Motivation and employee engagement

Text 1 _{Adapted from uk.linkedin.com/company/lidl-gb and www.google.com/search?q=how+many+new+stores+did+lidl+open+in+the+uk+in+2023&rlz=1C1GCEO_. Item removed due to third party copyright restrictions.} Lidl Ltd

Explain one purpose of planning business activity.

Explain three advantages for Lidl of operating as a private limited company.

Analyse on e likely reason why Lidl expands by using organic growth.

Other than pay, identify two financial methods of motivation.

Evaluate whether Lidl should continue to pay employees a higher wage rate than competitors.

Text 3 Shropshire Fruit Farm

Shropshire Fruit Farm (SFF) grows strawberries at its farm in the West Midlands. SFF is owned by business partners Mei and Felix. The strawberries are picked by temporary employees and sold to supermarkets and convenience stores.

Some of the temporary employees have a full-time contract and others have a part-time contract. This does mean that Mei and Felix find it difficult to plan operations, as employees work different numbers of hours on different days. Employee retention is also a challenge, as employees often leave the business for permanent jobs.

Demand for strawberries has decreased over the past three years and this has affected SFF’s revenue (see graph below). Felix suggests they should use market research to help plan for the future. However, Mei is concerned that, as profits have fallen by 45% over the past three years, any extra expenditure on market research would be wasteful.

Identify one way of communicating in a business.

Analyse two advantages for SFF of employee retention.

Mei and Felix have been reviewing the balance of full-time and part-time employees at SFF.

Analyse one advantage for SFF of recruiting each type of employee.

Full-time employees

Part-time employees

Recommend whether it is best for SFF to recruit full-time or part time employees. Give a reason for your answer.

* Evaluate, using the data in Text 3, whether or not SFF should use market research to help plan for the future.

What is a financial method of motivation that a restaurant manager may use?

A An award scheme for the chefs to develop low cost meals

B Introduce profit sharing for the chefs

C Make staff pay for any glasses or plates they break

D Praise staff who suggest how the restaurant could save money

Text 2 C & J Clark International Ltd (Clarks)

Clarks is a successful UK footwear brand with ranges for children, women, and men. Their market is very competitive. Clarks employs specialist designers who create new shoe styles in response to fast-changing fashion trends. The designers interpret quantitative data carefully when planning new shoe styles.

The designers work closely with employees from other functional areas of the business, such as marketing, finance, and retail, to ensure that the new shoe styles meet customers’ needs profitably.

Clarks works hard to retain its team of designers, as they are central to its success. However, Clarks sometimes needs to recruit new designers and uses several selection methods to help find the best person available to fill the vacancy.

State two aspects of employment law that may affect a business.

Analyse one advantage for Clarks of interpreting quantitative data when designing new products.

Explain three reasons why employee retention is important for Clarks.

Analyse one advantage for Clarks of using interviews to select new designers.

Analyse one advantage for Clarks of using references to select new designers.

Recommend whether using interviews or references is likely to be more effective for selecting new designers. Give a reason for your answer.

What is a non‑financial method of motivation that a manufacturer of handmade wooden toys could use?

A Giving production operatives a bonus for every 1000 toys made

B Increasing the rate of pay for workers in the dusty woodcutting shed

C Praising the workers who take the greatest care when painting the designs

D Providing free private medical insurance to all workers

Employee retention:

A extends the working hours of employees

B leads to higher recruitment costs

C minimises time spent selecting new workers

D reduces discrimination in the workplace

A supermarket chain is receiving an increasing number of complaints about the poor attitude of its sales assistants, especially when the stores are busy.

What would help to deal with this problem?

A Employ fewer sales assistants at each of its stores

B Find ways to increase employee motivation at each of its stores

C Limit the number of customers that can enter each store at any one time

D Reduce the holiday entitlement of any employee that is rude to a customer

A business has introduced a bonus scheme, based on production targets, to help motivate its staff.

Which of the following statements would not be true?

A The bonus scheme is a form of performance-related pay

B The bonus scheme will increase business costs

C Unrealistic targets may lead to lower levels of motivation

D Workers who do not reach the target will have their basic pay reduced

Link to material: https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-mix-heinz. Item removed due to third party copyright restrictions

State two purposes of market research.

Explain three reasons why employee motivation is important for Heinz.

Analyse one benefit for Heinz of developing new products.

Heinz is launching a new range of healthy pasta products.

Analyse one benefit for Heinz of using radio to advertise the new range of products.

Analyse one benefit for Heinz of using its own website to advertise the new range of products.

Recommend whether advertising on the radio or on its own website would be the most appropriate method for Heinz to use when launching the new range of products. Give reasons for your answer.

Xaio and Zhou own a building firm that employs 50 workers. Xaio and Zhou are concerned about the costs of recruitment. They are constantly having to advertise for replacement workers.

Which of the following would help Xaio and Zhou deal with this problem?

A Decrease the hourly rate paid to the workers

B Find ways to increase employee retention

C Give the workers fewer fringe benefits

D Obtain additional finance from the bank

16

Text 1

Waitrose

Waitrose is a supermarket chain with over 300 stores throughout the UK. Waitrose specialises in good quality food, targeted at customers with high levels of income. The company is owned by its employees, who receive a range of benefits including profit sharing. Waitrose continues to offer profit sharing to its employees, even though another UK supermarket chain has replaced this type of benefit with higher rates of pay.

Waitrose has over 50 000 employees. Many employees are recruited externally. As part of the selection process, potential employees take part in lengthy interviews, group activities and tests. References are requested for all new employees. Once appointed, all employees receive regular training.

The supermarket industry is very competitive, so new product development is important to Waitrose. Qualitative market research data is collected using methods including focus groups and customer trials. This data then needs to be communicated effectively between employees at Head Office.

Explain what is meant by a focus group.

Explain one advantage for Waitrose of using customer trials.

Explain one benefit for Waitrose of having good business communication between employees at its Head Office.

Explain one advantage for Waitrose of using external recruitment.

Analyse one likely reason why Waitrose provides its employees with regular training.

Waitrose is always considering new ways of motivating its employees.

Identify two non-financial methods of motivating employees.

Evaluate whether or not Waitrose should continue to offer profit sharing to its employees.