JOSE RIZAL MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY

The Premier University in Zamboanga del Norte

Main Campus, Dapitan City

“FACTORS AFFECTING EMPLOYEES PERFORMANCE IN

MERCHANDISING BUSINESSES”

A Research Proposal

Presented to the Faculty of

College of Business and Accountancy

Jose Rizal Memorial State University

The Premier University in Zamboanga Del Norte

Main Campus, Dapitan City

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the degree

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration major in

Financial Management

RUBIE JEAN G. BALASE

MARCU GENESIS DAQUE
JUNETH ANN C. DUHAYLUNGSOD
FERDILYN R. LUMACAD
JESSA MAY F. MACAHIDHID

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 Table of Contents

Chapter

1. THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

Introduction

Theoretical / Conceptual Frame Work

Schema of the Study

Statement of the Problem

Hypothesis

Significance of the Study

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

Definition of Terms

2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Literature & Studies

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Method Used

Research Environment

Respondents of the Study

Research Instrument

Data Gathering Procedure

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 Statistical Treatment of Data

Chapter I

PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

Introduction

The success of a company is largely determined by the performance of its

employees. Poor performance will hamper an organization's success, whereas excellent

performance will ensure success in any industry.

Employee performance is influenced by a variety of elements at work. It is

defined as the method of carrying out job responsibilities in accordance with the job

description. Performance is the art of completing tasks within the set parameters (Saeed,

et al., 2013). Companies and organizations should concentrate on improving employee

performance by providing them with a set of tools and abilities to address changing

realities and problems (Batarlien, Iinien, Vaiit, Apalait, and Jaranien (2017).

Globalization, new market needs, innovation, and the smart economy are all factors that

firms must consider in order to sustain and increase employee performance (Cooper &

Ezzamel, 2013). Dealing with rapid changes in technology, stakeholder requirements, and

market demands relies on closing the gap in employee attitudes as a key aspect of

attaining the organization's smart goals (Shah, Irani, & Sharif, 2017).

Employees in the retail sector are frequently the biggest asset to the business

organization because they offer goods that are easily accessible at other outlets, as noted

by Scheers and Botha (2014). These staff members are responsible for offering customer

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support to the retailer's clients (Scheers & Botha, 2014). Businesses spend a lot of money

trying to keep customers, but typically overlook the factors that increase employee

motivation (Ganesh, 2016).

In our daily lives, retailing serves a multitude of purposes. The marketing

distribution channel is where the primary role is visible. It greatly benefits the

manufacturer, customer, and economy as a whole (Tiwari, 2009: 7). Consumers,

manufacturers, and wholesalers all value the role that retailing and retailers play in

society. Retailers serve a variety of marketing functions, including satisfying customer

requirements, developing new product categories, gathering market data, and extending

credit to customers, in addition to acting as buying specialists (agents) for clients and

sales representatives for their suppliers.

The following literature illustrates how researchers defined employee

performance and emphasized factors that influence it. According to Anitha (2013), an

individual's or an organization's performance is greatly influenced by all organizational

activities, policies, procedures, knowledge management practices, and employee

engagement. These factors are critical in promoting high levels of employee performance.

While Islami, Mulolli, and Mustafa (2018) recognize performance management as a

deliberate process involving agreement, measurement, support, feedback, and positive

reinforcement, which set performance expectations. Bataineh (2017) defines employee

performance as a combination of the employee's daily duties' efficiency and effectiveness

in meeting the stakeholders' expectations.

According to Abdullah, Ramayah, and Mutahar (2017), employees strongly agree

that incorporating the internet into their work helped them improve task processes,

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knowledge acquisition, and communication quality, resulting in improved individual and

organizational performance. Pawirosumarto, Sarjana, and Gunawan (2017), on the other

hand, found a link between employee performance and the work environment, which

includes both physical and nonphysical elements that have a positive and significant

impact on employee performance. While Smith and Bititc (2017) emphasize the

importance of enhancing performance measurement systems and performance

management methods as variables in the workplace that increase employee engagement.

Nickols (2003) and Fort& Voltero (2004) identify a related component that

influences provider performance in the workplace. Clear goals and job expectations,

appropriate repertory, immediate feedback, performance skills, knowledge of the

organizational structure, functioning feedback system, sound metal models, and sufficient

motivation through self-satisfaction and rewards are among them.

Employee performance is influenced by a variety of aspects at work, both internal

and external, according to previous studies and researchers. However, this study will

mainly focus on only three factors, which are leadership, and motivation since only these

three identified factors are suitable for the research environment of our study.

The research tried to uncover how elements like leadership and motivation affect

the job performance of employees working in various Merchandising Enterprises in

Rizal, Zamboanga del Norte by identifying these variables. The goal of this quantitative

study is to see if the above-mentioned variables have an impact on employee

performance in the Municipality of Rizal, Zamboanga del Norte, with a focus on

employees that work for a merchandising firm in the municipality.

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Theoretical Framework of the Study

This study is anchored to a previous study conducted by Thao and Hwang (2015)

in their study “Factors Affecting Employee Performance-Evidence from Petrovietnam

Engineering Consultancy J.S.C.” They determined 2 factors that had a significant impact

on the employees in their case company: Leadership and Motivation. The study found

that leadership style had an impact on staff performance. Employees clearly perform

better when executives coach them, empower them, or increase their participation. The

study also found that motivation is one of the most important factors affecting employee

performance.

