Science, Technology and Development ISSN : 0950-0707

Employee Motivation and Organization Productivity

(A Study of Some Selected Handloom Firms in state of Kerala)
Dr. Silbert Jose S. V. & Mr. Bijin Philip
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Management
Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore.
Abstract:
The study investigates the Impact of Employee Motivation on Organisation Productivity of
selected handloom firms in State of Kerala. The majority of organizations are competing to
survive in this volatile and fierce market environment. Motivation and performance of the
employees are essential tools for the success of any organization in the long run. On the one
hand, measuring performance is critical to organization’s management, as it highlights the
evolution and achievement of the organization. On the other hand, there is a positive
relationship between employee motivation and organizational effectiveness, reflected in
numerous studies. The literature shows that factors such as empowerment and recognition
increase employee motivation. If the empowerment and recognition of employees is increased,
their motivation to work will also improve, as well as their accomplishments and the
organizational performance.
Keywords: motivation, organizational performance, empowerment, market environment.

I. Introduction.
Employee motivation is the level of energy, commitment, and creativity that a company's
workers bring to their jobs. Whether the economy is growing or shrinking, finding ways to
motivate employees is always a management concern. Competing theories stress either
incentives or employee involvement (empowerment). Employee motivation can sometimes be
particularly problematic for small businesses. The owner has often spent years building a
company hands-on and therefore finds it difficult to delegate meaningful responsibilities to
others.
All organizations want to be successful, even in current environment which is highly
competitive. Therefore, companies irrespective of size and market strive to retain the best
employees, acknowledging their important role and influence on organizational effectiveness.
In order to overcome these challenges, companies should create a strong and positive
relationship with its employees and direct them towards task fulfilment. In order to achieve
their goals and objectives, organizations develop strategies to compete in highly competitive
markets and to increase their performance. Nevertheless, just a few organizations consider the
human capital as being their main asset, capable of leading them to success or if not managed
properly, to decline. If the employees are not satisfied with their jobs and not motivated to
fulfill their tasks and achieve their goals, the organization cannot attain success

Kerala has a longstanding tradition of weaving and handloom production, dating back to
hundreds of years, once known worldwide and applauded for its uniqueness. Over the years
the industry has diminished; low wages and uncertainty in the employment pattern has left
weavers in a state of total despair. Thousands of looms lie idle and the future of this age-old
tradition looks bleak.

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IILiterature review.

Bartol and Martin (1998) consider motivation a powerful tool that reinforces behaviour and
triggers thetendency to continue. In other words, motivation is an internal drive to satisfy an
unsatisfied need and to achieve a certain goal. It is also a procedure that begins through a
physiological or psychological need that stimulates a performance set by an objective. As
compared to financial resources, human resources have the capability to create competitive
advantage for their organizations.

As Kalimullah (2010) suggested, a motivated employee has his/her goals aligned with those of
the organization and directs his/her efforts in that direction. In addition, these organizations
are more successful, as their employees continuously look for ways to improve their work.
Getting the employees to reach their full potential at work under stressful conditions is a tough
challenge, but this can be achieved by motivating them.

Mary (1996) explains organizational effectiveness as the extent to which an organization

fulfills its objectives, by using certain resources and without placing strain on its members.
The goal model defines organizational effectiveness referring to the extent to which an
organization attains its objectives (Zammuto, 1982), while the system resource model defines
it in terms of the bargaining power of the organization and its ability to exploit the
environment when acquiring valuable resources (Yuchtman, 1987).

Jennifer and George (2006) defined motivation as a mental force that governs the direction of
an individual’s behaviour in an organization, an individual’s level of effort, and an
individual’s level of determination when faced with obstacles. In addition she stated that even
with appropriate strategies and administrative structures in place, an organization can only be
productive if its employees are sufficiently motivated to perform at higher levels.

Hellriegel (1996) viewed motivation as any impact that brings out, guides, or sustains a
person’s goal-directed behaviours. Ivancevich (1994) Suggested that motivation refers to
those set of forces that triggers certain behaviours and regulates its form, course, intensity and
duration. Obikeze (2005) viewed motivation as the process of guiding an employee’s actions
towards a particular end via the manipulation of rewards.

