Key Indicators in the Motivation Of Employees of Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited

Introduction

Motivation is a physiological feature, which encourages employees to perform specific actions to attain some desired goals. Consequently, such actions provide direction and purpose to the specific behaviours. Therefore, the research explores the key motivational indicators, which encompass complex forces, needs, tensions, and mechanisms that trigger voluntary activity towards the achievements of the personal aims. Employee motivation implies that the management of an organisation should meet the workers’ needs and find alternative ways to influence their behaviours to attain the set goals. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt suitable approaches, including energising human-behaviour. It involves channelling human behaviour by enhancing goal-orientation for the employees. It is also necessary to support and maintain human behaviour, which enables employees to work harder and to maintain self-directed attitude towards more important goals (Armstrong 2006, 64).

Reason for the Chosen Research Topic

The topic on employee motivation has been chosen because it is one of the important concepts in the Human Resources Management (HRM). Its focus has attracted global attention due to the current dynamics, experienced in the information technology as well as globalisation. The companies are interested in attracting competent, skilled and experienced employees who can render better quality services, which enhance productivity. It is common knowledge that the companies incur much money in the recruitment exercise, and these high costs are compensated when the quality results are attained through high productivity of the company. This implies that the organisations have to use properly both financial and human resources capital to maintain and promote productivity. In addition, the topic has been chosen since there are many relevant sources of literature, which can be found online to facilitate the research work (Blyton & Turnbull 2006, p.56).

Reason for the Chosen Company

The company under analysis and research is Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited due to its popularity and the international outlook. Moreover, it has implemented better strategies as well as programmes aimed at attracting and retaining its employees. The strategies/programmes incorporate a defined benefit pension plan that acts as a financial security to the company’s employees during retirement (Cole 2003, p.67).

Research Objectives and Questions

The objective of this research and analysis is to explore different indicators/factors regarding employees’ motivation of the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited. The objective is to investigate various indicators/factors of employee motivation in the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited (Greene & Kirton 2005, p.137).

Research Questions

1. Are material/financial rewards the best indicator of employees’ motivation in Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited?
2. Is there correlation between the employee motivation of the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited and its financial performance?

Literature Review

According to Antonakis, Cianciolo & Sternberg (2004, p.39), employees are motivated to achieve certain goals, and they put much effort to realise their aspirations. Primary needs are good indicators that encourage the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited’s employees to fulfill correspondingly their duties in the respective areas. Moreover, affiliation and achievement are also important indicators that drive employees to excel (Antonakis, Cianciolo & Sternberg 2004, p. 34).

Armstrong (2006, p.71) studied that the employees of the company are motivated to reach the top position of their careers. The employees are aware that any position requires high responsibilities in order to meet the expectations of the company’s stakeholders. Job security drives employees to search for the work in a stable organisation that is certain of continuity. Employees do not want to face the challenges of moving from one employer to another. Therefore, the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited proves to be a stable company that meets the long-term interests of the employees, who do not risk losing their jobs easily. In addition, the employees can be motivated by power, and they can enjoy authority as well as exercising control of their duties (Armstrong 2006, p.73).

Armstrong (2006, p.72) affiliation motivates employees, who feel the sense of goodwill in the company. Moreover, transparent and fair promotion programs motivate employees to work harder than before they joined the company. The recruitment of the company does not exercise gender bias since both male and female fairly incorporate in the team (Armstrong 2006, p. 75). Medical schemes are offered to the newly employed workforce to meet their medical needs and to motivate them to remain committed to the company (Armstrong 2006, p. 77).

Cole (2006, p. 121) studied that the employees can be well-motivated by designing a suitable benefits package. The benefits package for the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited incorporates a wellness program to risk losing some of the best employees of the firm. Employee wellness is a major concern for many organisations, and this has compelled companies to employ corporate wellness program, which is incorporated as a crucial area for further research. The company offers corporate wellness to cover the expenses that they incur to improve the health of employees and associated medical claims that the company faces to cater for their sick employees. Consequently, this benefits package is also an advantage, which emphasises that the company encourages its employees to exercise. For example, using the gyms of the firm as well as walking the stairs instead of taking lifts. The benefits package of the wellness program drives the company to use more incentive rewards as a way of encouraging workers to exercise in order to improve their health (Cole 2006, p. 122).

According to Greene and Kirton (2005, p. 58), several corporations are currently embracing employee wellness program by providing incentives and different prises encouraging their workers to be healthier. Although such incentive perks that corporations offer their employees are expensive, they are geared towards attaining better results. Corporate wellness program is an essential benefits package because it improves workers’ health, reduces costs of claims payable to the employees, and it facilitates good returns that the company realises. Therefore, the organisation experiments different incentive models as a way of using the benefits obtained from the corporate wellness program (Greene & Kirton 2005, p. 59).

