Motivation

Chapter Overview

Employee performance depends on motivation to perform. • Motivation leads to good performance when it

is accompanied by • ability,

• skills,

• equipment,

• supplies, and

• time.

The chapter includes many theories of motivation. • Content theories of motivation attempt to

identify what things motivate people.

• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs,

• McClelland’s theory of achievement, power, and affiliation needs, and

• Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation are explained.

Process theories look at the process of motivation rather than specific motivators. • Included are

• Vroom’s expectancy-valence theory, and

• Skinner’s reinforcement theory.

All of the theories depend on the individual’s perception of what is a valued motivator. • What will be perceived as a motivator

depends on the individual’s needs.

Some supervisors and other managers assume that the main thing employees want out of a job is money. • While money can be a motivator, it is not the only

motivator, and for some people it is not the most important motivator.

• For money to motivate, it must meet employee needs, and employees must believe they are able to achieve the financial rewards the organization offers.

Several financial incentives are discussed, including • piecework systems,

• production bonus systems,

• commissions,

• suggestion plans,

• group incentive plans,

• profit-sharing, and

• gainsharing.

Supervisors will likely have limits on the types of motivators they can use. • But they can motivate their employees by

making work interesting through such means as • job rotation,

• job enlargement,

• job enrichment, and

• contact with users of the product or service.

Other ways to motivate include • having high expectations of employees,

• providing rewards that are valued,

• relating rewards to performance,

• treating employees as individuals,

• encouraging employee participation, and

• providing feedback, including praise.

Relationship between Motivation and Performance

Motivation: Giving people incentives that cause them to act in desired ways.

The objective of motivating employees is to lead them to perform in ways that meet the goals of the department and the organization.

Because supervisors are largely evaluated on the basis of how well their group as a whole performs, motivation is an important skill for supervisors to acquire.

Employees ultimately decide how they are going to perform or not perform. • A supervisor can influence employees’

behavior through the use of rewards and other incentives.

• Supervisors are a significant factor in creating the environment in which employees work.

Flextime: a policy that grants employees some leeway in choosing which eight hours a day or which 40 hours a week to work.

Job sharing: an arrangement in which two part-time employees share the duties of one full-time job.

“Content theories” of motivation focus on the content of the motivator.

Three researchers whose content theories of motivation are widely used are • Abraham Maslow,

• David McClelland, and

• Frederick Herzberg.

Maslow ‘s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow assumes that what motivates people is unmet needs.

According to Maslow, the needs that motivate people fall into five basic categories: • physiological needs (the most basic need),

• security needs,

• social needs,

• esteem needs, and

• self-actualization needs (the highest-level need).

• Physiological needs are the ones required for survival.

• Security needs involve keeping oneself free from harm.

• Social needs are the desire for love, friendship, and companionship.

• Esteem needs are the need for self-esteem and the respect of others.

• Self-actualization needs describe the desire to live up to one’s full potential.

• People may be seeking to meet more than one category of needs at a time.

McClelland’s Achievement-Power-Affiliation Theory This motivation theory is based on the assumption

that through life experiences, people develop various needs. • The three needs include:

• (1) The need for achievement

• the desire to do something better than it has been done before.

• (2) The need for power

• the desire to control, influence, or be responsible for other people.

• (3) The need for affiliation

• the desire to maintain close and friendly personal relationships.

People have all of these needs to some extent.

The relative strength of the needs influences what will motivate a person.

Hertzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

Employees’ satisfaction and dissatisfaction stem from different sources.• Dissatisfaction results from the absence of what

Hertzberg calls hygiene factors.• salary

• relationship with others

• Satisfaction results from the presence of motivating factors.• opportunities

The supervisor has control of many of the motivating factors, including• recognition,

• responsibility,

• advancement, and

• personal growth.

Process Theories of Motivation

Another way to explain motivation is to look at it as a process.

Two major process theories are expectancy-valence theory and reinforcement theory.

Vroom ‘s Expectancy- Valence Theory

Victor Vroom assumes that people act as they do to satisfy needs they feel.

He sets out to explain what determines the intensity of people’s motivation.

He explains that motivation depends on two things:• (1) Valence

• the value a person places on the outcome of a particular behavior.

• (2) Expectancy

• the perceived probability that the behavior will lead to the outcome.

The strength of motivation equals the perceived value of the outcome times the perceived probability of the behavior resulting in the outcome. • In other words, people are most motivated to

seek results they value highly and think they can achieve.

This theory is based on employees’ perceptions of rewards and whether they are able to achieve those rewards. • It is important to note that employees may place

different values on rewards and their ability to achieve the outcome than does the supervisor.

• Supervisors need to determine from the employees what is rewarding and what is possible to achieve.

Skinner’s Reinforcement Theory

B. F. Skinner says that people behave as they do because of the kind of consequences they experience as a result of their behavior. • Broadly speaking, people keep doing things that

lead to consequences they like, and avoid doing things that have undesirable consequences.

• For example, praise feels good, so people tend to do things that get them praised.

Supervisors can encourage or discourage a particular kind of behavior by the way they respond to the behavior. • Consequences can be thought of as:

• (1) Reinforcement

• the desired consequence for behavior.

• This term is used to indicate positive consequences for desired behavior.

• This is also used to indicate the outcome for ceasing negative behavior.

• (2) Punishment

• an unpleasant consequence of a behavior a supervisor wants to end.

• This is sometimes described as negative reinforcement

Behavior Modification: The use of reinforcement and punishment to motivate people to behave in certain way.• For long term results, positive reinforcement is

more effective than punishment.

• Punishment can lead to what is called learned helplessness.• Employees who are repeatedly punished will

eventually believe that they are unable to succeed.

