Factors Affecting Employee Motivation in a Dynamic Work Environment: A Case of Standard Media Group

Abstract

Employee motivation refers to the “set of energetic forces that originate both within as well as beyond an individual’s being, to initiate work-related behavior, and to determine its form, direction, intensity and duration. Employee motivation is a key predictor of organizational performance. The Standard Media Group is one of the leading media entities in the Republic of Kenya. The last one year has seen the company undergo major restructuring in a bid to cut down on operational costs. Part of the restructuring included reorganizing the human resource of the company and releasing some employees. The effect of this process on the psyche of the employees has not been fully documented. It has previously been demonstrated that transitional situation in companies are directly related to employee motivation, hence performance. This study sought to assess the level of employee motivation at Standard Media Group, after the major changes that have taken place at the company, and identify the factors associated with employee motivation at this organization. A cross-section descriptive study design was used. A total of 74 employees at Standard Media group filled in a questionnaire based on Deci and Ryan’s theory of employee motivation. Each employee had a motivation index generated. Pearson’s product-moment correlation co-efficient and Multiple Linear Regression were used to ascertain the factors associated with employee motivation at Standard Media Group. Response rate was 100%. This means that the study was sufficiently powered to answer the research questions. Reliability analysis on the questionnaire using Cronbach’s alpha revealed a reliability statistic of 0.696, indicating that the questionnaire had good reliability. The employee motivation index ranged from a minimum of 76 to a maximum of 174. The mean employee motivation score was 143.12 (SD=21.23), indicating a high overall level of motivation among employees at Standard Media Group. The employee motivation index had four subscales, that is: Autonomy/ Support index (M= 28.81, SD=10.35, Range: 6 – 42); Perceived Choice Index (M= 38.75, SD=6.71, Range: 19 – 49), Relatedness index (M= 42.49, SD=9.71, Range: 13 – 56) and Perceived Competence index (M= 32.91, SD=5.05, Range: 19 – 42). There were no statistically significant relationships between Employment Motivation and the Socio-demographic variables. This result is not consistent with various studies carried on socio-demographic factors and employee motivation. Results of the multivariate analysis indicate that both Autonomy/Support (β=0.37, p<0.001) and Relatedness (β=0.71, p<0.001) were strongly positively associated to Employee Motivation at Standard Media Group. This means that the good Employee Environment is associated with higher employee motivation at Standard Media Group. Perceived competence (β=0.56, p<0.001) and Perceived Choice (β=0.26, p=0.006) were similarly related to Employee motivation at Standard Media Group. This means that higher competence and choosing to work for the organization were associated with higher employee motivation among Standard Media Group Employees. These findings are consistent with various studies done across the globe. From the study, it has been established that of the three variables under study, the variable of socio-demographic factors the included age, gender, income and marital status, did not yield any significant impact on employee motivation. Although studies done elsewhere reveal the fat that the variables have some degree of influence because of some external factors that impact on the organization namely; economic, social. Political and technical. However, the variables of employee environment of relatedness and autonomy as well as employee competence, returned positive significance in employee motivation. Based on the findings, it is recommended that the training and recruitment aspect in the organization needs to be evaluated to elucidate its effect on the perceived competence, associated with high motivation levels among Standard Media Group Employees.