Motivation People at Work - Coursework Example

Motivation People at Work By Presented to Introduction Over the years, employee motivation has beena critical concern to most business stakeholders. This project aims at finding the components of motivation within the workplace. The paper uses one content and a process theory by Herzberg and Amabile and Kramer respectively. The discussion will be supported by analysis of questionnaires issued to ten people. The major reason is that the criticism is raised against that the theories as they contain relatively explicit assumptions (Aamodt, 2012. p 34). The respondents added that not all happy and satisfied employees produced more. In most case, this is not the case. For instance, where certain tasks mean increased satisfaction of the need to be recognized, employees find ways of thinking about the roles more often. This results in lower outputs to the official tasks due to minimal amounts of concentration. The respondents insisted that another problem with the theory is that these statistical theories concern themselves with explaining the "average" behavior. According to Huczynski & Buchanan (2013. p 236), there are considerable differences across individuals and impact on the major motivational factors. The methodological problem for the use of social variables is the manner in which the issues are yet to be incorporated into sustainable models that systematically have a link of the different analytical levels in terms of context, action, role, and structure. In the perspective, it also becomes difficult to distinguish between institutional arrangements and social values. Previously, scholars try to probe and blend their relationship. The organizations have a comprehensive creation or perpetuation of powerful actors against their cultural orientations and interests. Similarly, culture is a reflection of organizations. Specifically, it is worth acknowledging that strong cultural elements in the contingency institutional perspective argue of the organizations having to include various social attitudes. For example, the pursuit of status pushes people into taking balanced views and striving to attain several behavioural goals. The efforts translate into achieving various personal status objectives (Griffin & Moorhead, 2011. p 29). Expectations of individual and estimated probabilities of certain behaviour bring valued outcomes in determining the choice of means. Outcomes also affect the devotion to the strategies of motivation. The scope of expectancy displays employees as people who ask question popped by investigators. Analysis and Discussion From the analysis of the responses, the findings support that job characteristics of individual and nature of duties have a capacity of gratifying needs such as achievement and competency. Dissatisfaction comes from the unfavourable assessments for job-related factors including on the job interpersonal relations, working conditions, company policies, supervision, salary, and technical problems. Three of the respondents added that management increases job satisfaction, it should raise concerns towards the scope of work and opportunities presented (Harcourt & Wood, 2006. p 12). Other considerations include status, self-realization, and personal worth. Therefore, making an individual happy and satisfied within the workplace takes both dimensions (Rugman & Collinson, 2012. p 28). Three of the respondents observed that the absence of the gratifying job characteristics did not translate into unhappiness and dissatisfaction. According to Huczynski & Buchanan (2013. p 326), the concept is to gain status, assume responsibility to achieve self-realization. On the other hand, reduction of dissatisfaction through management initiatives requires focus on the job environment. The last four respondents insisted that policies, working conditions, supervision, and procedures are the main areas of concern (Aamodt, 2012. p 29). With equal concerns about managers, attention to each set of job factors is prudent. Nine of the respondents insisted that each set of factors impacts job attitudes in exactly the same way. The motivators are a category of factors that include responsibility, recognition, and challenging work giving positive satisfaction. The elements arise from various intrinsic conditions from the job tasks such as recognition, personal growth, and achievement (Dyer & Dyer, 2010. p 73). Hygiene factors are category of motivation elements such as salary, status, fringe benefits, job security, and work conditions. Not all these elements provide positive satisfaction even though dissatisfaction is attributed to their absence. The category is extrinsic to work tasks and includes aspects of supervisory practices, company policies, or wages and salary. Five of the respondents insisted that knowledge workers encounter inadequacies in sufficing the motivation-hygiene theory. Essentially, all hygiene factors are necessary for ensuring that employees are not dissatisfied (Krausert, 2011. p 39). The motivation factors motivate employees towards increased performance. Herzberg classified people’s actions do them. For instance, if an individual performs work-related actions because they are expected to, then it is referred to as "movement". However, if they perform, work related actions because they want to; Herzberg classifies it as "motivation". The provisions suggest the removal of control management excused on the employees through increasing responsibility and accountability over their work. This leads to increased employee autonomies in value addition (Simons, 2011. p 82). The theory creates natural and complete work units in areas of sufficiency. An illustration of this is allowing employees to generate whole units and sections other than letting them process components. The theory encourages employees to embrace new and challenging roles for purposes of becoming experts in their areas. Unlike the provisions of Maslow, Herzberg presents considerable evidence to affirm motivation-hygiene theory (Price, 2007. p 29). Herzbergs theory focuses on the relevance of internal job factors for the motivation of employees. The theory designs components aimed at increasing job enrichment for workers. Herzberg