Understanding and applying motivation theories for achieving organization goals - Essay Example

MOTIVATION Understanding and Applying Motivation Theories for Achieving Organization Goals ______________ ___________ _______________________ 1 Understanding and Applying Motivation Theories for Achieving Organization Goals 2 Introduction 3 An organization comprises of human resources who have distinct feelings and emotions. These emotions and feelings play important role in determining the output and efficiency of work of the human factor while at job. Management of any organization has to work adequately to enthuse the human resources in order to ensure that they do work in consonance with organizational goals and objectives. Motivation theories provide ready and general constructs to analyze the behavior of human resources at work place. This analysis can distinctly exhibit the possible solutions to motivational problems at work place. In this paper we apply one or more of motivational theories to suggest improvement which the manager can apply in given work place scenario to improve employee response and motivation resulting in better output and achievement of organizational goals. 4 Situational Analysis 5 6 In the situation at hand a recently promoted manager in a bank has the responsibility of 7 ensuring work efficiently from 5 reporting employees. The work, primarily done on computer terminals, can be split in two distinct categories viz. 8 9 Routine-requiring the 5 employees to attend to customer queries on mortgages, insurance and bank accounts themselves. This work is fairly structured task. The bank has standard question templates on terminals. Employees are required to query the customer and fill in the required data in these templates. Based on this data the answer to customer question(s) appears on terminal screen. This is then passed on to the customer to ensure satisfactory service. Such tasks form up to 90% of the total work load of these 5 employees. 10 11 Non routine -These are customer queries which cannot be satisfied by the terminal based templates. They require additional knowledge about the banking products and often present such decision situations where creativity and correlation skills are required. It is an internal practice that such queries may be forwarded to the manager to deal. Normally such queries form about 10% of the total queries received by these 5 employees. 12 13 Problem has arisen as the manager has started receiving such forwarded queries much in excess of the 10% trend and she subsequently discovered that quite a few of them were in fact routine queries which could have been attended to by the 5 member line staff. 14 15 It is apparent that some line member is trying to pass on his/her work to the 'new unwary manager'. This is not only intruding upon the time and job responsibilities of the manager but also resulting in customer dissatisfaction as not only customer has to wait more to get routine answers but also several non routine queries wait longer as manager is busy in answering routine queries. There apparently is a major motivational problem amongst line staff which needs immediate resolution otherwise the situation may snowball with a multiplier effect. 16 Resolution 17 Manager has to realize that motivation comes from within. It is an inner drive that causes a person to do something or act in a certain way. It is a complex inspirational energy which is highly desirable in the workplace, equally desired by both managers and workers alike. However this inspirational energy is missing in portion or full in present situation. Motivated employees will put in extra effort when needed, without being asked. Instead here employees are trying to pass on the effort required of them to management layer. In order to resolve this manager can use any of the 8 popular motivation theories. These theories are Management by Objectives, Maslow's hierarchy, Quality Circles, Herzberg's Two-factor Theory, McGregor's Theory X and Y, "In Search of Excellence", theory of Peters and Waterman, Managerial Grid, and Likert Linking Pin theory. We explain below some of these theories that are focused on the analysis of human behavior as workers and motivation of such workers could be derived from therein and could be applied in parts to present situation: 18 Management by Objectives: Peter Drucker formulated the concept of MBO in 1954. As the most popular theory managers, supervisors, basically all responsible positions use this. Peter Drucker stated, "Management by Objectives tells a manager what he ought to do. The proper organization of his job enables him to do it. But it is the spirit of the organization that determines whether he will do it. It is the spirit that motivates, that calls upon a man's reserves of dedication and effort, that decides whether he will give his best or do just enough to get by" (Drucker, 1954). 19 Management by objectives defined by George Odiorne is "a management process whereby the supervisor and the subordinate, operating under a clear definition of the common goals and priorities of the organization established by top management, jointly identify the individuals major areas of responsibility in terms of the results expected of him or her, and these measures as guides for operating the unit and assessing the contributions of each of its members" (Odiorne et al, 1980). 20 It can be clearly seen that Drucker's definition lays emphasis on the manager as supervisor whereas Odiorne definition identifies both the supervisor and subordinate who identify jointly the major responsibilities expected of them and measure actual performance vis a' vis such identification. Thus organizational objectives are aligned to responsibilities and due execution of responsibilities lead to achievement of objectives. 