Research assignment

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The impact of financial rewards as an extrinsic factor of motivation on the reduction of employee’s absenteeism at Walmart Metropolice, Vancouver

The impact of financial rewards as an extrinsic factor of motivation on the reduction of employee’s absenteeism at Walmart Metropolis, Vancouver

Introduction

We live in a world that globalization necessitated a high demand to set more effective strategic plans for constant improvement and try to keep the business standing at high success levels. The way that big companies succeed strongly depends on their employee’s productivity. It does not mean that other business-related constituents are not as fundamental; however, every workforce will determine a critical position which its assured stability is the basis for further steps. Therefore, the employee’s satisfaction and well-being are as much critical as the companies’ productivity and success.
Motivated employees show high levels of productivity, as well as employment, become more efficient, and businesses’ purposes become more achievable, leading to a more profitable business at the end. Gradually, companies believe that they have to find ways to help their valuable workforce and keep motivated during effort for rising productivity because unproductive employees who are not satisfied cause business loss and bring disadvantages. It seems that each particular company’s concerns differ from the others in keeping the employees motivated and decreasing the workforce irregularity. Wisely selected motivation incentives that meet the appropriate employee’s needs, support the business to achieve the goals with least failure in today’s highly competitive business world.
In the wholesales and big markets, where employees are obligated to handle more challenging tasks and cover the busy surrounding every day, extrinsic incentives seem to represent a more significant influence on their performance. Among extrinsic incentives, financial aids even have a greater effect on employees with limited salaries and more complicated duties. Accordingly, I decided to evaluate the impacts of the monetary rewards as extrinsic motivation factors on the occurrence of any employee absenteeism.
In this study, I decided to investigate whether the financial incentives cause any reduction in the rate of employee absenteeism among the workforce of the Metropolice branch of Walmart in Vancouver and if the result is positive to what extent it affects the productivity.

Statement of the Problem

In today’s progressing world of business, the valuable employees serve as critical core segments, especially for the lucrative industries such as retail stores and hypermarkets. The company regulations in hypermarkets like Walmart provide a highly specified and formalized atmosphere, and the responsible employees precisely observe the chain of commands (Quinn, 2005). Since Walmart is a centralized organization that requires strict laws that do not perform any adjustments, the employees must follow a determined attendance and well-organized participation. Therefore, the employee presentation directly relates to the job discipline and the company’s targets (Quinn, 2005).
Regarding manager’s reports, we recognized that the employee absenteeism in various departments caused several problems and managers complained about irregular employees’ absenteeism. On the other hand, this behavior stimulated other workforces to repeat the mistreat and disturb the regular discipline and spread the anarchy among work others. Therefore, the reasons which made the employees absenteeism should be considered for a more accurate situation analysis.
According to individuals’ traits and special characteristics due to different situations, different motivators satisfy specific motivations needs and motivated people seem to be a more practical workforce leading to efficiency and development (Langton, Robbins, & Judge, 2019).
Among various demotivated factors may cause employees absenteeism, workplace bullying and mistreats, psycho-somatic disorders, financial problems or any harassments in the workplace and an unfriendly employment atmosphere are the most common reasons (Lee & Lovell, 2014). The need theories highlight the reality that it is important which individuals demand get satisfied, otherwise there would not be any motivation. As Maslow’s need theory clarifies initial needs satisfaction is necessary for reaching higher progress levels and one of those vital needs are fiscal factor as the extrinsic motivators (Langton et al. 2019).
Although the background of the occurred problem seems to be multifactorial, I decided to analyze the problem from the point of a demotivated employee, which had not enough incentive to follow the presentation regulations and job policies. 
Regarding the importance of the issue, accurate monitoring should be performed and study the employee’s absenteeism pattern and review their profile and search if they have reported any problem to their managers, which could be helpful for the investigation.
It should be mentioned that because different people get motivated by various extrinsic or intrinsic factors, it is necessary to categorize the several parameters which can motivate the employees in similar working areas. In order to assess the impact of the extrinsic incentives and particularly the monetary aids, the study needs to dismiss other impressive incentives that reduce the absenteeism rate among employees.
Furthermore, it is crucial to evaluate delays as well as absenteeism and determine the financial incentives impacts on each one’s reduction and the relation between the amount of the incentive and the absenteeism reduction rate.

The Research Objectives

The purpose of this study is to determine to what extent monetary incentives motivate the employees and cause absenteeism reduction in the workplace.

The purpose of this study is to investigate to what extent a fiscal incentive can reduce the absenteeism rate in Walmart employees. Additionally, among other extrinsic incentives, how fiscal aids influence the absenteeism reduction rate compared to other factors.