Kreitner (1995) described motivation as the mental process giving behaviours the will-power,
drive, and tendency to act in a certain way in order to attain certain unsatisfied needs. Young
(2000) also suggested that motivation could be defined in relation to forces within employees
that justifies the levels, directions, and resolution as regards efforts they expend in the
workplace

III. Research Objectives.

i. Determine the effect of employee well-being on the level of effectiveness of the
workers.
ii. Determine the effect of employee relationship with managers on the level of
efficiency of the workers.
iii. To determine the factors that increase motivation of employees in an organization

iv. Examine the effect of training and career development on the level of efficiency of
Employee in handloom industry.

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v. To examine the relationship between employee motivation and organizational

performance or firm growth.

IV. Research Methodology

This paper is prepared upon secondary data. The data required is collected from the published
and unpublished information and from the internet sources wherever necessary. Datas also
collected from the direct interaction of the employees from the handloom industry.

Handloom industry of Kerala

Kerala handloom industry carries a vital role in states economy as well as in the field of
employment. A very large number of looms are located in rural areas. The rhythm of
handloom can be heard in almost every village in Kerala. There are men and women weavers
for whom weaving is a way of life. In early days majority of handloom weavers followed the
hereditary line. The main communities engaged in weaving are saliyas and devangas. With the
available information it is clear that the saliyas and devangas migrated from the nearby
princely states. During the dawn of 20th century, the SreeNarayana movement influenced
Kerala society by and large prompting the caste based culture to change towards secular and
modern industrious culture so that many people from traditional Thiyya/Ezhava community
had taken up their employment in Handloom Industry to do away with the toddy tapping to
respond with the advice of SreeNarayana Guru. These changes also have its own mark in
making the present shape of Kerala Handloom Industry.
Balaramapuram, being best-known places in Kerala for handloom, perhaps holds the
monopoly over the traditional kasavumundu (white cotton dhotis) and settumundu (or
mundumneriyathum). The tradition of weaving in Balaramapuram owes its patronage to the
royal family of Travancore, which dates back to the end of the 18th century when Maharaja
BalaramaVarma brought weavers from what is now Valiyur in Tamil Nadu to weave clothing
for the royal family. Traditional Balaramapuram textiles have a gold zari border and usually a
simple zari stripe at the end, and are typically woven from natural cotton yarn. Recently,
experiments have been done with the patterns, such as weaving the same designs using
coloured yarn for the weft, and the increasingly popular mural painting sarees – where fabric
paints are used to recreate traditional Kerala temple art on the pallu of the saree. Given the
light weight and coarse texture of the cotton fabric, these textiles are ideal for the warm and
humid climate in Kerala.

Chendamangalam Handloom The array of handloom fabrics woven in Chendamangalam is

much the same as what one finds in Balaramapuram, but with less emphasis on kasavu
patterns. Instead, the typical Chendamangalammundu or settumundu has coloured borders
with a matching colour stripe, with only small amounts of kasavu for ornamentation. Like in
other parts of Kerala, weavers in Chendamangalam were under official patronage of the feudal
family of Paliam, who served as the chief ministers for the Rajas of Cochin. In terms of the
actual process, Chendamangalam textiles are woven on frame looms, and their texture is
slightly heavier than what one would find in the same types of fabrics from Balaramapuram.

Kuthampullysarees are the most visible style outside the state. These sarees are quite popular
in Kerala as well, given the variety of jacquard designs that they are typically ornamented with
– setting them apart from sarees woven elsewhere in the state. Since Kuthampullysarees are

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typically woven using half-fine zari, this keeps down on the cost of the final product and adds
to its popularity. Another uniqueness of this design is that the kasavu border does not extend
all of the way to the border, and this gap is white.

Like most other places in Kerala, the sarees woven here are generally off-white in colour,
owing to the use of undyed cotton yarn. Kuthampully weavers have their roots in the
DevangaChettiar community from Mysore. They came under the patronage of the Kochi royal
family, and originally had woven fabrics exclusively for the members of the palace – much
like the weavers from Balaramapuram.

