Situation Analysis
Describe the industry (TATA motors, India), discuss the HR issues in the company (employee motivation). What is Employee motivation? What are the various factors responsible that effect employee motivation in Tata motors ?
In this report, Tata Motors is chosen for the research, and human resource issues associated with the company will be discussed. Tata Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automobile manufacturing corporation, and its headquarters is situated in Mumbai, India (Tata Motors, 2018). The company operates in the automobile industry and offers different products to its customers such as trucks, buses, passenger cars, military vehicles, and others. India has the world’s largest automobile industry with an annual average production of 24 million vehicles, and Tata Motors is a key contender in the industry. The industry has reported a growth of 2.57 percent in 2015-16. The automobile industry contributes over $93 billion to the nations GDP which is around 7.1 percent of its total GDP (IIFL, 2016). The Indian automotive industry is the largest truck manufacturer and second largest two-wheeler manufacturer. This report will focus on evaluating the HR issue of employee motivation and analysing factors which affect employee motivation in Tata Motors. Furthermore, this report will draw a theoretical model linked to employee motivation and provide recommendations for the enterprise.
Figure 1: Tata Motors Logo
(Source: Tata Motors, 2018)
The industry provides direct and indirect employment to over 29 million people and the employment opportunities created for every vehicle produced, for example, 13 people are employed for manufacturing of a truck and six people for each car (Makeinindia, 2016). The automobile manufacturing companies face a number of human resources issues because they employ a large number of workers. One of the biggest challenges face by Tata Motors is employee motivation due to which it finds difficulty in attracting and retaining talented employees. Due to lack of effective motivation policies, the performance and profitability of Tata Motors suffer.
Objective
The main object of this report is to conduct secondary research on how employees’ motivation resulted in negatively affecting Tata Motors and evaluate various factors which affect the motivation of employees. This report will focus on identifying the challenges faced by Tata Motors and finding solutions to such problems by conducting secondary research on relevant literature.
- What is employee motivation and which factors affect employee motivation at Tata Motors?
- What actions can be taken by the HR department to address the issue of employee motivation at Tata Motors?
Tata Motors provides employment to over 81 thousand employees in different departments. The automotive industry is highly competitive, and the main competitor of Tata Motors such as Ashok Leyland, SML Isuzu, and Eicher Motors implement strategies to attract, hire and retain talented employees. According to Srivastava et al. (2012), the retention of talented and experienced employees is the key focuses on HR department in automobile manufacturing companies because these employees are highly efficient in their work, and they are also able to train others employees as well. However, the HR department finds it difficult to attract and retain talented and experienced employees due to lack of employees motivation. Employees who are not motivated are less likely to achieve their targets, and they are more likely to leave the company. Dobre (2013) defined employee motivation as the level of energy, creativity and commitment that an employee brings to the company while doing his/her job. In a growing economy such as India, motivated employees are the priority of the HR department. Motivated employees positively contribute to the overall success of an enterprise, and they are also likely to solve challenges, bring creativity and to reduce overall costs of operations.
Research Methodology
As per Mitra (2011), Tata Motors find it difficult to retain talented employees because they are not motivated to achieve common organisational objectives. Due to high work pressure, employees find it difficult to manage their work and personal life which adversely affect their motivation. According to Maslow Hierarchy of Needs Model, the satisfaction of basic needs of employees is necessary in order to increase job satisfaction which is the key for employee motivation. Gupta (2015) argued that the HR department at Tata Motors failed to identify the basic needs of their employees because the number of employees is relatively high and it is not possible to monitor the needs of each employee. As per Ray and Das (2009), Tata Motors provide monetary incentives to its workers if they perform better and achieve their targets. However, as per the hierarchy of needs theory, needs of people are divided into five categories which include physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem and self-actualisation needs.
Figure 2: Maslow Hierarchy of Needs Model
(Source: McLeod, 2018)
Monetary incentives can motivate low-level employees; however, they cannot motivate middle or top level management. Rao and Kumar (2012) argued that it creates the problem of less motivated employees in the company who are working so that they can get the next paycheck, and they did not contribute to the growth of the enterprise. As per Herzberg’s Two Factor theory, there are a number of hygiene factors which resulted in positively or adversely affecting the motivation level of employees.
Workplace environment
Negative workplace environment creates dispute among employees which reduces their motivation. As per Martin Cruz, Martin Perez and Trevilla Cantero (2009), employees who are not able to find interesting work or who have to perform mundane tasks are less likely to be motivated. The factory environment at Tata Motors is not positive which lead to job dissatisfaction due to which employees are not motivated to perform at their highest capacity.
