22119653 Motivation Assignment
Transcript of 22119653 Motivation Assignment
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Motivation in
sociology and
humman
resource and
management
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By : aziz khan
masood
Introduction
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In everyday conversations, the word motivation is vaguely used. It is assumed that
motivation is found only in successful people. It is thought that, motivation is an intense
commitment of doing something, or it is a willingness to engage in particular set of
activities. For instance, an employee who regularly spends half an hour more than his
official job timings to finish work without being rewarded through overtime is said to be
highly motivated. It is also common to believe that only few people have motivation,
while others do not have it. However, the scholars across social sciences, such as
Sociology, Psychology, and management sciences, have viewed, defined, and theorized
about motivation somewhat differently from the conceptions of laymen.
Practitioners of social sciences view motivation as a force that energizes a behavior.
Motivation is a drive, or a force that activates behaviors. Motivation makes it possible
for humans to perform tasks consistently over period of time. For instance, Typist whose
lifelong work is to type and type must have a degree of motivation; otherwise he wont be
able to maintain quality of his work. Contrary to the beliefs held by a lay person about
motivation, scholars of social sciences argue that motivation is not limited to successful
people. They contend that motivation is found in every human being. The factors that
make an individual motivated are different. For example, some employees work hard to
earn a promotion, while others value appreciation of managers, and of fellow workers.
Motivation is not a behavior, nor is it a level of performance. Motivation is an inner trait
that triggers human actions, and behaviors, in order to satisfy a need, or achieve a goal.
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For instance, many employees work hard to receive a pay rise in order to better fulfill
their economic needs. In The following paragraphs we offer a definition of motivation.
The literature offers several competing yet complimentary definition of motivation.
These definitions use words like need, wish, incentive, drive, desires,
motive, and goals. In the attempt to describe the nature of motivation, as a force
having an inherent capacity to trigger human behaviors. In other words, individuals opt to
behave in a certain way, in an attempt to fulfill a need, or to satisfy a wish, or to get
benefits of an incentive. In the following lines we shall highlight some definitions of
motivation.
1.1 Definition of motivation.
The processes that account for individuals intensity, direction, and persistence of effort
toward attaining a goal.
Mitchell defines motivation as 'the degree to which an individual wants and chooses to
engage in certain specified behaviors.
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Motivation is a process that starts with a physiological or psychological deficiency need that activates a
behavior or a drive that is aimed at a goal.
These definitions highlight the fact that motivation is a force, or a drive, behind human
behaviors. It is a degree of intensity or willingness of an individual to engage in certain
activities. In order to achieve goals, or satisfy needs. On the bases of these definitions, we
can say that motivation has the following characteristics.
1.2 Characteristics of motivation.
1.2.1
Motivation is an individual phenomenon. It is individuals who become motivated to
achieve a goal, or satisfy a need. Motivation is individual also in a sense that different
people are motivated by different things. There is no one formula of making everyone
motivated. For example, singing a company song before starting work every day may
motivate few employs to work hard as they can for the company. On the other hand, it
might be a laborious activity for other employees. This example shows that motivation is
an individual phenomenon, and different things motivate different people.
1.2.2 Motivation is an intense pursuit of a goal.
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Intensity refers to a level of willingness or nonwillingness to carry out certain tasks, or
behaviors. In Everyday conversation intensity is often used as a synonymous of
motivation. When an individual desires to achieve a certain goal, for instance getting a
salary increase, he works more diligently, to achieve this goal. Since his work is
characterized by an aspiration of achieving a goal, as a consequence, his work would be
full of intensity. This intensity is developed among employees because they want to
achieve a certain goal. Hence we can conclude that intensity and pursuit of a goal are key
factors influencing the degree of motivation among employees of any organization.
1.2.3 Motivation is aroused by a need, or an expectation.
It is widely acknowledged that people become motivated when there is an unsatisfied
need, or when they want to fulfill an expectation. This expectation could be of an
individual from his own self, or it can be imposed on him by others. The needs that make
individuals motivated can be of various natures. These can be physiological as well as
higher order needs. Some people enjoy and want to work because they enjoy what they
are doing. As a result they develop a positive self image. On the other hand some people
work to maximize economic rewards. Expectations also play an important role in
motivating individuals. An employee, who knows that his boss expects more from him, is
likely to devote extra energy to his work. Self expectations also can increase the level of
motivation. An employee believing that his work should be more productive is likely to
give better outputs to the organization.
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1.2.4 The ability of becoming motivated is found in everyone.
Contrary to the general opinion held by people that only certain people have motivation;
it is found in all individuals. As highlighted so far, the degree, and intensity of motivation
is influenced by different factors. For instance, let us suppose an employee who does not
like the way his boss treats him may not give good performance, but as soon as he has a
new boss, or he joins a different organization his performance levels drastically improve.
