Fact ors af f ect ing employee mot ivat ion in

cleaning services. A case st udy: SOL Palvelut

Oy
Bui, Dung
Wangmo, Nawang

2015 Leppävaara
Laurea University of Applied Sciences
Leppävaara

Fact ors af f ect ing employee mot ivat ion in cleaning ser-
vices
A case st udy: SOL Palvelut Oy

Dung Bui
Nawang Wangmo
Degree Programme i n Facil it y Man-
agement
Bachelor’ s Thesis
6, 2015
Laurea University of Applied Sciences Abstract
Leppävaara
Degree Programme i n Facil it y Management

Bui, Dung & Wangmo, Nawang

Factors affecting employee motivation in cleaning services. A case study: SOL Palvelut Oy

Year 2015 Pages 42

The obj ect ive of t his t hesis proj ect is t o examine inf l uences of Training, Responsi bilit y, Int er-
personal Relat ionshi p and Teamwork t owards employee mot ivat ion. The research was carried
out at t wo dif f erent SOL’ s client ’ s premises t o provide an overview of t he operat ion and cur-
rent working st at us whi ch employees have been experienci ng. The researchers reviewed bot h
t heoret ical and pract ical sources f or f inding sol ut ions t o t he problems.

The t heoret ical background comprises of basic int roduct ion t o employee mot ivat ion and f ac-
t ors af f ect ing mot ivat ion appl ying Herzberg’ s t heory. In addit ion, t he researchers also men-
t ioned t heory on t raini ng and ef f ect ive t eamwork t hat incl udes def i nit ions and i t s relat ions t o
mot ivat ion.

This research was conduct ed by using quant it at ive and qualit at ive approaches. In part icular,
f or quant it at ive met hod t he researchers used quest ionnaire survey, which was st ruct ured in
t wo f ormat s: e-f orm and “ hardcopy” . Two approaches of qualit at ive met hod were applied
which are part icipant observat ion and int erview. Thus bot h of t hese approaches were not
conduct ed simult aneously. The quest ionnaire survey was considered as t he primary dat a col -
lect ion meanwhil e part icipant and i nt erview are support ive approaches t o clarif y issues col-
lect ed f rom survey.

Besides t hat , t he researchers also used probl em solvi ng t ool as met hod t o obt ain solut ions f or
issues ident if ied mainl y f rom survey. Specif ical ly, brai nst orming and brainwrit ing session were
held as workshops where employees cont ribut ed t heir ideas f or developi ng and i mproving t he
bet t er workplace. Nevert heless, t he researchers only select ed rel evant and applicabl e sug-
gest ions t o t he most common issues in t his st udy.

The result s f rom dat a anal ysis indicat ed t hat t he most common issues are t raini ng procedure
and responsibilit y. Precisel y, t hey are t he lengt h of t raining period and t he non-ref illing
it ems. The i nf ormat ion f rom int ervi ew provided clear pict ures on t raining period and t he
met hod t o improve employees’ mot ivat ion in t erm of rewardi ng syst em. Suggest i ons f rom
workshops provided sol ut ions t o enhance t he qualit y of working environment .

Keywords, mot ivat ion, t eamwork, t rai ning, i nt erpersonal relat ionship, responsi bilit y
Tabl e of cont ent s

1 Int roduct ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2 Theory of Mot ivat ion, Trai ning, Int erpersonal Relat ionship, Teamwork and
Responsibi lit y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2. 1 Concept of Mot ivat ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2. 2 Herzberg’ s t wo-f act or t heory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2. 3 Creat ing ef f ect ive t eamwork t o promot e employee mot ivat ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2. 4 Training as a mot ivat ional f act or. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3 Met hodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3. 1 Quant it at ive research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3. 2 Qualit at ive research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3. 3 Problem Solving Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3. 4 Research j ourney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4 Dat a Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4. 1 Quest ionnaire Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4. 2 Part icipant observat ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4. 3 Int erview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4. 4 Brainst orming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4. 5 Brainwrit ing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
5 Recommendat ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
5. 1 Rewarding syst em . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
5. 2 The cooperat ion bet ween group leaders and workers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
5. 3 Proper t raini ng procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Ref erences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Appendixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
 5

1 Int roduct ion

As t he employees of SOL Palvel ut Oy, t he t hesis researchers would like t o cont ribut e t hei r
ef f ort s t o enhance t he qualit y of cl eaning services in t he company i n order t o provide t he
best services t o it s client s. Many businesses in Finland out source cl eani ng services f rom SOL.
However, it is chall enging since t here have been more cl eaning compani es ent ering t he mar-
ket in Finland. Theref ore, t o keep SOL at compet it ive level , developing and improving t he
operat ion of cl eani ng servi ces f or onsit e client s of SOL Palvel ut Oy is essent ial.

The t hesis proj ect f ocuses on developi ng and improving t he operat ion of cl eaning services in
SOL’ s client s’ premises t hrough employee mot ivat ion. The researchers conduct ed bot h quan-
t it at ive and qualit at ive met hods in t his st udy. Specif ically, f or quant it at ive approach t he re-
searchers used quest ionnaire survey which applied bot h e-f orm and “ hard copy” versions. In
qualit at ive approach, part i cipant observat ion and i nt erview were carried out . The dat a col-
lect ed f rom bot h approaches woul d be analyzed f or searchi ng issues. Problem solving t ools, in
part icular, brainst orming and brainwrit i ng workshops would be held t o seek f or solut ions.

The t arget group f or t he research is housekeeper or room maid. The limit at ion of t he t hesis is
t o concent rat e on f our f act ors which af f ect t o employee mot ivat ion. They include Traini ng,
Responsibi lit y, Int erpersonal Relat ionship and Teamwork. For t heoret ical part s, t he research-
ers solely applied t he Herzberg’ s mot ivat ion t heory concept , which was t he most relevant t o
t his t hesis t opic. In addit ion, t here were also ot her reliabl e sources ref erred such as print ed
and online books, online document s and ot her relat ed t opic mat erials.

The research t ook place at t wo dif f erent client ’ s premises of SOL Palvelut Oy so t hat re-
searcher coul d have a general perspect ive of t he current sit uat ion t hat employees have been
experi encing. For t he convenience of t he readers, t he researches divided t he t hesis proj ect
int o f our (4) main sect ions. The f irst sect ion f ocused on basic t heory. Secondly, t he research-
ers int roduced met hodology appli ed f or t his st udy. Next st age was dat a analysis and f inal ly,
recommendat ions were obt ained f rom t he survey and workshops’ out come.

2 Theory of Mot ivat ion, Trai ning, Int erpersonal Relat ionship, Teamwork and Responsibilit y

The t heoret ical part i nt roduces t he basic concept of mot ivat ion and Herzberg’ s t wo-f act or
t heory, which is one of t he mot ivat ional relat ed t heories. In t his sect ion, researchers woul d
like t o explain how Traini ng, Responsibilit y, Int erpersonal Relat ionshi p and Teamwork af f ect
employee mot ivat ion.
 6

2. 1 Concept of Mot ivat ion

Accordi ng t o Mullins & Dossor (2013, 285), mot ivat ion is def ined as t he creat ion of st imuli,
incent ives, and working environment s t hat enable people t o perf orm t o t he best of t heir abi l-
it y. The heart of mot ivat ion is t o give people what t hey reall y want t he most f rom work. In
ret urn managers shoul d expect more in t he f orm of product ivit y, qualit y and service.
In simple way, employee mot ivat ion is about t he ways a business can encourage st af f t o give
t heir best . “ Mot ivat ed st af f cares about t he success of t he business and work bet t er” (BBC
2014). However, mot ivat ing st af f is not simple since “ t here is no singl e of simpl e answer t o
t he quest ion of what mot ivat e people t o work well” (Mul lins & Dossor, 2013a, 289). To some
cert ain ext ent , it wi ll be helpf ul f or managers t o underst and t he nat ure of mot i vat ion t o as-
sist t hem t o manage t heir employees. The basic mot ivat ional model is at t ached below giving
a clear pict ure of t he concept of mot ivat ion. In t he model , behavior or act ions are considered
as “ a driving f orce wit hin i ndividuals by which t hey at t empt t o achieve some goal in order t o
sat isf y a need or expect at ion” (Mulli ns & Dossor 2013b, 284)

Figure 1: The basic mot ivat ional model . (Mul lins & Dossor 2013, 284)

From t his point of view, f or peopl e t o achieve t heir goals, managers shoul d set up clear goals
or obj ect ives or t asks wit hin t he organizat ion. People will not perf orm t he best of t heir abi lit y
if t hey lack mot ivat ion of experience over t he t ask t hey are given. The perf ormance is f ormu-
lat ed as:
Performance = f unct ion ( ability x motivation t o use abilit y x opportunity t o perf orm)
To explai n t ransparent ly, one cannot be encouraged t o “ do somet hing t hat t hey do not have
t he abi lit y t o do; t his emphasizes t he import ance of t raining t o mot ivat ion” (Mul lins & Dossor
2013, 289).

