What are the key factors/ indicators behind employee motivation in organizations?
Running Head: EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION 1
A critical review of key factors in the motivation of employees in the Pakistan Cables Company
Student’s Name:
Institution:
EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION 2
Introduction
Pakistan Cables Limited is a 65-year old company that was founded in 1953. It is registered
and incorporated in Pakistan. The company’s key mandate revolves around manufacturing of
electronic equipment and distribution of electronic products that are used in different industries.
The company is also a leading manufacturer of lasers, smart cards, bar scanners, fingerprinting
equipment, among other electronic factory equipment. About 99 percent of the materials used by
the company to manufacture wires and cables come from pure copper.
The organization’s vision is to be the company of choice for customers and partners, for
wires and cables as well as other engineering products. The mission of the company is sub-
branched into three. The first section of the mission statement envisages the organization as having
ethical operational foundation, which supports maximization of profits and satisfaction of the
needs and interests of customers and other stakeholders. The second dimension of the company’s
mission endeavors to strengthen its industry leadership in the manufacturing and marketing of wire
and cables, making its presence strong in the market for engineering products while at the same
time retaining options to participate in other profitable business undertakings. The third and last
dimension of the company’s mission foresees the organization participating actively in the socio-
economic development of the country through being responsible citizens (Exhibitors TV Network,
2013).
In light with the company’s vision and mission, employees are an integral part of the
stakeholders whose welfare and motivation is very crucial in realizing the long-term profitability
and sustainability objective of the organization (Exhibitors TV Network, 2013). Throughout the
65-year period of the company’s life, the organization has relied on the unwavering effort of its
employees in pushing and realizing its objectives, vision and mission. This was possible because
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the team of the organization’s employees has been motivated to give their best to achieve their full
productivity. The aim of this assignment thus is carry out a critical review of the key factors behind
the motivation of the company’s employees.
Employee motivation
Marisa (2005) defines employee motivation as an intrinsic and internal initiative that
organizations embark on with the sole aim of providing an incentive to workers to put concerted
action and effort towards work-related activities. It is important for companies to promote
employee motivation since it is linked to satisfaction and contentment of employees with what
they do, a factor that plays an important role in promoting the drive of employees towards work.
Motivation of employees is similarly related to the morale and incentive that workers have to
perform their job activities with diligence and with as minimal push and supervision as possible.
Hossain (2017) similarly notes that motivation of employees has to do with providing the
right incentives to workers with an aim of positively influencing attitudes and behaviors of workers
towards work. This plays an important role in promoting employee morale and the self-drive to
perform effectively and efficiently for enhanced outcome. Employees who are highly motivated
establish and associate themselves with the goals and objectives of the company for which they
work, develop a sense of belonging and identification with the vision, objectives and mission of
the organization and thus dedicate their energy and effort towards maximizing their effort and
productivity for the greater benefit of the organization. If the objective of continuously motivating
employees at the workplace so that they can manifest enhanced performance is to be achieved,
then organizations such as Pakistan Cables Limited need to create a framework that has the right
factors and indicators for promoting morale and motivation of workers. In the examination of the
vision and mission statements for the company, it was found that employees are an important
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stakeholders that the company creates policies for to ensure they are satisfied and motivated with
an aim of translating in increased performance.
Key employee motivating factors for Pakistan Cables
The company has a sound institutional framework that plays an important role in creating
the conducive factors and indicators necessary for promotion of motivation of employees. These
factors are critically reviewed in the sections that follow.
Human Resources Department
The company prides itself in having a robust human resources department that plays an
important role in designing policies that promote the welfare of employees thus promoting their
motivation. The company’s leadership organogram makes it clear that the functions of the
company can’t be executed holistically in absence of a sound human resources department. The
presence of this department particularly addresses issues that pertain welfare of employees through
creation of an institutional and legal framework that enables action to be taken in light with the
interests of the company as well as those of workers. Since the establishment of the company in
1953, the human resources department has crafted more than 20 institutional policies that promote
better working conditions for workers, better and competitive remuneration, health insurance
cover, paid leave, capacity building engagements, the recruitment process, overtime compensation,
as well as on-the-job training of workers in order to make workers more competent. The company’s
human resources department has been successful catering for the welfare of at least 489 employees
in Pakistan since its inception. In absence of an autonomous human resources department, it would
be difficult for the welfare affairs of these many employees to be addressed in an holistic and
effective manner. The presence of the department is therefore an important factor behind
motivation of employees in the organization since their grievances, welfare, concerns and
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obligations to the company are holistically handled and addressed. The department also plays an
important role in boosting the morale and motivation of the workers through ensuring a
competitive recruitment process that ensures that employees with more or less similar personality
join the company and participate actively in the operational activities of the organization. Policy
issues regarding who to be employed, the remuneration, and other organizational aspects such as
culture and values of the company are envisaged by the human resources department and embraced
by all employees. Having a common culture and system of values in the organization is very
important in promoting common behavior and attitude towards work. This also plays an important
role in promoting the motivation of workers which in turn translates to increased productivity.