Kasargod and those woven in Mangalore – technically it’s the same design for the most part,
which is woven all the way from Kannur to Mangalore. Kasaragod’s weavers are originally
from the Padmashaliya community, who were originally from Mysore. Surprisingly, there
seems to be much more interest in the Kasargodsaree than its counterpart in Mangalore.
Kasargodsarees have got a GI tag while Mangalore sarees do not despite Karnataka having
more GI products than any other state. Kasargodsarees are the notable exception to the
popular image of the Kerala saree being natural cotton and decorated with kasavu – instead, a
variety of colours are popular and there is a lack of any zari ornamentation. Having said that,
the design aesthetic remains relatively simple, much in line with what one would expect of the
relatively sober preferences in Kerala. Vat dyes are commonly used for Kasaragodsarees,
owing to the colour fastness as compared to most other commercially available dyes.

Concept of motivation
Motivation is psychological forces that determine the direction of a person’s behaviour in an
organization, a person’s level of effort and a person’s level of persistence (Jones & George
2008).The concept of motivation could be broad; however, according to Jones & George
(2008), there are three major components of motivation which are direction, intensity, and
persistency.Direction is a goal that forces an individual to perform an act to achieve it. A goal
is chosen consciously or unconsciously by an individual. There are factors that influence a
person in selecting the goal, including both internal and external factors, and the final goal is
the best one chosen among potential alternatives. The intensity is the level of determination or
effort put by an individual in the process of achieving the goal; how hard an individual has
tried, and how much energy, time, money, or any other mental or physical things have been
used during the process to achieve the goal. Persistence is the ability of an individual to
maintainthe motivation through times even though obstacles may exist (Robbins and
Judge2013).It is not an exaggeration to say motivation is the core to being successful. A
motivated person is likely to willingly put more effort into doing a task and a good resultis
within expectations. When goals are achieved, it drives a feeling of being satisfied and
enjoyment for the employees and creates a positive working attitude
in the workplace.
Employee motivation
Among financial, economic and human resources, the latest are more essential and have the
capability to endow a company with competitive edge as compared to others (Rizwan et al,
2010). Employee performance fundamentally depend on many factors like performance
appraisals, employee motivation, employee satisfaction, compensation, training and
development, job security, organizational structure and others, but the area of study is focused
only on employee motivation as this factor highly influence the performance of employees.
Employee motivation is one of the policies of managers to increase effectual job management
amongst employees in organizations (Shadare et al, 2009). A motivational employee is

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responsive of the definite goals and objectives he/she must achieve, therefore he/she directs its
effort in that direction. Rutherford (1990) reported that motivation formulates an organization
more successful because provoked employees are constantly looking for improved practices
to do a work. Getting employees to do their best work even in strenuous circumstances, is one
of the employees most stable and greasy challenges and this can be made possible through
motivating them.
Organisational Effectiveness
Composition of people which formulate independent business identity for some specific
purpose is commonly known as organization and getting desired outcome within defined
resource is treated as effectiveness. Organisational effectiveness is the notion of how effectual
an organization is in accomplishing the results the organization aims to generate (Muhammad,
et al, 2011). It plays an important role in accelerating organizational development (Bulent et
al, 2009). It is the net satisfaction of all constituents in the process of gathering and
transforming inputs into output in an efficient manner (Mattew et al, 2005). Organisational
effectiveness is defined as the extent to which an organization, by the use of certain resources,
fulfils its objectives without depleting its resources and without placing undue strain on its
members and/ or society (May et al, 1996).
Factors affecting Employees’ motivation
Employees want to earn reasonable salary and payment, and desire their workers to feel that is
what they are getting (Houran, 2010). Money is the fundamental inducement; no other
incentive or motivational technique comes even close to it with respect to its influential value
(Sara et al, 2004). It has the supremacy to magnetize, maintain and motivate individuals
towards higher performance. Frederick Taylor and his scientific management associate
described monet as the most fundamental factor in motivating the industrial workers to attain
greater productivity (Adeyinka et al, 2007). Research has suggested that reward now cause
satisfaction of the employee which directly influences performance of the employee
(Kalimullah et al 2010). Rewards are a management tool that hopefully contributes to firms’
performance by influencing individual or group behavior. All businesses use pay, promotion,
bonuses or other types of rewards to motivate and encourage high level performances of
employees (Reena et al, 2009). To use salaries as a motivator effectively, managers must
consider salary structures which should include importance organization attach to each job,
payment according to performance, personal or special allowances, fringe benefits, pensions
and so on (Adeyinka et al, (2007). Leadership is all about getting things done the right way, to
do that you need people to follow you, you need to have them trust you. And if you want them
to trust you and do things for you and the organization, they need to be motivated (Baldoni,
2005).
Theories imply that leader and followers raise one another to higher levels of morality and
motivation (Rukhmani, 2010). Motivation is purely and simply a leadership behavior. It stems
from wanting to do what is right for people as well as for the organization. Leadership and
motivation are active processes (Baldoni, 2005). Empowerment provides benefits to
organizations and makes sense of belonging and pride in the workforce. In fact, it builds a
win-win connection among organizations and employees; which is considered an ideal
environment in numerous organizations and their employees. Empowering can flourish virtual
human capacities. Empowered employees focus their job and work-life with additional
importance and this leads to constant progress in coordination and work procedures.
Employees execute their finest novelties and thought with the sense of belonging, enthusiasm,
and delight, in empowered organizations. Adding up, they work with a sense of responsibility
and prefer benefits of the organization to theirs (Yazdani, 2011).
Motivation methods

