Advanced HealthCare Management - Assignment Example

Manager’s Role in Motivation al Affiliation Manager’s Role in Motivation As stipulated in the book written by Burns, Bradley, & Weiner (2012), the manager’s role is crucial in the motivational process. It was explicitly stated that “managers should take an active role in systematically assessing the motivation of their employees and coworkers” (p. 96). One therefore strongly believes that managers should take a proactive stance in overseeing the aspect of motivation through the four basic tasks of managers: planning, organizing, directing and controlling.

This means that through initially identifying the needs and drives that make employees perform their responsibilities, managers should then design appropriate motivational strategies to assist these employees towards accomplishing identified goals.Likewise, it was emphasized that since employees could manifest and assume needs and drives that could change over the course of time, the more that managers should be aware that any previously designed motivational program might need updating or revisions.

For instance, in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it was specified that “people want to satisfy various needs that can be arranged in a hierarchy of importance” (Burns, Bradley, & Weiner, 2012, p. 98). And, according to Martires, “a need ceases to be potent when it is met and man strives to satisfy the next rung of needs” (Martires, 2004, p. 38). This simply means that if workers needs that need to be satisfied as initially assessed by the manager to be predominantly physiological needs (or receiving a base salary), when this has been satisfied, the manager should re-design the motivational program of the organization to earmark satisfying the next level needs – which is security needs (Burns, Bradley, & Weiner, 2012).

In addition, it was also disclosed that “managers should periodically assess motivation and performance, taking into account the occupational, career-stage and professional factors” (Burns, Bradley, & Weiner, 2012, p. 96), which were considered as important types of individual and situational differences. To enable the manager to make a comprehensive and accurate assessment, it is therefore part of their role to conduct the following activities: “informal interviews with employees and coworkers in which open-ended questions are asked about individuals’ needs, motives, perceptions, and values” (Burns, Bradley, & Weiner, 2012, p. 96). This could be challenging since some organizations have employees who come and go; meaning, the hiring and firing (or retirement of people) contribute to the difficulty of making regular assessments and designing appropriate strategies which would match all of the employees’ needs and drives.

Overall, the role that the managers play in the motivational process is seen to be dynamic and multidimensional since the assessment of employees; in conjunction with discerning the need to adapt and adjust the motivational program to fit the needs of various employees could be very challenging. The ever changing internal and external environment as well as the types of individual and situational differences contribute to the challenge. Thus, it takes a lot of skills, talent, competencies, and knowledge on motivational as well as interpersonal theories and applications on the part of the managers to be able to undertake this particular proactive role in the motivational process.

ReferencesBurns, L. B., Bradley, E. H., & Weiner, B. J. (2012). Shortell and Kaluzny’s health care management: Organization design and behavior . Clifton Park, NY: Delmar.Martires, C. (2004). Human Behavior in Organizations. Quezon City: National Bookstore.