Chapter 5

Motivation

Objectives

• Explain the effect of work ethic on motivation.• Explain the effect of job satisfaction on

motivation.• Explain the effect of competition on motivation.• Describe how to motivate new employees.• Describe how to motivate part time employees.• Explain the effect of incentives on motivation.• Demonstrate how to develop personal

motivation plans (PMPs) for individual employees.

Motivation

• People can be extraordinarily creative, innovative, and effective at accomplishing goals they really want to obtain.

• Motivation is a person’s drive to do something.

• Motivation as it relates to the workplace is the drive to do a good job.

• Self motivated employees are internally driven to achieve at peak levels.

What Motivates People

• The first set is ( Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs – fig 5-1, page 54):

• 1. Basic survival needs.

• 2. Safety/security needs.

• 3. Social needs.

• 4. Esteem needs.

• 5. Self actualization needs.

Specific Human Needs Related to Work

• Specific job related needs are:• 1. Financial reward.• 2. Personal satisfaction.• 3. Societal contribution.• Until people earn enough money to be comfortable

financially, employees will be motivated by the opportunity to earn more.

• Employees can be motivated by the potential to improve their job satisfaction.

• Employees can be motivated by the potential to make a difference or be viewed as being important.

The Work Ethic and Motivation

• An employee with a strong work ethic is intrinsically motivated and will try to do the best possible job in every situation.

• Such employees take pride in their work and meet their esteem needs by doing a good job.

Improving Work Ethic

• When the work ethic is not what it should be, the natural reaction is to blame the employee, but this is not always appropriate.

• The fault could be the organization.

• Supervisors can help develop the work ethic in people and also recharge one that has run down.

Enhancing Work Ethic

• Supervisors can help employees see a direct connection between the quality/quantity of their work and the amount of their pay.

• If salary/wage programs are not linked directly to work quality and quantity, supervisors should work with management to restructure the program so that financial incentives are available and tied to job performance.

Job Satisfaction

• Job satisfaction, is not necessarily a motivator for better performance.

• Job dissatisfaction is a demotivator.

• Consequently supervisors must concern themselves with job satisfaction as a step towards motivating employees.

Job Satisfaction and Motivation

• Job satisfaction is the foundation on which higher levels of productivity can be built.

• Factors that promote job satisfaction include (fig 5-2, page 57):

• Wages• Benefits• Working Conditions• Co worker relationships• Supervisor/employee relationships• Potential for advancement• New challenges• Competition

Expectancy and Motivation

• Expectancy is an important factor in motivating employees.

• It has 4 components:• What management expects• What the supervisor expects of employees• What employees expect in return for performance• What peers expect of each other• For employees to stay motivated over the long run, there

must be consistency between what they expect for performing well and what they actually get.

Recognizing Achievement Oriented Employees

• People who are motivated by achievement tend to be task oriented, independent, need continual reinforcement, and focus intently on evaluations of their performance.

• They usually accumulate physical evidence of their achievements such as trophies, plaques, certificates of accomplishment, and other memorabila.

Using Achievement to Motivate Employees

• Perhaps the easiest way to motivate achievement oriented employees is by sharing the organization’s goals with them so that each goal accomplished becomes a personal achievement for them.

• Another effective strategy is to make achievement oriented employees responsible for specific goals that they can call their own.

• In addition it is necessary to provide appropriate recognition when they achieve their goals.

• Part of what achievement oriented employees is the recognition that achievement brings them (fig 5-4, page 60).

Drawbacks of Motivating Achievement Oriented Employees

• Employees who are affiliation oriented are team players who are motivated by social interaction among peers.

• Where work is done in teams, supervisors should make sure that there is an appropriate balance between affiliation and achievement oriented workers on the teams.

• An achievement oriented worker can be a spark plug for the team if handled properly.

Job Design and Motivation

• Task oriented job design means that the job process were set up to get the most of the floor space available, equipment used, and humans involved. Time and motion studies were used to continually improve processes by identifying and eliminating wasted motion.

• In people oriented job design, the needs of human workers are the foremost consideration. People who are comfortable and challenged will be more productive.

• The balanced job design seeks to strike the optimal balance between the two other orientations. This promotes ownership of the job design by workers.

How to Use Job Design to Motivate

• The following rules may be helpful:• 1. Design the job so that the employees see the big

picture – how their job fits into the overall process or how their task contributes to the organization’s mission.