Leadership. Is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals

to achieve common goals (Northouse, 2007). Leadership style is the combination of

attitude and behavior of a leader, which leads to certain patterns in dealing with the

followers (Dubrin, 2004). The leadership style within an organization has a bearing on

encouraging or inhibiting employee’s performance (Arsmstrong & Murlis 2004; Cronje

et al 2001). Coaching. Coaching has become an important technique to improve

performance (Champathes, 2006). It is not a one way communication and proves to be a

two way communications where coaches identify what can be improved and how it can

be improved. Further coaching addresses the belief and behaviors that hinder

performance (Toit, 2007). It can be further seen that coaching is all about helping

someone else to improve performance (Starr, 2004). Empowerment. Duvall (1999)

defines success as achievement, accomplishment and attainment which is consequence of

empowerment as follows: (1) Individual success in form of employee’s role performance,

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(2) Organizational success which is achieved as members of the organization accomplish

collective organizational goals and objectives, and (3) As organizational members share a

mutually beneficial and satisfying work experience meeting both social and personal

growth needs. Further, empowerment had significant positive correlations with both

performance and satisfaction (Bartram and Casimir, 2007). And specifically

empowerment was more strongly correlated with the in-role performance of followers

than with satisfaction with the leader. Participation. In Chen and Tjosvold research

2006, they revealed that participation management is about involving employees in the

decision making process where the employees feel that they have the opportunity

todiscuss problems and can influence organizational decisions. The overall impact of

participation is increased employee job performance and low turn-over. In addition,

organizations can act to increase or decrease the levels of these mediator variables within

their personals and potentially strengthen the positive performance effects of employee

participation (Lam et al, 2002).

Employee will be motivated because management considers them as partners in

contributing to organizational success instead of being seen as mere subordinates and

therefore will avoid engaging into counterproductive behaviors hence improved

performance through timely achievement of organizational goals and objectives (Carrel,

Kuzmits & Elbert, 1989).

Motivation. Is a key determinant of job performance and a poorly motivated

force will be costly in terms of excessive staff turn over, higher expenses, negative

morale and increased use of managements time (Jobber, 1994). Therefore, management

must know what exactly stimulates their staff so resources are not misallocated and

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disatisfaction develops among employees (Jobber 1994). As green has described

motivation to be proactive in the sense of; in dealing with employees who are high

performers, motivation is essential, otherwise their performance will decline or they will

simply leave the job. While dealing with low performers, motivation is a prerequisite;

otherwise these employees will drag results down, lower productivity and certainly would

not leave the organization, as they will have nowhere to go. A motivated workforce is

essential because the complete participation of employees will certainly drive the

profitability of the organization (Carlsen, 2003), Darmon (1974) believe motivation is

educating of employees to channel their efforts towards organizational activities and thus

increasing the performance of the said boundary spanning roles. According to Denton

(1991), a motivated workforce will lead to greater understanding, acceptance,

commitment to implementation, understanding of objectives and decision making

between management and employees. Job enrichment. Is a management concept that

involves redesigning jobs so that they are more challenging to employee and have less

repetitive work. Job enrichment is a job redesign technique that allows workers more

control over how they perform their own tasks. This approach allows employees to take

on more responsibility. As an alternative to job specialization, companies using job

enrichment may experience positive outcomes, such as reduced turnover, increased

productivity, and reduced absences. This may be because employees who have the

authority and responsibility over their work can be more efficient, eliminate unnecessary

tasks, take shortcuts, and increase their overall performance (Denton 1991).

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 Employee Performance. The most significant aspect of every business is the

performance of its employees because the success or failure of an organization is

determined by the performance of its employees. Many business personnel directors

evaluate each staff member's performance on a yearly or quarterly basis in order to find

potential areas for development. A company that gains an advantage over its competitors

by attracting top talent can dominate the market. The unit's success depends on the

performance of personnel doing different roles in close cooperation.

The effective employee must be content with their jobs and encouraged to stay

with the company. Apart from that, abilities and skills are more likely to predict task

performance, whereas personality and related traits are more likely to predict contextual

performance (Werner, 2000). A competent employee applies their specialized expertise

and skill to do tasks in the most efficient manner possible. Employees work in a variety

of departments inside the company, including production, manufacturing, marketing,

finance, storage, transportation, public relations, and so on. All of these tasks carried out

by personnel are linked to the organization's aim. Having effective employee

performance can improve the organization's productivity, sales, profit, and market

position.

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Leadership
Coaching
Employee’s
Empowerment
Performance
Participation
Motivation
Job Enrichment

Figure 1 Schema of the Study

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Statement of the Problem

The study will look into the factors affecting employees performance in Grocery
Stores in Rizal, Zamboanga del Norte.

Specifically, the study seek to answer the following questions:

1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of:

1.1 age;
1.2 sex;
1.3 civil status;
1.4 educational attainment; and
1.5 number of years of operation?

2. What is the factor that affects the employees’ performance in terms of:
Leadership as to:
2.1 Coaching
2.2 Empowerment
2.3 Participation
Motivation as to:
2.4 Job Enrichment

3. What is the extent of the effect of the factors affecting employee

performance?

