Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economic and Strategic Research

GROUP ASSIGNMENT Course: MG3206 Leadership & Motivation Instructor: Alma Alpeisova FALL 2009 Employee Motivation in Kazakhstan Group # 3 Kaikina Yekaterina Nugumanova Zarina Sapiyeva Benazir Zikrina Zarina Bazhanova Baiana Kobeshev Dauren Konyukhov Dmitriy

Employee Motivation in Kazakhstan

Almaty 2009

Employee Motivation in Kazakhstan

Table of Contents
1. Introduction 2. Organizations background a. Kazakhstan Hotel b. Kazzhol Hotel c. Alma Hotel 3. Goal-setting theory 4. Hypothesis 5. Research 6. Recommendations 7. Conclusion

Employee Motivation in Kazakhstan

Introduction
In today's turbulent, often chaotic, environment, commercial success depends on employees using their full talents. Yet in spite of the myriad of available theories and practices, managers often view motivation as something of a mystery. In part this is because individuals are motivated by different things and in different ways. In addition, these are times when delivering and the flattening of hierarchies can create insecurity and lower staff morale. Moreover, more staff than ever before are working part time or on limited-term contracts, and these employees are often especially hard to motivate. Twyla Dell writes of motivating employees, "The heart of motivation is to give people what they really want most from work. The more you are able to provide what they want, the more you should expect what you really want, namely: productivity, quality, and service." (An Honest Day's Work (1988)) Motivation is an actual issue for all corporation and just individuals. Different organizations use different methods for employee appreciation but ones of the most popular methods that are proven in practice. A positive motivation philosophy and practice should improve productivity, quality, and service. Motivation helps people:

achieve goals; gain a positive perspective; create the power to change; build self-esteem and capability, manage their own development and help others with theirs.

Employee Motivation in Kazakhstan

Companies Background
Hotel Kazakhstan If you are one who likes comfort and elegance, coziness and home coziness, then the best choice for you is the hotel Kazakhstan, which was opened in 1977. For more than quarter of the century the hotel has been welcoming guests and had the well-known reputation and been respected by Almaty people and guests of the city. The doors are always open for the guests who appreciate the level of our services. Thanks to convenient location and perfect service you will find yourself in the center of business and cultural life of the city life and the country. Hotel Kazakhstan offers cozy conference-halls for various events equipped as business-center for different tasks. The hotel is located in the administrative and cultural center of the city that makes staying in the hotel the most comfortable and convenient. In the hotel complex you will find perfect service, the fullest comfort and coziness. Hotel Kazzhol Three-stars hotel Kazzhol was opened in 2005, now is located in the center of Almaty close with administrative and shopping centers. In total in 20 minutes from the International airport. The personnel of hotel is ready to incur all cares on the organization of your stay in Almaty, to provide full comfort and good service Hotel guarantee to clients safety of residing, and bears the responsibility for the order. In hotel Kazzhol is available: cafeteria, laundry, hairdresser's,a sauna a fax, the copier, the Internet; has the sanction OVIR on registration of foreign citizens and citizens of the CIS. The uniform checkout time 12.00 is established. Calculation for residing can be made by transfer, cash, credit cards; the breakfast enters into cost of residing. Payment for services of hotel is made in tenge, including the VAT. In 2002 hotel Kazzholhas received international prize Century International Quality Era Award for high quality of service.

Employee Motivation in Kazakhstan

Hotel Alma Hotel Alma opened its doors in 2007. Now is situated in the center of Almaty city and has 20 different class rooms providing comfort to its guests. The hotels name Alma in Kazakh means Apple, the symbol of Almaty. The hotel is located near Dostyk avenue (corner of Abai avenue), the way to Medeo, the cable-way to Kok-Tobe, the Republics Palace. The hotel is very convenient place of residence for tourists, sportsmen and business people. All rooms are equipped with necessary facilities such as air conditioner, mini-bar, direct telephone, satellite TV and 24-hours service. In hotel there are numbers: lux, a junior suite, single and double

