BS4S14: Research Methods

Assessment 1
Title: The Impact of Employee Support Towards
Attaining Chartership on Employee Retention in
the Engineering Sector
A Case Study of a UK-based Engineering Consultancy

05 June 2022

University of South Wales STUDENT ID: R1709D3541144

Module Tutor: Mrs. Tanusree Sengupta

Word Count: Abstract = 252; Body = 4900

 Abstract
Chartership is the highest professional accreditation of any practicing engineer, and it is highly sought-after in
the engineering sector. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of employee support towards
attaining chartership on employee retention in the engineering sector for a specific case study organisation. This
was achieved by investigating the factors influencing employee satisfaction and motivation within the case study
organisation and relating these to their loyalty to the organisation through quantitative and qualitative data
analysis of questionnaire results. The case study organisation is a UK-based engineering consultancy, Atkins
Ltd, with approximately 1000 engineers. The sample size was 173 engineers (17.3% of the population) out of
which 75 responded to the questionnaire giving a response rate of 43%. The sample comprised 65 current
employees and 10 ex-employees and a descriptive data analysis method was adopted for analysing the data.
The study showed that the most important factors of motivation were financial incentives such as competitive
salary and annual pay-rise, however career development program was the top non-financial motivator among
the employees. It was concluded that although support towards chartership is a key employee motivator in the
engineering sector, employee retention is governed by other factors which are psychological such as interesting
projects, ease of commute and flexible working. Particularly 44% of the ex-employees indicated that their reason
for leaving the company was not related to their chartership dream. It was proposed that further research is
required to investigate the predominant factor of employee retention in the engineering sector.

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Contents
Chapter Page
Abstract 2

Abstract 4
Introduction 5
1.1. Rationale 5
1.2. Engineering Career development 5
1.3. Research Objective 6
1.4. Atkins Ltd - Background 6
1.5. Scope and Limitations 7
2. Literature Review 8
2.1. Employee Retention and its Significance 8
2.2. Motivational Factors and Employee Retention 8
3. Research Methodology 11
3.1. Chapter Introduction 11
3.2. Research Approach 11
3.3. Research Design 11
3.4. Population and Sample 12
3.5. Sampling Design 12
3.6. Pilot Test 13
3.7. Data Analysis Method 13
3.8. Ethical Considerations 13
4. Data Collection and Data Analysis 14
4.1. Frequency Analysis 14
4.2. Descriptive Data Analysis - Motivation trends 16
4.3. Descriptive Statistics analysis 19
4.4. Other factors of motivation identified in the study 20
5. Conclusion 22
5.1. Limitations of the study 22
6. References 23

Appendices 25
Appendix A. Research Questionnaire 26
Appendix B. Research Responses 32

Tables
Table 3-1 - Percentage distribution of the three main clusters within the study samples 12
Table 4-1 - Tabular analysis of the types of support towards chartership provided by Atkins Ltd17
Table 4-2 - Results based on data collected from ex-employees of Atkins Ltd 19
Table 4-3 - Results based on data collected from current employees of Atkins Ltd 19

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Table 4-4 - Other Factors of Employee Motivation 20
Table 4-5 - Financial versus Non-financial motivators adopted by Atkins Ltd 21
Table 4-6 – Physiological versus Psychological motivators adopted by Atkins Ltd 21
Table 4-7 – Motivators versus Hygiene factors (Herzberg, 1959) adopted by Atkins Ltd 22
Table 6-1 - Responses from ex-employees of Atkins Ltd 32
Table 6-2 - Responses from current employees of Atkins Ltd 34

Figures
Figure 2-1 - SNC Lavalin’s management structure with focus on Atkins 7
Figure 2-2 - Atkins Infrastructure Division 7
Figure 2-1 - An illustration of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (Latham, 2012) 9
Figure 2-2 - Illustration of Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory of Motivation 10
Figure 3-1 - An Illustration of Deductive Research Step-by-Step Procedure 11
Figure 4-1 - Sex distribution in the sample used in the study 14
Figure 4-2 - Level of Experience of Respondents 15
Figure 4-3 - Number of years in the company - retention period 15
Figure 4-4 - Responses to the Question - Is attaining chartership important to you? 16
Figure 4-5 - Responses to the question: does your employer provide support towards chartership 17
Figure 4-6 – 2-D Bar chart analysis of the types of support towards chartership provided by Atkins Ltd 18

Abstract
Click here to enter introduction text.

