Organisation culture!

Mullins (2010) claims that organisational culture is ‘the collection of traditional values, policies, beliefs and attitudes that constitute a pervasive context for everything we do and think in an organisation’.

Tesco as an organisation are very strict upon their approach to organisational culture. They work around norms and values to which are based around making customers shopping experience a satisfactory one. One of the biggest aspects of this is Tesco’s motto, ‘Every little helps’. As an employee I personally know and understand the value of this phrase. This motto is there to make customers aware of anything the organisation do; they do for the customer experience, which gives an idea that Tesco’s culture is very much around the consumer’s welfare.

‘I don’t queue’ is a prime example of Tesco’s unwritten norms or values. This phrase is built upon the idea that no customer should queue for a significant period of time, this links in to the general pace of work aspect of visible culture. The company like to have swift, and fast EPOS to allow the ‘I don’t queue’ to happen, therefore giving the customer a much happier time at the store. Again it is evident that Tesco do care about their customers, as a lot of their culture is based around them. However from an external view I can see that these policies do still amalgamate into the idea of maximum profits.

The final visible culture example is the management of Tesco. From an employee’s perspective, it is obvious to me that Tesco do revolve around the customer, each employee is constantly reminded of what to do, and how to approach customers, and that the sale doesn’t finish at the checkout, it finishes only when they become a regular customer with a satisfying service at Tesco.

Handy (1993) created four classifications of culture, power, role, task and person. Which all suit different types of organisational structure.

Ø  Power culture

Usually found in small-entrepreneurial businesses, the power culture is one with few rules and systems, and fast, quick and easy decisions. There are central powerful figures involved in the organisation. This culture is present in local corner shops and other small businesses.

Ø  Role culture

This is typical of a bureaucratic organisation and revolves around specialist people within finance, production, purchasing etc. Power is based around hierarchy level and work is decided via rules and regulations. People work to their job description, this culture is very much like Tesco’s ethos.

Ø  Task culture

Task culture is project/job orientated, where the task is key rather than individual’s or rules. This culture utilises the unifying power of the group and influence is widely spread with a lot of freedom. It is also based on expert power, rather than position, so this figure could change every time. A typical business for this is contractors, e.g. re-fit contractors at a store.

Ø  Person culture

This is where the individual is the central force of the organisation and any structure around the individual exists to serve the individual. There is no hierarchy and the organisations only interest is those within it. This is typical for barristers, builders, architects etc.

Classifying culture in the above four classifications can provide many problems. It doesn’t take personality into account, which can have a significant impact on how the business is run on a managerial level. The four types of culture are very systematic and are ‘by the book’. It doesn’t take into account personal values, or situations outside the workplace that can influence an employee. External and Internal culture can both be changed on a day to day basis, depending on the situation that the organisation is in at the time, therefore classifying them to the different groups is not always the best policy.

The culture of a business is an important aspect of running one. From a CEO to the customer, the culture is always present, and always evident, and an organisation needs the correct culture so that they are able to operate successfully and also satisfy customer needs.

Improving Staff Performance!

As explained in the previous blog, motivation is a driving force in life and in achievement. Content theories of motivation are one side of the coin; the other is the process theories of motivation.

Mullins (2010) says that process theories of motivation are ‘concerned with how behaviour is initiated, directed and sustained, i.e. the actual process of motivation’.

There is a specific difference in content theories and process theories. Mullins (2010) states that the content theories place emphasis on the nature of needs and what motivates, and that the process theories are more concerned with the actual process of motivation. The key difference is the idea that content theories have set stages of needs whereas the process theories look at how the person is actually motivated.

 In an organisation such as Tesco, it is important that staff motivation is high. Due to the nature of the work and the structure of the organisation, alternative theories of motivation are relevant and used.  Vroom’s expectancy theory is relevant for the high level of employees in Tesco, such as managers and head office. At the first-level outcome, the employee will gain recognition for the high productivity and performance and then they may access the second-level outcomes by moving up the Tesco employee ‘ladder’.  On a more visible level, i.e. checkouts at Tesco, the equity theory is more than evident. There are many different roles around the checkouts  at Tesco, and speaking with employees, some feel hard done by due to the fact that the ‘team leaders’ have ‘favourites’ to which they hand out the same roles to. This means that it isn’t giving each individual enough equity within the workplace, this de-motivates the worker. Looking around the Tesco careers website, it became apparent that they have a scheme to bring about goal-setting. Tesco’s values awards give awards to employees who meet targets, impress customer’s and pass the mystery shopper. This is a scenario of the Locke’s goal theory. The goal is set and employees work toward achieving the goal and gain the awards. (http://www.tesco-careers.com/home/working/rewards-and-benefits)

The process theories of motivation definitely improve staff performance as they help to motivate the employees in achieving goals and in working harder for the organisation. Recognition for this also improves the motivation of the employee and does have an impact on the employees output for the company.

Motivation!

Mullins (2008) states that motivation is ‘the driving force within individuals by which they attempt to achieve some goal in order to fulfil some need or expectation’.

Mullins (2008) also states that content theories of motivation ‘attempt to explain those specific things which actually motivate the individual at work and are concerned with identifying people’s needs, the strength of those needs and the goals they pursue in order to satisfy those needs’.

The content theory which has been most relevant to me in my life is ’Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’.  This theory is about satisfying a person’s needs at different levels. There are 5 levels to this, and they are each of different importance.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Physiological needs are somewhat essential for life, safety, to a degree, is also an essential to live a healthy life. Love is another essential feature of life as everyone needs ‘caring’ or ‘belonging’ to a cause. Esteem and Self-actualisation is brought about through achievement and success and is something individuals want, rather that need. This is also referred to the ‘highest point’ of a person’s life. To achieve the top needs, a person must have the lower levels of this hierarchy.

Motivation was a key aspect for my decision to start Business & Sports Management at degree level. It really fills out the Esteem part of this theory. The reason for me being at university is so I can achieve the qualification of a degree, which in turn will help me to self-actualise. Achieving the degree will be beneficial to my future as it will help me to get a good job, and have a successful career. This is my motivation for seeing out the 3 year course. The idea of self-actualising, and reaching the highest point in life really is my motivation for doing this degree course.

Along with the university course, I also have a part-time job at Tesco. There was an opportunity for me to advance in my role at Tesco, and taking a role in the Phone Shop, however a corporate decision to eliminate this position meant that I could not take up the role and this left me de-motivated. When I was denied this opportunity, my esteem was lost, I felt less confident, not very respected, and I didn’t gain the achievement.  According to Hertzberg’s two factor theory, http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_herzberg_two_factor_theory.html , this would have damaged my ‘motivators’ at the time, affecting my confidence, and especially my own growth and advancement. To regain the motivation for work, my manager re-assured me that if the position became available once more, I would get the first opportunity in taking it. This helped motivate myself once again. There isn’t much that I could have done differently, as it was an external reason for my de-motivation.

Doing this research on my own personal motivation, I have realised that every aspect of my university course and my part-time work relates to motivation in one form or another. The idea of Maslow’s self-actualisation is realistic, everyone needs to be safe, and loved, however everyone wants to achieve the best that they can, and this is also what I feel like I want from this degree. To achieve the highest that one can achieve, they must be motivated to doing it; otherwise it will not be achieved.