2. 2 Herzberg’ s t wo-f act or t heory

There are many t heories of mot ivat ion available. However, t he researchers f ocused on Her-
zberg’ s t wo-f act or t heory t hat was f irst int roduced by Frederick Herzberg i n 1959 (St ello
2011, 3). It is “ a t heory of j ob sat isf act ion relat ed t o mot ivat ion at work” (Mul li ns 2001, 232).
It consist s of t wo dimensions: Hygiene and Mot ivat or as illust rat ed in f igure 2.
 7

Figure 2: The concept of Herzberg’ s t wo-f act or t heory ( www. j ohnwil ey. net . au, no dat e)

Gray cit ed in his book t hat Herzberg call ed f act ors i n “ Hygiene dimension” because hygi ene
operat es t o remove heal t h hazards f rom t he environment of man. It is not a curat ive, but ra-
t her prevent ive. Modern garbage disposal , wat er purif icat ion, and air- poll ut ion cont rol do
not cure diseases, but wit hout t hem we shoul d have many more diseases (Gray, R 2007, 34).
For exampl e, people are not willing t o work if t heir working environment is not secure or t he
working condit ions are poor. People work in t heir own st yl es or organizat ion wi l l be chaot ic if
t here are no policies and rul es set . Theref ore, “ hygiene f act ors” are t o creat e healt hy work-
ing environment f or employee t o reduce j ob dissat isf act ion.

In “ hygiene f act or” , Herzberg list ed Int erpersonal Rel at ions as one of t he f act ors t hat can
af f ect Job Sat isf act ion/ Mot ivat ion. Carvazos (2013) def ined “ t he i nt erpersonal relat ionship is
t he nat ure of int eract ion t hat occurs bet ween t wo or more people who f ill each ot her’ s ex-
plicit or implicit physical or emot ional needs in some way” . Dif f erences in personalit ies and
background can “ prevent peopl e working ef f ect ively t oget her” (Educat ional Port al 2003-
2015).

Moreover, Smit h (Forbes 2013) cit ed t hat “ most people work wit h a diverse group of col-
leagues wit h dif f erent skill set s, backgrounds, val ues, and int erest s and while t hese dif f er-
ences can coll ect ively make an organi zat ion st ronger, t hey can also be a source of conf lict ” .
Working conf lict i nf l uences not only employees ment ally but also physically. Theref ore, in
order t o prevent t he worki ng conf lict , Ms. Friedman (Forbes 2013) suggest ed maint aining “ an
at mosphere of polit eness, respect , genialit y i n order t o creat e an environment where people
come in t o work wit h a good at t it ude” . This is t he way t o get peopl e t o be product ive and
mot ivat ed.
 8

Work responsibilit y is described as “ dut ies t hat people in cert ain posit ions should claim. This
can ref er t o bot h laborious and social t asks. Recogni zing and f ulf il ling one’ s responsibilit ies at
work is generall y regarded as an essent ial part of a st rong work et hic” (WiseGeek 2003-2015).
When an employee is hired f or a specif ic work he is expect ed t o perf orm his dut ies successf ul-
ly. He must also adhere t o t he rules and regulat ions of t he company. There may be hidden
t asks t hat are not def ined duri ng t he int erview; however, it is t he employee’ s dut y t o f ulf ill
t he required t asks. An employee’ s abilit y t o recogni ze t hese undef i ned responsibilit ies and
perf orm ef f ect ively is cruci al f or t he sust enance of t he organizat ion (WiseGeek2003-2015).

An employee must have social skills and right at t it ude, it is import ant in work responsibilit y.
An employee who does not have proper work at t it ude and displays negat ive at t it ude will not
be f avoured by t he col leagues and wil l have negat ive impact on t hem. For inst ance, a super-
visor in a company displays negat ive at t it ude and does not communicat e wit h hi s/ her col -
leagues and disrespect s subordinat es t hen he/ she is l ikely t o be disliked by everyone and does
not receive t he respect she should deserve. Theref ore it is essent ial t hat employees have
proper at t it ude and have social skills.

Employees of t en consider t hemselves responsible if t hey have successf ul ly compl et ed t heir

t ask. But it is not necessary t hat t hey are responsibl e, t hey must also be responsible f or uni -
dent if ied t asks such as hel ping ot her col l eagues if t hey are unabl e t o manage t heir work. An
employee of t en expect promot ions based on t heir compl et ion of work, however, supervisors
most of t he t ime look f or f act ors such as t heir at t it ude t owards work and col l eagues, how
t hey act ual ly do t heir work et cet era. Thus, complet i ng one’ s t ask is not considered being re-
sponsible, t here are many ot her f act ors t hat play a role in work responsibilit y (WiseGeek
2003-2015).

Herzberg in his t wo-f act ory t heory of mot ivat ion def i ned responsibi lit y as a mot ivat ion f act or.
Responsibi lit y is def ined as “ t he employees must hold t hemselves responsible f or t he work.
The managers shoul d give t hem ownership of t he work. They shoul d minimi ze cont rol but re-
t ain account abilit y” (Management St udy Guide 2003). In his t heory he def i nes cert ain aspect s
of a j ob t hat are const ant l y relat ed t o j ob sat isf act ion such as achievement , responsibilit y,
growt h et cet era and ot her various f act ors like company poli cies, supervision, work condit ions,
salary, st at us et cet era t o j ob dissat isf act ion. Eliminat ing t he sources of dissat isf act ion will
not lead t o sat isf ied employees nor wil l addi ng j ob sat isf act ion f act ors eliminat e t he dissat is-
f act ion. Promot ing cert ain employees wi ll make t hem happy but wil l not be sat isf ied nor wi ll
a saf e and healt hy work environment sat isf y t he empl oyees if sat isf act ion f act ors are not pro-
vided t o t hem.
 9

Herzberg in his t heory expl ained t hat f or employees t o be sat isf ied and mot ivat e t hem “ j ob
enrichment ” shoul d be int roduced (Mind Tools 1996-2015). Job enrichment is “ a j ob redesign
t echnique t hat al lows workers more cont rol over how t hey perf orm t heir own t asks” (Bound-
less (no dat e)). Applying t his approach in an organizat ion allows employees t o t ake more re-
sponsibilit ies and also experience posit ive out comes result i ng in reduced t urnover, increase in
product ivit y, reduced absences et cet era. This phenomenon may be due t o t he responsibilit y
and aut horit y an employee has over his work maximizing his work ef f iciency, reducing irrele-
vant t asks and increasing his overall perf ormance (Boundl ess (no dat e)).

An employee who has t he f reedom t o have aut horit y over his work, is recogni zed f or his hard
work, has a sense of achievement and has opport unit ies t o develop t heir skil ls and advance
f orward and is ready t o accept t he chall enges at work is t he one who is mot ivat ed and sat is-
f ied. However, not everyone is suit ed f or j ob enrichment . Some may expect great er val ue in
ret urn f or t heir work and if not met wit h t heir expect at ions t hey become f rust rat ed and have
no mot ivat ion t o work (Boundless (no dat e)).

