Exploratory Research into the Employee Motivation of Non-Profit Executives: A collective case of the Scottish Third Sector

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this exploratory study is to investigate the experience individual's encounter working within third sector organisations. Analyse how Employee Motivation is approached in order to benefit Organisation Performance. Comparing theories surrounding Employee Motivation and assessing other influences on the working environment, to promote Organisational Culture and job satisfaction levels, alongside the benefits brought to Organisational Performance. Methodological Design: This study has adopted a qualitative methodological design, due to the behavioural characteristics of this topic that have to be explored. The researcher determined that the use of semi-structured interviews would be most suitable to collect useable results from a purposefully selected sample of nine executives in different small to medium Scottish third sector organisations. Findings: Prominent findings within the findings was the connection with non-profit Organisational Performance and intrinsic motivational factors are invaluable to the job satisfaction of employees in the sector, which relates to key findings within the literature surrounding the motivational factors in the sector, although a significant amount of respondents emphasised that more interest is required in motivating third sector employees. Limitations: Although the size of the sample may be considered relatively small and may have impacted the generalisability of the study, the selected participants did enhance the reliability and validity of the research, benefiting findings. The available literature on third sector Employee Motivation is sparse and required this investigation to focus on this particular sector to identify main motivators, while assisting in closing the gap in the literature.