Chapter 12: Motivating EmployeesMotivation: What it is, why is
it important People are mainly motivated to fulfill their needs,
wants Thus they do what they do
What is motivation? Defined as the psychological processes that
arouse and direct goal-directed behavior It is mainly inferred from
ones behavior Motivation is the result of multiple personal and
contextual factors
Rewards are of 2 types: intrinsic and extrinsic: managers can
use both to encourage better work performance
IntrinsicExtrinsic
Satisfaction in performing the task itself
The satisfaction, such as feeling of accomplishment, that a
person receives from performing the particular task itself
Payoff from pleasing oneself Satisfaction in the payoff from
others Payoff, eg money, that a person receives from others for
performing a particular task
Why is motivation important? : Motivate people to: 1) Join your
organization: Instill talented prospective workers to work for you
2) Stay with your organization: Retain good people 3) Show up for
work: Prevent absenteeism and lateness 4) Be engaged while at your
organization: Engaged workers produce higher quality work and
better customer service 5) Do extra for the organization The 4
major perspectives on motivation: overview
1) Content 2) Process 3) Job design 4) Reinforcement
Content perspectives Also known as need-based perspectives
Theories that emphasize the needs that motivate people Needs are
defined as physiological or psychological deficiencies that arouse
behavior In addition to McGregors theory X/Theory Y, content
perspectives include 4 theories: 1) Maslows hierarchy of needs
theory 2) Alderfers ERG theory 3) McClellands acquired needs theory
4) Herzbergs 2 factor theoryMaslows hierarchy of needs -Needs are
never completely satisfied-Our actions are aimed at fulfilling the
deprived needs, the needs that remain unsatisfied at any point in
time - From bottom to top:
1) Physiological needs: Food, clothing, shelter, comfort,
self-preservation 2) Safety needs: Physical safety and emotional
security, so that a person is concerned with avoiding violence and
threats 3) Love needs: Look for love, friendship and affection 4)
Esteem needs: Self-respect, status, reputation, recognition,
self-confidence 5) Self actualization needs: self-fulfillment- the
need to develop ones fullest potential, to become the best one is
capable of being
Using Maslows theory to motivate employees: -Should try to meet
employees level 1 and 2 needs so employees wont be constantly
preoccupied with them - Then, give employees a chance to fulfill
their high level needs that also advance the goals of the
organization
Alderfers ERG theory: existence, relatedness, and growth
Developed by Clayton Alderfer: ERG theory assumes that 3 basic
needs influence behavior: existence, relatedness and growth From
lowest to highest: 1) Existence needs: Desire for physiological and
material well being 2) Relatedness needs: Desire to have meaningful
relationships with people who are significant to us 3) Growth
needs: Desire to growth as human beings and to use our abilities to
their fullest potential
Alderfer held that if our higher level needs are frustrated, we
will seek more intensely to fulfill our lower level needs
Frustration-regression component
Using ERG theory to motivate employees: Lobbying bosses for
better pay and benefits. Consistent with the findings that
individual and cultural differences influence our need states.
People are motivated by different needs at different times in their
lives Managers should customize their reward and recognition
programs to meet varying needs
McClellands Acquired Needs Theory: achievement, affiliation and
power Developed by David McClelland Acquired needs theory: 3 needs:
achievement, affiliation, and power are major motives determining
peoples behavior in the workplace We are not born with our needs,
rather we learn them from the culture- from our life experiences 3
needs: 1) Need for achievement: I need to excel at tasks 2) Need
for affiliation: I need close relationships 3) Need for power: I
need to control others 2 forms of the need for power: 1) Negative
kind: Need for personal power, expressed in the desire to dominate
others, manipulating people for your own gratification 2) Positive
kind: Desire for institutional power, the need to solve problems
that further organizational goals Using acquired needs theory to
motivate employees: Need for achievement: Do work that pays for
performance, challenging but achievable goals, individual
responsibility for results. Tend to advance in fields requiring
creativity and individual skills
Need for power: Enjoy being in control of people and events, and
being recognized for this responsibility.