The scenario presented as an example above, illustrates it is not because an individual
lacks an ability of being motivated, it is because of other factors, and in case of the
present example situational factors that influence employee motivation. In short, all
individuals have a capacity to be motivated. However the situations and factors that make
them motivated vary from individual to individual.
1.2.5 Motivation is influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors.
Individuals are motivated by intrinsic factors as well as extrinsic factors. Sometimes the
combination of both forms of factors motivates individuals. Intrinsic or internal factors
mostly refer to psychological characteristics of an individual. They include the amount of
interest an individual have in a given task. For instance how much an interest an
employee has to work for a particular organization. Need is also an internal motivator.
There can be several needs of employees, and it is not possible to identify a small group
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of needs, that is universally applicable, while attempting to understand the employees
needs. However commonly the needs of appreciation, the need of affiliation, and the need
for self actualization have been identified as a motivating factors. No discussion on need
as a motivating force can be complete without discussing the basic needs possess by
every individual. These are physiological and security needs. In the economic system of
modern societies these needs cannot be satisfied without money. All organization offer
monetary reward to its employees in a form of salary along using several other
motivating techniques. Extrinsic factors such as work environment, behavior of fellow
workers and of management, are also important factors influencing the degree, and
intensity of motivation.
1.2.6 Different factors influence motivation in different cultures.
While every human being blessed with a normal function mind has an ability to become
motivated, the factors that make them motivated vary from culture to culture. For
example employees working in cultures that value individualism are likely to be
motivated by factors like opportunity for self growth, equality, and prestige. On the other
hand, people living in collectivist cultures are likely to value benefits they can get from
doing a job for their family. They also like to work in a harmonious environment and like
to enjoy close relations with fellow workers.
1.3 Types of motivators.
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Simply put motivators are desires, or needs, that make an individual
motivated. For example, the need of hunger motivates individuals to struggle
to make sure that they can fulfill their need for food. Similarly the need for
job security, keeps employees honest and committed to their work.
Motivators can be divided into three types. These are Primary motivators,
general motivators, and secondary motivators. The most relevant motivators
from the view point of organizational behavior study are secondary
motivators. In the following paragraphs, we briefly discuss primary and
general motives. Then we would comprehensively discuss secondary
motivators.
1.3.1 Primary motivators.
Primary motives are also referred to as physiological, or biological, or
unlearned motivators. There are two defining characteristics of these types of
motivators. Firstly they are physiological in nature. Secondly they are
unlearned. Most commonly recognized primary motivators are Hunger, thirst,
sleep, sex, and avoidance of pain. Since these motivators are universal and
do not differ from societies to societies, and culture to culture, they are of
less significance in organizational behavior study. They are treated as
constant factors behind human behavior.
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1.3.2 General motives.
General motives are those motives which are unlearned but not physiological
in nature. They are curiosity, manipulation, activity, and feeling affection.
These general motives are more relevant to the study of organizational
behavior. Hence they are further elaborated under separate headings in the
following paragraphs.
1.3.2.1Curiosity, manipulation and activity motive.
Curiosity is a trait of human beings that make them discover new things.
Without curiosity humans would not have unearth solutions to many
problems of humanity. Curiosity is important in the context of organizational
behavior, because it is curiosity that makes an employee find solutions to
problems. For example questions like how to increase productivity without
increasing the labor force how to ensure that all workers are committed to
organizational goals, cannot be answered without curious THINKING. In short
without curiosity an employee or a manager cannot bring creativity to his or
her work. It is curiosity that makes jobs interesting, without it job can become
laborious.
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The activity motive in the context of organizational behavior refers to a
human instinct to engage in some kind of activity. By nature humans are not
passive, and they like to do something. If humans are denied from satisfying
this motive, their abilities can seriously be hampered. For instance if an
employee is asked to work at a machine for Eight hours without talking to
someone, and do nothing but work on the machine, his social growth would
seriously be influenced negatively.
1.3.2.2 The affection motive.
Affection in the context of organizational behavior refers to the empathetic
feelings fellow workers and management has for one another. The
management is always concerned to make employee realize that they are
important for the organization, and their work is being valued. The role of
affection in organizations cannot be undervalued. This is because to feel
affection is a basic human motive, and if organizations are able to satisfy this
motive of its employees, it is likely to flourish.
1.3.3 Secondary motives.
The secondary motives are not physiologically based, nor are they unlearned.
These motives are unquestionably the most important motives in the study of
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organizational behavior study. They are need for achievement, need for
power, need for affiliation, need for security, and need for status. We shall
briefly discuss these motives in the following paragraphs.
1.3.3.1 Need for achievement.
Most individuals have lofty goals, and they want to achieve a lot in their lives.
