Reasons for Low Motivation - Case Study Example

? Case study QUESTION ONE: RESONS FOR LOW MOTIVATION. James Bruce who is an employee in Ambrose Hotel is a lowly motivated employee. James feels as if he is being overworked and underpaid. Taking into consideration that he works 12 hours and gets the minimum wage, this might not be far from the truth. This is compounded by the fact that James has the potential to improve his state of affairs but cannot do so with the current organisational behaviours at play in his organization. Drawing support from the various motivation theories and research done, this paper seeks to analyse the reasons for James low motivation in the work place. This will be achieved by drawing parallel between the situation that James has found himself in and the principles driving these motivation theories According to McClelland’s theory, each employee has one of the three motivation drivers that are dominant in him or her depending on their personal aspects. Bruce’s main driving force is achievement. He would like recognition of the work he is doing at the hotel and being rewarded for it. Working twelve hours a shift requires a better pay or at least another demand since, according to Adams Equity theory, Money is not the main factor of motivation but recognition and appreciation is. Bruce’s next source of dissatisfaction in the workplace presents itself in the lack of equity in how the hotel treats its employees. Jeanette Smith, a colleague who joined the hotel at the same time as he and with the same qualifications has been sponsored to take HND in the hotel and catering. Bruce was also promised the same sponsorship during recruitment, but no follow-up has been made. Worse still, whenever he approaches the supervisor, he is put off using flimsy excuses about being busy or is told to bring the topic up the following year. This is contrary to what is advocated for in Sirota’s three-factor theory. According to Sirota, the three main factors of motivation are Equity and fairness, achievement and camaraderie. The equity and fairness aspect which is the main aspect being focussed on here suggest that all employees should be treated equally and fairly to avoid discouraging the work force. It goes on to note that promoting or in this case sponsoring one employee and leaving her equally deserving counterparts out of the program will have the effect of discouraging them. This is what makes Bruce bitter. From this incident of sponsoring Jeanette and leaving Bruce out despite the promise made to him during the interview, it is evident that the organisation does not keep its promises and commitments. Theory X/Y as advanced by McGregor classifies such as an organisation in the X class. Organisation in the X class usually withheld likes (the sponsorship) and did not deliver on promises. The organisation is not concerned about the staff welfare and morale and is instead focussed on one goal, which was to reap maximum benefits from the customers. When Bruce was summoned to the HR department, he was informed that ‘the customers were always right’ the implication of this statement is that the organisation does not care about it employees at all and is willing to subject them to all manners of ill treatment if only to make a profit. Another characteristic of theory X organisation and indeed the Ambrose hotel is being poor listener since they did not listen to what Bruce had to say about the incidence. This kind of organisations issue threats to get things done, and Bruce was treated no differently. The organisation should have focussed on how to avoid recurrence of the incidence rather the blaming Bruce for the whole incidence. This would save them potential customer and employee loss. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, the ideal workplace should provide an individual with the opportunity to advance, in their career in relation to levels four and 5 of his theory. Ambrose hotel was instead curtailing Bruce from advancement through overworking him and withholding the promised sponsorship. An employee is able to deliver on the organisational goals when he feels that he has the right skills to carry out his responsibilities. Bruce is also having problems with his personal life. This is backed up by the fact that he has not paid his rent yet, which is on level one of the hierarchy of needs according to Maslow. Herzberg, in his motivation- hygiene theory, stated that man has two major needs. One is to avoid pain, and the other one is to grow psychologically. The hygiene factors, which in Bruce’s case will include company policy, personal life, and relationships with his supervisor, have to be rectified first before he can move to the growth part. Bruce is slowly turning into an alcoholic from all the stress in the workplace. His personal life and financial life is at stake since he has not even paid his rent yet. However, even if this were to be rectified, he would be satisfied temporarily. He would embark on the true motivators, which include recognition for both education and workplace performance, room for advancement through sponsorship and finding joy in his work, which is the ultimate prize. QUESTION 2: ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR EVIDENT IN THIS SCENARIO Apart from motivation of employees, there are other factors of organisational behaviour at play in this scenario. Looking at the external factors, customers are not given the adequate attention, which prompts the customer in this case study to attract attention through clicking fingers and whistling. The HR policies laid down are not very sound with the department failing to listen to Bruce’s other side of the story. The leadership skills of both the supervisor and the HR personnel are also demanding. They do not set good a good example to employees and do not accommodate nor appreciate their concerns. They should pay more attention to employees and try to create a good working relationship through dialogue, but this is not happening. The hotel has adopted the autocratic style of management whereby, the top managers are the one who make decisions without regard for the employees input or feelings. This is best illustrated by how Bruce was treated when he started demanding the promised scholarship. The management does not look into the individual perception of the employees. The organisation has not come up with any measures of counselling the employees to be able to cope with the stress emanating from the workplace. Their personality disorders have not been taken care off. Bruce who has turned to alcoholism to deal with the workplace stress illustrates this. He is also short tempered, but the management either does not know this or chooses to ignore it. The organisation has adopted the bureaucratic structure of organisation, which is most common with tall organisations. Much as, this method has advantages, it also has major disadvantages. Since the top managers make decisions, the managers feel that their input is not valued. They become indifferent to organisational goals and this result in high employee turnover. Read More