What is Motivation

WHAT IS MOTIVATION? DEFINITIONS A motive is something that causes a person to act. Motivation is the individual internal process that energizes, directs, and sustains behaviour. It is the personal “force” that causes you to act in a particular way. MOTIVATION The individual internal process that energizes, directs, and sustains behaviour. Morale is an employee’s attitude or feelings about the job, about supervisors, and about the firm itself. High morale results mainly from the satisfaction of needs on the job or as a result of the job. High morale, in turn, leads to dedication and loyalty, as well as the desire to do the job well. Low morale, however, can lead to shoddy work, absenteeism, and high turnover rates as employees leave to seek more satisfying jobs with other firms. MORALE An employee’s attitude or feelings about the job, about supervisors, and about the firm itself. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON MOTIVATION SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT Frederick W. Taylor became interested in improving the efficiency of individual workers. This led to scientific management, which is the application of scientific principles to management of work and workers. SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT The application of scientific principles to management of work and workers. MASLOW’S HIERACHY OF NEEDS Abraham Maslow developed a theory of motivation based on a hierarchy of needs. A need is a personal requirement. Maslow assumed that humans are “wanting” beings who seek to fulfil a variety of needs. He observed that these needs can be arranged according to their importance in a sequence now known as Maslow’s Selfactu alis atio n NEED A personal requirement. MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS A sequence of human needs in the order of their importance. Esteem needs Social needs Safety needs Psychological needs hierarchy of needs. Psychological needs are the things we need to survive. In the employment context, these needs are usually satisfied through adequate wages. Safety needs are the things we require for physical and emotional security. Safety needs may be satisfied through job security, health insurance, pension plans, and safe working conditions. Social needs are the human requirements for love and affection and a sense of belonging. To an extent, these needs can be satisfied through relationships in the work environment and the informal organization. Esteem needs are the required respect and recognition from others and a sense of our own accomplishment and worth (self-esteem). These needs may be satisfied through personal accomplishment, promotion to more responsible jobs, various honours and awards, and other forms of recognition. Self-actualization needs are the needs to grow, develop, and become all that we are capable of being. These are the most difficult to satisfy and the means of satisfying them tend to vary with the individual. Maslow suggested that people work to satisfy their psychological needs first, then their safety needs, and so on. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs provides a useful way of viewing employee motivation, as well as a guide for management. HERZBERG’S MOTIVATION-HYGIENE THEORY Frederick Herzberg found that feeling good and feeling bad resulted from entirely different sets of factors. That is, low pay may have made a particular person feel bad, but it was some factor other than high pay that made that person feel good. Satisfaction and dissatisfaction Satisfaction and dissatisfaction may be different dimensions altogether. The idea that satisfaction and dissatisfaction are separate and distinct dimensions is referred to as the motivation-hygiene theory. MOTIVATION FACTORS Achievement Recognition Responsibility Advancement Growth The work itself HYGIENE FACTORS Supervision Working conditions Interpersonal relationships Pay Job security Company policies and administration Dissatisfaction Satisfaction No dissatisfaction No satisfaction  Motivation factors’ presence increases motivation. However, their absence does not necessarily result in feelings of dissatisfaction. When motivation factors are present, they act as satisfiers.  Hygiene factors reduce dissatisfaction when they are present to an acceptable degree. However, they do not necessarily result in high levels of motivation. When hygiene factors are absent, they act as dissatisfiers. Using Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory Herzberg suggests that hygiene factors must be present to ensure that a worker can function comfortably. He warns, however, that a state of no dissatisfaction never exists. Managers should make hygiene as positive as possible, but should then expect only short-term, rather than long-term, improvement in motivation. Managers must focus instead on providing those motivation factors that presumably will enhance motivation and long-term effort. THEORY X AND THEORY Y The concepts of Theory X and Theory Y were advanced by Douglas McGregor in his book The Human Side of Enterprise. They are sets of assumptions that underlie management’s attitudes and beliefs regarding workers’ behaviour. Theory X is a concept of employee motivation generally consistent with Taylor’s scientific management. Theory X assumes that employees dislike work and will function effectively only in a highly controlled work environment. It is based on the following assumptions: 1. People dislike work and try and avoid it. 2. Because people dislike work, managers must coerce, control, and frequently threaten employees to achieve organizational goals. 3. People generally must be led because they have little ambition and will not seek responsibility. They are concerned mainly about security. The logical outcome of such assumptions will be a highly controlled work environment – one in which managers make all the decisions and employees take all the orders. Theory Y is a concept of employee motivation generally consistent with the ideas of the human relations movement. Theory Y assumes that employees accept responsibility and work toward organizational goals and by doing so they achieve personal rewards. Theory Y is based on the following assumptions: 1. People do no naturally dislike work; in fact, work is an important part of their lives. 