The benefits package of the corporate wellness program is significant to both employers and their employees. For example, the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited educates and encourages the workers under this program to complete questionnaires on their medical history. This program also incorporates their diet intake as well as fitness levels. In addition, the workers are encouraged to accept biometric screening to ascertain their blood pressure as well as cholesterol factors, which may cause ill health. Sickness and other health complications cost both the company and its workforce, thus the former encourages the latter to embrace the wellness program. Healthy employees are productive, and they have a good chance to develop their career. Furthermore, sick employees spend more time outside their job in clinics and hospitals instead of delivering quality services to the firm (Greene & Kirton 2005, p. 61).

Analysis and Discussion

Research Approach

A quantitative research design will be used to gather feedback, especially from employees regarding their motivation experiences in the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited. The selection of a quantitative approach for this study is appropriate because it represents the feelings of participants/employees working at the company (Legge, K 2005, p. 214). The present study on the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited’s employee motivation was focused on an approach through which they understand a phenomena perceived by the participants in order to test a hypothesis with a numerical construct (Beardwel & Claydon 2007, p. 96).

Information Gathered

In this research, the data was collected through public information such as announcement from internet and annual reports of the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited. Moreover, primary data was obtained from the conducted survey, and Equity Preference Questionnaire (EPQ) was administered to 60 employees of Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited (MUTI) 30 of which are Front Office staff (comprising of salespeople and traders). The remaining 30 workers are Middle and Back Office staff. The methods included note taking, using reports and published documents about the companies. The sample was a selected portion of the population; thus, a numerical data obtained from the quantitative surveys was a true reflection of the population (Blyton & Turnbull 2006, p. 76).

The sampled numbers of the employees were 75 in 2011 and 80 in 2010 (Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited n.d, p. 1). Therefore, it would take more resources to conduct internet surveys with all these individuals. The best way to choose participants was through the extraction of a sample that was a representative of the entire population. Therefore, an alpha error of 5% (0.05) or 95% level of confidence would be more appropriate for the chosen sample size (Legge 2005, p. 112).

Moreover, it is possible to obtain the information from the secondary sources such as books and journal on the research problem. The data will be collected using the two identified methods, which are purposive sampling and survey. These methods of data collections were preferred because they are cheap and can reach a large number of participants. For example, internet and mail surveys will be explored because they involve as many respondents as possible due to the large number of internet users of internet around the world. Since the respondents will fill the forms without intimidation or being forced, the responses will be greatly significant because they will reflect the person’s inner feelings about the particular questions (Beardwel & Claydon 2007, p. 124). Similarly, purposive sampling would be very useful since it will involve only the people endowed with appropriate information and ideas about the issues under investigation. It may be conducted through multiple regression analysis, which has been fully explored. This was aimed at disapproving Maslow Hierarch of Needs Theory on the employee motivation. The numerical data has been gathered from the survey samples.

Limitations of Studies

The scope of the research was within establishment of the new cases of Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited’s employee motivation and its causes. The major limitation was that most participants were deeply engrossed in the company’s activities, leaving little room for participation in such research. For this reason, mail surveys could be conducted after prior appointments and follow-ups. These limitations did not degrade the quality of the research because its procedures and requirements were well defined. The extra information about participants’ experiences in the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited’s employee motivation resulting from different motivating indicators created the knowledge essential to the entire research and analysis (Blyton & Turnbull 2006, p. 78).

The major limitation in the data recording and analysis was the fact that most responses of the participants were generally coded and occasionally obscured the finer points of the response. For example, the contraction of the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited’s employee motivation was as varied as the number of respondents. However, only four codes were used, limiting recognition of creative and unique responses. Additionally, a single participant could offer more than one response to a particular question, but the cases could only accommodate a single attribute per case. Moreover, the use and incorporation of the multiple responses to the casebook were limited, and the trends for a single attribute could not be expressed as percentages (Cole 2003, p. 68).

Moreover, it is important to explore an explanation about the researcher’s own experiences with the proposed study design of this case. This considered the context and circumstances that have influenced the researcher’s involvement in the analysis of this study problem regarding employee motivation indicators. This kind of self-reflection serves as a personal statement to discuss the researcher’s role during the study (Antonakis, Cianciolo & Sternberg 2004, p. 39), allowing him to review and focus on the importance of the research problem for the chosen field of study. Moreover, the purposive sampling method, employed in this research, failed to provide the representative results. It was not easy to formulate more refined research. In addition, more quantitative data analysis would be necessary for this research problem (Gill 2011, p. 102). Finally, there are potential confounding factors in the proposed study such as observation of bias and non-responsive participants. Some respondents stopped the exercise before the research project was completed due to limited time and interest to pursue other activities (Houldsworth & Jirasinghe 2006, p. 72).

