Motivating Employees - Coursework Example

 Motivating employees Motivation of employees in any given organization helps create and maintain profitability and productivity. As the new Health Director at Kaluyu Memorial hospital, it is very critical to examine the factors that demotivate the employees and work on restoring motivation. This comes after months of observation whereby the character and behavior of the employees show that they are not motivated at all. Similarly, an analysis of how Maslow’s model of motivation will be used to motivate them as well as the best communication structure for maximum employee motivation and satisfaction are also considered. (Lipman, 2013) asserts spotting demotivation and addressing it in the early stages helps encourage and satisfy employees and also help retain the best talent for increased productivity. From observations, most of the employees in Kaluyu Memorial Hospital feel undervalued by their supervisors and managers. Many nurses and doctors especially in the lower grades just work for the sake of their wages but not for the Hospital that’s why they always look forward to finishing their shifts and go home. These guys need to be recognized in terms of their efforts and this will help increase their commitment. It has also been noticed that there has not been a good working relationship between junior nurses and doctors and their managers. That is why some of them act as always scared when facing their supervisors, for instance, they deliver files into offices and leave in hurry. This shows that the leadership in Kaluyu hospital is not one of the best. Poor leadership demoralizes employees and affects the outlook of the whole team. As the new director, it is very crucial to ensure that managers and supervisors are all inclusive, flexible and that there is a good channel of communication and feedback. Poor leadership creates low morale on the part of the employees. (Lipman, 2013). You find that many of the doctors and nurses may want to succeed but once they make mistakes, they are criticized and dubbed a failures and this lowers their morale hence their commitment. Kaluyu memorial hospital will embark on giving personalized thank you notes to exceptional staff members, giving timely feedback on exceptional work, giving gifts as well as organizing random luncheons and night outs for the celebration of good work. Lack of career growth and development can also be one of the factors that demotivate the employees of Kaluyu Memorial Hospital. From observations and assessments conducted, it has been noticed that the hospital has been offering very few regular career training and development programs aimed at motivating the employees. Lack of these opportunities brings a sense of stagnancy in terms of skills and knowledge. The hospital management will get regular feedback on the best training programs to be undertaken depending on the majority vote. From research and observations, it is very clear that the employees of Kaluyu can be motivated using the basis of the Maslow’s theory of motivation whereby people are pushed into action by certain motivation factors at different levels and times. Maslow’s model of motivation asserts that humans have 5 basic needs that are categorized into physiological needs, security needs, love needs, self-esteem needs and self actualization needs. (Maslow, 2013). As per the model, these needs must be satisfied in the above order starting with the physiological needs. It is the responsibility of the new director to adopt this in Kaluyu Hospital and start with salary and allowance increment. It has to be noted that one need must be satisfied before moving on to the next. After getting some positive feedback on the physiological needs, then the security needs will be considered whereby the working environment will be enhanced, increase pension levels and other benefits as well as ensure that every nurse and doctor is well represented union. (Maslow, 2013) puts it very clear that team work, good working relationships and friendships in and out of work are very critical for increased motivation. For Instance, to avoid the issue of junior staff having that fear factor when approaching a senior staff, it is very necessary to ensure that some managers are deprived of certain powers which make them threaten the junior staff and this will create a sense of belonging. After all this has been achieved, issues of promotions, new job titles and assignments will now be taken care o. Finally, creativity in the job place will also be encouraged through offering of some challenging work and rewarding the best performers. Effective communication structure that ensures that all members of staff get their intended information and feedback also motivates employees especially those in the lower levels in the chain of communication. For instance, as the new health director, communication structure will be a key feature in the new method of governance whereby key features such as listening, speaking and confirmation of what has been spoken will prevail. A good example is that when there is a communication from the CEO, the lowest grade nurse and even the security guards will have to get the message and give feedback through the line of communication. Thus, new clear and precise lines of communication will be established and all staff will be required to adhere to them. When that security guard at the gate gets the intended message in the official ways he or she will feel respected by the hospital and this improves their morale and motivation and thus increased commitment to their work. This also tends to do away with rumors that if not combated could lead to morale and motivation problems (Frey & Osterloh 2013). As clearly indicated by (Frey & Osterloh 2013), the new communication structure will be highly interactive and will base much on feedback so as to increase motivation and also help the top management make informed decisions. New clear lines of both horizontal and vertical communication in the hospital will be made available to ever member of staff and those who hesitate in following them will be subjected to disciplinary action. For instance, it has been noted that many departments have not been communicating well and have not maintained good communication structure. In addition to the structure, various means of communication will also be set in place, for example use of memos, emails, face to face, mobile phones among others will also be used depending on factors such as the urgency of the message. References Frey, B. & Osterloh. M (2013). Successful Management by Motivation: Balancing Intrinsic and Extrinsic Incentives. Berlin: Springer Science & Business Media Lipman, V. (2013). 5 Easy Ways To Motivate - And Demotivate – Employees. http://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2013/03/18/5-easy-ways-to-motivate-and-demotivate-employees/ Retrieved onMar 18, 2013 . Maslow, A. H. (2013). A Theory of Human Motivation. New York: Star Publishing LLC. . Read More