Motivation and performance among employees in a food manufacturing and retail organisation

Abstract

In a competitive business climate, motivation and performance are important factors to consider for organisational growth and success. Studies have shown that motivation and performance are linked, however, locally, there seems to be a need of relevant research in manufacturing and retail organisations. The study therefore aimed to find levels of motivation and performance among employees, and to explore any significant relationship between them. The study was conducted at a manufacturing and retail organisation in Malta that employs 382 full-time employees. The study followed a cross-sectional research design and used quantitative research methods. A total of 382 questionnaires were distributed in different departments of the organisation, with 235 being returned. However, 201 questionnaires were valid, and therefore analysed, representing 53% of all the targeted population. The general findings revealed that overall, participants enjoyed a high degree of independence in their work (autonomously motivated). Moreover, it was also discovered that in general, workers were quite high performing. However, factory workers were lacking in performance when compared to the other job roles. Additionally, the findings of this study show that overall motivation had a positive relationship with overall performance. However, autonomous and intrinsic motivation had a positive link with performance, which was stronger than that reported by controlled and extrinsic motivation in relation to performance. As a result, the key finding of this study was that, autonomous and intrinsic motivation were quite good predictors of performance in the studied organisation. Finally, the study suggests that more can be done to improve motivation among the studied factory workers. Furthermore, the positive link between motivation and performance shows that, organisations must find strategies to engage employees in their work, and consequently maximise organisational growth and its sustainability. Thus, a tailor-made reward system can be structured to relate rewards according to the needs of individuals.