The need for achievement has two distinct dimensions. One relates to
everyday life in which individuals want to do something which give them a
feeling of accomplishment. Second relates to the lifelong goals, in which
individual want to achieve something before he dies. While studying behavior
in organizations, we are more concerned with need for achievement that is
present in our everyday life. This need or motive is satisfied when individual
complete a difficult task, e.g. preparing a report before time. This motive is
also satisfied when an employee solves a complex problem, e.g. why profits
have decreased in a certain region. Doing better than others also satisfies
this motive, e.g. receiving employee of the month award. In short, individuals
have a need to achieve. This motive is satisfied in organizations through
various activities.
1.3.3.2 Need for power.
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Individuals like to feel that they are in command of their life, and of others.
Hence need for power is another important secondary motive. Power is an
important topic of discussion in organizational behavior. This motive is
satisfied when employees feel completely responsible and empowered about
their work, and feel that they can take necessary steps to fulfill their tasks. In
the strict sense power refers to complete command of an individual, or an
entity over others. However in modern organizations power is distributed
among employees.
1.3.3.3 Need for affiliation.
Affiliation is another important motivator. In modern societies affiliation has
become even more important. As primary relations have declined.
Researches in the field of management sciences have shown that affiliation
play an important role in determining employees motivation. Individuals feel
affiliation in organizations, when they feel they are liked by fellow workers.
They feel affiliation when they feel a part of the group, e.g. they work in an
environment where they feel that they are not alone working hard, and
others are also there to work with them. Also employees feel motivated when
they enjoy harmonious relationships with fellow employees, and can
participate in pleasant social activities with them.
1.3.3.4 Need for security.
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Need for security is one another important motive of humans. In the context
of organizational behavior, this motive is satisfied in the following ways: Job
security, i.e. When individual feels that his or her job is secure. Security from
physical dangers, i.e. work would not result in any serious injury such as a
loss of a body organ. This applies usually to workers, who manually operate
machines. The security motive can also be satisfied by giving some kind of
protection in case of serious illness or disability. Workers also feel a sense of
security when they feel protected from an economic disaster. More clearly
when they know that if their organization suffers huge losses, it would not
ignore their interests. The security motive is an important motive, and
without its satisfaction few individuals, if any, can be motivated.
1.4 Motivation and organizational behavior.
Motivation is an important topic for any student of organizational behavior.
From the view point of managers the study of motivation is important since it
helps him or her to better motivate the employees. From a view point of
academics the study of motivation is important as it answers the following
questions: How management and managers try to motivate employees?
What motivational techniques are most successful? How employees become
motivated? What types of rewards are most influential in increasing
productivity? Why workers sometimes lack motivation?
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The questions posed above do not provide a holistic account of the interest of
scholars, and of managers to the study of motivation. However these
questions provide a general overview of what are the key areas of interest
while studying motivation. In the remainder of this section, we attempt to
illustrate what is the significance of employee motivation for the success, and
existence of an organization. Also we shall attempt to highlight why the study
of motivation of employees is important.
1.4.1 The importance of employee motivation for organizations.
Formal organizations have a hierarchy and division of labor is found in them.
This means that people occupy different statuses, and positions in the
organization. Also they have different skills, knowledge, and specialties.
Formal organizations have a well defined goal, and theoretically all
employees are striving to achieve that goal. However, it is not easy to
motivate employees to work with complete devotion and utilize all abilities to
achieve organizational goal. It is one of the difficult tasks for management of
the organization to make employees motivated, and ensure they are giving
their best to the organization.
Without committed and motivated employees and organization cannot hope
to be successful. If employees are not motivated this can result in disaster for
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the organization. The importance of motivation can be judge from the fact
that if employees are not motivated organization cannot achieve its goal.
Also employees with low motivation usually give poor performances, and
their productivity declines. Low motivation also cause worker dissatisfaction,
and they also look to quit the job. Without motivated employees an
organization cannot achieve sustained success, and it faces a threat of even
going out of business.
1.4.2 Why study employee motivation?
The answer of the question why study employee motivation has somewhat
been answered by the prior paragraphs. However, few more lines on this
question would further clarify why studying employee motivation is
important.
The fate of an organization is usually determined by its employees. So it
sounds logical to understand how employees can be motivated. So
organizations can develop strategies of rewarding and motivating employees.
Researchers have shown that all people cannot be motivated by similar thing.
For example two employees of a same organization, when ask would they
prefer pay rise or better work environment, one might select pay rise, while
other might opt for better work environment. Also different cultures value
different things, so it is important to study what motivate people in different
cultures. This knowledge is useful for organizations who work internationally.
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Such organizations usually hire people of different countries, and different
cultural backgrounds. Without knowing that what things can motivate people
of a specific cultural and racial background, an organization cannot motivate
its employees.
If employees motivation is not studied, organizational managers would have
a seriously difficult time in discovering how they can motivate their
employees.
In short, motivation of employees is a key determinant of success of any
organization. The study of motivation is important as it provides management
of an organization with necessary knowledge, and ideas of how to motivate
employees.