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Introduction
1.1. Rationale
In the last two years, due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, companies around the world have faced severe multi-
faceted external and internal challenges including disruption of the supply chain and human resource control
(Yas, Harith & Bandar et al, 2020). As recommended by Ernst Young (2015) in other to remain competitive and
profitable, companies would need to strategize in such a way as to reduce operational cost to the barest minimum
(Wijesundera K. L., 2018). One of the ways to reduce internal operations cost is through an effective employee
retention program (Sandhya K. and Kumar P. D., 2011).

Sandhya K. and Kumar P. D. (2011), defined employee retention as a process through which an employee is
influenced to continue working productively for an organisation for a maximum period or until the completion of a
project. The impact of an effective employee retention program on the success of a company cannot be
overemphasised. Al-Suraihi A.W. et al, (2021) concluded that low employee retention has a great impact on
operational cost and can negatively impact the productivity, sustainability competitiveness and profitability of an
organisation.

Several existing literatures have shown that there is a relationship between employee retention and their level of
motivation and performance. Research by Wijesundera (2018), noted that employee motivation is a major factor
that integrates those internal and external factors that underpins continuous interest and commitment to a job
role. According to Sandhya K. and Kumar P. D. (2011), the factors that motivates employees can be categorised
into six aspects: Open communication, Employee Reward Program, Career Development Program,
Performance-based bonus, Recreational facilities and Gifts at some occasion and that by motivating employees
in these aspects, their loyalty to continue to work for the organisation can be improved. Consequently, it can be
hypothesized that by paying proper attention to career or professional development, employee loyalty can be
secured.

1.2. Engineering Career development

In the engineering industry, upon completion of university education, many engineering graduates desire to
advance in their career by gaining the right professional experience and skills through working for a reputable
company and ultimately attaining chartered engineer status. Chartered engineers are highly respected and
sought-after because they are perceived by employers and clients to have demonstrated the highest level of
competence, commitment to Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and valuable work ethics in their
specific area of expertise through independent assessment (Engineering Council 2022). Once chartered, an
engineer will become open to new opportunities and benefits such as the right to use the internationally protected
title - CEng, improved career opportunities and salary prospects, greater influence within their organisation, and
international recognition of professional competence and commitment. Many employers want their employees to
become chartered as soon as possible to enhance their competitive advantage. There are therefore mutual
benefits for supporting employees towards attaining chartership.

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1.3. Research Objective
The primary objective of this study is to investigate the impact of supporting employees towards attaining
chartership on employee retention in the engineering sector. A UK-based engineering consultancy (Atkins Ltd.)
with over 1000 engineers spread across different grades and disciplines have been selected for this research
study. The sample population are the current and former employees of the company’s infrastructure division who
are either chartered or working towards attaining chartership. The research study aims to answer the following
six research questions:

1. Is achieving chartered engineer status a top priority goal for engineers at Atkins Limited?
2. How does Atkins Ltd provide support for their employees towards attaining chartered engineer status?
3. Is there a correlation between employees’ perceived level of support-towards-chartership and their
level of motivation to work for Atkins Ltd?
4. Is there a correlation between employees’ perceived level of support-towards-chartership and
employee retention rate at Atkins Ltd?
5. What other factors affect employee retention rate at Atkins Ltd?
6. By how much does each of the identified factors influence the employee retention rate at Atkins Ltd?

1.4. Atkins Ltd - Background

Originally founded in 1938, Atkins Ltd is a UK based subsidiary of SNC Lavalin which is a global fully integrated
professional services and project management company and a major player in the ownership of infrastructure
worldwide. Their business is to provide end-to-end project solutions.
Atkins have had challenging times which have led to loss of highly experienced and talented employees. In the
wake of the global Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, the company struggled to acclimatize to the unexpected
harsh economic conditions. Several offices were permanently shut down, some employees were furloughed
against their will and due to a perceived high sense of job insecurity, over 100 employees left the company for
greener pasture. It is on the background of this history that the author intends to carry out an investigative study
to know the major factors that influences employees’ continuous interest to work for Atkins. It is theorised that
employee support-towards attaining chartership is a key factor to employee retention and loyalty to the company.
Figure 2-1 shows the management structure of the parent company SNC Lavalin with Atkins Ltd as one of its
subsidiaries based in the UK.

