Luận văn Thạc sỹ bằng tiếng Anh_Tăng cường động lực nhân sự Chứng khoán Thăng Long. ============== The thesis includes four chapters: Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Theoretical background on staff motivation Chapter 3: Current situation of staff motivation at Thang Long securities company Chapter 4: Recommendation for enhancing staff motivation at Thang Long securities company
1 Subject: ENHANCING STAFF MOTIVATION AT THANG LONG SECURITIES JOINT STOCK COMPANY CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale Vietnamese securities market was born with the mark of the establishment of Hochiminh Securities Trading Center (HOSTC) in 20/07/2000 The market as many experts said is a newly developed, emerging, and highly potential Up to now, there have been 101 securities companies and they continuously have demand in recruiting staffs to expand their business The current labor market cannot meet the demand of securities companies To attract talent candidates, companies offer lots of good treatment policies This is a reason why many staffs change their jobs from this company to another company among securities companies and leads to the situation of intellectual blooding that can happen at any company Intellectual blooding, - increases year by year, threatens the quality and stability of securities companies Therefore, keeping high motivation for staffs is highly demanded in securities companies nowadays As for Thang Long securities (TLS) - one of the five first securities companies in Vietnamsince its establishment in 2000, it is always the Company’s policy to enhance human resource management After 10 years of operations, the number of staffs of TLS is 425 with the age from 22 to 45 Currently, TLS is standing at a challenge of high rate of staff turnover, affecting the company’s operation Many key staffs are looking for more appealing opportunities outside the company with very competitive remuneration package Most of them have left the company for pursuing the new goals of their career path in a new environment From 2006 to 2008, the number of employees at TLS was rather stable Occasionally, one or two staff resigned the work in a year After the financial crisis in 2008, TLS had launched a campaign of becoming the biggest company in market share in brokerage TLS has recruited lots of employees Before October 2008, the number of employees in TLS was 210 employees but at the current time (June, 2010), TLS has 425 employees (excepted for probation, noviciate employees) However, from 2009 up to now, there have been 5% of key mangers and staffs left the company They were qualified, experienced employees In the condition of lack of support from information technology system, this affects to company’s operation very much There are lots of causes that lead to this situation In the side of staff, some thought that TLS’s working environment was boring, treat policy was unsatisfactory Some claimed that the work was too hard, Information System was unqualified and did not support for their work, they were always overloaded and worked over-time day by day The others left because they were not highly appreciated, etc… There may be reasons that rose from management, especially in Human Resource management Being affected in such context, TLS as many other companies has to face with difficulties in retaining staffs and enlisting the co-operation of staffs to achieve the business goals Facing the tough competition of the labor market, TLS is now focusing on perspectives of its staff on motivation to retain talent staffs Being a Team Leader of Securities Service Department of TLS, witnessing the continuously “out-in” of the members in the section, which affect heavily to the operation of the Department, the author has chosen the topic “ENHANCING STAFF MOTIVATION AT THANG LONG SECURITIES JOINT STOCK COMPANY ” for the research, which has not been studied by other students in the previous courses under the English Master of Business Administration Programs, with a great expectation to explore the changes in human resource and raise some recommendations for enhancing staff motivation at TLS 1.2 Research problem In the context of global economic integration, competition in securities market is becoming fiercer, especially from foreign companies and funds The current human resource shortage in the securities market threatens the quality and stability of securities companies The flow of staffs among securities is one of the important forms of social and enterprises’ human resource deployment The company can adjust the proportion personnel composition, optimize the group structure and maintain the vitality of the company through staffs’ turnover The staffs just only contribute their best effort to the company when they have motivation at work It is said that working motivation is the most important priority of any company in order to retain their staffs, however, it is not all companies recognizing this importance TLS is now paying attention to enhance staff’s motivation and consider as a sensitive and compulsory task in human resource management This research focuses on finding out the reason why there have been lots of people leaving the company and try to give some effective solutions to motivate staffs 1.3 Research Objectives The research will try to achieve the following objectives: - Systematize motivation theories that are suitable with the research - Analyze current situation of staff motivation at TLS - Find out motivation factors