One of the major challenges that face an organization is about motivating its staff for increasing their willingness and capability to provide a better service to its customers. In a rapidly changing environment whereby the economy is becoming more competitive, it is of paramount importance to understand employee�s needs and to develop an effective motivation programme.
Workers differ in their contributions to an organization because of the differences in their knowledge and skills and also because of the amount of effort they apply to their job. It is this effort that is central to the concept of human motivation.
There are different approaches to motivation based on the notion that people act to maximize their individual personal gains in some form or other. It is worth noting that this broad view may not be universally applicable. The Japanese worker, for example, is sometimes seen as experiencing collective motivation, in that they place more value on loyalty and service to the organization than on satisfaction of personal needs or goals. But the Western models of motivation emphasize individual gain and self-respect. This depends on the national culture of individuals. This subject of culture has been extensively researched by Hofstede (1980).
Scientific management is based on the presumption that workers are motivated by economic factors, particularly money. However, the human relation movement stresses the importance of economic and non-economic factors on workers� motivation. Motivation is an area that is still being researched and at times, there are both converging and diverging views among the various researchers.
1.2 Problem Statement
Program Based Budgeting (PBB) was introduced in Mauritius as from the 2007. The new system brought about a fundamental change in the public sector financial management system. The new budgeting system required the development of a new Financial Management Manual, staff had to be trained on the new system and a computerized management system had to be developed. Consequently, there has been an increasing need for staff in the Finance Cadre in Ministries/Departments to develop a new set of skill and competence. Although, the work load has increased considerably, the staffing level has remained the same.
The new budgeting system requires staff in the Finance Division to conduct a greater level of analysis on the input, output and outcome of the various programs in a Ministry or in a Department and to submit timely and relevant information to the head of the Ministry /Department as well as to various authorities such as the National Audit Office and the Accountant General.
As to date, the system is not fully operational in all the Ministries and Departments. Various report from reputed institutions such as the World Bank, IMF etc. have pointed out that programme evaluation is not being carried out although the system was introduced since 5 years. The uncertainty surrounding the full implementation of the system is causing some frustration among the Officers.
This study aims to study the motivation of staff in the Finance Cadre of Mauritius Police Department in the new work environment. The Department is responsible for the maintenance of law and order in the country as well as for its national security. It has a work force of 12,425 employees. The organization is structured into divisions and units and it provides both lands, sea and air police services to the nation.
The Finance Section is headed by a Manager (Financial Operation) and he is assisted by 32 permanent staff. It should be pointed out that the Finance Section of the Police Department is, on an administrative level, responsible to the Ministry of Finance but on the operational level, it is under the direct control of the Commissioner of Police. The reasons for choosing the Finance Division of the Police Department are:
(a) It is one of the largest Finance Division in the Public Service in Mauritius.
(b) The Staff of the Finance Division are civilians but they have to operate in a
command and control environment which is specific to a Police Force.
� The Police Department provides a strategic service to the country. As such, it
requires an effective and efficient finance division to operate smoothly. Thus, the
division requires a motivated and a dedicated work force.
1.3 Aims and Objectives
The aim of the study is to evaluate and assess the level of motivation of staff, to analyze the work practices so as to highlight motivational issues and subsequently to determine areas that require further attention for motivating the staff.
As such, the research objectives are to
� Evaluate and assess the level of motivation among staff of the Finance Division
� Identify the factors that contribute towards employees motivation
� Evaluate the impact of the new budgeting system on the motivation of staff and to
� Make recommendations for raising employees motivation in the Finance Division of the Police department
For this study, an exploratory research has been conducted through a literature review on motivation in various articles and publications .This has paved the way to identifying the various constructs and variables that are related to the subject of motivation. A preliminary search has been carried out to know about the overall functioning of the Police Department. A research plan has been drawn out, that identify the various steps with preset milestones. This consists of the following stages:
Defining the research objectives
Literature Review
Designing the research approach
Conducting the study and
Reporting on the outcome of the study
2.2 Sources of data
Data sources are classified as being either primary sources or secondary sources. A source is primary if the data collector is the one using the data for analysis. A source is secondary if one organization or individual has compiled the data to be used by another organization or individual. In view of the research topics, the study uses both qualitative and quantitative information. Qualitative data has been gathered through unstructured interviews and quantitative data has been gathered through the design and administration of a questionnaire.
2.4 Pilot study
A pilot survey was carried out with 4 respondents and 1 expert to assess the comprehensiveness and clarity of the questionnaire.
2.5 Sampling
There are 33 officers on the permanent establishment of the Finance Cadre who are posted to the Police Department. At the time of the survey, an additional 10 staff was posted on a temporary basis to assist in the computerization of the system. In view that the population is very small (N=43), a census approach has been used to conduct the survey. According to the literature on statistics, a sample of 30 or more respondents provides a reliable analysis of data.
2.6 Response Rate
Printed copy of the questionnaires was hand delivered to all respondents. Only 34 fill-in questionnaires were returned. One questionnaire was incomplete and this has not been used in the analysis of the response.
