Motivation and Demotivation in the Workplace - Coursework Example

Motivation theories and their relationship to factors affecting motivation and demotivation in the workplace The basic motivation theories are two: Abraham Maslow's theory and Frederick Herzberg's theory. The conclusion is that each worker can be motivated and satisfied if his/her needs are known and the management can fulfill them. According to Maslow, the needs of every human being are divided into 5 categories, ranging from the basic needs i.e. food, sleep, shelter (physiological needs) to the needs of self-fulfillment (fulfilling ambitions, achieving goals etc.). Each man tries to better meet his/her needs and when s/he feels that a need has been covered then s/he gets more interested in covering the next one and at the same time s/he does leave any need, and if it has been covered. The needs are divided into the following categories: Physiological needs: food, sleep, shelter. Security needs: Safety and security for his existence and the satisfaction of needs such as permanent employment, pension, housing, medical care etc. Social needs: To be accepted by the community, to have friendly relations and to belong to social groups. Identification needs: prestige, reputation, appreciation, respect, success, self-respect, self-confidence. Self-fulfillment needs: To get what you want. To do anything you think you are able to do. As a result, for employee motivation, it is important thatthe management understands the needs for individual employee motivation. In this manner,Maslow's model indicates that basic needslike safety and physiological requirementshave to besatisfiedinorder topursueself-fulfillment. By following Maslow's theory, the management can implement various staff motivation opportunities. Physiological Motivation: Have employee lunch breaks and paysalaries that allow employees to have a satisfactory level of living. Safety Needs: Provide a safe working environment. Social Needs:Create a feeling of belonging. Esteem Motivators: Give recognition, give responsibilities and make employees feel valued. Self-Actualization:Provide work assignments that reinforce employees' innovation and creativity. In today's consumer society the boundaries of these categories are not quite distinct. Moreover, our life quality standards continuously upgrade and are related to the social group in which we belong. Furthermore, all people do not give equal weight to each category needs. Each person is different and has a distinctive personality. Herzberg's motivation theory is the most accepted theory. The theory is based on the outcome of a research according to which there are two major categories, the ones that please us and the ones that dissatisfy us: Hygiene factors: company policy, interpersonal relations, working conditions, social security, wage. Motivation factors: recognition, responsibility, promotion, development, the subject of work. If motivation factors such as encouragingemployees, rewarding them, or increasing their responsibilities do not exist then employees will shift to non-job related 'hygiene' factors. In general, employees can be motivated when: 1. They can manage and plan their work 2. They have a variety of tasks 3. They are not micro-managed 4. They often change tasks and positions 5. They have increased responsibilities 6.The manager grants full power and not fragmented tasks 7. They are free and independent 8. The manager inspires loyalty, zeal and dedication. What constitutes good leadership and why is it important that managers understand the relationship between management and motivation. Leadership is a way of motivating a group to enable them to achieve their aims. It also involves being responsible for the group as a whole. A leader is either appointed by the senior levels of management or elected by the group. However, it has been argued that a leader can not have all the skills required therefore the optimum will be to have as a leader someone who is flexible but when it is required s/he will let the leadership to the others. Although no ultimate definition of leadership exists (Yuki, 2002), the majority of leadership definitions reflect some basic elements, including "group", "influence" and "goal" (Bryman, 1992). A general definition would be that "a leader is someone who influences a group of people towards the achievement of a goal". There are 3Ps that are related with the term "leader" and these are: People, Purpose and Person. A leader is a person that is deeply committed to the goal and s/he will try to achieve it even if nobody follows him/her. A leader is someone who has a personal vision and in order to achieve it s/he needs the help of others. The leader should communicate his/her vision in such a way that the followers will share it and the goal will become a common goal. The leader needs the trust of the followers. Some people are more effective than others at influencing people. This effectiveness has been attributed to leadership styles, persuasion skills and the personal attributes of the leader. A leader is someone that brings big changes and innovations, someone who has handled effectively big crises whereas a manager is someone who improves the effectiveness of an organization at a given place and at a controlled course. According to Goleman (2000), the leadership styles are the following: Coercive. This is the least effective since it erodes employees' pride. The leader here creates terrifies and demeans the employees at the slightest misstep. As a style it can be used in emergency situations. Authoritative. The leader has a vision, s/he motivate people by showing them how their work fits in the vision of the organization. This approach fails when the leader has a team of experts but it is a style which is effective in most business situations. Affiliative. The leader focuses on strong emotional relations and then he receives the benefits i.e. employees loyalty. S/he offers positive feedback. As a style it is positive but it should be better used when the leader wants to improve communication and increase morale. Democratic. The employees have a say in decisions and how they do their work. As a style, it is positive when the leader is uncertain about the best direction to take and when employees are not competent to offer advice. Pacesetting. The leader is very demanding and sets high standards. Employees feel overwhelmed. This style should be used sparingly but it can work well when employees are highly competent. Coaching. The leader encourages the employees and s/he helps them identify their potential. The