Employee welfare committee
The 2017 Annual Report of Pakistan Cables Limited postulates that the company has set
aside an employee welfare committee whose mandate is to consider employee grievances that are
related to their welfare as well as creating new programs that can be used to promote the welfare
of the employees. The committee also plays an important role in coming up with policy
pronouncements pertaining remuneration terms of executive directors, executive officers, senior
management personnel, ordinary employees and non-executive board members. Although the
mandate of the committee greatly revolves around setting acceptable monetary remuneration
policy and terms for the employees, it also plays an important role in promoting employee welfare
regarding non-monetary factors such as maternity leave, paternity leave, and welfare programs for
employees in times of need. This is very central in promotion of motivation of employees as it
ensures that any issues that may affect employee welfare in a negative manner are sorted out,
providing an assurance to them that the company cares about their welfare. The effectual outcome
of the actions of the employee welfare committee is enhanced employee satisfaction that translates
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to increased dedication and commitment to work, resulting to increased employee productivity and
increased profitability for the company.
On the job-training
Pakistan Cables Limited invests heavily in the improvement of the human capital of its
employees through paid on-the-job training. The company considers its employees to be the
greatest asset and this informs its strive to invest in them through various forms of training while
on the job. The company ensures that it attracts, hires and retains the most qualified and talented
employees as an asset for innovative and creativity that is so important in driving growth of the
company. The company, through the human resources department, identifies the most dedicated
employees and rewards them through provision of training scholarships while still on the job. This
plays a very important role in boosting the morale and motivation of the other employees to work
and perform at their optimal levels. So long as employees are high qualified, exhibit remarkable
capability through holistic execution of their mandate, they are rewarded through on-the-job
training to even enhance their skills and knowledge the more. This plays the role of boosting the
morale and motivation employees as they develop the sense of belonging and appreciation.
Through spending its resources to educate and train the employees, the company sends a message
to the employees that it values them, that they are part and parcel of the greater community and
family created by the company and that the company is willing to support their individual
development. This makes the employees to feel appreciated and valued, and they get obliged to
reciprocate through enhanced effort and dedication to their work. During the 2017 financial year,
for instance, the company conducted various in-house trainings that aimed at instilling soft skills
to the employees. This is an important factor in the promotion of the morale and motivation of
workers, thus making them get dedicated to high performance. The reasoning is that employees
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view such trainings as an investment that the company is investing in them, for the own benefit
and that of the company, at the company’s expense and this works pretty well in promotion of
motivation of employees. The manner in which the company arranged the 2017 in-house and
external training was tailored on the specific departments of the company and their needs, with the
objective of promoting technical skills needed in the departments. The gesture by the company to
expend resources towards their training means that the company in dedicated in keeping the
employees being trained as important parts of its workforce, a factor that makes employees feel
appreciated and valued as the organization they work for is dedicated in protecting and securing
their future. The specific departs of the Pakistan Cables Limited that benefited from the on-the-job
training of employees are the production department, human resources department, supply
management and finance personnel departments. The company designs these types of trainings in
such a manner that they meet the specific short-term and long-term departmental needs and in most
instances they can last weeks or even months depending on the type of skills being imparted to
workers. Actions that aim at boosting morale and motivation of workers like the sense that they
are valued and appreciated. When the company considers them as indispensable assets in its
growth trajectory, the employees develop as sense of belonging and they work with the best interest
of the going concern aspect of the business in their heart (Pakistan Cables, 2017).