Ethical Issues During Information Gathering

The research was undertaken with high regard to confidentiality of the data collected. Written consent forms were made for the participants to sign as a symbol of accepting participation in the research and a promise made to their anonymity. Considering the ethical issues, the pre-set interview questions did not revolve around financial and personal matter. Individual questionnaire response sheets were inaccessible to anyone except the edition and data entry personnel (Gill 2011, p. 102).

Role of a Researcher

The researcher’s role can include note-taking, conducting interview and administering questionnaires to the employees of the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited. These are the useful tools, which result in the use of observation and experiment methodologies. Moreover, this part deals with the unstructured interviews, which are not structured by the standard list of questions (Cole 2006, p. 132). The researchers are not restricted to the type and order of the questions. The open-ended interview questions focus on obtaining all the relevant information (Cole 2003, p. 141). It depends on the interviewer, whether the final information gathered is sufficient. The interviews are taken over a particular period, and since the open-ended questions are used, the interviewee’s response is not restricted. Therefore, the subsequent topics during the interview depend majorly on the interviewee’s response. Therefore, it is an appropriate method of researching highly confidential subjects, but requires a solid rapport to be established between the interviewer and respondent (Cole 2006, p. 125). Unstructured interviewing technique of data collection is easily manipulated; hence, the obtained information is more detailed, and the response offered is exclusive from the respondent interviewed (Gill 2011, p. 97).

The researcher asks questions that concern their personal views regarding the financial industry. A copy of the questions list prepared comprised of the issues which all of them were asked. Regarding the focus groups, another interviewing approach is used when comprehending customer positioning, taste, and preferences towards different kinds of financial brands. The focus group members must familiarise with one another. They ought to be of the same sex and identical pasts to avoid any confusing details. These groups facilitate the obtaining of initial data record for a particular topic (Gill 2011, p. 102). This approach is less expensive and less time wasting. Therefore, these approaches may be adopted in the researching processes in the financial industry, which facilitated another data collection method. There are certain drawbacks, which may limit the effectiveness of the interviews, including time and cost availability, interviewer features affecting the respondents, and the need for confidentiality.

With a sample of eighty employees, the questionnaires facilitate the understanding of the end-user needs, preferences and expectations. Thus, it is worth stating that appropriate questionnaire construction determines the result of a survey. Irrelevant and wrong arrangement of the questions may render the survey inappropriately and around hundred questionnaires employed for the study, which are both structured and unstructured. The former has well-defined questions that are prepared prior to undertaking the research. It involves a lower researcher participation but has a higher respondent’s sample size. The questionnaires are majorly used when doing both quantitative societal and market research (Gill 2011, 126). There is also pre-testing, especially when evaluating the questionnaire and determining its accuracy regarding the purposed data. Postal questionnaires require mailing to the respondents with envelopes stamped in order to send it to the researcher since it is less expensive, especially if the target group is less concentrated in the certain location.

However, the personally administered questionnaires provide questions, which are more detailed, and an increased rate of responding. The aim of the research on Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited’s employees was to identify some of the suitable key indicators of motivating the workforce. Due to this approach, the field worker may target effectively the larger sample size and easy interpret the data obtained. Due to standardised questions it poses as a more reliable method and deals with the understanding of very sensitive topics. The target group comprised workers, managers, retired people, and children. It lasted approximately five days, which implies that they questioned twenty people per day. The major drawbacks are faced while using this data collection approach, including the target group’s low rate of responding, non-detailed information and, in some instances, less representatives (Cole 2006, p. 136). In addition, the researcher asked the questions identifying, whether the financial products and the respondents are satisfied with the company.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The aim of the research was to engage effectively the workforce through good motivation in the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited. This can be achieved through leaning and training opportunities offered to the employees. It should also improve career of the workers in most cases; thereby, effective management of the workforce is achieved. During the working process, the employees must be entitled for rewards and reinforcements for better performance in order to have higher output. It is necessary for the HR to evaluate any changes in the productivity, which also depends on the personnel deployed. Employment function and workforce management can be affected through the following factors: equipment availability, medication of staff, inter-staff relations, proper supervision, and good leadership within the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited. These aspects and the proper terms of engagement will help in the effective HR management process.

Focusing more on the strategy of motivation, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust International Limited should employ workable, elaborate and effective system that challenges the staff working in the company to be creative in a competitive manner. This will result in rendering their daily customers in every session they attend to boost their caffeine wants. Improving the quality of customer service, the company management may enhance and raise concentration towards improving the quality of the customers’ service. The major sources of competitive advantage that need to be adopted.

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