The correlation between management and employee motivation in SASOL polypropylene business, South Africa

Abstract

The globalisation of businesses and the advancement of information technologies have brought changes that are reshaping the world of work. They alter the way business is done, the way employees behave and the way managers manage their employees. Motivating and to retaining employees have become an important and complex task for the managers. The key to performing this task well is to find out more about the factors that motivate employees. The study aims to establish the correlation between management and motivation of employees. To have a sound human resource management strategy that attracts, retains and motivates the valuable employees, it is important that the managers find out what the employees are looking for from their jobs. The company should constantly assess the employees’ motivation levels and also what they need, want or expect from their work. This study used a questionnaire comprising motivation questions based on Lindner's ten motivational factors and Nelson's ten things to do to motivate today's employees, in order to test the motivational level of the employees at Sasol's Poplypropolene Business. After being validated by appropriate statistical methods, the results show that there is a correlation between management and employee motivation. The results are critically discussed in terms of each motivational factors. Every manager differs in the way he or she manages. The key to motivating employees and manage them in ways that lead to profits, productivity, innovation, and organisational effectiveness is to understand how to motivate them.