Motivation of working women in the Greek retail sector: an empirical analysis

Purpose – A significant trend in the retail sector is women's over‐representation in part‐time work. Given the feminisation and adverse working conditions of part‐time employment, the purpose of this paper is to enhance understanding of the motivation of female sales employees. Design/methodology/approach – Initially, a theoretical framework is presented with the aim of stipulating the research hypotheses. Empirical evidence was obtained from 349 Greek female sales employees using a structured questionnaire. Analyses of covariance and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted with the aim of exploring the research hypotheses. Findings – It was found that part‐time and full‐time female employees are similar in designating the job motivators that they find important in the workplace. However, surprisingly, results indicated that female part‐timers are more optimistic about receiving intrinsic rewards. Further analysis provided evidence on how the work status (part‐time/full‐time) and the individual characteristics of employees have an impact on the reported importance of work motivators and on the expectations of receiving these rewards. Practical implications – The findings provide retail firms with significant guidelines on how to develop a flexible motivational plan that fits the needs of their employees. In addition, the results of the paper provide retail managers with a profile of motivated, full‐time and part‐time female employees. Originality/value – Given the dearth of empirical research on employee motivation in Greece, the results of the paper provide the wider academic community with new empirical evidence on how the motivation of employees is differentiated by work status.