Effect of selected motivational factors on organizational performance in manufacturing companies in Kenya

Abstract

Motivating employees to achieve expected performance poses a challenge to firms in the market. For firms to be effective and successful, they should motivate their workforce. The manufacturing industry faces challenges including government regulation on sales practices, non-direct tracking of sales results and adoption of team based sales structure which has affected adoption of effective motivation strategies for the workforce.The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of Selected Motivational Factors on Organizational Performance in manufacturing companies in Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to investigate the effects of compensation programme on organizational performance, to establish the effect of working conditionson organizational performance, to determine the effect of job security on organizational performance and to assess the effect of employee recognition on organizational performance in the FMCG manufacturing companies in Kenya.The targeted population of this study was all sales representatives in the four companies in Kenya. Random sampling was used to obtain a sample of 98 out of a total of 326 sales staff of all four companies. Primary data was collected and analyzed using quantitative and qualitative techniques and then presented using narratives, tables and graphs. Correlation analysis was done and the results showed a statistically positive relationship between the dependent variable, Company performance, and the independent variables; compensation programme, working conditions, job security and employee recognition.According to this study, there is a combined effect of compensation programme, working conditions, job security, and employee recognition on organizational performance in the selected manufacturing companies in Kenya. It is important to note that employee satisfaction is one of the aspects of operational performance that the respondents indicated that their companies did not perform well in as well as lack of satisfaction in the modes of compensation and employee recognition. A great number of employees claimed that the biggest worry was on job security as most of them are employed on short-term contracts hence high levels of staff turnover or layoffs. The study recommends that overall improvement is required on basically all aspects of employee motivation touching on the work of sales representatives as this affects organizational performance.