Motivational practices of an organization - Essay Example

? Motivational practices of an organization Contents Contents 2 Introduction 3 Motivational Theories: Brief Overview 4 Analysis using Case Study Approach 4 Conclusion 7 Reference 8 Introduction Motivation can be defined as the external and internal factors that stimulate energy and desire in an individual to be committed towards a goal. In simple words it can be defined as an internal and (or) external drive which makes or motivates a person to act in a certain manner to achieved he desired objective. Motivation results from the interaction of unconscious and conscious factors such as desire, intensity of needs and desires; incentive or value for achieving a goal; expectations of individuals (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2010, p. 221). All these factors are the key reasons that drive an individual to behave in a certain fashion. Motivation has become an integral part of the business. The modern companies are constantly looking for new ways to recruit and retain talents. The companies also look to find out innovative means to motivate employees to get the best out the employees. Today, however many leaders try to create an effective trigger mechanism to promote a culture of self development and self-motivation; which actually brings to the company which would be in the focal point of discussion- Google Inc. Google Inc is an American multinational company that specializes in the domain of digital services and products including cloud computing, search engine, online ads. Majority of the profits of the company comes from the ad words. As on 2012 the revenue of the company was US$ 50.18 billion. The company was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998. The company has more than 30,000 employees worldwide. During the course of the different motivational strategies adopted by the study along with the organizational culture of the company would be discussed and analyzed by applying appropriate motivational theories. Motivational Theories: Brief Overview The implications of motivational aspects in various top notch organizations have made several academic researchers to come up with various theories of motivation such as the Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs; Herzberg’s two factor theory; McClelland's Theory of Motivation. Theory X and Theory Y. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory was based upon four needs such as the self actualization, esteem needs, love, safety and physiological needs. McClelland's Theory of Motivation believed that an individual have three basic motivational needs such as the achievement, affiliation and power. Herzberg’s theory of motivation focuses on two main factors. These include the result which may lead to higher levels of motivation or job satisfaction and the other set of results which may cause hindrance in the way people from being dissatisfied. Hygiene needs can be met by the results including comfortable and pleasant working conditions, effectual supervision and good relationship with peers. Theory X and Y were developed by Douglas McGregor. Theory X believed that workers are lazy and need to be supervised so that the desired results can be achieved, theory Y on the other hand advocated that workers understand the sense of responsibility and can motivate themselves to achieve the desired objectives. Analysis using Case Study Approach From the humble beginnings in the year 1998 in small garage the company has become one of the largest corporations in the world. One of the key to the success of the company has been the organizational culture. Google in well known for having an informal organizational culture. Google’s organizational philosophy says that one can be serious without a suit. The organizational philosophy also says that work should be challenging and challenge should be fun. Google does not create colossal groups. Also the company follows a pretty much flat organizational structure. There are literally no official channels of communication and hence ideas can flow from one group to another. Usually these groups are monitored by project managers. The main objective of such organizational culture is to create a self driven entrepreneurial culture. Due to the small size of the group’s sense of creativity and responsibility creeps in to the employees. Google has two of the most unique organizational cultural aspects. Google allows workers to swap teams at anytime without even consulting senior authorities. Also one of the most unusual perk offered by the company is the allowance of time. Google allows employees to spend twenty percent more time on individual projects. The company believes that the employees should not leave to pursue individual passions. Based on such analysis it can be said that management leadership and the organizational culture of the company follows the Douglas Mc-Gregory’s Y theory. Theory Y believes that employees would exercise self direction and control and commitment to achieve organizational objectives. The organizational culture of Google is an implication of such practices as it has an informational organizational culture and encourages self learning and motivation on the part of the employees. As a company Google believes in providing regards and benefits to the employees. Also the company looks to eliminate or strip away anything that gets in the way of the employees. The Company provides healthy package of fringe benefits to the employees. Also other additional facilities such as top class dining facilities, gym, laundry services, car washes, community buses, dry cleaning etc. Schmitt, the present CEO the company once said that the employees at Google would love to work not to the laundry services. In this context it can be said that Google has followed the Herzberg’s two factor theory. The company looks to focus on the various factors which would motivate the employees to be committed towards the organizational goal. Also it can be seen that the company looks to meet the hygiene needs by eliminating anything that causes hindrance in the success of the company. Apart from this along with the healthy compensation scheme Google provides best perks and rewards such as the 401k plans, insurance, vacation packages, child care programs; the list would go and on. One of the main features of the overall organizational policies of the company has been the respect for the personal lives of the employees. Google understands the importance of providing time to the family and hence as reward, the company from time to time rolls out vacation packages. In this case applying the Abraham Maslow’s theory of motivation it can be said that Google looks to fulfil the social needs of the employees. Because if an employee is not allowed to spend time with the family members; it may lead to an employee being demoralized. In continuation to the unique organizational culture of Google, it must be said due to such organizational culture many talents round the globe want to be part of the company and become a “Googler”. Google inc. believes that an employee is not being hired, because the company would empower the employees the change face of the world on the cyber space. One of the most exciting motivational procedures used by the company would most definitely be the rewards. Google believes that monetary rewards mostly definitely act as an effective motivational technique. In 2001 the company had a profit over $209,624 per employee. This was more than other tech companies which included giants like Microsoft, Apple, IBM and Intel. Google Inc. believes that the human resource of the company is the best investment and hence the company should reward the employees with the best possible pay offs. In this section McClelland's Theory of Motivation can be applied. The theory stated that the each and every individual have three basic motivational needs such as the achievement, affiliation and power. The healthy monetary benefits at Google can motivate an employee to work hard as the rewards and perks may provide a sense of achievement and affiliation. Conclusion Motivation can be defined as internal and (or) external factors that drives an individual to act in certain fashion. Form the context of the modern business motivation plays a very important role with respect to the performance of the individuals as well as the organizations. That is the very reason due to which the management of a company looks to develop an organizational culture which would motivate the employee so that the best can be extracted. Over the course of time various motivational theories such as Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs; Herzberg’s two factor theory; McClelland's Theory of Motivation has been invented. One of the best ways to analyze and apply such motivational theories would most definitely be the cyber space giant Google. The study shows all the motivational theories can be applied to various organizational strategies of the company which includes rewards and perks offered; flat organizational structure; employee empowerment programs, small project groups to encourage self responsibility and innovation; and off-course the overall organizational culture also. Google believes that the employees are the biggest investment and hence the employees need to be motivated not only for the overall performance but also for the perspective of employee retention. Reference Buchanan, D. and Huczynski, A. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Harlow, Pearson. Read More