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 Figure 2-1 - SNC Lavalin’s management structure with focus on Atkins

1.5. Scope and Limitations

The study will focus on a targeted population of engineers within Atkins’s infrastructure division who are either
chartered or working towards chartership, current and ex-employees but excludes those who may had attained
chartered status prior to joining the company. However, the study does not distinguish between the several
engineering disciplines and the several professional institutions that provide the accreditations. The focus of the
study is to investigate the factors that motivates the respondents through their answers to the questionnaires.

Figure 2-2 - Atkins Infrastructure Division

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2. Literature Review
2.1. Employee Retention and its Significance
Every citizen of the UK has right of liberty to move from one organisation to another based on their level of
satisfaction with their employer. Sandhya K. and Kumar P. D. (2011) proposed that companies should have an
employee retention program which is a systematic effort to create and maintain an environment that encourages
and support employees to remain employed for the maximum period of time or until the completion of the project.
Furthermore, they alluded that although the job of human resource personnel is to find the right person for the
right job at a right place in the right time, retention of employees is more important than hiring. It is not enough to
hire the right person to work for a company, if they are not motivated and comfortable, they may switch to another
company of their choice. It is therefore important that employers explore and understand the main factors that
affect the physical and psychological needs of their employees.

Apart from reduction in turnover cost of staff members, high employee retention is important in keeping the pool
of talented employees that help to execute projects in a satisfactory manner. (Sandhya K. and Kumar P. D.,
2011). Ghani B. et al (2022) in their research in the hospitality industry noted that employees that leave a
company are more likely skilled and talented than others since they are readily accepted by other employers.

Sandhya K. and Kumar P. D. (2011) in their study reported that the loss of an employee could result in significant
loss of company’s valuable information, customer information and past record of their competitors which can be
taken advantage of by a new employer. Furthermore, the loss of an employee could disrupt client relationship if
the employee is the basis of the relationship between the client and company. It is noted that both employee
retention and turnover rates provides a holistic view of the staffing stability and movement within an organisation.

2.2. Motivational Factors and Employee Retention

Employees do not leave an organisation without no significant reason. Job satisfaction is a very important key to
employee retention (Sandhya K. and Kumar P. D., (2011). Organizations must understand the priority needs of
its employees and adopt effective strategies to improve employee performance and reduce turnover (Al-Suraihi
A.W. et al, 2021). Sandhya K. and Kumar P. D. (2011) rightly noted that employee motivation is very crucial in
retaining employees and improving employee performance in meeting set organisational goals. Maslow’s (1943)
hierarchy of needs gives an insight into the basic human needs which triggers motivation. The lower-level needs
(physiological) are more powerful influencers of motivation such as food, water, sleep and shelter. The next level
needs (safety needs) include health and well-being, personal security, financial security, family, and property
ownership. In an engineering company, the need for career progression up to chartership broadly falls under
esteem needs (psychological needs) although it could at the same time provide financial upgrade and job security
for the employee. According to Sandhya K. and Kumar P. D. (2011), esteem needs give employees a sense of
importance and improves self-confidence with attendant sense of achievement and respect.

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 Figure 2-1 - An illustration of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (Latham, 2012)

Elton Mayo (2003) argued that meeting the social needs of employees leads to better motivation in a work
environment. He considered the impact of human relation between employees and employers such as respecting
their opinion and treating them as stakeholders. Furthermore, Mayo (2003) through social experiment proved
that employees are better motivated by proper communication between employees and their employers.

Frederick Herzberg (1959), like Maslow’s theory opined that there are two factors (hygiene and motivators) which
are mutually exclusive that affect the motivational levels of employees. He believed that hygiene factors are more
important motivators because they focus on things that ‘surround the job’ rather than the job itself. For example,
an employee will continue to turn up to work as long as they feel safe at work and a reasonable pay is offered
although they may not necessarily work harder at work. Motivators on the other hand are those factors that could
motivate an employee to go the extra mile on the job to achieve increased productivity. Figure 2-2 illustrates
Herzberg two-factor motivators.

Kaye and Evans (2000) concluded from their study that apart from financial incentives, employees are interested
in challenging and interesting work, good bosses, and opportunities for learning and development. Research by
Wijesundera rightly pointed those human needs are insatiable and therefore once a particular set of needs are
met, the previous factors that motivated the individual may not trigger further motivation and satisfaction. It
therefore means that employers should continually access the levels of employee motivation and satisfaction and
redesign the strategies that create and maintain the right environment for their employees to work.