and de-motivation factors at TLS - Propose recommendations to enhance staff motivation at TLS 1.4 Research questions This research is designed to answer the following questions: - What is the actual situation of staff motivation at TLS? - What factors affecting to staff motivation at TLS? - How to enhance staff motivation at TLS? 1.5 Scope of research - The research was carried out in Hanoi, where TLS’ head office is located TLS has branch in Hochiminh and Haiphong city However, due to the limitation of long distance and time constraint, the author could not come to these offices to conduct research But the author sent them questionnaire for their involvement - The research concentrated on enhancing motivation of employee at staff-level because in TLS, approximate 90% employees are at staff level - Company’s data was collected from 2007 to June, 2010 period - Timing for primary data: in July, 2010 1.6 Research methodology 1.6.1 Research process Step 1: Collect secondary data Motivation background Theories, documents related motivation Designing questionnaires based on motivation theoretical background and implementing survey Step 2: Collect primary data Designing question guidelines based on motivation theoretical background and Performing indepth interviews Motivation situation at TLS Analyzing the result Finding out motivation factors and de-motivation factors Proposing recommendations to enhance staff motivation at TLS Figure 1.1: Research process Source: from author’s information 1.6.2 Data collection In view of specific purposes and limited scope of the study, the author adopted the following methods of data collection in the research Table 1.1: Research data collection N o Data collecting Respondents methods Secondary data Desk study Number of respondents Information collected Fundamental theories and arguments on staff motivation, HR policy… TLS policies and TLS reports and documents (from 2007 to June, 2010) Primary data Questionnaires (20-30 Current TLS 81 staffs staffs condition, C&B, reward and Current TLS recognition, Comment about current HR questions) In-depth Staff’s assessment about working 15 staffs staffs policy, working environment…, interviews expectation for changes in salary, (20-30 rewards, promotion… Comment about TLS‘s HR questions) TLS staffs ex-staffs policy, working conditions, C&B, reward, promotion Reasons for Staffs in Observation staffs stop working at TLS… Expectation for salary, HR policy, other ideal working conditions , current securities situation of staff motivation at companies Current TLS All staffs their own companies Actual situation of staff staffs, TLS motivation at TLS, understand ex-staffs how the motivation affects work’s quality and effectiveness, and to the company’s operation… Source: author’s information The sample size was 81 employees (accounted for 19.06 of the population) to ensure the representative sample of this survey In the survey, the author divided the population by departments in TLS and based on the sample size that determined, the author calculated the number of employee need to join the survey - Questionnaires: The Questionnaire was designed for TLS staff, TLS ex-staff For details, please see Appendix and Appendix - In-depth interview: In-depth interviews were conducted with some department managers and vice managers: HRM department, Back Office department, Brokerage department and some staffs in different departments: Back Office, Analysis, Accounting and Finance, Brokerage, Transaction departments Besides, the author had some interviews with staffs from other securities companies For detail, please see Appendix and Appendix 1.6.3 Data analysis Quantitative data was analyzed using MS Excel 1.7 Thesis structure The thesis includes four chapters: Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Theoretical background on staff motivation Chapter 3: Current situation of staff motivation at Thang Long securities company Chapter 4: Recommendation for enhancing staff motivation at Thang Long securities company TABLE OF CONTENTS 81 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Firstly, I would like to send my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Dr Phan Thi Thuc Anh, who guides me a lot during the time I wrote this thesis She always motivates me not only in conducting this thesis but also in my personal life since I am a very busy and responsible young mother with my two- month-baby This thesis certainly cannot finish without her help Besides, I want to say thanks to all the lectures, tutors, professors, teaching assistants and respective people at E-MBA7 program of Business school at National Economics University Secondly, I would like to send my thank to a large number of Thang Long securities company’s staffs, my friends who helped me a lot in fulfilling questionnaires, supplying needed information, giving advices The last but very important is my beloved family who support me a lot during the last time Especially my mother and my husband always give me spirit encouragement that helps me overcome difficulties at my busy- work life and studying Thank you very much! ABBREVIATIONS TLS : Thang Long securities joint stock company HOSTC : Hochiminh Securities Trading Center HRM : Human resource management JD : Job description C&B : Compensation and benefits F : frequency MBA : Master Business Administration MA : Master of art PH.D : Doctor of Philosophy Dr : Doctor HSC : Hochiminh securities joint stock companies SSI : Saigon securities joint stock companies