Motivational strategies

Monetary rewards come in financial form. ASDA pays each and every worker more than minimum wage which is approved by the government. ASDA pays £6.50 for under 18’s while over 18’s get £7.50. They also pay extra money for those who work on Sundays. Also as ASDA is open for 24 hours, they pay extra money for those who work during unsociable hours such as nights and early in the morning. ASDA also pay double during bank holidays and also provides a raise for those who those who are loyal within the company. If a person has worked for ASDA for a long period of time they are entitled to a bonus and also an extra holiday.

The various levels and position of the employee depends on the amount they get paid, a higher position worker will get paid than one who is lower for example a shop floor assistant will get £15,000 an hour where as a department manager will get around £23,559 as you can see there is a huge difference between the two wages however a department manager would have much greater responsibility and also a larger workload. ASDA follows Fredrick Taylor’s theory, a scientific approach which is based majorly on money being a huge factor for motivating workers. Though Taylor’s theory stated the employee being on piece rate, ASDA does use money as a motivation as they pay workers more than the minimum wage as they hope this will encourage staff to work harder and be happier as this will reflect a positive image on ASDA.

Also as they pay employees extra on bank holidays and Sundays, this shows that they feel that by increasing the pay employees will not worry about working such days, this suggests that the only reason they are working is for the financial reward. However, Herzberg would argue that monetary rewards like this are not real motivators. Maslow would contradict that they simply relate to lower-order needs. A Theory X manager might believe that offering pay helps to get people to meet targets however Taylor is the only theorists that believes money is that main factor needed to motivate staff. ASDA clearly fulfils Taylor’s theory however; they do also take other factors into account in order to motivate staff.

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This is one of the motivational factors that ASDA use as a large majority of their staff are part-time students however, ASDA can’t presume that all workers are motivated by money. Yes, for the young students who are part-time money will be an important factor without a doubt as the main reason for them to have a job would be to make extra money to buy clothes, paying for tuition fees and personal expenditure which they want or to save up for university. Such a money motivating strategy will be effective to people who have a low household income as money will be a high motivator. Upon speaking to my friends who work in ASDA, same age as me and completing A-levels, they stated that money is the biggest motivator and they are extremely worried about paying bills, accommodation and whether student finance will be enough for them to live off. Therefore for them money is the biggest motivator and this theory would clearly be valuable.

Many individuals would agree with Herzberg’s view that money is not the most important motivator. Taylors theory can be criticized as many people believe in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs which states the importance of other factors such as self-actualisation, esteem, social needs, love and belonging, security and safety and physiological need. When speaking to my family member Sonia, who is 48 and works at ASDA, she explained to me that for her, money is not the main motivator along with Raj who is 52. They are happy to work for ASDA as they enjoy the job and the social aspect rather than the financial benefits.

Sonia is married to a qualified GP and she had only applied for the job so she would have a ‘time passing’ job. They both relish working and are given full chance to use their potential, to be innovative and carry out the job. Working as a team and being praised gives them a feeling like no other; they are both also to two employees who have the fastest checkout time, they also enjoy the freedom of their job and are also very worried about their job security and having a safe environment, also they are looking to expand their role and status within the business, they are always looking out for promotions or any way in which they can develop their role.

Their priorities are mainly set on all of these factors rather than on their monthly salaries or bonuses. As you can see for them money is clearly not a crucial motivational factor. Following Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, ASDA would be able to motivate them by providing a privilege cad, promotion prospectus, gift vouchers, flexible working hours, extra holiday, better pension schemes or share schemes. Using both strategies is bet for ASDA as for the younger staff, clearly money was a major motivation factor while for Raj and Sonia money is a minor aspect of the job.

Privilege card:

Another money motivator that ASDA accommodate within their business is a privilege card. Once an employee has worked at ASDA for 6 months they are entitled to a discount card which gives them 10% off any products within their store. Not only does this demonstrate commitment of the staff it also motivates them to stay longer, even if they do not feel comfortable in the job within the early stages as they will look forward to receiving their discount card. ASDA employees can save hundreds of pounds each year when they are shopping in ASDA in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Staff discount is available for a person to spend around £6,000 and anything can be purchased from lottery, stamps, medicines and the cafe. This seems to be one of the biggest motivational factors for certain employees; however it is mainly older workers who this benefits. Younger employees do not find a privilege card motivating as they are less likely to spend money in large amounts at ASDA.