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 Figure 2-2 - Illustration of Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory of Motivation

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3. Research Methodology
3.1. Chapter Introduction
Saunders M. et al (2012) stated that an effective research strategy is hinged on selecting an appropriate
methodology. Due to the nature of the topic, the researcher will adopt an interpretive research philosophy in
carrying out the study. The chapter will cover the rationale for the choice of research approach, research design,
types of data sources, method of data collection, validity and reliability, population under study and sampling and
analysis procedure.

3.2. Research Approach

This study was done based on a deductive approach which entails starting with a theory or hypothesis and then
formulating relevant research questions, followed by collecting and analysing sample data from the relevant
population to verify if the initial hypothesis is valid and possibly answer the research questions. Figure 3-1
shows a simple step-by-step process followed in deductive research.

Figure 3-1 - An Illustration of Deductive Research Step-by-Step Procedure (Wijesundera K. L. 2018)

3.3. Research Design

The researcher has adopted a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods in capturing primary data and
formulating the questionnaire. Qualitative method (numerical data) will be used to capture the employee’s sex,
level of experience, chartership status, degree of motivation and relationship between their motivation and
wiliness to remain in the organisation. This will be further analysed using charts formulated by spreadsheet.

Qualitative method will be employed in analysing those essay-type answers which requires employees to state
other relevant factors of motivation that may not have been covered in the structured questions. This will then be
used to form themes which will help explain the categories of motivational factors that exist among the sampled
population.

In order to save time and resources a cross-sectional survey design was used in selecting samples of the
population.

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3.4. Population and Sample
A non-probability sampling has been applied in the study. There are a total of 173 engineers (sample size) within
Infrastructure division of Atkins Ltd spread across 45 offices in United Kingdom. This represents 17.3% of the
total population of engineers at Atkins ltd. Out of the 173 engineers that were sent the questionnaire by intra-
company email, only 65 engineers (representing 37.6% of the sampled population) responded to the
questionnaire. The researcher noted that this sampled population (173) included those engineers who had joined
the company as chartered engineers and therefore were not suitable to take part in the study. Furthermore, a
separate research questionnaire was extended to 10 ex-staff members of Atkins Ltd. All the 10 ex-staff members
responded to the questionnaire representing 100% response rate.

3.5. Sampling Design

Wijesundera K. L. (2018) quoted Fink (2013), “cluster sampling is a technique in which clusters of participants
that represent the population are identified and included in the sample. Cluster sampling involves identification
of cluster of participants representing the population and their inclusion in the sample group”.

Two sets of samples were taken:

(1) A total of 65 Atkins Employees

(2) A total of 10 Ex – Atkins Employees

Table 3-1 shows a list of all cases of the population of engineers at Atkins Ltd and the percentage represented
within the two sets of samples (both current Atkins staff and ex-staff). The clusters covered are sex, level of
experience and number of years retained at Atkins. It is evident that an heterogenous purposive sampling has
been employed in this study.

Table 3-1 - Percentage distribution of the three main clusters within the study samples
Cases Current Atkins Employee Ex - Atkins Employee

Sample Size (people) 65 10

Male 73.8% 60%

Female 26.2% 40%

Graduate Engineer 27.7% 10%

Intermediate Engineer 9.2% 10%

Experienced, not yet Chartered 18.5% 30%

Chartered Engineer 44.6% 50%

1-to-5 years at Atkins 58.5% 50%

5-to-10 years at Atkins 32.3% 40%

> 10 years at Atkins 7% 10%

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3.6. Pilot Test
The questionnaire was designed using Google forms. It was necessary to test the efficiency and accuracy of the
platform prior to launching out to the entire population sample. Two employees were selected for conducting the
pilot test which would establish if there were any errors in the survey and ensure the validity and reliability of the
study questionnaire. In general, the feedbacks were positive and helpful. One of the feedbacks was for
clarification on the scale 1 to 5 used in question 8, 9 & 10. The time taken to complete the questionnaire was 3
minutes.

3.7. Data Analysis Method

From considering the different factors under the research frame a descriptive data analysis method will be
adopted. The qualitative data from the questionnaire will be interpreted using pie-charts, bar charts and line
charts. The relationships between variables will be identified by an exploratory data analysis method (Wilson,
2014). For the qualitative data captured using question 12 of the questionnaire, specific themes will be formed to
achieve a deductive interpretation of the results.

