Research Methods Research Paper

Introduction

In today’s competitive world, we find that, the organizations needs the best resources so as to first of all sustain in a given market scenario. For this purpose, they need to put in all their efforts in building up their resources. The resources could include building the desired infrastructure, gathering capital for carrying out all the day-to-day activities, and finally, focusing upon building the team of employees, which will be working to achieve the desired objectives for a given organization (Klarsfeld, 2009).
However, today, even employees are turning smart. When they find better opportunities and better career options, they immediately switch over to other similar-field organizations. These organizations are also scouting around to get the best employees for them. It is due to this reason that, the attrition rates are also increasing these days amongst the organizations. Hence, the role of the Human Resource (HR) Department becomes important in such cases. They need to identify the sources of motivation, and on the basis of which, they will be making policies that will motivate these employees and will force them to stay at the organization (Lewis, 2008).
However, it is never going to be an easy task to determine the levels of motivation for any employee. It will, of course, vary from one employee to another (Renninger, 2000). The thesis of this paper will, thereby focus upon the job satisfaction levels of the employees for a given organization. We will be taking into consideration the different instruments on the basis of which, we shall be able to determine the levels of motivation of the employees within a given organization.
The employee might be aware of the different means and might be aware of the attitude “Do it right now.”However, if his motivation level will be down these principles and morale will not function as per the expectations. Some people might be tired of their daily routine jobs and schedules, and shall eventually expect a change within the organization. Some of the employees want to recognize their contribution and want to get awarded for their marvelous performance (Brown, 1996).
Some of the employees might be tired of the rules and policies issued by the respective HR Department, and will think to change the job. Under all these circumstances, it is the motivation that will help the employees to complete their assigned tasks. However, motivation is a construct that cannot be measured easily in terms of quantitative values. We need to measure it in terms of qualitative value. We shall now focus upon three instruments that will help in measuring the motivation of the employees for a given organization.

Performance Dashboard

We can utilize the performance values obtained from performance dashboard for a given business. Consider the organization is a sales-focused organization. We can thereby first measure the performance of the employee in terms of achieved sales. There are several modern cash registers that can record the number of items sold on a daily basis. We shall then compare the performance of the employees on the basis of selling figures and customer satisfaction (Sparrow, 2012).
The figures collected need to be measured against the targeted figures. It is important to measure the comparative data in two ways. First, we need to measure without applying any motivation techniques such as rewarding, promoting, or encouraging, and secondly with applying the same motivation techniques (Polit & Beck, 2012). Now, if there is a huge difference observed in the two different observations, the performance dashboard will immediately reflect that motivation is playing a major role in increasing the overall sales for the organization.
This instrument is reliable since we can directly measure the employee’s productivity. Productivity can be measured in terms of successfully completing the tasks within the given deadlines. In addition, enhance performance shall even indicate good performance of the employee. The sales figures target and achieved by the employee can be directly obtained from the Admin Department, and hence it is thus reliable in nature. In order to validate the data, we need to cross-check with the actual figures sale from the Accounts Department.
The confirmation of the sales figures will assure validity of the data (Messick, 1995). Finally, a given organization can easily install a system that will track the performance of the employee on the basis of sales figures (Guion, 1980). It is thus economically and managerially feasible for a given organization. There are no additional costs incurred for the organization, and thus also seems to be feasible in nature.

Conducting Surveys

In order to measure motivation, we need to get quantitative data to assure that employees are motivated in the organization and are working toward the assigned objectives (Fink, 2013). For this purpose, we can design surveys that will collect data for motivation amongst the employees. The survey shall include questions on job satisfaction, work environment, work culture, employee-employer relationship, and facilities for the employees, benefits provided to the employees, and rewards & recognition policies. We would be asking the employees to provide their responses.
The employees will be provided with five options, and we shall evaluate using the Likert Scale, with rating 1-5 (Fink, 2013). I will be able to determine the motivation levels on the basis of ratings received from the employees. Additionally, I will include feedback section so that necessary suggestions from the employees regarding motivation can be known.
The instrument seems to be feasible in nature as the organization can easily conduct the surveys. There are no additional costs incurred for conducting surveys. We need to prepare them, distribute them amongst employees and analyze the final results.
For assuring reliable data, we will make sure that all the employees are providing true answers. We shall provide an environment, wherein each and every employee will be required to spend half an hour to fulfill this survey. For this purpose, the organization needs to conduct survey through online or mail mode in order to get accurate description and answers regarding employee motivation.
The motivation levels will be defined on the basis of responses received. Consider for example, if we circulated this survey amongst 50 respondents, and about 80% of the respondents confirmed on positive motivation, we can conclude that, there is high working morale and motivation amongst the employees of the organization.

