Employee Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction Essay Example for Free

Employee Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction Essay This thesis will be based on my current and previous practical experience combined with the theoretical basis that I have acquired through the modules on Academy business school. I have 8 years of management experience in retail, but in the last 3 years being employed as a personal assistant for my son who was born with a physical disability. 1 October 2012 I have been employed part-time as a sales assistant in the newly opened shoe Tops, located in Aalborg Mall. My point of view in this project will be from the perspective of the owner / management since my prerequisites for this are realistic and that in the future I have ambitions again to get a job at this level. Presentation of TOPS in Aalborg Shopping Eurosko a purchasing cooperative consisting of independent skohandlere working together on purchasing and marketing. These skohandlerer operated under the name TOPS. This cooperation is intended to give members a better overall economy to meet the increasing competition in the retail industry. The shops sells private labels and various brands of Danish suppliers. TOPS products are designed for the average consumer, and the target audience is the whole family. Product labels within private labels are as follows: Ralf Boston, Taxi, Adi, Mary B and Between. The new Tops store in Aalborg shopping center is located in the new extension which has the name Nygade (pink street). This street connects the input A (main entrance at the grocery store) and input B (input opposite Steak Jensen / Nibevej). Shoe store TOPS is funded by Thorkild Hansen, who every day is trade able boss in Aars. It is his daughter Camilla Hansen, store manager / owner of the new store. They both have a history from the hardware store industry. In the shop there is employed a sales manager, a full-time sales assistant and one part-time sales assistant. You are aware that you have to have some hourly paid sales assistants to cover crooked hours. However, one would first look for the urgent need before hiring more. The store is located in North Jutland most attractive retail area in the city south of Aalborg. The competition here is tremendous, from German Deichmann to skokà ¦derne Skoringen and PAW SHOES. Grocery store is also a major competitor, while the overall industry slippage, as retailers fierce competition is to blame in. The hard struggle with the center of Aalborg has been going on ever since opening in 1997, and its just a matter of time before one can proclaim City South and Aalborg Shopping Center as the victor. City Southern and Aalborg Shopping Center is marketplace for all over Gauteng. The clients who come to Aalborg Mall comes with the purpose to spend money. Unlike customers in the city center, where there are many shoppers. Problem Argumentation In a store like TOPS in Aalborg shopping center, there are many challenges for Camilla Hansen. Problem of the project will be based on one of the issues that are most central to the management, namely the motivation of the staff. Why is it such an important issue? One of the things that can explain the motivation question is the aforementioned competition as TOPS face. Is the sales staff not motivated to provide the best service when they meet customers, customers needs are met in one of the competing shoe stores. There are also other elements such as indirect challenge my question about motivation. These I will elaborate on below. The increasing competition in the retail and policies have been elements in the environment that have helped to pave the way for the long opening hours. This development is currently further escalated with the abolition of the Shops Act 1 October 2012. Another challenge is the union HP, which puts pressure on employers to their employees come to work under some decent conditions, with regard to working hours. At the same time include the cost structure in the retail industry, where labor costs and rent are the greatest. Since the wage cost is the only one who in a short time can be changed, it is here, it is very focused. Rationalisation and maximum benefits of the employees are daily challenge in retail. It obviously has not done better after the financial crisis in 2008. The demand for goods has fallen / stagnated and the demand there is, is not the same as before. At the same time discount concepts in many cases prospered due to the crisis. In the wake of these above mentioned elements have TOPS a need for the core of employees who are employed must be highly effective. Performance would with store personnel must be high, even in the long run. Therefore, it is important to achieve a sustained high staff motivation in TOPS. I therefore think it appropriate to make visible how the job should be structured so as to achieve a high intrinsic motivation of the employees. However, one must create a culture that supports the motivation. Succeeded this, then the employees will eventually provide the same high level. Problem Formulation It is a challenge for management that structures the right job design for the team in the shop, so to create a sustained high level of motivation. This will form the basis for the desired high level of performance. I therefore do the following: Explain the job characteristics model, in relation to the employees of Tops in Aalborg Mall. Provide an analysis of the elements to create a high MPS. Find out what basic assumptions that support a high MPS. Make suggestions for how to achieve sustained high MPS. The method Science Theoretical approach The knowledge / theory which I create in the project is based on social constructionism. My new preconception will therefore be formed by the auto poetry system for which the employee is in TOPS. The way in which the theory is formed on the deductive because my curiosity is based on a theoretical model and problem formulation. The method is the hermeneutical spiral, as my practical / theoretical presuppositions will be further developed through a qualitative method (depth interviews). This illustrates thanks to my depth interviews. First I ask my questions, then I ask detailed questions to their answers. This forms a new pre-understanding, which in turn contributes to a deeper level of understanding. This truth can be characterized as being causal explanatory. This provides functional explanations are operationalized through the quantitative method (questionnaire). Thus, I see the questionnaire as a hypothetical method. The hermeneutic process are processed through circular thinking. This theoretical system finally my deeper level of understanding will be provided by exploring patterns of attitudes of the individuals in TOPS. My interest is to see how employees and management mutually influence each other. This I find out each actors share in