Employee Motivation in Kazakhstan

Literature Review Goal-Setting Theory

Many theories exists which offer several views on problem of motivation. However there is one theory on which we put attention and it is Theory of Goal Setting by Edwin Locke and Gary Latham. Setting goals is a powerful way of motivating yourself or a group of people you are working with. Goal setting theory is widely recognized as one of the best motivational theories in self help, personal development, and personal growth. It defines how human beings act or behave due to a specific purpose. Basically, people have needs so they set objectives and goals for themselves in order to meet those needs. There can be various skills involved when trying to achieve a number of goals in which the outcomes also differ. Whether as part of a business planning process or in your day to day life, defining goals is important in that goal setting provides a clear vision of what you ultimately want to accomplish. Goal setting theory was pioneered and established by Dr Edwin Locke in the late 1960s. The idea is that you become invested in reaching the goal, strengthening your motivation to achieve it. His research has shown that the difficulty of the goal and how clear it is will affect how hard people will work towards that goal. Clear, precise, and challenging goals produce better results than vague and easy goals. This means that if you say "Ill consider that" or "I'll do my best" to do "this or that" your success rate won't be as high as if you say something like "Ill improve my level of studies by going into additional courses or "I'll burn off 5 kilos of fat by My Birthday".

Here in the idea of goal setting theory we consider the SMART goals which mean that they should be:

Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time bound

Employee Motivation in Kazakhstan Furthermore in 1990, Locke and his colleague Dr Gary Latham published a joint work, "A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance." The book outlines the five principles of goal setting which must be evaluated in order to fully motivate a person to achieve: 1. Clarity. 2. Challenge. 3. Commitment. 4. Feedback. 5. Task complexity.

Employee Motivation in Kazakhstan

Hypothesis
Now we want to emphasize on this factor and consider it as hypothesis. Setting the goal is the tool in order to get self motivated, get the clear vision of the aimed target and organize the working process by the clear distinction of the strategy and tools to use in order to achieve it. Supporting ideas: The more clear, difficult and challenging goal the higher is the motivation to reach it. Everybody knows that a vague goal has very little motivational value on employees. Every semester when we have some problems with lessons or if to say it more precisely with exams, we just say: Oh, Ill do better on my next test, but really very good solution is to say that Ill score 80% or higher on next exam. The same situation is here. You can structure your game plan much more easily with a specific goal in mind. Use specific and measurable standards. People enjoy achievements therefore they will be more willing to accomplish the goal if it requires some part of challenge. However, you should not set too complicated or difficult goals, because they are likely to be demotivating. In order for goals to be well set for you personally it must be based on the all available information, but the decision itself must be self assured. Setting the goal is a very good tool in order to get motivated and see what actions to implement. The decision of the targeting got to be based on the opinion and experience of the proper people (not your teenage brother), who can give proper advices and share the proper information concerning the goal you want to set. Otherwise the decision must not be affected by the information that could be not suitable or can negatively influence on the decision of proper goal. That is reasoned by that not all of your advisors are getting the same point of view, or are trying to get the wrong decision for you. So the decision must be clearly viewed and made very carefully.

Employee Motivation in Kazakhstan There are several human factors that can affect the decision and the achieving process itself. Gender and age are the most integrate. Men and women are different in their decisions and the way they achieve the goals. That is reasoned by the brain structure. Women are humanitarian and men are rational. Therefore the decisions are made differently. Age is the factor that is important because of the experience that is accumulated and by the temperament that is affecting the proper decision.

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Employee Motivation in Kazakhstan

Analysis of questioners (Goal-setting theory)

