Workplace Motivation at General Electric - Research Paper Example

Workplace Motivation at General Electric Abstract The paper aims to examine how various motivational strategies affect productivity in a selected workplace, particularly at General Electric. An explanation of organizational efforts would be discussed to determine the effect on improving performance, employees' resistance to increasing productivity, and the management's philosophy of motivation and its practices. Finally, the implications of applying any two motivational theories, not currently in practice, at General Electric would be identified and analyzed in terms of how these motivational theories would impact both management and employees. One of the most profoundly diverse topics encompassing human behavior in organizations is motivational theories. In spite of the magnitude of research on motivation in organizations, the issue remains unique and distinct for each and every business enterprise. The factors affecting motivation in the workplace depends on an interplay of factors including the mission of the organization, the personality and style of both the leaders and the subordinates, among others. One of the most stable business enterprises that has survived the test of time is General Electric. In its span of more than 130 years of successful existence, one leader stands out among the rest - John Francis Welch, Jr., former Chief Executive Officer of General Electric (GE), known as Jack to many. His leadership style manifests motivational strategies at GE which had been part and synonymous to the organization’s culture and way of life. In this regard, the paper aims to examine how various motivational strategies at GE affect productivity in their workplace. An examination of organizational efforts would be proffered to determine the effect on improving performance, employees' resistance to increasing productivity, and the management's philosophy of motivation and its practices. Finally, the implications of applying any two motivational theories, not currently in practice, at General Electric would be identified and analyzed in terms of how these motivational theories would impact both management and employees. Motivation at GE Jack Welch’s style of leadership enabled GE to rise beyond anyone can ever imagine. Byrne averred that “it is a model that has delivered extraordinary growth, increasing the market value of GE from just $12 billion in 1981 to about $280 billion today” (Byrne, 1998, par. 11) His servant leadership style transformed his organization into an informal learning company, with constant quest for growth and development encompassing personal, professional, community responsibility and societal concerns. Krames (2005, par. 1) described Welch as manifesting 4E’s of leadership. His being energetic, able to energize, has the ability to make an edge through tough decisions and gets required results through strategic executive make Welch’s behavior and actions beneficial to those who had the opportunity to have served him – and those he has served. In a research conducted by Dulberg, Paschen, Sprindis & Stawski (n.d.) entitled Jack Welch and the Motivation of GE, the authors examined the techniques of Welch in contributing to the outstanding performance of GE. According to them, the management and motivation approach of Welch included the following three main areas, to wit: “(1) goal setting and preparing the company on a corporate level for its competitive challenges; (2) empowering employees at all levels of the organization; and (3) communicating his new goals and visions through the entire organization, using such tools as extensive training programs, newly formed teams, and 360 degrees review processes” (Dulberg, et.al., n.d., 2). Jack Welch focused on this people. He acknowledged the vast potentials that each of his personnel has. He personally teaches and trains his personnel, particularly the managerial and executive groups. He has a unique and charismatic way of motivating them by making them feel that any of them can talk to him directly and informally at all times. He encourages sharing of success and failure as a continuous learning experience for growth and development. He manifests the characteristics of an intent listener, always aware of critical organizational issues, has exemplary business acumen, with commitment to the growth of people. Concurrent with his philosophy of enforcing the element of surprise in GE, Welch made “unexpected visits to plants and offices, hurriedly scheduled luncheons with managers several layers below him, and countless handwritten notes to GE people that suddenly churn off their fax machines, revealing his bold yet neat handwriting. All of it is meant to lead, guide, and influence the behavior of a complex organization.” (Byrne, 1998, par. 22) According to Woopidoo Biographies, “his no nonsense leadership style gave him a reputation of being hard, even ruthless, but also fair when making business decisions” (Woopidoo, n.d., par. 4). He made a staggering 100,000 or more employees taken out of GE during his helm. Jack steered GE into one of the most remarkable rises in the history of America’s business organizations. Welch personally sets precise performance targets and vigilantly monitors them throughout the year. He directly meets and interacts with thousands of his employees; regularly reviewing their performance and motivating them to exceed their expectations. Summarized in clearly identified motivational strategies, Welch employed GOAL SETTING AND COMPETITION, EMPOWERMENT, and COMMUNICATION, as the secret to GE’s success. Goal setting and increased competitive pressures enabled him to motivate employees by setting targets which were higher than those that were normally set. According to Dulberg, et.al. “these ‘stretch-goals’ often caused the managers to outperform their original targets” (n.d., 5). Empowerment gave employees the freedom to take accountabilities for their actions and liberated them to be self-directed but focused to reach their goals effectively. The Work Out approach was an empowerment concept which opened channels of communication and increased performance and productivity. Feedback mechanisms enabled monitoring and checking at the most immediate and effective manner. Finally, open channel communication paved the way for immediate action and opportunities for continuous education and training. Through the “Crotonville training center”, employees were encouraged to attend lectures, participate in teambuilding exercises, and contribute actively in tackling actual GE problems (Dulberg, et.al., n.d., 10). Motivational Theories Not Applied at GE Since 2001, Jeffrey R. Immelt has been the CEO and Chairman of GE, leading the enterprise into heights unprecedented in its history and in response to the changing demands of the times. During his helm, motivational strategies focus on the diversified products including financial services. In the Multinational Monitor’s interview with Thomas F. O’Boyle, the author of At Any Cost: Jack Welch, General Electric and the Pursuit of Profit, it was revealed that GE is more into banking services, among any other businesses (Multinational, 2001, 1). In this regard, the previous motivational strategies employed could or could not have been retained by Immelt. More prominently, during Welch’s leadership, there were criticisms on downsizing, utter disregard for employees’ development and career planning. According to O’Boyle, “I think Welch has been a major changer in the zeitgeist of that environment. He has been known as the CEO who delivered earnings. That has consistently been his record. In delivering those earnings, there have been some shortcuts taken at the company — and at all American companies — including the abandonment of research and development and getting rid of employees. Downsizing, which was once a phenomenon that was done as a necessity of last resort, has become a standard practice at every major corporation in America in terms of achieving earnings. GE was one of the major propagators of that” (Multinational, 2001, 1). The number of employees that were dismissed or fired was revealed, as quoted: “if you try to ask the question in terms of how many people have been dismissed from GE during Welch’s tenure, and by dismissed I mean either fired or jettisoned from a business that GE sold, I would say it’s easily well over half a million and probably more. But in a conservative sense it’s probably on a net basis a loss of only 100,000 jobs, because GE in 1981 had 400,000 employees and today they have 300,000. But that net basis does not tell the whole story” (Multinational, 2001, 1). Therefore, employee development and career planning were obviously lacking during Welch’s leadership. If these motivational strategies were present, more personnel would have been productive and honed in terms of personal and professional growth. As Dulberg, et.al. revealed, “Welch is a man who has benefitted millions, while devastating thousands. He has succeeded in making GE a successful company for its shareholders, but has destroyed thousands of families through the mass lay-offs he instituted” (Dulberg, et.al., n.d., 13). In addition, without emphasis for career planning, the management failed to instill the workers’ concept of growth in the organization. Martires (2004, 194) defines career planning as “the process by which the individual worker patterns and orchestrates his separate but related work activities to prepare him together with the organization to take greater job and personal responsibility for his future”. The process makes employees more motivated because he is doing what he wants and he is able and willing to accept responsibility for his growth and accomplishment. Conclusion Motivation energizes behavior and gives it direction. Some theories of motivation suggest that it is ad hoc, short time and fleeting. What motivates a person now ceases to motivate him later, since needs, values and environments change. As manifested in the work experience of General Electric, motivational strategies employed by a particular leader could induce people to effective performance. However, it could be viewed as achieving goals for particular stakeholders but not for others, in the long run. In eliciting superior performance, the manager does not force employees to do so; instead, he motivates them to do so. Motivation is not a simple matter, but in fact, is a complex process. Multiple factors define its intensity and direction. To the manager, motivating people is perhaps the highest challenge. His task is to motivate employees toward excellent performance, not once, not usually, but all the time. References Byrne, J. (1998). “How Jack Welch Runs GE.” Business Week. Retrieved 12 September 2010. < http://www.businessweek.com/1998/23/b3581001.htm#Main%20Story> Dulberg, M., Paschen, J., Sprindis, S., & Stawski, S. (n.d.). Jack Welch and the Motivation of GE. Retrieved 12 September 2010. < http://www.sstawski.com/download/GE.pdf> Krames, J.A. (2005). Jack Welch and the 4E’s of Leadership. Retrieved 12 September 2010. < http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/miscellaneous-retail-retail-stores/4443600-1.html> Martires, C.R. (2004). Management of Human Behavior in Organizations. National Bookstore, Philippines. Multinational Monitor. (2001). “Any Cost” is Too High. Retrieved 12 September 2010. < http://multinationalmonitor.org/mm2001/01july-august/julyaug01interviewoboyle.html> Woopidoo Biographies. (n.d.). Jack Welch Biography. Retrieved 12 September 2010. < http://www.woopidoo.com/biography/jack-welch.htm> Read More