Motivation in the Workplace - Case Study Example

Running head: MOTIVATION IN THE WORKPLACE MOTIVATION IN THE WORKPLACE Goes Here al Affiliation Goes HereOUTLINE I. IntroductionA. The Reward Theory (incentives are given to draw people towards objectives) B. The Fairness Theory (employees are treated fairly through compensation and other factors to motivate the employees) C. The Empowerment Theory (employees are given wide attitude to make decisions) D. The Carrot-and-Stick Theory (a balance between perks and consequences is created) E. The Forget-About-It-Theory (“I m already paying them well” to motivate) II. Motivational Framework A. Motivation and Needs B. Maslows hierarchy of needs C. Traits and Personality D. Self Regulatory Skills E. Self Evaluation III. Reward Theory IV. Goal Setting Theory A. Commitment and Goal Setting B. Goal Setting and Performance C. Goals Setting Conditions V. Expectancy Theory VI. Conclusion References The paper discusses the topic of motivation in the workplace, and the impact of personality and psychological needs on motivation. It also deals with the impact of goal setting, reward and expectancy on motivation at workplace to assist managers in assessing employee motivation better. The paper further details how a better understanding of employee motivation can improve their performance at the workplace. Motivation In The Workplace I. Introduction Motivation is a resource allocation process where time and energy is allocated to an array of tasks. Motivation includes direction, persistence and intensity of this process. Motivation is essentially a future oriented concept, which anticipates the amount of need for satisfaction and it occurs when the outcomes are received. Motivation has a significant effect on the behavior of employees at workplace and managers need to understand how , when and why employees are motivated by analyzing their psychological needs, personality traits, self regulatory skills as well as their needs for earning to improve performance which can be further encouraged through rewards and recognitions. Motivation has a significant position in the eyes of the scholars. If one expects to create a highly valid theory constructed for the purpose to enhance usefulness; in practice it would be best to consider the motivational theories for a suitable model. Work motivation is a set of energetic forces, which originates within and beyond the individual being to initiate work related behavior and to ensure the form, intensity, direction and duration. Managers can motivate employees at the workplace and help the employees to satisfy psychological needs as well as their needs for earning. The goal should be to improve employee performance which can be encouraged through rewards and reinforcements. Open communication with all employees is also important for keeping employees motivated. There are five different theories used at workplace for motivating people. They are as follows: A. The Reward Theory (incentives are given to draw people towards objectives) B. The Fairness Theory (employees are treated fairly through compensation and other factors to motivate the employees) C. The Empowerment Theory (employees are given wide attitude to make decisions) D. The Carrot-and-Stick Theory (a balance between perks and consequences is created) E. The Forget-About-It-Theory (“I m already paying them well” to motivate) Evidences show the importance of effect on sources of motivation. Goal Setting, Expectancy and Special Cognitive theories are very important in integrating organizational justice, contextual condition, feedback, and they make use of some other variables such as needs, traits, nationality, and self regulation to create direct impact on employee motivation. II. Motivational Framework The framework used for motivation focuses on personal traits and extents to needs or values, the national culture, job design, personal context fit and cognition. It creates highly effective reactions which may not depend on cognition. Emotions focusing on coping include cognitive and behavioral strategies. The culture of an organization is also affected by organizational norms. A. Motivation and Needs Kanfer (1991) stressed on the significance of needs as the internal tensions influence the mediating cognitive processes, which may cause behavioral variability. The process based on assessment of the need structure and salience was derived from social identity approach for the organizational behavior, and Kanfer (1991) assets that the person needs to understand aspiration for self existence in a hierarchy. B. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Maslow (1943) explained the hierarchy of needs from bottom to top as – Physiological, Safety, Belongingness and Love, Esteem, and Self-Actualization needs. Psychological needs are most important in the decision space, in working conditions, safety (in terms of work practice), esteem (through recognition and responsibility), and love (to form cohesive work team) and self actualization (where the opportunity for growth for creative and challenging tasks is provided). It has been found out that people have an innate biological need for the following: • Acceptance and approval • Power, status and control of resources • Predictability and order The needs translate into behavior while getting along with others, for getting ahead in status and for making sense in the world. The need based theories explain why a person needs to act, but it does not explain the cause for specific actions chosen by an individual in various circumstances. C. Traits and Personality When the personal identity is salient, the need to enhance self esteem through personal growth and advancement becomes dominant. McGregor’s theory (1960) assumes that when the supervisor and employee share the same identity, people are motivated to attain a goal with their self-identity. Trait is an important consideration: satisfaction results in happiness and lack of fulfilment causes displeasure. The individual difference variables have no moderating or mediating effect on motivation. According to Kanfer (1991), subsequent findings from a meta-analysis challenged this conclusion. Failure to express this trait can even lead to anxiety. It has been proved that personality is an important predictor of motivation elements and researches show that the traits can predict and even influence the job search or choice of job, work