21 (b)Maslow's hierarchy: Maslow stated that humans are constantly confronted with two choices: a fear choice and a growth choice. With the fear choice there is tendency toward "safety". With the growth choice there is an element of risk because there is an element of choice involved. Maslow's premise was that it is the growth choice that propels an individual toward self-actualization - that of individual growth or "filling one's potential."(Maslow, 1954).However path to growth and self-actualization realization is not simple but graduated and stepped. According to Maslow, there is a hierarchy of four needs (basic physiological needs, safety and security, love and belonging and self-esteem) that must be met before the fifth-level of highest potential for self-actualization is realized. The hierarchy is in the form of a pyramid in which the total foundation must stand before reaching the top. Maslow termed this as the "Hierarchy of Needs." 22 23 In the given situation the manager has to first identify the employee(s) responsible for maximum numbers of erroneous references to her. She must then look at personal profiles of such identifies employees and fit them in the above theoretical construct. She has to then find out at what need level is unfulfilled and to what extent. She can then plan specific steps to fill them in. 24 25 (c) Douglas McGregor recognized varying needs of workers. He made a distinction to divide them in two broad categories requiring two opposing methods of management. The management methods McGregor developed are known as Theory X and Theory Y. These are also stylized as Authoritarian and Participative styles of management. Theory X assumes that the average person works as little as possible. Management's active intervention is essential to ensure the productivity of the company. The worker must therefore be persuaded, rewarded, punished, and controlled. This is management's main task. In this theory, McGregor also explained that employees will only respond to monetary rewards as an incentive to perform above the level that is expected. This method has not been proving effective, especially when used in a professional and technical setting. Professional and technical people simply do not respond favorably to the Theory X manager anymore (Insurance, 2002). Therefore another way of making them respond is necessary for organizational success. 26 27 Theory Y gives out a contrasting description of an average worker. Workers are, by nature, not resistant to change and organization. The motivation, the potential for growth, the capacity for assumption of varying responsibilities and the willingness to mould activities/work to meet organization goals are all present in workers. Management could possibly implant them there. However it is the responsibility of management to make the workers realize these latent positive human characteristics for themselves. Management can also work to develop these hidden traits. The primary task of the management is to organize work conditions and operations so that workers can achieve their own goals best by directing their efforts toward organizational objectives (Heil et al, 2000). The Theory Y worker, also termed as the knowledgeable worker, not only accepts responsibility, but seeks it. 28 (d)According to Herzberg there are two sets of factors in any work situation viz.the positive and negative factors. To identify positive factors one has to probe what makes workers/subordinates satisfied or dissatisfied on their jobs Positive factors are those that motivate the worker as a result of achieved satisfaction. These motivating factors may include a wide range from achievement at work, recognition for achievement, the work itself, work related responsibilities to growth at work place. Herzberg suggests that these factors are the ones which encourage people to strive to do well, in other words to motivate them to do their best. 29 30 Negative, or hygiene factors, as they are termed are more complicated to understand. These factors are termed hygiene factors as they tend to work in a preventive manner just like hygiene does in health matters (Markiewicz, 2002). Hygiene does prevent one from getting sick but do not promote the best of health or even work towards improving one's health from any given level. The primary job of the hygiene is to maintain and preserve. In a work situation implication is fairly standard from here on viz. hygiene factors do not, in any manner, motivate workers to give out their best but they do help immensely in maintaining the status quo viz. they are needed to prevent the satisfaction of workers from falling below the existing levels. Simply they help prevent employees from getting more dissatisfied with their jobs. Instances of hygiene factors at work in job situations include working conditions, salary, job security, company policies and their administration, managerial supervision, interpersonal relationships, status etc. 31 32 Motivating positive factors and negative hygiene factors often interact. Generally speaking several of the hygiene factors when built further upon lead to hugely motivating positive factors. Take for instance salary as a factor. A maintained level of salary, received regularly by an employee, works as a potent hygiene factor. As long as the worker is receiving the salary his interest in job would not plummet from the present levels. The moment this factor is built upon by the management in the form of a special perk and/or share in profits or even a stock option; it has the potentiality of transforming into a very potent motivating factor. Employees participation and productivities have been shown to have improved considerably after a stock option was offered to them. Workers consider such offers as good amount of recognition and an invitation to be an owner. 