2. Techniques of motivating employees.
The success or failure of any organization is dependent on its employees.
Therefore management should always be trying to make sure that its
employees are motivated. There are several techniques of motivating
employees, and we will review some of them in the following pages. It should
be kept in mind that the definition of motivation presented earlier in this
paper that motivation is persistent and an intense pursuit of a goal has been
used as a criterion while selecting the techniques of motivating employees
for the following discussion. Techniques of motivation have been defined as
any attempt on the part of the management and managers to ensure that
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their employees stay committed to the job, and strive to improve
performance levels. The numerical order in which these techniques are
discussed does not imply that one technique is superior to the subsequent
mentioned techniques.
2.1 Recognition of superior performance.
It is essential that a well-performing employee is recognized for his or her
work. By informing an employee that he or she is doing well, management
can increase the morale of him or her. Several methods can be adopted to
reward good performing employees. These methods can be tangible e.g.
money, in form of a bonus, or a salary raze. This reward can be intangible
e.g. verbal appreciation of that employee. Recognition of performance has an
impact on not only the employee who is performing well; it also tells other
employees that they should also improve their performance.
2.2 Introduce healthy competition in the organization.
One another technique that management or managers can use to motivate
employees is to introduce healthy competition in the organizations. These
competitions can be of several types. For instance, a manager can give a
same amount of work to two employees, and inform them that they must
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finish their work before the other. Also they can do the same with two teams
of employees. Also management can start a competition on who is the most
punctual employee? And who have completed most tasks within a timeframe
of suppose one month. However management should remain conscious of the
fact that this competition should not take a form of conflict. This can be
ensured by not offering very high rewards to the employees who have done
well in the competitions. For example, offering a Ten percent salary raze for
the employee who has been most punctual in one month, may create an air
of jealousy, and conflict in the organization. This is something that an
organization must avoid at all costs.
2.3 Provide feedback to employees about their performance.
Providing feedback to employees about how they are performing is another
way of motivating them. However when and how this feedback is provided to
the employee is very important. Giving feedback to good performing
employees that they are doing well is likely to ensure their current
performance levels, or increase them. However telling an employee that he
or she is not doing well is critical. This is because, this can reduce his
motivation. Management should be very careful when providing feedback to
less performing employees. Some methods manager can use are to
personally communicate with the employee, and empathetically discuss the
possible reasons behind his substandard performance. Only telling that to an
employee that he is not doing well is not enough. He should be completely
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informed where he is not doing well. If possible managers should also provide
some solutions to that employee of how he can increase his performance. In
short feedback about performance is a good motivator. It certainly sustains
currant motivation levels, and it can also increase them. However less
performing employees should be provided feedback in a way that it should
not cause employees to feel less motivated.
2.4 Align organizational goals with the goals of employees.
Management should strive to spread a feeling in the organization that the
goals of an organization are also goals of employees. For example, if a goal of
a car manufacturer is to increase sales by Ten% an organization should try to
make sure that this goal is shared by the employees. This can be achieved by
offering a portion of the profits that a ten% sales increase would give to the
organization to employees. This can also be achieved by telling employees
that if company reaches its stated goal all of them would receive a certain
amount of bonus. In short management should attempt to create some sort
of harmony between the goals of organizations and of its employees. If
employees do not feel any attachment to the goals of organizations, they
would not be motivated to help organization reach them. As a result the goals
would not be achieved.
2.5 Give incentives to employees.
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Giving incentives to employees is another technique of motivating
employees. Simply put, incentives are a possible reward that an employee
can strive to achieve. Incentives are not a reward as they serve a purpose of
a possible benefit an employee would get. Obviously incentives are given to
convince employees to increase their performance levels, or to achieve a
goal. Examples, of incentives are a possible doubling of salary, promotion to
an executive post, providing housing or medical facilities, and receiving a
large sum of money. Incentives are a useful motivating technique when a
management wants employees to really work hard, or to achieve its goal in a
short span of time. Incentives as a motivating technique can be describe as a
quick fix solution of improving employee motivation. As it is believed that by
presenting a big incentive an organization can quickly raze employee
motivation, thereby performance.
2.6 Develop good relations with employees.
The literature of employee motivation places high importance on the relation
of employees, and of management. If managers have strong and healthy
relations with employees they can motivate them easily. By developing
sound relations with employees a manager gets the following advantages.
Firstly he creates a feeling among employees that they have some worth in
the organization, and their work is being valued. This gives a positive boost to
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employee motivation. Secondly; a manager gets to know the strength and
weaknesses of his employees. This helps him in the future while distributing
tasks in employees. As he can identify correct people for correct jobs. Thirdly
by maintaining good relations with employees he can better identify their
needs, and expectations. Helping him to design better motivational strategies
in the future. In short strong relations of management with employees are a
useful motivating technique. On one side workers feel motivated because of
the attention they receive from the management. On the other hand
management is better able to understand employee needs, thereby learning
how to motivate the employees.
