The purpose of this essay is look at how can Etihad use motivational strategies to have an effect on employee productivity. This business management extended essay will surround the content of motivation. Therefore this research question was constructed to focus on that area “ “To what extent can Etihad boost productive efficiency using non-financial and financial motivational strategies with the unsatisfied employees? this question looks at how can the use of different motivation strategies can be used to increase production efficiency of the employees. The scope of the investigation is to look how affective can motivational strategies can be on employees and which essentially increase productivity.
Limitations of the research can have a significant impact on the ability to get primary resources. Therefore, the investigation will be undertaken by gathering secondary resource from the internet. Annual reports will be gathered from the internet to support my investigation of how to increase productivity using motivation strategies. Therefore, the scope of investigation will highly depend on the use of secondary information which be able to prove my thesis of how affective motivational strategies can be.
To conclude that the thesis of how affective motivational theories are on employees is able to explain what drives employees to do better in the company. The thesis takes into account the factors of human behavior when it comes to productivity and the impact of motivation to give to distinguish the relationship between the ability for the employee to work and the motivation to increase the productivity of the employee. However, some employees might reject certain motivational strategies and which might want different motivations from others and this is what the thesis will focus on what the employees want and how can Etihad can recommend the right motivational strategy for the employee.
Word count:294
Introduction
Etihad Airways is the one of the largest airlines of the UAE. It is the second largest flag carrier of the country as Emirates airlines is one of the most successful and largest airlines in the United Arab Emirates. As for the main office it is situated in Abu Dhabi by Khalifa City close to the Abu Dhabi Airport. Operations started in November 2003. As it has controls more than a 1,000 flights per week, more than 120 passengers and operates worldwide Africa, Europe, Middle East, Asia, Australia and America. As in 2015 the aviation had an increase of 22.3% of passengers which was 14.8 million passengers. This increased revenue of the aviation to $7.6 billion dollars and which net profits increased to $73million dollars.
For the company to measure its tremendous effort on improving the work the company has implement an Employee Opinion survey. Which can be used for the company to inform the HR which areas the workforce is happy with and with areas the workforce is displeased with. The information can help the aviation improve their training skills and include any other benefits for the workforce to insure the happiness and the well-being of the employees. If the employees tend to be satisfied and which are recognized for their hard work this will encourage them to improve their productive efficiency. The results have shown that at least 93% of the employees are satisfied with their job and content about working for the airline. On the other hand, 92% of the employees are willing to do more than expected to see the company succeed this just shows the employees are well motivated.
For decades’ business owners look for ways in which they can motivate employees to be motivated with their work. Instead of them being unsatisfied and producing at a low equality many theorists have found ways to improve the efficiency of the workers. Businesses need to focus on making sure their workers are happy and are motivated. It is essential for the business if the business wants to grow. With more businesses being created this has shaped the competition in the market by making it more competitive and the only way for the business to stay within the competition and which be on top they need to outperform the competitors. As the labor force is the most vital part of the business for it to grow and the only way for the business to do so is to insure that the employees are willing and desire to push the business forward. Without the employees being desired to do so the business will not go far.
However, there is a 7% of employees that are not satisfied with their job and 8% are not willing to work and which are striving enough to foresee the successfulness of the company. Therefore, this shows that there a 7% of employees that are lacking motivation to strive further resulting in low productive efficiency from that 7%. As for the 8% of the employees seem to not care about the company succeeding in the future. Which shows the lack of motivation and the incentive to strive further. It is essential that Etihad looks into that 7% and 8% because a company should insure that all the employees are happy and content as well-being motivated to come to work and to produce a service at high standards. The main goal for large company like Etihad is to reach full productivity efficiency and they will not be able to do so if there is a 7% of dissatisfaction and 8% of employees which lack motivation.
