| The purpose of this study was to determine the level of knowledge regarding effective and ineffective mechanisms of employee motivation among school food service supervisors in Southeast Texas. The primary hypothesis was school food service supervisors would have different responses when asked to "rank the factors that you believe motivate your employees" compared to the employees' responses when asked to "rank the factors that motivate you as an employee". A secondary hypothesis was "good wages" would be ranked as one of the highest factors in employee motivation. Participants (N = 220) consisted of school food service employees (n = 176) and supervisors (n = 46) from Hardin, Orange, and Jefferson Counties. There were no statistically significant differences in how employees and supervisors ranked motivational factors. The three greatest motivating factors for school food service employees were "time off for holidays", "having a positive impact in students' lives", and "benefits". However, supervisors believed "time off for holidays", "good wages", and "benefits" would be the highest ranked motivating factors by their employees. Higher job satisfaction was significantly associated with employees who ranked "positive impact in students' lives" as number one or number two of the 10 motivating factors (Table 3). |
