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The causes of low employee motivation within Cape Town's fast food industry

Thesis (MTech (Busines Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011. / Motivating employees in fast food outlets plays a major role towards improving the commitment
and performance of workers. However, it has been confirmed that there is low levels of
employee motivation in some fast food outlets, which has led to negative results and poor
performances. Therefore, improving employee motivation in fast food outlets has become a
necessity. The main aim of the study was to investigate causes of low employee motivation in
fast food outlets within South Africa. The present author was able to discover the causes of low employee motivation levels such as
poor supervision, little or no training, poor pay and poor working conditions. Hence, factors that
could improve levels of motivation of employees in fast food outlets were identified; for
instance, motivating fast food employees through genuine appreciation, recognition,
compensation and inspiration. The researcher further suggests strategies, which may improve the
quality of work-life for employees with fast food outlets training and developing employees,
reducing their workload; and initiating incentive programs and retention strategies. This will help
the management at fast food outlets to improve levels of motivation of their workers, and also
assist them to retain their talented staff. The case study method was used for this research since the study involved fast food outlets in
Cape Town. The triangulation method was applied to solicit information from staff members,
managers and store managers/franchisees. Semi-structured interview questions were used to
obtain information from franchisees/store managers, senior managers, floor managers, and
supervisors, while closed-ended questionnaires were used to interview other staff members. This
study has confirmed that there are no motivation policies at most of the fast food outlets which
were studied that can guide employers to motivate their workers. It is clear from the study that
there is low employee motivation at some fast food outlets, and hence the researcher has
proposed recommendations, which will help the management of fast food outlets to enhance the levels of motivation of employees, and their work performance. It is suggested that employees
should be involved in the decision making of their organization; the quality of work-life of
employees should be improved; a harmonious working environment should be promoted; and
workers should be empowered and allowed to participate in the profit sharing of the
organization. This will improve workers' levels of motivation and better results will be achieved
for the organization at large.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:cput/oai:localhost:20.500.11838/2062
Date January 2011
CreatorsUkandu, Nnenna Eme
ContributorsUkpere , WI, Slabbert, AD
PublisherCape Peninsula University of Technology
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Rightshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/za/

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