The practical goal of the research is the determination of the value of higher motivated workforce which positively affect productivity with accurate presentation and less turnover (Maduka & Okafor, 2014).

Research Question

In this study, I will try to cover the following questions which guide my research:
1. How do employees respond to different type of monetary incentives in short and long term?
2. Which fiscal aid method could result in higher work discipline and presentation?
3. Do employees with different causes of absence got satisfied with the fiscal incentives?
4. Could monetary incentive solve the delay problems during work time among work force?
5. What if managers decide to switch it to nonmonetary incentives? Does the absenteeism rate change?
6. What strategy do managers choose to resolve the problem in the long term, which is least costly and most efficient?

Research Hypothesis
H0: Employees with mortuary incentive show less absenteeism rate due to incentive aids.

Review

A study over the positive impact of a lottery-based bonus award system in decreasing the worker absenteeism in a monthly lottery among workers with no sick leave during three months and also not won the former lottery showed that meaningful differences are seen in the absenteeism models among employees with different eligibility situations depending on the records of their absence and whether they had previously won or not (Hassink & Koning, 2009).
According to this research, absenteeism increased among workers who recently won or were ineligible for more participation. Although the decline in the absence related to the lottery changed from 2.4 percentage to 1.1 in the next seven months, the writers assumed that the lottery overall was beneficial to the firm (Hassink & Koning, 2009). The eligible workers were those with good attendance could participate in future lotteries. To recognize the lottery impact, the researchers have compared groups with various states of eligibility for participation. The results indicate that the incentive impact was greatest for those whose attendance made them acceptable for all three lotteries (Hassink & Koning, 2009).
Based on the study’s estimations, the monthly rate of sickness absence reduced by 4.3 percentage in the lottery’s first seven months and by 1.0 percentage in the next seven months. During the lottery, the rate of absence was 14.8% and 4.8%, respectively, as the workers overestimated their chances of succeeding or because they eventually recognized they could win in one of the lotteries. The study discusses the tracking of behavior following the experiment end of the stimulus. Among those who got the lottery, the absence rates rose afterward (Hassink & Koning, 2009).
The study recommends that the lottery was advantageous. Its costs were considerably less than its benefits due to the greater attendance rate. But, the result of the lottery declined eventually, although still statistically was important. Besides, the winning workers began to have more absences after they won the lottery. As a result, the incentive method could maintain a longer-lasting impact on absenteeism if the winner’s workers remained eligible for coming lotteries or if the rules for participation were less constricted (Hassink & Koning, 2009).
In another qualitative study about the impact of non-monetary incentives on employee satisfaction, the researchers showed that 42 percent of the participants displayed a positive response to non-monetary incentives, 33 percent showed a positive answer to both, and the rest represented a positive response to monetary rewards, so the majority of them had positive feedback to both incentives and in conclusion, he stated that companies should not try to replace monetary with non-monetary bonuses, but use the combination of both methods (Berberain, 2008).
In another single case study on preschool staff, the 13 of employees were absent four percent of the time, and after implementing the designed monetary incentive program to decrease employee absenteeism, the overall absenteeism during the incentive programs became 2.5 percent while expenses remained fixed and 26 percent more children were assisted in school (Jinger & Margaret, 1984).
According to another study (Jacobson, 1989), about determining whether teachers’ absence significantly decreased after the implementation of the monetary incentive program, the mean quantity of teacher absences decreased significantly throughout the first year of the incentive program and the number of days that instructors were absent decreased from 7.21 days in one year to 5.34 days in the next year while the average number of their absences diminished from 6.5 to 3.25 days with a 50 percent decline in one year (Jacobson, 1989).
But, of all the questions raised by the study, perhaps the most intriguing in terms of developing a future research agenda is. The study also addressed that there is a meaningful relationship between instructor absence and student performance and the extent to which instructor absenteeism affects student absenteeism (Jacobson, 1989).
According to other studies, there is undeniable proof that absenteeism is higher in hazardous and noisy work conditions, and workers reply to financial incentives (Hassink, 2018).
Still, the extent to which firms can implement negative incentives may be limited. There is some evidence that companies can apply reward plans to decrease absence, and the bonus depends on several indicators. Besides, rewards are an expensive way of reducing absenteeism, and a well-designed system of monitoring by supervisors may increase the use of financial incentives to reduce absence (Hassink, 2018).
Among all financial aid methods, a particular lottery for which participation is related to absence looks more effective; however, a problem with monetary incentives may be that, if the aids are too strong, workers may be incorrectly inspired to show up work. Moreover, the company may be at risk of spreading contagious illnesses, thus leading to risen absence and decline of their co-workers (Hassink, 2018).
Another study emphasis the influence of variable pays plans on workplace absenteeism (Pouliakas & Theodoropoulos, 2012). Companies that explicitly connect payment with individual performance seems to have significantly fewer absenteeism rates. The effect is more substantial for companies that offer changeable pay plans to their non-managerial workforce. The result is robust to several sensitivity analyses. So, es that tie a higher part of employees’ wages to variable payment plans undergo lower absenteeism rates.
The study recommends that the effect is greater among companies with a higher than usual absence rate. Eventually, the research suggests that the high absenteeism in the past is associated with a more significant future occurrence of individual variable pay systems, which, in turn, is related to fewer current absenteeism rates (Pouliakas & Theodoropoulos, 2012).
Another study evaluates the relative effect of monitoring and financial incentives in attendance at work. According to this research, when stronger monitoring was made, there happened a 20 percent reduction in short sick leave. The influence mainly reduced when a subsequent policy changed the monitoring to the previous level while leaving financial motivations untouched. Also, the results are approved by a variety of checks and are not made by any attenuation bias (D’Amuri, 2011).
Another study emphasizes that employee absenteeism reasons consider few predictors or distinguish among various types of reasons. The study evaluates a multivariate pattern of absence behavior made from the researches and identifies among different absences types, which one responds to incentives. Results indicate that various absence models respond differently to financial incentives. The study concludes that there is instability in the certainty that only economic conditions changes may have a direct impact on the model of absence behavior changes (Bonner & Sprinkle, 2002).
According to other studies, for incentives to change behavior in different areas and create habits, some conflicts occur between the direct extrinsic impact of the incentives and how these incentives can decrease intrinsic motivations in the short or long run in companies among employees (Gneezy & Meier & Rey, 2011).
These incentives seem to produce moderate benefits when the stimuli are well special ed and well-targeted. However, the researchers seek for the long-term achievement of the incentive plans believe the managers should be careful when designing the incentives to limit opposing changes in in-group norms, thought concerns, or business trust (Gneezy et al. 2011). Based on the literature reports, about the use of incentives for changing behaviors, significant incentives work in the short and middle run; however, during the long term, the necessary change in habits may disappear.
Based on study results, if there are any economic incentives, the managers should expand their focus and clarify the target (Gneezy et al. 2011). A considerable proof suggests that the effects of incentives depending on the way they are designed, the form in which they are provided and how they communicate with intrinsic motives and group motivations, and what occurs after they are removed.
There should be a defined assessment of the incentives that modify behaviors like absenteeism, so to what extent they are cost-effective. Some studies mention that sometimes prevention is cheaper than treatment, and there should be a moral-economic trade-off. Even relatively inexpensive and possibly more cost-effective incentives can achieve the same purpose (Gneezy et al. 2011).