The problem is that Etihad has content employees but some are not content and Etihad need to focus on those to insure they can get the full output of productivity. Which it is important for Etihad to look at different ways to motivate those specific employees that are lacking the ability to work at high standards. Therefore, Etihad need to expand their resources to help support those in need. Not all employees tend to agree with the strategies that are being used. Some employees tend to be unsatisfied due to their salary or which they are being provided with too much work and no recognition is being applied. What the company lacks is that Etihad tends to generalize the workforce which does not look at each employee specifically. Those who are probably not satisfied are the employees which are being neglected by the company itself. Etihad can’t expect every employee to be satisfied by they can make the attempt to increase the satisfaction within the workforce. Therefore, this means what financial and non-financial motivational strategies are most affective and how they can increase the satisfaction within the company.
The purpose of this study is to look at how can the Etihad improve productivity of employees who are not satisfied with their jobs, using specific motivational strategies and as well foresee what aspects is Etihad lacking at when it comes to motivating the 7% of unsatisfied employees. The objective is to figure out why is there 7% of unsatisfied employees and 8% of unmotivated employees of the company. Therefore, the investigation will focus around on what Etihad can do to decrease the number of unmotivated employees and basically increase productivity. The significance of the study will provide an overall positive benefit for the company. As they will be able to understand their employees much in depth and as well instead of generalizing the workforce this will give the ability to show how companies should react in this types of situations.
The only limitations that might come across the ability to know who is the 7% of unsatisfied workers and 8% of demotivated staff workers. Employees tend to be discreet and it makes it difficult for the company to identify the employees as even though the employees might be unsatisfied or demotivated they would not want to lose their job because they probably lack the self-esteem needs which they feel that the company does care about them and as well might be fired for not reaching the companies standards. Therefore, finding out what those employees want might be difficult as the company might not know what they are doing wrong for them to be displeased.
Methodology
Since 2006, Etihad has been able to create more than 14,000 jobs and which 6,000 workers have been employed just through subsidiaries
Etihad partners have estimate employed 74,000 worker or more in at least 60 countries
Etihad is one the top employers in this world. By being able to support and employ in a total of 7.1 million jobs directly and indirectly. Etihad has been able to do by purchasing large amounts of airplanes from the US which has increased employment for businesses in the US. Etihad has spent more than 100 million euros operating in Europe. Due to also these large expenditures many companies have increased employment because of this.
As for the Etihad Airways their improvements have been reflected in positive outcomes as being ranked one of the most demanded companies to work at worldwide being recorded on LinkedIn. As more than 313 million members of LinkedIn have the desire to work with the company. The company’s strategies to improve production efficiency by providing better service to employees has been noticed worldwide emphasizing that the company is moving into the right direction but there are still improvements as the main goal for the company is to become the most desired company to work with as well expand throughout the future.
The aviation has also constructed an international internal management program which was the first to be constructed as it was also introduced during the same year. This will give managers a chance to improve their careers but this will mostly focus on the most productive managers which are willing to exceed in their performance. Due to the focus on improving managers within the business has granted them a highly positive outcome from a two to three year graduate management program implemented for the Emiratis, which has been reinforced by the global accredited qualifications and the education with on the job training in the country as well all over the network.
With the results the survey provided information that two out of three employees where proud to be working with Etihad. 93 per cent of the employees where satisfied this shows that employees are able to be to work with content. As for the other data collected 92 per cent of the employee show that they are motivated and which are willing to do more than they are required from their managers just to see the company succeed. Production efficiency seems to be very important with the employees and this really shows the outstanding performance from the company. As well 18 per cent displayed employee engagement was above the global average.
With the use of this opinion survey the company was able to identify two key areas which employee engagement could be improved such as management efficiency and which employees are recognized for their work. For the company to improve the employee engagement they have develop a face to face sessions called Majlis. This program expanded across over 20 countries in workshops with more than 1,000 managers that have access to the program for only a three-month period.
In which Etihad created a program which the airline introduced that was called Shukran which means thank you. This was to recognize the employees outstanding performance in their workplace as insure that their work wasn’t going unnoticed. In 2013 Etihad a process was designed to state that employees have sharp objectives to achieve that are fundamentally linked to the company’s goals.