Need for affiliation: Seek social approval and satisfying
personal relationships Prefer sales, provides for personal
relationships and social approval
Herzbergs 2 factor theory: from dissatisfying factors to
satisfying factors
Frederick Herzbergs 2 factor theory Work satisfaction and
dissatisfaction arise from 2 different factors- work satisfaction
from motivating factors, and work dissatisfaction from hygiene
factors
Hygiene factors vs motivating factors Using 2 factor theory to
motivate employees
-Basic lesson: First eliminate dissatisfaction (hygiene
factors), making sure that working conditions, pay levels, and
company policies are reasonable. -Then concentrate on spurring
motivation by providing opportunities for achievement, recognition,
responsibility and personal growth (motivating factors)
Process perspectives
Concerned with the thought processes by which people decide how
to act 3 theories:
1) Equity theory 2) Expectancy theory 3) Goal-setting theory
Equity theory Focuses on employee perceptions as to how fairly
they think they are being treated compared with others J. Stacey
Adams Based on the idea that employees are motivated to see
fairness in the rewards they expect for task performance Employees
are motivated to resolve feelings of injustice
The elements of equity theory: comparing your inputs and outputs
with those of others
Key elements: inputs, outputs (rewards), and comparisons
Inputs Time, effort, training, experience, intelligence,
creativity, seniority, status, and so on
Outputs or rewardsRewards that people receive from an
organization: pay, benefits, praise, recognition, bonuses,
promotions, status prerequisites
Comparison People compare the ratio of their own outcomes
Using equity theory to motivate employees Employees who feel
that they are being underrewarded will respond to the perceived
inequity in one or more negative ways Eg, reduce inputs or rewards
they receive, distorting the inequity, changing the object of
comparison, or leaving the situation Contrast: Employees who think
they are treated fairly are more likely to support organizational
change, more apt to cooperate in group settings, less apt to turn
to arbitration and courts
3 practical lessons:
Employee perceptions are what count No matter how fair managers
think the organisations policies, procedures, and reward system
are, each employees perception of those factors is what counts
Thus, managers should provide positive recognition about employee
behavior and performance Explain reasons behind decisions
Employee participation helps Allow employees to participate in
important decisions
Having an appeal process helps Promotes the belief that the
management treats them fairly Promotes job satisfaction,
commitment, and citizenship behavior Reduce absenteeism and
turnover
Expectancy theory: how much do you want and how likely are you
to get it?
By Victor Vroom Expectancy theory suggests that people are
motivated by 2 things: 1) How much they want something 2) How
likely they think they are going to get it Assuming they have
choices, people will make the choice that promises them the
greatest reward, if they think they can get it The 3 elements:
Expectancy, instrumentality, valence
What determines how willing you are to work hard at tasks
important to the success of the organization? You will do what you
can do when you want to Your motivation involves the relationship
between your effort, your performance, and the desirability of the
outcomes
Expectancy - Will I be able to perform at the desired level on a
task? - Expectancy is the belief that a particular level of effort
will lead to a particular level of performance -
Effort-to-performance expectancy
Instrumentability-What outcome will I receive if I perform at
this level? - Instrumentability is the expectation that successful
performance of the task will lead to the outcome desired
Valence - How much do I want the outcome? - Valence is value,
the importance a worker assigns to the possible outcome or reward -
For your motivation to be high, must be high on expectancy,
instrumentality, and valence
Using expectancy theory to motivate employees
Problem: it is complex When attempting to motivate employees,
managers should ask the following questions: 1) What rewards do
employees value? Need to know your employees, understand what
rewards they value, eg pay raises
2) What are the job objectives and the performance level you
desire? Need to determine what performance level or behavior you
want you can tell your employees what to do to attain rewards
3) Are the rewards linked to performance? Employees must be
aware that X level of performance within Y period of time will
result in Z kinds of rewards Must use combination of individual and
team-based rewards
4) Do employees believe you will deliver the right rewards for
the right performance? Employees must believe that you have the
power, the ability and the will to give them the rewards you
promise, for the performance you request
Goal setting theory: objectives should be specific and
challenging but achievable Suggests that employees can be motivated
by goals that are specific and challenging but achievable Edwin
Locke and Gary Latham Goal setting has 4 motivational mechanisms
Goal: defined as an objective that a person is trying to accomplish
through his or her efforts To result n high motivation and
performance, goals must have a number of characteristics:
1) Goals should be specific
EG, quantitative Boost revenues by 25%
2) Goals should be challenging but achievable
Should be tailored to fit individual abilities and training Do
not set them so low such that lots of people can achieve them Nor
