Effective Methods of Motivating Employees - Coursework Example

Running Head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR Organizational Behaviour Name Course Institution Date Motivation Introduction Motivation in the workplace is the act of energizing or activating behaviors toward the achievement of specific or general goals. Motivation can also be viewed as a psychological process that influences behavior by giving direction, purpose and the desire to achieve particular unmet goals. For any organization to survive, it needs motivated employees (Reiss, 2004).The purpose of this essay is to discuss motivation in the workplace. First, a literature review of scholarly articles shall be done to highlight the importance and the effect of motivation in the workplace. Secondly, an analysis of the results of a motivation self assessment test shall be undertaken to demonstrate the implications of the results on current or future workplace behavior as related to the literature review. In the final section of this paper, a case study on motivation in the workplace shall be analyzed. This shall help give bearing and relevance to the literature analyzed in the preceding parts. Literature Review There have been different scholarly perspectives on what motivates employees to work and the most effective method of motivating employees. According to Bowen and Radhakrishna (1999), the things that motivate workers keep changing from time to time. Consequently, different theories have been propagated on what motivates employees. Abraham Maslow (1908- 1970) and Frederick Herzberg (1923) came up with the Neo- Human Relation School theory of motivation which accentuates the psychological angle of motivation. According to Maslow, there are five levels of human needs that employees should fulfill at work; physiological needs such as food, shelter, safety needs, social needs in regards to love and sense of belonging, esteem needs, the need of status and recognition and finally the need for self actualization respectively. Thus employees can only be motivated when a low level need has been met and the employee will strive to meet the next need in the hierarchy. For instance, an individual who is homeless and starving will first seek basic pay and will be less concerned about securing a permanent job contract or company car. According to this theory, organizations or companies should therefore give various incentives to its employees so that they can actualize the basic needs in the hierarchy. Managers or employers should realize that employees are at different levels of hierarchical needs thus they cannot be motivated in the same way thus employees should be given different sets of incentives based on their hierarchical needs (Maslow, 1943). Related to incentives, money or financial remuneration/compensation has been one of the most cited motivating factors for employees among scholars. Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856- 1917) emphasized on the view that employees are normally motivated by pay. He argues that naturally, employees do not enjoy work, thus they require continuous control and supervision. Taylor advocated that managers or employers should break down work into several small tasks, train employees appropriately and equip them with the requisite tools for efficiency then payment should be rendered to each employee according to the task completed subsequent to the completion of the task (Gollwitzer, 1999). Consequently employees should be encouraged to maximize their productivity by working hard on their designated tasks. Taylor’s method of motivation has over time been adopted in the management of various businesses and has yielded increased productivity amongst employees (Cervone & Shadel et al, 2006).  Taylor’s view has however been disputed by others who argue that money is not the major motivating factor in the workplace. The findings published by Elton Mayo (1971) imply that money is not the only motivating factor in the workplace. Mayo carried out a series of social experiments in the Hawthorne factory of Western Electric Company in Chicago. In this experiment Mayo secluded, two groups of employees in the factory and studied the levels of their productivity following changes in their working conditions and lighting. Mayo expected that the productivity levels of these employees would decline following the declining of working conditions and lighting (Pervin, 1968).  However, he later discovered that the changes in the working conditions or the lighting did not affect the productivity levels of the employees. Mayo believed that employees can be better motivated if their social needs are met in the workplace. From this experiment Mayo established that employees can be motivated through better communication between the managers or employers and the employees. Mayo’s theory epitomizes a paternalistic approach to motivation and management (Mitchell, 1982).  Self-assessment The results of the conducted self assessment test revealed that I am excellent at prioritizing, planning and getting things done. I often make an effort to stay focused and self-motivated by putting in significant effort and time in goal setting. The self assessment test further revealed that my main motivation factors centre on social needs, safety needs, incentives and esteem needs. Social and safety needs are the key motivating factors in this rank. In my case, safety motivation needs include, job security and a risk-free work environment in regards to health matters and political stability. On the other hand, my social motivation needs comprise of team work and cooperation. From time to time incentives such as pay rise, bonuses, gift vouchers and vacations among many other factors motivate me to work hard and meet specific targets. In addition to these motivational factors, esteem needs such as a sense of belonging and appreciation also make me feel motivated. Through the conducted self assessment test I was able to learn invaluable lessons about myself in general and what gets me motivated. Furthermore, the results of the conducted self assessment test enabled me to understand