2.7 Create an environment where open communication is possible.
If modern psychologists are to be believed most human behavioral problems
result from lack of communicating skills. Organizations by creating an
environment where open communication is possible can prevent many
behavioral problems to emerge in the organization. The value of
communication cannot be undervalued as a motivational technique.
Employees feel more motivated, and drive more satisfaction from their work,
if they feel they can give their ideas to management, and discuss their
problems with them. Lack of communication result in employee
dissatisfaction, and frustration, which is not a sign of high motivation.
Manageress should always communicate with their employees. They should
learn about the ideas, and suggestions employees have for the organization,
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what things they do not like about how presently organization is managed.
Managers can keep a box labeled employees ideas, and suggestions box
somewhere in the building of an organization. Employees can be requested to
drop their ideas in it. Also manager can arrange frequent meetings with
employees, where employees and managers can think together about
improving organization. Open environment for communication is essential
because to express one self is a basic human tendency. If employees are
derived of expressing themselves, they sure are likely to get frustrated. This
can seriously hamper their motivation.
2.8 Make work interesting.
People are easily motivated to engage in activities they like doing. Managers
should strive to make work interesting for the employees. This can be
achieved through several ways. Firstly managers should allocate work to
individuals who are capable of performing that task. Capable people are more
likely to enjoy what they are doing, rather those people who are not capable.
Work can also become interesting when it is a challenge for employees. Many
people like overcoming challenges, therefore, managers should always create
a sense of challenge for employees. Employees also enjoy working when they
work in a good social environment. It is the responsibility of the manager to
create it. In short employees are usually more motivated to perform a task
which is interesting. Since not all tasks are inherently interesting, it is up to
managers to make them interesting. This can be achieve by making tasks
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challenging, and giving a feeling to an employee that performing this task is
a good test of my abilities. In this way work can be made more interesting,
thereby more motivating for employees.
2.9 Use reinforcement to maintain good performance.
Reinforcement is a psychological concept. It is a rewarding or not rewarding a
particular action. The underlying idea of reinforcement is that continuous
reinforcement makes an action long-lasting. For example, if a behavior is
continuously rewarded, such as good performance, that behavior would
become permanent. On the other hand, if a behavior is continuously not
rewarded, such as poor performance, that behavior would become extinct.
There is a lot more to the concept of reinforcement, but we would not delve
too deeply in to it now. We shall turn our attention to how reinforcement
works in organizations.
As highlighted above reinforcement can make a behavior permanent, or
extinct. The notion of reinforcement in organizational behavior implies that
managers should positively reward good behavior. This reward can be
tangible, such as money, or intangible such as appreciation. Whatever this
positive reward or reinforcer is it should be given to each good performance.
Similarly poor performance should be given a negative reward or reinforcer.
This does not imply that every poor performer should be punished. It means
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that a system should be in place where causes of poor performance can be
unearthed, and solutions can be learned. Such a managerial approach
appears to be quite valuable. This is because; it tries to reward good
performance all the time, and try to stop poor performance. It does this by
using positive or negative rewards.
2.10 Provide job security to employees.
Security is one of the basic human motives. Managers can motivate
employees by providing them a sense of job security. It should not be
wrongly believed that job security means that an employee would never be
fired from the organization. It means that an employee is sure that he is not
going to lose his job at any moment. Employees who feel that their job is
secure can devote their complete energies to the task at hand. They Aare
subconsciously not worried about their future as an employee of the
organization. By assuring employees that their job is under no threat a
manager can improve the motivation levels of employees.
2.11 Introduce little awards in the organization.
Managers can also motivate employees by introducing little awards in the
organizations. These awards may not necessarily be financial in nature. Such
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company was earning profits of over 12% for five years continuously.
However in the next Three years its profits drastically shrink. Also many of its
top employees are working in different organizations now. What can explain
this change in fortune of this company? For the sake of our example, now let
us suppose that in the profitable five years, that company gave yearly
bonuses to workers, but no employee received a substantial salary increase.
Company management relax by the fact that it is offering a good chunk of its
profits every year to employees, lost sight of the fact that the employees
were more interested in monthly salary increase rather than yearly bonus.
We have earlier seen what happened to the company. This example, though
imaginary, illustrates why it is so important for the organizational
management to learn about the needs, and expectation of the employees.
2.13 Value small achievements.
One another way of motivating employees is to appreciate and value their
small contributions. These small contributions can be completing an allocated
task before time. Helping other employees to complete their task. Always
coming up with new ideas. Identifying and fixing possible flaws in the
everyday operations of organizations, such as finding ways to limit cost.