In Pakistan Cables Limited, development of human capital also take another angle. In order
to develop leadership capacity that can be tapped for growth in the future, the organization is
known to fund a one-year educational certification for high potential employees through an off-
the-job training arrangement. This allows employees to take study leave from the organizations
for a period of one year and only come back to the company after they have successfully
participated in such training. This type of training is extended to the company’s executives and it
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ensures that current leaders who exhibit high potential for greatness in the near future gain unique
experience that transcends beyond the their company’s industry. In 2017 financial year, for
instance, the company expended resources towards training of executives to gain business
perspectives that are not only unique but also wide enough to give them the exposure needed to
handle intra-industry challenges and institutional policies that place the company at a competitive
advantage. Capacity building is another important factor that the company utilizes to impart
knowledge and skills to its employees. It has been holding recreational trainings at the end of the
year that specifically target the sales team and other workers from various other departments for
purposes of team building and freshening up at the year end at in readiness for the massive tasks
for the following year. During this exercise, the employees get to interact with one another,
establish personal links and ties, become more of friends than just work colleagues, and promote
the morale and motivation of the workers. When the workers interact during such team building
exercises, they get to share their fears, challenges, secrets and concerns and if need be they can
team up and raise them to the respective departments for address. Team building further creates
cohesiveness, oneness, and a sense of community and appreciation that is linked to the values and
culture of the company as well as employee morale and motivation (Pakistan Cables, 2017).
Educational scholarships
Pakistan Cables Limited motivates its employees through provision of educational
scholarships to their children. Specifically, the move by the company to offer these types of
scholarships to children of its employees aims at creating a family-like coexistence between the
workers, their families and the company. In the 2017 financial year for example, the company
extended scholarships to children of its employees. The move appreciates the most talented
children of the company’s employees. This play a very critical role in creating an environment that
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is characterized by pride, sense of belonging, appreciation and enhancing the commitment of the
workers to the strategic direction of the company through enhancement of their productivity and
performance. It is important to note that when children go school under the sponsorship of the
company, they would also want to come back and work for the company in the future after they
have completed their studies. Despite being a way of giving back to the society, the move by the
company is a very wise move because it is an investment into the future workforce. When children
who have been given the scholarship by the company meet at home with their parents, they talk
positively about the company and this serves as an encouragement for the parents to work hard in
the company. It also nudges the parents to motivate their kids back at home to do their best in
schools and come to join the company’s workforce in the future. This factor is very effective
because it is an indirect investment in to the company’s potential workforce in the future. It
becomes technically very hard for a company whose employees have their children being educated
by the company to have low morale and motivation. It makes the workers to be conscious that the
company actually values them and their family and is willing to support them during the time of
need. Consequently, employees who find themselves in such a working environment, are highly
motivated to work with diligence and be highly productive in their tasks for reciprocate the good
actions extended to them by the company (Pakistan Cables, 2017).
Long service awards
Since its establishment in 1953, Pakistan Cables Limited has been motivating its employees
through provision of awards to the longest serving employees. The awards, from a critical point of
view, serve two important purposes. The first one is to say thank you to employees who have
dedicated all their lifetime to the service of the company and exhibit gratitude and appreciation to
them. These employees, even when they retire from working for the company, remain good
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ambassadors of the organization in the communities where they live. They have the morale and
motivation to carry the brand and reputation of the company wherever they go during their
retirement years. Due to the high morale and motivation and morale they have out of the best
memories with the company that they harbor, these employees play a better role of encouraging
and linking talented potential workers with the company. This way, the company continues to
benefit from reciprocity that emanates from having found a job through a respected referral in the
company. On the second front, provision of awards to the long serving employees of the company
plays and important role in motivating the young employees in the company that they are working
in a family environment where every worker and stakeholder is valued, treasured and appreciated.
The current employees are thus motivated to double their efforts in the company and work
diligently knowing that their efforts are not in vain because when they reach the retirement age,
they will never be released the company without being appreciated for their effort. The gesture is
also very important in that it serves to reduce the employee turnover in the company. This way,
the company is able to realize employee retention while keeping hiring costs as low as possible.
