Comparison of Workforce Motivation between Nampak and Ginster Companies - Case Study Example

Performance management Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Task 1 Introduction Performance management aims at actively involving the workforce in the Company activities with the aim of increasing the performance of the Company. In this case study, Nampak Company and Ginsters are compared and the strategies they apply to motivate their workforce and change the culture of their Organizations (Hudson2010). Performance management involves motivating employees to increase their competitiveness because motivated employees give their best skills. Motivation also enables employees to be actively engaged in the Company operations. Comparison of workforce motivation between Nampak and Ginster Companies Both the Nampak and Ginsters Companies applied the strategy of improved performance management systems (Smedley 2010). Both Companies identified that that there was poor management of the whole system of managing the Company's operations. Therefore, they developed systems which involved all employees in the activities of the Company. Employees were given opportunity to develop their skills hence they felt motivated and felt part of the organizations hence they improved their productivity. Ginsters and Nampak Companies both adopted the strategy of developing the employees. The workforce was given opportunities to advance their skills so as to be motivated and be satisfied with their work. For instance, Nampak started training its workforce starting with line managers which motivated them and they could now implement the performance management system (Smith 2003). Staff training improves the skills of the workforce and can be satisfied with their work which in turn improves productivity. Another strategy applied by both Companies is the application of the corporate social responsibility (Godfrey 2006). Both Companies started practicing community workshops for the benefit of the community. Corporate social responsibility made the workforce feel part of the community hence could offer their best skills. For instance Nampak Company encouraged its work force to engage themselves in the community activities like the youth enterprise (Naicker 2000). This brought the forum employees could meet and share ideas thus they improved their skills and felt motivated. The Companies also developed schemes where monthly reports could be presented to assess the performance of the employees. For instance, Ginsters developed schemes where the work force reports could be presented every month and winning awards are given to the best employees of that month (Michael 2011). Nampak also gave the line managers authority to present monthly reports for the wards and encouragement. These rewards encouraged the employees to work and be engaged in the Company's activities. Both Companies encouraged their workforce to be innovative and creative in their operations (Godfrey 2006). The employees are encouraged to come up with new ideas to modify the products being manufactured. Nampak Company for instance developed a milk bottle because of the creativity of the employees. On the other hand Ginsters encouraged its workforce to be creative and develop new ideas on how to improve their product features. Encouragement for workforce innovation ensures that the employees are well engaged in the Company operations. Both Companies encouraged employees to engage in recreational activities like the football games, badminton and Table Tennis. The workforce will meet in these forums and share ideas as well as interacting. The Ginster Company introduced international games like football teams which brought people together and interact which discouraged international rivalry because the players came from different regions. These games encouraged people to interact with one another as well as being engaged in the Company activities thus it improves the performance of the Company. Another motivation strategy applied by both Nampak and Ginsters Companies is the change in leadership styles (Godfrey 2006). The two Companies changed their leadership styles from traditional demand control to more dynamic leadership. In the traditional leadership style employees were commanded while in the dynamic leadership employees can propose some ideas. This motivates them because they feel that their opinions are regarded and that they are not forced to do something. For instance, Nampak’s manager Collins gave the workforce opportunity to give their proposals as well as the manager of Ginsters. Both Companies motivated their employees through the provision of forums where the employees can offer their grievances. The management of Nampak Company motivated its workforce by considering their grievances. In this regard, the employees will feel part of the organization hence can take part in implementing the strategies thus they are actively engaged in the operations of the Companies. However, Nampak Company and Ginsters Company may differ in some strategies of motivating the employees. The first contrast is that Ginsters Company provides free health services ( Rowland & Giles 2012) while Nampak Company does not instead relies on the collaboration of the Company and the stakeholders. This collaboration creates a good relationship between the workforce and the management hence they will be motivated and be committed to their tasks which improves the general performance of the Company. Nampak uses focus groups to get information from their workforce and their grievances (Cathie & Collins 2012). The workforce’s ideas are taken into consideration and this encourages them because they feel that they are also taking part in the decision making of the Company. On the other hand Ginsters Company gives free facilities for transport like free bikes for the workforce to ride (Michael 2011). The bikes motivate the employees because they will be enjoying the rides for free of charge and they will feel that the Company is considering their social welfare. Nampak applies the good communication strategies between the management and the workforce (Cathie & Collins 2012). Good communication network creates a good relationship between the top management and the workforce hence it will improve sharing of the information and ideas. This relationship influences the implementation of strategies involving the employees thus they will be involved in improving the performance of the organization. On the other hand Ginsters Company provides facilities like the gym for free where employees can check their fitness and have a forum for interacting and exchanging ideas. These facilities create a good relationship between the management and the workforce which also encourages the implementation of the management strategies because the employees are motivated and are satisfied by the Company. Finally, Ginsters Company provides free fruits to its employees so as to make them feel that management is concerned with their welfare and they can save the funds they could have used to buy the fruits. This motivates employees to be involved in the affairs of the Company and improve the Company performance. Nampak Company applies a cost based strategy to reduce the cost of production. Reducing cost of production increases the profits because of the low prices of the products and a certain percentage of the profit is paid to the workforce which motivates them to work hard for the profits to earn more profits