KLS : Kimlong securities joint stock companies FPTS : FPT securities joint stock companies LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Research process Figure 2.1: The Maslow’s hierarchy of need 18 Figure 2.2: John Stacey Adams’s Equity theory diagram-job motivation 21 Source: www.businessballs.com 21 Figure 2.3: Two factor theory of Herzberg .23 Figure 2.4: The combination of hygiene and motivation factors 27 Figure 3.1: TLS’s key milestones 30 Figure 3.2: TLS’s organization structure 33 Figure 3.3: The TLS’s staff structure categorized by Sex 34 Figure 3.4: TLS staff structure categorized by year of service 35 Figure 3.5: TLS staff structure categorized by qualifications 35 Figure 3.6: TLS staffs’ satisfied level with current job 39 Figure 3.7: TLS staffs’ satisfied level about working condition 45 Figure 3.8: TLS staffs’ satisfied level about C&B 53 Figure 3.9: TLS’s staffs’ satisfied level of recognition of Supervisor 59 Figure 3.10: TLS staffs’ satisfied level about PA 61 Figure 3.11: TLS staffs’ satisfied level about promotion opportunities 63 Figure 3.12: TLS staffs’ satisfied level about customers/partners relationship 66 10 66 Having customer relationship Earns from this customer relationship Figure 3.12: TLS staffs’ satisfied level about customers/partners relationship Source: from the survey Statistic from the survey shows that most of staffs have relationship with customers Only respondents (6.17%) said that their work not give them customer relationship At first time, that is only working relationship but it becomes personal customer relationship later In securities field, it is quite benefits for employee if he/she has good relationship with customers For example, customer A is real estate trader cared by staff B Investing securities according to B’s consultancy, A earns lots of money, feels very happier and A has lot of good information about real estate projects He advises staff B investing After a time of investing, B has got a big earning equal to a year of his salary However, the opportunity to earning money from these relationships is not as high as the relation 20.99 % respondent chose not, 9.88% chose little Being the biggest market share company in securities brokerage service, TLS is an ideal place for employee to have customer relationship and surely, the work becomes more interesting and challenging In conclusion, applying the Herzberg’s two factor theory and J Stacey’s equity theory in the TLS case is rather useful Based on analyzing hygiene and motivator factors given by Herzberg and J Stacey, the author can see which factors that TLS needs to strengthen further of needs to improve to promote their employee’s motivation However, Herzberg’s theory is not totally suitable with TLS case Firstly, according to Herzberg, “money is not a motivator” In TLS case, it is not true For TLS staffs, money is a motivation factor for them to stay with TLS because they are not only normal employees but also securities investors who care much about benefits Secondly, Herzberg’s theory did not mention to relationship with customers but TLS cannot exist without customers 67 Therefore, in TLS case, it should be flexible in applying Herzberg’s theory It is not simple as a high-low problem of factors (see Figure 2.4, page 27), it is more complicated in practice Because Hygiene factors and Motivation factors include many factors which can satisfy this kind of staff but not or little satisfy that kind of staff, however, this does not mean that it will be assessed “low” or “high” 3.3 Summary of findings and reasons for staff de-motivation Firstly, regarding Herzberg’s two factors theory, TLS staff perceives that Hygiene factors including Compensation & benefits, working conditions, company policies and administration are the most important factors to them Regarding motivator factors, mostly TLS staff rated that Recognition, Advancement are the most important Theses make them to stay with TLS Secondly, the author finds that most of TLS ex-staffs left TLS due to TLS’s dissatisfaction about salary and lack of promotion opportunities They said their experience and competencies were not paid reasonably Whilst other staffs in five securities companies said recognition, working environment and salary are very important to them Those are also motivators for them at work Thirdly, through questionnaires conducted based on Equity theory of J Stacey, the author finds that fairness, equity is very important to motivate employee and in TLS, it is not good “There have unequal in salary, some people work less but receiving higher salary” Fourthly, regarding Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the survey’s result indicates that only staffs’ biological need is totally satisfied and many people in the four next levels: safety need, belongingness need, esteem-need and self-actualization need to be satisfied by TLS In summary, the staff motivation in TLS is not really good Although most of respondents said that they fell TLS’s corporate culture was suitable with their own values and 81 respondents-takes 100% said they were proud of being a member of TLS (Question 3.1) and they always trust and respect TLS’s values (Question 5.2), when the author ask about the time they plan to stay with TLS, only 12.3% (10 respondents) said that they would stay until they retire About 24.7% (20 respondents) thought they would stay at TLS in next two years, 28.4% (23 respondents) stated they would stay in next five years and 34.6% (28 68 respondents) thought