Employee Motivation Research Paper Example

Employee Motivation Research Paper Example Employee Motivation Paper Employee Motivation Paper The Future of Business: The Essentials By Lawrence J. Gitman, Carl McDaniel Employee motivation: principles and practices motivation: principles and practices Philip C. Grant 0 Reviews Vantage Press, 1984 160 pages How McDonald’s tracks morale at the front line A successful engagement effort should result in happier customers Mark Blundell Mark Blundell started work in McDonald’s in 1985 and has gained experience working at all levels in the retail arm of the business. He has recently become head of HR Operations within the organization. Like most retail organizations, McDonald’s is well aware that a drop in engagement at the front line is likely to have an impact on customer service. So the company has a number of initiatives in place to motivate employees and build loyalty. Here, Mark Blundell describes the approach used to monitor the impact of its engagement efforts. Following my presentation at Melcrum’s Annual Employee Engagement conference in London in May 2007, I was asked many questions about the way we measure the impact of the recent employee engagement initiatives at McDonald’s. In broad terms, we use three categories of measurement: employee surveys, third-party review and operational outcomes. Employee surveys The McDonald’s â€Å"Your Viewpoint† survey is a long-term tracking study of employee opinion. It’s been conducted on a global scale for many years with ORC International, who provide an independent assessment of the results in every country in which we operate. A UK participation rate of 83 percent in 2006 demonstrates that it’s something everyone in the business takes very seriously. The data is analyzed and cut to mirror the structure of our organization in terms of job â€Å"families† (e. g. , hourly-paid restaurant staff, restaurant management, office staff, etc. ) and geographically, from national level right down to the level of the individual restaurant. The survey consists of 50 statements which cover five recognized drivers of commitment. Employees respond to these statements with a simple â€Å"agree†, â€Å"neutral† or â€Å"disagree†. In 2006 the results from our UK hourly-paid employees were as follows: Development and personal growth: 85 percent agree. Resources to get the job done: 82 percent agree. Values and leadership behaviors: 84 percent agree. Competitive pay and benefits: 77 percent agree. Respect and recognition: 80 percent agree. Although these results aren’t perfect they are, I think, better than many people assume McDonald’s would achieve. Third-party review We also regularly open our doors to tho se who would like to undertake a serious, objective study of our business and in recent years have welcomed Investors in People, the Work Foundation and the Great Places to Work Institute among others. Last year we gave Professor Adrian Furnham of University College London unrestricted access to our managers and crew to study the impact of working at McDonald’s on our employees. Regarding employee engagement he concluded the following: â€Å"Overall, McDonald’s staff felt good about themselves, experienced strong job satisfaction and had exceptionally high engagement levels. Indeed, nearly every staff member interviewed could be counted as engaged, whereas the typical figure is substantially lower. † Operational outcomes The McDonald’s business model is a simple People-Profit chain: engaged people delivering quality products and great service in a clean environment create loyal customers. Customer loyalty, in turn, drives sales and profitability. If we’re succeeding in engaging our employees we should be seeing a measurable impact in our mystery-shopper surveys. These assess quality, service and cleanliness in our restaurants – results of which are fed into a â€Å"People Scorecard†, which details annual performance data for the last five years, alongside quarterly data and targets for the current year. In addition, the People Scorecard presents snapshot data of staff perceptions and, as an inverse measure of customer satisfaction, information about complaints we’ve received. This data can also be analyzed by every manager in our business to clearly see how employee engagement influences our overall performance. Data that makes a difference By knowing which managers are creating a great place for their employees to work, we’re able to celebrate and reward individual excellence. And by knowing which restaurants are achieving the best mystery shopper results we can reward the whole team too. On the other hand, where performance isn’t what it should be, the depth of the data means that we can focus on the areas of a particular store that need support without condemning everything that’s happening there. So, any intervention we make can be positive, supportive and evidence-based rather than being critical, demoralizing and subjectively judgmental. Again, McDonald’s isn’t perfect, but we believe that by gathering and analyzing engagement data from a range of sources, we’re able to pinpoint exactly where our imperfections can be found. This article is from Strategic Communication Management June/July 2007 By Lauren Young updated 1/6/2009 11:40:15 AM ET Share Print Font: + - Inside the McDonalds off Interstate 270 in suburban St. Louis, manager Sadie Travis is hustling. Amid the beeping and buzzing of fry timers, Travis at any given moment is voiding orders at the register, handing out cups for drinks, wiping trays, or stuffing toys into Happy Meal boxes. If only the fast-food titan could get more people like her to run its 6,700 company-owned restaurants. While an average McDonalds grosses $2. 