Motivational Issues In Modern Management - Term Paper Example

? Motivational Issues in Modern Management Motivational Issues in Modern Management Motivation is key when it comes to the work place. Modern managers have adapted to using motivational strategies in the work place (Donald, 2004). They practice coaching and have introduced mentorship programs to make sure that the employees advance in all areas of life. Abrahams Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is commonly applied in modern management as it helps in identifying needs in employees. Maslow explains that the most basic needs have to be met so that a person can be effective. Donald (2004) notes that, when physiological and biological needs are met, one is greatly motivated. Having an open door policy in an organization makes all employees feel at ease. When management encourages staff to feel at ease in the office, it creates an atmosphere that is conducive to work in. Communicating in an informal basis to the juniors helps them feel that you are part of their team thus encourages them to involve the management more in their work. Building employee confidence is crucial as this finally trickles down to the kind of results they produce. Offering feedback and information on a project, or encouragement to employees instills confidence in them. Meeting employee’s needs in areas such as, good working conditions, offering reasonable salaries, and job security all help in job satisfaction. Most employees have targets which they have set for themselves, getting to know employee’s better helps the managers establish the type of targets to give to a person, as well as identify their strengths and weaknesses. Laming (2004) argues that motivation can be done by setting targets that are achievable to an individual. However, this does not mean that a more experienced staff should be given a task that they are sure to meet easily since it does not help them in personal growth. For a more experienced staff, a more challenging task they have never encountered before drives them into being more creative and innovative, hence helps boost their confidence too. Therefore, the tasks given have to be realistic, specific, and tangible. This helps them into putting more effort to the task at hand. It enhances job satisfaction and offers opportunities for job advancements and promotions (Laming, 2004). Targets equally help employees know exactly what is expected of them. Therefore, empowering employees is very important as it helps them advance and improve their quality of life. Management should concentrate on making work more interesting to their staff. Job enrichment cuts back on workers feeling dissatisfied with their jobs. This improves the atmosphere of the workplace and employees tend to be more responsible (Donald, 2004). However, this means that the company has to incur expenses in training the staff members who lack the proper skills. Nevertheless, the training is beneficial to both the employee and employer, as the staff can be given more responsibilities as they already have acquired training. Job rotation should highly be considered as it helps an employee gain more knowledge of the processes of the company. This means that at any given time, there is always someone on standby able to do the job in case a member of staff is unavailable. However, this means that some employees have to be taken away from their usual tasks so as to acquire more training on more duties and responsibilities. Appraisals are a good way of assessing and improving employee’s performance. The appraisals work in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of employees, therefore, investing more time on their strengths. Companies like Apple motivate their staff by giving them time to work on a creation of their choice once a week (Reeve, 2009). In return, new innovations are often created. This gives the employees ownership of the creation, and encourages them create more innovations. Praising employees during public events is a good way to boost their motivation and self esteem. This shows that management values the work one is doing and is also proud to have you as an employee. Nevertheless, this public appraisals leads to the employees being more exposed to the public, and sometimes leads to the employee getting a better job offer. This means that they can easily leave the company. The only way to avoid such issues is to make sure that the employee has a very good salary, and is well compensated by the company giving them no reason to want to leave. Having employees work in teams creates team work. They can easily put their ideas together and come up with solutions. This improves communication in the workplace, and one can easily ask for assistance from their co-workers (Gary, 2007). Working as a team helps in getting more work done and produces high quality results since it incorporates the ideas of many people. The disadvantage of this is that some employees can easily take advantage of others and avoid doing the task at hand while others just don’t like working in teams and are not team players. Team building is also a good way to have employees get to know each other better. This involves having outdoor activities such as sports. This helps employees relax and unwind from their daily routines at the office. The disadvantage of this is that the employer incurs the cost of the activities for the day and it takes employees away from their jobs, meaning no work is done on that particular day. The most important aspect in a company in the modern times is to give employees flexible working hours. Technology has also advanced, meaning that an employee can easily meet their target no matter where they may be working from (Laming, 2004). This creates time for an employee to perhaps go back to school and further their studies, or simply spend more time with their families or friends. Setting up a work council is vital for any company. The council is a representative of both the employer and employee. The council works as an intermediary between the two and keeps the employees informed on their requirements. The council helps in advising the employer on how best to handle sensitive issues concerning employees. This also means that employees have someone to represent them just in case the company has failed to keep its promise. Motivation has shown to yield better results in service and performance in the workplace (Bratton & Gold, 2001). More ways to motivate employees include giving bonuses whenever they achieve their targets, offering health insurance and retirement compensation. Perks are also being introduced as motivators. Offering financial and non-financial incentives drives employees to doing their jobs to the best of their capability. Providing professional developmental courses helps employees climb the ladder the right way. Offering promotions to employees who have language skills to head projects in other countries also motivates employees and creates vacancies. Management should be able to understand workplace politics and use it to their advantage. Encouraging employees to give their input on how management can improve solving problems in the workplace. Having basic rules that are equal and fair to all within the organization reflects on its work ethics. Listening to employees issues and resolving their discrepancies really fast makes management, employee relationship improve (Reeve, 2009). Management should make sure that all employees have direct contact to them at any given time. Having a clear job description and clarifying the role of an employee in regard to the objective in the workplace. An accountable and transparent management team reflects the face of the company. Expressing trust and empathy towards the members of staff builds in their confidence and self-esteem. Showing respect to all members of staff and not using offensive language in the workplace defines work ethics. Management should practice fair evaluation to all members of staff, and should have all new members of staff feel welcome and comfortable from the start. On the other hand, management should not neglect the needs of its employees, compare employees to one another, criticize employees in public, should not be very authoritative, ignore or neglect contributions from the members of staff and should never undermine teamwork (Gary, 2007). References Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2001). Human resource management: theory and practice. (2nd ed.) Lea Inc. Donald, L. (2004). Understanding human motivation. Blackwell Publishing: Oxford. Gary, P, L. (2007). Work motivation: history, theory, research, and practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications Inc. Laming, D. (2004). Understanding human motivation. Blackwell Publishing: Oxford. Reeve, J. (2009). Understanding motivation and emotion. (5th ed.) Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Read More