Managing the Performance of Individuals - Assignment Example

1. In attempting to highlight the reasons why Elizabeth and Ola left Norsk petroleum regardless of their prestigious positions they held in the company, it is imperative to define the term motivation as a point of departure. Basically, motivation is concerned with keeping people inspired as well as keeping them focused on reinventing their potential (Robbins et al 2003). In most cases, people are motivated by many things, but most importantly, employees in an organisation are motivated by the sense of excitement about their jobs. Content theories of motivation in this case, posit to the effect that there is no individual who can give the other person satisfaction that is related with accomplishing a challenging job, but it is self derived (Carrell et al 1995). Robbins et al (2003) argue that process is concerned with re-engineering or continuing to turn around the fortunes of the company from its previous performance to a higher stage. The decision by Elizabeth to leave the company shows that people are basically motivated by various factors other than monetary gains alone. Regardless of a very prestigious position as a petroleum engineer, she still decided to leave to join an equally smaller organisation, Petrowest. She is so much excited by the fact that she would have greater responsibility of managing small teams as well as negotiating contracts unlike at NP where engineers were only concerned with specialised tasks related to their knowledge as well as expertise. It can also be noted that Elizabeth has even offered a 5% pay increase as well as a car but this does not deter her from taking up the decision to join Petrowest. Ola on the other hand is a skilled computer technician who also resigns on the basis that he has been offered another job at an equally smaller organisation than NP as well. However, a close analysis of the circumstances surrounding their decisions to resign shows that they are not disgruntled by their current positions in terms of pay. It seems they are driven by the need to take up responsibility tasks in their newly found jobs. Therefore, in view of this situation, a critical analysis of the theories of motivation can help in fully understanding the various things that motivate workers within an organisation. There are various theories of motivation which were propounded by different scholars. However, this discussion would be mainly focused on four theories namely Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, Herzberg’s two factor theory, goal setting theory as well as the expectancy theory. These selected theories have peculiar characteristics that can be used to try and establish the reasons why highly skilled workers are leaving their jobs at NP. It is safe to say that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is the most well known theory of motivation. He proposed that in every human being, there exists a hierarchy of five needs namely; physiological, security, social, self esteem and self actualisation needs (Robbins et al 2003). They build from grassroots levels and are separated into two categories namely lower-order needs and higher-order needs. Physiological and safety are lower needs while social, self esteem and self actualisation are higher order needs. Focus is on higher-order needs where some skilled workers feel that they should be rewarded on the basis of their importance, coupled with their performance to the company. As far as company growth is concerned, there is need, particularly self esteem, for the workers to feel that they are part of it and therefore, important also through engaging them to participate directly especially in decisions that affect its operations. The ability to create a sense of belonging among the employees is very important as far as growth of the company is concerned since they are the drivers who determine the pace at which the organisation grows. It seems Elizabeth and Ola are satisfied with the lower needs at NP but not the higher needs, hence the decision to move to organisations where they feel they can fulfil these needs. The goal setting theory on the other hand states that job performance can be increased when the individuals are given measurable goals rather than ordinary performance standards (Leggie 1995). Goal setting is seen as a challenge that motivates the employee to improve performance and the skilled workers in particular ought to be given the chance to set goals for themselves as they would fully know what needs to be done. This inculcates a sense of achievement in an individual hence he would be motivated to perform extra hard. In this case, it seems both Elizabeth and Ola are just hard working and brilliant employees but have no opportunities to set goals for themselves on behalf of the company. In this situation, it is difficult for them to achieve that self fulfilling sense of achievement. Herzberg’s two factor theory is another widely read and interesting theory that can be attributed to the decision by Ola and Elizabeth to quit their jobs. He identified factors which cause dissatisfaction as hygiene and those which cause satisfaction as motivators. However, he argues that while poor working conditions result in dissatisfaction, ideal working conditions do not necessarily lead to motivation or satisfaction (Carrell et al 1995). Pay increases alone may not be adequate to motivate the employees. Motivators in this case reflect the content of the job, and they reflect that there is no individual who can give the other person satisfaction that is related with accomplishing a challenging job but it is self derived. They are concerned with a sense of responsibility, achievement and recognition among others. The expectancy theory argues that the strength of an individual to act in a certain way depends on the attractiveness of the outcome. An individual puts more effort if he believes the effort will lead to good performance appraisal which will lead to organisational rewards like bonus and promotion. Therefore, the understanding of individual goals is very important as it motivates them to perform better. This theory is premised on the notion that individuals do have personal