Finding analysis
Motivation is the ideal concept of desires, passion and determination to overcome any obstacle to achieve a certain goal. Referring to a business is it defined as the desire to complete a task or a job with passion. The employees of the company are the most valuable asset of the company if there is no workforce nothing can be achieved resulting in the failure of the company. An example of a motivation theory is Maslow’s hierarchy which is about the essential needs the employees require. The needs at the bottom of the hierarchy of needs is the most important. If these needs are not being meet employees will leave the company as their needs are not being met to survive. The 4 most important levels in the hierarchy are basic needs, safety needs, love and esteem. This needs are to keep the employee going for everyday work. The last need focuses on growth of the employee. If all needs are achieved employees will be willing to work harder and are satisfied with the company their working for. The first need is basic needs which consist of shelter, food, water the survival needs. The next need is safety the environment and safety of their work place. That the employee is also has a secured job for his or her family. The next level is love the ability to have a social life that’s why it is important for a company to have great communication with each other in the business. So the employees are comfortable with their managers and their colleges. The next level is esteem needs which the employees have self-esteem and confidence. To also have respect for one and another. This can reduce conflicts between employees within the business which will essentially affect productivity. Lastly, the final need which is self-actualization this need is for the employee to strive further with his or hers work. To desire to achieve more within the business. This need is a motivation to push employees to do more than what they are required to do. Without the first need being accomplished it is highly possible for the employee to leave the business and which the turnover rate within the business would be high.
This graph shows how efficient the companies work has been. As the company has had the lowest average delays throughout year 2014 and the start of 2015. This shows how outstanding the service of Etihad has been. For Etihad to have the ability to have the lowest average delays shows how effective the airline is when it comes to being punctual. However, for 2014 February and November 2014 the company’s delays increased significantly to 65% and 69% and this causes attention as in why has the delay have increased by 20% and which what can they do to sustain a low percentage of delays within the company. These delays only occur due to the service which emphasizes on the service during February and November was poor therefore increasing the delays.
With the Results will be able to explore how can Etihad support its employees and what they can offer as for example opportunities for employees to develop on their internal and their external personal. This type of development can be efficient for the workforce, through non-financial and financial rewards.
Recognizing those who have potential and developing those skills. All employees have should have accessibility to high class training facilities with at least 1,000 employees should be involved to improve their skills. Therefore, Abu Dhabi need to build more corporate training academies to inspire the employees to and essentially keep them up to date with new techniques within the business, this involves creative learning, skills with new technology, customer service. New training courses will be through computers within the system as which they will be able to attend any course as there will be a wide range of sessions.
Non-financial motivation
Motivation is the ideal concept of desires, passion and determination to overcome any obstacle to achieve a certain goal. Referring to a business is it defined as the desire to complete a task or a job with passion. The employees of the company are the most valuable asset of the company if there is no workforce nothing can be achieved resulting in the failure of the company. Therefore, it is important for managers to foresee the that the staff are motivated to maximize profit, morality and job satisfaction. It is vital that the company is aware of the motivation of the employees and what will make the staff strive further to achieving maximization productivity. For Etihad to have a motivated workforce then company needs to contain the labor turnover and contain the situation as to keeping the turnover at a low percentage. This essentially reduces the cost and training of the hiring new staff. As well insure the absenteeism of the staff stay at a low rate as to give the employees an incentive to come to work and work at their full potential. Overall, this can affect profits positively and maximizing profits. These are the types of non-financial motivation the company can use to motivate their employees and essentially reduce the amount of unsatisfied and demotivated employees in the workforce.
Job enrichment
Job responsibilities can also be categorized as job enrichment. Herzberg once stated that to improve the motivation of your workforce you have to apply challenges and which make the job much more fascinating. The aim is to give a sense of independence for the workers and authority for their work. Essentially has a positive effect on the worker’s psychological growth for the worker and as well the task can be executed correctly. Being able to handle wide ranges of tasks gives a positive appreciation of their work hence the employees would tend to be more dedicated to their work.
People development
One of the motivational strategies Etihad are can implement into the business is by developing the employees by setting targets for each person. Giving them responsibility and purpose to push forward. These goals will help the employees to be motivated as to achieve their goals and which they can develop their skills. Resulting in maximization of performance from the employees themselves.
