Motivation in Aviation Organizations - Essay Example

Running Head: Motivation in Aviation Organizations Motivation in Aviation Organizations Inserts His/her Introduction Managers have always been fascinated by the idea of increasing the productivity of their employees. From ancient time’s rulers, leaders, and supervisors have all been interested in finding out ways to motivate labor to work harder. From violence and brutality in the ancient times to increased salary in the 19the century, all were considered motivators for employees to produce more outputs. With 21st century the focus of management experts has shifted to non monetary rewards. Different schools of thought have developed overtime that talk about motivation vis-à-vis employees. Although these schools of thought might be different from each other all of them aim at doing one thing and that is to increase the performance of employees in the workplace. In this paper we will discuss different theories of motivation and will attempt to understand how managers in the aviation industry can apply these theories. Theories of motivation like instinct theory, incentive theory, drive theory, arousal theory, and humanistic theory of motivation will be elaborated upon in the paper, and also comparisons will be made between them. Theories of Motivation Different theories of motivation evolved over time as management experts attempted to understand the human beings in general. With the understanding of human beings in general experts were able to understand what was actually required in order to elicit superior quality and quantity of work from employees. Therefore not only management by psychology, social psychology, and other social sciences influenced the development of motivation theories. Some of the main theories of motivation are given below. Instinct Theory of Motivation In the later 19th and early 20th century management experts attributed motivation to biology of human beings. The instinct theory of motivation informs us that people are preprogrammed when it comes to motivation and all this programming is innate in nature. This theory also put a lot of emphasis on traits or instincts that were considered responsible for motivation of people. The problem with this theory was that it assumed all human beings have similar motivations as they belong to a particular species. Instinct theory of motivation takes many things from theory of evolution as it talks about behavioral blue print of humans (Gorman, 2004). Instinct theory bases its argument on survival instincts concluding that human beings want to survive at all times because they are innately programmed to do so. In a similar fashion human beings are also programmed for motivation. Incentive Theory of Motivation Incentive theory as the name suggests focuses on external rewards. The theory argues that people are motivated when they are giving incentives or rewards for their work. The focus of incentive theory is on external factors that can influence the performance of employees. Money is the most commonly considered reward that can increase motivation of employees. The theory works on the principle of reinforcement and association. When employees are given rewards for their work by managers, in reality managers are reinforcing positive behavior (hard work) of employees. Rewards are therefore used as reinforcements by managers to make desirable behavior persistent. Incentive theory of motivation although allows managers to manipulate external environmental factors which is relatively easy than identifying stimuli for individual behaviors but it cannot be ignored that managers have only a handful of incentives to offer to employees (Kakabadse, Bank, & Vinnicombe, 2004). This is a significant shortfall of incentive theory of motivation. Firms especially in today’s tough environment cannot spend a lot of money on rewards and perks. Also the effect of rewards is for a limited period of time and after that employees require more rewards to perform well. Incentive theory is totally different from instinct theory of motivation because the former talks about external rewards while the latter explains motivation vis-à-vis innate instincts of human beings. Drive Theory of Motivation The drive theory of motivation maintains that human beings have certain physiological needs and when these needs are not met internal stress is caused. People therefore are motivated to work in such a way as to reduce this tension. A commonly given example of drive theory of motivation is thirst or hunger. Humans are motivated to eat in order to satisfy their hunger (physiological need). The nature of drive theory of motivation is very biological in nature as it defines the word ‘needs’ in a very biological way. Another important aspect of drive theory of motivation is its explanation of responses of human beings. People are motivated to act so as to reduced inner stress or tension but this theory also tells how people choose how to act when facing internal stress. Drive theory suggests that people act in a way that they know is more effective than others to reduce inner tension caused by unmet physiological needs (Hollyforde & Whiddett, 2002). Drive theory of motivation is similar to the instinct theory of motivation as both stresses on biological needs of human beings. Motivation is explained by both theories by referring to biological responses of humans. This can be considered as a weakness of these theories because human beings are complex creatures and therefore they cannot be understood simply by understating their biological needs. Arousal Theory of Motivation Arousal theory of motivation provides a behavioral explanation of motivation. It maintains that human beings in general want to sustain a normal level of arousal. This is why when they experience high levels of arousal they are motivated to relax and when they experience