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Significance of the Study

This study is significant for it may benefit the following.

Employees. The results of this study will be beneficial to employees for them to

be aware of the factors that could affect their performance in the workplace. It could help

them avoid such bad factors and garnish the good ones that could result in high

motivation.

Owner/Aspiring business owners. They will gain more knowledge on how to

handle their employees well. This study will further enhance their communication and

relation with their subordinates.

Future Researchers. It can be used for future research concerning what factors

can affect an employee’s performance, and to offer potential prepositions concerning the

problem being addressed.

Scope and Limitation of the Study

The study shall be delimited to the following indicators provided by the

researcher.

Content. This study shall focus on the two selected factors that could affect an

employee’s performance among merchandising businesses in Rizal, Zamboanga del

Norte, this Fiscal Year 2021-2022.

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 Place. This study shall be conducted in the Municipality of Rizal, Zamboanga del

Norte, focusing on the selected grocery stores.

Research Method. This study shall use the descriptive research on normative

survey approach purposely, with the use of a questionnaire as a research instrument, be

able to get the permission of the grocery store owner to get the profile of their workers

and their assessment of their job performance with the influence of leadership and

motivation in their workplace.

Subject. The study shall be limited to ten (10) grocery stores in the Municipality

of Rizal, Zamboanga del Norte. Further, there shall be at least two (3) quota-selected

employees per grocery store. With an overall total of thirty (30) employees for the ten

(10) selected grocery stores.

Definition of Terms

The following terms were operationally defined:

Grocery Stores. This refers to a business that purchases products and resells them

to consumers for profit. The business entity studied by the researchers.

Employee Performance - This refers to how a worker behaves in the workplace

and how well they perform the job duties you've obligated to them. It is the dependent

variable in the study.

Factor. This refers to a circumstance that contributes to a result in changes in

someone or something.

Leadership - This refers to an act of motivating a group of people to act toward

achieving a common goal. It is one of the independent variable of the study in which the

researchers believe has a relationship with employees performance.

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 Motivation -This refers to the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-

oriented behaviors. It is one of the independent variables of the study in which the

researchers believe has a relationship with employees performance.

Coaching- refers to a method of training , counselling/instructing and

individual /group how to develop skills to enhance their productivity or overcome a

performance problem.

Empowerment -the process of gaining freedom and power to do what you want

or to control what happens to you.

Participation- refers to the action of taking part in something and association

with others in relationship or an enterprise usually in formal business activity.

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 Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the literature and studies which have a direct bearing on the

present study. This chapter includes an overview of the reviewed literature and studies

with close similarities to the study’s scopes.

Grocery Store

According to Chung and Myers (1999); Block and Kouba (2006); Powell et al.,

(2007), independent grocery stores, are establishments whose owners operate fewer than

four outlets simultaneously. These stores play an important role in their local

communities, helping to ensure food access for residents in areas that may not be served

by dependent grocery stores. These include low-income areas and rural cities. They also

provide employment opportunities and generate tax revenue for these areas. The retail

sector in the Philippines has been growing exponentially.

Employee Performance

Performance is associated with the quantity of output, quality of output,

timeliness of output, presence/ attendance on the job, the efficiency of the work

completed, and effectiveness of work completed (Mathis & Jackson 2009). Employee

performance is the successful completion of tasks by a selected individual or individuals,

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as a set and measured by a supervisor or organization, to pre-defined acceptable standards

while efficiently and effectively utilizing available resources within a changing

environment. Performance is a level of achievement as a result of carrying out certain

tasks. The success of a system in achieving an increasing employee performance depends

on the objectivity of the appraiser, validity, reliability, and methods that are used and

influenced by predetermined performance criteria. Gomez-Mejia et al. revealed that the

performance aspects assessed by an employee include Quantity of work, Quality of work,

Job Knowledge, Creativeness, Cooperation, Dependability, Initiative, and Personal

quality.

Management sees employees seeking feedback on their performance as a kind of

motivation (Jacobs, Belschak, & Den Hartog, 2014). Managers must provide consistent

feedback to staff (Medsker & O'Connor, 2015). Employees are motivated when their

supervisors set individual goals and objectives for them and explain how to attain them.

This gives the employee the impression that they are making a difference at work.

Employees are then motivated to attain their objectives and are more likely to exceed

their work responsibilities.

Conducting an employee performance assessment is the process of evaluating an

employee's contributions to the organization, as well as how effectively they performed

within their established goals and objectives, and comparing them to the standard

(Grigoroudis & Zopoundidis, 2012; Javidmehr, & Javidmehr, 2012; Jha, 2016;

Ebrahimpour, 2015). The performance assessment process assists employees in

improving their performance by offering precise feedback on areas where they need to

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improve. It also motivates employees to do their best by providing positive reinforcement

(Jacobs, Belschak, & Den Hartog, 2014).

To improve human capital, management should recognize and understand how to

encourage their staff (O'Connor & Raile, 2015; Scheers & Botha, 2014). The relationship

between employee motivation and performance can have an impact on a company's

effectiveness. Human resource management is a critical aspect of an employee's

performance, career advancement, and job happiness (Van De Voorde & Beijer, 2014).

