Improving Staff Performance

Content and Process theory:

Content Theory:
A content theory define motivation in terms of need satisfaction, e.g. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs theory. (http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Process-Content-Theory-Motivation-They-Apply/147561, accessed: 16/10/09). Three theories would come under the content theory. These are: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Aldefer's ERG Theory, and Herzberg's Two Factor theory.

Process Theory:
A process theory define motivation as a rational cognitive process occurring within the individual e.g. Adams’ Equity theory. (http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Process-Content-Theory-Motivation-They-Apply/147561, accessed: 16/10/09). Three thoeries would also come under the Process theory. These would be the Expectancy Theory, the Equity Theory, and the Goal Theory.

Brief description of each theory:

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: states that a person has 5 levels of needs and that every time one of the need has been accumulated, the person would have needs from the next level up. these 5 levels are:
1. Physiological- Basic requirement
2. Safety - Health and Safety
3. Social - Social activities for staff through company
4. Ego/Esteem - Recognized for completed work
5. Self Actualisation - Gain control, have more freedom.

Aldefer's ERG Theory:
E- Existence Needs
R - Relatedness Needs
G - Growth Needs

Herzberg's Two Factor Theory: States that people have two factors that motivates them. One would be Hygiene Factors and the second one would be Motivator Facors.
Higiene Factors would motivate an employee by giving him/her a reward. These would be factors such as salary,work conditions and ect..
Motivator Factors would motivate an employee by involving him/her more into the companies work and in what is going on in the company. These would be factors such as giving responsibility, growth, recognition and ect..

Expextanct Theory: This theory was founded by Victor Vroom and he states that an employee has to put in effort in order to increase their performances, and as a result of high performance the employee will receive a reward.












(http://www.arrod.co.uk/archive/concept_vroom.php, accessed: 16/10/09)

Expectancy is the belief that increased effort will lead to increased performance i.e. if I work harder then this will be better. This is affected by such things as:

1. Having the right resources available (e.g. raw materials, time)
2. Having the right skills to do the job
3. Having the necessary support to get the job done (e.g. supervisor support, or correct information on the job)

(http://www.arrod.co.uk/archive/concept_vroom.php, accessed: 16/10/09)

Equity Theory: This theory was founded by J. Stacey Adams. TheEquity Theory calls for a fair balance to be struck between an employee’s inputs (hard work, skill level, tolerance, enthusiasm, etc.) and an employee’s outputs (salary, benefits, intangibles such as recognition, etc.). According to the theory, finding this fair balance serves to ensure a strong and productive relationship is achieved with the employee, with the overall result being contented, motivated employees.
(http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_96.htm, accessed: 16/10/09)

Goal Theory: The goal theory was founded by Dr Edwin Locke's. (http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_87.htm). This theory suggestes that every one has a goal and that employees will work hard and be motivated in order to achieve that goal. The harder the goal the greater level of motivation there is.

The difference between process theory and content theory is that, the content theory looks at WHAT motivates staff; whereas the process theory looks at HOW does it motivate staff. each theories looks at motivation but in a different approach.

Two Company Examples:

MORRISON'S:
This is what Morrison's say they offer their staff:

"At Morrisons we value our staff.

Whether you work in one of our stores, at Head Office or at one of our warehouses or distribution centres, you can expect excellent training, great prospects and fantastic benefits and opportunities including the following:

• Competitive Rates of Pay
• 10% Staff Discount
• Free Life Assurance
• Profit Share (after qualifying period)
• 29 Days Paid Holiday (after qualifying period)
• Service Award (after qualifying period):
  £125 after 5 years, £250 after 10 years, £375 after 15 years and £500 after 20 years
• Subsidised Staff Canteen
• Opportunity to join the Stakeholder Pension Scheme
• Health Care Cash Plans
• Premium Payments for Sunday Working
• Selected Discount Benefits with APH, Thomas Cook, RAC, Kwik Fit and many more
• Social Committees – many of our locations have Social Committees which organise a number of activities ranging from theatre trips to Christmas parties
• Fundraising Events for the Charity of the Year"

(http://www.morrisons.co.uk/Corporate/Work-with-Morrisons/Employee-benefits/)

M&S:
This is what M&S say they offer their staff:

"So we feel it's only fair that they’re well rewarded for their efforts. Our benefits package (detailed below) has been developed to help us attract, motivate and retain the best people in retail and includes everything from subsidised healthcare and performance related pay rewards to our fantastic employee discount. But that’s not all we offer. To find out more about these, use the link at the bottom of the page.

