Motivating employees - Coursework Example

Motivating Employees The current essay initially required viewing the Video Case en d “Motivating Employees – Empowered and Appreciated” and to address the following questions: (1) According to Maslows hierarchy, which basic needs did Shanks old boss fail to meet? Explain why the needs have not been met. What could be done to meet these missing needs? (2) Use the Expectancy Theory and/or the Equity Theory of motivation to explain how feeling underpaid might affect the work of a Flight 001 associate and what a manager can do to increase the employees motivation. (3) Based on Herzberg does Two Factor Theory, what hygiene factors can you identify that are being met within Flight 001s work environment based on comments made by employees in the video?

How are they being met? Is Flight 001s work environment meeting any motivation factors? If so, which ones and how? Motivating Employees(1) According to Maslows hierarchy, which basic needs did Shanks old boss fail to meet? Explain why the needs have not been met. What could be done to meet these missing needs? According to Shank, her employment with previous companies manifested practices which were actually demotivating in terms of treating employees like numbers that can be replaced anytime.

She emphasized that being respected, being taken seriously, and being listened to are considered very crucial. In this regard, using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Shank’s old boss failed to meet her esteem and status needs, which are the desires for self-respect, or self-esteem. These include the desires for achievement, confidence, independence, and freedom; as well as reputation, prestige, recognition, attention, importance and appreciation. For Shank, these needs have not been previously met because of the organizations’ utter disregard for a person’s worth as a person, and not as a number, as alleged.

To address these missing needs, management of these previous organizations should provide positive recognition and importance to their personnel by acknowledging good performance through rewards, appreciating inputs, promotions and recognizing exemplary work, as needed.(2) Use the Expectancy Theory and/or the Equity Theory of motivation to explain how feeling underpaid might affect the work of a Flight 001 associate and what a manager can do to increase the employees motivation. The Expectancy Theory states that motivation is a product of three variables: namely, “valence which represents how much as person wants a reward; expectancy, which refers to a person’s estimate of the probability that effort will result in effective performance; and instrumentality, which relates to a person’s estimate that performance will lead to receiving the reward” (Martires & Fule, 2000, p. 22). Feeling underpaid might affect the work of an associate in terms of perceiving that the effort exerted leading to a level of expected performance is not appropriately compensated and therefore, there is this feeling of being short changed or not being properly remunerated for the particular job.

In this case, the associated would feel demotivated and would thereby underperform to justify the low payment being given. The manager could simply assess the job through the associate’s description of responsibilities and structure the pay according to the job requirements and performance. The manager could motivate the associate through increasing the level of pay commensurate to the responsibilities, as expected, and provide appropriate rewards and incentives when the employee exhibits exemplary performance.(3) Based on Herzberg does Two Factor Theory, what hygiene factors can you identify that are being met within Flight 001s work environment based on comments made by employees in the video?

How are they being met? Is Flight 001s work environment meeting any motivation factors? If so, which ones and how? The hygiene factors being met within the Flight 001’s work environment are: the owners acknowledging personnel’s human frailty and natural tendencies to commit error though a learning curve process and give appropriate encouragement; the ability to interact with customers and colleagues by building rapport and creating an environment of fun; supporting diversity in people hired; and where the owners are genuinely committed and hand-on in determining the needs of both the organization and the clients.

These factors are being met through the holistic support and encouragement of the owners. The work environment support motivational factors such as providing a sense of achievement, recognition, and a chance for advancement through training, potentials for personal and professional growth. The hygiene factors are supported by motivational factors, again through the owners’ acknowledgement and recognition that the hygiene factors should be focused on to prevent dissatisfaction of employees. At the same token, since the owners acknowledge the need to motivate their associates, they also focus on motivational factors to make them achieve job satisfaction and a sense of fulfillment.

ReferencesMartires, C., & Fule, G. (2000). Management of Human Behavior in Organizations. Quezon City: National Bookstore.Verballink.com. (N.d.). MotivatingEmployees_512K. Retrieved August 12, 2011, fromhttp://vizedhtmlcontent.next.ecollege.com/CurrentCourse/ADA/MotivatingEmployees_transcript.pdf