2. 3 Creat ing ef f ect ive t eamwork t o promot e employee mot ivat ion

Cleani ng services in hospit alit y indust ry is generally called housekeepi ng services due t o it s
main f unct ion t o keep guest room and ot her cont ract ed areas inside cli ent ’ s premises clean
and t idy. In hot el or on cruise ship, housekeepers are of t en assigned t o work independent ly.
However, Mul lins and Dossor (2013d, 351) st at ed t hat in hospit alit y operat ions work is a
group-based act ivit y.

It has been chall enging t o dif f erent iat e t he dif f erences bet ween a “ group” and a “ t eam” .
There has also arisen some point of view saying “ a t eam is always a group, but a group is NOT
always a t eam” (Mul lins & Dosser 2013, 352). The dif f erences bet ween t hese t wo t erms are
variable depending on people’ s percept ion. Bel bin (2000) point ed out six f act ors which de-
scribe dif f erences bet ween “ group” and “ t eam” . It consist s of size, sel ect ion, l eadershi p,
percept ion, st yle and spirit in which he emphasized t hat size is t he best dif f erent iat ion.

The t erm “ t eamwork” has been used popularly at workplace. Mullins and her co-aut hor
Dossor (2013 , 352) clarif ied t hat t eamwork is achieved when a group of peopl e communicat e
wel l and cl early, work closely t oget her and hel p each ot her wit h inst ruct ion and / or act ual
labour during work. In anot her way, t eamwork occurs when t here is cooperat ion bet ween
st af f s at work. The cooperat ion is not only bet ween subordinat es but also bet ween supervi-
sors and subordinat es. According t o Adams (2008, 21) t eamwork is not an opt ion f or a success-
f ul organi zat ion it st ill plays an import ant role because it can lead t o achievement , creat ivit y
and energy l evels. Besides t hat , t he organizat ion might get “ many pot ent ial benef it s f rom
 10

successf ul t eam-buil ding” (Mul lins & Dossor 2013, 353). In part icular, Berger and Vanger
(1986, 82-90) expressed t hat “ a successf ul t eam-bui l ding wil l improve your employees’
product ivit y. They wil l be bet t er t o handle compl ex operat ions t hey wi ll respond more quickly
t o new sit uat ions; t hey wil l be more mot ivat ed and wi ll make bet t er decision” . A successf ul
t eam-buil ding wil l produce an ef f ect ive t eamwork which “ is crucial t o an organi zat ion’ s ef f ort
t o perf orm bet t er, f ast er and more prof it ably t hen t heir compet it ors” (Mul lins & Dossor 2013,
354). In anot her word, an ef f ect ive t eamwork creat es employees mot ivat ion.

2. 4 Training as a mot ivat ional f act or

Laird (2003, 22) describes organizat ion as “ syst ems designed t o achieve a goal or perf orm a
part icular f unct ion such as delivering a compl et ed product t o a cust omer” . It also consist s of
in-built subsyst ems and sub processes which are also designed t o at t ain sub goal s essent ial t o
produce t he overal l out put . For example i n a caf é, delivering a bill t o t he cust omer is a sub
process of t he overal l goal . The cashier “ input s” t he prices and t he bil l is col lect ed f rom t he
cash regist er “ out put ” . An organizat ion’ s syst em also comprises of organizat ional processes
t hat ill ust rat es a planned st ep-by-st ep procedures t o achieve t he f inal out put . The people
involved i n t he processes each have a f unct ion and t hey work t oget her and see t hat t he sys-
t ems are perf orming wel l (Laird 2003, 22-24).

All organizat ions have dif f erent syst ems and subsyst ems; some of t hese syst ems may be com-
plicat ed whi le ot hers may be simple but have t he same t hree key el ement s: input s, process,
and out put s. It is necessary t o recogni ze t he syst ems and subsyst ems of an organizat ion in all
it s t raining and development act ivit ies and t he organi zat ion must be able t o do so (Laird
2003, 24-25). Training and Development act ivit ies f acilit at e ent erprises t o accust om and
manage growing environment al sit uat ions so as t o f unct ion at it s opt imum in a compet it ive
market (Garavan, Hogan & Cahir-O’ Donnell 2003, 39). The ef f ect iveness of t hese event s ac-
cording t o Garavan et al (2003, 39) depends on t he design and implement at ion of t he t rai ning
it self , t he charact erist ics of t he t rai nee and t he l earning climat e of t he organi zat ion.

Training is def ined as “ a syst emat ic process t hrough which an individual is hel ped or f acilit at -
ed t o mast er def i ned t asks or compet encies f or a def i nit e purpose” (Garavan et al 2003, 42).
It is a guidance t o def ine t he appropriat e measure t o perf orm t he t asks and det ermine i ndi -
vidual behaviour t hat is exhibit ed. Accordi ng t o Garavan et al (2003, 42) t raining should be an
int egral part of t he work and development of an organizat ion. The main f ocus areas of t rain-
ing are skil ls, knowledge and appropriat e at t it udes t o perf orm t he t asks. This act ivit y applies
t o all employees of an organizat ion and is usual ly a short t erm event . Employees may have
onsit e t raining which means t hat t he t rainee wil l be able t o learn and experience in t he act u-
al working environment and guided by a supervisor or coll eague. Of f t he j ob t rai ning requires
 11

an employee t o undergo an elaborat e t raini ng program dealing wit h issues such as t echnical
t raining, personal development or t raining f or supervisory or managerial role (Garavan et al
year, 42).

Training and mot ivat ion are int erli nked and t his relat ionship al lows t he employees t o be ca-
t ered wit h bot h awareness and compet encies t hat mot ivat e t hem t o perf orm well t o achieve
cert ain obj ect ives. Many organizat ions experience unmot ivat ed employees and t he reasons
being t heir lazi ness t o work or lack of conf idence in one’ s abilit ies, f ear of f ailure, absence of
rewards, monot ony and ot her such f act ors. Theref ore, employees shoul d be given an oppor-
t unit y t o enhance t heir skil ls t hrough dif f erent t raini ng programs t ailored according t o t heir
present skil ls. Through t raining, employees wil l l earn t o bet t er manage t heir t ime and work
f ast er, it wil l also increase t heir ef f iciency, communi cat ion skills et cet era. This will in t urn
enhance t heir self -conf idence and remove t hei r f ear of f ailure and a happy employee is an
asset t o t he company (Nayab 2011).

Employees who experience disinclinat ion t o work in an ent erprise t hey cannot associat e wit h
shoul d be given t raining t o adj ust wit hin t he organi zat ion and develop skil ls requi red by t he
company. Most of t he empl oyees do not have t he opport unit y t o at t end t raining programs t o
develop t heir skil ls and of t en t hey are aware of t he need t o enhance it . These employees of -
t en experience f rust rat ions and anger af f ect i ng t heir mot ivat ion and work ef f iciency. Training
and development programs will aid i n enhancing t heir skills and mot ivat e t o cont inue working
in t he present company and also perf orm bet t er (Nayab 2011, Bright Hub).

3 Met hodology

In t he t hesis, researchers bot h used quant it at ive and qualit at ive met hods t o conduct t he re-
search. According t o Veal (1997, 34), “ t he quant it at ive approach t o research involves st at ist i-
cal anal ysis and it is an approach t hat involves dat a collect ion t hrough quest ionnaires and
surveys t o draw st at ist ical or numerical concl usions” . Cont rary t o quant it at ive approach,
“ qualit at ive met hods concerns t he dat a col lect ed f rom subj ect s on t heir f eelings and
t hought s. It does not incl ude numerical , rat her t he dat a is collect ed t hrough int erviews, dis-
cussions wit h t he t arget group et cet era” (Brit ish Library (no dat e)). In part icular, f or quant i -
t at ive approach, researchers use quest ionnaire survey and f or qualit at ive approach, in-dept h
int erview and part icipant observat ion wil l be carried out .