low levels of arousal they are motivated to work or run. All this is done, according to the theory, because humans want to maintain a particular level of arousal. This theory can have important implications for managers who are interested in motivating employees. Managers can assign work according to the arousal levels of employees so that maximum work can be elicited out of employees. Arousal theory is different from instinct or drive theory of motivation because it argues that people want to maintain a level of internal stimulation whereas drive theory maintains that humans act to reduce inner tension or stress which arises from unmet needs (Merrick & Maher, 2009). Although both the theories base their explanations on biological factors arousal theory takes into account individual differences between people as well. It argues that every person might have different optimal levels of arousal. Humanistic Theory of Motivation With the development of social sciences came to understand that human beings also have a social element which has to be understood in order to know what can motivate them. For many decades experts treated human beings as machines and seek to modify behavior only by providing different external stimuli. All this changed with the humanistic theory of motivation. Abraham Maslow’s hierarchies of needs best explain the humanistic approach to motivation. It tells that at different levels human beings are motivated by different things. For example on the basic level physiological needs are important but at high levels human beings require recognition, esteem, love, and self actualization. Humanistic theory of motivation focuses its attention on social needs of human beings by admitting that human beings are different from other animals as they have an important social element to their life. Before humanistic theory of motivation human beings were treated like animals when it came to motivation as the focus was entirely on biological and behavioral needs of humans. How can Managers in the Aviation Industry use Motivation Theories? In the aviation industry employees play a key role in the operations of a company. The interaction of customers with employees is often in the industry and firms attempt to create a difference by creating differentiating factors based on high quality of services. This is why important of motivational theories is great for managers of the aviation industry. Also safety is extremely importance in the industry and any minor negligence can lead to catastrophic outcomes for the firm. Managers in the aviation industry can use humanistic theory and drive reduction theory to motivate employees. It is important to understand here that human beings are extremely complicated social animals and therefore we cannot offer ground sweeping generalizations when it comes to motivation of employees. This is why there is no one best solutions possible when it comes to motivation of employees. Humanistic theory can be used to understand the needs of employees and then give them what they want. Drive reduction theory can be used in resolution of conflicts as airlines often experience strikes by workers on some issues. It is important to understand the needs of employees in order to motivate them. For example uniforms must be given to employees so that they can have an identity. Then non rewards can be used like awarding employee of the month awards to best employees. Incentive theory of motivation can also work but the focus should be on non monetary rewards. It is important to understand that a firm cannot spend money on perks and benefits for a long period of time therefore cost effective ways of motivating employees should be adopted so as to maximize profits. A good example is set by Southwest Airlines in the aviation industry. The company is known for its cost leadership strategy and high quality of services. Employees of the company are motivated to work hard so that the company as a whole should prosper. At Southwest there exists a clan culture where all employees work in teams and everyone is regarded as equal. This is why employees make a difference in the company. The turnaround time of flights of Southwest is the lowest in the industry (Mouawad, J. 2010) and this is because of the hard work of employees of the company. Regular functions and festivals are held for employees so that everyone is kept connected. Managers can learn a lot from Southwest as the company follows a cost leadership strategy and even then it is able to motivate employees. This is because the company offers rewards that are non-monetary in nature. It is important for managers to find out ways to motivate employees by giving them importance. If an employee knows that the company cares for him or her then he or she will work hard for the company. Conclusion There are many theories of motivation and all have some sort of importance. Initially the focus of management experts was on physiological needs but later on the importance of social elements and needs for recognition, safety, identity, and esteem were identified. Motivation of employees cannot only be seen by the lens of rewards or physical needs. It is also important to understand that no one theory can help managers in motivating employees. Southwest has showed managers a way as to how to motivate employees by not spending money on rewards. References Gorman, P. (2004). Motivation and Emotion. London: Routledge Hollyforde, S. & Whiddett, S. (2002). Motivation Handbook. Florida: CIPD Publishing Kakabadse, A. Bank, J. & Vinnicombe, S. (2004). Working in Organizations. New York: Gower Publishing Ltd Merrick, K. & Maher, M. (2009). Motivated Reinforcement Learning: Curious Characters for Multiuser Games. Chicago: Springer Mouawad, J. (2010). Pushing 40, Southwest Is Still Playing the Rebel. The New York Times. 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