Research Design

The following study has a descriptive correlational (associational) research nature; because it decides to investigate if there is any positive, negative or zero relationship exists between the extrinsic incentives and absenteeism rate among the workforce. In the following correlational research, we study the correlational statistic to evaluate, assess and measure the degree of association (or any relationship) among our variables or sets of scores, which are monetary incentives and absenteeism rates among employees (Creswell, 2018).
During this study, the determined study design tries to evaluate the different monetary plans and analyze the employee’s response according to that special plan. Considering the problem in the company, managers are still not sure the reasons behind the workforce absenteeism, and it is not clearly proven, it is necessary to design an approach to investigate the proper solutions. While the research objective is to achieve a logical relationship between extrinsic incentives and absence reduction through a logical formula, so the managers could formulate a determined strategy for the future.
During the study, we provide surveys that produce quantitative descriptions of information about employees by studying a sample of the workforce population. It includes cross-sectional and longitudinal investigations using questionnaires or interviews for collecting data—with the purpose of generalizing from our defined sample to other groups or workforce population (Creswell, 2008).
The study’s outcome should be tested and undergo more analyses to get governing permissions for other similar groups and areas in the working areas (Creswell, 2018). by using the quantitative approaches, the obtained data will translate to the statistical information, which will be interpreted and categorized to find a meaningful relationship between the received information and different models of delay, anarchy, or absenteeism.
Absenteeism is a repeated behavior of absence in performing the duties and responsibilities with no valid reason, can be unplanned, and serves as a sign of poor personal performance (Langton et al. 2019). It is mainly due to a controlling management problem and finally results in economic loss. Recently, researchers found that absenteeism is related to different psychological, medical, or social job adjustments (Langton et al. 2019). The way we can determine the presence of absenteeism or any disarrangement or misbehavior is to observe employee behavior during work time and check the records of their daily schedule.
With the correlational study, we measure the relationship between provided monetary incentives and the absenteeism rate among employees. It aims to find out whether there is either positive, negative, or no correlation among two variables. Although we assume that there would be a negative correlation among them, we prefer not to conduct experimental research and manipulate the variables because of the probable financial, social, and ethical issues. Finally, correlations can be strong or weak to support our hypothesis. 
The selected methods for collecting data would be a combination of surveys, observations, and some archival data to achieve the highest reliability and validity. The designated questionnaire is conducted online for employees and in-person for each department manager, and then statistically will analyze the answers. Throughout the observation method, another set of data would be collected according to the behavior observed in the workplace, which evaluates the workforce motivation status plus employee discipline.
The observation includes recording and directly observe the employee’s actions and events and contain quantitative elements in the workplace among the employees. Although the observation method if time consuming, it lessens the respondent errors. There is also another supportive way to double check the correlation effect through the company’s archival data which has been collected before for other purposes.
Through the selected method, after collecting the necessary data relating to the workforce absenteeism, the reliable results will be classified, recorded, and saved in a folder as primary data to get compared and analyzed in the next step of the plan. To observe the employee’s behavior finding their absence pattern and the response to incentives and assess their motivated performance, special cameras are needed in determining departments that are basically concerned with the misbehavior.
Because the financial program is performance-oriented and needs some explanation, before starting the study, all workforce will take part in a clarification workshop to get familiar with the types of fiscal aids and the related regulations. Each department will conduct its employee survey, and the collected information separately will be assessed.
There would be no chance to select a specific sample size due to avoiding ethical, financial, or