Contributions like these are best rewarded intangibly. For example, a
manager can leave a note of appreciation on a table of employees. He can
send him an email, or in this age of information technology, he can
appreciate his contribution on the forum on the organizations website. By
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acknowledging such small contributions, managers can create a feeling of
being valued in the organization. This in turn led to increase in motivation.
2.14 Maintain a good social environment.
The role of social environment i.e. the relations of employees with one
another and with management have been well documented in organizational
behavior literature. It is an accepted fact now that without harmonious social
relations or environment in the organization employees cannot be motivated.
Managers can maintain good social environment by making every employee
feel that he is an important part of the organization, and ensure that no
activities are performed in the organization that can create agitation, conflict
and jealousy in workers. This can be achieved by not allowing rumors to
spread and create workers anxiety. For instance, false news that 200 workers
are about to be expel from the organization soon, can led to a serious
disruption in the social environment of the organization. This also can
seriously influenced worker motivation. Also if junior employees are harshly
treated by senior employees this can also disturb social environment of the
organization, and can create tensions among workers. Resulting in low
motivation levels. In short without a good social environment an organization
cannot hope to motivate its employees. It is one of the upmost duties of a
manager to create and maintain good social environment in the organization.
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2.15 Create a feeling in employees that working for organization is something
special.
Managers can also make employees motivated if they can develop a feeling
that the organization they working for are different than others, or there is
something special working for this organization. Managers can achieve this
by inculcating a feeling in employees that the organization they are working
for is really unique thus it is worthwhile devoting all energies to it. One
relevant example is of computer software giant Microsoft. One programmer
working at Microsoft remarked that for the first five years of my job, I use to
think that all the things outside of my office room are evil and unnecessary.
He also said that every employee at Microsoft haply spends long time in
working i.e. programming softwares. This is not because Microsoft offers
huge salaries; this is because each employee of Microsoft feels that he is
working for a special organization. As Microsoft can influence lives of billions
and billions of people. Obviously not every organization is Microsoft, but still
organizations can create this feeling in employees. This can be done by
creating mission statements and objectives for labor force that are inspiring.
For instance, to develop an organization whose products cannot be matched
by any organization. In short if managers can manage to create this feeling of
specialness among employees they can become motivated.
2.16 Money as a technique of motivation.
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Our discussion on techniques of motivation has so far mentioned money on
several occasions. However considering the amount of discussion on money
as a motivator found in motivation literature necessitates further elaboration
of the role of money in employee motivation. The common believe is that
money can easily motivate people. When people are asked about how to
motivate people, almost the instant answer is money, give them more money
to be precise. However evidence collected together by years and years of
research has given lesser significance to money. Particularly in cultures of
developed societies, employees give less importance to money. Whereas
people living in developing countries give more importance to money. While
there is no general consensus on how much money motivates, but there is no
denying the fact that money does have a motivating power.
Money is the most commonly used motivating tool in organizations. Almost
all organizations try to motivate employees by offering bonuses for good
performance, or increasing salary. Money encourages employees to work
hard. As it can result in moving upwards in the organizational hierarchy.
Resulting in higher pay. Using money as a motivator does not require
superior managerial skills. Usually money is attached as a reward for an
employees performance. When employees give a certain level of
performance they are given money as a reward. Many methods are used by
organizations to offer money as a reward to its employees. Some
organizations offer a hard cash, while other organizations offer employees an
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opportunity to buy organizations share at a fixed price. When the value of
this share raises above the fix price at which they were bought by the
employee he can opt to earn profit. In short money is the most famous or
widely known motivational technique. While researchers have reached
differing conclusion about how much money motivate employees, its
importance remain highly significant.
2.17 Developed a carefully thought out reward system.
So far we have discussed many techniques of motivation in isolation. In
actual practice no one single technique is used by managers to motivate
employees. They use combination of several techniques. A reward system
can be viewed as the collection of material and nonmaterial rewards offered
by an organization to its employees. Reward systems have been thoroughly
discussed elsewhere in this paper. Therefore our discussion does not focus on
definitional aspects of rewards system. Our focus is on how they serve to
motivate employees.
Employees of an organization can only be motivated when they feel satisfied
by the rewards they receive from the organization. Some of these rewards
include an adequate salary, fair evaluation of performance, and good working
environment. If employees feel that they are not well rewarded by the
organization their levels of motivation go down to very low limits. A manager
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can only develop a good reward system when he or she is aware of what are
the needs, and expectation of members and what is the cultural background
of employees.
In short without a reward system that is satisfying for the employees, and
that reflects their needs and aspirations, an organization cannot seriously
hope of being successful.
3. Organizational reward system.
Organizations, particularly formal organizations have a well defined and clear
goal. Organizational management tries to achieve the goal by making the
best use of available resources. The most valuable resource for any
organization is its employees. One of the main questions that a manager of
every organization has to answer is how to motivate employees, and how to
reward them for their efforts. We have discussed motivation and have also
highlighted the different motives individuals have. In this section of this
paper, we will discuss the reward system of an organization. However this
needs to be kept in mind that this discussion of different rewarding
techniques provides a general overview of several ways used by different
organizations to motivate its employees. So far there has been no
comprehensive reward system been developed that can work for every
organization. We will begin by defining organizational rewards.
