Assessing role of employee motivation in organisations: A case study of SOS Childrens Village, Kakiri

Abstract

Over the years, employee motivation has been found to be of great importance in employee productivity and organization performance. No matter the workplace, managers have a huge effect on employee motivation. Unfortunately, motivating people is far from an exact science since there is no secret formula or specific calculation for results. But it can be boiled down to one basic ideal: finding out what your employees want and finding a way to give it to them or to enable them earn it and how their attainment of satisfaction affects the organization. This study was therefore motivated by the high employee turnover observed between the year 2009 and 2013 in SOS Children’s Villages Uganda. The study was therefore based on one SOS projects which is located in Kakiri, Wakiso district. The study aimed at establishing the role of employee motivation in the organization while being guided by the following objectives: To assess the role of employee motivation in SOS children’s Village, Kakiri, examine the role of performance feedback and employee performance towards motivation of employees in SOS Children’s Villages Uganda, examine the role of employee rewards to employees and the role of effective communication towards employee motivation.

The study used both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Data was obtained from primary and secondary sources, which included questionnaires to respondents, text books, newsletters and brochures and handbooks. The following among others were established as causes of low levels of motivation among the employees; low salary levels, unresolved challenges, heavy workload, lack of opportunities for career advancement and poor communication from management. The motivating factors identified included health benefit, retirement benefit of caretakers, timely salary, and love for working with children and the convenience of the project location for majority who hail from Wakiso.

The study then concludes that pay (rewards), communication and performance feedback contribute most to employee motivation rather than other benefits that management may provide. Thereby recommending that SOS management bridges the communication gap, revise staff salaries and properly distribute workload in order to ensure a motivated team.