Managing Motivating Style - Essay Example

Managing Motivating Style The work of a leader or a job manager is to get things done through the employees. The managers should be able to motivate their teams so as to get things done in the right way. However, motivating people is a myth. Nobody can be motivated by others, as they are motivated from within. Motivation theory and practice are complex topics, touching on various subjects. Even though, the managers cannot motivate their employees, they can influence and inspire them by setting up an environment in which employees can motivate themselves. This paper describes management motivating style, by focusing the motivating styles practiced by Raul Valdez, Manager Cardinal Health. Raul Valdez was interviewed with the purpose of identifying the approaches he applies in to motivate his employees. In order to set up an environment that will stimulate the employees to motivate themselves, Valdez has recognized the need to understand the employee’s motivational needs. He does this by evaluating every employee’s motivational needs that are consistence with the strategies and goals of the organization. Valdez says that the success of their organization directly depends on the improvement of an individual’s or group’s motivation (Singla 265). Valdez derives his motivation skills from theories by Herzberg and Maslow. Maslow theory suggest that people are motivated by a hierarchy of needs which include safety needs, esteem needs, physiological needs, belonging needs and self-actualization needs (Beach 31). Physiological needs refer to the standard basic needs such as water, air, food, shelter and sleep. Safety needs entail personal security and safety as well as job security. Belongingness is the need to be part of groups such as family, clubs, religious groups, and work groups (Beach 31). Self esteem needs are grouped into two categories. The first esteem originates from mastery or competence of a task. The second esteem result from recognition and attention that come from other people. Self-actualization need is the “desire to become everything that one is capable of becoming” (Beach 32). Maslow suggested that individuals are motivated by the needs that are above the minimal needs which are fulfilling (Singla 265). People have fulfilled certain set of needs are not likely to be motivated by environments that fulfils needs at the lower level. Similarly, people will not be motivated by environments that fulfill higher needs before their lower needs are fulfilled (Beach 31). This is the reason why Valdez has to determine how each employee works and what sparks energy in them. He says that employees have their personal needs and own drive that must be fulfilled for them to get motivated. He achieves this by maintaining adequate communication system with every employee, as well as watching and observing them. When the manager is faced with performance problem resulting from lack of motivation, he discusses the cause of the problem with every employee, and suggests what can motivate them, or the fact that makes them lose focus. For example, employees who are struggling to fulfill their physiological needs of sufficient shelter, food and water are likely to be motivated by the self-actualization (Beach 32). They should also be encouraged to seek inner peace and knowledge. Similarly, employees who have secure family, healthy ego and safe homes influenced by accumulation of wealth, are likely not to be motivated by providing financial rewards. Herzberg’s motivation theory deals with the activities employees do at work. The motivators are recognition, growth or advancement, interest and achievement in the job (Hiam 35). In order to apply these theories, the leaders and managers must understand the motivational need of an individual or a group, so as to set up an environment in which they will motivate themselves. In addition, an overall approach that will reinforce the desired motivation is also established. This is the reason why Valdez has to talk personally with every employee, so as to determine their personal circumstances, with the aim of designing the best working environment and tools for them. The first step in this approach is the understanding of the employee’s perception about basic physiological needs (Hiam 35). Do the employees perceive basic needs to be shelter, food, or cars? If this is established to be different among different groups, then a caution must be taken immediately. However, this should not be a surprise to managers since the definition of physiological needs varies from one group to another, and they should not necessarily match one’s own definition (Singla 265). There are seven strategies for motivation that work as guidelines for managers. These include: positive reinforcement, restructuring jobs, treating employees fairly, satisfying employees needs, effective discipline and punishment, setting work related goals, and base reward on job performance (Hiam 35). The approaches in the way they are mixed vary from one organization to the other. A gap usually exists between the employees’ actual states and the desired state. It is, therefore, the function of the managers as leaders to reduce this gap. Motivation itself is a means of manipulating and reducing this gap. It is meant to induce others to work towards achieving set goals despite their differences as initiated by the motivator. These goals, though as motivation system, should conform to the corporate policy of the organization (Hiam 35). The motivational system should be consistence to the organization’s corporate policy as well as the employees’ motivational desires. For example, Valdez builds on the employee’s strength by continually challenging them with increased responsibilities and more critical tasks. However, the responsibilities assigned are not too much to be handled by the employees. This in turn builds confidence in the employees, and inspires them to keep on adding value to everything they do (Hiam 35). Self-motivated employees are goal motivated. Once they achieve one goal, another one is triggered. Every goal is a testing process, and the strategies implemented to achieve it are required in the subsequent levels. Organizations which practice this approach are always in the leading edge of technology (Singla 266). The motivator’s goals should be the same as the employees. If the manager wants to introduce any change into the organization, then he will implement it in a manner that trains the employees to lead by control. This will lead to less confusion during the transitional period of the change process than when it is not addressed. In conclusion, managers as leaders, needs to acquire the best skills of creating working environments that are likely to make employees motivate themselves. There is a gap that exists between an employee’s actual status and the desired state. It is, therefore, the function of the managers to reduce this gap. It is necessary to note that this gap can effectively be reduced if employees are adequately motivated. An organizational goal, which serves as the motivation system must be consistence with the corporate policy of the organization. Raul Valdez motivational strategies are sufficient enough for creating an environment that encourages employees to motivate themselves. This is because they are derived from Herzberg and Maslow motivational theories. Works Cited Hiam A. Motivational Management: Inspiring Your People for Maximum Performance. New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn, 2003. Print Beach D. S. Managing People at Work: Readings in Personnel. London: Macmillan, 2005. Print Singla R. K. Business Organisation and Management. New Delhi: FK Publications, 2010. Print Read More