Af t er having analyzed t he quest ionnaire survey, part icipant observat ion and i nt erview, t he
researchers discovered cert ain problems. According t o Isaksen, Dorval , Tref f inger (2011, 19),
problem solving general ly i nvolves devising ways t o answer quest ions and t o meet or sat isf y a
sit uat ion which present s a chal lenge, of f ers an opport unit y, or is a concern. “ There are f our
 12

basic st eps in problem solving regardl ess of size or compl exit y. They are def ini ng probl ems,
generat ing alt ernat ives, evaluat ing and select i ng alt ernat ives and impl ement ing solut ions. ”
(Universit y of Minnesot a, no dat e). In order t o solve probl ems creat ively, t here are many
problem-solving t ools creat ed t o “ design and develop new and usef ul out comes” (Isaksen et al
2011, 26).

3. 1 Quant it at ive research

Muij s (2011, 1) cit ed i n his book t hat quant it at ive research is explaini ng phenomena by col -
lect i ng numerical dat a t hat are analysed using mat hemat ically based met hods (i n part icular
st at ist ics). The main obj ect ive of t his research is t o invest igat e t he inf l uences of Training,
Int erpersonal Relat ionship, Teamwork and Responsibi l it y on employee mot ivat ion in SOL’ s
client s’ premises. Dat a col l ect ed f or t his research is conduct ed t hrough t wo met hods e-survey
and “ hard copy” survey. According t o Veal (2006, 244) t he e-survey f orm has t wo t ypes of
f ormat which are Email and f ul ly el ect ronic.

However, t he researchers select ed “ f ul ly el ect ronic” f ormat , which means t he respondent ,

had t o log int o a specif ied Int ernet sit e and complet e t he quest ionnaire on-line (Veal 2006,
244). Besides t hat , “ hard copy” of quest ionnaire survey was also print ed out t o send t o re-
spondent s at workplace t o reach ot her group of respondent s who do not have access t o Int er-
net at home. The quest ionnaire survey is prepared in bot h English and Finnish f or respond-
ent ’ s convenience. In order t o analyze dat a, t he researcher used Microsof t Excel.

3. 2 Qualit at ive research

Accordi ng t o Cooper & Schi ndler (2006, 196), qualit at i ve research i ncludes an “ array of int er-
pret ive t echniques which seek t o describe, decode, t ranslat e and ot herwise come t o t erm
wit h t he meaning, not t he f requency, of cert ai n more or less nat urally occurring phenomena
in t he social worl d” . In t his qualit at ive met hod, researchers used bot h int erview and part ici-
pant observat ion approaches t o invest igat e more whet her t here were any obst acles or issues
which employees might be experi encing at t heir workplace.

Part icipant observat ion means “ t he researcher is a part icipant in t he milieu being st udied”
(Veal 2006, 173). This met hod is t o “ provide researchers wit h ways t o check f or nonverbal
expression of f eelings, det ermine who i nt eract s wit h whom, grasp how part i cipant s communi-
cat e wit h each ot her, and check f or how much t ime i s spent on various act ivit ies” (Kawulich
2005).
 13

Accordi ng t o Klave (1983, 174) a qualit at ive int erview is “ an int erview, whose purpose is t o
gat her descri pt ions of t he l if e-worl d of int erviewee wi t h respect t o int erpret at ion of t he
meaning of t he described phenomena” . There are dif f erent met hods t o obt ain t hese descrip-
t ions, t he most common among t hem are f ace-t o-f ace (Ft F) i nt erviews, int erview t hrough t el -
ephone and t he i nt erview t hrough comput er mediat ed communicat ion (CMC) such as e-mails,
online video chat s et cet era (Opdenakker, 2006).

The researchers conduct ed a st ruct ured int erview f ormat f or t his research. A st ruct ured in-
t erview is “ associat ed wit h t he survey st yle of research where a st andard int ervi ew schedul e
is designed t o answer a series of specif ic quest ions on a f ace-t o-f ace basis” (Finn, El liot t -
Whit e, Walt on 73, 2000). St ruct ured int erview t akes place in real t ime and real place. An in-
t erviewer is abl e t o observe t he int erviewee and his/ her social cues such as voice, body lan-
guage et cet era and also t he int erview can be recorded and analyzed word t o word. The int er-
viewee responds t o t he quest ions spont aneously wit hout having t o t hi nk and ref lect on t he
answers (Opdenakker, 2006).

3. 3 Problem Solving Tool

Using Problem Solving Possibilit ies Diagram as a guideline, t he researchers decided t o choose
brainst orming and brainwri t ing as a probl em-solving t ool. Brainst ormi ng “ has a t endency t o
produce old and f amiliar ideas” (Universit y of Minnesot a, no dat e). However, it s advant age is
t o “ bring a broad range of experi ence t o t he session and helps t o make it more creat ive”
(Universit y of Minnesot a, no dat e). In addit ion, it is able t o be impl ement ed immediat ely and
it s requi rement s are simpl e.

Figure 3: Problem Solving Possibilit ies Diagram (Universit y of Minnesot a, no dat e)

 14

Accordi ng t o Isaksen et al (2011, 41), brainst ormi ng is one of t he generat i ng t ool s. It is ena-
bled a group t o generat e many, varied, and unusual opt ions. By using brainst orming approach,
“ cont ribut ion of ideas is provided f rom al l members of t he group spont aneously. This is one of
t he most widely used decision making st rat egies” (Universit y of Minnesot a, no dat e).

If brainst orming is a “ group process” (Universit y of Minnesot a, no dat e) used t o generat e idea
t hen brai nwrit ing is a met hod used t o generat e i deas t hrough individuals. “ Brainwrit ing is an
idea generat ing t echnique t hat is similar t o brainst orming except t hat inst ead each part ici -
pant t hi nks and records ideas individual ly and it is done in sil ence” (Universit y of Minnesot a,
no dat e).

3. 4 Research j ourney

The researchers conduct ed bot h t he quant it at ive and qualit at ive met hods t o gat her i nf or-
mat ion. However, t hese approaches were not impl ement ed simult aneously. Quest ionnaire
survey was init ial ly conduct ed t o f ind out t he issues t hat were occurri ng at t he workplace.
The i nf ormat ion acquired f rom survey was general . Theref ore, part icipant observat ion was
t he next met hod used t o observe at t it ude and act ions of cert ain employees duri ng t heir work.
During t he observat ion, t he researchers did not inf orm t he observees t hat t hey were bei ng
observed so t hat t he inf ormat ion coll ect ed would not be hindered. Af t er having analysed re-
sult s f rom survey and observat ion, t he int erview wit h t he supervisors f rom t wo dif f erent
premises were conduct ed t o clarif y main issues and get in-dept h inf ormat ion based on result s.

Quest ionnaire Part icipant

Int erview
survey observat ion

Problem Solving
Tool: Brainst orm-
ing & brain writ ing
(Solut ions f inding)

Figure 4: Research j ourney

In t he f inal st age, when maj or issues were clarif ied, t he researchers sought f or solut ions by
using probl em solving t ools which are call ed brainst orming and brainwrit ing. The research
j ourney is also il lust rat ed as a f igure above.
 15

4 Dat a Analysis

Bef ore proceedi ng t o analyze dat a, t he researchers would like t o present a brief int roduct ion
of t he company where t he research was conduct ed.

SOL is f amily-owned company, which was est ablished in early 1992 under t he name SOL Si -
ivouspalvel ut Oy by Liisa Joronen who is now t he Chairman of t he Board of Direct ors of SOL.
In t he beginning of 2008, SOL Siivouspalvelut of f iciall y changed it s name t o SOL Palvelut Oy.
Almost every singl e company and ot her business use SOL’ s services and is a very wel l-known
brand. It provides mult i-services t o cust omers such as cleaning, f acilit y, propert y, and laun-
dry. The company had grown and by t he year 2000 new services such as securit y and person-
nel services were int roduced. They also of f er “ t ailored service packages t o meet t he cust om-
er’ s needs, eit her by producing services i n-house or by providing t hem t hrough t heir net work
of reliable part ners” (SOL Palvelut Oy 2014).