Appreciation and recognition
The HR department offers performance-based rewards to teams; however, they did not provide recognition and appreciation to individual employees. Lazaroiu (2015) argued that due to lack of recognition, employees do not feel like a part of the company which reduces their motivation levels.
Job security
Tata Motors is a private enterprise, and it focuses on hiring only the best employees to ensure its success. However, it resulted in increasing the fear of job security among employees which reduces their motivation. For example, in 2017, Tata Motors cuts 10-12 percent of its managerial positions which creates fear among other employees as well (Sukumaran, 2017).
Literature Review
Help with personal problems
As per Dartey-Baah and Amoako (2011), if employees do not feel part of the company, then they are less likely to be motivated to achieve their targets. The HR department of Tata Motors did not get involve or help employees with their personal problems which reduce their motivation.
Figure 3: Theoretical Model of employee motivation issues
(Source: Self Made)
- Identifying what motivates employees by interacting with them and understanding their problems and addressing them. It will result in increasing the loyalty of employees, and loyal employees are motivated to achieve corporate goals.
- Establishing a code of conduct to create a positive workplace environment which fosters employee relationships and eliminate disputes.
- Providing recognition to employees who have performed better than their peers and providing them appreciation through monetary or non-monetary rewards.
- Increasing job security among employees by providing them guarantee that the company will not remove them from the job in adverse market condition.
- Increasing communication channels between employees and top-level management to learn about the issues face by employees and providing appropriate solutions to such issues.
Figure 4: Theoretical model linked to employee motivation
(Source: Self Made)
Conclusion
In conclusion, Tata Motors has generated a competitive advantage in the industry due to an effective and efficient workforce, however, it is facing issues in attracting and retaining talented employees due to lack of motivated employees. Motivated employees are key to the success of an enterprise, and their motivation is affected by factors such as job satisfaction and hygiene elements such as job security, recognition, workplace environment, and help with personal problems. In order to address these issues, recommendations are given for Tata Motors based on different employee motivation techniques
References
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Dobre, O.I. (2013) Employee motivation and organizational performance. Review of Applied Socio-Economic Research, 5(1).
Gupta, M. (2015) A study on employees perception towards employee engagement. Globsyn Management Journal, 9(1/2), p.45.
IIFL. (2016) The $ 93 billion automotive industry contributes 7.1% to India’s GDP. [Online] IIFL. Available at: https://www.indiainfoline.com/article/news-top-story/the-93-billion-automotive-industry-contributes-7-1-to-india%E2%80%99s-gdp-116112500195_1.html [Accessed on 25th July 2018].
Lazaroiu, G. (2015) Employee motivation and job performance. Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations, 14, p.97.
Makeinindia. (2016) Automotive Sector. [PDF] Makeinindia. Available at: https://www.makeinindia.com/documents/10281/114126/Automotive+Sector+-+Achievement+Report+%281%29.pdf [Accessed on 25th July 2018].
Martin Cruz, N., Martin Perez, V. and Trevilla Cantero, C. (2009) The influence of employee motivation on knowledge transfer. Journal of knowledge management, 13(6), pp.478-490.
McLeod, S. (2018) Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. [Online] Simply Psychology. Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html [Accessed on 25th July 2018].
Mitra, R. (2011) Framing the corporate responsibility-reputation linkage: The case of Tata Motors in India. Public Relations Review, 37(4), pp.392-398.
Rao, V.R. and Kumar, R.V. (2012) Customer satisfaction towards tata motors–A study on passenger cars in Warangal district of Andhrapradesh. South Asian Journal of Marketing & Management Research, 2(4), pp.127-150.
Ray, S. and Das, S. (2009) Corporate Reporting Framework (CRF): Benchmarking Tata Motors against AB Volvo and Exploring Future Challenges. Decision (0304-0941), 36(1).
Srivastava, A.K., Negi, G., Mishra, V. and Pandey, S. (2012) Corporate social responsibility: A case study of TATA group. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 3(5), pp.17-27.
Sukumaran, G. (2017) Layoffs resurface as Tata Motors joins the fray, 1,500 managerial staff axed already. [Online] International Business Times. Available at: https://www.ibtimes.co.in/layoffs-resurface-tata-motors-joins-fray-1500-managerial-staff-axed-already-728078 [Accessed on 25th July 2018].
Tata Motors. (2018) About Us. [Online] Tata Motors. Available at: https://www.tatamotors.com/about-us/ [Accessed on 25th July 2018].