depended upon the human resources’ available to it. Human resources are everything for any company /organization, although a company needs many other resources for its promotion and success but without human resources they are useless. It is the man who operates the machines and utilizes other resources for development. (Hitt, Miller, & Colella, 2014). Every person has his own wants and desires, for that purpose he/she works to get fulfill them. It is not enough for an employee to be satisfied monetarily but non-monetarily aspects are as essential as monetary aspects, an employee need both to be fulfilled. Monetary incentive means his salary, bonuses, allowances, job security and other facilities. While non-monetary incentives includes leaves, excellent working environment, good understanding among other fellow workers and top management, all these elements have much to do with motivation of employee. Employees play very important part in the daily operations of any organization especially where the markets are very competitive and have ever-changing environment which is supported by majority of the theorists. The fate of any company is mostly determined by its employees so it sounds logical to understand how employees can be motivated. As far as the employee’s motivation is concerned, employee motivational incentive programs have been found to be the most commonly adopted technique among organizations. The purpose of the program is to reward productive performance, reinforce positive behavior and stir interest in employee. Performance and how it could it could be enhanced is central to the concern of industries and organizations, therefore many organizational scientists, are very much interested in different schemes and techniques related to performance and its growth incentives are one of those techniques used in workplaces to stimulate employees in order to get desired performance. Money is considered to be the universal motivator although other financial and non-financial incentives and benefits create a very special relationship between organization and employees. Employees perform certain tasks; fulfill goals in exchange of money and other incentives packages. Some types of incentive plans are available in industries in which bonuses, conveyance allowance, medical allowance, increase salary, monthly leaves, promotion, recognition are included. Motivational incentives encourage the employees and hence productivity enhances by improving the performance, efficiency, satisfaction, responsibility, effectiveness and commitment of employees. Emphatically, the whole thrust of incentive tends is to build the sort of highly trained, empowered, self-governing and flexible work force that organizations today need as a competitive edge. Employees desire appreciation and other monetary and nonmonetary incentives in exchange for a job done well. This trend is gaining more popularity as businesses explore ways to motivate employees. In any organization, workers need something to keep them at work. Most of the times the salary of the employee works as a stimulus; though to keep him or her working constantly for an organization other incentive packages and programs are also necessary. An employee must be motivated to work for a company, if not then that employee’s quality of work, or all work in general will deteriorate so it is necessary and compulsory need of today’s competitive era to provide various desired motivational incentives and benefits to employees to keep their goal-directed performance on track. Therefore, incentives can really work to accomplish the goals of an organization. It is against this backdrop that the study examines the effect of motivational incentives on the employees of Benjamin Michaels Ltd.

1.2      STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

In a highly competitive, global environment, organizations are constantly under pressure to retain their workforce (Deci, 2013). Highly skilled, reliable and experienced employees are a valuable asset for any organization. It is evident that highly motivated employees are more likely to have high productivity. However, according to Certo (2014), good performance is not as a result of motivation only, but also includes ability i.e. skills, equipment, supplies and time. Some organizations have been known to experience a high staff turnover despite offering above average salaries (Aguinis, 2012). This tells us that money is not the only way to motivate employees. Additionally, different people are motivated by different factors. It is important for managers and supervisors to understand what motivates individual employees, and not assume a one-size-fits-all approach (George and Jones, 2013). An organization is only as strong as its workforce. Therefore the study examines the effect of motivational incentives on the employees of Benjamin Michaels Ltd

1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The major aim of the study is to examine the effect of motivational incentives on the employees of Benjamin Michaels Ltd. Other specific objectives of the study include;

1        To examine the extent in which employees of Benjamin Michaels are motivated.

2        To examine the types of motivational incentives used in Benjamin Michaels Ltd.

3        To examine the effect of motivational incentives on employees’ productivity in Benjamin Michaels Ltd.

4        To examine the motivational factors that enhances the employees’ productivity in Benjamin Michaels Ltd.

5        To examine the relationship between motivational incentives and employees productivity in Benjamin Michaels Ltd.

6        To recommend ways of improving employees’ performance in Benjamin Michaels Ltd

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.  To what extent are employees of Benjamin Michaels motivated?

2.  What are the types of motivational incentives used in Benjamin Michaels Ltd?

3.  What is the effect of motivational incentives on employees’ productivity in Benjamin Michaels Ltd?

4.  What are the motivational factors that enhance the employees’ productivity in Benjamin Michaels Ltd?

5.  What is the relationship between motivational incentives and employees productivity in Benjamin Michaels Ltd?

6.  What are the ways of improving employees’ performance in Benjamin Michaels Ltd?

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

Hypothesis 1

H0: There is no significant effect of motivational incentives on employees’ productivity in Benjamin Michaels Ltd.

H1: There is a significant effect of motivational incentives on employees’ productivity in Benjamin Michaels Ltd.

Hypothesis 2

H0: There is no significant relationship between motivational incentives and employees productivity in Benjamin Michaels Ltd.

H1: There is a significant relationship between motivational incentives and employees productivity in Benjamin Michaels Ltd.

1.6      SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The findings would benefit the management of Benjamin Michaels Ltd and enhance programs that can motivate their employees and improve performance. The study would contribute to the existing body of knowledge on the effect of motivation on employees. It will also help future scholars who will endeavor to undertake a study on motivation and performance.

1.7 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The study is restricted to the effect of motivational incentives on the employees of Benjamin Michaels Ltd.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Financial constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview)

Time constraint: The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1.7      DEFINITION OF TERMS

Motivation: A persons desire to do the best possible job or to exert the maximum effort to perform assigned tasks (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin and Cardy, 2015).

Employees: are the workers in an organization, working for the accomplishment of the organizational goals. In this study, the employees are those staffs of the organization.

Incentives: Incentives means an inducement which rouses or stimulates one to action in a desired direction (Milton, 2013). These are benefits that are promised to employees to motivate them to achieve their best and improve their behavior, productivity and output continuously.