Motivation, job satisfaction and their links with productivity have been researched
for decades, with many researchers producing contradictory findings. This topic
has become especially important in recent times as companies struggle in a
challenging economic environment. The organisation that successfully implements
strategies which address these issues can gain a significant competitive
advantage, as a sustainable increase in productivity from their staff will result in
running costs being reduced.
This study was carried out on the short-term insurance industry within South Africa
and investigated the impact that motivation and job satisfaction have on
productivity within the organisation. The study comprised a literature review, which
includes the following concepts: a definition of motivation, motivational theories,
driving forces of motivation, skills variety, task identity, task significance,
autonomy, job feedback and organisational productivity. These topics provided
insight into motivation, job satisfaction and productivity. A quantitative research
methodology was used for this study to understand the relationship between job
satisfaction, motivation and productivity. Due to the research being carried out on
one insurance company, which the researcher had access to, a non-probability
convenience sampling method was used.
A key finding was that employees who were motivated or satisfied with their job
were more productive. However, staff who were not motivated did not believe they
were unproductive. The study also found that there was a relationship between
motivation and job satisfaction.
One of the recommendations of this study is that companies should empower staff
to make decisions, as this is a key factor in them being motivated. Furthermore,
job satisfaction is driven by one’s personal beliefs about whether or not their job is
important to the organisation; therefore, companies should ensure that managers
communicate with their staff regarding how their job affects the organisation. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/9507 |
| Date | 27 August 2013 |
| Creators | Maharaj, Nirven. |
| Contributors | Singh, Anesh Maniraj. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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