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Organizational rewards.
Organizations reward their employees for their availability, competency and
for the work they do for the organization. Hence organizational reward can be
defined as the return or benefit given by an organization to its employees
for their contribution to the organization. This reward can be financial, i.e. in
form of money. Management of organizations also reward employees for their
efforts verbally i.e. by appreciating the employees performance.
The organizational rewards are designed with a two-fold purpose. Firstly it is
designed to reward those whose level of performance is high. Secondly, it is
designed to make sure those employees, who are less committed, and less
motivated towards fulfilling their responsibilities, start to show better
commitment. There are several types of rewards, and different types of
criteria are used by organizations to reward their employees. In the following
paragraphs, we shall review some main types of rewards offer by
organizations in todays world to its workers. But first we will highlight two
major forms of rewards.
3.1 Intrinsic and extrinsic rewards
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Organizations reward their employees for their membership and seniority, for
their job status, for their competency, and for their performance. Each type of
rewards has advantages, and disadvantages. In the following paragraphs, we
shall discuss in detail these rewards systems.
3.4 Membership and seniority based rewards.
This reward system is not competency or performance based. In this reward
system all members of an organization receive a fix hourly wage, or a
monthly salary. As the seniority of members increases, they receive a pay
rise. Many benefits are same for every member of the organization e.g.
medical facilities.
Advantages and disadvantages.
The membership and seniority reward system has advantages, and
disadvantages. On the positive side, it increases the number of job
applicants. As the size of the reward i.e. salary, increases with seniority. Also
in such a reward system, people do not feel afraid of losing a job. as a result
job security is higher. Considering the flexible and worker friendly nature of
this reward system, employees are usually loyal with the organization.
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However there are some glaring problems with this reward system. To begin,
rewarding employees on the bases of their seniority, reduces employee
turnover, that is number of people joining, and leaving the organization.
Since the cost of leaving a senior post implies a bigger financial loss.
Membership based rewards do not directly encourage better job
performance. It discourages poor performers to quit the job. On the other
hand, good performers are lured to good jobs. In short the disadvantages of
membership and seniority based rewards can be described as golden
handcuffs. As they discourage people to leave their jobs, and on the other
hand there is no proper mechanism to reward better performing employees.
3.5 Rewards based on job status.
In this reward system, employees are rewarded according to their job status.
Jobs, that require more skill and effort, have more responsibility attach to it,
and have difficult working conditions, have higher job status. High status jobs
are placed in high pay grades. Evaluating jobs in terms of their worth creates
a hierarchy of jobs in organizations. Individuals having better job status enjoy
financial benefits, as well as several facilities offer to them by the
organization.
Advantages and disadvantages.
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Giving employees rewards on the bases of job status has some advantages
and disadvantages. One advantage is that, this reward system motivates
workers to compete with one another for higher status jobs. This creates an
air of healthy competition in the organization. Secondly it maintains equality
in the organizations. Employees placed in one pay grade according to job
status receive a similar wage, as compare to fellow employees having a
similar job status. It also maintains equality among genders. As both males
and females receive a same salary if their job status is same. One another
positive of this system is that it values good performance, unlike membership
and seniority based system.
Like other rewards systems, rewards based on job status, has many
disadvantages as well. It rewards members, according to their skills, efforts,
responsibilities, and difficulties. This creates psychological tensions between
employees, and management, resulting in lack of communication. This
happens because every employee wants to improve his or her job status.
Failure to improve job status can result in discontent, and low motivation in
employees. This system gives high priority to skills and effort. This
sometimes encourages employees to provide a wrong description of their
jobs. In attempt to improve their job status. Also sometimes employees claim
qualifications, and expertise they do not have.
3.6 Rewards on the bases of competency.
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Competencies are skills, knowledge, and other underlying characteristics that
lead to superior performance. In this system of rewarding employees
competent employees are more rewarded then less competent employees.
The question arises how do organizations reward competent employees?
Organizations limit the number of pay grades in the organization, and reward
employees according to their competency in their assigned jobs. This is done
by creating a small number of groups in the organization. Employees with
least competence are place at the lower end of the hierarchy of the
organization, and employees with the highest competency are placed at the
top. Least competent employees are offered chances to improve their skills,
and move upwards in the organizational hierarchy. For instance, clothing
retailer Eddie Bauer created three groups of employees. These being entry,
intermediate and specialist. Employees had the opportunity to improve their
competence, and move upward in the organization.
Advantages and disadvantages.