It is important for a company to understand whether if the employees are satisfied with their workplace and which aspects of the business is appealing and which aspects need improvement as well what’s missing. Essentially a business should always listen to the employees’ opinion and that’s what Etihad does. Therefore, the survey Etihad has implemented which is an employee opinion survey that is conducted annually. The purpose of this survey was to gather data on certain areas as manager efficiency, communication with employees as well as the organizations culture. Therefore, Etihad can use this information that was conducted and foresee what areas they need to focus on to motivate the employees.
Recognition
It is important for Etihad to recognize those who are working at their full potential. The ability to recognize the employees work improves communication between the manager and the employee. As to which the manager can reward the employees for their efficient work. For a manager to recognize the employees hard is to look at the goals the employees are achieving or if they are outperforming then the others. For the employees this is beneficial as which if the harder the work rewards will be presented to them and especially give them a chance to be promoted. This can motivate the employees to worker much harder to achieve more rewards as this can act as a great incentive for better production. This is part of their psychological needs in Maslow’s theory. As Etihad can make a process which is designed to state that employees have sharp objectives to achieve that are fundamentally linked to the company’s goals. As for the end of the year the company the information can be used to see whether the employees have been able to achieve those specific goals set for them.
Financial Motivational strategies
Performance based salary
To insure that employees where motivated to achieve their goals the company can implement a financial motivation. A performance based salary motivator, performance based salary is basically an increase of salary when the employee’s performance is at high quality. If the employee is able to do certain amount of goals the business will increase salary due to being able to do those certain goals. It is one of the most common financial motivators to use within a business.
Increase of Salary
In most cases what is making employees unsatisfied and unmotivated is their salary. The standard life style is expensive in U.A.E and Etihad might be paying some of the employees too little and therefore these employees are not satisfied with their job and unmotivated to work harder since they are getting low salaries. A salary is a sum of money paid to the employee per month. The advantage of this that it is a secure source of income for the employee and it is set at a fixed income but if Etihad is not paying them enough these employees will struggle to survive essentially making it difficult for them to cover their basic needs. Essentially they will have no motivation to strive further as their basic needs is being barely met and which they won’t be satisfied with their job. So if Etihad can increase the employees’ salaries this will give them an incentive to worker much harder to increase product efficiency.
SWOT Analysis
Non-financial and financial motivation
Conclusion
TO conclude the thesis of “To what extent can Etihad boost productive efficiency using non-financial and financial motivational strategies with the unsatisfied employees?” is still debatable. As at the end it is all about how the employee reacts to it. Each employee has different desires to be motivated and some are looking for a non-financial motivation where as some might be looking for a financial motivation.
In answering the research question, this essay emphasizes on how important it is for Etihad to consider every employees’ opinion and which the only way for the company to increase the job satisfaction and the motivation in the company is to look more depth with their employees as the company might be missing simple targets to achieve full output of the employees. If Etihad is able to look in depth into their employees, they specifically set financial and non-financial motivation strategies for those who lacking the motivation to strive further. Even though looking depth might be time consuming this will benefit the company as they will able to come closer to reaching full real output.
On the other hand, if Etihad tends to generalize the employees and apple wrong motivational strategies this can decrease the motivation as well the satisfaction for working for the company. Analysis of the survey has approved that most of the employees tend to look for a financial motivation increase of salaries whereas managers are looking for non-financial motivation.
Overall, motivational strategies are vital for the companies. If Etihad wants to push further and which be able to grow. The company needs to tend to use more financial motivation on the low level employees that are at the bottom of the hierarchy of the company to insure better motivation. Whereas it is best to use non-financial motivation on managers and higher up employees as they tend to feel satisfied with their financial state but need recognition and responsibility. Throughout the years the company has been able to maintain a motivated workforce but still had some unmotivated staff workers. Now the problem has been identified and which how it could be solved the company can target those problems, as to solving those problems. This proves my thesis that employees have different ways of being motivated and which employees have different needs and implementing one motivation strategy cannot satisfy those needs of the employees reluctantly not motivating them. The business will only succeed if the workers are desired to see it succeed and if Etihad is able to put that desire within the employees. Without motivation and the ability to strive further will affect productivity to increase and the company will not progress any further if nothing is going to be down.
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Appendix 1 2014 Performance Summary of Etihad Airways