Improving petrol stations employees’ motivation a study of petrovietnam oil corporation

Sales volume at petrol stations owned by Petrolimex and PVOIL in 2016 .... However, according to the statistics shown in the company’s report, the labor productivity of workers at petrol

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

International School of Business -

Nguyen Cao Duc

IMPROVING PETROL STATIONS EMPLOYEES’ MOTIVATION:

A STUDY OF PETROVIETNAM OIL CORPORATION

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Ho Chi Minh City – 2018

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

International School of Business

-Nguyen Cao Duc

IMPROVING PETROL STATIONS EMPLOYEES’ MOTIVATION:

A STUDY OF PETROVIETNAM OIL CORPORATION

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

SUPERVISOR: Dr Nguyen Thi Mai Trang

Ho Chi Minh City - 2018

Executive summary

Many researches recently have show that: motivation of employees play a very important role in business activity They have pointed out: if the level of motivation is high, the employee can perform better, the worker can get higher productivity and the company can achieve business goal and objective effectively On the opposite, if the motivational level is low, it could lead to low sales performance, it may weaken the company performance and thus it can affect business success

Understanding the significant role of employee motivation, the objective of this thesis was (1) to find out the impact of employee motivation on organization effectiveness and productivity, (2) to identify what factors motivating employees at PetrolVietnam Oil Corporation’s (in short, it would be called PVOIL in this thesis) petrol stations and examine the major factors that increase motivation of employees the most

After carefully reviewing many theory regarding employee motivation, I found that: there are many factors that motivate employees, including both financial factors and non-financial factors There exists a strong relationship between employees’ motivation and organizational effectiveness The more motivated the employees are, the more contribution they bring, thus the more profitable and successful is the business

The findings of the study revealed that financial factors plays the most important role in motivating employees at PVOIL petrol stations The findings are discussed in details in the research along with suggestions for PVOIL and managers/leaders at PVOIL in order

to increase the employee’s motivational level

Acknowledgements

I would especially like to show my gratefulness and special thanks to my supervisor –

Dr Nguyen Thi Mai Trang for all her continuous supports, advices and instructions through the process of researching and writing this thesis Without her enthusiastic help, this thesis could not have been accomplished

I also would like to show my gratitude to ISB lecturers, my colleagues at work, my classmates at ISB for their valuable knowledge and continuous support I also send my sincere thankfulness to my family for their support and encouragement throughout my years of study

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive summary

Acknowledgements

1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Company background 1

1.2 Company structure, mission and vision 1

2 PROBLEM CONTEXT 4

2.1 The labor productivity and motivation in Vietnam 4

2.2 The labor productivity at petrol stations owned by PVOIL 7

2.3 Situations of workers at petrol stations owned by PVOIL 9

3 PROBLEM VALIDATION 14

3.1 Payment and welfare policy 15

3.2 Working condition and environment 17

3.3 Promotion and career policy 18

4 CAUSE - EFFECT MAP 19

5 CAUSE VALIDATION 20

6 ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS 27

6.1 The first alternative solution: Welfare programmes for petrol stations employees 27

6.2 The second alternative solution: Fair payment policy 28

6.3 The third alternative solution: Long-time contribution recognition in payment policy 30

7 ORGANIZATION OF ACTIONS 32

8 CONCLUSION 35

9 SUPPORTING INFORMATION 36

APPENDICES 45

REFERENCES 48

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 PVOIL organizational structure 1

Figure 2 Hertzberg's Two Factor Theory 6

Figure 3 Number of workers at petrol stations owned by PVOIL 9

Figure 4 Educational level of workers at petrol stations owned by PVOIL 10

Figure 5 Age classification of workers at PVOIL petrol stations in 2016 11

Figure 6 Working time for PVOIL of workers at petrol stations up to 2016 12

Figure 7 Number of newly- recruited of workers at PVOIL petrol station 14

Figure 8 Cause-effect map 19

Figure 9 Self-evaluate the motivational level by employee 22

Figure 10 Factors affecting workers motivation 23-24 LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Statistics petrol stations owned by PVOIL from 2008 to 2016 2