2 million a year, seasoned managers who motivate employees and keep customers coming back can add more than $200,000 to that total. Restaurant managers are in the most important position in our company, says Richard Floersch, McDonalds chief human resources officer. Yet despite generous salaries - up to $62,000 plus bonus and company car, say insiders - turnover is a constant concern in an industry that typically sees 43 percent of its staff leave each year. To stanch the bleeding of valuable talent, McDonalds in 2004 began offering a rich retirement savings perk. Employees who put 5 percent of their salary in the company 401(k) receive a company match of as much as 11 percent, turbocharging their savings right off the bat. To make sure employees take advantage of the program, McDonalds has made enrollment automatic. And to ease the pain of automatically deferring 1 percent of pay, the company gave managers a one-time, 1 percent salary increase. But persuading prized employees that the benefit is reason enough to stay with McDonalds for the long term is an ongoing challenge. Skepticism about investing runs especially high among African Americans, who make up 15 percent of the companys manager pool. Research shows that blacks, in the aggregate, are reluctant to save. According to a 2008 study by Ariel Investments and Charles Schwab, blacks save an average of $169 a month for retirement, while comparable whites (in terms of household income) contribute about $249 a month. Race and ethnicity trump gender - and even salary - in the factors that predict whether a person will save for retirement. Preparing for the future Why dont blacks save more? The reasons are complex, but the underlying theme is cultural. African Americans are distrustful of the financial system because it has excluded them for generations, says Andres Tapia, chief diversity officer at Hewitt Associates, the benefits-consulting giant. Hewitts research shows that African Americans consistently put home ownership and college ahead of retirement goals. Owning a home and educating children become a huge priority, explains Tapia, if you are the first person in your family to do it. Preparing for the future can also be controversial in the black community. If your mama lives with you - and others in your extended community are struggling to get by - putting aside money that you cant touch for the next 15 to 20 years feels selfish and inappropriate, Tapia says. Indeed, for many blacks, retirement is more a dream than a priority. The Ariel-Schwab survey found that African Americans under the age of 50 are nearly twice as likely as comparable whites to say they want to retire by 60, but they are half as likely to cite retirement as their most important savings goal. Adding to the skepticism, the great market meltdown of 2008 showed that even the most carefully crafted retirement plans can be ruined by forces beyond a persons control. This is a big setback that will affect all people, says Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel, the largest African American-run money manager. In our community, which has had less exposure to the market, people are especially nervous about investing. Such reticence has made McDonalds efforts to sell its perk to employees all the more difficult. Generous inducements to save Few employers offer 401(k) plans as lavish as the one at McDonalds. In fact, many companies have been cutting back on their matching contributions in recent months as the recession deepens. McDonalds corporate matc h is especially extravagant at lower levels of saving: employees who put just 1 percent of their salary in the plan get $3 for every $1 they invest. Most companies wont even match a contribution until an employee puts in at least 3 percent. ) McDonalds then makes a dollar-for-dollar match on the next 4 percent. After that theres a potential profit-sharing match of up to 4 percent. All told, workers who save 5 percent of their pay can see the total swell to 16 percent. But corporate 401(k) plans arent an if-you-build-it-they-will-come kind of benefit. Companies can send out pamphlets, but the burden of persuading employees that the plans are orthwhile ultimately falls on people like Kenny Sanders, who heads human resources for the Heartland region of McDonalds, overseeing 76 company-owned stores. Like Travis, Sanders, 44, started working at McDonalds in St. Louis when he was a teenager. Over the past 28 years he has risen through the ranks beyond store manager to corporate management. McDonalds crew members dont sit in front of computers all day, leaving little opportunity to check 401(k) balances or make tweaks to asset allocation plans at work. So Sanders spends much of his time out in the field talking to employees about their financial future. My goal is to get people to understand that this is more than a job. You can put away a nice nest egg for you and your family, depending on how long you stay at this company, Sanders says. Looking beyond paycheck to paycheck Sanders main goal is to keep people like Travis, who oversees one of the St. Louis areas most profitable McDonalds restaurants, interested in saving. Everything Travis knows about building a nest egg she learned at McDonalds - most of it gleaned during the four years since the retirement program began. Before t hat, I didnt realize that putting money in the bank and saving for retirement is not the same thing, she says. Its a real eye-opener to learn that McDonalds will match what you put in, Travis says. It helps relieve a lot of stress. Sanders was the first person Travis turned to for investment advice when she looked at her September retirement account statement and saw that her balance was down almost $11,000 for the year. Sanders recalls assuring her. You lose a little here, and then you gain a little there. Saving for the future has been a luxury that Travis, 47, could not afford until recently. For most of her life the divorced mother of two was just making ends meet, she says. Travis had her son, Lamar, at 20. Her daughter, Latisha, came along when she was 29. Buying a home, paying for braces, helping her elderly parents with living expenses - all those things derailed her plans to save for the future. I know you have to have a security blanket, but I was living paycheck to paycheck when I had my first baby, Travis says. Thats why