2. People will work toward goals to which they are committed. 3. People become committed to goals when accomplishing the goals will bring personal rewards. 4. People often seek out and willingly accept responsibility. 5. Employees have the potential to help accomplish organizational goals. 6. Organizations generally do not make full use of their human resources. McGregor argued that most managers behave in accordance with Theory X, but he maintained that Theory Y is more appropriate and effective as a guide for managerial action. MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVE (MBO) KEY MOTIVATION TECHNIQUES Today, it takes more than a generous salary to motivate employees. Increasingly, companies are trying to provide motivation by satisfying employees’ less-tangible needs. At times, businesses use simple, low- or nocost approaches:     A motivation technique in which managers and employees collaborate in setting goals. The primary purpose of MBO is to clarify the roles employees are expected to play in reaching the organization’s goals. Acknowledge and celebrate birthdays and other important events Nominations for a formal award program Support flexible work schedules Publicly post thank you letters from customers MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES Management by objective (MBO) is a motivation technique in which managers and employees collaborate in setting goals. The primary purpose of MBO is to clarify the roles employees are expected to play in reaching the organization’s goals. ADVANTAGES  Motivate employees by actively involving them  Improves communication  Makes employees feel like an important part of the organization  Periodic review enhances control DISADVANTAGES  Doesn’t work if the process doesn’t begin at the top of the organization  Can result in excessive paperwork  Some managers assign goals instead of collaborating on creating them  Goals should be quantifiable JOB ENRICHMENT Job enrichment is a method of motivating employees by providing them with variety in their tasks while giving them some responsibility for, and control over, their jobs. At the same time, employees gain new skills and acquire a broader perspective about how their individual work contributes to the goals of the organization. Job enlargement expands workers assignments to include additional but similar tasks which can lead to job enrichment. Job enlargement might mean that a worker on an assembly line who used to connect three wires to components moving down the line now connects five wires. Unfortunately, the added tasks often are just as routine as those the worker performed before the change. In such cases, enlargement may not be effective. Whereas job enlargement does not really change the routine and monotonous nature of jobs, job enrichment does. Job enrichment requires that added tasks give an employee more responsibility for what he or she does. It provides workers with both more tasks to do and more control over how they perform them. Job redesign is a type of job enrichment in which work is restructured in ways that cultivate the worker-job match. Job redesign can be achieved by combining tasks, forming work groups, or establishing closer customer relationships. This type of redesign not only adds a personal dimension to employment but also provides workers with immediate and relevant feedback about how they are doing their jobs. BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION Behaviour modification is a systematic program of reinforcement to encourage desirable behaviour. Behaviour modification involves both rewards to encourage desirable behaviour and punishments to discourage undesirable actions. It involves the following steps:     Identify the target behaviour to be changed Measure existing levels of behaviour Reward employees who exhibit the desired behaviour (praise, gifts, trips) Measure the target behaviour to check for desired change o If no change, consider changing the reward system o If change has occurred, maintain reinforcement FLEXTIME Flextime is a system in which employees set their own work hours within certain limits determined by employers. Typically the firm establishes two bands of time: the core time, when all employees must be at work, and the flexible time, when an employee may choose whether to be at work. The only condition is that every employee must work a total of eight hours each day. The sense of independence and autonomy employees gain from having a say in what hours they work can be a motivating factor, In addition, employees who have enough time to deal with non-work issues often work more productively and with greater satisfaction when they are on the job. Two common problems associated with using flextime are: 1. Supervisors sometimes find their jobs complicated by having employees who come and go at different times. 