It is equally critical for management to know that external influences influence

employee performance and retention (Kozak, 2014; Rothausen, Henderson, Arnold, &

Malshe, 2015). Salary, management, rewards, and recognition are all aspects that might

affect an employee's job performance (Lin, Yu, & Yi, 2014; O'Connor & Raile, 2015;

Sengupta, Yavas, Babakus, 2015). Periodic performance appraisals of employees are

necessary for business organizations to promote employee effectiveness (Coetzee,

Oosthuizen, & Stoltz, 2015). Employees in private companies are held more accountable

for their work performance (Calo, et al., 2013).

Job performance is a critical motivator that affects both individual and workplace

performance (Chinomona & Dhurup, 2014). Person-environment fit is a critical

component of employee performance. Workplace goals and objectives are more likely to

be met if individual environment fit increases. This is because the employee recognizes

the similarities in their ambitions and the aims of the firm (Sun, Peng, & Pandey, 2014).

Employees are motivated to improve their job performance when their

performance is linked to rewards (Chomal & Baruah, 2014). Over 55% of employees

who took part in the study said that having opportunities to put their skills and abilities to

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use was very important to them. Only 33% of those same people were happy with their

present employers' opportunities to use them (Cohen, 2014). Not every employee has the

same work ethic or seeks to enhance their skills when it comes to their job performance

(Felfe & Schyns, 2014).

Leadership

Many researchers have attempted to understand leadership from various angles.

As a result, a wide range of traditional paradigms and theories all claim to be able to

characterize and define leadership (Dansereau, Seitz, Chiu, Shaughnessy, & Yammarino,

2013). The important message from the definitions and paradigms is that leadership is

defined as an interpersonal process in which a leader impacts followers (Dansereau et al.,

2013). Yukl (2006) described leadership as "a process in which one person exerts

intentional influence over others to direct, shape, and facilitate activities and relationships

in a group or organization." The basic aspects of leadership, according to most

definitions, are a leader and a follower who interact in a relational manner. The main

difficulty in leadership is how a leader may effectively influence followers through

relational interactions in order to attain the institution's stated goals.

Leadership is the process of one person influencing a group of people to achieve a

common purpose (Northouse, 2007). The combination of a leader's attitude and behavior

that leads to particular patterns in dealing with followers is known as leadership style

(Dubrin, 2004). The leadership style of a business has an impact on whether or not

employees perform well (Armstrong & Murlis 2004; Cronje et al 2001).

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 According to Soumendu (2012), transformational leadership does not have a

direct impact on employee performance. In reality, transformational leadership has a

positive impact on job satisfaction, which in turn has a major impact on staff

performance. Job satisfaction and staff performance are influenced by two factors:

psychological climate and transformational leadership. To begin with, psychological

climate refers to an individual's attitude toward their work environment.

Climate conditions, employee interaction, employer-employee relationships, and

individual perceptions of employee job descriptions all influence the degree to which

employees do their tasks. It's because if employees have enough information to support

their tasks, they'll be more confident. As a result, employee performance will improve as

employees become more satisfied with their employment and activities.

Furthermore, supervisory assistance has an impact on employee job satisfaction.

Human resource policies, regulations, and practices will have a substantial impact on

employees at all levels of the firm (Soumendu, 2012). For instance, human resource

management has implemented equitable staff scheduling methods in terms of day-to-day

workforce, resulting in increased job satisfaction and performance.

Additionally, the other variable, transformational leadership, influenced employee

work satisfaction and, as a result, staff performance. Employee spirit, such as self-belief

and confidence, are encouraged by transformational leaders in order to achieve the

organization's goals. According to Soumendu (2012), transformational leaders provide

detailed information through verbal and nonverbal communication to ensure that the goal

is met.

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 Employees will boost job satisfaction, productivity, and even employee

performance when they are driven by their leaders. In order to ensure that every

employee performs the task with the right approach, transformational leaders also gave a

meaningful interpretations of the aim and guidelines. Soumendu (2012). As a result of the

association, psychological climate and transformational leadership variables have a

favorable impact on employee performance via job satisfaction. Meaning, that a satisfied

employee will improve his or her job performance, resulting in a lower turnover rate and

a lower desire to leave.

Lam, Loi, Chan, and Liu (2016) found that ethical leaders had a favorable impact

on individual employees' motivation levels. The researchers discovered that if

management's style reflected ethical leadership, employees would speak up more

frequently and feel more comfortable doing so. In their study, the researchers also

demonstrated that having such a positive influence could explain why employees were

more likely to stay and use their voice to highlight difficulties rather than quit the

company.

According to Suharno et al., (2017), leadership style has a positive and significant

effect on employee performance—if leadership is strong in guiding and leading

employees, then employee performance in carrying out the obligations and tasks would

be good as well. Indeed, according to Biswas (2012), leadership does not have a direct

impact on employee performance; rather, it has a good impact on job satisfaction, which

in turn has a major impact on employee performance.

Coaching

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 Coaching has become an important technique to improve performance

(Champathes, 2006). It is not a one-way communication and proves to be a two-way

communication where coaches identify what can be improved. Further coaching

addresses the belief and behaviors that hinder performance Toit, 2007). It can be further

seen that coaching is all about helping someone else to improve performance (Starr,

2004).

