Effect Of Motivation Techniques On Employee Performance: Critique Of Research Article By Guclu And Guney

Research Question and Thesis Statement

Question:

Discuss about the Turnover Rates and Organizational Performance.

In any workplace, motivating the employees has become integral part of the management. Work managers must motivate employees to retain them and sustain the fierce competition. The human resource managers must focus on enhancing the employee’s performance and identify different motivating techniques. I will help gain the competitive advantage and achieve the organisational goals. In this situation, the leaders play an important role as they increase self-esteem of employees and promote their growth opportunities (Lazaroiu 2015). Considering the importance of the employee motivation and enhanced performance in an organisation, the essay aims to critique a research article, discuss the strength and weakness of the information provided. The discussion is supported  with  relevant literature pertaining to the area. The article chosen for this purpose is, “The Effect of the Motivation Techniques Used by Managers to Increase the Productivity of their Workers and an Application” by Guclu and Guney (2017).

In the article by Guclu and Guney (2017), a clear research question is presented to the readers. The research question is to determine the employee’s perception on use of motivation tool by manager for performance improvement in the work place. The thesis statement in regards to the research question is the “effect of the motivation techniques used by managers to increase the productivity of their workers”. The author supported the significance of the research by highlighting the needs of enhancing the skills and talents of the employees. From the literature review, it was evident that motivation by mangers evoked the hidden potential and power of the employees (Lazaroiu 2015). The importance of the research question formulated by the author is also realised by the emphasise laid on the maximisation of manpower efficiency in an organisation through motivation.   The discussion on different motivation techniques to promote manpower efficiency also indicates that the research question is justified. In this research article, the author has well documented the supporting literature. The evidences provided are of high quality as it pertains to thesis statement and narrows down to the research question formulated. The research question is built based on the existing literature and the author had encompassed both old and the recent studies. It clearly indicates that the researcher has performed a thorough research on this subject. Starting from the broad perspective on the topic the author has presented the narrowed view on that is on managerial behaviour for employee motivation. However, some limitations could be observed in formulation of the research questions. It includes lack of presenting the literature gaps. The importance of the study would have been more prominent if the gaps of the previous researches were identified. Inspite of this limitation, a deep insight of relationship between the motivation and employee’s enhanced performance is expected from this study. For a manager to successfully motivate the workers, it is important to have good relationship with the employees. The key determining factor in the employee motivation in any organisation is the managers and employee’s relationship (Cherian and Jacob 2013). Application of the self-efficacy theory, increase in career opportunities for the employees plays a key role in successful motivation of the employees and increasing their work related performance.

Literature Review and Supporting Evidence

The thesis statement presented by Guclu and Guney (2017) indicates that the research being conducted greatly focuses on the various motivation techniques. It is critical that the study evaluates the impact of these motivation techniques on the employee’s performance when used by the managers. The instrument used for addressing the research question was survey questionnaire. The survey was conducted for employees of a textile industry. Demographic details were to be obtained from the first section of the questionnaire. The second part of the questionnaire is designed to determine the employee’s perception on the use of different motivation tools. The author has performed statistical analysis for ensuring the validity of collected data. The study calculated descriptive statistics related to the frequency variance and safety analysis as per Cronbach’s Alfa values. Further, statistical significance of the data is also calculated that will maximise the data validity. As the confounding variables were considered, it adds to strength of the study. Confounding variables when taken into consideration the chance of bias can be eliminated (Westfall and Yarkoni 2016). It will make the results more reliable. Appropriate sampling method is other important factor to enhance the validity of the data collected. However, the drawback of the study is that Guclu and Guney (2017) did not mention any details on the sampling method. It was found from the article that large sample size was not considered. Usually, surveys are meant to collect data from large population, as it is a quick process unlike qualitative interview. In order to gain employees perspective, it is effective to consider large sample size. In similar study by Fiaz et al. (2017), “stratified sampling method” was adopted, to determine the effect of different leadership style on employee motivation. The advantage of this sampling method is that it proportionately represents all the groups of participating members. Further, this method is advantageous in selecting best sample and represents the entire population while reducing bias in selection (Robinson 2014).

The result findings of any study indicate the success of research.  The relevance of the research results to the research question determines the use of data in any organisation for improvement in employee performance. In the study by Guclu and Guney (2017), the tabulated charts of statistical data are the strength of the research. The efficacy of various psychosocial, economic, management and organizational tools that have been used for enhancing the employee performance is indicated by the clear statistical data. It clearly indicates how these motivating techniques improve the employee efficiency. The results detailed the impact of the motivation on the textile industry’s work force in terms of monthly salary, assignment status, education, and tenure in office.  These factors are important to be considered as they determine motivation of an employee (Dobre 2013). The salary withdrawn and the scope of incentive mark an employee’s performance and contribution to the productivity. Similarly, educational opportunities may contribute to motivation as it increases career choices. Therefore, these factors have an impact on the motivation.  These data is crucial as it gives a hint on the employees idea of staying or leaving a job or level of motivation to move to higher hierarchical level in an organisation (Park and Shaw 2013).  These data of the chosen study is consistent with the similar study undertaken by Bastons et al. (2017). This study determined that the workforce’s motivation is dependent on the internal factors such as job security and job satisfaction as well as external factors such as salary.