the kind of work environment or organization that I can work in effectively. From these results I have learnt I can work effectively in a work environment whereby, there is team work and cooperation amongst my co-workers. Team work and cooperation enables me to learn from others and also give my input to the organization. Team work and cooperation in an organization provides a platform whereby one can get challenged and motivated. From a personal experience while working for different organizations incentives such as bonuses and pay rise have resulted to improved work outputs and service delivery. Any organization needs motivated employees for it to survive. This is because motivated employees work faster and produce good results hence boosting the organization they are working for. Motivated employees are more interesting to be around since they have innovations that could benefit the company a lot. For effectiveness, managers have to understand the aspects that cause their employees to be motivated within their jurisdictions at work The results of the conducted self assessment test correspond with the some of the theories highlighted in the literature. For instance, according to Maslow, there are five levels of human needs that employees should fulfill at work; physiological needs such as food, shelter, safety needs, social needs in regards to love and sense of belonging, esteem needs, the need of status and recognition. Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856- 1917) suggests that employees are normally motivated by incentives. Taylor notes that employees do not enjoy work, thus they require continuous control and supervision. It is therefore logical to conclude that the key function of motivation is to generate such a state within the person so that they are optimistic to do something. This way one is motivated to work a little harder to achieve a certain target. Motivation is also the aspect that facilitates a person to take up confrontations and that makes life meaningful. A motivated person finds it easier to reach their targets and attain their goals (Robbins & Judge, 2000). Case study Question1 By evaluating the characters of Matt Jones and Jack Singleton, it is very evident they have different motivational factors. Employees therefore need to be motivated through various methods. According to Abraham Maslow, human beings posses different requirements in life that have huge impacts in their behaviors. In most cases, the needs that are not met are the ones that influence their behaviors in the work place. People have a lot of needs which are categorized from the complex to the basic ones. A person moves to the next need when they have satisfied a need in the lower level. Goal-setting theory on the other hand is based on the idea that persons sometimes have a force to reach a distinct end state. In most cases, this end state is an incentive in itself. It states here that three factors affect the efficacy of this goal and they include: propinquity, involvedness and specificity. According to Matt, money is not everything to him. He is doing the job because it is what he is comfortable with. This consequently hinders his achievement of goals. This theory is therefore relevant in his case. He needs to begin setting goals for himself for him to be motivated to work. Question 2 Peter Finch should consider the following ways to boost Matt's motivation and encourage him to work harder. For instance, he should design a clear strategy for giving incentives to his employees like: rewards and acknowledgment, increase in pay or additional money, benefits, increase their time off, more duty, a promotion or customize their position to suit them. Moreover, rather than being the boss and ruling out responsibilities all the time, he should explain to him what is expected from him and empower him to manage several tasks. Finch should give him a certain degree of authority for him to take over responsibility of the tasks he has to handle. Finch should be more specific in the tasks that he assigns to Matt. These tasks should be feasible and measurable. In addition, Finch should familiarize himself with who Matt is, he should know his ambitions, motivational factors, strengths and weaknesses. Conclusion Motivation can considered as a psychological process that influences behavior by giving direction, purpose and the desire to achieve particular unmet goals. For any organization to survive, it needs motivated employees (Reiss, 2004). In this paper, the reviewed literatures depict several motivational theories founded by Abraham Maslow ,Elton Mayo and Frederick Winslow Taylor. Through the reviewed literature we can establish that employees are different and they have different needs thus they cannot be motivated in the same way. The results of the conducted self assessment test correspond with the some of the theories highlighted in the literature review. In addition, the case study depicts a scenario where employees in an organization are at different levels with different motivational needs. References Bowen,B.& Radhakrishna, R (1991). Job satisfaction of agricultural education faculty: A constant phenomena. Journal of Agricultural Education, 32 (2). 16-22. Cervone, D. & Shadel, W. et al (2006). Self-Regulation: Reminders and Suggestions from Personality Science. Applied Psychology: an International Review 55 (3): 333–385. Gollwitzer, M. (1999). Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist 54: 493–503. Maslow, A. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, July 1943, 370-396. Mitchell, T. (1982). Motivation: New directions for theory, research, and practice. Academy of Management Review, 7, 80-88. Pervin, L. (1968). Performance and satisfaction as a function of individual-environment fit.    Psychological Bulletin, 69, 56-68.  Reiss, S. (2004). Multifaceted nature of intrinsic motivation: The theory of 16 basic desires, Review of General Psychology 8 (3): 179–193. Robbins, S. & Judge, T. (2000). Essentials of organizational behavior. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Review of General Psychology 8 (3): 179–193. Read More