In 1993, SOL’ s revenue was EUR 30 Mil lion and t he number of st af f was about 2, 300 (SOL
Palvelut Oy 2014). Accordi ng t o news report ed in May 2014, net sales of SOL i n 2013 were EUR
262 million, wit h 14% growt h f rom t he previous year and “ t he number of personnel increased
by 237, which makes t he current number of SOL empl oyees 11, 482. ” (SOL Palvel ut Oy 2014).
In t he year 2014, SOL aims t o reach EUR 316 million. It s mission is t o allow cust omers t o “ f o-
cus on t heir core business by produci ng service experience” (SOL Palvel ut Oy 2014). As many
business organi zat ions, SOL also set t hei r own val ues such as “ sunny and sat isf ied cust omers,
t he j oy of working, everyday creat ivit y, an ent erprisi ng spirit and reliabilit y” (SOL Palvel ut Oy
2014). The st rat egy of SOL is t hat t hey t rain t heir employees t o serve t he cust omer’ s need
and sat isf y t hem. SOL’ s operat ion is not only in Finland but also in ot her count ries such as
“ Sweden, Lat via, Russia, Est onia, and Lit huania. ” (SOL Palvel ut Oy).

4. 1 Quest ionnaire Survey

Init ially, researchers asked f or permission f rom service manager of SOL Palvelut Oy t o conduct
t he research f or t he company. Af t er being approved, t he researchers used an applicat ion
f rom Facebook, a social media t o creat e an e-f orm survey which is call ed “ Surveys” . When
t he creat ion of survey was compl et ed, it provided t he researchers a li nk t o send t o part ici-
pant s. The quest ionnaire survey was divided i nt o t wo main sect ions. The f irst sect ion was
about t he general background of part icipant whil e t he second one f ocused on invest igat ing
t he current working sit uat i on which part icipant s have been encount ering.

In t he f irst sect ion, general inf ormat ion of part ici pant incl udes t ype of employee, age range,
gender and worki ng experi ence in t he f ield. The second part is considered as a main part be-
 16

cause it cont ained i nvest igat ive quest ions which f ocus on f our f act ors ment ioned earlier i n
t he t hesis proj ect . The survey quest ion t ypes are also varied such as “ dichot omous quest ions
t hat asks f or Yes/ No” (Trochim 2006), f ilt er quest ion, int erval scale quest ion and comment
box which part icipant s were f ree t o give t heir opinions and const ruct ive comment s.

Alt oget her, t he quest ionnaire bot h in e-f orm and “ hard copy” was sent t o hundred (100) par-
t icipant s, out of which sevent y (70) replied. Thirt y ei ght (38) part icipant s were male which
occupied 54 percent (%) while t hirt y t wo (32) f emale part icipat ed in t he survey.

Accordi ng t o t he survey result , part -t ime employees account f or sixt y (60) percent and t he
rest of t he f ort y (40) percent is f ul l-t ime employees. The part icipant s belonged t o dif f erent
age group. However, t he age range 26-30 dominat ed wit h t went y seven (27). Next is 18-25
wit h sixt een (16), and t en (10) part ici pant s in 31-35 age range, six (6) belonged t o 36-40 and
over 50, in t he age range 46-50 t here was t hree (3) part icipant and only t wo (2) in 41-45 re-
spect ively.

Age Range
3; 4 % 6; 9 %
2; 3 %

6; 9 % 16; 23 %

10; 14 27; 38 %
%

18 -25 26 - 30 31 - 35 36 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 Over 50

Figure 5: Age range of part icipant s

The years of working of part icipant was cat egorised i nt o six groups. Accordi ng t o t he result ,
part icipant s whose working t ime was f rom 2-5 years occupi ed t hirt y one (31) percent which is
t he highest among ot her cat egories. St anding behind is 5 – 10 years group occupied t went y
f our (24) percent wit h 17 persons. Fourt een (14) persons answered t hat t hey has been work-
ing f or SOL in 6 mont hs t o a year which account t went y (20) percent . “ Over 10 years” group
and “ 1- 2 years” group had t he same six answered each account ing f or nine (9) percent . The
last group is l ess t han 6 mont hs wit h f ive part icipant s belong t o t his.
 17

Years of working in SOL

5; 7 % Less t han 6 mont hs
6; 9 % 6 mont hs - 1 year
1 - 2 years

14; 20 % 2 - 5 years
17; 24 %
5 - 10 years
6; 9 % Over 10 years

22; 31 %

Figure 6: Years of working in SOL

Af t er t he general background sect ion, specif ic quest i ons relat ed t o t raining, responsibilit y,
int erpersonal relat ionshi p and t eamwork were quest i oned i n survey so t hat t he researchers
were abl e t o receive more inf ormat ion in det ail. In t he t raining sect ion, t he result of t he sur-
vey showed t he l engt h of t raining period on average was 4 t o 7 days. As a resul t of t his, most
of t he part ici pant s answered t hat t he provided t raining period was suf f icient f or t hem t o
learn. Part icularly, f ort y eight (48) respondent s answered t hat t hey received adequat e in-
f ormat ion duri ng t he t raini ng period. Adequat e inf ormat ion means workplace l aws and rules,
employees’ right s and responsibilit ies. However, some responded were not provided wit h
enough inf ormat ion because t hey had short er t rai ning period which was under 7 days. There-
f ore, t he researchers proceeded t o f ind out how import ant t he work-relat ed inf ormat ion t o
employees is.

Training at t he working premises

60 56
48 50
50
40
30
20 17
20 11
10 2 3 3
0
Receiving adequat e Ef f ect s of insuf f icient Inf luence of t raining on
inf ormat ion inf ormat ion on work mot ivat ion
ef f iciency

Yes No No responses

Figure 7: Ef f ect s of insuf f icient inf ormat ion t o work ef f iciency

 18

Accordi ng t o t he result , f if t y (50) part icipant s who occupy over sevent y percent (70) agreed
t hat t he lack of inf ormat ion af f ect s t heir working ef f iciency. Specif ical ly, part ici pant s ex-
plained t hat work wil l not be compl et ed properly, t ools and equi pment are not used correct ly
and it wil l af f ect t he worki ng t ime. Fif t y six peopl e (56) answered t hat proper t raining mot i-
vat es t hem t o perf orm work bet t er; t heref ore, t he result of survey point ed out t hat proper
t raining plays an import ant role i n organizi ng t he operat ion of t he work.

Based on t he result , almost eight y (80) percent were aware of t heir work responsibilit ies
while sevent een (17) percent were not sure and t he rest responded t hat t heir responsibilit ies
were only t o complet e t heir given t asks. To be more det ailed, t he researchers examined t he
degree of responsibilit y by asking t he part icipant s whet her physical resources were ref il led
af t er bei ng used. Three part icipant s did not respond t o t his quest ion, t hirt y one (31) replied
t hat t he it ems were not ref illed whi le t hirt y six (36) answers were “ yes, t hey do” . Even
t hough most of t he answers were a “ yes” t here was not much dif f erence.

Ef f ect s of non-ref illing of it ems

60
49
50
38
40

30
18
20

10 6

0
Time- consuming Frust rat ion Mot ivat ion Ot hers

Figure 8: Ef f ect s of non-ref illing of it ems

From t he above graph, t he researchers ident if ied t ime-consuming as a t op f act or af f ect ing
t he work ef f iciency, f ol lowed by f rust rat ion, mot ivat ion and ot hers such as conf usion, ment al
and physical st ress. Proceeding t o next issue about t he ret urning of working equipment back
t o it s place, sevent y (70) percent replied t hey do whil e t hirt y (30) percent deni ed. All part ici -
pant s answered t hey were willing t o solve any problems occurred during t he work t hrough
t heir mist akes. In order t o evaluat e t he import ance of responsibi lit y t owards mot ivat ion, t he
researchers divided it int o f our scales: very import ant , import ant , not so import ant and not
import ant at al l. The resul t is illust rat ed i n a graph below
 19

Import ance of responsibilit y t owards mot ivat ion

Not import ant at all

Not so import ant

Import ant

Very import ant

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Figure 9: Import ance of responsibilit y t owards mot ivat ion

As t he result shows, most part icipant s evaluat ed responsibilit y as one of t he very import ant
f act ors t o mot ivat e t hem at work. In int erpersonal rel at ionship sect ion, f ive dif f erent scal es
were provided f rom st rongl y disagree t o st rongly agree and respondent s were f ree t o choose
t he appropriat e answer bet ween t hose scales. Peopl e agreed t hat having good relat ionship
wit h boss and coll eagues mot ivat ed t hem.