Coaching is beneficial for the organization in multiple aspects. It brings out

creativity, facilitates the decision-making process, and creates self-reflection to drive the

success of employees and the organization (Achi et al, 2016). Although coaching as an

intervention has gained popularity, there is still limited evaluation of coaching programs

by organizations (Grover et al, 2016). Coaching is often considered a useful tool for

developing individuals and organizations and is a method that is considered to be able to

encourage the awareness of an individual and team to achieve satisfactory work results.

According to Mathis and Jackson coaching is an activity that is carried out by a

leader to improve the performance of subordinates, while Minor said that coaching is

more translated as fostering. Fostering is a directing process that is carried out by a

manager to train and give orientation to an employee about the reality of the workplace to

overcome any obstacles to achieving optimum performance. Coaching is a learning

process to develop individual capacity in which there is a process of various knowledge

to develop behavior and it is expected that organizations who develop coaching can

improve their companies.

Pousa and Mathieu (2014) found out that coaching has a significant impact on

workforce performance. However, it was also mentioned that the quality of coaching

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plays an important role in increasing the effect on workforce performance (Pousa and

Mathieu, 2014). Findings from another study uncovered that the age factor influences the

outcome of coaching in increasing workforce performance (Achi et al, 2016). Neupane

found out that coaching is positively correlated with employee performance.

Empowerment

Employee empowerment has widely been recognized as an essential contributor

to organizational success with many authors observing a direct relationship between the

level of employee empowerment and employee performance, employee job satisfaction

and employee commitment. Empowering employees enables organizations to be more

flexible and responsive and can lead to improvements in both individual and

organizational performance. Similarly, it is maintained that employee empowerment is

critical to organizational innovativeness and effectiveness. Employee empowerment is

more relevant in today‟s competitive environment where knowledge workers are more

prevalent and organizations are moving towards decentralized, organic type

organizational structures.

Duvall (1999) defines success as achievement, accomplishment, and attainment

which are consequences of empowerment as follows: Individual success in form of

employee’s role performance, Organizational success which is achieved as members of

the organization accomplish collective organizational goals, and objectives,

organizational members share a mutually beneficial and satisfying work experience

23
meeting both social and personal growth needs. Further empowerment had significant

positive correlations with both performance and satisfaction (Batram and Casimir, 2007).

Empowerment was more strongly correlated with the in-role performance of followers

than with satisfaction with the leader. Leaders must direct, influence, encourage, and

control their employees for the specified organizational targets (Wijaya, 2017). Also,

employee empowerment is needed, and empowerment is also able to provide significant

benefits to the organization (Ongori & Shunda, 2008).

According to (Pelit, Yüksel, & Yalçin, 2011), Employee empowerment is a broad

activity. If empowerment is practiced and carried out by its contents, it will increase the

ability and will lead to job satisfaction. Empowering employees to participate in decision-

making can help develop a mindset for taking risks and trying something new (Yamoah,

2013). So that empowerment is needed by employees to grow with the capabilities they

have, and new sciences that are useful in developing organizations.

Klagge J. (1998) sees the literature in a way indicating the meaning of

empowerment as to release improved „power and authority‟ along with the relevant

duties and expertise to employees. Empowerment seems to be a powerful management

tool, which is used to exchange the shared vision that the organization expects to

materialize into common goals. The reality is that empowerment could be utilized as an

expression to explain diverse plans providing an expedient oratory, advocating that

empowerment is hypothetically a fine object that fabricates a „win-win‟ condition for

workers and administrators. Empowerment has been defined in numerous ways, but most

authors agree that the core element of empowerment involves giving employees

discretion (or latitude) over certain task-related activities. Randolph (1995) defines

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employee empowerment as “a transfer of power” from the employer to the employees.

Blanchard et al. (1996) for instance argued that empowerment is not only having the

freedom to act but also having a higher degree of responsibility and accountability. This

indicates that management must empower their employees so that they can be motivated,

committed, satisfied, and assist the organization in achieving its objectives.

Mohammed et al. (1998) state that empowerment is a state of mind. An employee

with an empowered state of mind experiences feelings of 1) control over the job to be

performed, 2) awareness of the context in which the work is performed, 3) accountability

for personal work output, 4) shared responsibility for unit and organizational

performance, and 5) equity in the rewards based on individual and collective

performance. Rodwell (1996), and Hage and Lorensen (2005) label empowerment as an

„enabling process‟ or an object that occurs from a joint allocation of possessions and

prospects which boosts „decision making‟ to accomplish change.

Luke, Rappaport, and Seidman suggested that empowerment is more than a mere

process, solution, or exemplar as is, for instance, prevention. Instead, they posit that

empowerment is the process to which the primary energies of psychologists, counselors,

social workers, and others should be directed and through which most of the goals for

social and individual change will be most appropriately accomplished.

Blanchard Dewettinck(2012) found out that the implementation of empowerment

has caused improvement in employees performance. The results of their study showed

that their main hypothesis; which is implementation of empowerment’s dimensions in

organization, in comparison with before implementation of empowerment, has caused

25
improvement of employees' performance with correlation coefficient 0.607,R square

0.369 and significant level 99 percent.