they would stay at TLS until they found a better job And of course, they usually read recruitment announcement to get information about vacancy 3.3.1 The motivation factors for staff Firstly, for TLS staff, money is a motivator factor for them to stay with TLS because they are not only normal employees but also securities investors who care much about benefits Turnover salary policy in TLS is attractive that makes staff motivated at work very much Secondly, training policy is good TLS has paid attention on providing free professional trainings and diversified methods of training to its staff This makes them feel very satisfied For instance, on-job training, short-courses inside the company, tailor-made programs provided by Vietnam Securities Committee such as: Background of Securities market, Securities analysis, law of securities, , and seminars with participation of financial researchers Thirdly, about Achievement, TLS has recognized the important of this factor in motivating staff at work Therefore, the company has always created conditions for staff to get achievements, to make them feel appreciated and value Managers in TLS have usually given enough information when assigning tasks for their employees to help them achieve their goals Moreover, TLS has concentrated on developing and strengthening its corporate culture by organizing many company activities like: TLS football competition, TLS’s gold singing voice, dancing, tennis class, TLS’s day …to make staff feel proud of being a member of TLS Besides, other good hygiene factors help TLS reduce the employee dissatisfaction Good working conditions (stationery, facilities, safe workplace, business transportation…) bring convenience for staff to their work Giving credit trading limit and deduction in trading securities fee for staff are attractive benefits that make staff feel motivated at work very much 3.3.2 The de-motivation factors and reasons for staff de-motivation According to Herzberg, dissatisfaction was a result of a lack of hygiene factors and demotivation was a result of a lack of motivation factors In this part, at TLS it was found 69 that staff feels de-motivated by both hygiene and motivation factors Therefore, reasons for staff de-motivation are analyzed for two types of factors accordingly 3.3.2.1 The hygiene factors Firstly, about the working condition, the working room is the de-motivate factors It is too small, noisy, stuffy Currently, different departments shares in a big room It’s very noisy when one department is in a meeting or has customers or even one staff has a phone call There are not enough spaces to keep file The WC is un-hygiene, unclean, and toilet paper is not enough for users Secondly, about compensation and benefits, the salary increasing policy and payment policy in turnover salary is not good Salary increasing policy is only on paper, not be transmitted into practice Thirdly, about company policy and administration, the promotion policy is not quite good, the welfare policy especially in the way of pay insurance fee is disadvantage for women when they give a birth they only get basic salary for months staying at home to take care baby Organization structure is not stable which causes employee feel difficult in their work Fourthly, about interpersonal relation with colleagues, supervisor, the cooperation in working among departments is not good Pushing responsibilities, un-open-minded in cooperation is a big problem in TLS causing a rather bad working environment among the company Fifthly, unprofessional recruitments can lead to putting candidates at the wrong position that affect to the staff’s achievement, recognition, promotion opportunities and of course, de-motivate them at work 3.3.2.2 The motivation factors Firstly, about recognition, employee appraisal is not fair enough PA procedure and PA method should be improved because it lacks of the recognition of colleague which create un-exact assessment result thus de-motivates employee very much Secondly, about responsibility, JD is not clear, out of date and cannot reflect the current job of a staff correctly that make them confused on their roles Thirdly, about advancement, there are only few promotion opportunities for employee that causes new employee (1-3years seniority) having a more pessimistic view with their chance, thus make them feel de-motivated in their work 70 In conclusion, TLS should improve these de-motivated factors to retain talent staff staying with company for long term CHAPTER RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ENHANCING STAFF MOTIVATION AT THANGLONG SECURITIES COMPANY In chapter 3, the author has identified reasons for de-motivation factors that cause problems in staff motivation at TLS Based on these findings, this chapter proposes some recommendations to enhance staff motivation at TLS Before going into specific recommendations, the author wants to mention about HR development strategy toward 2015 which has a certain influence on staff motivation at TLS 4.1 TLS’s human resource development strategy toward 2015 General strategy: - Becoming one of leading financial institutions in Vietnam in the field of Investment Banking and Brokerage Business operation - Keeping the leader in Brokerage Commission Market Share - Developing the company to become an Investment Banking Corporation - Opening more branches in big cities, provinces such as: Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, Da Nang, Can Tho… Human Resource development strategy - Human