Table 2 Labor productivity by industry from 2014 to 2016 4

Table 3 Labor productivity of petroleum industry from 2014 to 2016 5

Table 4 Statistics of market share and quantity of petrol stations in 2016 8

Table 5 Sales volume at petrol stations owned by Petrolimex and PVOIL in 2016 8

Table 6 Labor productivity at PVOIL and Petrolimex petrol stations 9

Table 7 Average income of workers at petrol stations 13

Table 8 Action plan to improve employee motivation 34

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Company background

PetroVietnam Oil Corporation (PVOIL) is a State-owned Enterprise, established in 2008 with five main functions: Crude Oil Import – Export, International Crude Oil Trading, Petroleum Products Trading in Domestic (both whole and retail) and International Marketplaces, Petroleum Products Processing and Bio-fuel Processing and Distribution PVOIL’s capital 550 million USD; turnover 2,5 billion USD Now, it ranks number 2 among oil distributors in Vietnam with its market share is around 22% (the market is controlled by Petrolimex with 50% market share and Petrolimex is also the biggest competitor of PVOIL)

1.2 Company structure, mission and vision

Figure 1 PVOIL organizational structure

(Source: PVOIL)

At present, PVOIL has more than 3.000 petrol stations, include above 500 COCO (Company Owned –Company Operated) petrol stations and more than 2.500 DODO (Dealer owned-Dealer Operated) petrol stations The number of employees is around 6.000, include 2.500 workers (direct labor force at petrol stations that PVOIL owned) and 3.500 staff officers

Total quantity of petroleum distribution (via 3 channel of wholesale to agents, to-business contracts (B2B) and retail sales) achieves 3,2 – 3,5 millions m3/ton per year With the mission “PVOIL consistently pursues valuable goals in life” and the vision

business-“PVOIL is to become a leading brand name in Vietnam”, in the future, PVOIL aims to expand its share of the domestic oil and petrol retail market from 22 percent to at least

35 percent by 2020 through increasing number of petrol stations To achieve this target,

Mr Cao Hoai Duong, General Director of PVOIL shared that:

Sales retail through channel of petrol stations always play the most important role in our sales strategy 75 percent total revenue of PVOIL come from retail sales PVOIL continues seeking

to increase its number of petrol stations nationwide, especially in small cities and rural areas along with taking many solutions to increase the sales performance at petrol stations

Table 1 Statistics petrol stations owned by PVOIL from 2008 to 2016

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Number of

of petrol station nationwide because the retail sales of petroleum products to end-users at petrol stations plays the most important role in bringing the highest profit and ensuring the sustainable development for business

All the daily retail at petrol stations of PVOIL is undertaken by the direct labor workforce-workers They are front-line employees who contact first with the customers with their duty is selling products However, according to the statistics shown in the company’s report, the labor productivity of workers at petrol stations owned by PVOIL has a very poor performance compared with the labor productivity of its rival – Petrolimex

Ofelia Robescu1 addressed that motivating employees became today an important objective for organizations that want to remain viable on the market today Motivation

of human resources in the organization will bring extra performance to the manager that hopes to reach the organization's goals

With 50 petrol stations based in Ho Chi Minh City (only 10% total number of PVOIL petrol stations nationwide), Ho Chi Minh City is one of the most important market in Vietnam for PVOIL where take account for more than 20% of its sales volume nationwide PVOIL always has to face with severe competition from other big oil companies in this key market Although the workload of workers at petrol stations in big city like Ho Chi Minh City often face with many difficulties than others in the remote area, such as: high work pressure due to the continuously sales activity, unhealthy working environment, narrow working space, … but there’s seem to be no difference in interests and benefits of these workers compared with other places Understanding the important role of Ho Chi Minh city market as well as the role of retail sales at petrol station, in this thesis, the motivation of workers at petrol stations located in Ho Chi Minh City center district owned by PVOIL will be the main objects of the study and to find what affected the motivation of workers will help to improve the sales performance and labor productivity of workers at petrol stations owned by PVOIL

2 PROBLEM CONTEXT

2.1 The labor productivity and motivation in Vietnam

According to statistics form General Statistics Office of Vietnam, for the period from

2014 to 2015, the average growth rate of labor productivity is about 6,9 %/year In the three main sectors of the economy, Agriculture, forestry and fishery has the lowest labor productivity, Industrial and construction has the highest labor productivity Within Industrial and construction sector, the mining and quarrying has labor productivity 14 times bigger than the average labor productivity of sector