Methodology and Data Analysis

Based on the analysis, I would like to present my viewpoint on the article that was critiqued. In spite of few contradictory points, I agree with many aspects of the research data. I think that it was justified enough for Guclu and Guney (2017) to emphasise on the efficiency of employees as it directly impacts the productivity. The statistically significant data pertaining to the different motivational tools used by manger for employee motivation implicates different organisations to put these tools into use to promote productivity. The factors mentioned in the study in regards to employee’s opinion of motivation appear to be valid. I favour the author’s viewpoint of education as parameter to motivate people. Yes, it is valid because a worker with high educational status will perceive the efforts of motivation in a more conscious manner, when compared to those with low educational attainment. This parameter was also considered in other study by Malik, Butt, and Choi, (2015). This study showed that the employee’s self-efficacy is reflected by the education and work experience. Such attribute also influence the behaviour towards the intrinsic and extrinsic benefits in the organisation.

The results pertaining to effects of motivation tools on different income group appears to be convincing. The members of the low-income group showed greater influence of psychosocial motivation tool on them. The influence was however, low on the members of high and middle-income group. It means psychological support for low earning members is effective technique boost morale and enthusiasm. Further, as a reviewer I would like to add that the leadership qualities and the personality of the motivator also matters in enhancing employee performance (Barrick, Mount, and Li 2013). For instance, famous personalities like Alan Joyce, the CEO of Qantas airways have been inspirational to many different organisations. His vibrant personality and leadership qualities improved employment engagement drastically (Sarina and Lansbury 2013). Therefore, manager’s personality can be also a source of motivation.  The study by Lounsbury et al. (2016) evaluated Five personality traits and high scoring were openness, conscientiousness, customer service orientation, emotional stability, and openness. According to Pinder (2014), extrovert personalities can intrinsically motivate employees. This variable should have been considered in the chosen research article as  a part of survey questionnaire. 

The research article by Guclu and Guney (2017) was critically analysed in the essay. It gave deep insights of impact of motivation tools on employee performance and productivity. The study results have many positive implications. Managers reading this article can apply the idea of motivation by considering the education and income status of the workforce. The results would be more interesting if the manager’s personality traits are also considered in survey. It is thus, recommended for future research as motivation process is influenced by the personality of the motivators. Overall, the essay has deepened the knowledge pertaining to effect of different motivation techniques on employees. 

Reference

Barrick, M.R., Mount, M.K. and Li, N., 2013. The theory of purposeful work behavior: The role of personality, higher-order goals, and job characteristics. Academy of management review, 38(1), pp.132-153.

Bastons, M., Mas, M. & Rey, C. 2017, “Pro-stakeholders motivation: Uncovering a new source of motivation for business companies”, Journal of Management and Organization, vol. 23, no. 5, pp. 621-632.

Cherian, J. and Jacob, J., 2013. Impact of self efficacy on motivation and performance of employees. International Journal of Business and Management, 8(14), p.80.

Dobre, O.I., 2013. Employee motivation and organizational performance. Review of Applied Socio-Economic Research, 5(1), pp.53-60.

Fiaz, M., Su, Q., Ikram, A. & Saqib, A. 2017, “LEADERSHIP STYLES AND EMPLOYEES’ MOTIVATION: PERSPECTIVE FROM AN EMERGING ECONOMY”, The Journal of Developing Areas, vol. 51, no. 4, pp. 143-156.

Guclu, H. and Guney, S., 2017, The Effect of the Motivation Techniques Used by Managers to Increase the Productivity of their Workers and an Application.

Lazaroiu, G., 2015. Employee Motivation and Job Performance. Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations, 14, p.97.

Lounsbury, J.W., Sundstrom, E.D., Gibson, L.W., Loveland, J.M. & Drost, A.W. 2016, “Core personality traits of managers”, Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 434-450.

Malik, M.A.R., Butt, A.N. and Choi, J.N., 2015. Rewards and employee creative performance: Moderating effects of creative self?efficacy, reward importance, and locus of control. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(1), pp.59-74.

Park, T.Y. and Shaw, J.D., 2013. Turnover rates and organizational performance: a meta-analysis.

Pinder, C.C., 2014. Work motivation in organizational behavior. Psychology Press.

Robinson, O.C., 2014. Sampling in interview-based qualitative research: A theoretical and practical guide. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 11(1), pp.25-41.

Sarina, T. and Lansbury, R.D., 2013. Flying high and low? Strategic choice and employment relations in Qantas and Jetstar. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 51(4), pp.437-453.

Westfall, J. and Yarkoni, T., 2016. Statistically controlling for confounding constructs is harder than you think. PloS one, 11(3), p.e0152719.