relation to the questions that my problem formulation contains. Selection of theory: Motivation Theory Motivation Theory is a very broad theoretical area. The models describe the area very differently from simple to concrete and detailed. Overall divided motivation theory for the following two areas: Process Theories Content Theories Process theories are based on the differences that applies to the employees behavior. The theory describes elements to be addressed in order to get employees to acquire a certain behavior. Content theory concentrates on the needs of the employee and that the behavior is the same from person to person. Need fulfillment creates the motivation that causes the employee to perform a particular behavior (Major intrinsic motivation = better sales performance). I have decided that my topic motivation must be based on job characteristics model, which is made by Hackman and Oldham. I do so because it is necessary to take into account the differences in employee behavior. Otherwise, I would not in practice distinguish between kinds of different factors that motivate employees to TOPS. So they just had the same external and internal work environment, to be equally motivated in their work. The theory will form the basis for the solution of the projects problem. At the same time it will be my starting point, to account for the motivation of employees through job design. Job characteristics model is to provide a common understanding of my explanation of how to design the job so that employees acquire the particular behavior (Major intrinsic motivation = better sales performance). Hackman and Oldham job characteristics model This thesis will be based on the version of the book Motivation is written by Helle Hein. This issue compared to the textbook is that there are some minor differences in how the moderators are defined. The model is based on some core job characteristics that form the basis for the ideal job design. Problem definition Question 1 deals with the exposition of the model in relation to the employees of TOPS. Presentation of the model will be done through in-depth interviews with employees. Based on depth interviews I will make a questionnaire to determine the factors that contribute to give a high motivation potential score (question 2). Model moderators will also be involved, as there are some providers elements that affect the fact that not all people react similarly to the job design. There are some barriers as a result of the fact that you do not get the best result, although job design is ideal. The moderators will also be explained through depth interviews (question 1). The model also contains the element of the critical psychological states, which will not be included in my project. This has no direct connection to my problem statement. I assume that when the optimal job design is achieved, as well as fulfillment of the moderators, so it will have a positive outcome (high motivation = good sales performance). Criticism of Hackman and Oldham In the book, motivation is a few points on which job characteristics model are criticized. I will only highlight the criticism points Helle Hein mentions in her book that influence in my project. The factors which constitute the core job characteristics are difficult to understand and distinguish between, for those who have to deal with any questions. This is one reason why I choose depth interview as my method of data collection. Respondent may help to understand the issues, which helps to strengthen the information collected. The theory does not affect factor of social relations. Therefore, I believe that the model has a major weakness in this area. The relationship to ones colleagues is very important in a store like TOPS, where there are not many employees. It is important to feel like part of the community when you show up at work. Failure to do so, and you feel that is a bad mood, you will naturally seek new challenges. This will lead to an ideal job design does not work. Hertzberg theory takes high of social relations, and would have been better in this area. This theory, I squint a little in my statement (question 1). In my hypothesis, I touch on the concept of MPS. Helle Hein questioning whether one using a formula and theory can design the best possible job design to an employee. It is one of the concepts used in my project. Therefore, the same criticisms apply here. Hackman and Oldham theory is developed at the beginning of industrialization in the United States until the 1970s when the authors formulated the theory. As it developed it was the starting point for the theory not the retail industry, which means that in some cases, it will not always fit completely with the fact that I daily find myself in. Cultural Theory Theory scope of the concept of culture has many approaches. Here there are for example Hofstede. This theorist is based on civic culture. He believes that an organizations culture is created on the basis of, for example, the country or region in which it is located in. The theory here is based on a number of opposing elements that help to characterize the culture. An example of this could be that the culture of TOPS will bear the mark of masculinity rather than the feminine. This is because you are very sales and performance oriented. Another theorists is Schein. This theory is built into a funnel model which is divided into 3 layers. The top are artifacts, which is a description of the physical conditions in which an outside person can see with the naked eye. The next layer is the values. This layer describes the employee proved doing to emphasize culture both internally and external. The last layer is called as basic assumptions, the conduct which they unconsciously without even thinking about it. The basic assumption being made by the leader. A third theory is the Deal and Kennedys cultural model. This theory is based on the market to which the organization finds itself in. The theory describes two dimensions, each with their opposing extremes. These being high risk / low risk or timely feedback / slow feedback. Here are TOPS in the dimension which is characterized by low risk and rapid feedback. In trade with each customers risk low if it failed. At the same time you get rapid feedback on sales because you can constantly follow it. Overall, it is appropriate to use the Deal and Kennedy to describe culture as the retail industry is very market specific. This will also be my approach. But to describe the culture internally, I will build on Schein funnel model, because this model is more up rational. At the same time, the shop is starting, and I therefore believe that it is the store manager, who through her actions and attitudes create culture. Furthermore, it is also the one who owns the shop and is the pioneer. In a pioneering company, it is usually the owners attitudes and opinions that characterize the corporate culture.