Supervisors must consider individual differences in designing rewards.• What motivates one person may not motivate

another.

Likewise, not all rewards are under the control of the supervisor.• Organizational policy, labor contracts, and laws

may dictate what an employee may receive.

Financial Incentives

Some supervisors and other managers assume that the main thing employees want out of a job

is money. • Based on the content theories of motivation, it makes

sense to say that money motivates people when it meets their needs.

• When a person has high financial demands and relatively low income, money may be a motivator.

• If an individual is financially comfortable, nonfinancial rewards, such as a sense of accomplishment, are increasingly important.

Laffer Curver

Time at Work

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Incentive Pay Plans

Financial Incentives: Payments for meeting or exceeding objectives.

There are a variety of pay systems that include additional incentives for productivity of employees. • Included are:

• Piecework system.

• Production bonus system

• Commissions

• Payments for suggestions

• Group incentive plans

• Gainsharing

Piecework system

Piecework System: Payment according to the amount produced.

This system pays people according to how much they produce.• Piecework pay systems are usually

• based on an individual’s performance, but

• may be based on the department’s overall performance.

• It is often used to pay independent contractors, for example, farm workers and independent writers.

Production bonus system

Employees in a production department may receive a basic wage or salary plus a bonus that consists of a payment for units produced. • This method has been used extensively in

manufacturing. • It is less common today.

• inconsistent with producing quality because it emphasizes quantity

• often includes a quality factor where a bonus is paid on good units produced

Commissions

In a sales department, employees may earn commissions. • the payment linked to the amount of sales

completed • Most organizations that pay a commission also pay

a basic wage or salary.

Payments for suggestions

In companies with suggestion programs, employees are paid for suggestions for improvements. • Typically, for the employee to receive

payment, the suggestion must be adopted or save some minimum amount of money.

• A common practice is for payment to be linked to the saving realized.

Group incentive plans

The group incentive plan pays a bonus when the group as a whole exceeds some objective. • For example, a company may pay a bonus

when a department, sales region, or other work unit meets sales goals.

• The bonus may also depend on meeting organizational goals either by itself or in combination with work unit goals.

Gainsharing

An extension of the group incentive plan.• The company encourages employees to

participate in making suggestions and decisions on how to improve the way the company or work group operates.

• As performance improves, employees receive a share of the greater earnings.• Seeks to motivate through financial rewards and

psychological rewards.

Pay Information

In our society money is considered a private matter, and most people don’t talk about what they earn.

Does secrecy help or hurt?• To motivate employees, the organization must

let them know what they hope to earn.• Organizations often publish pay ranges.

Making work interesting increases the likelihood of employees giving work their full attention and enthusiasm.

Some ways to make work more interesting are • job rotation,

• job enlargement, and

• job enrichment

Job rotation

Job rotation involves moving employees from job to job so as to give them more variety. • Job rotation requires that employees have relatively

broad skills. • This means the supervisor and organization must

provide for cross-training or training in the skills required to perform more than one job.

• The opportunity to learn new skills can in itself motivate employees.

Job enlargement

Job enlargement means that duties are added to a job. • For example, in a factory a machine operator

may be given the added task of setting up the machine.

Job enrichment

Job enrichment is the incorporation of motivating factors into a job. • The kinds of factors that are considered to

enrich a job are the ones Herzberg called motivators. • Specific factors include

• giving employees more responsibility to make decisions,

• more recognition for good performance, and

• making jobs more challenging.

When jobs are modified to make them more interesting, it is important for the organization and supervisor to remember that not all employees are motivated by the same things

or at the same time. • Some employees will see job modification as a way to

get them to do more for the same amount of money. • This may also be true of job rotation and job

enlargement.

Another way to make work meaningful is to give employees some contact with the people who receive and use their products or services. • Sometimes the supervisor can arrange to

have workers visit the users of the products or services.

For example, when a user of manufactured products is having trouble, a visit from employees may serve two purposes. • First, employees may be able to help the user

of the product.

• Second, employees will learn and understand more about the product from the users’ point of view.

The Pygmalion Effect

The Pygmalion effect is the direct relationship between expectations and performance. • This is similar to the well-used phrase of “self-fulfilling

prophesy.” • When a supervisor relates the message that he or she

does not expect employees to be able to accomplish a task, it is likely they won’t.

• However, if the supervisor conveys high expectations, employees are likely to succeed.

Providing rewards that are valued is very important.

The content theories of motivation indicate that a variety of rewards may motivate and that not all employees will value the same rewards at the same time.

The supervisor’s challenge is to determine what rewards will work for particular employees at particular times. • Although supervisors may not be able to control some

rewards such as wages or benefits,

• they have great freedom to administer rewards such as praise and recognition.

• Supervisors may have discretion in job assignments and additional training opportunities.

Whatever rewards the supervisor uses, they should be recognized by the employee as linked to performance. • If there is a connection, employees should be

aware of it and understand it.

• Linking rewards to the achievement of realistic objectives is a way to help employees believe they can attain desired rewards.

If a supervisor is to succeed at motivating, he or she has to remember that employees will respond in varying ways.

As much as possible the supervisor should respond to individual differences.

• Communication with employees is a necessary ingredient in learning about employees.

• Encouraging employees to participate will help the supervisor learn more about the employee.

• People also want to know how they are doing.

Feedback will provide the employee with information to help them move closer to accomplishing personal, department, and company goals.

This will also provide the supervisor with an opportunity to praise an employee.

The attention of the supervisor may also be motivating to the employee whether the feedback is positive or a corrective action.

Commissions: Payment linked to the amount of sales completed.

Commissions may be the only source of pay, such as for sales personnel who sell real estate, or it may be a portion of an employee’s pay, such as in a department store where a small commission is added to wages.