Maccoby (2010, 60-61) ment ioned in his art icle t hat “ peopl e are mot ivat ed by good relat ion-
ships wit h bosses, collaborat ors, and cust omers” . Besides t hat , t he number of “ st rongly
agree” and “ agree” of part icipant s relat ing t o hel pf ul coll eagues, approachable supervisor
and t he t reat ment s of supervisor t owards employees is higher t han ot her scal es. By maint ain-
ing t his f riendly working environment , it keeps employees mot ivat ed and sat isf ied as Her-
zberg st at es in his t heory t hat having good int erpersonal relat ionship decreases j ob dissat is-
f act ion. In addit ion, Jönsson (Maccoby 2010, 60-61) “ f inds t hat t here is a st rong correlat ion
bet ween sat isf act ions at work, which he considers an indicat ion of mot ivat ion” .

Having good rel at ionship wit h boss and

col leagues mot ivat es me
Hel pf ul col leagues

I get along well wit h coll eagues

Approachable supervisor
My supervisor t reat s me as I woul d l ike t o
be
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

St rongly disagree Disagree Neut ral Agree St rongly Agree

 20

Figure 10: Int erpersonal Relat ionship

The researchers appli ed t he same answering met hod t o “ t eamwork” t o ident if y how employ-
ees eval uat e t eamwork issues at workplace. “ Neut ral ” was t he most sel ect ed opt ion when
researchers invest igat ed whet her t here is a lack of cooperat ion bet ween peopl e at work.
Theref ore, i n order t o clari f y t he mat t er, t he researchers looked at t he second most rat ed
answer. And it was ninet een (19) answeri ng disagree” in cont rast t o t hirt een (13) answer of
“ agree” and six (6) of “ st rongly agree” respect ively. As a result of it , t here is cooperat ion
among t eam members and t hat explains t he high rat e of “ agree” f or “ ot her t eam members
will help me if I need” .

Thirt y f ive (35) replied t here is an ef f ect ive communi cat ion bet ween employees comparing t o
t went y f our part icipant s (24) who chose “ neut ral” , nine (9) “ disagree” and t wo (2) “ st rongly
disagree” . Accordi ng t o Root III (no dat e), “ one of t he key el ement s in creat ing a good t eam
is proper communicat ion” . As a result , part icipant s agreed t hat t here is ef f ect ive communica-
t ion among t eam members at t he workplace. However, most part icipant s also agreed t hat
t heir coll eagues put t hei r needs ahead of ot hers’ . Needs means employees choosing what is
best f or t hem. For exampl e, employees t ake more working t ools and equipment t han needed
or ref using t o t ake ext ra work or work in dif f erent areas. In general, t he result showed good
t eamwork as one of t he indicat ors t o mot ivat e employees t o perf orm work bet t er.

Te amw or k
30
25 28 27
25 26 25 24 24 24
20
15 19 18
16
10 13 14
12
10 9
5 7
6 4 5 2 4 2 4 2
0
Lack of Peopl e put t heir Hel p bet ween Ef f ect ive Teamwork
cooperat ion needs ahead of t eam members communicat ion mot ivat es me t o
ot hers' perf orm work
bet t er

St rongly Agree Agree Neut ral Disagree St rongly Disagree

Figure 11: Teamwork

The researchers received a posit ive response f rom t he quest ionnaire survey, out of 100 sur-
veys t hat were sent 70% replied. According t o t he result s, t he age range of t he employees was
diverse wit h 26-30 as t he dominant . Simi larl y, t he working experience of 2-5 years occupi ed
31% being t he highest in it s cat egory. In t he t raining sect ion, t he result of t he survey showed
 21

t he lengt h of t he t rai ning period in average was 7-14 days. Most part icipant s answered t hat
t he inf ormat ion t hey recei ved during t he t raining was suf f icient however, some acknowledged
t hat t he t raining was swif t and provided wit h insuf f ici ent inf ormat ion

The answers f rom survey indicat ed t hat non-ref il ling i t ems af f ect ed t he working ef f iciency i n
t erms of t ime-consumpt ion, f rust rat ion and mot ivat ion. Theref ore, part icipant s evaluat ed
responsibi lit y as one of t he most import ant f act ors t o mot ivat e t hem at work. They also
agreed on having good relat ionship wit h coll eagues and supervisors mot ivat ed t hem. In gen-
eral , t he result s showed t hat t he worki ng environment was f riendly in which t hey had good
communicat ion and cooperat ion bet ween t eam members. Overal l , t he quest ionnaire survey
met hod only hel ped researchers t o col lect part ly t he needed dat a. Thus in order t o get more
inf ormat ion and clarif y issues f ound i n survey, t he researchers used qualit at ive approaches
which have been int roduced in lat er part .

4. 2 Part icipant observat ion

The observat ion t ook place at t wo dif f erent client ’ s premises of SOL. The researchers sel ect -
ed t wo housekeepers whose general background were dif f erent in t erms of age, working years
and gender t o invest igat e whet her if t here were any dif f erences i n t erms of Responsibilit y,
Training, Teamwork and Int erpersonal Relat ionship. Bot h observat ion recording sheet s are
at t ached i n Appendixes.

In order t o conduct an observat ion, researchers creat ed observat ion recording sheet which
researchers were able t o t ake not es and “ describe what is going on at t he sit e” (Veal 2006,
186). The observat ion last ed in t wo cont i nuous working days. Af t er t he observat ion, t he re-
searchers analyzed dat a by using observat ion process pat t ern.

The process is divided int o t hree st ages which are col or-coded. The red color i ll ust rat es t he
f irst st age when a housekeeper prepared f or her or hi s working day. The second st age is when
t he worker was in worki ng progress and is coded in bl ue. The last st age in green color pre-
sent ed t he end process of her or his working day. The brief int roduct ion of bot h observees is
int roduced as below.

Observee 1: A f emal e who is in 36 – 40 age group. She has had over f ive years working in
Housekeepi ng. She is a permanent f ull -t ime employee. At her workplace, she is assigned t o be
responsible f or her own f loor which is 3rd f loor. This f l oor incl udes old and new si de of a bui ld-
ing. She is an open-minded and st raight f orward person.
 22

Figure 12: The observat ion process of a middle-aged f emale housekeeper

The analysis of observat ion is done st ep by st ep. In t he f irst st age, t he f emale observee
showed posit ive working at t it ude at workplace. This is showed by t he way she greet ed her
supervisor and coll eagues and discussed wit h her supervisor about work. Proceeding t o t he
second st age, t he observer spot t ed t hat she ref used t o give mini-bar it ems f rom t he t roll ey t o
her col league and she suggest ed t o t ake it f rom t he st orage. In order t o underst and her ac-
t ion, t he researchers spent more t ime t o observe t o obt ain more inf ormat ion.

The ext ra observat ion point ed out t hat t he main reason of her ref usal is t ime. She did not
want t o spend her ext ra t i me f or going t o st orage room t o get it em in case guest s had pur-
chased it ems. The researchers also had a short conversat ion wit h t he observee, f rom her per-
spect ive, she said every employee has t o be responsi ble f or t heir work; she was f rust rat ed
when she had t o carry all necessary it ems and some employees did not . She also explained
t hat she does not ref use t o help all employees, only t o cert ain people who do not t ake good
care of work.

In t he last st age, when work was complet ed, she prepared f or next worki ng day by ref i lli ng all
guest it ems, linens and t owels t o t he t roll ey and empt ying a t rol ley f or put t ing dirt y linen.
Accordi ng t o t he observee, when al l work was well organized, it not only saved t ime f or her-
self but also f or her coll eagues.

Observee 2: A mal e of 25 years of age wit h 2 years of working experience as a housekeeper.