Another important factor associated with provision of long service awards to employees, which
comes in form of monetary form as a token of appreciation is experience and specialization of
employees in performance of their duties and tasks in the company. In most instances, employees
may be demotivated because they are performing tasks and roles that are new to them or roles that
they do not properly understand. This setback, as far as Pakistan Cables Limited is concerned, is
ameliorated against by the award of long service in that employees are encouraged to stick with
the company for the longest period possible, and this comes with enhanced experience and
specialization which promotes employee productivity in the fields of their expertise. When
employees have performed the same task over and over again for a long period of time, they start
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to like what they are doing and in the process waking up and going to work, and sometimes even
leaving work at odd hours of the day, becomes something inherent in them. This is the outcome of
a highly motivated workforce (Pakistan Cables, 2017).
Employee share scheme
Over the years, Pakistan Cables Limited has become a rea leader in the cables industry
through the robust manner in which it treats its employees. In 2017, for instance, the company
played a very critical role in creation of a sense of ownership and belonging among the employees
through allowance of employees to exercise the option of buying shares in the company and
becoming owners of the company. This relates to motivation of employees because, as the theory
of rationality rightly postulates, human beings are self-interested and they endeavor to act in
manner that promotes the outcome of self-interest. This means that immediately the Pakistan
Cables Limited created the framework for the employees to purchase the company shares and
become shareholders, a signal was send to them that they were not only working for the wages and
salaries that they received, but that they were also working for themselves, albeit indirectly. If they
double their efforts in execution of their mandate to the company, then they benefit twice, through
wages and salaries and through dividends paid to them by the virtue of being shareholders or
owners of the company. This is an immense source of motivation and morale for employees who
strive to maximize their self-interest that they get motivated and moralized to work hard and
perform at the highest possible levels. If this happens, then the company’s performance and
profitability soars high and the employees benefit from dividends that the company issues to its
shareholders. The idea of Pakistan Cables Limited offering employees shares for purchase is thus
very effective in promoting the morale and motivation of the workers. In 2017 alone, a whopping
$ 6,273,903 were distributed to the employees of the company in form of dividend earnings that
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greatly boosted the incomes, morale and motivation of the organization’s workers (Pakistan
Cables, 2017). During the 2018 financial year, the company recommended dividends of Rs. 3.5
per share. The dividend payouts improved incomes of shareholders who are employees, making
them to get more motivated and double their effort in work.
Employee bonus scheme
Pakistan Cables Limited has robust employee bonus scheme that serves the motivating role
of ensuring employees in the company double their efforts at the workplace. In 2015, 2016, and
2017, for instance, the company retained the employee bonus scheme of 8% of the company’s
revenues. Specifically, $ 1,732,494, $ 2,209,389, and $ 2,331,375 were spend towards employee
bonus scheme in the three years respectively. As it can be seen, the amount that has been going
towards the employee bonus scheme has been rising over the three-year period. The implication is
that the amount that has been going to the employees of the company as bonus compensation has
been increasing and every employee has thus been receiving more bonus for each of the three
years. The bonus scheme is a great motivating factor in the lives of the employees. The reason is
that workers are rational economic agents who seek to maximize their individual welfare.
Although there are so many way of maximizing individual welfare of employees, improving their
disposable income is the most effective one, since the income is the only directly measurable price
for the labor they supply to the company. As such, any action that improves the incomes of the
employees such as bonus earnings serves as very unique and great motivation to the employees of
the company. It pays a very critical role of making employees double their effort at work, serve
the company with dedication, be loyal to the company and also stick with the company for the
longest possible working life. When an employee expects to earn bonus earnings, they become
tied to the company and in a way discourages huge employee turnover because, strictly speaking,
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there are very few other companies that issue bonus payments to their workers. It becomes difficult
for the employees to leave the company for any other organization simply because of the benefits
they are receiving. The benefits play very crucial role in raising morale and motivation of the
workers. It is therefore very important that Pakistan Cables Limited keeps its objective of
motivating the employees through provision of bonus earnings to them. Another important role of
employee bonus schemes is that it makes workers feel appreciated, valued, adored and cherished
by the organization. In return, the employees reciprocate by extending all their energy to the
company for an even greater success (Pakistan Cables, 2017).