Table 2 Labor productivity by industry from 2014 to 2016

Unit: VND million/person

(Source : General Statistics Office of Vietnam)

For petroleum industry in Vietnam, in recent years, petroleum industry always has the highest contribution to GDP of Vietnam (take account for around 18% of GDP), thus the labor productivity of petroleum industry always take the leading position nationwide However, due to the negative effect from the fluctuation of the world oil price from 2014

to 2016 (the oil price averaged $40.68 per barrel in 2016, down from $49.49/bbl in 2015 and $96.29/bbl in 2014), the revenue of petroleum industry in Vietnam (mainly come

29

31

33

116 115 120

90

96

113

1,683 1696 1549

Industrial and construction 116 115 120

Agriculture, forestry and fishing 29 31 33

from exporting crude oil and selling petroleum products in domestic market) had to suffer

a decrease for three consecutive year 2014 to 2016

Table 3 Labor productivity of petroleum industry from 2014 to 2016

Revenue (VND bil) 745.000 560.000 452.500 Number of laborers (people) 70.200 70.000 69.600 Labor productivity (VND bil/person) 10,6 8,0 6,5

(Source : Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group)

As can be seen from the above table, due to the negative effect from the fluctuation of the world oil price, the revenue of petroleum industry had to suffer a decrease for three consecutive year 2014 to 2016 Labour productivity is concerned with the amount or volume of output (revenue) that is obtained from each employee Labor productivity is calculated by using the formula:

Labor productivity = Revenue per period

Number of employees at work

Thus, the labor productivity of petroleum industry in Vietnam has a downward trend respectively from 2014 to 2016 with a rate of 21,6%/year The productive use of labour has a closely link to business efficiency and profitability Labour productivity need to be regularly measured and monitored to remain competitiveness of a business

Regarding the problem of changing in labor productivity, Vietnam National Productivity Institute (VNPI) indicated in Vietnam Productivity Report 2015 2 that there is a wide range of the fundamental factors driving Vietnam’s labor productivity, namely structural change, labor quality, labor market flexibility, facility and infrastructure investment and scientific and technological development In addition to these factors, report from VNPI also confirmed the prominent role of the Productivity Motivation, Productivity Motivation Programs and support activities to boost labor productivity in the business sector

To better understand employee motivation, Frederick Herzberg 3 found that the factors causing job satisfaction were different from those causing job dissatisfaction He developed the set of conditions or job characteristics – called Hygiene Factors – prevent employee dissatisfaction at work, while another set of conditions or job characteristics – called Motivator Factors – lead to employee motivation

Figure 2 Hertzberg's Two Factor Theory

For every employees, salary and welfare policy are always their top concern because this is their main income Employees will easily have intention to neglect their duties, to have no motivation or even to quit their job if their wages are not enough to cover their daily expenditure and support their family

Besides, workers’ motivation is also affected by working condition and environment Mahdi Golara4 indicated that employees in oil and gas companies exposed to various chemicals and gases produced and used in various segments of activities These chemicals and gases caused for occupational diseases of the lungs, skin and other organs, depending on the duration of exposures The employees of oil and Gas Company are facing dizziness, problem of headaches, drowsiness and nausea These occupational diseases not only affects the health of the employee but also affects their family and social life, which includes unsatisfactory or disharmony marital life; and cumulative stress trauma The employees of oil and Gas Company are associated with poorer psychological wellbeing or health, this is to say that the employees tend to experience high level of stress and depression, dissatisfaction towards job and also sleep disorders Thus, workers (the direct labor workforce) often complaint about their working environment and condition at workplace Mr Truong Thanh Long-Deputy sales Manager

at Safety-Quality Management Department of PVOIL shared that:

Petroleum products are categorized as a dangerous and toxic products and have many negative effect on human health For petroleum company, there is clear and heavy affection

of working condition and environment on employees’ health and thus, their motivation

2.2 The labor productivity at petrol stations owned by PVOIL

In Vietnam, with the participation of 29 oil distributors, the retail market for petroleum becomes more and more competitive than ever

Table 4 Statistics of market share and Quantity of petrol stations in 2016

Oil distributor Market

share

Quantity of petrol stations

Total sales volume (m3)