Participation

Chen and Tjosvold (2006), revealed that participation management is about

involving employees in the decision-making process where the employees feel that they

have the opportunity to discuss problems and can influence organizational decisions. The

overall impact of participation is increased employee job performance and low turnover.

In addition, organizations can act to increase or decrease the levels of these mediator

variables within their personals and potentially strengthen the positive performance

effects of employee participation

(Lam et al, 2002). The employee will be motivated because management considers them

as partners in contributing to organizational success instead of being seen as mere

subordinates and therefore will avoid engaging in counterproductive behaviors hence

improved performance through timely achievement of organizational goals and objectives

(Carrel, Kuzmits & Elbert, 1989).

Participation theory is the various forms of participation of organizational

members in using their energy and thoughts and time in realizing organizational

goals (Hasibuan, 2005). Participation is an employee's responsibility that is based on

full awareness in obeying and obeying and doing all their job duties properly

26
(Malthis & Jackson, 2002). Employee participation is where employees in an

organization play a bigger role in the decision-making process. That employees are

given the opportunity to influence management decisions and can contribute to

improving organizational performance (Amstrong, 2006). Based on some of the

definitions above, it can be concluded that employee participation is a form of

employee participation in using their energy and thoughts and time in realizing

organizational goals based on full awareness of obeying and obeying and doing all their

job duties properly.

Employee participation has three important ideas (Dewi, 2006), namely: 1.

Mental and emotional involvement / initiative. First and foremost, participation

means mental and emotional involvement rather than just physical activity.

Employees who like to express their opinions rather than just get involved in completing

tasks according to deadlines 2. Motivation for contributions In participation, it is

important to motivate employees who make contributions. They are given the

opportunity to channel their sources of initiative and creativity to achieve organizational

goals. Participation can increase motivation and help employees to understand

organizational goals. 3. Responsibilities Participation encourages employees to

accept responsibility for group activities. This is a social process so that employees can

be directly involved in all organizational activities so as to generate a willingness to

be able to realize organizational success. Employee participation encourages active

employee involvement to contribute to the achievement of company goals. In this

case, employee participation greatly influences the effectiveness of occupational safety

27
and health. Where the effectiveness of occupational safety and health can be done

through the form of employee involvement by complying with any regulations

related to occupational safety and health and consciously always using personal

protective equipment (PPE).

According to Mullen, leaders who demonstrate a commitment to employee

occupational safety and health by actively providing confidence and direction regarding

occupational safety and health can help develop employee perceptions about the

importance of implementing occupational safety and health. So that employees tend to

comply with safety regulations and participate actively in every company's Occupational

Health and Safety program (Mullen, 2005).

Motivation

Motivation is a crucial driver of job performance, and a poorly motivated

workforce is costly in terms of high employee turnover, increased expenses, low morale,

and more managerial time (Jobber, 1994). As a result, management must understand what

motivates their people in order to avoid resource misallocation and employee

unhappiness (Jobber, 1994). Motivation, as described by Green (2000), is proactive in the

sense that it is necessary when dealing with high-performing individuals; otherwise, their

performance would deteriorate or they will just leave the company. When dealing with

low performance, motivation is essential; otherwise, these individuals will stifle

outcomes, reduce production, and almost certainly will not leave because they have

nowhere else to go.

Motivation is defined as "the reasons for one's actions" (Guay et al., 2010, p.

712). Motivation is defined by Gredler, Broussard, and Garrison (2004) as "the attribute

28
that moves us to do or not do something" (p. 106). Intrinsic motivation is defined as

motivation that is fueled by personal interest, pleasure, or delight. "Intrinsic motivation

energizes and maintains activities through the spontaneous satisfactions inherent in

efficient volitional activity," Deci et al. (1999) write. Play, exploration, and challenge

seeking are examples of actions that people engage in for external benefits." Extrinsic

motivation, or motivation governed by reinforcement contingencies, is frequently

contrasted by researchers. Educators have traditionally thought that intrinsic drive is more

desirable and leads to higher learning outcomes than extrinsic motivation (Deci et al.,

1999).

Motivation is the result of a complex interplay of ideas, perceptions, values,

interests, and behaviors. As a result, different motivational techniques can focus on

cognitive actions (such monitoring and strategy use), non-cognitive components (like

perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes), or both. Academic motivation, for example, is defined

as "enjoyment of school learning characterized by a mastery orientation; curiosity;

tenacity; task-endogeny; and the learning of tough, complex, and unique tasks" by

Gottfried (1990). Turner (1995), on the other hand, associates motivation with cognitive

engagement, which he describes as "voluntary applications of high-level self-regulated

learning methods, such as paying attention, connection, planning, and monitoring."

One of the most crucial things, according to Le and Hwang, is inspiring people to

improve their performance. Employee motivation is critical in any organization.

Motivation is also very crucial (Suwuh, 2015). Employees with low motivation struggle

to finish their allotted tasks because they lack excitement and give up easily. Employees

29
will be more excited about working if they are given the proper motivation (Harwiki,

2016).

Employee engagement will undoubtedly boost the success of the firm, so a

motivated staff is crucial (Carlsen, 2003). Productivity is influenced by motivation. As a

result, management must comprehend what motivates individuals to achieve peak

performance. Employee motivation is tough to boost since people react to their jobs in

different ways. Individual employee-controlled motivated actions are voluntary choices.