33 34 It is also interesting to observe the uncanny correspondence of Herzberg factors with Maslow's needs. The hygiene factors can be comfortably grouped with Maslow's three lower needs (physiological, safety/security, love/relationship), and the motivating factors can be grouped with Maslow's two higher needs (esteem and self-fulfillment).Thus the analysis of a work situation would lead to identical results though it would be more sharply outlined when adopting Maslow's need hierarchy. However it is possible for an analysis to first focus on just hygiene and motivating factors for the sake of simplicity and in case situation remains intractable then a break up analysis of hygiene and motivating factors may be resorted to on lines of Maslow's need hierarchy. 35 In order to increase positive factors at the workplace Herzberg developed the idea of job enrichment. Job enrichment can be understood as the "vertical loading" of a job. This vertical loading essentially implies adding more and more meaning to a job-more so if the job is routine and mundane. Herzberg formulated some principles leading to job enrichment in order to "vertically load" the employee. These were centered on raising the level of positive factors by extra recognition, frequent positive feedback, increasing delegated authority, increasing sphere of activities, developing expertise and throwing in challenging tasks(Dalton & Lawrence,1971). 36 Situation at hand reflects a Theory X style of management with clear description of jobs in watertight manner. The repetitive and routine jobs have demotivated certain employees sufficiently enough to make them pass such jobs to manager. Employees are banking upon the premise that the manager is new and will take time to recognize job descriptions. Manager must realize that latent desire here appears to be to handle creative and knowledge based queries normally attended by her. To make her pass on such jobs to them some employees are trying to crowd her time. Manager could devise a motivational system where in she could formally announce in staff meetings that efficient routine workers who not only answer maximum routine queries but also have minimum passing on errors in a time period would undergo specialized knowledge based training in any of the product viz.insurance, mortgage or accounts. On successful completion of such training they would be given specific responsibilities to answer creative and knowledge based queries in the product area they trained for. This would be a specific shift from Theory X to theory Y style of management and ensure complete employee participation. This would also help meet organizational goal of satisfying customer queries to maximum possible extent. In addition manager would have delegated more specific type of queries to line staff and would be free to attend more to her tasks. In contrast Theory X solutions would have been limited to identification of erring employee(s)-imposing monetary penalty on him/her and to control their routine activities with an iron hand. 37 38 Similarly some of the hygiene factors seem to be amiss in the job situation as far as the subordinate(s) responsible for passing on routine queries to manager are concerned. Manager must look into such person's job situation and try to complement identified deficiency. This must be attended to before the motivation plan suggested above is implemented. It is quite possible that if routine job at hand is made challenging and rewarding by setting a small time reward system based on turnover that the manager is able to set things right and that she may not have to go in for training and higher responsibility plan suggested above. In order to pinpoint hygiene deficiency she can use Maslow's three lower order needs for detailed and helpful breakup. She can then move up to use positive factors relating to training for up graded job(job enrichment),actual delegation of creative queries(challenges) and better incentives (more pay on hygiene factor of salary) etc. 39 40 Manager can also simultaneously apply the theory of management by objective by coming to a clear and joint restatement of query types to be attended to by manager and the subordinates. This can lead to a better understanding of organizational goals as far as this group is concerned. This can be done in sessions/meetings with employees. Manager may go on to rewrite the job cards for each subordinate reflecting the joint understanding of responsibilities. References 41 Drucker, Peter F. The Practice of Management. Harper & Row. New York.1954. 42 Odiorne, George, Weihrich ,Heinz, and Mendleson,Jack. Executive Skills: A Management by Objectives Approach. Wm. C. Brown Company Publishers. Dubuque, Iowa.1980. 43 Maslow, A.H. Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1954. 1 "Motivation: the X Factor." Insurance Day 14 Nov. 2002: Section News. 2 3 Markiewicz, Dan. Been There Done That Yes, You Can Improve Job Satisfaction. Industrial Safety & Hygiene News: Vol. 36, No. 12; pg. 16. Dec. 2002. Heil ,Gary, Stephens, Deborah C., Bennis ,Warren G. Douglas McGregor, Revisited: Managing the Human Side of the Enterprise. John Wiley & Sons. 2000. Dalton Gene W. & Lawrence, Paul R. - editors. Motivation and Control in Organizations. Richard D. Irwin. Homewood, IL. pp 1-4.1971. Read More