Average sales volume per petrol station (m3) Petrolimex 50% 5.200 8.300.000 1.600

(Source : Petrolimex, PVOIL, Saigon Petro, Thalexim, Mipec)

PVOIL always wants to make its market share higher and higher by many solutions, one

of them is expanding the number and network of petrol stations However, paying too much attention to develop “the rapid quantity” has made “the quality” or the sales performance of each petrol stations of PVOIL not get the expected result

Table 5 Sales volume at petrol stations owned by Petrolimex and PVOIL in 2016

Company Quantity Sales

(Source : PVOIL, Petrolimex)

As can be seen from Table above, the average sales volume per petrol station of PVOIL

in 2016 is around 100 m3/month If compared with the average sales of Petrolimex is around 167 m3/month, the sales volume of PVOIL is just only take account for 67% of the rival Ms Le Quynh Trang, Deputy manager at Petroleum products trading Department of PVOIL indicated that:

Although, the number of our petrol stations increase year by year, the sales volume is not as our expectation We see that petrol stations can reach break-even point if only it’s sales volume is more than 100 m3/month But, among 500 petrol station owned by PVOIL up to 2016, there is only 34% or 170 petrol stations reach break-even or make profit (sale volume equal or more

than 100 m3/month), the rest with 330 petrol stations (take account for 66%) is not effective (sales volume under 100 m3/month)

Along with the low sales performance as can be seen above, the labor productivity of workers at petrol stations owned by PVOIL is very poor too compared with its rival:

Table 6 Labor productivity at PVOIL and Petrolimex petrol stations

Unit: m3/worker/month

Labor productivity 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Average Petrolimex 28,0 29,1 30,5 33,2 34,3 31 PVOIL 13,4 17,0 15,4 18,2 20,6 16,9

% PVOIL vs Petrolimex 48% 58% 50% 55% 60% 55%

(Source : PVOIL, Petrolimex)

The poor average labor productivity of staffs at PVOIL’s petrol station is just 16,9 m3/worker/month, take account for 55% of Petrolimex with 31 m3/worker/month There are many factors that lead to the poor sales performance of employees at PVOIL petrol station

2.3 Situations of workers at petrol stations owned by PVOIL

Figure 3 Number of workers at petrol stations owned by PVOIL

(Source : PVOIL)

Based on the figure from Human Resources Department of PVOIL, the number of workers at petrol stations during the period from 2012 to 2016 increase year by year The increase in the workforce is a result of expanding the market share by opening many new petrol stations The number of female workers take account for around 45% the total workers at the petrol stations One special thing about the human policy at PVOIL petrol

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Female 675 765 1040 1100 1125

station is that: 100% head of petrol station (person in charge of petrol station) are male, not female

Figure 4 Educational level of workers at petrol stations owned by PVOIL

(Source : PVOIL)

Alam Sageer5 indicated that education plays a significant determinant of employee satisfaction as it provides an opportunity for developing one’s personality Education develops and improvises individual wisdom and evaluation process The highly educated employees can understand the situation and assess it positively as they possess persistence, rationality and thinking power

Regarding the education of workers at PVOIL petrol station, as can be seen from table above, most of the workers have low qualification: 85% of workers graduated high school

or less than high school, only 12% workers were trained at the technical school or college and very small number of workers (with 3%) have Bachelor’s degree According to the human resources policy of PVOIL, except the leader of petrol stations must have a College degree or above, other positions at PVOIL petrol station do not require high diploma However, due to the large number of workers having low qualification, it may

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Less than high school 300 340 460 480 500 High school or equivalent 975 1105 1495 1560 1625 Technical school or Some College 180 204 276 288 300 Bachelor's degree 45 51 69 72 75

180 204 276 288 300

975 1105

1495 1560 1625300

340

460 480

500 Less than high school

cost a lot of money for PVOIL to train them to achieved the required skills at work place, such as communication skill with customers or safety policy

Ms Nguyen Thi Hong Nhung – Human Resources Deputy Manager at PVOIL informed that:

When interviewing, we clearly stated that we do not pay much attention to diploma for the position of workers at petrol station But many people with good education background accept to become a workers at petrol stations Maybe, they want a temporary job to support their life or maybe they wish to have opportunity to get higher position with their good working performance and diploma after working as a workers for a time