3.7.1. Validity and Reliability

As the results of the study will be beneficial to the case study company, it is pertinent that the data is valid and
reliable. The researcher has structured the questions in such a way that some questions were asked in reverse
so that it would be possible to detect a randomly filled response. Furthermore, the questionnaire was sent out by
email and no interviews were conducted so that the responders will not feel observed in the process. This
approach helped to ensure reliability of the data used for the survey.

3.8. Ethical Considerations

All participants were on voluntary basis and the researcher provided the University of South Wales approved
consent form to each participant to sign their agreement to participate in the survey. Upon completion of the
survey, a debrief was provided to each participant. The questionnaire also included a section that explains the
purpose of the survey and how the data findings will be used.

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4. Data Collection and Data Analysis
This chapter aims to present the findings from the survey data collected and organise the data for easy
interpretation to achieve the research objectives. The questionnaires were designed and analysed using Google
forms. Furthermore, the questionnaires were exported to MS Excel for additional analysis. According to Perry
(2000), employee behaviour could be influenced by various personal attributes such as sex, level of experience,
number of years in employment etc. Therefore, in this study the researcher will use frequency analysis to describe
the demography of the respondents.

4.1. Frequency Analysis

4.1.1. Sex of Participants

According to Rincon R., (2019), in workforce globally only 13% of engineers are women. As shown in Figure 4-1
the percentage of women in the sample population was 28% which is higher than the reported global average.
This means that the opinions of female engineers were well represented in the sample.

Sex Distribution of the Sample

Population What is your Gender
75 Responses

28%
Male
Female
72%

Figure 4-1 - Sex distribution in the sample used in the study

4.1.2. Level of Experience of The Respondents

Due to the focus of the research, the study will not be valid without the opinions of engineers that are currently
pursuing their chartership goals. Based on Figure 4-2, 54% of the respondents are currently seeking chartership
while the remaining 46% were already chartered engineers. This is a great balance between those who have
achieved their chartership goals and those who are yet to. The opinions of the already chartered engineers are
still very relevant because, although they can no longer be motivated by such factor that is being studied, they
can provide real experience and validity to the process.

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 Level of Experience
75 Responses

0 - 2 years (Graduate
Engineer)
25%

46% 3 - 5 years (Intermediate

Engineer )
9%
> 5 years (Experienced but
20% not yet chartered)

Chartered Engineer

Figure 4-2 - Level of Experience of Respondents

4.1.3. Number of Years in the company

The number of years in the company is an indicator of retention periods of the respondents. It appears that
retention rate is high among the sampled population. This could be related to their levels of satisfaction which in
turn influences their retention. It is noted that 10 out of the total 75 respondents were ex-employees of Atkins Ltd.
The opinion of the ex-employees could help reveal the shortfalls in the retention strategies currently adopted by
Atkins Ltd. Based on Figure 4-3, majority of the sample population (57%) have been working for less than 5 years
in the company, while 32% have worked between 5-to-10 years. Only 1 out of 8 employee who have worked for
more than 10 years have left the company.

No. of Years in the

Company 75 Responses

11%
1 - 5 years

32% 5 - 10 years
57%
> 10 years

Figure 4-3 - Number of years in the company - retention period

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4.2. Descriptive Data Analysis - Motivation trends
The following analysis were carried out to answer the research questions.

4.2.1. Is Attaining chartership important to every engineer at Atkins Ltd

From Figure 4-4, it is evident that 95% of the engineers affirmed that attaining chartership was an important
career goal. This confirms the first hypothesis of the study. Although 4 out of the 75 respondents said “no” to this
question, it is possible that they may have at one time desired this career goal and due to other frustrations have
changed their mind about attaining chartership. It was noted that all the 10 ex-employees of the company
answered “yes” to this question. Further analysis is required to probe if their exit from the company was influenced
by this chartership goal.

Is Attaining Chartership important

to you ?
75 Responses

5%

Yes

No

95%

Figure 4-4 - Responses to the Question - Is attaining chartership important to you?

4.2.2. Does UK-based engineering companies provide some form of support to

their employees towards attaining chartership
Figure 4-5 shows the responses of the respondents when asked if their empoyer provides supports towards
attaining chartership. The result show that 99% of the 74 responders agree to the fact that they are supported by
their organisation towards attaining chartership. Further follow-up questions were asked by the researcher to
investigate whether the employees were satsified with the types of support towards chartership offered by the
company.