sought to generate opportunities for employees to engage in performing, planning, and evaluating work tasks. Six of the respondents insisted that they were distracted during the day at the workplaces. Others focus on hearing other people communicate on the phone with suppliers, customers, or consultants. People watch those sitting in silence prior looking into spaces and jotting down notes. The workers added that these kinds of people would not understand their inner work life (Sekaran & Bougie, 2010. p 182). Knowledge workers could be sending e-mails composed to friends, dialed personal numbers instead of working on spreadsheets, and reviewed irrelevant material. Workers make interactions within formal meetings and along hallway encounters, with subordinates, colleagues, and superiors while listening in on presentations delivered (Dávila, 2009. p 63). The findings concur with provisions of the theory. Having several conversations coupled with writing requisite reports does not mean that the individual is only dealing with assigned tasks. The theory adds that people proceed to form and adjust perceptions on colleagues and the organization they serve (Griffin & Moorhead, 2011. p 62). Other factors to consider include work they and their personal goals. People experience emotions triggered by mild states of irritation or satisfaction (Farnham, 2000. p 82). Subsequent elements include intense feelings of frustration or pride. The perceptions and emotions intertwine in developing sustainability of work motivation across time. Consequences of the day’s performance are imperative in decision-making (Muller, 2009. p 90). Four of the respondents observed that there were immediate rewards of the interplay. Evidence shows that there is richness, and intensive context of inner work lives among people. Brain areas associated with rational decision-making and thought encounter direct connections within management of personal feelings (Fitz-Enz, 2010. p 72). Four respondents responded that the interplay of perceptions and feelings did not have visible impacts on overall performance. The elements do not perform separate psychological compartments as they interact in several ways (Krausert, 2011. p 72). The findings concur that the brain, similar to other systems, cannot be apprehended by a simple look on each part. Inner work life performs in ways similar to the considered components and respective interactions.The findings allow a strong influence on the day’s events (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2007. p 121). The discovery ably fits the popular line of thought of the human mind. Two respondents were indifferent about the impact of the interplay in their work. Neuroscience shows that emotions and cognition such as perception of events have an extensive link. Three of the respondents strongly agreed with the statement. For purposes of studying inner work lives, people need to appreciate levels of access past the observer’s interpretation. The respondents relied on classic forms of personal encounters (Simons, 2011. p 28). Each day, the researcher sent out standard e-mails to participants requesting brief descriptions. The responses outlined events that were outstanding in their minds from the workday. Four of the respondents were indifferent about the statement. The remarks issues tended made it clear that their thoughts or the event were based on levels of job satisfaction. According to Huczynski & Buchanan (2013. p 576), the interpretation of the statement was attached to their work, teams, and organizations, and they felt about them. The expectations include an appreciation of the relevance of the consultation in decision-making. Top management boards recruit people with high-intellect to ensure that there is access to quality information (Bruce, 2006. p 28). From this, some participants rated themselves and their teammates along dimensions of work quality, creativity, work commitment, and team cohesiveness contributions. This is because the teams in the study triangulated responses from their colleagues. Outcomes of the approach include strengthening of the major understanding of events and their impacts. Instead of relying on team’s encounters alone, assessment of overall performance included evaluations from knowledgeable people away from the team. According to Huczynski & Buchanan (2013. p 76), typical management methodologies can help in establishing positive cycles in the management inner work lives of employees. Such efforts include working collaboratively with subordinates, praising them, and making workplaces fun and more relaxing. However, there are various important levers aimed at giving people a sense of making progress across their work (Sparrow, Brewster & Harris, 2004. p 27). Achieving certain goals involves accomplishing tasks and solving problems with mundane and immense pleasure and joy. Organizations demand comprehensive knowledge of the respective works from its employees. Conclusion Respect is awarded to the role of incentives as well as application of formal compensation systems in channeling intellectual energy across the path to success (Dyer & Dyer, 2010. p 78). However, most organizations overlook other critical drivers of performance in evaluating the knowledge levels of their workers. The fact that inner work life rarely has an open expression in most modern organizations, it is easy for most managers to disregard private thoughts as well as people’s feelings (Price, 2007. p 92). From the understanding, inner work life of people forms a new dimension of workplace motivation. People face constant streams of perceptions, emotions, and motivations while reacting to and making sense of events within workplaces (Dowling Festing & Engle, 2008. p 36). While people settle on respective roles, they focus on matters away from their hearts and minds in success planning. According to Huczynski & Buchanan (2013. p 665), sychologists have a fascination with daily work life. The findings on inner work life go beyond the intellectual curiosity for complex interactions between perceptions, motivations, and emotions (Rubin & Babbie, 2009. p 286). The elements address pragmatic managerial questions on how the dynamics influence