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There are many ways to motivate employees in today’s working environment.Companies

globally have been using different strategies and approach in order to improve employees’
motivation. However, it seems that the best motivator for employees is something that is
indeed important in their lives. Furthermore, different People might have different values and
approaches and, therefore, being able to understand employees’ needs and using appropriate
motivating methods can help increase the level of motivation (Gleeson 2016).
According to Jan KetilArnulf’s article “Money as a Motivator” on Fudan University School of
Management (2014), money is deemed to be the best motivator to any individual. Looking
back to the historical time, it is money that caused huge differences between employees
working in inhuman conditions in the early industrial revolution and the ones working in
slave-conditions in the countryside. For those who take part in the “paid employee” system,
the money means more than just itself; it also means freedom and prosperity. That is why
many people trying to move to industrial regions with the hope to improving their lives and
working conditions. With that prospect of salary, today many young people are still striving
from poorer to better living conditions, from low to high education since they think it is the
only way to ensure a prosperous future (Arnulf 2014). But is money the best and only
motivator? Or are there any of motivators that have surpassed the money motivator?
Considering from another perspective, we, as human beings, work for money, but also for
many other things too, such as achievement, recognition, advancement, growth,
responsibility, and the work itself (Herzberg 1987)
Employee empowerment has been promoted as a way to increase motivation(Kaplan &
Norton 1992, 1996). Empowerment gives employees a feeling of control, efficiency and
impact. It creates a sense of freedom in making choices and the ways how to work, and work
involvement; the feeling of responsibility and the ability to carry out work in a satisfactory
manner; and the feeling of achievement when the task is accomplished within expectations
and with desired outcomes. Many studies have shown that employees with high
empowerment motivation have higher level of work motivation, which correspondingly
results in better organizational productivity and performance (Thomas &Velthouse 1999;
Koberg, Boss, Senjem& Goodman 1999) Achievement motivation is referred to as the need
for achievement (Elliot &McGregor 1999). It is the need for success and indicates the wish of
attaining excellence. Achievement may vary depending on different people. For example, it is
the need for enjoyment and fulfillment to have a work-life balance, to feel engaged and
satisfied with the work but still able to enjoy meaningful life to the fullest. Or it is simply
about the impact their work has had on e.g. society and, environment. Feeling that you are
making a difference, changing the world in a positive way, and making it a better place to live
is really a powerful motivator (Jex& Britt 2008) Advancement as a motivator indicates the
opportunities of being promoted to higher position, having higher salary and more benefits in
the company. Not all employees share the same advancement motivation, therefore
understanding each employee’s needs and assisting them to reach the satisfied drivers is also a
way to motivating employees.
Growth motivation is quite similar to advancement motivation since it is one of the motivators
that helps retain the employees. However, the definition is broader and it is not only just about
career promotion or better salary and benefits. Good employees are enthusiastic, eager,
determined, and above all, ambitious. They are always looking for better opportunities to
grow, to acquire more knowledge, to learn new skills, to widen their network, and to challenge
themselves with different positions. Providing and stimulating employees’ growth motivation
is essential method of increasing the level of motivation (Lipman 2014)
The work itself is also a contributor to employee motivation. There is a fact that an employee
might absolutely love his or her job, is satisfied with the pay, and has good relationships with
his/her colleagues, but still finds the work itself completely boring and uninspiring. A happy