• 2. Design the job so that the employees must apply a variety of skills rather than perform a monotonous task that never changes.

• 3. Design the job so that employees can be as autonomous as possible.

• 4. Design the job so that employees are allowed to come in contact with the customer as frequently as possible.

Competition and Motivation

• Competition in a positive way (fig. 5-6, page 62):• 1. Involve employees who will compete in planning

programs of competition.• 2. Where possible encourage competition among groups

rather than individuals, while simultaneously promoting individual initiative within groups.

• 3. Make sure the competition is fair by dividing work equally, resources are equitably distributed, and human talent is appropriately spread among the teams.

• Possible competitive work factors include quality, waste reduction, production rates, absenteeism, and safety.

Communication and Motivation

• Supervisors need to have the ability to:

• 1. Understand non verbal communication.

• 2. Empathize with employees and see things through their eyes.

• 3. Read between the lines and determine what the real problem is.

• 4. Keep an open mind and truly listen to what employees are saying.

Promotions and Motivation

• Promotion demotivators that should be avoided:• 1. Do not promote solely on the basis of

seniority. If a senior employee is promoted over a less senior but more skilled employee, morale will suffer.

• 2. Do not promote on the basis of popularity. A well liked person may struggle and perform poorly when placed in a supervisory role over former coworkers.

• 3. Do not promote on the basis of friendship. Promotions based on friendship are doomed to failure from the outset.

New Employees and Motivation

• The following strategies will help (fig 5-7, page 66):

• 1. Provide a personal orientation: by supervisor.

• 2. Use one on one conferences: attention.• 3. Establish the organization’s culture:

what is expected and how things are done.• 4. Make the first assignment a confidence

builder: Let them learn to swim.

Problem Employees

• 1. Avoid jumping to conclusions: Identify the cause of the behavior.

• 2. Be patient: Take time to find cause of negative behavior.

• 3. Spend as much one on one time with problem employee as possible: Let them talk and listen. Ask open ended questions.

• 4. Tailor your motivational technique as dictated by the cause: once cause is identified.

Motivating Part Time (P-Timer) Workers

• 1. Positive reinforcement: to show that their contributions are appreciated.

• 2. Team Building Efforts: let them know they are members of a team.

• 3. Information sharing: Better informed employees are better prepared to do their jobs.

• 4. Money: Pay rate that says that they are important.

• 5. Expectations: explained so they know what is expected of them.

• 6. Feedback: Praise and recognition.

Incentive Programs and Motivation

• Ensuring effectiveness of incentive programs:• 1. Define objectives: For example, to increase productivity by 20%.• 2. Lead by example: Model the type of behavior you want to

reinforce. For example, to decrease absenteeism and tardiness, supervisors must set example of attendance and punctuality.

• 3. Develop specific criteria: Type of behavior and level of performance and outline for measuring success.

• 4. Make rewards meaningful: Involve employees in developing the list of potential rewards.

• 5. Only the employees who will participate in the rewards program know what incentives will motivate them: Employees should be involved in planning, implementation, and evaluation of establishing an incentive program.

• 6. Keep communications clear: Ask for feedback, and act on it.• 7. Reward Teams: Work in most organizations is more likely to be

accomplished by a team than a individual.

Developing Personal Motivation Plans

• 1. Identify specific improvements the employee needs to make.

• 2. Know the employee well enough to identify what motivator may work.

Terms Summary

• Corporate Culture• Financial Reward• Job Design• Job Satisfaction• Motivation• People Oriented Job Design• Safety/Security Needs• Social Needs• Task Oriented Job Design• Work Ethic

Home Work• Answer questions 2, 5, 8, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, and 21 on page 71.• 2. What are the 3 specific work related needs all people share?• 5. Briefly explain how supervisors can help enhance the work ethic.• 8. List the job satisfaction factors that can motivate people to higher

levels of performance.• 11. How can a supervisor use achievement as a motivator?• 13. Explain the following terms: people oriented job design, task

oriented job design, balanced job design.• 15, Explain briefly how supervisors can ensure that competition is a

motivator rather than a demotivator.• 17. Explain briefly how to avoid making promotions a demotivator.• 19. Explain briefly how to deal with problem employees.• 21. List 6 strategies in the P-Timer program.

Terms Summary

Home Work