2.7 Data Analysis Method
The data obtained from the survey was encoded using EXCEL and SPSS software version (10.0). Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) have been used to analyze the data. Pie chart and bar charts have been used to present data and information.
2.8.1 Definition of Motivation
This part provides a definition of motivation and discusses the theories of motivation. The need of an individual can be classified from a social, a mental or a physical perspective. As such, a worker can be motivated by the social contact in his job, the characteristic of the job or the material circumstances related to the job.
The social dimension in a job is about the interaction people have with other people both inside and outside the organization. This interaction is manifested through communication, feedback, acceptance, status, leadership, and power. From the mental dimension, the characteristics of the work itself constitute the motives to satisfy one need. In other words, the work should be seen to be meaningful and to be a part of a larger whole. Physical working conditions and pay are normally referred as the physical dimension. Locke (1976) pointed out that the needs of an individual do not remain constant and the needs are not the same for all people. Maslow (1954) regrouped needs in a hierarchy of five levels. According to Locke (1976) satisfaction of need is the antecedent of motivation and the latter leads to job satisfaction.
Motivation is thus the degree to which an individual wants and chooses to engage in certain behaviors. Motivation is the force that makes people do things and the level of motivation determines the effort that one puts to satisfy his/her need.
Locke (1976) defines motivation as a process of setting goals to meet one�s needs and the actions taken by an individual to achieve those goals . Research has shown that the lack of motivated employees in an organization result in low productivity, poor production or service quality, strikes, industrial disputes, breakdowns in employee communication and relationships.
2.8.2 Models of Motivation
In order to get a better insight into the subject of motivation, a literature review has been carried out on various motivation models. For this study, 3 models are being cited as set out below:
Taylor -Scientific Management
Herzberg and Job satisfaction
Maslow Model
2.8.2.1 Taylor -Scientific Management School
Taylor (1911) made three key assumptions about human behavior at work i.e. Man is a rational economic animal who is concerned with maximizing his economic gain. People respond as individuals, not as groups and people can be treated in a standardized fashion, like machines. In the views of Taylor, people are motivated to work to earn money. As such, it is the job of managers to design the tasks and to train workers to perform that task. This will enable a worker to maximize its earning.
However, there are many critics leveled against this theory. It treats all people to be the same and that people are only motivated by money.
2.8.2.2 Herzberg Theory
In his work on motivation, Herzberg (1968) made a distinction between hygiene factors and motivators. Hygiene factors include: company policy and administration, wages, salaries and other financial remuneration, quality of supervision, quality of inter-personal relations, working conditions and feelings of job security factors in personal life, status and job security. If these factors are considered inadequate by employees, then they can cause dissatisfaction with work.
Motivator factors are based on an individual's need for personal growth. When they exist, motivator factors actively create job satisfaction. If they are effective, then they can motivate an individual to achieve above-average performance and effort. Motivator factors include: achievement, opportunity for advancement, gaining recognition, responsibility, challenging / stimulating work and sense of personal achievement & personal growth in a job (Herzberg 1968).
According to Herzberg (1968), motivators cause job satisfaction if it enables an employee to satisfy his/her self -actualization need. Motivators thus refer to intrinsic factors within the work itself like the recognition of a task completed. Conversely, hygiene factors include extrinsic entities such as relations with co-workers and this does not pertain to the worker�s actual job.
According to Herzberg (1968), management should focus on rearranging work so that motivator factors can take effect. He suggested three ways in which it could be done. These are job enlargement, job rotation and job enrichment.
However the two factor theory was criticized by Locke (1976) in his work on motivation. He made the difference between physical needs and psychological needs or growth needs. Physical needs are related to the work environment i.e. the hygiene factors while psychological needs are intrinsic to a person. In his view the Herzberg classification of hygiene and motivators treat the physical needs and psychological needs as being distinct. In his view, these cannot be separated.
Another criticism he made of Herzberg theory is that although needs can be the same for two individuals, the value that each one puts on them may be different. Values therefore, have the most significant impact on emotional response of a job holder.
2.8.2.3 Maslow Model
Maslow (1962) classified needs into a 5 level hierarchy (i.e. Physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging, esteem need and self-actualization need). According to this model, management has to find out at which level an employee has reached and to tailor the reward system that is suitable for the particular need.
There are several problems with the Maslow model when real-life working practice is considered: individual behavior seems to respond to several needs, not just one. The same need (e.g. the need to interact socially at work) may cause quite different behavior in different individuals. There is also a problem in deciding when a level has actually been "satisfied". Additionally, little evidence suggests that people satisfies exclusively one need at a time.
3.3 Level of Motivation
Respondents were required to state their level of motivation on a 5 point Likert Scale. A cross tabulation has been carried to identify the level of motivation among the five categories of officers. This is shown
According to Hertzberg (1959), working conditions are hygiene factors i.e. they can only keep an employee happy but they do not necessarily contribute towards motivating an employee toward a higher level of performance. As such , respondents were required to express their views on a set of 5 statements which have been framed on a 5 points Likert Scale. The scale intervals are interpreted as follows:
3.4.2 Quality of Supervision
According to Herzberg (1959), the quality of supervision and quality of inter-personal relation in an organization are hygiene factors. According to the author, the presence of a hygiene factor does not necessary motivate an employee but its absence will make an employee to become dissatisfied.