capital is a company’s core strength - TLS is dedicated to building a professional and dynamic working environment imbued with TLS’s corporate culture - TLS recognises that its effectiveness is dependent on the motivation and calibre of 71 its staff and on making the optimal use of their talents, qualifications and skills TLS aims to achieve this through the promotion of best practice HRM in the areas of recruitment and selection, training and development, performance management, equality of opportunity, employee support and the provision of a safe working environment - The HR Strategy must be linked to general strategy of the company HRM department will develop HR action plans necessary for the implementation of the HR Strategy - Much of the information needed to devise HR action plans can only be obtained through the relationship between HR and other departments Therefore, this relationship will be the key to the success of the HR Strategy 4.2 Recommendations for enhancing staff motivation at TLS 4.2.1 Improving working conditions TLS staff always wants to work in comfortable working conditions As mentioned above, the working conditions are important factor motivating them at work Besides, the current working conditions at TLS have not been as good as their expectation in term of working room and hygiene Working room should be large, airy enough so that the employee can feel comfortable to work Some air-conditioners should be equipped to make the room cooler Filing cabinets should be supplied for ensuring of documents stored carefully and confidently It is also recommended to have a better and more hygiene work place where staff can feel good for their health at work WC should be cleaned at least hours at a time and high quality toilet paper should be fully enough Except a big meeting room for the whole company, there is no small room for a group meeting or for business visitors Because different departments have to share in a big room so they not have a private space for department meeting or business visitor The author recommends opening some small rooms to solve these needs Moreover, a smoking room should be considered so that men who want to smoke not have to go to corridor, avoid affecting to other people surrounding Regarding the working facilities, TLS should equip scanner for each department instead of only one as current Departments in different branches can send scanned documents to each other instead of faxing to cut cost down For old fashioned computers, company should upgrade or replace by the new ones to ensure working speed of staff Besides, 72 laptop should be equipped for senior staffs belonging to business blocks to support them in work since they have to travel a lot For business transportation, TLS should have a transportation fund for each department basing on their job characteristic Each department will use this fund to provide mileage fee for employee when they go business Taxi card should be given to each department with private code At the end of the month, departments give it back to the Administration department attached explanation paper about taxi card using 4.2.2 Modifying Compensation and Benefits system As said in chapter 3, Salary is rated the most important hygiene factor in motivating staff at work Thus, TLS should seriously take into consideration of establishing appropriate pay level based on knowledge and skills required for a given job And considering about annual pay rise policy is very necessary that TLS should take into implementation at this time Salary increase should be based on set up clear panel and criteria at the beginning of the year For example: - Under expectation (D level): no salary increase - Meet expectation (C level): increase 2% - Over expectation (B level): increase 3% - Outstanding (A level): increase 5% It is suggested that by the end of each year, based on staff annual performance appraisal, those staffs are outstanding on performance during assessed period should be entitled some certain percent of salary (Besides, he/she can receive a bonus depending of reward policy) Criteria for outstanding performance should be set up at the beginning of the year by the Board of Directors All staff must be well aware of this criteria and conditions as well With the outstanding change day by day of the Vietnam inflation, the VND is always devaluated comparing with the USD, the company should consider about salary increasing policy for its staff in order to ensure the compensation of inflation Since Salary is one of the most important factor makes TLS staff to leave the company, TLS should seriously consider the competition of their salary scheme in the market so that the company can create more attractive salary scheme to retain its employee For senior staffs or managers whose experience and competencies are over qualified, TLS should maintain such employees by paying them attractive and deserve salary Regarding about turnover salary for staff, the author recommends that: 73 The company should have clear criteria of turnover salary allocation At the end of the month, base on this criteria the account department send detail turnover salary calculation paper of each staff for HRM department HRM department is responsible for inform turnover salary to them These will create a transparent payment policy which brings equity to every employee because only when employee believes that they are receiving equitable outputs in relation to their inputs, they are satisfied and motivated (Equity