People in Organisations Assignment on Johnsons of Whixley

As part of the formal assessment for the programme you are required to submit a People in Organisations assignment. Please refer to your Student Handbook for full details of the programme assessment scheme and general information on preparing and submitting assignments.

LO1 Discuss the ways organisations motivate workers.

LO2 Assess the role of leadership in the organisational transition.

LO3 Evaluate the relationship between organisational structure and culture within organisational transition.

LO4 Examine the attributes of effective teams.

LO5 Effectively present the strategies used in the case study to motivate teams.

Maximum word count: 3000 words

Overall assessment weighting: Question 1. 50% and Question 2. 50%

Employee Benefits, 2019. Johnsons of Whixley benefits strategy. Employee Benefits, 23 April 2019. [Online].

Consider the content and theory that you have learnt in the Module – People in Organisations and apply this to the case study on Johnsons of Whixley to answer the following questions.

Explain the role of leadership that may exist within Johnsons of Whixley and how the structure and culture of the organisation may support effective transitional change.

(Suggested word count – 1400 words)

To achieve this, you will need to consider the case study in relation to module theory and wider reading; consider elements including structure, culture and approaches to leadership. You should analyse and evaluate these in relation to the transitional
change of the organisations’ focus, imaginative benefits to motivate employees. (1300-1500 words) (50 marks)

Analyse and evaluate the ways in which Johnsons of Whixley may build effective teams through motivation; identify team development attributes that may contribute to Johnsons of Whixley’s success.

Present your main findings in a presentation suitable for Johnsons of Whixley managers.

(Suggested word count – 1400 words including the MS PowerPoint presentation)

To achieve this, you will need to discuss motivation and team effectiveness theory within the context of the case study organisation. You should then present current strategies used by the company by summarising the main findings on motivation  nd team effectiveness into a PowerPoint presentation. This presentation should be suitable to disseminate to Johnsons of Whixley managers and be no longer than 8 slides and with supportive presenters’ notes. Your presentation must be included/pasted into the one MS Word or PDF file document that you submit. (1300-1500 words including the MS PowerPoint presentation) (50 marks)

Johnsons of Whixley uses imaginative benefits to motivate employees By Simon Kent 23rd April 2019 6:00 am As one of the largest commercial nursery businesses in Europe, Johnsons of Whixley takes a flexible and imaginative approach to rewarding its workforce.

Based between York and Harrogate, the organisation employs more than 90 members of staff, a number which can rise to nearly 200 during seasonal peaks, representing a flex of as much as 70%.

This fluctuation in size, and the extent to which Johnsons of Whixley relies on staff who are not present year-round, means that it cannot simply utilise long-term incentives and the promise of progression and pay rises to motivate employees.

The organisation does operate some attendance recognition strategies, as well as annual profit share bonuses, but these are not guaranteed. Graham Richardson, managing director, says: “Our reward and benefit strategy is incremental as well as recognising major success. The ability to offer benefits is proportionate to the size of business, but it is often the fact that [an employee has] been recognised [that is important], more than what you give them.”

Time is precious for Johnsons of Whixley’s employees, and initiatives such as early closure and extra holiday are particularly widely appreciated. The organisation also provides a number of ‘hot spot’ rewards to recognise strong performance, such as a period of intensive activity or working through gruelling weather. These rewards can be as simple as fish and chips or freezers full of ice lollies.

Richardson believes Johnsons of Whixley’s employees are aware of the stresses and limitations at play when it comes to remuneration from a smaller business, and states that they understand the balance at play, between the appeal of extra cash in
their wage packet, and the need to preserve their own job security.

Therefore, a little and often approach can inspire motivation, and indeed facilitate a more personalised approach in the long run. “Showing they are acknowledged and valued as an individual is half the battle,” Richardson concludes. “Little and often creates the carrot incentive; this then coupled with a proportionate annual award sharing in general success is the correct balance.”