Health and safety
Michael (1988) posits that employees, being the rational economic agent who they are,
while deciding on whether to take job offers from companies and whether to stick with the
company for a very long period of time do not only consider the monetary gains they obtain from
wage earnings. They also carefully look at non-wage benefits such as the general health and safety
of the working environment. Employees know very well that they can only be able to work and
effectively do so when they are assured of a healthy and safe working environment. A safe and
healthy working environment is a source of motivation to employees to give their full effort in the
production process of the company without having to be distracted by the worries that they are
working in an unsafe environment. Pakistan Cables Limited has a clear and robust institutional
framework that the company has put in place to ensure health and safety of workers at while at the
company. In the 2017 annual report, the company reports that ensuring the health and wellbeing
of its employees, customers and other key stakeholders is one of its major concerns. The report
asserts that securing health and safety of workers in the organization is an ongoing process that is
intertwined with the organization’s objectives and strategic direction. It must be understood that
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Pakistan Cables Limited is a firm, and according to the theory of the firm, it is obsessed with
maximizing its profits while minimizing operational costs at the same time. If the organization
does ensure that the working environment is safe, the it has to incur costs to treat or compensate
workers who sustain injuries while at the work. In other perspective, the firm as a rational
economic agent that seeks to maximize profits, would not be able to realize that objective if
employees have sustained injuries related to unsafety of the working environment. The objective
of profitability can only be realized if and only if the health and safety of employees is ensured.
The major health and safety measures that Pakistan Cables Limited has embraced as source
of employee motivation range from carrying out of a comprehensive risk assessment controls,
work permits, holistic emergency response mechanisms and timely incident reporting. Work
permits ensure that only authorized employees gain access to certain areas that may be risky and
that ensures that incidences of injury emanating from unsafety of the work environment are
reduced. The comprehensive risks assessment controls play a very significant role in ensuring that
the health and safety of the entire working environment is assured. More specifically, the company
ensures that are newly hired employees undergo the process of safety orientation. They are also
requested to sign affidavits that they are aware of the health and safety measures of the company.
In addition to the orientation of new employees on the safety procedures of the company, there are
external and internal of new and existing employees about health and safety measures that the
company may be implementing or contemplating to implement in the future. More specifically,
Pakistan Cabled Limited motivates current and potential employees who may want to join the
company through dengue prevention, training of safe removal of waste, road safety of workers,
fire and first aid safety during emergencies. In the 2017 annual report, for example, the company
reports that among other trainings that it engaged in, an employee health and safety awareness
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safety was conducted to create awareness among employees. The training touched on the
importance of environment and health related issues through a platform that encouraged dialogue
between the key stakeholders, employees included. Additionally, the company has taken measures
to ensure there is an always ready ambulance facility at the working sites, specially dedicated
smoking zones, a very robust system of addressing fire emergencies that is fitted with fire hydrant.
The company takes pride in having certification in food safety. The company ensures that food
packaging materials such tissues are processed and transported and stored through adoption and
implementation of hygiene standards and controls. Since employees can’t just work without eating,
that serves as a source of energy rejuvenation, ensuring health and safety measures through having
certifications serves as an important motivating factor that informs current and potential employees
while making decisions as to whether or not to join the company. In the recent years, the company
has embraced even more robust health and safety measures. They range from taking concerted
focus towards to improving areas on behavioral safety as well as control of risks through
embracing new and sophisticated engineering technology. The company is also embracing holistic
administrative and leadership measures to ensure there is efficiency in communication and
conveyance of information that can help reduce and avert possible risks and accidents to employees
at the place of work. These factors are very important and critical to employees since they capture
all the non-monetary considerations that current and potential employees embrace with the sole of
ensuring that the satisfaction at the work place is assured and promoted. When the health and safety
of the workplace has been assured and secured, then they get motivated to accept new job offers
if they are new employees or get their satisfaction maximized if they are existing workers. This
further gives employees peace of mind to perform their tasks effectively for the greater good of
themselves and the entire organization (Pakistan Cables, 2017).
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In the many years the company has been in existence, it has also been promoting the health
of its employees through creation of an health insurance scheme that ensures that the health
concerns of its employees are addressed. The company, through the insurance benefits scheme,
makes monetary contributions with a health insurance company to ensure that employees get
access to quality health care when they fall sick. This is rational for the company in that when
employees are able to get quality medical attention when sick, then the number of unproductive
days spend by the employee seeking medication attention in hospitals is reduced. In such a
situation, employees spend the better part of their working life healthy and productively engaged
in the production process of the company. Similarly, the move to make monetary contributions for
the sole purpose of promoting the health of the workers is important to the workers because they
are freed from distractions and concerns about their health. They are assured that they will be able
to get the necessary medical attention when sick and this improves their morale and motivation at
the place of work. The initiative by the company also serve the sole purpose of sending a message
to the employees that their company appreciates, values, and cares for them. It creates a sense of
belonging, gratitude and communal cohesiveness that makes the employees to develop the urge
and need to reciprocate through doubling of their efforts at the place of work.
