Motivate the Know-How: A Study of Motivation Strategy for Expert Employee and Senior Staff - Essay Example

Motivate the Know-How: A Study of Motivation Strategy for Expert Employee and Senior Staff Table of Contents I.Introduction 2 II.Study Programme Plan 3 III.Investigation 4 i.Research Strategies 4 ii.Research Methods 5 IV.Critical Analysis and Discussion 6 V.Research Findings 12 VI.Conclusion 16 References 19 Bibliography 22 I. Introduction In the words of Dwight D. Eisenhower, motivation is defined as “the ability to get a person to do what you want done, when you want it, in a way you want it done, because that person wants to do it” (Garoyan & Mohn, 1985). This definition supports the premise that the process of motivating employees becomes easier when they have a clear understanding of the goals and objectives and when the management ensures that their basic requirements are satisfied. However, it has been observed more than often that the application of power or fear does not serve as a sustainable motivating factor. In order to align human resources with the business goals of an organisation the membership of the employees should necessarily be voluntary. For the purpose of forging deliberate as well as spontaneous membership, the management should efficiently motivate the employees. It has been seen in the organisational context that different employees have different needs and hence there is no unique motivational tool that can be applied to everyone. Motivation remains largely a psychological force on which various aspects such as employee-behaviour, and the levels of effort as well as persistence that employees exhibit, depend (Lauby, 2005). While efforts refer to the hard work that the employees perform in order to manifest organisational goals, the levels of persistence determine whether they give up or keep trying out of tenacity. The present research aims at analysing and evaluating the measures that managements may adopt in order to motivate the expert employee and senior staff, who have supposedly climbed up their career paths. These employees, on account of their seniority and expertise, do not need their basic needs, viz. physiological, safety and security, to be catered to. However, they have higher motivational needs such as those relating to social, esteem and self-actualisation. As their needs are more aesthetic, these groups of employees should be motivated in a fashion that they draw inspiration from the work that they perform. The aim of this research will be to understand, through extensive literature review, the motivational factors that stimulate the know-how of the above-mentioned groups of employees and subsequently enhance their performance. Owing to the analytical approach that will be adopted to construct the report, a study programme plan will be provided. Following this, there will be a comprehensive investigation framework comprising the research strategies and the research methods. As the topic calls for scholarly views and opinions, significant stress will be given on literature review wherein books as well as journals will be referred to. Gradually the report will move into the analysis of the topic and then attempts will be made to discuss and evaluate the topic. After augmenting the discussion with relevant arguments, the findings will be compiled in a concise manner. Finally the report will be concluded by incorporating personal ideas generated during the course of the research. II. Study Programme Plan It is very important to prepare a proper plan before starting a research project. Based on this plan the entire research will be conducted. Lack of a proper plan increases the risk of not achieving the research objectives. A properly written plan is required to conduct the research in a systematic way. This research is planned in such a way that the study objectives can be properly achieved. Firstly a proper research strategy is designed. The main component of this strategy is the research method. It is crucial to select the right method of research to achieve the desired objectives. There are several factors that should be kept in mind before taking the decision regarding the choice of research method. Since collection and analysis of relevant data are the main ingredients of any research, most of the factors that are likely to influence the research are related to the gathering and study of data. Some of these factors are data collection method, accessibility of data, quality of data, time and cost associated with it. Apart from research method there are other important factors that are addressed by the research strategy. These are research questions, research approaches, time horizon etc. All these factors should be addressed while making the research strategy. Once the research strategy is developed, the actual research will start immediately. Firstly the relevant data will be collected. There are two types of data, they are – primary data and secondary data. Secondary data will be mainly required for this research. They will be collected from relevant books, scholarly articles, journals and previously taken interviews. Internet will be thoroughly researched in order to access all these sources of data. Online libraries are helpful while finding out relevant books. Once all the relevant data are collected they will be analysed. Since data are secondary in nature analysis will be of qualitative type. Findings of the analysis will be properly discussed in the final report of the research. Finally a conclusion will be drawn on the basis of the analysis and findings. III. Investigation i. Research Strategies A research strategy is referred to the plan of action which enables the researcher to conduct the research in a systematic way rather than randomly (University of North Carolina. n.d.) Strategies are adopted regarding research objectives, research questions, research approach and research method. Each of these components needs to be properly developed. Research objectives are referred to the goals and objectives that are needed to be achieved through the research. In case of this research objective is to find out the ways to motivate senior employees in an organisation. Senior employees refer to the middle to top level management of any organisation. As far as the research question is concerned it describes the research problem that need to be solved by the research. In this research principle question that is answered is ‘how to motivate expert employees and senior staffs?’ There are two types of research approaches, inductive and deductive. In deductive research approach initially the research remain general in nature. It become more specific in nature as the work goes on. On the other hand in case of inductive research approach research starts with specific observations and then become general in nature with the passage of time. Deductive approach sometimes called as top-down approach as it starts with general theories and ends with specific results (Burney, 2008). As far as this research is concerned deductive approach is followed. Since this research is regarding the motivation of the senior employees, the research starts with relevant theories of motivation and as it goes on it becomes more specific. Strategies are also adopted regarding research method. Since it is the most important part of the research, the details of it are explained in separate section. ii. Research Methods Research method is referred to the way in which the research is conducted. Generally any research work starts with the data collection. There are two types of data, primary data and secondary data. Primary data are those that are collected directly from the sample of the research. There are several tools to collect primary data. Among them questionnaire is one of the most widely. The sources from which primary data are collected called primary sources. They are original in nature and hence most reliable. Apart from questionnaire, face to face interviews are also taken to collect the primary data. Collection of primary data involve more time and cost. On the other hand secondary data are collected from sources like books, articles, journals, web contents etc. These sources are called secondary sources. These sources are available on internet, and at different libraries. If primary data and secondary data are compared it will be found that the first one is more reliable than the second one. However secondary data are easier to collect and collection process involve lesser cost as compared to primary data. As far as this research is concerned secondary data are mainly collected. They are mainly collected from various online journals, online books, relevant web contents and scholarly articles. There are several books and scholarly articles regarding motivation theories are available on the internet. All these books and articles that are found to be relevant to the topic of research are gone through in order to gather the data. Once these data are collected they are qualitatively analysed in order to achieve the desired objective of the research. IV. Critical Analysis and Discussion Motivation is indispensable to the organisational context owing to the human element associated with business activities. It is a noteworthy fact that employees differ from each other. The fact that no two employees are similar necessitates organisations to identify the characteristics that make the employees unique. It has been suggested that the approach of organisations should be developmental while motivating employees and should pay “attention to their individual capabilities and requirements” (Hiam, 1999). This will preclude the chances of resistance. When it comes to motivating employees, the management should incorporate a personal touch to their efforts, and simultaneously focus on three aspects, viz. “competence level, commitment, and maturity” (Hiam, 1999). Assessing the competence levels of all employees, and especially those of senior employees, is important because they specify the tasks that are assigned to them. It is also important to evaluate the KSAs (knowledge, skills and abilities) of the incumbents as they indicate the degree to which the employees are putting in relevant efforts for the accomplishment of their tasks. Management decisions come to crossroads when it has to be identified whether the employees are experts, intermediates or beginners. Such decisions are critical because “some of the beginners may be experienced employees who’ve been with the organisation for years” (Hiam, 1999), and hence it won’t matter whether or not they have relevant expertise in other areas. Quite obviously the matter of concern under such circumstances would be to identify the levels of expertise that such incumbents have at specific tasks. Hence, the supervisors and/or the top management should take the pains to “inform them about the new task, direct their initial efforts, and develop their competency” (Hiam, 1999). Seniority may be attained by employees by virtue of either the number of years that they have been serving the organisation, or their position in the organisational hierarchy. Irrespective of the category that they belong to, senior staff may be substantially motivated by delegation of additional responsibilities and recognition. These interventions generally cater to their self-esteem needs and provide them with the zeal to perform optimally. A looming problem that most of the high performance organisations encounter in the face of stiff competition is that “experienced, valuable employees lose the motivation and commitment they once felt, causing a decline in their performance” (Daft, 2008). It is a widely accepted fact that the secret ingredient of organisational success is enthusiastic as well as motivated employees. Correlating the topic at hand with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it can be seen that employees who are positioned at the peak of experience curve do not generally crave for base-level necessities, viz. physiological and security needs. They are increasingly concerned with aesthetic needs which can be best satisfied through self-esteem and self-actualisation. Moreover, subordination and coercion also prove to be detrimental for their