The supervisor wants to have an impact on the elements that drive employees to work

more. According to Darmon (1974), motivation is the process of teaching employees how

to direct their efforts toward organizational activities, hence improving the performance

of the boundary-spanning positions. Employees will become unsatisfied or lose their jobs

if management fails to educate and motivate them.

A motivated workforce, according to Denton (1991), will result in better

comprehension, acceptance, commitment to implementation, understanding of objectives,

and decision-making between management and employees. Management becomes

connected with employees while using various motivating approaches, and this

involvement is linked to an increase in employee performance. As a result, there is a clear

relationship between motivation and managerial participation (Tyagi, 1982).

Employee motivation is a big issue in the hotel sector because it is directly related

to employee turnover and overall hotel service quality (Chen, 2013). The entire

profitability of hotels is determined by the level of services supplied to consumers.

Furthermore, Suharno et al., (2017) suggested that motivation has been statistically

demonstrated to have a positive and significant effect on employee performance - if

30
motivation is strong, then performance in carrying out obligations and duties would be

high, and vice versa.

The literature and studies cited above, focus on the factors that affect and would

contribute to the performance of the employees in the retail industries, and hotel

industries. It can be observed that the focus of the existing studies is on the various

factors that affect the employees’ performance, such as work environment, transformation

leader, compensation, etc. However, it was not focused mainly on the merchandise

business among local establishments particularly in the Philippines or even in the

province of Zamboanga del Norte. Thus, the researchers were prompted to address the

gap and the paper is to be conducted in the local the Municipality of Rizal, Zamboanga

del Norte. Thus, the paper is conducted entitled “Factors affecting the employee's

performance in merchandise business in Rizal, Zamboanga del Norte ”.

31
 Chapter 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the methodology used in the study. This includes the

research method, setting of the study, respondents of the study, research instrument,

validity and reliability, ethical consideration of the study, sampling procedure, data

gathering procedure, and statistical treatment that were used in the study.

Research Method

This study shall use the descriptive-correlational method of research in a

quantitative approach. Questionnaires were used as instruments of data collection and

data were statistically treated to achieve the primary objective of the study.

Research Environment

This study is to be conducted in grocery stores in the Municipality of Rizal,

Zamboanga del Norte. Rizal is a coastal municipality in the province of Zamboanga del

Norte. The municipality has a land area of 80.03 square kilometers or 30.90 square miles

which constitutes 1.10% of Zamboanga del Norte's total area. Its population as

determined by the 2020 Census was 15,052. This represented 1.44% of the total

32
population of Zamboanga del Norte province or 0.39% of the overall population of

the Zamboanga Peninsula region. Based on these figures, the population density is

computed at 188 inhabitants per square kilometer or 487 inhabitants per square mile.

Rizal has 22 barangays. The municipal center of Rizal is situated approximately

8° 32' North, 123° 33' East, on the island of Mindanao.

This study shall focus on the 10 selected grocery stores. The rationale for such a choice

was the fact that these grocery stores mostly have 2 or more employees.

33
Respondents of the Study

The respondents of this study shall be limited to selected ten (10) grocery stores.

Further, there shall be a quota of three (3) employees per subjected grocery store who

shall assess the leadership and motivation practices of the grocery store owner with an

overall total of thirty (30) employees for the ten (10) selected grocery stores. Table 1

shows the respondents’ distribution.

Table 1 Respondents’ Distribution

Grocery Store Number of Employees Respondents

Grocery Store 1 5 3

Grocery Store 2 7 3

Grocery Store 3 5 3

Grocery Store 4 3 3

Grocery Store 5 4 3

Grocery Store 6 4 3

Grocery Store 7 4 3

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 Grocery Store 8 9 3

Grocery Store 9 4 3

Grocery Store 10 3 3

TOTAL 48 30

Research Instruments

The researcher-made instrument will be utilized in the study. This study will use

questionnaire method in collecting data and information because it is easy for the

researcher in gathering data. These questionnaires will be given to the respondents

because their perception and personal experience contributes answers to the problem of

the study. This study shall use three (2) sets of questionnaires. The first set of the

questionnaire is the profiling of the employees focusing on the age, sex, civil status,

educational attainment and length of service. The second set of the questionnaire focuses

on coaching, empowerment, participation and job enrichment which are the indicators of

leadership and motivation.

Validation of the Instrument

Prior to data collection, the researcher made a draft of the questionnaire and sent

it to the adviser for comments and suggestions. After it was reviewed by the adviser, it

was then passed to three experts on the subject, then to the members of the panel of

examiners for approval, prior to distribution.

35
 The instrument was modified when all the suggestions were employed and when

the research study was approved for questionnaire distribution. The self-made

questionnaire was sent for correction to the adviser, after which the experts on the

subjects were asked to give a verdict on its validity. Upon recommendations from the

specialist, certain items were updated. After the approval of the items by the specialist, a

final copy of the instrument was administered.

