Theoretical Foundation on motivation
The Hertzberg‟s, (1968) motivation- hygiene theory of job satisfaction and job
embeddedness theory guided the study by (Mitchellet al., 2001).
Two Factor Theory of Motivation
Hertzberg believes that every worker has two sets of needs (motivational and hygiene
needs). He contends that employees in this respect will stay in their work place so long as
their needs are satisfied and they are motivated. Failure to meet their needs would
automatically call for departure hence employee turnover. People are satisfied at their
work by factors related to content of that work. Those factors are called intrinsic
motivators and contain achievement, recognition, interesting work, responsibility,
advancement and growth. Factors that make people unhappy with their work are called
dissatisfies or hygiene factors. Herzberg found the following dissatisfies: company
policy, supervision, working conditions, interpersonal relationships, salary, status,
security. What makes them different from motivators is the fact that they are not related
to the content of the work but to the context of the job (Armstrong, 2007). The presence
of hygiene factors (unfair company policies and poor supervision) and the absence of
motivators (sense of achievement and recognition of achievement) cause employees to
quit. Therefore, it is imperative that in order to retain employees organizations find ways
of motivating employees to remain with the organization (Flegley, 2006). Organisation
attractiveness lies in its potential to provide high benefits for employees who in turn
facilitates higher productivity to achieve higher flexibility and competitive advantage
while remaining cost efficient and competitive (Bauer,2004). Guest, (2006) is of the view
that organisation would do better to increase their focus on intrinsic satisfaction rather
than extrinsic rewards if they are to improve commitment and motivation as key
ingredients for high performance. This means redesigning jobs to provide workers with
the challenge and opportunity for learning and a sense of fulfillment. He also notes that
if workers are able to be motivated by rewards, these needs to be valued rewards which
the workers accept as being awarded for his effort or performance. Retention means the
long-term relationship between employee and the organization. Effective implementation
of Employee retention strategies increase employee loyalty and minimize employee
turnover cost.
Job Embeddedness Theories
Mitchell et al., (2001) noted that job embeddedness theorizes that employees remain in
the organization as long as the inducements to stay there match or exceed their
expectations. Job embeddedness influences employee‟s decision to whether remain in the
company or leave. By being embedded in a job, the individual will be less likely to leave
the organization thus having a positive impact on their performance. As employees
participate in their professional and community life, they develop a web of connectness
and relationships on and off the job. Organizations should ensure that their employees are
job embedded as this will keep the individual from leaving the company hence resulting
to employee retention. Human resource practitioners should try and ensure that
employees are embedded to their jobs through the three dimensions of job embeddedness;
links, fit and sacrifice.
The links dimension describes the relationship the employee has with other people in the
organization. Organisations can manage links by providing employees with mentors
within, design work in teams, foster team cohesiveness. Examples include co-workers,
work groups, mentors friends relatives and so forth. Employees with numerous links to
other in their organisation and community are more embedded and would find it more
difficult to leave. By having good relations in the workplace will act as a way of
embedding the employee to their jobs and this can be accomplished by having a member
working in teams. The second dimension fit is described as the compatibility that an
employee has with their work and in the work place. Organisation can employ realistic
job preview, incorporate organisation fit into employee selection as well as provide clear
socialization and communication about the enterprises values and culture to realize
employee fitness into their new environment. Example is an employee whose product
knowledge is in that organisation and any other organisation has been a competitor, this
employee will feel fitted into this organisation exiting to counter the competitor.
Therefore, the human resource department should ensure that the individual‟s needs such
as career goals, personal values and plans for the future fit with the organizations goals
and plans. This will ensure that the employee feels tied to the organization thus ensuring
the employee is retained and have an increase in performance. Sacrifice is the third
dimensions in the job embeddedness theory. Sacrifice is the loss that an employee will
feel and bear when he/she decides to leave the organization. When the individual leaves
the organization he/she will have to lose interesting projects, attractive benefits and
compensation, working with colleagues who have grown close to as well as promotional
chances. Therefore, job embeddedness is beneficial to organizations when it comes to
retaining employees as it enables the firm to know why people decide to stay thus
creating appropriate retention strategies that suit the organization (Mitchell et al., 2001).
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