performance and commitment. Hence the best route that organisations can choose in order to motivate them is through self-motivation, whereby the experienced employees draw inspiration from their work. From the figure appended below, it can be observed that ‘achievement’, ‘working with others’, and ‘recognition’ are most significant factors that determine the job satisfaction of employees. These are the factors that enhance the feel-good aspect of an employee’s association with his organisation and in turn better his experiences pertaining to quality of work life (QWL). These are the same factors that add fillip to employee-motivation and augment their commitment to their work as well as the organisation. Hence motivation plays a vital role in reducing employee-turnover, as well as the costs related to human resources (Bomze, 1997). Figure 1: Factors that Motivate Employees (Source: Rob & Myatt, n.d.) It has been observed that ‘achievement’ motivates senior managers the most while it doesn’t have similar effects on managers and non-managers. Employees at the top tend to push themselves harder in order to accomplish goals and they also emphasise to a great extent on extending help to others. These observations lead to the idea that senior managerial employees are significantly motivated by “pursuing a people management role” (Rob & Myatt, n.d.). Another set of observations reveal that employees under the age of forty years view ‘recognition’ to be the chief motivating factor as they focus more on the progression of their careers. These employees mostly belong to the middle-management cadre and need regular feedback in order to feel that they are valuable organisational resources and to be sure whether they are professionally correct. In contrast to these data, older employees do not attach acute importance to recognition, but those above the age of fifty years are found to be “most motivated by actually enjoying what they do” (Rob & Myatt, n.d.). During the course of research it has been observed that working relationships also act as vital motivators and in turn influence teambuilding activities. Irrespective of the employees’ position in the organisational hierarchy recognition as well as positive strokes is indispensable tools that help in motivating them (Zweig, 1991). The integral tenet of human resource strategies necessitates the top management to take initiatives that ensure constant motivation of employees. In the context of the United Kingdom, it is seen that corporate spending on training and development of employees is huge. The primary reason behind this phenomenon is that the organisations believe training to be a retention tool. However, the major problem with such a decision is that most of the training activities are of inadequate value as well as relevance to the business objectives. It can be suggested in this context that organisations should strategically blend training initiatives with organisational learning (OL) and should realize the fact that “the best training is done at work – the best teachers are not trainers, they are talented people doing the job that others are learning to do, with the time and inclination to help others along” (Mackay, 2007). These initiatives will enhance the involvement of experienced and senior employees and will increase their responsibilities, and in turn will motivate them substantially. Utilization of internal resources will also augment the levels of harmonization among employees and better the chances of holistic alignment of the processes and operations with the organisational goals. A sustainable strategy to support organisational learning as well the motivation of senior employees is providing relevant training in order to develop them into supervisors. For this purpose, senior as well as expert middle managers may be trained in TQM (total quality management) so that their competency levels are enhanced (Harrison, 1992). As senior employees who have been star performers for a significant portion of their career, are invaluable assets for any organisation, they should be encouraged to “share their expertise with other employees” particularly because of the fact that most of these employees “are delighted to have finally been recognized for their virtuoso performance” (Spitzer, 1995). Owing to the fact that senior employees are experience-rich resources, any strategy that aims at motivating them should also aim at enriching the organisation through this attempt. Mentoring proves to a vital avenue to manifest this outcome. With reference to the United Kingdom, it has been suggested that “employers need to understand that the employment of senior people has its advantages” (Gulyás, n.d.). Figure 2: Motivational Interdependence (Source: Greeno, 2006) The figure appended above (Figure 2) describes the interdependence of the different levels of motivation that are generally in practice within an organisation. The various concepts of motivation, i.e. the individual motivation theory (propounded by Covey), the team motivation theory (propounded by Blanchard), and the organisation motivation theory (put forward by Senge) need to be overlapped at the zone of motivational interdependence in order to manifest holistic objectives. Efficient strategies formulated to motivate senior employees should capitalise on the fact that these experienced incumbents play an important role in the zone of overlap and may extend their expertise as well as people management skills to enhance all the three types of motivation. As the senior employees do not crave much for monetary rewards, organisations should stroke their egos in such a way that their sense of self-respect is not hurt and they do not feel as though the management is doing any favour to them. In spite of this, managements should ensure that the post-retirement life of senior employees is secured and for this purpose they should endow them with healthy benefits that will cover their lifestyle as well as medical needs. Knowledge of such benefits will further motivate the senior employees and lengthen their association with the organisations. When it comes to the