Motivation and Performance Analysis - Essay Example

Running Head: MOTIVATION AND PERFROMANCE Motivation and Performance Jeremy J. Hill TUI Introduction The level of performance of employees is not just a result of their skills but also the result of motivation each person exhibits. There are two sources of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic. When there is an external reward like money or praise attached to performance the motivation is extrinsic. But it is not always possible to have external rewards for all activities and therefore the management has to promote intrinsic motivation that is the outcome of internal factors like self satisfaction or the pleasure of satisfactory performance (Hagedoorn and Van Yperen 2003). In fact the intrinsic motivation is preferable as the employee develops affinity with the organization and considers the welfare of the organization to be his wellbeing. This improves his productivity and performance since it will go along with his satisfaction. Such employees are also loyal to the company's cause. In contrast the employee who looks for extrinsic motivation becomes greedy in anticipation and looks for alternatives to promote his own wellbeing. Literature Review Two academic articles have been put up for review. Seijts, G.H., Latham, G.P., Tasa, K. & Latham, B.W. (2004) in their article "Goal setting and goal orientation: An integration of two different yet related literatures" published in the Academy of Management Journal suggest that goal orientation and goal setting are two different fields that are unfortunately considered as one composite by most authors. In their view this does not augur well in establishing that motivation and devotion are the causative elements of better performance by employees. They argue that goal setting does not take into consideration the level of preparedness or personality of the employee who is expected to benefit out of it and in turn the company does not gain in terms of better productivity. In their view goal orientation paves the way for better understanding of the goals set and help to eventually realize the same to benefit both the employee as well as the organization. They have gone on to state that self-efficacy and quest for information act as a go-between the effect of a learning goal on performance. In their final view they confirm that their results were based on a single industry that was service oriented. For this they have relied on empirical research and have applied the same with their well explained theories. Two of the authors - Latham and Latham- have written profusely on the subject in various other publications and have covered the subject widely. On the other hand Marsden, D. (2004) has relied on the case studies of non-profit companies, to write "The role of performance-related pay in renegotiation the "effort bargain".' published in the Industrial & Labor Relations Review. His research of mostly state owned or controlled companies led him to the conclusion that although rewards and schemes that result from goal setting have been quite successful, the motivation of the participants was not a contributory factor in the end result. This appears contradictory but the author has rather convincingly proven his point in case using the empirical evidence with subjective questioning that brought out this fact. He has correctly diagnosed that the leaders and managers are under the wrong impression that their performance related schemes have borne results out of motivation despite the results being according to their expectations. He however is not reluctant to state that the out come of performance related pay has resulted in higher productivity due more to the smart use of the management ploy. Indeed it appears that this scheme has been rather well exploited by the employees and they have been able to use it as a tool to negotiate better deals for themselves. While the managements have been convinced that performance related pay has improved the productivity in services, the real fact is that the employees have craftily used this as a lever to achieve better negotiated pay for themselves for work that they could have easily performed otherwise with just the right effort. This leaves a lot of room for improvement in performance, which they hold back for even better pay for the next round of so called improved performance. Analysis The common ground in both articles is that goals when set do bring about better performances and higher output or productivity in all kinds of environments; profit making or offering services without a profit motive. Yet another common feature of both is that they have failed to highlight the fact that performance is not entirely related to motivation or devotion or better pay for improved performance, but to several other factors too. Our present society is too complex to explain away such results in so simple a manner notwithstanding the intricate nature of the examination and analysis carried out in both the articles. The uncommon factor between the two writings is the fact their own devotion to their narrow approach to human psychology. It would require great length of writing to cover the subjects of sociology and human psychology as well as other behavioral sciences to really cover the subject. Even then it must be stated that the results cannot be very accurate as the current society even in a small demography is no longer stable and consists of varying cultural and custom bound ideologies to bring forth a common