Improving staff performance

The relationship between an organisation and its members is greatly affected by what motivates them to work and what reward, incentive and fulfilment they get from it. (Mullins, 2007)

The content theory points out great emphasis on what motivates people and are concerned with identifying and classifying people’s needs and their relative strengths. Examples are Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model, Herzberg’s two factor theory. While the process theory stresses on the actual process of motivation, and are made up of Expectancy theory (Vroom, Porter + Lawler) ,Equity theory (Adams)

And Goal theory (Locke).

The organization that I am going to look at is McDonald's the reason being is that the general stereo type is that McDonald’s staff are said to work very hard, so I am interested to know what keeps them going, McDonald's give their staff the following benefits:

·         Free Meal Allowance

·         Paid Holidays (4 weeks per annum)

·         Free Life Assurance (value dependent upon service)

·         Private Health Care (for employees aged 19+ with 3 years service)

·         Sponsorship Programme

·         Stock Purchase Scheme

·         Employee Discount Card

·         Service Awards (at 3, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years service)

·         Stakeholder Pension

 All these perks are given to motivate McDonald’s staff. After doing primary research at McDonald's i found out some

information from some of the workers that they didn’t mind working hard because they knew by the end if the day the

company was going to reward them one way or the other, they also mentioned from the time they started they felt at

home and it motivated them to work hard and not be the employee lacking behind in the team, this falls into Maslow’s

hierarchy theory, feeling socially accepted in a work environment and feeling comfortable. It would be fair to say that the

expectancy theory plays a major part in influencing their staff.

Workers at McDonald's are seen to put in that effort not just an individual but as a team to, this encourages employees to give 110% effort knowing they are going to be reward at the end of the day, 

McDonalds’ just doesn’t make use of the expectancy theory but also the equity theory too, McDonald's states on their website that

“join us and you'll not only become part of one of the largest global brands, but a constantly evolving organisation that offers a culture of flexibility, opportunity, equality and diversity. You just need to come and have a look at what we have to offer.

Reflective of the society and communities in which we operate, we offer probably one of the most diverse work cultures

in the UK. But while our people come from all walks of life, they share a common approach: a positive one.”

This also relates back to Maslow hierarchy theory which relates to different levels such as the esteem level, social level and the self-actualisation providing a chance for promotion

After reviewing a few of the process theories in practice, its deems to me that equity should be reviewed, equity is one of the theories that determine if staff are going to stay or leave or even be motivated in the slightest to work hard, if a member of a team is felt to be treated unjustly or unfairly it can have a great affect on improving the performance of the worker.

Bibliography

Mullins (2004) management and organisational behaviour.  (8^th edition).

http://www.bized.co.uk/compfact/mcdonalds/mc18.htm

http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/career/crew-page/crew-page.shtml