When speaking to my friend who works at the store, she said that if she buys a dress for £10,000 there will only be a discount of £1.00 therefore this is not a great amount of money to be saved. However for older members, they often spend money on greater things such as TV’s and also buying food for the family, for this reason older member of ASDA will see this discount card as more of an incentive than younger ones.

For example if an employee spends £400, they will save out on £40.00 which is more of a significant saving and sounds more appealing and rewarding. Younger people don’t usually carry out shopping large amounts therefore it wouldn’t be a big saving therefore the privilege card doesn’t seem very appealing. One of the aspects that differs this from all other supermarkets is that ASDA is affiliated with Walmart, so employees who are travelling overseas can also benefit from discounts whilst on holiday, this will be a major motivating factor for those who go abroad often as the amount of discount will allow them to save a lot of money whilst on holiday.

However the privilege card can be extremely motivating in a different perspective. The ASDA privilege card is also available to be used for close family, this way the employee’s parents can also use it which will allow them to get more use of it, also when saving money for the family, they will be praised and this will in turn increase levels of motivation simply through the application of a 10% privilege card that is only available to the staff. One way that this motivates the staff is that it fulfils Maslow’s hierarchy of esteem. Seeing as the privilege card is only given to staff who have worked in ASDA for over 6 months, therefore this privilege can be seen as a sign of acknowledgment and recognition. This allows the employee to reach the ‘self esteem’ level on Maslow’s hierarchy.

Therefore you can see that ASDA implement Maslow’s theory within their workplace and it is clearly motivates staff. Maslow believed that in order to motivate staff they must climb the various levels within the workplace, by having this privilege card the staff will be able to take their hierarchy to a higher level and in turn be highly motivated. Certain shops have restricted discount on various items, such as lower discount will be provided for buying TV’s than for food, however ASDA allow the same amount of discount for every time, this therefore becomes a huge motivational factor when comparing against other stores such as Home Bargins and Morison’s.

In a way the privilege card can also acknowledges Elton Mayo’s needs, as through the simple application of a card, employees feel more socially acceptable and they feel like ‘one of the team’ once they have received their discount as this suggests that they are just like the rest of the staff, this will do nothing but make the employee feel more socially adept within their job and this will automatically motivate the worker. Overall, I feel that this method of motivation is extremely successful and is one of the ways that organisations currently accommodate within their business.

Shares:

Another way in which ASDA motivates their employees to ensure that they are content within their workplace is by including them into a share scheme. The share save plan available to ASDA employees includes an excellent savings plan for workers. This savings plan is well established, with over 200,000 employees participating. Shares plans reward employees for their solid work, dedication and loyalty by gratifying them with free ASDA shares. It’s free and the dividends are given to the employee twice a year in cash or can be given in more shares depending on what the employee prefers. This is a tax efficient way of rewarding the employees which enables them to become a shareholder with ASDA at no cost; therefore it is more than likely that they will agree to the share scheme.

If they employees are simply given extra cash for hard work, they will have to pay tax, in turn this means that employees end up with less of a bonus and will be de motivated as they will not receives a substantial reward. However with the share plans the worker will pay less tax than if the incentive cash is added to the employees pay slip. This way of motivating is more cash efficient and the staff will feel as though their needs are being considered as the business will be going out of their way to ensure that the employees are getting the most out of their job as possible. To apply for the shares policy at ASDA has made the process easier than ever.

ASDA invites its new employee once a year and once the employee have registered, they don’t have to register again while they work for ASDA. This business also motivates people by using shares like save as you earn and buy as you earn. Save as you earn allows employees to buy shares with up to 20% discount while buy as you earn allows the employee to buy shares from gross salary hence saving tax. The save as you earn policy is available to all staff with one year’s service or more at their invitation date , it is danger free saving, this automatically makes the employee motivated as they will be generating an extra income without hassle or worry. At the end of the saving contract an employee can have their saving and bonus back in cash. There is also a chance to benefit from any increase in the ASDA share price.

In addition to this the employee is also provided the option to transfer their share into an individual saving account (ISA) and benefit from a tax-free gain if the employee sells them. ASDA also give as much option as they can such as the member of staff can choose the amount they want to save between £5.00 and £50.00 every four weeks. They can also choose the length that they wish they wish to save for either 3 or 5 years. The share amount is directly taken from employee pay after every 4 weeks and held as a savings account on employee behalf. Once the saving contract has ended a guaranteed tax free bonus is added to the employees saving and then can be used to buy ASDA shares at up to 20% discount. This is a highly effective way to motivate staff as it allows them to gain extra cash whilst working at ASDA which will not require any effort from the individual’s behalf.

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