set so high that most people give up Difficult goals higher
performance (when employees are committed) Difficult goals Low
performance (when employees uncommitted)
3) Goals should be linked to action plans
Outlines the activities or tasks that need to be accomplished in
order to obtain a goal
4) Goals need not be set jointly to be effective Does not matter
whether the goals are set by managers, employees, or by both, to be
effective Managers should use a contingency approach Employees
should be encouraged to develop their own action plans, fostering
stronger goal commitment
5) Feedback enhances goal attainment Lets employees know if they
are on or off course Provides them with performance standards Gives
them the motivation they need to adjust efforts
Goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable,
Results-oriented, and have Target dates
Job design: 1) the division of an organisations work among its
employees and 2) the application of motivational theories to jobs
to increase satisfaction and performance
1) Traditional approach to job design: Fitting people to jobs 2)
Modern way: Fitting jobs to people (based on the assumption that
people will gradually adapt to any work situation)
Job simplification: The process of reducing the number of tasks
a worker performs
Enables a worker to focus on doing more of the same task, thus
increasing employee efficiency and productivity Especially useful
in designing jobs for mentally disadvantaged workers However,
simplified, repetitive jobs lead to job dissatisfaction, poor
mental health, and a low sense of accomplishment and personal
growth
Fitting jobs to people
Based on the assumption that people are underutilized at work,
and they want more variety, challenges, and responsibility
(Herzbergs theory) One of the reasons for the popularity of work
teams in the United States The main challenge for managers How can
we make the work most compatible with the worker so as to produce
both higher performance and high job satisfaction? 2 techniques: 1)
job enlargement 2) job enrichment
Job enlargement Putting more variety into a job Consists of
increasing the number of tasks in a job to increase variety and
motivation Proponents: Job enlargement can improve employee
satisfaction, motivation and quality of production Research: will
not have a significant and lasting positive effect on job
performance
Job enrichment Putting more responsibility and other motivating
factors into a job The practical application of Frederick Herzbergs
2 factor motivator hygiene theory of job satisfaction Consists of
building into a job such motivating factors as responsibility,
achievement, recognition, stimulating work, and advancement
However, instead of the job-enlargement technique of simply giving
employees additional tasks of similar difficulty (horizontal
loading), employees take on chores that would normally be performed
by their supervisors
Job characteristics model: 5 job attributes for better work
outcomes Developed by J. Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham Outgrowth
of job enrichment Consists of 1) 5 core job characteristics that
affect 2) 3 psychological states of an employee that in turn affect
3) Work outcomes the employees motivation, performance, and
satisfaction
5 Job characteristicsSkill variety Skill variety: Describes the
extent to which a job requires a person to use a wide range of
different skills and abilities
Task identity Describes the extent to which a job requires a
worker to perform all the tasks needed to complete the job from
beginning to the end
Task significance Describes the extent to which a job affects
the lives of other people, whether inside or outside the
organization
Autonomy Describes the extent to which a job allows an employee
to make choices about scheduling different tasks and deciding how
to perform them
Feedback Describes the extent to which workers receive clear,
direct information about how well they are performing the job
How the model works: 5 core characteristics affect a workers
motivation Affect 3 critical psychological states: meaningfulness
of work, responsibility for results, and knowledge of results These
positive psychological states fuel high motivation, high
performance, high satisfaction and low absenteeism and turnover
Contingency factors: Refers to the degree to which a person wants
personal and psychological development Job design works when
employees are motivated: Need 3 attributes 1) Necessary knowledge
and skill 2) Desire for personal growth 3) Context satisfactions
(Right physical working conditions, pay, supervision) Applying the
job characteristics model
1) Diagnose the work environment to see whether a problem exists
Developed by Hackman and Oldham -Self-report instrument for
managers to use (job diagnostic survey) - Will indicate whether an
individuals so-called motivating potential score (MPS the amount of
internal work motivation associated with a specific job- is high or
low
2) Determine whether job redesign is appropriate If a persons
MPS score is low, an attempt should be made to determine which of
the core job characteristics is causing the problem Most likely to
work in a participative environment in which employees have the
necessary knowledge and skills
3) Consider how to redesign the job Try to increase the core job
characteristics that are lower than national norms
Reinforcement perspectives on motivation Reinforcement
perspective: pioneered by Edward L Thorndike and B.F. Skinner
Concerned with how the consequences of a certain behavior affect
that behavior in future Skinner: Father of operant conditioning