He belongs t o a cert ain f loor. However, he is also sent t o ot her f loors. He is a part -t ime
worker and has a f riendly personalit y. He is a hardworking and hel pf ul person.
 23

Figure 13: The observat ion process of a young male housekeeper

During t he i nit ial st age, t he observat ion showed t hat he had a f riendly personalit y and respect
f or everyone. He greet ed his colleagues and his supervisors. He t ook his working list and also
discussed his plans f or t hat part icular day wit h his group leader. He t hen went t o his assigned
area.

In t he working phase, he did not encount er any probl em but t he observat ion revealed t hat he
did not put much ef f ort t o meet t he qualit y st andards, he did not use chemicals nor did he
have proper equipment . In order t o underst and t he reason f or such behavior, t he researchers
decided t o have a casual conversat ion and asked him. The observee replied t hat he did not
have a bot t l e f or t he chemical so he did not use it . The observat ion reveal ed t hat duri ng t he
working phase he went t o help one of his f riends who had problem managing is work. The rea-
son was explained alt er t hat helping each ot her made t he work easier and when he needed
help his f riend would come t oo. At t he end of t he working phase, it was not iced t hat he was
f rust rat ed at some point when he had t o use t he t rol l ey, which was not ref i ll ed. He lat er ex-
plained t hat was because he had t o t ake ext ra t ime t o ref il l t he t roll ey and use it . Theref ore,
he f elt more anger t owards t he f ul l-t ime workers.

In t he last phase, t he researcher observed t hat al l t he equipment was ret urned t o t he locker
and most import ant ly af t er using t he t rol l ey; he ref il l ed it so t hat it would be conveni ent f or
t he next person who would use it . Moreover, t hey woul d not have t o f eel f rust rat ed and
wast e t ime ref illi ng it .
 24

4. 3 Int erview

The readers can ref er int erview quest ions at t ached in Appendix. The i nt erviews were con-
duct ed at t wo dif f erent premises. Each of t he int ervi ews last ed approximat ely 30 t o 40
minut es. The researchers i nt erviewed t wo supervisors who are i n charge of t heir assigned
business areas. As a request , int erviewees did not want t heir names t o be published in t his
t hesis proj ect . Tot al ly, t here were el even quest ions prepared i nvolved in t raining, responsi-
bilit y, i nt erpersonal relat ionship and t eamwork. However, t he researchers select ed some
necessary inf ormat ion f rom t he i nt erview cont ent t o clarif y unclear issues in quest ionnaire
survey.

There were t wo main issues which researchers would like t o invest igat e. Init ial ly, it was t rain-
ing. The second issue was t he responsibi lit ies of empl oyees at workplace. According t o t he
int erviewees (Anonymous 2015. Personal communicat i on) t hat were int erviewed; t he lengt h
of t raining period was f rom 2 t o 3 weeks. However, t he result f rom survey showed t hat em-
ployees had short er t raini ng period. To explain t his phenomenon t he int erviewee added t hat
t he learning t ime depended on each individual , f or example, one person may t ake a week t o
learn t he working process while t he ot her may have t o be t rained f or a longer period.

Nowadays, it is mandat ory f or new employees t o complet e t he online orient at ion program
compromising of saf et y, rules and regulat ions at work and usage of liqui d and equipment .
There is also on-sit e t raini ng day where employees are t aught t o use equipment ergonomical ly
and t he correct use of dif f erent cleaning mat erials. The researchers asked whet her t raining
manuals were provided t o new employees t o ref er prior t he act ual t raining. The t raining
manual includes pict ures of rooms, inst ruct ion on using liquid, chemicals and equipment at
work. Unf ort unat ely, t he company did not provide t raining manual inst ead onsit e t raining was
of f ered.

Bot h supervisors described t heir employees as hard working, f riendly and responsible. Though
somet imes t he workers were not responsibl e and did not f ulf il l t heir dut i es. As st at ed by one
of t he supervisors, his approach t o mot ivat e employees is using dif f erent rewarding syst em
such as f ree paid day, movie t icket s or ext ra paid hours. In cont rast , t o t hose who had nega-
t ive at t it ude or unf ulf ill ed dut ies according t o st andard, t heir working hours would be de-
creased or supervisors would have a privat e conversat ion t o f ind t he probl ems. This in a way
creat es a f air working envi ronment . Some social event s are also organized f or employees t o
socialize and improve i nt erpersonal relat ionship. Some of t he event s are sponsored by t he
company while small social event s are on personal expense.
 25

4. 4 Brainst orming

Under permission of service manager, t he researchers were allowed t o ref er and use mat eri -
als f rom t he t raining session which was hel d at SOL headquart er. One of t he mai n cont ent s of
t he t raining was probl em solving workshop where al l maj or probl ems were present ed. The
f acilit at or divided f ormed 4 groups wit h 5 or 6 members and discussions and brainst orming
sessions were held f or f inding solut ions over t hese problems in 10 minut es.

However, t he researchers only f ocused on t he main issue relat ed t o t hesis t opic t o analyze. It
is “ how t o reduce wast ing t ime” . During t he brainst orming sessions, each group explained t he
sit uat ions t hey encount ered at workplace t o share wi t h ot her groups. Based on t he discussions
t he part icipant s also agreed t hat some employees have self ish way of t hinking at work, f or
inst ance, t hey lef t t he mai d t rol ley and it ems non-ref illed. Theref ore, most groups acknowl -
edged t hat t he most t ime consuming f act or is t he non-ref il ling it ems.

Some employees st at ed t hat t heir coll eagues f requent ly gave an excuse f or non-ref il ling t rol-
leys and ot her it ems by saying t hey had school or had some personal mat t ers needed t o be
solved. From t his point of view, t here were many sol ut ions suggest ed t o reduce t he wast ing
t ime or in t he ot her way, t o improve t he responsibilit y of employee. Suggest ions are present -
ed in lat er part .

4. 5 Brainwrit ing

The brainwrit ing session was hel d in order t o gain insight int o t he probl ems and ideas t hat
each individual had concerning t heir workplace. The researchers asked t hree part icipant s
wit h dif f erent worki ng background and posit ion in t he company so t hat t he researchers would
gain inf ormat ion f rom dif f erent perspect ive.

The researchers as a moderat or asked t he part icipant s t o record t he probl ems t hey encoun-
t ered and t he solut ions f or it if t hey had. The part icipant s had t he f reedom t o explain any
problems t hey had, not onl y f ocusing on cert ain probl ems so t hat ot her probl ems would not
be excl uded f rom t he scenario. However, researchers concent rat ed on f inding t he common
problem t hat t hey experienced on day t o day working lif e.

Based on t he analyses result s, t he most common problem was t he short age of or f ault y
equi pment and t he non-ref illing of t roll eys. Part icipant s also explained t hat during t he work-
ing hours, especial ly when it was busy, t hey had t o spend ext ra t ime searching f or required
equi pment whi ch delayed t heir work. Moreover, non-ref illing t rol leys not only caused wast age
of t ime but also result ed in f rust rat ion and demot ivat ion.
 26

5 Recommendat ions

The suggest ions are provided based on t he result s of problem solving workshops and quest ion-
naire survey. There are f our main suggest ions t hat most part icipant s would like t o get t hem
implement ed at workplace.

5. 1 Rewarding syst em

Wilt on (2011, 217) cit ed in his book t hat “ reward syst em ref er t o all t he monet ary, non-
monet ary and psychological payment s t hat an organi zat ion provides f or it s empl oyees in ex-
change f or t he work t hey perf orm” . According t o int erview result , t he supervisor apply t hese
met hods such as movie t icket or f ree paid day. However, t he employees expect t hese met h-
ods t o be implement ed cust omarily.

The employees not only woul d like t o be rewarded monet ari ly but also suggest ed psychologi-
cal payment s such as showi ng appreciat ion, complement ing t he work, t he “ Employee of t he
mont h” . This makes “ empl oyees believes t hat his/ her company cares about t hem and appre-
ciat es his/ her cont ri but ions t o t he company” (New York Universit y 2015).