Fair price shop for employees
Pakistan Cables Limited is an organization that values and appreciates the importance of
its employees so much that it has established a fair price shop for it employees. The shop facilitates
catering for the grocery and other needs of its employees through provision of goods and services
through subsidized prices. Items like pulses are sold to employees at subsidized prices. Other items
that the fair price shop prices provides to employees are clothes. These items are provided to the
employees on a principle of no profit or no loss principle but subsidies are greatly provided. So
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how do fair prices serve as a source of motivation to employees? The answer is that, as asserted
previously, employees are rational economic agents who want to maximize the satisfaction they
derive from the value of their money. It does not make any economic or financial sense for an
employee to go looking for the same item at far places, where they will incur transport costs, and
end up purchasing the same item at higher price. It is only feasible and economically sensible for
the employees to purchase the subsidized items provided by the company in the fair price shop
because they are of the same quality, same material, same everything. The employees do not
become worse off by purchasing items from the fair price shop. Another important linkage to
motivation of employees comes in that it is the company that is establishing the fair price shop, a
gesture is send to the employees that the company they work for actually cares for their welfare.
When this is the case, the employees are motivated to concentrate on work and real performance
in discharging their work duties with the knowledge that their welfare is catered for and addressed
by the company. This is a great source of motivation and morale to employees. It sends the message
to the workers that just as the company is taking care of their welfare, so should they through
performing at the maximum and optimal level possible for the benefit of everyone in the company.
The essence of creating a fair price shop create a community that cares about the welfare of
everyone in that ecosystem. It creates a sense of belonging, a sense of being loved, a sense of
family, a sense of responsibility and the subsequent urge to reciprocate to the good deeds done to
the employees by the company through enhanced productivity. When the company sends the signal
to its employees that it actually cares for their needs and welfare, the employees develop a sense
of commitment, dedication and responsibility that translates to enhanced profitability performance
of the company. In scenario like this, the employees are likely to look for apartments or dwelling
quarters within or around the compound of the company. When this happens, the employees
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establish their families within the ecology of the company and this subsequently makes the family
members to be motivated to join the company as workers or to accord their relatives working with
the company the best support they need. This is very important in creating an ecology and
community of responsibility, dedication, commitment and diligence at works for the good of the
employees themselves, their families and relatives, and the general company for which they work
in general.
Customer satisfaction
The employees of Pakistan Cables Limited form a part of the organization’s customers
(Pakistan Cables, 2018). The company is a market leader in the industry, an implication that
indicates that it enjoys monopoly power in the manufacturing and distribution of the products.
Since the products are dominant in the market, the employees of the company form part of the
clientele target in the sales and marketing campaigns. In order to ensure employees who are
customers, just as the other normal customers, the company has put measures in place to promote
the satisfaction of customers. The specific measures that the company has undertaken in recent
times to promote the welfare and satisfaction of the employee customers, just as the other normal
customers range from provision of credit facilities, loyalty club rewards and trade discounts.
Further, the organization has put holistic measures in place to ensure continuity in testing
mechanism that seek to promote the quality of the products purchased by the customers. There are
also after-sales services. This factor serves an important role in attracting the employees of the
company to also become customers who purchase and consume the products of the company that
they have been involved in production. The motivation aspect of the employees arises from the
fact that since they know they form a segment of the customers that the company targets in the
market, then they have no option but to produce high quality products.