goals to fulfil other than those set by the organisation. In attempting to stop the haemorrhaging at NP, there are different recommendations that can be made to the board given that the skilled workers who are resigning are not disgruntled by issues related to pay. Professionals usually have a strong and long term commitment to their field of expertise (Michael 1999). Money and promotions are low on their priority list, but job challenge tends to be ranked high. They often feel motivated by tackling problems and finding solutions. In this case it would be highly recommended that skilled workers be given the opportunities to make decisions such as goal setting for the company and set measures of achieving them. Another recommendation is to give the skilled workers the autonomy, self independence, to follow their interests while they undertake their duties. At this stage, skilled workers are no longer interested in monetary gains but other interests that define their profession. Instead of being led every time by supervisors, skilled workers should be given the opportunity to structure their work in ways they find productive. In the event that they have been given the opportunity to make goals, they should also be given the opportunity to make flexible schedules of their work which permit them to fulfil the set tasks. This is another way of motivating the workers as well as stopping the haemorrhaging of talent at NP since all these skilled workers are only craving for the opportunity of holding some form of responsibility, the reason why they are moving to smaller organisations. Rewarding the skilled professionals with recognition is another recommendation to NP. This goes hand in hand with status. A person occupying a higher level position ought to be accorded a status that is commensurate with the position. This is very important since these workers would feel that they are important to the whole organisation which is another way of motivating them. Status clearly gives a distinction of the level of authority held by an individual within a given organisation and is very significant to skilled professionals. Lastly, it can be noted that there is need to revise specialisation by NP in order to stop the haemorrhaging of talent. Specialisation is goal oriented and it ignores other human needs mentioned in the discussion above. It entails that skilled professionals just concentrate on specialised duties at the expense of their need to exercise other tasks which require their responsibility as a way of motivating them. In most cases, specialisation is monotonous in that it is repetitive in continuously doing the same thing which lacks variety. There are little chances of development or advancement in scenarios where one is expected to do just one task which is the reason why skilled workers are resigning from NP. 2. Workers not occupying managerial positions are motivated by different factors compared to those occupying senior positions. The assessment of the following factors will be based on the experience of an ordinary worker or graduate in this case who does not hold any prestigious position in the company yet. From the selection given, the following factors are seen as the main motivators for graduate workers which are financial rewards, security, working conditions, relationship with other colleagues and finally interest in the job. The primary aim of getting a job is to gain some financial rewards seen as the greatest motivator to the majority of workers at entry level. The welfare of human beings is determined by income earned in most cases hence the need for financial rewards when looking for a job. Secondly, individuals are motivated by the need for security within those current jobs they would be holding. Security is important since it would act as surety that their source of income would not be threatened. It guarantees their future within an organisation. In every working environment, good working conditions are always seen as big motivators to the workers. If workers are satisfied and happy with the working conditions, they are likely to be motivated and strive to improve their performance. On the other hand, there is need for workers to core-exist with others within the organisation as a way of creating harmony at the work place. Where there is harmony, there are fewer chances of conflict which is counterproductive to an organisation. Workers are motivated by working in a generally peaceful environment. Above all, interest in the job is the greatest motivator that is often acquired after successful fulfilment of other lower level motivators mentioned above. This is when an employee feels to be strongly attached to an organisation to such an extent that he would wish to safeguard all the organisational interests. In view of the outlined factors of motivation above, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory aptly sums up the processes involved in the fulfilment of various lower level needs. In conclusion, it can be noted that NP is in a predicament of loosing highly skilled workers to smaller, independent organisations as a result of its approach of specialised duties. In the case of Elizabeth and Ola, it seems they have decided to resign following job offers with smaller companies which do not offer specialised duties. Elizabeth in particular is excited by the fact that she will be responsible for managing small teams contrary to the way of operation at NP where she just concentrates on specialised duties. It can be noted that skilled workers are not only motivated by financial benefits but other motivators such responsibility and status among others as discussed above. They are motivated by the job itself than other external factors. References Arnolds, C.A and Boshoff, C (2002) ‘Compensation, esteem valence and job performance: an empirical assessment of Alderfer’s ERG theory, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 13 (4), pg 679-719 Becker, B. & Gerhart, B. (1996). The impact of human resources management on organisational performance: Progress and Prospects. Academy of Management Journal, Vol 39 Boxall, P. (1995). The challenge of human resource management. 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