3.4.3 Interpersonal Relationship
As already mentioned, Herzberg (1959) considered interpersonal relationship in an organization to be a hygiene factor while Maslow classified it as part of the social need of an individual. In this respect, the views of the respondents have been sought on a set of three statements relating to interpersonal relationship as set out below:
Table 7: Interpersonal Relationship
The data obtained has been analyzed using the mean scores. As such, a mean score above 2 denotes that overall respondents agree with the statement while a mean score that fall below 2 indicates that overall respondents are not agreeable with the statement. A mean score of 2 indicates that there is a lack of consensus among the respondents with the statement.
It is noted that all the three statements have a mean score that is above 2. This indicates that respondents have good relation with their peers (M=2.3333), they maintain a good relation with their subordinates (M=2.3939) and they maintain a good relation with their superiors (M=2.3636). As regard the influence of interpersonal relationship on their motivation, 15 respondents have given a positive response, 14 are neutral and 4 respondents have given a negative response. In general, most respondents (N= 15) view interpersonal relationship as an element that motivates them in their work. Here again, the findings do not support Herzberg, that interpersonal relationship is a motivator.
3.4.4 Pay as a Motivator
Up to now the debate on whether pay is a motivator is still going on in the academics world. Herzberg acknowledged the complexity of the salary issue (money, earnings, etc), and concluded that money is not a motivator in the same way as achievement and recognition. It is along these lines those respondents views were sought on their degree of satisfaction with the pay level and the effect that pay can have on their motivation and aspiration of employees. As such, respondents were given a set of 4 dichotomous questions relating to the issue of pay. The responses are tabulated in the table below:
Table 8: Pay as a Motivator
The general conclusion from the statistics is that employees are not satisfied with their salaries; they will perform better if they are allowed a pay increase, the reward structure does not encourage staff to upgrade their skill and they are willing to accept a higher work load, provided it is commensurate with a rise in their pay packet. With respect to whether pay is a motivator, positive responses have been received from 21 respondents and 6 respondents do not consider it to be a motivator. The findings are in sharp contrast with Herzberg theory whereby pay is a hygiene factor.
3.5 Motivators
3.5.1 Training
According to the literature review, training is a catalyst for encouraging employee to set a higher level of personal goal. It gives the inspiration to progress in the career advancement ladder.
Respondents were required to express their opinion on the effectiveness of training and the training policy of their organization. These are tabulated in the table below:
3.8 Conclusion
The study has been designed around Herzberg two factor theory of motivation: Hygiene and motivators. In the first part of the study, the following hygiene factors have been addressed in the study: working condition, work environment, quality of supervision, interpersonal relationship and pay.
On the basis of the analysis, respondents are not satisfied with the working condition in respect of state of technology, the visual appeal of the facilities and the safety of the working environment but they are satisfied with their working environment and the properly maintained facilities that are offered to them. Moreover, most of the respondents consider the working environment is a motivator. As such, the findings do not give enough evidence to give support to Herzberg theory that working condition are hygiene factors.
In general, workers have mixed views on the effect of the quality of supervision with respect to its influence on their motivation. It should be pointed out that Herzberg classified the quality of supervision as a hygiene factor .With regard to interpersonal relationship, the study has found out that it is a motivating factor in the Division. As such the findings do not align with Herzberg clarification of interpersonal relationship as a hygiene factors.
In respect of pay and the reward structure, there is general level of dissatisfaction among the respondents. Here respondents consider pay as a factor that motivates them. These findings are not in line with Herzberg classification of pay as a hygiene factor.
In the second part of the study, the following motivational factors have been considered: job design, promotion and training.
The study shows promotion is a motivator and as such it gives support to Herzberg classification of promotion as a motivator. Moreover, the study conclude that training contributes toward employee motivation.
The study shows that there are some respondents who are not happy with the leadership style of their supervision. This could be a cause of dissatisfaction among the staff .It is well known that a good leader can motivate his staff. In this respect, it is recommended that head of unit be trained in leadership and team building.
3.9.2 Recruitment Policy
It has been found out that the introduction of the Program Based Budgeting (PBB) system, has increased the work load of the staff but it has not been accompanied with an increase in personnel. This has caused the workload of the existing staff to increase. From the study, it has been found out that it de-motivates the employees. In this respect, it is recommended that a job inspection be carried out to adjust the staffing level, to review the present job profile so that responsibility is commensurate with the responsibility and opportunities are created for the career advancement of the employees.
3.10 Problems Encountered
In general, this study has been a very enriching experience. However, during this research, the following problems were encountered:
Difficulty to have the participation of some staffs due to their busy schedule.
Most of the respondents return their questionnaires after the deadline.
3.11 Limitation of the Study
The approach adopted for the study was to collect information through self administered questionnaires. However, the answers were restricted to the use of a 5 point Likert Scale. It is likely that a better understanding could have been obtained of the current situation had interviews been carried out with all the respondents. However, this was not possible due to time constraint and limited resources.