theory) Once the payment policy is modified, it should be clearly communicated to each employee, division When employee understands the fairer content of the modified payment policy, he/she might set goal for him/her-self Thus, he/she will be motivated to extend more effort at work About welfare, besides the current welfare, the company should consider to improve more and more For example: extend time to five or six months for women who is on maternity leave, building company’s kitten garden Currently, there are many young families especially who come from other provinces working at TLS The problem they feel worry is taking care about their children when they are in office Because of work characteristic, many TLS’s employees have to work late and they cannot pick their children on timetable of kitten garden “Who pick the children?” is the only question they care at 5p.m If the company has its own kitten garden for employee, they will keep their mind on their work, thus working productivity increase that benefit for company much more than cost of building kitten garden 4.2.3 Improving Human Resource Policy and Administration The company policy seems to be so good in term of theory but the practice of transmitting the policy in the reality is not as good as expectation Policies on compensation and benefits also should be reviewed especially on other benefits such as the way of paying social and medical insurance The company should pay this fee base on the current salary, not base on basic salary About the overtime problem, the company should think about work shift Staffs in departments that have to work overtime regularly should be taken turns working overtime to ensure their health as well as to balance their life Besides, TLS should invite a professional consultant company to review TLS’s JDs with a consultation of all staffs It must be based on the position’s requirement on work rather than based on the person who takes this job and should be update regularly 74 Organization structure should be stable so that employee can keep their mind in their work Currently, organization structure of TLS always changes In this time, this department belongs to this block, but after some months, it belongs to another one or at this time, this kind of section belongs to this department, then, it is moved to another And, employees are moved from this department to that department, causing employee‘s worrying about their work, their position and cannot concentrate on their work Stabilizing of organization structure is necessary to motivate staff at work 4.2.4 Strengthening the corporate culture and the relationship among staffs To stop the situation of “volleyball club” in TLS, the company should have activities that strengthen the corporate culture and the relationship between employees The author recommends that: - The Boards of directors, managers should interact regularly with employees, really listen to their concerns and suggestion and in turn, offer praise suggestions for improvement; - Making sure employees have clearly defined goals and understand their professional growth path in the company; - Developing open and trusting relationships between employees For example: regularly hold anniversary, exchanges, party between departments, stopping the situation of “each department is private island” - Building a coordination scheme that all departments have to obey Whenever there has a project, related departments must have a meeting in which managers must take part in In the meeting, work is distributed for each department One manager of a department is pointed to lead the project and is responsible for spur other departments about the rate of progress Then, managers assign tasks for their staffs and show list of staffs taking part in the project Basing on this list, staff will connect and cooperate together to finish the project There also should have a clear reward and punishment scheme to evaluate results of each department 4.2.5 Improving performance appraisal system to ensure internal equity in TLS Performance appraisal (PA) is the process whereby an individual’s performance is reviewed against previously agreed goals, and where new goals are agreed which will develop the individual and improve performance over the forthcoming review period 75 PA system should be well and specifically designed in order to encourage and retain employees Annual performance must be carried out to set up a base for salary payment and reward, promotion, training, achievement and recognition Thus, PA results should be precise However, the TLS’s PA system is not really good This will lead to the lack of internal equity, and as J Stacey said in his theory, employees may change their inputs (performance, effort, ability) to make the equal situation that affecting the business results very much The author recommends some solution to improve the PA system as follow: - There should be the performance appraisal of colleague, peer and co-worker, external customer, subordinate to access employee in the annual PA It this evaluation, the contents should concentrate on strong/weak points, ability, experience, responsibility and his/her vote for person who is worthy for annual reward - The company should consider about the evaluation of staff for his line manager HRM department should be responsible for doing the survey by using anonymous questionnaire - For monthly PA to allocate turnover salary, there should be a clear assessment and staff must be known about it Staff is granted chances