The “ Employee of t he mont h” program is more about recognit ion t han reward because “ it
st art s wit h a person’ s name” (Hart 2011). He also st at ed t hat “ meani ngf ul words can be much
more powerf ul t han t he proverbial gol d wat ch” (Hart 2011). The implement at ion of t his pro-
gram does not need a separat e budget f or t he company. In cont rary, it benef it s bot h part i es.
Employees gain “ respect and recognit ion f or t heir ef f ort s” and mot ivat e t hem t o perf orm bet -
t er which wi ll i n t urn reduce t he risk of resignat ion and increase product ivit y.

5. 2 The cooperat ion bet ween group leaders and workers

Leaders not only assign t asks but also “ set t he t one f or t heir t eams, provide mot i vat ion and
support f or members” (Levit icus, no dat e). In part icul ar, “ t eam or group leaders provide t he
t ools and processes employees need t o perf orm ef f ect ively. Leaders make sure employees
have necessary equipment , sof t ware and personnel t o perf orm assigned t asks” (Levit icus, No
dat e). In t his circumst ance, t he part icipant s recommended t hat t hey shoul d receive more
support f rom t eam leaders who is able t o bring guest i t ems in service rooms so t hat it will
reduce wast ing t ime and al so let t he workers concent rat e more on t heir work.

In addit ion, somet imes t he equipment are broken or not f unct ioning well and when it is need-
ed t hen t he workers realize t he probl em. Theref ore, t he group leaders coul d check and re-
 27

port t hose f ault s and replace wit h proper t ools, t his would save t ime f or bot h t he worker and
t he group leader.

To be convenient f or bot h t eam l eaders and employees, t he it ems report f orm i s addit ional
support ive sol ut ion t o report t o a t eam l eader or ot her employees what it ems needed t o be
ref il led in service room. In t he f orm, al l it ems wi ll be list ed and t he housekeeper check
t hrough in t he service room or st orage room it ems missing and bring t hem t o t he of f ice so
t hat t he ot her employees will ref il l t hose. The example of it ems report f orm is at t ached i n
Appendix.

5. 3 Proper t raini ng procedure

As ment ioned i n int erview process, t raining manual has not yet been provided t o employees.
Nevert heless, “ having a t raining manual is vit al t hroughout t he hiring process because em-
ployees can use it as st udy guide and ref erence point , rat her t han f iel ding ot herwise t ime-
consuming quest ions” (Marie no dat e). The t raining manual coul d incl ude visual mat erials
such as pict ures and video so t hat new employees woul d have an underst anding of t he work-
ing procedure bef ore experiencing t he real working lif e.

The f irst day of t he work f or any new employee is very import ant and it is t he management ’ s
responsibi lit y t o guide him/ her on t he rul es and regul at ions of t he work and saf et y. A proper
plan should be made f or t he new employee during t he t raining period. It is on t hese days t hat
t he employee wil l comprehend all t he inf ormat ion given and t ake st eps t o devel op t heir ef f i-
ciency.

The result f rom t he quest i onnaire survey and workshop exhibit ed t hat t he workers had expe-
rienced dif f icult i es during t heir t raining period. The l ack of inf ormat ion and improper plan
conf used t he workers. For exampl e, on t he f irst day t hey were t rained wit h a t ut or in a par-
t icular f loor and t he next day it was a dif f erent t ut or i n a dif f erent f loor. This conf used t he
new employee in t heir learning process as each t ut or have dif f erent st yle of t eaching and
working. As suggest ed t he employee should be t rained wit h a part icular t ut or unt il t he t rain-
ing period ends and in a part icular area. If t he t ut or is absent f rom work t hen it shoul d be t he
responsibi lit y of anot her t ut or t o t each, however, it shoul d not be more t han t wo t ut ors.

In concl usion, t he recommendat ions were sel ect ed based on key element s of t hesis research.
Some suggest ions have been implement ed at t he workplace whi le some are st il l i n process of
developing. These suggest ions are pract ical and appli cabl e. The video manual may require
f inancial invest ment f or making it .
 28

6 Conclusion

The t hesis research was conduct ed t o develop and improve t he operat ion of services at SOL’ s
client ’ s premises. This research is an approach t o f ind solut ions t o t he probl ems t hat t he re-
searchers experi enced as a worker. The result s f rom t he quest ionnaire survey showed t hat
t here were t wo mai n issues: t he responsibilit y of employee and t raini ng procedure.

The responsibilit y of employee does not explain cl earl y it s def init ion and cont ent . Theref ore,
t he workshops were conduct ed t o search f or specif ic problem relat ed t o it . The f irst workshop
applied brainst orming met hod in which 4 groups searched f or solut ions on “ how t o reduce
wast ing t ime” . The f acilit at or gave 10 minut es f or brainst orming session t o all t he groups f or
generat ing ideas. Init ial ly, all t he groups list ed t he f act ors af f ect ing t heir work and f ound t he
most common probl em was non-ref il ling of it ems which result ed i n t ime consumpt ion. This
problem was also observed in brainwrit ing session.

The i nt erview analysis indicat ed t hat ref i lling it ems was part of work and empl oyees should
f ulf il t heir dut i es complet ely. Good work result ed in reward whereas unf ulf il led dut ies were
f ollowed by less working hours. This is also one of t he suggest ions f rom part ici pant s. Based on
solut ions f rom part ici pant s, t hey recommended t here shoul d be more support f rom group
leader(s) or supervisor t o help t hem t o f ill it ems in st orage room or inspect t he working t ools
and equipment bef ore using t hem so t hat t here woul d be no int erf erence duri ng t he work.

The next issue was t raining procedure which was expl ained by t he part icipant s i n t he survey
t hat eit her t he t raining period was short er t han act ual t raining l engt h which is f rom 2 t o 3
weeks or t he t raining inf ormat ion was not suf f icient . This circumst ance was answered clearly
in t he int erview t hat t he l engt h of t raini ng period depended on each individual ’ s learning
process. Even t hough t he new employee coul d work independent ly af t er f irst week he/ she
would st i ll be under t he supervision of group leaders.

The i nt erviewees did not cl early st at e any reasons f or t he lack of inf ormat ion. Inst ead t hey
said t hey have st art ed online orient at ion program which is mandat ory f or new employees and
t hey also provided on-sit e t raining f or bot h new and current employees t o devel op t heir skills.
As a development al st ep, t here should be a t raining manual which has visual mat erials and
video relat ed t o t he work. This woul d provide t he new employees an underst anding of t he
work nat ure and procedure.

Overal l, t he t hesis research received posit ive f eedback f rom part icipant s as wel l as supervi-
sors in charge. These answers and addit ional comment s were very val uable t o t hesis work.
From t hese sources, t here were many suggest ions f or developing and improving t he operat ion
 29

of cleani ng services. However, t he researchers only select ed some sol ut ions involving t wo
main issues t o int roduce in t he t hesis proj ect .
 30

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Figures

Figure 1: The basic mot ivat ional model . (Mul lins & Dossor 2013, 284) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Figure 2: The concept of Herzberg’ s t wo-f act or t heory ( www. j ohnwil ey. net . au, no dat e) . 7
Figure 3: Problem Solving Possibilit ies Diagram (Universit y of Minnesot a, no dat e) . . . . . . . . 13
Figure 4: Research j ourney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Figure 5: Age range of part icipant s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Figure 6: Years of working in SOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Figure 7: Ef f ect s of insuf f icient inf ormat ion t o work ef f iciency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Figure 8: Ef f ect s of non-ref illing of it ems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Figure 9: Import ance of responsibilit y t owards mot ivat ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Figure 10: Int erpersonal Relat ionship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Figure 11: Teamwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Figure 12: The observat ion process of a middle-aged f emale housekeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Figure 13: The observat ion process of a young male housekeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
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Appendixes
Appendix 1: The quest ionnaire-based survey of devel opment and improvement of t he operat ion of cl eaning services in English version
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Appendix 2: The quest ionnaire-based survey of devel opment and improvement of t he operat ion of cl eaning services in Finnish version
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Appendix 3: Observat ion recording sheet s of middl e age f emal e

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Appendix 4 Observat ion recording sheet of young mal e

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Appendix 5: Int erview quest ions

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Appendix 6: Brainst orming workshop

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Appendix 7: Brainwrt ing workshop

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Appendix 8: The exampl e of it ems report f orm