(process of controlling behavior by manipulating its consequences)
Operant conditioning: rests on Thorndikes Law of effect (behavior
that results in a pleasant outcome is likely to be repeated and
vice versa) Reinforcement theory (attempts to explain behavior
change by suggesting that behavior with positive consequences tend
to be repeated, whereas behavior with negative consequences tends
not to be repeated) Use reinforcement theory to change human
behavior behavior modification 4 types of reinforcement: positive,
negative, extinction, and punishment Reinforcement: anything that
causes a given behavior to be repeated or inhibited Positive
reinforcement Strengthens behavior The use of positive consequences
to strengthen a particular behavior (rewarding successful
performance)
Negative reinforcement Also strengthens behavior By withdrawing
something negative (by stop nagging)
Extinction Weakens behavior by ignoring it or making sure it is
not reinforced
Punishment Weakens behavior By presenting something negative or
withdrawing something positive
Using reinforcement to motivate employees
Positive reinforcement1) Reward only desirable behavior 2) Give
rewards as soon as possible 3) Be clear about what behavior is
desired (communicate to employees) 4) Have different rewards and
recognize individual differences
Negative reinforcement1) Punish only undesirable behavior (when
frequently shown) Otherwise they may view you as a tyrannical boss
2) Give reprimands or disciplinary actions as soon as possible3) Be
clear about what behavior is undesirable 4) Administer punishment
in private 5) Combine punishment and positive reinforcement
Using compensations and other rewards to motivate Is money the
best motivator? The Great Place to Work Institute has determined
that great employers have 3 traits in common: employee trust in
management, pride in the company, and camaraderie with colleagues
Motivation and compensation A wage or salary gives an employee
little incentive to work hard Incentive compensation plans try to
do so, although no single plan will boost the performance of all
employees
Characteristics of the best incentive compensation plans 1)
Rewards must be linked to performance and be measurable 2) The
rewards must satisfy individual needs 3) The rewards must be agreed
on by managers and employees 4) The rewards must be believable and
achievable by employees Popular incentive compensation plans pay
for performance, bonuses, profit sharing, gainsharing, stock
options, and pay for knowledge
Pay for performance Also known as merit pay Bases pay on ones
results Payment according to a piece rate, in which employees are
paid according to how much output they produce (Farm workers
picking fruits and vegetables) Sales commissions (Sales
representatives are paid a percentage of the earnings the company
made from their sales)
Bonuses Cash awards given to employees who achieve specific
performance objectives
Profit sharing The distribution to employees of a percentage of
the companys profits
Gain sharing The distribution of savings or gains to groups of
employees who reduced costs and increased measurable
productivity
Stock options With stock options, certain employees are given
the right to buy stock at a future date for a discounted price The
motivator here is that employees holding the stock options will
supposedly work hard to make the companys stock rise so that they
can obtain it at a cheaper price
Pay for knowledge AKA skill-based pay Pay for knowledge ties
employee pay to the number of job-relevant skills or academic
degrees they earn
Non-monetary ways of motivating employees
The need for work-life balance Attaining a balance between
personal life and career
The need to expand skills The young feel that getting a job will
help them gain skills that will enable them to earn a decent living
in the future
The need to matter Workers want to be with an organization that
allows them to feel that they matter They want to commit to their
profession or fellow team members rather than have to profess a
blind loyalty to the corporation
Another example: Flexible workplace (Part time work, flextime,
compressed workweek, job sharing, and telecommuting)
Other examples: Treat employees well
Thoughtfulness: the value of being nice Employers spend too
little time showing workers they matter Being nice means reducing
criticism, becoming more effusive in praise, writing thank-you
notes to employees for exceptional performance
Work-life benefits Used by employers to increase productivity
and commitment by removing certain barriers that make it hard for
people to strike a balance between their work and personal lives
Includes helping employees with day care costs, or even
establishing on-site centres, domestic-partner benefits,
job-protected leave for new parents, and provision of technology
such as mobile phones and laptops to enable parents to work at
home
Surroundings The cubicle stifles creativity and morale of many
workers The bias of modern-day designers for open spaces and neural
colours is leading to employee compalints that their workplaces are
too noisy or too bland
Skill-building and educational opportunities Learning
opportunities can take 2 forms Managers can see that workers are
matched with coworkers from whom they can learn, allowing them, for
instance, to shadow workers in other jobs or be in
interdepartmental task forces
Sabbaticals Macdonalds offers sabbaticals to long time
employees, giving a month to a year of paid time off in which to
travel, learn and pursue personal projects Enable employees to
recharge themselves Also to cement their loyalty to the
organization