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 Does your current employer
provide support toward
chartership 74 Responses

1%
Yes

No

99%

Figure 4-5 - Responses to the question: does your employer provide support towards chartership

4.2.3. What types of support towards chartership does Atkins currently provide?
Through the questionnaire, the respondents indicated the types of support towards chartership that they have
experienced at Atkins. A total 75 employees responded, and the results are presented in Table 4-1

Table 4-1 - Tabular analysis of the types of support towards chartership provided by Atkins

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 Analysis of the types of employee support
towards chartership provided by the
company
SHARE KNOWLEDGE WITH SENIOR COLLEAGUES AND PEERS 1%
TIME WITHIN THE WORKING HOURS TO PREPARE FOR EXAM 1%
UN-OFFICIAL SUPPORT FROM CHARTERED COLLEAGUES 1%
PAID EXTERNAL TRAINING TOWARDS EXAM PREPARATION 32%
IN-HOUSE ORGANISED MOCK EXAM/INTERVIEW PREPARATION 51%
LIBRARY OF USEFUL RESOURCES 52%
PROMOTION TO NEXT LEVEL WHEN CHARTERED 67%
EARLY CAREER DISCUSSION ABOUT GETTING CHARTERED 68%
FINANCIAL REWARD FOR GETTING CHARTERED 71%
ONE-TO-ONE MENTORSHIP BY SENIOR COLLEAGUE 79%
PAID PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTION SUBSCRIPTION FEE 95%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Percentage of sample

Figure 4-6 – 2-D Bar chart analysis of the types of support towards chartership provided by Atkins Ltd

From the analysis of the results in Figure 4-6, the most popular form of support perceived by the sampled
population is paid professional subscription while the least goes to unofficial assistance from already chartered
colleagues, ability to use working hours to prepare for exam and knowledge sharing with colleagues and peers.

Furthermore, it was noted that the most recognised form of support were financial incentives. For example, paid
subscription was 95%, financial reward for getting chartered was 71%, and promotion to the next level was 67%.
The most recognised non-financial support was one-to-one mentorship by senior colleagues (79%). It therefore
means that the company should pay more attention in providing financial incentives which motivates their
employees towards getting chartered.

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4.3. Descriptive Statistics analysis
To establish if there is a relationship between the perceived support towards chartership and employee
motivation and retention in this case study organisation, a descriptive statistical analysis was used.

A scale of 1 to 5 was used to capture the level of motivation of the employee towards chartership and their level
of motivation to continue working for their organisation.

Scale description:

1 = Not Important; 2 = Least Important; 3 =Important; 4 = Very Important; 5 = Most Important

Table 4-2 - Results based on data collected from ex-employees of Atkins Ltd

Results for Atkins Ex-Employee

Descriptive Statistics Analysis based on a scale of 1 - to - 5
N Mean

How important is attaining chartership to you 10 4.3

How well do you feel (or did you feel) supported towards gaining
chartered status in your organisation 10 3.9

How motivated are you to work for your current organisation 10 4.3

How strongly does the level of support you receive (or received)
towards chartership influenced your level of motivation 10 1.7

Scale description:
1 = Not Important; 2 = Least Important; 3 =Important; 4 = Very Important; 5 = Most Important

Table 4-3 - Results based on data collected from current employees of Atkins Ltd
Results for current Atkins
Descriptive Statistics Analysis based on a scale of 1 - to - 5 Employees
N Mean

How important is attaining chartership to you 62 4.48

How well do you feel (or did you feel) supported towards gaining
chartered status in your organisation 65 3.98

How motivated are you to work for your current organisation 65 4.05

How strongly does the level of support you receive (or received)
towards chartership influenced your level of motivation 65 3.46

Scale description:
1 = Not Important; 2 = Least Important; 3 =Important; 4 = Very Important; 5 = Most Important

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4.3.1. Interpretation of the results
Based on the results of the mean scores in Table 6-1 and Table 6-2, it appears that attaining chartership is very
important to both current and ex-employees of Atkins Ltd because the mean score ranged from 4.3 to 4.48. Also,
all the employees feel well supported towards attaining chartership as the mean score ranged from 3.9 to 3.98.
Furthermore, there seem to be a correlation between how well the employees feel supported towards attaining
chartership and their level of motivation to continue to work for the company based on the mean score of 3.46
from the current employees’ data. However, the data from the ex-employees show a mean score of 1.7 which
suggest that there is very low correlation between support towards chartership and motivation of employees to
remain in the organisation. As the sample size of the ex-employee data was only 10, representing only 13.3% of
the total respondent (75), this particular result will not be upheld.