The competency system of rewards allows for employee flexibility. Because
employees learn many skills, they can perform different job as situations
require. Organizations using this system of rewards can maintain a quality of
their products. This is due to the fact that workers have multiple skills, and
they have a comprehensive understanding of work process. One another
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advantage of this reward system is that, it provides a solution for
continuously hiring and firing. For instance, if an employee leaves the
organization instead of hiring a new employee, an existing employee can be
moved to fill vacant position.
Like any other system, this system is not without flaws. . One obvious flaw is
that measurement of competency is subjective. Particularly if personality
traits are being measured. This system also proves expensive for the
organization. Because of the emphases on competency organization has to
spend a lot on worker skill development.
3.7 Performance based rewards system.
The basic idea behind performance based system is simple to explain.
However it is difficult to summarize in a short paragraph how this system is
practiced around the world. Simply defined, in a performance based reward
system, an employee is rewarded for his better performance. The complexity
is how the reward is provided to the employee. Some organization offer a
bonus, while others give a promotion, some organizations increase overall
salary, and few organizations offer a lucrative pries such as a paid vacation at
famous places of the world.
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Advantages and disadvantages.
One advantage of performance based reward system is that it provides a
meaningful incentive for the employees to perform well. It also creates a
healthy competition in employees to perform well. By rewarding good
performance an organization is able to tell employees that they must perform
well if they want to have a better future in the organization.
Disadvantages of this system are that it creates a psychological conflict
between workers. Fellow workers are not seen as a fellow worker. Rather
they are perceived as a potential threat to achieving a reward of
performance.
4. Summary, recommendation for managers, and conclusion.
At times, Motivation is a complex phenomenon to understand. This is
because variety of meanings attached to it by scholars, and by lay people.
While it is impossible to present a definition of motivation on which everyone
can agree. Motivation can be understand as a driving force that activates a
behavior. It is an intense pursuit of goal.
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There are several distinguishing characteristics of motivation. They are:
Motivation is an individual phenomenon; Motivation is an intense pursuit of a goal;
Motivation is aroused by a need, or an expectation; the ability of becoming motivated is
found in everyone; Motivation is influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors; different
factors motivate people in different cultures.
There are three types of human motives. Primary motives, general motives, and
secondary motives. For students of organizational behavior, the secondary motives are
most significant.
To understand and study employees motivations is essential. This is because without
motivated employees an organization cannot be successful. By understanding what
motivates employees managers can develop better motivational strategies.
There are several techniques used to motivate employees. These range from appreciating
small contributions to rewarding those who have performed a difficult task. While trying
to motivate employees a manager must understand that different people are motivated
differently. Also employees have needs and expectations and satisfaction of them is
important. A proper rewards system must be in place to ensure employees motivational
levels.
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Organizations use different types of rewards system. In this paper four of them are
discussed. In these systems employees are rewarded for their membership, and seniority;
for their job status; for their competency; lastly for their performance.
4.1 Recommendations to managers for designing motivational programs.
4.1.1 Employees should be valued as an important resource.
Any motivational program that does not value employees is inherently flawed. It is
employees who determine the success of any organization. Managers should consider
questions like how employees would be rewarded for their work. What rewards should be
provided to them? What facilities organization can give them to help them to do their
jobs? Without finding answers to these questions managers cannot make successful
motivational programs.
4.1.2 Seek for constant feedback from employees.
Managers should look for constant feedback from their employees. It is highly probable
that the rewards and incentives they are providing to employees are not working.
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Feedback on how much employees feel committed or not committed to the organization,
can help management to review their policies.
4.1.3 Try to higher competent people.
As an old saying goes, you can bring hoarse to water, but cannot make him drink it.
Similarly organization can provide many incentives or rewards to employees. But if they
are not competent to do a job at hand, nothing will work. Hence managers should always
hire appropriate people for appropriate job.
4.1.4 Distribute work in employees.
Human beings have a certain limit of potential. No matter how good is the motivational
program, over worked employees are likely to feel stress and lose their productivity.
4.1.5 Create communication channels between employees and management.
Management should ensure that employees are able to communicate easily with
management. The communication can be about the problems employees are facing. It can
also be that an employee wants to give management a new idea. When employees feel
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that they work for a management that listens to them and is always available to do so.
They are more committed to the organization.
4.2 Conclusion.
In this paper we discussed motivation; we learned how motivation can determine the
success of an organization. The techniques of motivation were discussed. Rewards
systems were discussed next. Followed by summary of the paper, and recommendation
for managers. This paper has illustrated that motivation is a difficult concept to explain.
Also we do not know with certainty what factors motivate, and what do not motivate
employees. Years and years of research have put together several factors that influence
employee motivation. Even then we are not certain that particular method would be
successful in improving employee motivation. This paper has asserted that intangible
rewards are as important as tangible. In some cases intangible rewards outweigh tangible
rewards. It is recommended that further work on motivation should continue this debate
and If possible collect some empirical data for strengthening the argument.
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