During the research of employee motivation in the manufacturing environment, data collected from participants is used to identify how different factors have impacts on the motivation of the employees and how they are linked to different motivation theories (Andersen, 2018). Furthermore, the objectives of the study were to review different literature on different methods used by the manufacturing sectors. Also, to identify different factors affecting motivation of shop floor employees and how the productivity of the employees is contributed towards motivation so as a recommendation for enhancing the motivation of shop floor employees could be provided (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). The research achieved its primary goal to investigate different factors that motivate employees in the manufacturing sector by collecting data through a prepared questioner specifically modified to collect qualitative and quantitative data. The data was presented and combined in an excel sheet for easy analysis and discussion.
Each objective was achieved over time and led to the success of the project, especially the literature review, which was used as the source of information on different factors that motivate employees in the construction environment. Factors that were found include equity and goals, management, rewards, and sanctions, also the demographic in which each factor has an impact on the motivation of employees, they are related to different theories of motivation. These theories of motivation have been divided into two categories, the content theories, and the process theories. The content theories focus on what motivates behavior because it assumes that individuals have needs. When these needs are not fully satisfied, they tend to be motivated to satisfy the need (Ashraf, 2017).
On the other hand, process theories explain why behaviors of an individual are initiated and how behavior is commenced by providing a relevant approach toward motivation. The literature review was essential in determining the motivation of shop floor workers due to the demanding nature and pressure, which is associated with their work. Therefore motivation is a primary factor for their productivity and success.
Qualitative data is used in the analysis of equity and goals and how this factor affects the motivation of employees in the organization. From the analysis, most of the participants in the organization that participated in the research seemed contented with the equity they receive at the organization, as a large percentage agreed strongly. It shows that the organization actualizes the Adams theory of equity were for an individual to be motivated. Fairness must be the primary components (Lloyd & Mertens, 2018). Through the data, a pie chart was developed, which showed that over 90 percent of the employees are satisfied with the equity and goals they get from the workplace. Therefore, it means that the managers have been able to find a niche in which they focus to motivate their employees to become more satisfied, and this makes the employees productive to the organization.
Management was another factor in the motivation of the employees in the floor construction environment. Employees are the main assets of any organization, and therefore, the management should ensure that they are productive. And for this to happen, they must ensure they motivate the employees for better productivity (Sanjeev, & Surya, 2016). The data analyzed showed that a high percentage of the employees in the organization agreed that performance appraisal help motivates them towards productivity. And therefore, they can confidently recommend the employer. However, the employees who disagreed with the performance appraisal from the management help motivate them strongly disagreed on recommending the employer as a great place of work. This explains well how the motivation theory of Herzberg Two Factor theory, where an individual satisfaction can be increased through a certain motivating factor, in this case, is the performance appraisal that motivates the employees. Therefore they find it satisfying and have the urge to agree to refer the employer (Sanjeev, & Surya, 2016).
Another essential factor for motivation from the research was the reward and sanctions for the employees, which forms a framework of acknowledging the performance of employees and motivating them through different motives. According to Vroom’s expectancy theory, when a person is rewarded, it motivates them, and their productivity increases (Graves & Sarkis, 2018). The data obtained from the research analysis shows that over 80 percent of the employees agree that bonuses should be based on performance against the industry norm. A cluster chart that was developed from the data showed that the employees who strongly agreed that reward and sanctions are better-motivating factors are the highest. Furthermore, it was discovered that salary was the highest incentive that the employees find motivating as compared to other incentives like job security, leadership, and performance appraisal, among others.
Lastly, there is demographic, which is a concept that has an impact on the motivation of employees, especially age and gender. The research utilized the quantitative data of demographics to discover how demographics can be a motivating factor for employees. Through the data, a cluster chart was developed to identify how different age brackets affect the interest of work. According to Freund’s theory states the perception of work changes as a person ages, and as the work tenure increases, it is because as a person ages the factors that motivate them to change (Truxillo, 2009). From the chart, it shows that employees between the ages of 56 and 64 have less interest in work-life balance and they are not happy with it as compared with an individual who is between the age of 25 and 43. Therefore, this explains Freud’s idea of how age can make different factors of an individual change and hence changing what can make them motivated and being productive at work.