Ethical Considerations

The current study was subject to certain ethical issues. As it was mentioned

earlier, all participants reported their written acceptance regarding their participation in

the research, through a signed consent and briefing letter. Both letters aimed to reassure

participants that their participation in the research is voluntary and that they were free to

withdraw from any of it at any point for any reason. Further, the researcher shall ensure

the safety and privacy of the research participants, and a competent level of anonymity of

individuals was also ensured. Furthermore, as this study is conducted during the Covid-

19 Pandemic, social distancing and other health protocols are observed and implemented.

Data Gathering Procedure

After the questionnaire was validated, the researchers asked for the approval of

the research adviser and the panelists for the distribution of the research questionnaire.

The researchers asked permission through letters that were sent to the Associate Dean’s

Office. After the permission was granted to the researchers, questionnaires were

distributed to the respondents in order to fill up with answers to the questions asked. The

36
researchers strictly adhere to the health protocols of wearing face mask, maintaining 1

meter social distancing, and hand sanitizing upon the distribution of the questionnaires.

Furthermore, the respondents were given enough time to accomplish the questionnaire

before it was personally retrieved. Thereafter, the data were tabulated, analyzed and

interpreted using appropriate statistical tool.

Statistical Treatment

Inductive content analysis is used to best analyze the data in personal interviews.

According to Hall (2007), this analysis helps the researchers from developing theories

and identify themes from verbal and written materials. For the analysis of data from the

questionnaires, the following statistical tools will be used as illustrated below;

Frequency count and percentage will be used to determine the profile of the

respondents. The formula is given below;

Where:

P = Percentage

F = Sum of a set of measurements (Frequency Count)

N = Number of measurements of a set (Number Responses)

37
Weighted Mean will be employed to determine the factors affecting employee

performance in terms of leadership and motivation. Also, this will be used to find out the

performance of the employees.

Spearman Rank-Order Correlation Coefficient will be utilized to test the significant

relationship between the factors and the employee’s performance.

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Name (optional): _______________________________________________________

Part 1: Profile of the respondents. Direction: Put a check mark (√) in the space provided

Corresponding to your choice:

1. Gender:

( ) Male ( ) Female

2. Age

( ) 19 – 25 years old ( ) 32 – 37 years old ( ) 44 – 49 years old

( ) 26 – 31 years old ( ) 38- 43 years old ( ) 50 years old and above

3. Civil Status

( ) Single ( ) Married ( ) Separated ( ) Widow/Widower

4. Educational Attainment

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 ( ) Elementary Level/Graduate ( ) High School Level/Graduate

( ) Post Secondary Graduate ( ) College Level

5. Length of service

( ) Less than 1 year ( ) More than 1 year but less than 5 years

( ) More than 5 years but less than 10 years

Part II : Directions: Below are the statements showing the factors affecting employees
performance. Please put a check mark (√) on the space provided and answer seriously and
honestly. Rest assured that the information gathered would be treated with strict confidentiality.
Use the following numerical rating provided below;

5 Strongly Agree 4 Agree 3 Maybe 2 Disagree 1Strongly Disagree

Statements 1 2 3 4 5
Coaching
The management highly encourages the employees to improve
their performances.
The management always communicates with the employees.
The employer always assesses the employees’ performance.
The management frequently addresses the way the employees
behave and work inside the workplace.

44
The management always gives direct feedback about the
employees’ performance.
Empowerment
1. The employer always suggests unity and harmony to his/her
employees.
2. The management makes sure that the employees are
involved in the decision-making processes that concern them.
3. The management always empowers the employees to make a
good job in the workplace.
4. The employer does not do biases among his/her employees
but rather chooses fairness.
5. The employer acknowledges good-performing employees.

Participation.
The employer always makes sure that there is active
participation in the workplace.
The management frequently creates activities that develops
productivity of his/her employees.
The management continuously boosts the employees’
influence in his/her working capacity.
The employer builds s strong partnership with his/her
employees.
The management talks with his/her employee’s about their
development and well-being.
Job enrichment
The management challenges the employees in their field of
work to develop creativity and innovation.
The employer puts his/her employees in redesigned roles to
increase productivity.

45
 The management produces less repetitive work that will not
lose employees’ work interest.

The management shapes positive outcomes through enriching

the employees.
The management cooperates with the employees in eliminating
unnecessary tasks and makes work efficient for everybody.

Republic of the Philippines

JOSE RIZAL MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
The Premier University in Zamboanga del Norte
Main Campus, Dapitan City
NOVEMBER 2022

The Respondents

Greetings!

The undersigned students at Jose Rizal Memorial State University are currently
conducting a study entitled “Factors Affecting Employees Performance in Grocery
Stores”.

46
In line with this, it is asked that you become one of the respondents for the study. Kindly
answer the questions attached. All information provided will be kept in utmost
confidentiality and used only for academic purposes and will not appear in any
publications resulting from this study unless agreed to.
Thank you.

Truly yours,

MARCU GENESIS DAQUE RUBIE JEAN G. BALASE FERDILYN R. LUMACAD

Researcher Researcher Researcher

JESSA MAY F. MACAHIDHID JUNETH ANN C. DUHAYLUNGSOD

Researcher Researcher

Approved by: Noted by:

MARICON REINA FABIAN, DBA (CAR) AMIEL B. ANDIAS, DBA

Instructor Associate Dean
College of Business Administration

47