Motivation and Teams Case Study - Essay Example

Motivation and Teams Case Study Motivation and Teams Case Study Motivation refers to an inspirational feeling that enhances employee’s willingness to work hard and tirelessly. It involves a psychological force within an employee that arouses his interest, directs his attention, and causes him to persist and work intensely to achieve his work goals and objectives. The six motivation theories include; Maslow’s need hierarchy theory, Expectancy theory, Goal-setting theory, Management by objectives (MBO) theory, Equity theory and Job enrichment theory (Fargus, 2000).

Maslow’s needs hierarchy theory explains the specific needs employees are trying to satisfy through their work behaviors. Abraham Maslow argued that unsatisfied needs motivate employees to meet their needs in order to feel satisfied. The various needs include physiological needs (bonuses), security needs (job security), belongingness needs (group cohesiveness), esteem needs (promotion to senior positions), and self-actualization needs (responsibility for profitability (Fargus, 2000). After satisfaction of the physiological needs, the employee’s demand moves to security until the next higher level.

For example, an employee satisfies his physiological needs such as water, food, and clothing. After the satisfaction is met, the employee feels motivated and proceeds to satisfy the next needs. Expectancy theory explains that work motivation is a function of an employee’s belief. The managers encourage employees to believe that if they sacrifice and work hard, they will succeed. For example, an office messenger believes that he will receive reward if he performs, which is fuelled by the belief that working hard leads to high job performance (Fargus, 2000).

Goal setting theory illustrates that managers should establish goals for their employee’s, which will find use in assessing their performance. For instance, a manager who tells his staff that they have two weeks to finish processing some work motivates the employees to work harder before the expiry of that date in order to attain their objectives. Equity theory argues that employees are motivated to achieve goals after believing that they will remain rewarded fairly for their efforts. For example, two personnel working together perform effectively when their salary output is similar.

Job enrichment theory illustrates that the best way to motivate employees is to raise their responsibility over the way they function (Fargus, 2000). For instance, a subordinate staff having several responsibilities has great autonomy; hence, feeling satisfied. Finally, management by objective theory involves setting specific, challenging goals and then reviewing employee’s progress towards achieving them. For instance, a teacher is motivated when he is given high target to achieve (Fargus, 2000).

Dick’s approach in creating high performing team involved paying employees well above the industry average and offering them many benefits, hence, creating a high performing team. Dick’s managers emphasize that they require long-term commitment from employees and in return, they will receive above average pay, pension benefits, and tuition money while they work their way through the school schedule. However, Wendy’s and McDonald’s approach involved paying part-time employees minimum wage, offering no health insurance and few fringe benefits, therefore, leading to low performing team.

High-performing groups and teams have distinct characteristics. They include-very employee is working toward the same goals, team members are clear on how to function and accomplish tasks. Every team member understands both individual and team performance (Fargus, 2000). The team engages in proper discussion, and everyone receives a chance to contribute. Team members have solid trust in each other and in the team’s objectives. Finally, the team members view disagreement as a good occurrence that brings positive changes through settling on better resolutions.

ReferenceFargus, P. (2000). Measuring and improving employee motivation. London: Financial Times Prentice Hall.