Travis connects so well with Ebony Henderson, a second assistant manager at the same McDonalds, who gave birth to a boy named Jeremiyah in August and has a toddler son named Quian Jr. We each had babies young, Travis says. But Im not about collecting money from the state. Im a person who wants to make money and keep stability. Thats how Ebony seems to me. When Henderson, 26, joined McDonalds at age 15 to earn money for school supplies and clothes, she never thought it would be a serious career path. Today she eyes the golden rung of store manag er and plans to start the interview process this month. Im doing good now, but I want to be where Sadies at in the future, says Henderson, whose tinted hair matches her red cable-knit sweater. I dont want to be working all my life with nothing to show for it. Despite the market downturn, Travis says she remains on track for retirement. Shes confident shell be able to leave the work force in 10 to 15 years with a $200,000 nest egg. I dont want to shoot for a million, she says. I dont want to be greedy. Others arent so sure about the future. Since the stock market began to unravel last fall, Sanders says, more than 100 employees have asked him for investment guidance, often brandishing their retirement account statements. Im not an adviser, so I cant really tell them what to do, Sanders says. He looks over statements to make sure employees are well diversified and usually recommends the financial advisory services McDonalds offers to employees. But I always say that staying the course is the right thing for me, he says. Amid the market turmoil, its more important than ever for Sanders to reach out to workers. After all, he says, Whats good for employees is good for McDonal ds.

Everything You Need To Know About Feature Stories

Everything You Need To Know About Feature Stories Writing A Feature Story: What To Remember It is a well-known fact that students and even journalists find first feature stories one of the most difficult task throughout their educational or professional life. The writing process involves lots of data, honesty, tact and integrity. You need to depict a certain person to the audience, giving him or her enough credits and presenting in an unbiased way. That is why feature stories often ask the author to do something almost impossible: to get familiar with the person, appreciate personal treats of character, conduct an interview, hold a personal meeting and then write an article, which shouldn’t be all positive and nice. Remember, you are a subjective author and not a cheerleader of a described person. So how is it possible to balance everything? We have collected the six most important steps, which you will need in creating a feature story. With practice and devotion come great results, so take your time and you will surely succeed! Choose a subject, which will be interesting for the reader As you already know, choosing an interesting and timely topic for an assignment is the first and the most important step. However, everything is even more serious, when it comes to a feature story. You need to tell about a person, a certain group or a business, so picking a subject becomes a real challenge. Some of the subjects you may know personally, which is not the best subject for a story. Even if you know who you want to write about, some founders, directors and business owners simply won’t want to talk to you. Make sure you have enough time in advance in order to choose the subject without any hurry. Schedule an interview, suitable for both of you The next stage is when you dive deeper into the assignment. You should reach the chosen subject and ask for an in-person interview. This means a meeting, not a cell phone call or a Skype conference. If you are writing about a group, you will have to talk to several members and maybe at a different time. This makes the process even more challenging. In most of the cases, feature stories are not timely, so you don’t need to rush anything and should take some time to write a good story. Let the interviews take place when it is convenient for all of the participants. The only exception is when the story took place recently and hasn’t been covered in the media. In such a case, you need to rush and be the first one to publish it. Choosing quotes Once your interview is finished, you need to sit down and reread the material, listening to recordings and pulling quotes. The quotes you choose should be relevant to the topic and represent the chosen angle. Stick to a certain side of a personality and highlight it, omitting too many unnecessary details. This is the pillar, which will support your work and will make the story honest and clear. Write a draft Now you can start working on the first sample of your work. Usually, feature stories are built around the chosen quotes. Remember, the reader wants to hear the voice of the described person and not your own thoughts on the matter. This means that you can include as many quotes, as you want. Even if half of your feature story will consist % of quotes, it will be ok. Always try to remember that the discussed subject should be placed in the center of the work, so the more details you provide, the better. Get clarification and approval before publishing When your story is finished, it is necessary to send it to the editor or professor. In addition, you can send a copy to the chosen subject if he or she requires it. However, it doesn’t mean that the subject has a right to change the story or add any details. Make it clear that you won’t grant any changes because it is unprofessional. Simply send a copy and state that you want to make sure that all of the facts and quotes are correct. For the subject, it is another chance to be introduced to the audience. Majority of writers think that it is the reason why the subject shouldn’t interfere and has a right just to notify if some of the details or facts are conveyed in a wrong way. Submit the work Once your editor, professor or the subject don’t seem to have any remarks, you can submit the story.