Figure 5 Age classification of workers at PVOIL petrol stations in 2016

(Source : PVOIL)

Regarding the average age of workers as showed in Figure above, about haft of the workers are ranging from 18-32, 45% of the workers are from 33-40, and only 6% of the workers are over 41 It can be seen that, most of workers at petrol stations are young This’s maybe the fact, only young people are healthy enough to work at the petrol stations because they have to work under unhealthy, toxic environment everyday

Age from 18-24 15%

Age from 25-32 34%

Age from 33-40 45%

Age from 41-50 4%

Age >50 2%

Figure 6 Working time for PVOIL of workers at petrol stations up to 2016

(Source : PVOIL)

In figure above, thee large number of workers, taking account for 62%, with around 1.550 people, have been working at petrol station for no more than 2 years, 31% (with 775 people) have 2-4 years working at petrol stations and 6% (with 150 people) have 4-7 years experience, and especially with only 1% (25 people) have been working at petrol station from the date of PVOIL establishment The short time working at petrol stations show that, these workers have no retention This can be seen that, most of the workers have very few motivation and no intention to work at petrol station for a long time The consequence of this shortage retaining workers is becoming one of a major concern for PVOIL company Retention can not be achieved without motivation Ms Nguyen Thi Hong Nhung – Human Resources Deputy Manager at PVOIL told that:

We made a statistic based on the data collected from year 2014 to year 2016, we see that turnover rate on the rise, the average employee turnover rate is 18% The consequence is that we have to pay more money for training newly-recruited workers, thus this lead to an increase in operational cost increase

500

1050 775

150 25

Table 7 Average income of workers at petrol stations

(Source : PVOIL, Petrolimex, SaigonPetro)

As above mentions, wages is always the biggest concern of employee at PVOIL At the time of 2012, the average income of workers at PVOIL petrol stations was good Table

7 shows that: during the period 2012 to 2016, the income of employee at Petrolimex’s petrol station had a tendency to go up, while the income of employee at PVOIL’s petrol station had a tendency to go down and remained unchanged Since 2013, PVOIL applied the new payment policy, in which there was a big decrease in the income of workers The new policy payment is based on the position of employees, regardless the qualification, working experience, time working for PVOIL or the place of living

Ms Nguyen Thi Hong Nhung – Human Resources Deputy Manager at PVOIL shared that:

The new payment policy in 2013 had caused a big concern for workers at petrol stations Many workers said that the payment policy is unfair, not competitive and lack of recognition their contribution in the past and slippage in prices

If compare with the income of Petrolimex and SaigonPetro for the same position, the income of PVOIL is lower than around 18-20% The income of workers at PVOIL is just the same at the income of labor in other industries (the average income of employed workers in State sector is around 6 million VND/month in 2016- General Statistics Office

of Vietnam) while they have to work under pressure and unhealthy environment A lot

of workers felt disappointed and lack of working motivation This have a negative

affection on the number of newly-recruited workers at PVOIL petrol stations from 2012

to 2016 as below

Ms Vu Anh Tho - staff at PVOIL petrol stations shared that said that:

We feel that we have no recognition from manager We also feel no satisfy with new payment policy Besides, we often feel tired during working hours at petrol station and we also have occupational disease We often feel trouble under and no work-life balance We have no time for family

Figure 7 Number of newly- recruited of workers at PVOIL petrol station

(Source : PVOIL)

As can be seen from the Figure above, since 2013, due to the newly-applied policy payment and due to the lack of motivation, the number of workers at petrol stations quitted their job increased year by year And this problem has a tendency to go up The Humane Resources Department of PVOIL have to recruit workers not only for newly-established petrol stations but also for replacing workers who did quit their job

3 PROBLEM VALIDATION

Zahra 6 stated that employees are the worthy assets of any organization Achieving the objectives of any organization depends on the intelligent management of these worthy sources Workforce is the important and effective factor of productivity If these forces have full confidence and strong motivation, they will reach the productivity to its highest

Number of workers recruited for newly- established petrol stations

Linear (Number of workers recruited to replace for workers quited their jobs)

level Generally, the most important factor that is effective in labor productivity is motivation in performing the works