to discuss evaluation results with their manager The managers tell the subordinate how he/she has been assessed, and then invites comments The discussion is concentrated not only on assessment of past performance but also on next month solutions of the staff‘s work problems, think solution through, and commit himself to improvement - Middle-level managers should be trained with evaluation skill 4.2.6 Designing an Effective Reward and Recognition Program A natural way to motivate employee at any level is to offer them rewards for their good performance, their working effort and their commitment Designing an effective reward and recognition program can be a tricky endeavor—and if done in haste it can create unintended consequences that can actually de-motivate employees and sabotage a program To make a more effective reward and recognition program, TLS should consider the following things (according to suggestion of Meta Force, 2009): - Gather Commitment from Management - All of managers and executives should understand the program’s ins-and-outs This includes eligibility, management’s roles and responsibilities, types of behaviors wanted, as well as results and 76 contributions that warrant a reward Furthermore, train managers and executives to role model and talk about desired behaviors This way they are able to effectively spot and link desired behaviors to rewards and recognition during celebrations and distribution - Link the Reward to Bottom Line Results - The company’s rewards and recognition program should make sense from two perspectives: from the organization’s overall goals and strategies and from the needs and expectations of the workforce Ultimately rewards and recognition program should be connected to the employees’ and organization’s day-to-day reality - Connect the Reward’s Value to the Employee - Employees need to value and feel the reward is meaningful They need to be excited about it, so that when they sacrifice or go above and beyond the call of duty, it will be worthwhile to them They need to be proud enough to receive at least some of the awards that perhaps they will even talk about it with their families and friends for years to come - Distribute Awards Fairly and Equitably - Employees need to believe that the program is fair When developing a rewards and recognition program, it is important to establish criteria and standards to ensure organizational justice within the program This is important for many reasons, but mostly because the company should make employees to trust the program and ensure that it is fair to all employees who participate - Make it Easy to Follow - Managers and employees have to understand it easily - Evaluate Continuously - Rewards and recognition program should be monitored so that it stays relevant to both the employees and the company Furthermore, the company should diversify the reward and recognition by both non-cash payment and financial incentives: Time off (personal leave days for events chosen by employee), Profit sharing (employee get supplement income base on the profitability of the company or a selected department…) 4.2.7 Building a standard recruitment procedure and diversifying labor resource in recruitment Standard recruitment procedure of TLS is still in draft, not official Therefore, the recruitment does not consensus, no profession leading to wrong recruitment that causes ineffective performance, ineffective training, ineffective compensation and benefit, and 77 ineffective promotion It is high time for TLS to launch official standard recruitment procedure The author recommends as follow: - Step 1: Create job description - Step 2: Advertise the job description - Step 3: Determine the appropriate selection process (establish the selection panel, develop testing procedure…) - Step 4: Receive and collate applications - Step 5: Assess short-list candidates - Step 6: Make a verbal offer of employment to recommended applicant - Step 7: Make a written offer employment - Step 8: Inform unsuccessful candidates Moreover, TLS should diversify the labor resource in recruitment, using both internal and external resource For internal resource, the recruitment for any position must be public to every employee Anyone who met the recruitment criteria can join the recruitment process It is necessary to stop recruiting basing on personal relationship as current For external resource, the recruitment should be public in different ways such as: - Introduction of employee - Advertising on attractive and reasonable website such as: Vietnamworks.com, Hrvietnam, HR2B… instead of only advertising on company’s website - Hiring head-hunters to recruit senior employees, managers 4.2.8 Creating chances and good conditions for staff to achieve four needs levels as Maslow recommended Maslow argued that individuals are motivated to satisfy a number of different kinds of needs and not all of them are driven by the same needs At any different time, people may be motivated by entirely different factors It is important for TLS to understand the needs being pursued by each staff and recognize the needs level at which the staff is operating and use those needs as levers of motivation For Basic needs: TLS should satisfy this needs by attractive and fair salary as well as good allowance and benefits such as: lunch allowance, accommodation allowance, rewards for talented individual, new ideas… In short, TLS should build an attractive C&B policy 78 For Safety needs: TLS should provide employee good working conditions