Lockes Goal setting theory is a very powerful tool for motivating people. It is well recognized in different fields like business, physiology and sports. We created a questioner according to the major assumptions of Goal Setting Theory. For the questioner three local hotels had been chosen: Kazakhstan, Alma and KazZhol. According to the Goal Setting Theory, there is a strong relationship between how difficult, specific and realistic goal so the higher is someones performance. Therefore, the higher are these three factors the higher is the success of reaching someones goals. In order to approve or disapprove this concept we conducted a survey among ten managers of the hotels and thirty employees. Survey consists of seven questions that had to be filled out using a scale from one to seven (1 minimum, 7 maximum), one question that had to be filled out by yes or no answers, and three open-ended questions; all of them on the topic of Goal Setting Theory. In our calculations, we took a weighted average sum of first three questions (Goalsetting) and compared them with weighted average score of answers for the fourth, the fifth and the sixth questions (job-performance). Weighted average results of questioners from KazZhol hotel suggest that goals of its employees are 66.6% specific, clear and difficult. Abilities of reaching these goals are 71.4%. According to these results we can see that employees of KazZhol hotel less specify their goals. However they enjoy the quality of their work and achieved goals. We categorized all questioners by gender and age of employees. And results show that among male respondents percentage of specific and clear goals is high, 70%, but it is less than their assumption about goal achievements, 71.4%. Among females this tendency is dissimilar 68.5% is degree of specific, clear and difficult of female goals, 58.5% is degree of goal achievement among female employees in KazZhol. Also we divided results of employees by age between under 30 years old and after 30 years old employees. And results show that young people under 30 years are specifying their goals more than able to reach them 71.4% versus 58.5%. We can assume that it is because young people are very ambitious. However employees after 30 years are able to achieve 71.4% of their goals but they are less specify and clear them, 63.3%. Moreover, open-ended questions gave us an idea about what characteristics 11

Employee Motivation in Kazakhstan help employees in reaching their goals. KazZhol employees say that persistence, purposefulness and determination are the most useful traits for reaching their goals. Such qualities as uncertainty and laziness disturb their ability to achieve goals. Weighted average results of questionnaires from Kazakhstan hotel suggest that goals of its employees are 75% specific, clear and difficult. However, abilities of reaching these goals are only 70%. We can assume that employees of Kazakhstan hotel are motivated by setting their own goals; therefore the Goal Setting Theory is approved in this case and can be used in order to increase overall result even further. Men in Kazakhstan hotel are equally successful in setting and achieving goals their questionnaire results is 71% for both. While results among women employees are 73% for setting goals, and 77% for achieving them. However employees categorized by age shows the similar tendency as KazZhol hotel employees: under 30 years old employees 70% versus 64% and after 30 years old employees 83% and 96%. And again we can certain that more young employees are more ambitious and not so successful in achieving goals as in setting them. 50% of participants from Kazakhstan hotel suppose that purposefulness is the main trait in achieving goals, however uncertainty is one of the distracting traits that some people poses and which does not help in achieving goals. Third hotel where we conducted research is Alma hotel. It is comparably new hotel and therefore its results are very surprising. First of all, its weighted average results of questionnaires show that goals of its employees are 65% specific. And abilities of achieving these goals are 73%. It means that employees of Alma hotel like employees of KazZhol less successful in specifying their goals. However they enjoy the quality of their work and achieved goals. Purposefulness and persistence are among helpful traits in reaching goals and laziness and irresistibility are among disturbing traits for participants from Alma hotel. Secondly, if we look at results by gender and age we can be surprised because they are almost identical for all criteria. Males respond as 65% and 72%, females 67% and 76%, under 30 years old employees: 67% and 73%; after 30 years old employees: 67% and 76%. It means that despite the age and gender of Alma workers they are more specific in achieving goals than in understanding their clearness and difficultness.

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Employee Motivation in Kazakhstan Looking in overall perspective we can assume that Goal Setting Theory is absolutely justified and supported by our survey results. If we look at gender analysis of all 3 hotels we can suggest that the most effective at using Goal Setting Theory are males at Kazakhstan hotel, because they have 0% difference between stating their goals and achieving them at the same level. The biggest differences in percentage are both male and female in Alma hotel. We suppose these results are connected to the short history of this hotel compared for example to Kazakhstan. Comparing analysis by age categories we see that those employees under 30 years old have most problems with reaching goals that they have stated for themselves, the highest difference is about 12%. That might be closely related to there small work experiences and lack of knowledge about their own abilities. On the contrary participants over 30 years old have problems with stating enough difficult and clear goals, they are reaching goals much easier, and the highest difference is 13%. That might related to a good self-motivation or carefulness with stating more challenging objectives.

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Employee Motivation in Kazakhstan

Recommendations
Heres how you can put the goal setting theory to work for you right now. When establishing your intentions to accomplish a specific objective, you must first define your significant goal or goals. Select one to three important goals on which you intend to focus. If you have too many goals, you will not be able to dedicate enough energy to each. The result may be failure to achieve some - or any - of them. If you limit the number of goals and are specific in defining them, you will be more successful. The more often you experience success, the more committed you will become to achieving success in every area of your life. It is also helpful to separate personal goals from professional goals. Again, this allows you to maintain your focus. Just as you separate work time from personal time, it is important to have goals for each area of your life. However, there is a risk of overcommitting if you have too many goals that demand your attention at any one time. The maximum number of goals should be 6-8 divided between personal and professional.