performance and satisfaction level. D. Self Regulatory Skills Traits can be self regulatory, namely, conscientiousness, extroversion and self-monitoring. The analysis of relations between self regulation and personality traits has been established in regard to the job search. The Developmental theory provides the distinction between influences of actions in the form of relatively stable motivational traits and the proximal influences which are associated to individual differences as motivational and self regulatory skills. The multiple traits motivational inventories measure motivation versus intelligence and it was designed for the purpose. A positive relationship of self-monitoring was found by Locke and Henne (1986) in job performance, which leads to the advancement into leadership positions and creation of strong relationships. E. Self Evaluation The relationship between personality traits and performance was examined. The mediation models test the complex casual chains and it was found that two traits have indirect impact instead of direct through non-trait mechanisms – self-efficacy and goal setting. A theory on self evaluations represents appraisal of people, things, and events in relation to self. Meta-analysis shows that the core evaluation was a strong disposition predictor of job satisfaction. Motivation mediated about half of the relationships between performance and self evaluations. III. Reward Theory Giving incentives increases motivation, but some researchers have found reverse impact on motivation in certain circumstances. Goals are perceived as impossible and if bonus is given for goal attainment – it can lower motivation. According to McGregor (1960), the model shows psychological incentive and temporary increase in productivity through wage increase and it may lower the overall effort of workday causing the individuals to reach the goal fast and reducing motivation. In a research on New York City cabs, the tendency of cabbies to work short hours on high wage reflected loss aversion as the daily income target. An experiment was also conducted on bicycles where messengers were provided higher wage for a month and it was found that the messengers reduced their effort during the shifts in this month. IV. Goal Setting Theory Humans evaluate performance on tasks relative to goal, reference level and experience effect as they make progress or fail to progress towards their goal. Locke and Latham (2004) found that a certain personality trait is applied to or mediated by the state or situation and specific variables which affect the performance. This demonstrates how it is moderated by the situational structuring or choice. Locke (2001) found that values and personality traits work through goals and self-efficacy which influence the performance. Goal Setting theory was developed in 1990 by Locke and Latham and later it was concluded that it was quite easily the single most dominant motivational theory applied over thousand articles. The assigned versus participative goal setting was researched and Locke and Henne (1986) found that it worked in groups, alone, or in complex tasks. No major impact was found for goal setting. The conditions were created, but the main impact was on decision-making and it was mediated by self efficacy and task strategy. A. Commitment and Goal Setting Commitment was important and relevant in case the goal setting is difficult. Goal commitment measure has a high reliability and validity. Locke (2001) argued the significance of incentives as personality, which affected performance through personal goals, self efficacy and goal commitment. It was observed in Goal Setting theory: the higher the goals, the higher outcome. However, no effect was found for participation in regard to Goal Setting theory. B. Goal Setting and Performance Goals can lead to high performance and rewards, provide high satisfaction and self efficiency which helps to meet the future challenges and even set higher goals. Higher performance is one of the outcomes of high performance and it can happen only if one fosters organizational commitment and when the commitment is specific to challenging the goals. C. Goals Setting Conditions The applicability of goal-setting social dilemma creates boundary conditions for positive effects on goal setting. According to McGregor (1960), in goal setting, it has been identified that self-enhancing personal goals can have a detrimental effect on a group’s performance. Additionally, for employee motivation the goals of groups should be the same. V. Expectancy Theory There is little advance in Expectancy theory which illustrates the potential value of neuro-physiologically based models to explain expectancy. Motivated employees have the interest to succeed and to give their best at the workplace, no matter what is the project. Unmotivated employees are not concerned about their performance and what they give, or if the organization is benefiting or not from their work. VI. Conclusion Motivation is an internal state of mind, which controls the attitude of employees, and managers can implement the findings of motivational theories at workplace to create an environment which will inspire the employee to remain motivated. Behavioral and Expectancy theories are overwhelmed by the Social Cognitive and the Goal-Setting theories in motivation literature. A great significance of effect and behavior as well as cognition and interaction has been observed in workplace motivation. There are many other variables such as needs, values, effect, cognitions and behavior which determine employee motivation. Furthermore, new models in motivation have been developed in which new variables have been researched to assess employee motivation. References Locke, E. A., and Henne, D. (1986). Work motivation theories. In International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Ed. Cooper C. L., Robertson I. New York:Wiley, pp. 1–36. Locke, E. A., and Latham, G. P. (2004). What Should We Do About Motivation Theory? Six Recommendations for the Twenty-First Century. Acad. Manag. Rev. 29:388–404. Kanfer, R. (1991). Motivation Theory And Industrial And Organizational Psychology. In Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Palo Alto, CA: Consult. Psychol., pp.75–170. Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review 50(4) (1943):370-96. McGregor DM. (1960). The Human Side of the Enterprise. New York: McGraw-Hill. Read More