Quantitative Proposal
Abstract
Employee satisfaction is crucial when a company intends to maximize its production. Optimal
production is only possible if employees are comfortable and motivated. However, motivation is
a difficult subject. Different employees perceive motivation in different aspects. Financial
rewards may draw positive response from some workers whose motivation factors are hinged on
financial gain. Some workers view work independence and recognition as the prime factors when
motivation is mentioned (Bakker, 2011). Several studies have shown that motivation however
minimal affects the productivity and performance of employees (Corporate Leadership Council,
2003). Motivation factors range from provision of hygienic working conditions to financial
rewards on timely job completion and work related achievements (Stack, 2013). This paper
seeks to identify and research the motivation factors that resonate well with employee job
satisfaction and the connection between productivity and job satisfaction.
Research objective
This research targets the employees both in the private and the public sector. The slow
behavioral characteristics that is mostly related to public service is largely attributed to low staff
morale and lack of adequate motivation factors hence the productivity of most of the employees
are compromised (Corporate Leadership Council, 2003). Job satisfaction and productivity are
largely connected
Problem statement
Motivation seems to drive job satisfaction and which results in higher productivity. However,
some employees are self motivated by their own achievements and possibly by recognition of
their efforts. The extent to which motivation negatively affects some employees has not been
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researched widely or documented. These research attempts to find out the extent to which job
satisfaction affects the performance and productivity of a company. The hypothesis is that job
satisfaction affects company productivity positively. The research also seeks to find the answers
to the following questions;
a). What affects employee productivity?
b). What affects employees satisfaction?
c) Does company performance affect employee satisfaction and productivity?
d) What factors are most likely to motivate employees highly?
Literature Review
Employee job satisfaction has been at the center of every company management’s strategy. Most
companies find it difficult to determine the amount, type or nature of motivation that they should
adopt to ensure optimal performance and productivity from the employees. Different extrinsic
and intrinsic motivation techniques have different reactions depending on the views of
employees.
Research Methodology and Design
The research will entail the use of quantitative research in gathering and processing the data
collected from the field. The design will involve pre-written questionnaire that will also contain a
scale that will make it easier to analyze the data using statistical methods. For example, the
responses from the structured questions would have five standard answers each with different
strengths. For example, the first response would be “strongly agree” with five points while the
next would be “agree” with four points followed by “not sure”, disagree and strongly disagree
with 3 points, 2 points and 1 point respectively (Gill & Johnson, 2010). To gather the data from
the respondents, the interviewer may conduct internet surveys by use of questionnaires that may
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be sent by e-mail. In-person survey may also be used together with telephone. The research
targets a population of one thousand employees in private and public sector. The population ratio
of private to public employees would be 80:20. The nature of the public service is largely the
same while a random sample of two hundred employees from different states would be taken
while in the private sector a sample of at least five people from 160 companies would be
sampled. Selecting the participants from the public service would not be difficult as all the
employees including the managers are employed unlike in the private sector where some
companies are managed by the owners. The first two participants from the private sector would
be selected from the management levels while the rest would be from the lower cadre jobs or
positions.
The above methods of data collection are standard and consistent with the methods used under
normal research methods (Gill & Johnson, 2010). The methods were chosen as they were
convenient and easy to use especially with the above research design methods. The alternatives
to the above methods would be mail surveys, Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing
(CATI) or Face to face interviews.
Data Validation
To validate the data, all the total points should balance with the number of questions on the
questionnaires together with the respondents answer. The data would then be processed by
computer packages such SPSS or QRS. The processed information would finally reveal the level
of satisfaction that employees would consider when increasing their productivity or reducing it.
The limitations of the research are restricted to statistical significance tests while the major users
or audiences for the research findings are strategic managers, directors, managers and financial
planners (A publication Journal, 2013).
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Conclusion
Finally to conclude, the research would be applicable when forecasting productivity and cost of
labour while the other people who may find the research useful are the human resource managers
who may be interested in confirming the performance of their staff in relation to job satisfaction
and company productivity.
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References
A publication Journal, (2013) Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business,
February, Vol. 4/10
Bakker, A.B. (2011) Work Engagement, Job Satisfaction and Productivity- They are a Virtuos
Cycle; Association for Psychological Science retrieved July 22, 2015 from
Corporate Leadership Council (2003) Linking Employee Satisfaction with Productivity,
Performance and Customer Satisfaction, Corporate Executive Board
Gill, J. & Johnson, P. (2010) Research methods of managers, Sage Publications Limited, Fourth
Edition.
Stack, L. (2013). Managing employee performance: Motivation, ability, and obstacles.
Highlands Ranch, CO: Productivity Pro.