All of your goals should focus on what you want to achieve. If you don't know what success looks like, you won't know when you have arrived! Your defined goals should make you stretch to achieve them. If the outcome is easily within your reach, it is more of a task or action step to complete rather than a goal. The goals you define should create a desire to go beyond your everyday routine. The goals should inspire you to make an improvement or attain something that seems out of your reach. Now some people may think this is too organized and takes too much work. They are

right! It does take organization and it does take work to have plans and goals for your future! Have you ever heard that phrase, "Those who fail to plan - plan to fail"? If you do not have absolute confidence in the direction you are going, how can you know you are going in the right direction? Everyone has to have a goal for their lives. Does not matter their age, their social status, their education - get a plan.

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Employee Motivation in Kazakhstan The first step is to write down what you want to accomplish. Get a journal or diary and do it today. Habakkuk 2:2 states "Write the vision and make it plain..." You cannot just think about your goals. Put those thoughts on paper so they can manifest into something real - something tangible. Most goals and plans fall into two categories: Must do plan - To reach any goals there are a series of "Must do" steps that must be completed. What are your action plans? Research what it would take to accomplish this goal and get moving! Would like to do plan - Change your thought process. Don't say you cannot do it but ask yourself how you can do it. Find resources that can help you. Now that you have your plans written down and you researched what it will take to accomplish your goals - go for it. Although there may be times where you need to adjust the plan or start in a new direction - do not give up. Do not let anyone or anything stop you. Be a pit bull with this thing! We want you to be able to look back on your year and be proud of all you have accomplished! Conclusion So, goals are able to motivate and spur you to meet your ambitions because it helps you focus your efforts on that objective. By setting goals, were able to persist with the list of tasks and are compelled to develop strategies in order to reach our objective. According to our results, we figured out that age is one of the criteria that actually affect the way people achieve their goals, because the more experienced the employer is (over 30 years old) the more accurate the decisions are also the aged person can make more calm actions in order to achieve the target. These facts are approving our assumptions. Gender factor is not approved by the research; both men and women are setting and achieving goals almost the same ways and achieve the similar aims. Thats why its important to set goals, as it quickly identifies the specific steps required to attain whatever it is you want.

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Employee Motivation in Kazakhstan

References:
1. Locke, E. A., and Latham, G. P. (1990). A theory of goal setting and task performance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. 2. Motivation Theories, 11/9/2009, assessed from http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/goals.htm 3. Motivation, 11/9/2009, assessed from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivation

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Employee Motivation in Kazakhstan

Appendix
Figure #1 Analysis by Age

100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0%

96% 73% 67% 76% 67% 83% 70% 64% 71% 59% 71% 63%

Goal-setting Jobperformance

30 a \< Alm

30 a \> Alm

k za Ka

k za Ka

h z-Z Ka

z Ka -Zh

0 \<3 tan hs

0 \>3 tan hs

0 <3 ol\

0 >3 ol\

Figure #2 Analysis by Gender

80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

72% 65%

76% 67%

71% 71%

77% 73%

71% 70%

66% 59%

Goal-setting Job performance

a \m Alm

a \f Alm

z Ka ak

ak Kz ta hs n\f

h z-Z Ka

h z- Z Ka

\m tan hs

m ol\

f ol\

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Employee Motivation in Kazakhstan Questionnaire Age Sex Company______________ Name_________________ Position_______________

A survey on the effects of Goal Setting on Job Satisfaction 1. How specific are your goals? 1234567 2. How clear are your goals? 1234567 3. How difficult are your goals to achieve? 1234567 4. To what extent do you set your own goals? 1234567 5. To what extent, on average, do you meet your goals? 1234567 6. Overall, how would you rate your job performance? 1234567 7. Overall, how would a supervisor rate your performance? 1234567 Answer these questions: 1. What personal characteristics help you to achieve your goals?

2. What personal characteristics disturb you while achieving your goals?

3. Whom do you rely on when setting and achieving your goals? 18