Our Shared Services teams enjoy slightly different rewards to the rest of the business.

Benefits

Our benefits package is under constant review but the main things you'll be able to enjoy include:

Competitive rates of pay and performance related rewards

We regularly check our salaries against other retailers to make sure we’re competitive. And in order to keep up with any changes in the market, we’ll review your basic pay every year. We also offer extra performance rewards to recognise individual achievement.

Employee discount

For all your store purchases (excluding technology and certain kitchen electrical products) at Marks & Spencer, you get a 20% discount. We’ll also give your partner or a member of your family who permanently lives with you their own card, so they can benefit from the discount too. There’s no limit on the amount of goods you can buy with discount.

Pension

Our retirement plan is one of the best of its type in the UK. Once you've worked with us for a year you can save up to 100% of your pay in the plan and we'll match it with double contributions (up to a limit of 12%). It’s an excellent way to provide for a secure retirement and, even if you decide not to stay with us until you retire, you can still transfer your investment when you leave.

As an extra incentive, if you join the plan within the first year of becoming eligible you can pay extra contributions, which we will double (up to a limit of 24%).

On top of these benefits, we also offer our people:

• SAYE for all employees;
• More holidays the longer you stay with us; and
• Optional subsidised company benefits, such as health and dental care.

Bonus

The annunal Bonus Scheme is open to all employees in Head Office and Retail Management. Bonus targets are linked to team and Company performance. The Bonus Scheme is open to new employees from the date they join the Company and they will be eligible for a proportionate bonus, based on the number of full calendar months they work in the financial year. However, we reserve the right to review and where appropriate withdraw the Scheme each year.

Extras

A range of offers and discounts available exclusively to Marks & Spencer employees. You can take advantage of special discounts on a wide range of holidays, health club memberships, leisure attractions and many more products and services."

(http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/mscareers/rewards_benefits)

Looking Morrison's motivation tactics:

By looking at Morrison's employee benefits, it can be seen that they are using the content theory in practice. There are however no signs of any use of the process theory. If looked into Morrison's employee benefits, Morrison's cover all the stages of Maslow's hierarchy of needs:

1. Physiology: Competitive Rates of Pay, 10% Staff Discount, Subsidised Staff Canteen
2. Safety: Free Life Assurance, Opportunity to join the Stakeholder Pension Scheme, Health Care Cash Plans
3. Social : 10% Staff DiscountSelected Discount, Benefits with APH, Thomas Cook, RAC, Kwik Fit and many moreSocial Committees, many of our locations have Social Committees which organise a number of activities ranging from theatre trips to Christmas parties, Fundraising Events for the Charity of the Year
4. Ego/Esteem: Profit Share (after qualifying period), 29 Days Paid Holiday (after qualifying period), Service Award (after qualifying period):
   £125 after 5 years, £250 after 10 years, £375 after 15 years and £500 after 20 years, Premium Payments for Sunday Working
5. Self Actualisation: In order to get to this level the employee has to have done excellent work for a good period of time.

From the above discussion it can be seen that Morrison's has been concentrating on purely on Maslow's hierarchy of needs and has every single way to motivate an employee for every levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. This seems to have worked successfully as Morrison's is the UK’s fourth largest supermarket chain, with 382 stores and 117,000 staff serving ten million customers a week. (http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/4042302.Morrisons_serves_up_5_000_new_jobs/)

Conclusion:
During the writing of this report, a deeper understanding of the content and process theory has been developed, and the differences between them were distinguished. When looking at two companies it is noticeable that both these companies M&S and Morrison's have not used the process theory but only the content theory, and they are both successful companies. this shows that employees would rather work for given rewards such as discounts, good salaries, bonuses; instead of rewards that are non-real, such as being treated equally, or achieving goals that may not last. Overall it is concluded that the content theory is a more successful way of motivating staff than the process theory. This is because it is believed that most people would rather work harder in exchanche for what they need rather than for something that may not last long.