4.4. Other factors of motivation identified in the study

Based on Table 4-4, it is evident that competitive salary, career development program, open communication, pay
rise and performance-based rewards are the top 5 motivation drivers for the engineers in the sampled population.
It is the researcher opinion that employee support towards chartership is a form of career development and
therefore with a score of 66%, it should not be overlooked by employers in the engineering sector if they want to
continue to motivate their workforce.

Table 4-4 - Other Factors of Employee Motivation

Other factors of motivation identified by Atkins Number of Percentage of

current and ex-employees in the study points sample
Competitive Salary 49 67%
Career development program 48 66%
Open communication 41 56%
Annual pay rise 37 51%
Performance-based rewards 37 51%
Benefits and Rewards program 35 48%
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies and program 24 33%
WOW Recognition scheme 12 16%
Recreational facilities 10 14%
Interesting and challenging projects 5 7%
Projects and team spirits 2 3%
Management culture 2 3%
Supportive colleagues 2 3%
Flexible working time 1 1%
Staff culture 1 1%
Ease of commute 1 1%
Availability of variety of opportunities 1 1%
Reputable company/Company brand 1 1%
Staff Training 1 1%

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 Other factors of motivation identified by Atkins Number of Percentage of
current and ex-employees in the study points sample
Comfortable work environment 1 1%
How well we receive and learn from feedback 1 1%

4.4.1. Qualitative Thematic Analysis

Based on Table 4-4 in section 4.4, the various factors that motivate the employees can be categories into
Financial and Non-Financial motivators (Wijesundera K. L., 2018); Physiological and Psychological (Maslow,
1943); Motivators and Hygiene (Herzberg, 1959).

Table 4-5 - Financial versus Non-financial motivators adopted by Atkins Ltd

Financial Motivators Non-Financial

Competitive Salary (67%) Career development program (66%)
Annual pay rise (51%) Open communication (56%)
Performance-based rewards (51%) Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies and program (33%)
Benefits and Rewards program (48%) Recreational facilities (14%)
WOW Recognition scheme (16%) Interesting and challenging projects (7%)
Projects and team spirits (3%)
Management culture (3%)
Supportive colleagues (3%)
Flexible working time (1%)
Staff culture (1%)
Ease of commute (1%)
Availability of variety of opportunities (1%)
Reputable company/Company brand (1%)
Staff Training (1%)
Comfortable work environment (1%)
How well we receive and learn from feedback (1%)

Table 4-6 – Physiological versus Psychological motivators adopted by Atkins Ltd

Physiological Psychological
Competitive Salary (67%) Career development program (66%)
Annual pay rise (51%) Open communication (56%)
Performance-based rewards (51%) Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies and program (33%)
Benefits and Rewards program (48%) Interesting and challenging projects (7%)
WOW Recognition scheme (16%) Projects and team spirits (3%)
Recreational facilities (14%) Management culture (3%)
Comfortable work environment (1%) Supportive colleagues (3%)
Ease of commute (1%) Flexible working time (1%)
Staff culture (1%)
Availability of variety of opportunities (1%)
Reputable company/Company brand (1%)
Staff Training (1%)
How well we receive and learn from feedback (1%)

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Table 4-7 – Motivators versus Hygiene factors (Herzberg, 1959) adopted by Atkins Ltd

Motivators Hygiene Factors

Career development program (66%) Competitive Salary (67%)
Performance-based rewards (51%) Annual pay rise (51%)
Benefits and Rewards program (48%) Open communication (56%)
WOW Recognition scheme (16%) Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies and program (33%)
Recreational facilities (14%) Ease of commute (1%)
Interesting and challenging projects Projects and team spirits (3%)
Staff Training (1%) Management culture (3%)
Availability of variety of opportunities (1%) Supportive colleagues (3%)
Flexible working time (1%)
Staff culture (1%)
Reputable company/Company brand (1%)
How well we receive and learn from feedback (1%)
Comfortable work environment (1%)

5. Conclusion
From the foregoing, the impact of employee training towards achieving chartership in the engineering sector has
been analysed using a case study of a UK-based engineering company – Atkins Ltd. The study relied upon
responses to structured questionnaires from 65 current employees and 10 ex-employees of Atkins Ltd. The
results helped to answer the initial six research questions. It was evident that achieving chartered engineer status
is a top priority goal for engineers at Atkins Limited based on the fact that 95% of the respondents affirmed this.
Secondly, all the employees agreed that Atkins Ltd provide some form of support towards attaining chartership.
The top three financial and physiological motivators were competitive salary, annual pay rise and performance-
based rewards whereas the top non-financial motivator was career development program which is akin to
support-towards-chartership. Thirdly, there was evidence of correlation between the level of satisfaction of the
employees about their support towards chartership and their level of motivation to continue to work for the
company. However, there are other factors which could cause an employee to leave such as interesting projects,
ease of commute and flexible working. Overall, it is concluded that although support towards chartership is a
major employee motivator in the engineering sector, employee retention is governed by other factors which are
money related.