impact of this style is very positive although from the six styles it is the one used least often. As a style is particularly good when employees are aware of their weaknesses but it does not work well when employees are resistant to change. The development of teams and how to create a successful team, issues relating to cohesiveness and group decision making The performance of a team depends on the integrity of its members, and how well its members work together. Senge (1992, 1994) distinguishes between alignment (i.e consistency), when for example a group of people operates as a whole, and un-alignment when the actions of its members tend in opposite directions. In the second case, people can be working very hard, but their efforts are not interpreted into team effort (Senge, 1992:234). In the first case,a synergy is developed where the actions of people are harmonious. In this case, a common goal and a common vision are created, which are an extension of personal visions and goals of the group members. The alignment is a prerequisite by authorizing any person regardless if the group will be authorized. This is the process of learning through the group (team learning). Learning through the group occurs when two or more people learn from an experience or activity. It is the process where the ability of the team is aligned and developed the ability in order to have the results that the team members wish (Senge, 1992:236). According to Isaacs (1993) and Bateson (1972)the dialogue is the driving force that makes people learn how to learn and think (triple loop learning). "Cohesiveness is whether the members of a group are loyal and committed to the group and to each other" (Barney & Griffin, 1992:638. There are five factors that increase the cohesiveness of a group (Barney & Griffin, 1992:639): Competition with other groups. Interpersonal attraction of its members. Favorable assessment of the team by strangers. Members' agreement concerning objectives. Frequent interaction of its members. In addition, the greater the importance of the work the greater the cohesiveness of the group and the less its members will focus on their individual interests. At the same time, five factors can reduce the cohesiveness of a group: The group's big size (groups bigger than twenty people tend to be divided into sub-groups), Disagreement concerning objectives, Competition among group members, Dominance of one or two members that put the rest aside, Unpleasant group experiences such as bad team performance etc. When cohesiveness and the group performance standards are high then the group performance will be high. Handy (1993:155) suggests the following factors for group efficiency: The facts: the group, the project and the environment, The factors involved: the leadership style, processes and motives, The results: productivity and members' satisfaction. Cohen (1996) defines four general factors that contribute to the team's effectiveness: The work of the group should allow diversity, identity, importance to the members of the group, autonomy and feedback, The team's supervision should encourage self-assessment, determining autonomous goals, self - support, self-criticism, common expectations and effort, The synthesis of the teams, the beliefs and procedures are very important, The organization should encourage employees' participation (power, information, recognition, training, resources). The characteristics of a team should be the following (Amabile, 1998:121): The members of the team should be enthusiastic and pursue enthusiastically their goals, The members should be willing to offer help to their partners in difficult times, Each member should recognize the uniqueness of the knowledge and views of other members The impact technology can have on the way teams function Businesses have achieved improved productivity through the use of technology and the more effective utilization of their people. Today's businesses are characterized by virtual teams and team networks. Virtual teams are groups that there may be geographically dispersed and they perform their work through information technology. People work anywhere/anytime and they are connected to co-workers. The common uses of Internet are: email - which enables employees' to exchange information, remote access - employees can connect to other computers easily if they are at the other side of the world, collaboration through the use of version control which enables employees to work on shared documents, file sharing - i.e. distributing attached files to other employees through the use of email, websites and FTP servers, VoIP which will replace traditional telephone services and streaming media which allow employees/users to download audio and video streams. There is a suggestion that virtual teams need to undergo special training in order to be sure that the team can function properly. Body language is lost even in the best tele-conferencing and communication systems. Modern organizations use teams rather than individuals to participate in decision-making. The teams tend to be virtual but it is not known how the high-tech and high -touch interaction among team members is going to be balanced. It is very important to establish an effective team management in order to reduce dysfunction and enhance positive performance. References AMABILE, T. M. (1998. How to kill creativity: Keep doing what you're doing. Or, if you want to spark innovation, rethink how you motivate, reward, and assign work to people. Harvard Business Review (September-October): 77- 87. BARNEY J.B., GRIFFIN R.W. (1992), The Management of Organizations: Strategy, Structure, Behaviour, Boston: Houghton Miffin. BATESON G. (1972), Steps to an ecology of mind, New York: Ballantine. BRYMAN, A. (1992), Charisma and Leadership in Organizations, Sage, London. COHEN S.G., LEDFORD G.E. Jr., SPREITZER G.M. (1996), 'A predictive model of self-managing work team effectiveness', Human Relations, Vol. 49, No. 5, pp. 643-676. GOLEMAN D. (2000), " Leadership that gets results", Harvard Business Review, March - April 2000. HANDY C. (1993), Understanding Organisations, 4th edition, Harmondsworth: Penguin. ISAACS W.N. (1993), 'Taking Flight: Dialogue, Collective Thinking, and Organisational Learning', Organisational Dynamics, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 24-39. SENGE P.M. (1994), The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for building a learning organisation, London: N. Brealey. YUKI, G. (2002), Leadership in Organizations, 5th ed., Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Read More