thus the employees are engaged in the implementation of the Company strategies (Rowland & Giles 2012). These strategies are effective in the motivation of the workforce they change the attitude of the customers towards the products of these Companies. For instance provision of social incentives like free medical services and free transport motivate employees to improve their productivity and quality which changes the attitude of customers that the products of these Companies are of poor quality (Godfrey 2006). Change in the negative attitude of the customers to positive attitude attracts and retain more customers hence improve the performance of the Companies. These strategies for motivation are cost effective for the two Companies. This is because they were experiencing economic difficulties and therefore cannot afford costly strategies for motivating employees like increasing their wages and salaries (Smedley 2010). Therefore, the Companies will be able to raise resources for implementing these strategies thus encourages employee engagement in the Companies’ operations. These strategies help to eliminate the blame game among the employees which could otherwise lead to conflict (Hudson 2010). In this aspect, the workforce will develop a team work spirit to work together, hence they get actively engaged in the Company operations. This improves the productivity per employee which in turn improves the general performance of the Companies. Finally, these motivational strategies will improve the competitiveness of the Companies. They encourage creativity and innovation thus coming up with ideas which add value to the products. For instance Nampak developed storage bottles which could have not been developed were it not for the creativity of the employees (Michael 2011). This creativity involves employees actively in the activities which benefit the Companies through increased competitiveness of the products. Conclusions Performance management is very crucial to any company. In this case Nampak and Ginsters Companies managed to actively involve the workforce in the activities of the Companies through employee motivation. The employees were motivated so that they will be satisfied with their tasks which increase their productivity. Through creativity employees will improve their performance. In these two Companies, employees were motivated through improved performance management systems, employee development, monitoring performance of the workforce, offering of awards and provision of incentives such as free health. These strategies are effective to these Companies because they are cost effective, changes the culture of Nampak and Ginsters Companies. They also improve the competitiveness through the production of quality products. All the above motivational efforts increase the performance of the Companies towards achieving their objectives. The best strategy is the employee development strategy. This is because it gives employees long term skills which help the Companies to maintain employees on a permanent basis which improves their morale and increase their production. Task 2 Personal attributes Knowledge skills (University of Queensland 2002); these skills enable me to have adequate know how in my area of specialization. They help me to apply the skills and experience I have into the practical aspect of the field. This knowledge is acquired through long term learning with the aim of developing my professional know how in the area of specialization. The skills for communicating effectively; communication skills will enable me to be able to communicate effectively with other workforce. It will also help me to coordinate various activities within my authority so as to achieve best performance. Good communication within an organization ensures there is distortion of the message and that each employee is made aware of what he or she is supposed to undertake and at what time hence there is the smooth running of the organization (university of South Australia). The skills for solving problems; I have acquired necessary skills which are essential for solving conflicts. I will apply both logical and my creative thinking so that I can solve the problems. I will apply my knowledge and competent experiences have encountered to solve disputes. The social and professional responsibility skills (Greatbatch 2007); as a result of knowledge I have acquired am able to work and uphold the professional ethics of my area of specialization. I can stand firm and act within my obligations and not by circumstances. By so doing I will be able to discourage vices in the organization and this upholds the value of the firm. Self motivation skills; from the knowledge I have acquired in the whole process of learning, I am able to motivate myself and how to motivate other employees. I will motivate myself through setting achievable goals as well as being determined in accomplishing tasks. In this regard I will an exemplary o to other workforce to emulate (Greatbatch 2007). Development of global perspective; from the global experience I have been able to look situations internationally and not limited to the organization only. These skills will help me to solve the cultural differences and other factors which can affect the operations of the business. However, there are also weaknesses which include being inquisitive or a debater. I like questioning of any change that will take a change in the organization because of my passionate for the organization (University of Queensland 2002). To overcome this weakness, I will take time to understand the viability of nay change before asking any query and this will reduce the debatable enquiries. Another weakness is that am nervous and I will easily get around with other employees. I am not used to give my ideas freely before a group of people. However I will overcome this weakness by expressing my ideas when there is free interaction with other employees. I will also offer my suggestions through writing and can explain my views when need arises. Finally, I am sensitive to issues (Greatbatch 2007); I easily get disappointed when I see the wrong doings. I will overcome this weakness by taking time to know the cause of the problem as well as taking time to respond to the situation. I will also try to handle the situation in a more polite way and avoid excessive reactions. References Cathie, W & Collins, E 2012, Nampak Plastics: The effect of Employee Engagement within A Medium organization, London, Butterworth-Heinemann. Godfrey, R 2006, unusual employee motivation ideas every employee ought to know About, New York, McGraw-Hill. Greatbatch, D 2007, Generic employability skills, London, Thomson Learning. Hudson, K 2010, Play together, stay together, Leisure Management, No.1, p. 52-54. Michael, B 2011, Ginsters Company motivational strategies, New York, Kendall Hunt. Naicker, N 2000, Nampak organisational structure and employee commitments, Motel Association. Rowland, N & Giles, M 2012, Ginisters Company, Canberra, Jossey-Bass publishers. Smedley, T 2010, A Lot of Bottle, People Management, No. 4, p. 38-40. Smith, A 2003, Nampak motivational strategies, California, John Wiley & Sons University of Queensland Homepage 2002, The Teaching and Educational Development Institute, viewed 25th April 2013 from http://www.tedi.uq.edu.au/Teaching/index.html University of South Australia 2003, Graduate Qualities—a brief guide to assessing Students for Graduate Qualities, viewed 25th April 2013 from Read More