Srivastava et al 7 indicated that most workers are not satisfied and motivated in their jobs Workers are motivated to perform well when the work is meaningful and individuals believe they have responsibility for the outcomes of their assigned tasks Motivational factors influence the productivity are: Intrinsic/Extrinsic Motivation, Cognition and Environment

So, it is very important to identify the reasons for low motivations of employees at PVOIL petrol station Initial interviews are conducted with 2 groups: Managers at the head office of PVOIL and Workers at PVOIL petrol stations After interviewing and combining with examining relevant literatures on motivation, the key potential problem affecting the motivations workers at PVOIL petrol station are:

- Payment and welfare policy

- Working condition and environment

- Promotion and career development

3.1 Payment and welfare policy

Akmal Umar 8 indicated that wage significant affects on work motivation The higher wages received by workers, then the workers' work motivation is likely to increase Motivation significantly affect performance The higher the perceived work motivation

of workers, the performance of workers is likely to increase The higher the perceived job satisfaction of workers, then the workers' work motivation is likely to increase The payment policy of PVOIL that applied for employees is now based on the Key Performance Index, it means the salary is fix for a position It will be changed if only you are promoted to the higher position It means that the policy is regardless of the degree, working experience, time working for PVOIL or the place of living

Ms Vu Anh Tho – staff at PVOIL petrol stations shared that:

The problem is that, the new payment policy make my salary lower than in the past I receive nothing just the salary In the past, my salary was consider to raise after two or three years, but now, the this will not happen It is very difficult for me to support my family I feel so disappointed and lack of motivation

Fapohunda 9 explores the connection between work life balance practices and

organizational productivity and whether work life balance practices possibly decreases employee turnover and absenteeism Work-life balance it is not a quandary to be

determined once but a constant concern to be managed For organization goals to be achieved through the people employed, work-life balance concerns must become a crucial feature of human resource policy and strategy Management must build a

profound endorsement of people and their roles, to fashion a satisfying, extraordinary and self-motivated work environment

For workers at PVOIL petrol stations, due to the characteristic of job, they have no welfare policy as people at the office, such as: yearly vacation Mr Luu Xuan Bac, head

at PVOIL petrol station located in Ho Chi Minh city shared that:

We have to work under unhealthy and unsafely environment We try our best to contribute for the development of PVOIL but there is no welfare policy for us We are not allowed to join in the yearly vacation or year-end party of PVOIL We feel that PVOIL welfare policy

do not pay a lot attention to us

Ms Vu Anh Tho, staff at PVOIL petrol station located in Ho Chi Minh city also shared that:

We have to work day by day, including Sunday and Holidays As a woman, I feel that I have

a very little time for my family I have to ask my mother to take care my newly-born baby for me during my working time My time at workplace nearly make up my whole day I feel it’s hard to balance between my family and my work

3.2 Working condition and environment

Akinyele Samuel Taiwo 10 indicated that employee productivity problems are within the environment All efforts targeted toward alleviating employee productivity problems should be directed at the work environment Conducive work environment stimulates creativity of employees that may lead to better methods that would enhance productivity Improvement in work environment can lead to higher productivity

of employees and bad working conditions contribute to low productivity of employees

Mr Truong Thanh Long said that:

Recently, we see that the occupational diseases of workers increase related to lungs, skin, and other respiratory organs Employees in oil and gas companies exposed to various chemicals and gases produced These chemicals and gases caused for occupational diseases

of the lungs, skin and other organs This is to say that the employees tend to experience high level of stress and depression, dissatisfaction towards job and also sleep disorders

Mahdi Golara 4 indicated that chemicals and gases caused occupational diseases of the lungs, skin and other organs, depending on the duration of exposures for employees in oil and gas Beside, the unhealthy environment, workers at PVOIL petrol station also have to face with the insecurity at the workplace, such as robbery

Mr Luu Xuan Bac, head at PVOIL petrol station located in Ho Chi Minh city shared that:

We really feel nervous and insecure when keeping money of petroleum sold at the petrol station overnight In the past, there were some robbery and murder at mid-night at other PVOIL petrol station Our responsibility regarding keeping money is too big while we have

no rights or no support from company

3.3 Promotion and career policy

Saharuddin, Sulaiman 11 show that the variables of promotion and compensation have significant and positive impact on job satisfaction, morale and work productivity; job satisfaction has significant and positive impact on work productivity; and morale has significant and positive impact on work productivity