job-related issues. 

Method of Sampling

According to the characteristics of the field of study, the first method is going to be used to select the sample, is random sampling, which provides a similar chance for every employee to take part in the study (Random sampling among Walmart Metropolis branch of Vancouver). For each person in the workforce population, there would be an equal chance of receiving the incentives at the beginning of the study. For the whole population, a determined fiscal amount is allocated with simple rules which ask them to observe mentioned regulations during the first one-month period. After this time, those who were committed to the regulations will selectively prefer to continue with the survey, so the sample would probably narrow down somewhat.
To establish an incentive program, the study prefers to include all employees at the Startup level, giving the employees information and some instructions about the coming plan. During the first month, they supposed to observe some daily routine discipline and try not to get absent to be eligible to enter the incentive program. According to the monetary incentives, different plans are applicable in various organizations such as bonuses in the form of cash or stock options, allocating profits for distribution to employees, rewards for any improvement, incentive plans based on production rates, or added knowledge or skills among workforces (Heizer et al. 2020).
The statistical tools we may use are “Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient” which measures the linear relationship amongst two variables and “Pearson Chi-square” which evaluate if any observed difference happened by chance. Also, the “Regression Analysis” will examine the influence of one or more independent variables on a dependent variable (Creswell, 2018).

Ethical issues

The Walmart company should ensure the existed regulation, permissions, and related certifications. Also, Human resource management must be guaranteed that there is no limitation or legal limitations to access the employee’s information and allocating monetary incentives with designated plans and interviews. In order to keep the employee’s privacy, the study ensures that it will not publish the participant’s name and information, and the result will be under investigation steps to get the permissions for getting generalized.

Timetable

The Research Step

Estimated Time

Declaration meeting (Introduction & Regulations)

Week 1

Collecting documents from HR department (Secondary-Archival)

week 1 to end of week 3

Invitation for face to face (Employees in each department-qualitative data)

Week 2-12

Evaluation each departments data from online questioners (employees)

Week 2-12

Data Tabulation

week 12 -14

Statistical analysis

week 14 -16

Transcription of recordings

week 16 -18

Analysis of data collected

week 18 – 20

Final Report

week 22

Research Estimated Costs

Activity

Estimated Cost (CAD)

Meetings
(Electronics devices, Reception)

500

Online Evaluation
(questionnaire design, applied applications)

200

Monetary plan
(weekly schedule-rewards-bonuses-skills)

10000

Research

5000

References

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D’Amuri, F. (2011). Monetary incentives vs. monitoring in addressing absenteeism: experimental evidence. Bank of Italy Temi di Discussione, (787).
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https://wol.iza.org/articles/how-to-reduce-workplace-absenteeism/long

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DOI:

Langton, N., Robbins, S. P., Judge, T. A. (2019). Organizational Behaviour: Concepts,

Controversies, Applications (8th ed). Don Mills, Ontario: Pearson Canada Inc.
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