Relationship between Motivational Factors and Labour Productivity in SMEs with Reference to Nashik Revenue Region in Maharashtra, India

The Small and Medium enterprises play a vital role in the Indian economic structure due to its significant contribution in terms of output, exports and employment. For a developing nation like India, where the labour is abundant and capital is scarce, the small sector is a major source of employment for millions of people. Keeping in view the importance of SMEs, the Indian government has included this sector in its five-year plans. The SMEs are still hampered by the problems of finance, marketing and low quality. In addition to this there are other problems also like employee development, career and growth opportunity and labour productivity. Employee is a key element of the organization. The success or failure of the organization depends on employee performance. Therefore, organizations are fostering to create an environment that motivates employees and thereby get improved productivity. This paper analyses the views related to motivational factors and its influence on improving labour productivity in SMEs in Nashik revenue region in Maharashtra (region comprises five districts i.e. Nashik, Ahmednagar, Jalgaon, Dhulia and Nandurbar).

The productivity of labour is an indispensable condition for the prosperity of enterprises and the well being of the workers and their families. While the production facilities at workplace and the remuneration are important, attitudes towards work, and the value placed by the society on dignity of labour are equally important in influencing the productivity of labour. This paper tries to identify the factors that promote positive motivational behaviour among the workers as to improve production in the industries on the basis of primary data collected from 530 respondents(male = 370, female = 160), randomly selected in 50 SMEs. Furthermore the study will identify the satisfaction and dissatisfaction level of employees in the SMEs, since these are important characteristics in the workplace. Findings suggest that there is a direct and positive relationship between motivational factors as human resource policy, allowances, labour welfare measures and job satisfaction and job relation with the labours' productivity level. The research is based on the results of a survey of 50 SMEs in selected region. The results indicate that there is positive relationship between motivational factors influence and labour productivity.