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Non-discrimination
Barry and Edward (2012) explain workplace discrimination as one of the factors that
adversely affect the employee motivation, leading to a decline in the morale of an employee and
subsequent decrease in marginal productivity. Discrimination of employees at the workplace may
take the form of wage discrimination along gender or racial lines, racial sentiment, exploitation of
workers as well as providing preferential treatment to some workers while not according the same
treatment and privileges to some other segment of workers. Discrimination at the place of work
may also take the form of nepotism where potential employees get jobs on the basis of their
relationship with senior workers in a company. It may also manifest in a manner where current
employees may get some privileges that other employees have no access to on the basis of their
social capital connections with senior management personnel in the same company. When
employees with same academic qualification and same professional skills and experience are not
treated the same in terms of what they earn, the respect they are accorded at the workplace, the
length of hours they put into work in a day, then questions start to arise as to what may be
happening. The sentiment, attitude and perception that some employees are being treated better
than others in an organization is a huge source of low morale and demotivation at the workplace.
Employees are human beings with a sense of self-esteem, self-worth and self-actualization and
when they are not recognized for their contributions in the company, then that can be a huge
discouragement affecting their effort and incentive to work hard.
In realization of the catastrophic effects of discrimination at the place of work, Pakistan
Cables has come up with a policy that advocates for zero tolerance to discrimination of workers in
the organization. Specifically, the company advocates for equal pay for equal amount of work
done, promotes equality of earnings across gender so long as skills, experience and academic
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experience are the same. The company also respects employees for who they are and not for what
they do. This ensures that watchmen and senior management personnel in the company are treated
in the same respectful manner. The company equally does not tolerate any form of racial prejudice
against its employees and goes further to ensure that no section of employees receive preferential
treatment while others do not get such treatment. Particularly, the meetings in the company are
attended by every employee. This so irrespective of whether they are the most senior or the most
junior in the organization and during the proceedings of the meetings, the opinions and
contributions of every employee are appreciated and respected. Such an environment is very
important in providing motivation, synergy, morale and resolution among employees to see and
treat each other with respect and dignity. When employees create the attitude, belief and the
perception of being respected and treated in the same manner, then they get motivated to double
their effort in work and enhance their individual and team productivity. An environment where
every employee and their contribution is respected is conducive for ensuring that the employees
are happy with what they do, are happy with their work, and are highly motivated to go beyond
their limits for the sake of the company they work for. It is therefore imperative for Pakistan Cables
Limited to continue with creation and implementation of similar policies that ensure discrimination
of employees is discouraged as bad and socially undesirable. Discrimination at the place of work
may take the form of discriminating against employees on the basis of their ability or disability.
The non-discrimination policy embraced by the company also plays a very important role in
eliminating discrimination against employees with physical disability or any other apparent form
of disability. Employees with physical disability, for instance, are not denied job opportunities in
the company just because they have a disability. In most instances they are given priority as long
as they have the necessary academic and professional qualification and experience. According job
EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION 21
opportunities to workers with physical disability also serves the role of bringing the image of
diversity and tolerance to the organization and making the other employees to learn how to respect
everyone in the company. When the employees with physical disabilities are protected by the
company and realize that there is a culture of respect and appreciation from the other employees,
they become motivated to work hard and prove that disability is not inability.
Retirement benefits scheme
Viscus (1979) argues that mechanisms created by an organization that seek to promote the
welfare of the current employees once they retire as important in motivating employees to become
loyal and dedicated to giving their highest possible performance to the company. Employees,
despite being interested in their current welfare status, are also interested in their welfare during
retirement. They know and appreciate the fact that they can’t work eternally and so there is a day
when they will need to take a break and retire from work. The questions they normally have are
whether they will be able to sustain their current lifestyles and welfare during retirement and this
becomes a huge issue affecting motivation of workers. The move by organizations to set aside a
retirement benefits scheme for its employees serves several roles. Firstly, so long as the benefits
are only available to those employees who have worked all their life with the company, this
prevents high incidences of employee turnover. It also helps the company avoid incurring the high
costs associated with having to hire new employees every now and then, and makes the company
greatly benefit from the increased specialization and experience of employees that comes with
working with the company for quite time. Secondly, it creates a sense of ownership, belonging,
care, appreciation and responsibility among the workers. The employees get to understand what
the company is doing is actually for their own welfare and thus they get morale and motivation to
EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION 22
double their effort at work knowing that if the company makes supernormal profits, then higher
chunks of money will go to the retirement benefits scheme that will benefit them upon retirement.