When being asked about the promotion and career development path during the time working at PVOIL petrol stations, Ms Vu Anh Tho – staff at PVOIL petrol stations shared that:

According to normal rule in PVOIL, I know one thing that, only male workers have opportunity to become head of petrol station Regardless my effort or contribution, I still only a staff because I am a woman Beside, I am just only the temporary worker, there is no clear promotion path for workers like me

4 CAUSE - EFFECT MAP

For the result of initial interview together with workers’ motivation literatures, the cause-effect is developed as three main groups as follows:

Gender discrimination

in promotion policy

Unfair salary payment

Not know clearly about necessary conditions for promotion

Poor labor productivity

Unsafety working

environment

No welfare programe for employees at petrol stations

Low sales volume outcome

5 CAUSES VALIDATION

Based on the cause and effect tree, interview from 05 respondents divided into 02 main groups (see Interview guides), secondary data from Human Resources Department, Sales Department and theories informed, it can be seen that the main causes leading to low motivation of workers at petrol stations owned by PetroVietnam Oil Corporation are

“Payment and welfare policy” and “Promotion and career development” It is important for PetroVietnam Oil Corporation to have action plans to improve this problem immediately

Regarding to “Working condition and environment”, this is not an important factor leading

to low motivation of workers at petrol stations For unhealthy working environment, although workers at petrol station have to constantly serve customers in a hazardous environment, but this is one of particularities of this work and it can not unavoidable To earn money and support their family, many workers accept this fact as a normal situation They are all aware of unhealthy working environment when start working here However, environment at petrol stations will be improved based on the new upcoming regulations of Government to protect the customers, workers and surrounding air, such as: the needed clear space and safety/green belt at petrol stations when the authority granting operation certificate for business

Besides, PVOIL has improved their workplace and provided personal protective equipment

to their workers PVOIL has policy for caring the health of workers at petrol stations by supplying facilities (such as: hand gloves, face mask, …) and nutrition (such as: fresh milk) For unsafely working environment, it seems to be that kind of risk rarely happen because thanks to the closed cooperation between PVOIL, Bank and local police, PVOIL has applied many measures to protect their money as well as to improve the security

situation at PVOIL petrol stations It means that kind of factor no longer have influence on worker motivation

Mr Truong Thanh Long-deputy manager in charge of Safety-Quality management also stated that:

Not only PVOIL but also other oil companies in the market are trying to improve working conditions for workers at petrol stations by equipping workplace facilities, training employees

on safety regulations and cooperate with Bank, local police to help reduce the risk of This issue cannot be solved in short time but need time to examine many aspects to enhance employee awareness of labor safety and healthy

In order to validate the main cause, a quantitative research was undertaken with the purpose

of validating the real cause of low motivation of workers at PVOIL petrol stations Based

on the study dimension and the target market research, in order to ensure all people who participate in the interview are the holders of knowledge and different positions (both managers and workers) in the area intend to investigate, 12 interviewees are workers of PVOIL petrol stations located in Ho Chi Minh City were carefully selected to take part in the research, and the result as follows:

Figure 9 Self-evaluate the motivational level by employee

(Source : Data collected from Survey questionnaire by author)

When being asked about the level of motivation evaluated by his/herself with 5 level ranging from “highest motivation level” to “lowest motivation level”, we can see that two-thirds of the workers (account for 75% respondents) responded that their motivational level

is very low; it mean that they feel unsatisfied with their current job One-thirds of survey respondents reveal that their motivational level is neutral, or they feel neutral Especially, nobody have “high motivational level” or “highest motivational level”

When being asked about the level of opinion ranging from “Strongly agree” to “Strongly dis-agree” regarding factors affecting workers motivation, including:

- Good work-life balance/Flexible work schedule (coding Q2a)

- Job security and stability (coding Q2b)

- Working condition and environment (coding Q2c)

- Learning and development (coding Q2d)

- Career progression (coding Q2e)

Minimum 3 Maximum 4

Count 12 Largest(1) 4 Smallest(1) 3 Confidence Level(95.0%) 0.3128344