Research how Lululemon manages employee motivation and engagement.

Lululemon Employee Motivation and Engagement Management
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Lululemon Employee Motivation and Engagement Management
Employee motivation and engagement are essential in every organization because highly engaged and motivated employees are loyal, customer-oriented, and ultimately, important to the company’s bottom line. Employee motivation is an internal drive of an employee to pursue organizational goals. Employee engagement can be defined as the degree to which employees are dedicated to their jobs (Bailey, Madden, Alfes, & Fletcher, 2015). Engaged employees are passionate and committed to their work. This paper investigates how Lululemon manages employee motivation and engagement and how it does in comparison to competitors in the industry.
Lululemon’s Competitors Approach to Employee Motivation, Engagement, and Communication
Lululemon operates in the apparel and sports fashion industry and is mostly active in North America. Some of its main competitors are big giants in the industry and they include Adidas, Nike, UnderArmour, and Athleta (Cheng, 2018). These giants have been successful in the industry for such a long time because they understand the value of employee motivation and engagement. For instance, Nike has an Engagement and Wellbeing Survey (EWB) that measures workers' engagement (Nike, n.d.). Nike engages and motivates its workers by encouraging a culture of safety in the workplace, increasing communication between workers and the management, as well as adopting a valued-worker view. According to Jensen (2018), companies that have a strong organizational culture that values employees and gives them a sense of purpose can strongly motivate their employees. Nike has been able to give employees a sense of purpose and a sense of identity by increasing worker-management communication as well as adopting a view that values workers. Adidas also places great importance on employee motivation and engagement. The company has a benefit and compensation system that rewards employees for their performance (Adidas, n.d.). Also, they enhance work-life balance for their employees by providing them with a friendly working environment. Jensen (2018) argues that extrinsic motivators such as salary increment, fringe benefits, and other external rewards affect employee motivation.
Lululemon, just like its main competitors, recognizes the value of motivated and engaged employees. It bares the #joblove on its career page which follows a statement of how important it is to have a culture that supports “self-empowerment, positive inner-development and living a life of possibility (Lululemon, n.d.)”. As revealed by Adams (2019), Lululemon hires employees who can fit the company’s diverse clientele. These employees are given clarity, through customer service training, on how to be effective in delivering positive customer experience. In turn, their high effectiveness increases their engagement in their work (Adams, 2019). Also, Lululemon gives its employees some level of autonomy, which gives them a sense of purpose as well as opportunities for growth, thus enhancing their motivation.
Lululemon’s Stand in the Industry
Lululemon has experienced tremendous growth over the last several years, giving it a very strong stand within the industry. Just last year, Lululemon’s stock went up 80% and overshadowed Nike and Under Armour, whose stock went up 25% and 2% respectively (Klebnikov, 2019). Lululemon has also enjoyed an increase in revenue generation over the years. Its revenue grew from $41 million in 2004 to $3.3 billion in 2018 (Klebnikov, 2019). This growth sets Lululemon way above its main competitors and shows that it is still rising in the industry while other retailers are merely surviving. Lululemon contributes a great deal in the apparel and sports fashion industry because as revealed by Wilson (2018), the industry is worth around $44 billions in the U.S. Further, Lululemon is known as the inventor of the term “athleisure” which describes the yoga-inspired clothing for women that it offers. This has also given Lululemon a place in the industry as it continues to give its competitors a run for their money. Also, Lululemon has been named one of the best companies to work for. As revealed by Fechter (2019), Lululemon offers its employees the best incentives, which keeps them motivated and engaged. For instance, full-time employees are given a 60% discount while seasonal employees are given a 40% discount. Besides, the employees receive fat bonuses for their performance. The staffs at the senior level receive a 20% bonus while those below mid-level receive a 10% bonus. As mentioned earlier, the employees are also provided with training benefits as well as career development opportunities (Adams, 2019). What better way to motivate employees than to provide them with lucrative packages as well as benefits?
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