work performance. For purposes of examining this question, the research constructed a projectile that gives an opportunity of analyzing inner work lives from knowledge workers (Cassidy & Kreitner, 2009. p 18). Most respondents insisted that managers have a lot of power over human resources. The findings noted that the behavior of managers instantly shapes the inner work lives of the employees (Hunter, 2006. p 28). However, key levers in the control of the managers include driving performance and motivation towards achieving organizational goals and mission. References Aamodt, M. 2012, Industrial/Organizational Psychology: An Applied Approach. New York: Cengage Learning Bruce, A, 2006, How to Motivate Every Employee: 24 Proven Tactics to Spark Productivity in the Workplace. London: McGraw Hill Professional. Cassidy, C, & Kreitner, R. 2009, Supervision: Setting People Up for Success. New York: Cengage Learnin. Cohen, L, Manion, L, & Morrison K, 2007, Research Methods Education. New York: Routledge Dávila, A., 2009, Best Human Resource Management Practices in Latin America. New York: Taylor & Francis Dowling, P., Festing, M., & Engle, A., 2008, International Human Resource Management: Managing People in a Multinational Context. New York: Cengage Learning EMEA Dyer, W. & Dyer, J. 2010, Team Building: Proven Strategies for Improving Team Performance. New York: John Wiley & Sons Farnham, D. 2000. Employee Relations in Context. New York: CIPD Publishing Fitz-Enz, J., 2010. The New HR Analytics: Predicting the Economic Value of Your Companys Human Capital Investments. New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn Griffin, R. & Moorhead, G. 2011, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations. New York: Cengage Learning Harcourt, M. & Wood, G. 2006, Trade Unions and Democracy: Strategies and Perspectives Transaction Publishers Huczynski, A. A. & Buchanan, D. A. 2013, Organizational Behaviour. New York: Pearson Education, Limited Hunter, I. 2006, HR Business Partnerships: Emerging Service Delivery for the HR. New York: Gower Publishing, Ltd. Krausert, A. 2011, Performance Management for Different Employee Groups: A Contribution to Employment Systems Theory. New York: Springer Muller, M., 2009, The Managers Guide to HR: Hiring, Firing, Performance Evaluations, Documentation, Benefits, and Everything Else You Need to Know. New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn Price, A. 2007, Human Resource Management in a Business Context. New York: Cengage Rubin, A, & Babbie, E, 2009, Essential Research Methods for Social Work. New York: Cengage Learning Rugman, A, & Collinson, S, 2012, International Business. New York: Pearson Education, Limited Sekaran, U, & Bougie, R, 2010, Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach. New York: John Wiley & Sons Simons, R. 2011, Human Resource Management: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities. New York: CRC Press Sparrow, P. Brewster, C. & Harris, H. 2004. Globalizing Human Resource Management: Tracking the Business Role of International Human Resources Specialists. New York: Routledge APPENDIX 1 Insert name Insert address Date Dear respondent, REF: RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE I am a student at UEA pursuing Msc. in Investments and Financial management. I am carrying out a study on the role of motivation people at work. I kindly request you to spare some time to fill the questions as they apply to your area of operations. The information provided herein will be treated with utmost confidentiality. Neither your name nor job capacity will appear in the final report of the study. Thank you in advance Yours faithfully, Insert name APPENDIX TWO QUESTIONNAIRE: Put a tick ✔ where appropriate Section A Answer all questions by ticking where appropriate. Your views will be treated with confidence. (Tick in the appropriate boxes) 1. Years in the organization a) Between 1and 2 years b) Between 3 and 5 years c) Between 6 and 8 years d) Above 8 years 2. Level of education a) certificate b) Advanced Diploma c) Degree d) Master Of Science e) PHD 3. Position in the organization ……………………………………………….. Section B 4. The approach also provides continuous and regular feedback on job performance and productivity directly to stakeholders other than through supervisors. Is the motivation approach applicable in seamless situation? Yes………… No……….. Explain 5. Culture is a reflection of organizations. How do cultural factors influence job satisfaction more than the revenue amounts? Positive……………………… Negative……………………… If yes, explain. 6. On the scale of 1-5, tick where appropriate Statement 1 2 3 4 5 1. Motivation is the only important employee performance factor 2. employees goal clarity improves their performance 3. Work conditions improve performance 4.flexible and suitable employee achieve any job goals 5. structured knowledge helps employees improve performance 6. Feedback improves an individual’s performance 7. List the tools of employee motivation that have the biggest impact on performance levels ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 8. The scope emerges that the interplay of perceptions, motivations, and emotions for inner work life system affects processing work events. Do you face distracters in your workplace? Yes………… No……….. If yes, explain 9. Career 1. What skills interest you? …………………………………………………… 2. In five years, what would you like to be? …………………………………………… 3. What courses are you interested? …………………………………………………… 10. The perceptions and emotions intertwine in developing sustainability of work motivation across time. Do you consider the relevance of among perceptions, emotions, and motivations in system influential to workplace performance? Yes………… No……….. If yes, explain 11. (On a scale of one 1 to 5 Where 1=strongly disagree 2=Disagree 3=Neutral 4=Agree 5= strongly agree), conducive work environments strengthen people’s understanding of events and subsequent effects. Strongly Agree Neutral Strongly disagree 12. How would you like your efforts to be recognized? Mark the recognition style of preference: a. formal department/unit recognition b. informal manager recognition c. both Other: _______ Thank you for participating in the survey. Read More