5.1. Limitations of the study

The study showed that support-towards chartership and employee motivation were related, however further
research is required to validate this finding. Furthermore, the research was limited to engineers in a UK-based
company, future research should cover multiple engineering firms which will help increase the sample size and
therefore the results can be generalised.

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6. References
1. Al-suraihi, Walid & Siti, Aida & Al-Suraihi, Abdullah & Ibrahim, Ishaq & Samikon, & Al-suraihi, Al-
Hussain & Ibrhim, Ishaq & Samikon, Siti. (2021), ‘Employee Turnover: Causes, Importance and
Retention Strategies’, European Journal of Business Management and Research, 6(3), [Online]
Available at: (PDF) Employee Turnover: Causes, Importance and Retention Strategies
(researchgate.net) (Accessed: 31 May 2022).

2. Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan- Evans (2000) Retention: Tag, You’re It! Training and Development,
April, pp: 29-34.

3. Elton Mayo (2003) The Human Problems of an Industrial Solution. Routledge, London)

4. Engineering Council (2022), Engineering Council website, Available at: https://www.engc.org.uk/ceng

(Accesses 11 May 2022)

5. Ghani, B.; Zada, M.; Memon, K.R.; Ullah, R.; Khattak, A.; Han, H.; Ariza-Montes, A.; Araya-Castillo, L.
(2022). ‘Challenges and Strategies for Employee Retention in the Hospitality Industry: A Review’.
Sustainability, 14(5):2885 [Online]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052885 (Accessed: 10
May 2022).

6. Maslow, A., (2000). Classics in the History of Psychology: AH Maslow (1943) A Theory of Human
Motivation. Classics in the History of Psychology

7. Maslow AH (1943) A Theory of Human Motivation Psychol. Rev. 50 (4), 370-396.

8. Perry, James. (2000), ‘Bringing Society In: Toward a Theory of Public-Service Motivation’, Journal of
Public Administration Research & Theory, 10 pp. 471-489. [Online] Available at:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257926397_Bringing_Society_In_Toward_a_Theory_of_Publi
c-Service_Motivation (Accessed: 30 May 2022

9. Saunders M., Lewis P. and Thornhill A. (2012) ‘Research Methods for Business Students’, 6th ed.,
Pearson: Harlow.

10. Sandhya, K. and Kumar, P.D. (2011) ‘Employee retention by motivation’, Indian Journal of Science and
Technology, 4 (12) [Online]. Available at: https://indjst.org/download-
article.php?Article_Unique_Id=INDJST1282&Full_Text_Pdf_Download=True (Assessed: 10 May
2022).

11. Wijesundera, K. L. (2018) A study on the impact of motivation on employee performance: An

exploratory case study on a Dubai based semi-government Commercial bank. MBA Research. Cardiff
Metropolitan University [Online] Available at: https://repository.cardiffmet.ac.uk/handle/10369/9664
(Accessed: 31 May 2022).

12. Wikipedia (2022), Atkins Company Wikipedia page, Available at:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkins_(company), (Accessed 05 June 2022).

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 13. Yas, Harith & Bandar Alsaud, Alanoud & Alsharm, Afnan & Alkaabi, Ahmed & Aladeedi, Ayesha.
(2020), ‘The Impact of COVID-19 on Supply Chain and Human Resource Management Practices and
Future Marketing’, International Journal of Supply Chain and Inventory Management, 9(5) pp. 1681 –
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19_on_Supply_Chain_and_Human_Resource_Management_Practices_and_Future_Marketing
(Accessed: 31 May 2022)

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Appendices

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Appendix A. Research Questionnaire

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Appendix B. Research Responses

Table 6-1 - Responses from ex-employees of Atkins Ltd

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 Table 6-1 - Responses from ex-employees of Atkins Ltd

The next set of data were obtained from a sample of current employees of Atkins Ltd

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 Table 6-2 - Responses from current employees of Atkins Ltd

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