and a safe workplace Besides, labor contract should be clear, fair and long enough (3 years or more) to ensure that employee feel safe with their job All employees must be treated equally For Belongingness and Love needs: Employee should have chances to work in team and to exchange with colleagues, to contribute their ideas to TLS’s renovation and development For Esteem needs: Employee’s personality and quality need to be respected TLS should have good reward policy to honor their successes and these successes should be popular on TLS’s website Besides, creating promotion opportunities for successful employees should be strictly considered to give them a certain influence and position in the company For Self- actualization: TLS should provide employee chances to develop their personal strength such as: taking-part in advanced training courses, posting to higher important position, taking part in the TLS’s renovation progress… 79 CONCLUSION This research made an investigation in relation to TLS’s human resources and human resource management, then provided an assessment about TLS’s staff motivation Through the Herzberg’s two factors theory, the Equity theory of J Stacey and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the author put TLS case on and showed the actual situation of TLS in term of staff motivation The findings revealed that TLS and its manager totally realize the important role of staff motivation on success of the company Actually, the TLS leaders have created an attractive policy in which there are many benefits to its staff such as: turnover salary policy, allowance, welfare, medical insurance, reward…However, salary increasing policy, few promotion opportunities partly de-motivate staff’s motivation TLS working conditions are not really good in terms of working place that makes staff dissatisfied at work Organization structure is not stable that make staff feel confused in their responsibility and their position Besides, “pushing responsibility” or “valley ball club” is a big problem in working cooperation Based on the above assessment and fact-findings, the author has proposed some recommendations in order to further motivate staffs at TLS Particularly, the author recommended that TLS’s Board of management should pay attention to improve those factors that de-motivate their staff For instant, TLS should improve working conditions, apply appropriate financial and non-financial methods such as designing an effective reward, recognition on job performance, training, promotion, reviewing Human Resource Policy and Administration, building a standard recruitment procedure and diversified the labor resource in recruitment… More importantly, TLS should take step by step actions to strengthen the corporate culture and the relationship among staffs The corporate culture is regarded a determinant in motivating members right inside TLS and subsequently contributes to enhance adaptability and competitiveness of TLS in the global context The author did hope that this research would be critical to TLS in motivating their staffs at work Besides, it also supported the TLS leaders to see that factors should be strengthened to retain their staff and which factors should be limited to avoid un-satisfaction of their staff at work Due to time constraint, shortage of financial capacity and limited capabilities of the author itself, a further study on HRM and staff motivation at TLS may be needed in order to have more effective and radical solutions 80 LIST OF REFERENCES Vietnamese Ths Nguyễn Văn Điềm, PGS.TS Nguyễn Ngọc Quân (chủ biên).(2008).Giáo trình quản trị nguồn nhân lực.Nhà xuất Đại học kinh tế quốc dân Business Edge.(2003).Tạo động lực làm việc.Nhà xuất Trẻ Các quy trình, quy chế báo cáo Công ty cổ phần chứng khoán Thăng Long English A.H Maslow (1943) A Theory of Human Motivation, psychological Review 50 Frederick Herzberg, Bernard Mausner and Babara Bloch Syderman.2008 11th edition The motivation of work Transaction publishers J Stacey Adams.( 1965).“Injustices in social exchange”, in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology.2nd edition Newyork- Academy press Value-based-management Hierarchy of Needs framework-Abraham Maslow biography (online) Available from: http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/leaders_maslow_hierarchy.htm, access on 2009 Wikipedia -Seligman, Martin E.P (1990), Learned Optimism, New York: Alfred A Knopf, Inc., p 101, ISBN 0-394-57915-1 ) Businessball Frederick Herzberg motivation theory (online) Available from: http://www.businessballs.com/ Herzberg.html, access on 2009 Dwright D.eisenhower Designing an Effective Reward and Recognition Program (online) Available from: http://www.metaforceagents.com Businessball Adams’s Equity theory diagram-job motivation (online) Available from: http://www.businessballs.com/Adamequitytheory.htm, access on 2009 http://www.definitions.uslegal.com ... current securities situation of staff motivation at companies Current TLS All staffs their own companies Actual situation of staff staffs, TLS motivation at TLS, understand ex-staffs how the motivation. .. background on staff motivation Chapter 3: Current situation of staff motivation at Thang Long securities company Chapter 4: Recommendation for enhancing staff motivation at Thang Long securities. .. - Analyze current situation of staff motivation at TLS - Find out motivation factors and de -motivation factors at TLS - Propose recommendations to enhance staff motivation at TLS 1.4 Research