Balance Scorecard, Feedback from the Customers, and Interviews conducted with Employees

The third instrument is through conducting face-to-face interviews and knowing the feedback from the customers. The customers are the end-users who will be actually dealing with the employees. Hence, they are aware of the type of behavior, the kind of approach and the time limits during which the given task was completed and established. We shall note down the responses from the customers, just as we do during the time of providing customer service. We shall provide them with a feedback form that shall include all the relevant details on the overall experience.
In addition, I would like to conduct a face-to-face interview, during which I shall evaluate the employee on his work satisfaction and motivation level while dealing with customers. The HR Department shall ask the employee directly on his motivation level and what are his aspirations from the current job. The questions shall even target upon his work morale and how much he is satisfied working at a given organization (Kane, 2006). The responses will be collected together and will be divided on the basis of three categories: Satisfactory, Non-Satisfactory, and Intermediate, but expecting more from the organization.
We would even utilize Balance Scorecard as a performance measure for the employees. It will help in knowing how much the employees have achieved during a given fiscal year. We shall even get aware of the training inputs and required outputs from the results obtained in Balance Scorecard.
It is necessary that, the end customer sign-up at the end of the form so as to validate the conducting of feedback. Further, we will even ask the interviewers and the interviewees to record their sessions, along with the timings. It will help us to know that, such interviews were conducted in actual, and the employees were describing their experiences in such interviews (McCroskey, Richmond, & McCroskey, 2006). The HR Department can thereby, take the steps in the direction of the needs of the employees.
However, the organization will require bearing the expenses of conducting all these activities (Epitropaki & Martin, 2005). But, they will come to know about the true motivation levels and the expectation of the employees, only after undergoing all these activities. The HR Department, at the end needs to be very much careful, punctual and accurate with our results (Attridge, 2009). We should not waste more time in collecting the data through such interviews and feedback. Further, Balance Scorecard shall be prepared by the respective HR Department. Hence, there will be no issues regarding the additional overheads and the validation of data (Westen & Rosenthal, 2003). But, we need to take care of lobbying and ethical issues, while gathering such data in order to avoid unethical practices.

Conclusion

Comparing all the three methods, each one of them is important from a different perspective. For a direct sales organization, we need to deploy quantitative techniques to determine the level of motivation. On the other hand, for organizations that are into customer services, we need to deploy techniques of surveys and customer feedback (Dimitrov & Rumrill, 2003). However, all the methods seem to be reliable, valid, and feasible in nature. Motivation can work in various ways and through various techniques depending upon the nature of the organization. Hence, it is important for the organization to increase the motivation levels depending upon the need and requirement of the employees. In order to avoid the dying situations, the HR Manager needs to keep all the employees together (Schotte et al., 1997).
The HR Management, further needs to collaborate with the top-level management to decide upon formulating the strategies for increasing the motivation of the employees. The employees can either be rewarded through providing a raise in their salaries, or can be even given promotions (MacKenzie, 2003). However, it will all depend upon their performance as well as their participation in the activities of the organization. The employees need to show their all-round performance, so that they can be selected as the best performing employee of the organization.
The HR Department, however, needs to ensure that, even the rest of the employees are motivated in one or the other way. The employees at bench should be immediately taken onto the projects, so that they can get the feeling of the work. Only money, praise, and appreciation will not work as the sources of motivation (Pintrich, 2002). One needs to feel like at home at a given organization. And, when the employee will get this feeling, he will be always motivated for a given set of responsibilities. The Middle-level Managers can also work with the HR Managers on this issue, and can suggest their views and opinions (Louise & Stephen, 2006). Employees on the other hand, need to develop their skills and showcase their best talent within the organization. This in turn will create a win-win situation for both the entities, and further, there will be no cases of de-motivation at the respective organization.

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