An investigation of the motivating factors that influence individuals working in the Scottish financial sector and whether the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced their motivation factors

Abstract

Motivation is an essential part in an organisation’s success, if employees are not motivated then the business will not be able to operate, attain and retain the right individuals (Shoraj & Llaci 2015) Motivational theories show that there are multiple different factors influencing an individual’s motivation in the workplace (Maslow 1943; Herzberg 1965). As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment rates have risen rapidly (Blustein et al. 2020) and motivation levels amongst employees have fallen (Vyas & Butakhieo, 2020), resulting in changes in how people view their current employment position (Ancillo et al. 2020) This study aims to determine the most significant motivating factors influencing employees working in the Scottish Financial Sector (SFS), and whether the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted these motivating factors. A quantitative approach, using an online questionnaire, was utilised with a total of 43 respondents working in the SFS identified using convenience sampling. Findings from this study identified that before the COVID-19 pandemic, motivation was mainly due to promotional opportunities and the working conditions for employees in the SFS. This study also determined that the COVID-19 pandemic had caused a change in the motivating factors for employees working in the SFS, with pay and job security becoming the most significant motivational factors. Results also indicated that the age of employee has a significant influence on motivating factors compared to the gender of employees. In this study, results found that gender had little significance on employee’s motivation apart from achievement, in which men were far more motivated by than women. Meanwhile, age was far more influential on how people were motivated with trends appearing in all factors in this study. It is therefore recommended that SFS organisations use these findings to adapt their practises, to ensure employees remain adequately motivated in a post-pandemic workplace.