human approach to even a single problem or issue. There are some concrete methods used in these experiments however. Based on the scope and complexity of the questions at hand, the authors did an excellent job of trying to address an expansive question. In "Goal Setting and Goal Orientation", the authors addressed the question of how best to set goals with employees to get the most efficiency from them. They conducted a business model with college students using the Cellular Industry Business Game, a computer-based simulation. Three groups were selected; Do-your-best goal setters, Performance goal setters, and Learning goal setters. Hypothesis's were formed based on each of the goal setter groups, and how they would relate (Seijts, 228) then the experiment was conducted. Using Cronbach's alpha equation as a scale, results were tabulated and compared. As concession to probability of "endgame effects', the monitors informed the participants that they would have 15 time periods and only allowed them 13. The comprehensive data is well presented in a series of explanations and tables; it elucidates all questions pertaining to the experiment. The authors allow for the idea that there is "no tangible outcome associated with high or low performance" (Seijts, 237) which is a foreseeable gap in the research. The participants were less motivated to succeed in the game than they would have been had their well-being been at stake. Offered as a resolution to this problem was the suggestion that more field research would be necessary. In "The role of performance-related pay in renegotiating the "effort bargain"", David Marsden used data collected by the LSE's Center for Economic Performance in a series of attitude surveys that were completed by a cross-section of public servants and line managers. Marsden uses the questions asked in these surveys to find the hidden motivations behind the answers. For example: out of the three survey questions used to complete table 1, related to perceived initiative, the first and second question can be used to analyze the cost vs. reward ration to the employee, while the third question analyzes the element of reward for good work as opposed to minimal work. In this manner, Marsden reexamined the data collected by the surveys into statistical information he uses to analyze the effectiveness of performance related pay. The information is presented again, in a series of summaries and tables that allow the reader to draw their own conclusions, while steered by Marsden's interpretation of his findings. The data effectively addresses the research question, and while it is a difficult and complex issue Marsden does present convincing findings that the performance based pay system is ineffective. Conclusions Having said this, it is still the endeavor of this writing to come to some conclusion on the subject of motivation and devotion in relation to performance. Firstly we need to narrow down or focus to the highly westernized society where the members of different cultures have absorbed the common cultural aspects of their immediate environment, yet retaining their customs and habits to a smaller extent. The fallout of this will be that now motivation can play some role in improved performance if laced with some empowerment. Self efficacy is just a feeling of competency and is a motivator in entrepreneurial or ownership conditions. Where the worker is a subordinate empowerment will offer his the level of self efficacy to act as a motivator. Secondly motivation is also a result of involvement. When a worker becomes a stakeholder in the whole supply chain of service or product and participates in innovative activities his devotion also results in higher performance which is better than expected. The moral assumptions of managing need a change. Recognition of core competencies as well as democratization of the corporate structure is the call of the day. Two western organizations have pulled off miracles in their respective companies by adopting these two methods and have brought back both motivation and devotion to a degree that has not been witnessed in the business world for over three decades. They are Semco of Brazil and Swatch of Switzerland. One has made each of his employees into a stakeholder by giving him or her a say in running of the company, including appointments of their superior managers and deciding on their own pay related to their output. The other has called on the superior competency of his workers and Swatch was able to manufacture superior watches for the masses at lower prices than the Japanese and with much better quality. Swatch restored all this through bringing back manufacturing to Switzerland; despite the fact that the Swiss wages are the highest in the world. There would not be so many difficulties with efficiency from employees if the employees felt that they made a conceivable difference in the company and that their efforts were appreciated. This can be accomplished by allowing the employees more of a voice in management decisions, involving them as more than workers, and by rewarding intrinsic motivation. Bibliography Marsden, D. (2004). The role of performance-related pay in renegotiating the "effort bargain": The case of the British Public Service. Industrial & Labor Relations Review, 57(3), 350-371. Seijts, G.H., Latham, G.P., Tasa, K. & Latham, B.W. (2004). Goal setting and goal orientation: An integration of two diffferent yet related literatures. Academy of Management Journal, 47(2), 227-240 Read More