The link between employee welfare and Employee motivation

The link between employee welfare and Employee motivation

      

Martin (1967: 21), put up a good case for welfare, as it was then known, as follows: ‘People [at work] are entitled to be treated as full human beings with personal needs, hopes and anxieties.’  Armstrong (2014), says that this requirement has not changed since then, the practice of employee well-being involves creating a satisfactory working environment, dealing with issues affecting people, and providing personal and group services. A key aspect of employee well-being is their health and safety. In the same way as defined by Taylor (2008), the quality of working life is related to the basic extrinsic job factors of wages, hours and working conditions, and the intrinsic factors of the work itself. However, Armstrong (2014), argues that Employee happiness depends on the quality of work and life provided by the employer-satisfaction and happiness generated by the work itself and the working environment.

Staff welfare is very important to business success and reputation. No one wants to work in an environment that will frustrate their physical and mental health. People must be treated with dignity in the workplace. This is not a favour but the right thing to do. Therefore, it is increasingly important today to look out for the well-being the Staff (Ulomka, 2017).

Staff benefits and Job Motivation

Under the principles of employee welfare, if an employee feels that the management is concerned and cares for him/her as a person and not just as another employee, he/she will be motivated and more committed to his/her work (Luenendonk, 2017). High performance is achieved by well-motivated people who are prepared to exercise discretionary effort. Even in fairly basic roles, Hunter et al, (1990). What motivates high performance employee? Hunter et al. (1990), further says that the fringe benefits that the particular provides make them High performance employees.  Armstrong (2009), argues that Money is an influential motivating force because it is linked directly or indirectly to the satisfaction of many needs. Money may in itself have no intrinsic meaning, but it acquires significant motivating power because it comes to symbolize so many intangible goals. Employee benefits, also known as perks or fringe benefits, are provided to employees over and above salaries and wages. The employee benefit packages may include overtime, medical insurance, vacation, profit sharing and retirement benefits, to name just a few (Virginpulse, 2017).

The figure 6:0 clearly shows some of the prominent Employee benefits that leads to highly motivated employees. 

Source: (Swet Nie Tan at el, 2011)

According to Schawbel (2017), companies will continue to allocate more money to well-being programs because employers benefit financially and the employees will be more productive, motivated, happy and healthy as a result. With the rising costs of healthcare, these programs can save money, increase engagement and give companies a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

 

In the below video 6:0, Sir Richard Branson Founder & Chairman of the Virgin Group has discuss the value and importance of why companies should care about the well being of their employees and how Virgin Pulse is leading the initiative globally. 

Video 6.0: Why companies should care about their well being of employees their employees 

Source: Virgin pulse ( 2017)

References

Armstrong, M ( 2014) A Hand Book of Human Resources Management Practice, 14^th Edition.

Armstrong, M ( 2009) A Hand Book of Human Resources Management Practice, 14^th Edition.

Employee Benefits , 2019 , Virgin Pulse, 75 Fountain St Providence, RI 02902, https://www.virginpulse.com/our-products.

Hunter, J.E., Schmidt, F.L. and Judiesch, M.K., 1990. Individual differences in output variability as a function of job complexity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75(1), p.28.

Martin, A O (1967) Welfare at Work, London, Batsford.

Martin,L (2017) Employee Welfare, https://www.cleverism.com/lexicon/employee-welfare.

Schawbel, D (2017) Why Companies Should Care About the Well-being of Their Employees, Research Director at Future Workplace & NY Times Bestselling Author, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-companies-should-care-about-the-well-being-of-their_b_59f398c3e4b05f0ade1b572c.

Taylor, S (2008) People Resourcing, London, CIPD

Ulomka Limited Staff Welfare; How important, 2017, https://ulomka.com/2017/06/12/staff-welfare-how-important/. Taylor,S (2008) People Resourcing, London, CIPD.