2. Employees without flextime sometimes resent co-workers who have it. PART-TIME WORK AND JOB SHARING Part-time work is permanent employment in which individuals work less than a standard work week. The specific number of hours worked varies, but part-time jobs are structured so that all responsibilities can be completed in the number of hours an employee works. DISADVANTAGE: It often does not provide the benefits that come with a full-time position. Job sharing is an arrangement whereby two people share one full-time position. Job sharing combines the security of full-time position with the flexibility of a part-time job. Companies can save on expenses by reducing the cost of benefits and avoiding the disruptions of employee turnover. For employees, opting for the flexibility of job sharing may mean giving up some of the benefits received for full-time work. In addition, job sharing is difficult if tasks are not easily divisible or if two people do not work or communicate well with one another. TELECOMMUTING Telecommuting means working at home all the time or for a portion of the work week. ADVANTAGES:  Increased employee productivity  Lower real estate and travel costs  Reduced absenteeism and turnover  Increased work/life balance and improved morale  Access to additional labour pools DISADVANTAGES:  Feelings of isolation  Putting in longer hours  Distractions at home  Difficulty in monitoring productivity EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT Empowerment means making employees more involved in their jobs and in the operations of the organization by increasing their participation in decision making. For empowerment to work effectively, management must be involved. Managers should set expectations, communicate standards, institute periodic evaluations, and guarantee follow-up. If effectively implemented, empowerment can lead to increased job satisfaction, improved job performance, higher self-esteem, and increased organizational commitment. Obstacles to empowerment include resistance on the part of management, distrust of management on the part of workers, insufficient training, and poor communication between management and employees. EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP Employee ownership is when employees own the company they work for by virtue of being stockholders. Employee-owned businesses directly reward employees for success. Benefits include considerable employee incentive and increased employee involvement and commitment. The difficulty is that it fails to solve problems between management and employees. TEAMS AND TEAMWORK WHAT IS A TEAM? A team is two or more workers operating as a coordinated unit to accomplish a specific task or goal. TYPES OF TEAMS  Problem-solving teams A problem-solving team is generally used temporarily in order to bring knowledgeable employees together to tackle a specific problem. Once the problem is solved, the team is disbanded. A virtuoso team consists of exceptionally highly skilled and talented individuals brought together to produce significant change. Virtuoso teams are usually assembled on a temporary basis. Instead of being task orientated, they focus on producing ideas and provoking change that could have an effect on the company and the industry.  Self-managed work teams Self-managed teams are groups of employees with the authority and skills to manage themselves. Experts suggest that workers on self-managed teams are more motivated and satisfied because they have more task variety and job control. ADVANTAGES Boosts employee morale Increases productivity Aids innovation Reduces employee boredom   DISADVANTAGES Additional training costs Teams may be disorganised Conflicts may arise Leadership role may be unclear Cross-functional teams A cross-functional team consists of individuals with varying specialities, expertise, and skills that re brought together to achieve a common task. This structure avoids departmental separation and allows greater efficiency when there is a single goal. Because of their speed, flexibility, and increased employee satisfaction, it is likely that the use of cross-functional teams will increase. Virtual teams A virtual team consists of members who are geographically dispersed but communicate electronically. In some cases, the physical distances between participants and the lack of face-toface interaction can be difficult when deadlines approach or communication is not clear. DEVELOPING AND USING EFFECTIVE TEAMS FORMING Members are introduced to one another and begin to develop a social dynamic. STORMING Interaction may be volatile and the team may lack unity. Goals and objectives begin to develop. NORMING Team begins to stabilize. Each person's role within the group starts to become apparent and members begin to recognize the roles of others. A sense of unity wil become stronger. PERFORMING Team achieves its full potential. It is usually slow to develop and occurs when the team begins to focus strongly on the assigned task and away from team-development issues. ADJOURNING The team is disbanded besause the project has been completed. Team members may be reassigned to other teams or tasks. ROLES WITHIN A TEAM Each of the roles within a team adds important dimensions to team member interactions.  Task-specialist role: The group member who pushes forward toward goals and places the objective first.  Socioemotional role: The individual who supports and encourages the emotional needs of the other members. His/her dedication to team cohesiveness will lead to greater unity and higher productivity.  Dual role: The leader of the team. This role is a combination of both the socioemotional and task-specialist roles because this individual focuses on both the task and the team.  Nonparticipant role: A person who does not contribute to accomplishing the task and does not provide favourable input with respect to team members’ socioemotional needs. TEAM COHESIVENESS In a cohesive team, the members get along and are able to accomplish their tasks effectively. Teams are more successful when goals have been agreed upon. A team that is clear about its objective will focus more on accomplishing it. Frequent interaction also builds cohesiveness as relationships strengthen and familiarity increases. TEAM CONFLICT AND HOW TO RESOLVE IT Conflict occurs when a disagreement arises between two or more team members. The best solution is a middle-ground alternative in which each party is satisfied to some degree. BENEFITS AND LIMITATIONS OF TEAMS Teamwork within a company has been credited as a key to reducing turnover and costs and increasing production, quality, and customer service. The process of reorganizing into teams can be stressful and time consuming with no guarantee that the team will develop effectively. If a team lacks cohesiveness and is unable to resolve conflict, the company may experience lower productivity.