Week 8:Motivating Employees

MonashBusiness & Economics

2

1. Draw a mind map of week 7’s topic– Define leadership– Earlier theories of leadership– Fiedler’s contingency leadership theories – Contemporary view to leadership– Five sources of power

2. Grade Week 7’s self-reflections 3. Any Qs?

Block 1. Mind map, self-reflections and inquiries

− Define leaders and leadership − Differentiate between trait, behavioural and

contingency theories of leadership, identifying the context in which these theories were developed

− Investigate the need for and value of team leadership − Explore sources from which leaders derive power − Understand some of the issues pertaining to

leadership in the 21st century

Last week: Functions of Management (L)

– Define motivation – Understand the difference between content (what) and

process(how) theories of motivation – Consider money as a motivation tool – Explore current issues in motivation – Identify what leaders and managers can do in practice

to motivate their employees

This week: Motivating employees

5

Google…searching for? (pp.641-642) https://

www.google.com/about/careers/lifeatgoogle/working-at-google-new-york.html

In groups of 3-4, develop & justify your answers for: 1. What school of thought on human motivation best explains Google’s current strategy of

motivating its large workforce? 2. What would it be like to work at Google? Is the work environment created by Google

attractive to you as a potential recruit? 3. How is Google using money as a motivator? Has it been successful with its current

strategy on the use of money as a motivator? 4. Despite the best efforts of Google it is struggling to retain some of its most talented

employees. Why is that?5. What are the biggest challenge facing Google in motivating its current employees as well

as retaining their most skilled employees? 6. If you were in charge of managing and motivating a group of employees at Google, how

would you keep your employees motivated?

Block 2. Illustrative case study

6

Part A: Motivation Exercise

1. Are the group selections more reflective of motivators or hygiene factors? 2. What implications do the class findings raise for students in terms of their future careers?

Part B: Class discussion on motivating culturally diverse employees Staff engagement in the Asia-Pacific region, P. 613

1. How is motivation practiced and understood in your country of origin? 2. Do the four theories we covered in the lecture accurately explain how people are

motivated in your culture?

Block 3. Class activity

7

Short Answer Question (5 marks each)

1. Discuss the motivation implications of equity theory;

2. Briefly explain the challenges managers face in motivating unique

groups of workers.

Block 4: Exam preparation

8

1. Discuss the motivation implications of equity theory

Equity theory proposes that employees perceive what they get from a job situation (outcome) in

relation to what they put into it (inputs) and then compare their inputs-outputs ratio with those of

relevant others (referents). The referents are the persons, systems or selves against which

individuals compare themselves to assess equity. Equity theory recognises that individuals are

concerned with their absolute rewards as well as the relationship of those rewards to what

others receive. If employees perceive inequity, they will act in different ways to correct the

situation.

Marking template for Q1

Defining equity theory Briefly explaining motivation implications of equity theory

Overall quality

0.5 marks 4 marks 0.5 mark

9

2. Briefly explain the challenges managers face in motivating unique groups of workers.

Motivating a diverse workforce requires managers to think in terms of flexibility. Employees have different

personal needs and goals that they are hoping to satisfy through their job. A diverse array of rewards is

needed to motivate employees with such varied needs. Offering options such as compressed work-

weeks, flexible work hours, job sharing and telecommuting can be some solutions. There are also

particular groups that may offer special challenges. For example, special challenges in motivating

professionals include their long-term commitment to their field of expertise, to which they will display

greater loyalty than to any one employer. Money and promotions are typically low on professionals’

priority list. Contingent workers, on the other hand, lack the security that permanent employees have and

do not identify with or display much commitment to the organisation. Temporary workers also typically

lack benefits such as superannuation. Low-skilled minimum-wage workers typically have limited

education and skills, therefore, offering higher pay is usually not an option.

Marking template for Q2

Listing at least 2 unique groups of workers

Briefly explaining the challenges managers face in motivating such unique groups of workers

Overall quality

0.5 marks (0.125*4) Up to 4 marks (i.e., 2 marks per group)

0.5 mark

10

1. Complete MCQ for week 9;2. Complete the weekly self-reflection for Week 8: Motivating

employees3. Read the “Starbucks—Controlling the coffee experience?” Case on

pages 371-372 in the text book4. Individual essay—Part II due next week

Assignment reminder for NEXT WEEK