In this connection to this, Pakistan Cables Limited has established staff retirements scheme
that comprises of funded pension allowances and unfunded gratuity. In 2016 and 2017, the
company spend Rs. 49 and Rs. 42 million respectively towards staff pension scheme. This money
goes to employees of the company who are retired. It is a great source of motivation for employees
in the company because they have a sense of security regarding their future. It motivates the
employees to give their maximum possible effort to the production process in the company
knowing that the higher the profits the company makes, the higher the share that goes to the
retirement. It is also important to note that due to the fact that the company has staff retirement
scheme, it reports very minimal employee turnover and this is driven by the fact that employees
are motivated to stick with the company so that they can be able to reap the retirement benefits
once the attain the retirement age. Specifically, the company operates a defined benefit funded
scheme for its permanent employees with the management bracket who had joined the company
before the year 2009. The unfunded gratuity scheme caters for the retirement concerns of all other
permanent employees. Since the funded retirement scheme is more lucrative, it offers motivation
to employees to double their effort in the company with the sole aim of gaining career promotions
to join the managerial cadre that offers the most attractive retirement pension cover. Despite the
unfunded gratuity scheme being less attractive, it can be said to be a huge source of morale and
motivation to employees because their retirement concerns are addressed nevertheless. The
scheme creates an environment where employees feel valued, appreciated and valued by the
company and this makes them to reciprocate through increased effort and productivity to attain the
objectives of the company. The scheme also motivates the employees to stick with the company
EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION 23
for the longest possible time, thus ameliorating against employee turnover that is associated with
loss of expertise and skills to the company.
Job promotions and career progressions
Robert (1992) argues that one of the factors that demoralize and demotivate employees is
working on the same job position for too long without promotions in terms of new positions or
wage increments. Policy frameworks that ensure employees to get demotivated due to lack of job
promotions and career progressions are thus very important in any organization. The objective of
any rational and utility maximizing employee is to realize attain career growth. This is only
possible if the organization has a framework of ensuring that employees who have worked for
given period of time in a given job position, attain job progression. In cases where promoting
employees to new positions is untenable, it is important that the company creates a framework that
ensures motivation of employees is realized through salary and wage increments.
In light of the above proposition, Pakistan Cables Limited has created a framework that
ensures employees who have worked in same position for a period of at least ten years are
promoted to new positions and their wages are factored upwards. It is an important gesture to
employees because it ensures they have a reason, that doubles to be a motivation, to not leave the
company as they are assured of promotions after working in their current position for a given
number of years. Working in the same position for excessively too long is known to be associated
with monotony, fatigue, loss of focus and decreased incentive to perform efficiently. This is
mitigated through creating a framework that promotes career progression of employees. Career
progression is, however, not only tied to wage increments and new positions. It also entails
employees being able to gain new exposures and experiences within the same industry but with
different firms or stakeholders. The company has created a robust framework that ensures
EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION 24
employees attend workshops, conferences and board meetings with workers from different firms
with the aim of reducing fatigue associated with job monotony while at the same time ensuring the
employees of the company gain new skills and experiences. It also plays an important role in
helping employees to freshen up and resume their work with renewed energy.
Paid leave and holidays
Pakistan Cables Limited motivates its employees through offering them paid leave and
holiday opportunities. Once in a year, the employees are free to take official leave of up to one
month (Pakistan Cables, 2018). This plays an important role in the morale and motivation of the
employees to stick and work with the company. When the employees are able to go for holidays
and still receive their normal earnings, then they get motivated to put more effort to the company’s
course of achieving profitability objective. The organization similarly offers paid maternity and
paternity leaves for employees who are expecting new children. This plays an important role of
forming a community that is perceived to be caring, loving and concerned about the interest and
welfare of the employees. The employees develop a sense of belonging, worth and appreciation
and get motivated to double their effort in work for increased productivity of the company.
Flexible working schedule
The company has created a flexible working schedule for its employees. In most instances,
employee within managerial positions in the company do not have to attend meetings and
conferences physically. The company has created the option of employees attending meetings and
conferences through video links. This is a source of motivation to employees because they can
even work from the comfort of their homes so long as they work diligently and deliver.
EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION 25
In conclusion, Pakistan Cables Limited has a very elaborate framework that has numerous
important factors and indicators necessary for creation and promotion of employee motivation.
The organization should continue strengthening these factors for the end goal of realizing a
cohesive and desirable work environment for all employees.
EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION 26
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