Leadership studies (Essay Sample)

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Final Submission
Executive summary
Virgin Atlantic is an airline company that is associated with the Virgin conglomerate. The British entrepreneur Richard Branson owns the company. Branson is a transformation leader who believes that his company should be driven by innovation rather than on preset rules (Balmforth, 2009). In Virgin Atlantic, Branson has been able to establish the notion that mistakes are part of the learning process and should not be punished. On this regard, the airline has developed a motivation strategy that is based on the theories of Abraham Maslow and Fredrik Herzberg. Virgin Atlantic aims at establishing a motivated workforce based on this theory. However, critics disregard the tactics employed by Virgin Atlantic. These critics lay their arguments on the low remunerations offered by Virgin Atlantic. They believe that Virgin Atlantic should consider Taylor’s motivation theory when implicating their motivation strategy. However, the airline has defied all odds and has been able to implement its mission despite the low pay to its workers. Of great interest is the fact that these workers are highly motivated as compared to better paid individuals in other airline. Thereby, one can argue that the strategies have worked on establishing employee motivation but have some critique on the financial implications of these strategies to the company’s shareholders.
Introduction
Virgin Atlantic is a successful airline business that is based owned by the renowned British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson. The company is associated with the Virgin conglomerate that is the proud owner of the Virgin brand. Virgin Atlantic was established in the year 1984 and boasts of a workforce of over 9000 employees (Grant, 2008).Currently, the company has been able to establish over 30 global destinations which has been inspired by its exponential growth in its haul services and operations. In addition, the company has attained global recognition through numerous consumer and trade awards. The airlines policy of offering affordable high quality services has also aided it in establishing itself as the U.K’s second largest airline (Balmforth, 2009).. Though a lot of credit has been credited to the company’s low cost policy, one can argue that its organizational structure and motivational strategy plays a crucial role in the company’s success. On this regard, this paper shall evaluate the motivation strategy adopted by Virgin Atlantic. In addition this paper shall assess how the motivation strategies adopted by Virgin Atlantic align to it vision mission and values.
Company’s Mission and core values
The company’s mission aims at creating an environment where people love to work and fly. Through the company’s mission, one can argue that the company lays much of its focus on the well-being of its workforce and hence its employees (Virgin, 2014). As communicated by its mission, Virgin Atlantic believes that a happy workforce directly translates to a satisfied customer. Thereby, Virgin Atlantic various motivational strategies to ensure that its employees view the workplace as fun environment rather than a strict environment that is governed by strict rules and regulations. In addition, the core values of the airline aim at creating a fun workplace while giving the customer value for their money. Based upon the company’s values one can argue that the company creates an environment where satisfaction is not only experienced by its clients but also their customers. One can also note that the company’s values are a broader definition of its mission. On this regard, one would be right to assert that the policy of Virgin Atlantic is based on creating employee satisfaction. However, one would be concerned on how the airline aims at implementing this policy. One would also seek to understand how employee based objectives would fair in an institution where large revenues and profits are expected by the management. A nonprofessional would certainly argue that employee motivation is quite expensive, as it would require one to chip into the company’s profits to offer such rewards. Contrary to these views, Virgin Atlantic has been able to maintain a reputable workforce despite offering the lowest compensation as compared to its competitors.
Motivation strategies
How Virgin Atlantic is able to maintain a motivated workforce despite low remunerations as a scenario that entrepreneurs would love to embrace. However, every strategy comes with planning, and that is what the company C.E.O, Richard Branson, has emphasized when he established the Virgin brand. A study of the Virgin Atlantics motivational strategies shows that the C.E.O based his motivational framework on Abraham Maslow and Fredrick Herzberg’s theories. Maslow argued that a person’s life is driven by various needs and wants. Based on his arguments, Maslow developed a pyramid that aimed at defining the needs that every human strives for at various social rankings. The Maslow’s pyramid is commonly known as the hierarchy of needs. In his pyramid, Maslow developed five distinct categories that defined human needs for the sake of survival to the most advanced level of self-actualization. Based on his theory, Maslow argued that the needs in the lower levels in the hierarchy must be fulfilled prior to the needs in higher levels (Maslow, 1970). Virgin Atlantic ensures that they are able to cater for each of their employees by classifying them according to the pyramids categories. For instance, junior employees are classified as persons who are in need of biological and physical needs or as persons in need of safety needs. On this regard, the company establishes motivation strategies are based on financial incentives. Virgin Atlantic believes that by offering adequate financial incentives for the junior worker, he/she will be able to stop worrying of safety, physiological and biological needs that are related to their life (Grant, 2008). Virgin Atlantic believes that these employees shall be motivated and can therefore advance to a higher social grouping in Maslow’s Hierarchy, the need for belonging and love. By creating a fun to work environment, Virgin Atlantic believes that they can build a free workplace that can act as a family for its employees. In return, the airline hopes that it shall establish a strong level of belonging not only within the employees but also within the organization. On the other hand, Virgin Atlantic believes that financial incentives would not be the most appropriate motivation strategy for medium level management. The company believes that these persons are in the category of esteem needs in the Maslow’s hierarchy. Therefore, to motivate these employees by ensuring that the employees are best positioned for career growth. By giving these managers more responsibility towards their decisions, the company believes that these persons will be able to meet their esteem needs. For senior level management, Virgin Atlantic incorporates a policy that enables them to handle most of the companies decisions (Grant, 2008). The company believes that these persons will be able to recognize themselves and thus make positive decisions for the company. It is through the implementation of Maslow’s laws that Virgin Atlantic has been able to ensure that all the employees’ social needs have been handled. Although Virgin Atlantic does not lay much emphasis on financial incentives as a form of employee motivation, it is reported that some instances of this form of employee motivation exist in the organization. Virgin Atlantic not only uses Maslow’s theory to lay out its motivation strategy but also adopts Herzberg’s theory. It is through Herzberg’s two-factor theory that Virgin Atlantic is able to create an environment consisting of motivated workers (Herzberg, 1966). Using Herzberg’s theory Virgin Atlantic is able to establish the motivation strategy best suited for their employees in different classes in the pyramid. Herzberg argued that the factors that resulted to employee satisfaction are dissatisfaction were distinct and in no way related. He established that employee dissatisfaction was not the contrast of employee satisfaction but rather an independent factor (Herzberg, 1966). On this regard, Herzberg established that motivation factors affected employee motivation whereas hygiene factors were the cause of employee dissatisfaction. According to Herzberg the motivation factors included, recognition, responsibility and achievement. Hygiene factors, on the other hand, include remunerations, working conditions, security and company policies. In the two-factor theory, Herzberg asserted that for a motivated workforce Hygiene factors must be implemented prior to implementation of motivation factors (Herzberg, 1966). Virgin Atlantic clearly employs the two-factor theory in implementing its motivation strategy. For instance, the company ensures that junior employees get their most basic needs prior to recognition through remunerations and promotions. The company also lays out hygiene factors as the basis of their motivation strategy. This argument is supported by the company’s mission, which aims at creating an environment where people can work and fly. An initiative by Virgin Atlantic to improve the hygiene factors at the organization is best seen its joint venture with Capital capture consultancy. Through the partnership, the company has been able to reduce the data processing time by over eighty percent. Through this partnership, the company was able to offer individual and team training and development for their workforce. On motivation factors, the company employees have been involved on various charitable events. An appropria...