motivation of expert employees who are yet to attain seniority, managements should see to it that their knowledge quotients are incrementally enhanced through training and development as well as mentoring. The expert employees who belong mostly to the middle as well as senior management cadres are more concerned with their career enrichment and hence in-house training modules should be extensively administered to augment their KSAs and in turn motivating them further to contribute optimally towards organisational success. However, external consultation, which may at times turn out to be costly, may also be sought for specialised training needs. Performance appraisal followed by enhancement of job-responsibilities tends to motivate performers and hence should be used as a strategic tool by the management to inspire the incumbents that are being discussed in this report. Middle level managers should be considered as one of the most important group of people for the overall performance of the organisation. As a result they need to be properly motivated. Moreover it is often observed that middle level management includes some senior employees who are more experience as compared to some of the top level mangers. It might have so happened that these employees could not reach the top management due to lack of expertise. These employees can be motivated by making them more confident and giving them more opportunities to make decisions regarding the key issues of the organisation. V. Research Findings Motivation is one of key aspect that has great impact over the individual performance and hence on the organisational performance. It is often said that employees must be motivated in order to deliver best of their performance. However in practice, management especially the middle and top management must be more motivated as compared to their employees. This is mainly because it is the management that will motivate the employees. Generally management of a traditional organisation consists of middle and top level managers. Highly motivated top and senior level managers provide direction, leadership and help the organisation to achieve its desired objectives. Over the years several researches have been conducted various researches to find out various factors that are likely to work as motivating factors for the senior managers. It is found that achievement is the most important motivating factors for the senior employees. Apart from achievement there are other motivating factors like recognition, ‘working with others’, financial reward, empowerment, helping others, interesting and varied work, excellent working environment etc. It is found that almost seventy five per cent of senior staffs are motivated by the achievement, whereas middle level managers are found to be motivated by their individual achievement. It is also found that most of the senior managers love to work with others and they consider it as one of the most important motivating factors for them. Recognition is another key motivating factor. However it is more important in case of middle level managers rather than the top level managers. Various researches show that people under the age of forty work hard to get recognition. According to experts motivating factors differ from individual to individual. This is mainly because different individual has different goals and objectives in his or her life. As a result a factor that motivates individual X might not motivate individual Y. In case of senior staffs needs vary with the present status of their career and hence motivating factors also vary. It is found to be an important fact that organisations while motivating their senior employees need to first identify the different motivating factors of for each and every senior staffs. Another crucial factor that needs to be considered by the organisations at the time of motivating their senior staffs is the level of expertise they have. It is often found that an employee is senior by his or her experience but not have the desired or expected level of expertise. Organisations are generally found to be in critical situation when they need to address the expertise level of a senior employee at the time of deciding on the motivating factors. Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’ model is widely used to find out the motivating factors for senior employees. According to this model there are five different types of needs that motivate people. These are physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness and love needs, esteem needs and self actualisation needs (Georgia Perimeter College. n.d.) The first three needs are not relevant in case of senior staffs. This is mainly because usually senior employees have already spent most their professional life. They have satisfied all their physiological needs, safety needs and love and belongingness needs. As a result the rest two needs work as the main motivating factors for the senior employees in any organisation. Employees who are senior by their experience but working at the middle level management try to satisfy their esteem needs first. They try to work hard for their personal achievement. They seek respect and recognition from others through their performance. On the other hand senior employees who are working at the top level in the organisation try to satisfy the last need in the Maslow’s model i.e. self actualisation needs. By satisfying self-actualisation needs, top level managers try to satisfy the needs of living up to their full potential. They want to be what they can be. It is found that self-actualisation needs can be satisfied through self motivation. In other words it can be said that people at top management must find their own motivating factors during the course of their work. In such situation role of organisation should be key as the people who are working at middle or lower level can help the top management people in order to identify their own motivating factors. It is already mentioned that a significant number of top management employees get motivated while working with other motivating staffs. As a result the concept of