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employee may stay, but if you really want to motivate the employees, create interesting work
and let them engage with it. This means forming strong work cultures, encouraging creative
thinking and innovation, and especially, avoiding unhealthy, unequal and impotent working
environments(Landrum 2015)
Finally, whatever the job is and no matter what your position is, it is very important to an
employee that his/her efforts are recognized. If an employee has been spending a lot of time
working on a task, or is even just willing to help outthe other co-workers, give them applause
and show them your gratitude. It can be understood that it is not merely about giving praise. If
the efforts of an employee are recognized, he/she will feel achievement and fulfilment and
continue to excel in the work. However, it is crucial to consider that the recognition as a
motivator may differ among employees as one might increase the work productivity after
being recognized while one is the opposite. By working closely with employees, you may
know how they react to recognition, thus being able to off a fitting way of appreciation
(Health field 2017).

V. Findings and Recommendations

The study results show that in general, the respondents are motivated in theirwork. Money,
personal growth, and a work-life balance are what motivate themthe most. They enjoy the
flexibility of work, the challenging and interesting traitsit brings, and a good relationship with
their supervisors and colleagues.

They haveclear goals, priorities, and objectives at work plus sufficient working facilities.They
are inspired to give the best effort and meet the set goals every day. Aboveall, they are happy
with what they are currently doing and glad to recommendtheir organization as a great place
to work to others.

However, there still exist some factors that need to be improved in order toincrease
employees’ motivation. For examples, according to the results, therespondents experienced a
low rate for empowerment. It might be theconsequence of deficient work involvement, low
responsibility level, or a lack offreedom in making choices and the way to implement tasks.

Furthermore, theavailability of promotion opportunities should be higher and a clear, united,

and aunique organization culture needs to be defined and practices well. In addition,providing
job rotation, improving management style, and having effectivecommunication within the
organization are also ways to a higher employeemotivation level.

They should provide an atmosphere for the attainment of high productivity, which will in turn
give employees a feeling of satisfaction.

Employees should be given the opportunity to contribute their ideas to the affairs of the
organization as this will boost their morale and consequently lead to higher productivity.

Management should make positive effort towards improving and maintaining effective
communication system between the three levels of management (top, middle and low) and
subordinates, so that workers will be acquitted of what is expected of them by the
management.

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Management should make efforts to improve salaries, working conditions, job security, job
dissatisfaction and poor supervision to certain standard that will make employees feel happy
about their job.

Management must also strive to ensure that all employees engage in training programs to
acquire new skills and also have equal opportunity to utilize their skills and competencies.
Management should make sure that career development opportunities are clearly
communicated to employees.

An established career path and an adequate development plan should be put in place for
employees, development programs should be linked to each employees career needs and not
just the organization’s needs. Employees should be selected for sponsored training programs
fairly and justly.

Organizations should ensure that performance management provides adequate information

about strength and weaknesses of employees in form of feedback from employee evaluations

Managers should hold out the promise of reward once the objective is achieved, because
behaviour, which is perceived to be rewarded, will tend to be repeated.

VI. Conclusion

Recognition and empowerment play an essential part in enhancing employee

motivationtowards organizational tasks. By appreciating the employees for their work done
and givingthem participation in decision making, internally satisfies them with their job,
organizationand organizational environment. Thus their enthusiasm and motivation
towardsaccomplishment of tasks increases. Thus it is concluded that appreciation and
recognition of employees andemployees’ tasks fulfilment stimulates them towards working
with more energy anddedication to the organization. The motivated employees’ works best in
the interest of the organizations which leads them towards growth, prosperity and
productivity. Thus the employee motivation andorganizational effectiveness are directly
related

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