self motivation is very much relevant in the context of motivation of senior employees. It is often found that senior employees are working at the middle level management in the organisation. Middle level managers act as a bridge between the top management and the ground level employees. They are found to be playing the most challenging part in the organisation over the years. They are considered as the powerhouse of any business (Cavanagh, 2010) As a result it is very important to motivate these middle level managers. It is found from various researches that there are several ways of motivating the senior employees who are part of middle management in the organisation. First of all there must be mutual trust among these managers. Top management must ensure that middle level management feel confident while they are making any decision. Another way of motivating middle level managers is continuous appreciation. It is found that money is not the best option to motivate a senior manager as they have already satisfied the first three needs (physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness and love needs) of Maslow’s hierarchy model. As a result they look for more recognition which can be given through proper appreciation. Middle level managers who are meeting their objectives on a continuous basis should be considered for any vacant position in the top management. They should be given more flexibility and opportunity to make decisions that are vital for the overall performance of the company. This will certainly motivate them to perform well in future as this will help them to satisfy their esteem needs. It is found that most of top management employees are very close to their official retirement age. Quite obviously they are likely to be concerned about the post retirement period. As a result if organisation can provide some significant benefits to those employees who are about to retire within two-three years, then they will be motivated in the last phase of their career. Monitory benefits would not be able to motivate the top management; as a result organisations can give some special responsibilities to them after their retirement. They can be re-recruited as ‘chief mentor’ in the organisation where they have spent most of their professional life. VI. Conclusion As has been pointed out by the report, motivation is indispensable to the organisational context owing to the human element associated with business activities. The initiatives that are adopted by organisations in order to motivate their employees generally differ from one another owing to the fact that no two employees are similar. Hence the organisations should devote efforts to identify the characteristics that make the employees unique and subsequently take necessary steps for motivating the different groups of employees characterised by specific spectra of needs. Review of scholarly literature has revealed that organisations should also identify the individual requirements as well as the capabilities of employees as they are invaluable resources. This in turn will help managements in formulating motivational strategies and thus will preclude the chances of resistance and employee turnover. Moreover literature review has also pointed at the necessity of incorporating a personal touch to the motivational efforts and simultaneously focussing on three aspects which are identified as competence level, maturity, and commitment. It is also necessary for organisations to evaluate the KSAs (knowledge, skills and abilities) of the incumbents as they indicate the degree to which the employees are putting in relevant efforts for the accomplishment of their tasks. Motivation is one of the most important factors that influence the individual as well as the organisational performance. Over the years several researches have been carried out by the experts with the objective of identifying the important factors that motivate employees to improve their performance on a continuous basis. This research is all about the motivating factors for the senior employees and it is started with a proper plan. Proper research questions, research objectives, research approach and research method were developed before starting the actual research. The main objective of this research was to identify the principle factors that motivate employees who are senior by their position or by their tenure of work. All the data that are collected to carry out the research are secondary in nature. This is mainly because secondary data are easier to access than that of primary data. They also involve less cost and time. All the secondary data are qualitatively analysed. It is found from this research that senior employees can be motivated if they are helped to get more recognition. Individual achievement is another important motivating factor for the senior employees who are working at the top management. Apart from these two factors, senior employees can also be motivated if they are given the opportunity to help others. Financial benefits is not found to be an important motivating factor for the senior management as most of senior employees have satisfied all their needs related to finance. It has been observed during the research that working relationships also act as vital motivators and in turn influence teambuilding activities and irrespective of the employees’ position in the organisational hierarchy recognition as well as positive strokes are indispensable tools that help in motivating them. Motivation is largely a continuous process that should be performed by the top management and for this purpose; the top management should adopt developmental as well as holistic initiatives. In the perspective of British organisations it has been found that employers are required to recognize the advantages of employing senior people as they are rich sources of talent as well expertise. Middle level managers should also be considered as one of the most important group of people for the overall performance of the organisation and accordingly they need to be properly motivated. 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