Successful Management by Motivation
Introduction
The manager’s role in a workplace is to get tasks accomplished through employees. To do this, it is essential for a manger to have the potentiality to motivate employees, which is often an extremely challenging task. Motivation theory and practice are difficult subjects that cover various disciplines. Despite enormous applied and basic research, motivation as a subject is unclearly understood and poorly practiced. Understanding the human nature is the key to understanding motivation. Though the human nature can be simple, it can also be extremely complex. A prerequisite to effective motivation is therefore understanding and appreciating the complexity of human nature. The aim of this study is to examine motivation in management, its importance and case study for companies that apply motivational theories on their employees.
Many companies are starting to realize the fact that employee motivation entails more than the simple act of using money as a performance incentive. Experts hold the view that employee motivation field is much more complex than this; although some managers may make the assumption that financial incentives are the best means for recognizing employees’ achievements. Other than the research’s benefit and moral value derived from the altruistic approach of valuing the human dignity and viewing employees as human beings, motivation is of great importance in enhancing creativity and increasing productivity. It is therefore evident that employee motivation is crucial to organizational success (Thomas, 2009).
Literature Review
According to Chopra (2002), employees may work hard either because they are being paid or because they are interested in the work itself. The first reason entails extrinsic motivation while the second one entails intrinsic motivation. There is a close link between the two forms of motivation, and hence, companies can not choose one or the other form in isolation. Under certain situation, an extrinsic incentive in the form of variable performance-relate pay may jeopardize intrinsic motivation, a phenomenon referred to as the “crowding-out” effect. An explanation that can be given to justify the crowding out effect of intrinsic motivation is that variable-performance-related pay results to a reduction in self-determination and breaking of a psychological contract on grounds of mutual trust (Chopra, 2002, p 24).
High employee morale, intrinsic motivation, is imperative in an organization for various reasons. This kind of motivation is necessary for effective use of pooled resources due to the fact that not all activities can be sufficiently remunerated. Extrinsic motivation too, is of remarkable significance within an organization. Intrinsic motivation can not be generated with ease and may even be undesirable under certain situations (Martin, 2005). On the other hand, extrinsic motivation can be more accurately targeted and provides a means of maintaining discipline. Among the key functions of a company is the generation and sustenance of the appropriate form of motivation. The act of selecting the most appropriate combination of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation is known as management by motivation (Martin, 2005).
In management, there is an ambivalent approach to the prevailing approach to management. On the one hand, more and more organizations are introducing individual, variable, performance-related pay. This form of remuneration appeals to the self-interest of employees through rewarding exceptional performance on an individual basis. Consequently, managerial salaries in particular have increased dramatically over the last few years, mainly because of the introduction of stock option plans (Rainey, 2009).
On the other hand, great emphasis is laid on the essence of employees identifying with their job and with the organization which they work. One of the key factors of organizational success is a common corporate culture in the context of shared standards and values. Semi-autonomous working schedules within self-organized groups and decentralized decision-making processes are the norm in virtually all modern organizational structures, from process management to network and project organization. As a consequent of this, performance-related piecework pay is crowding out from the corporate landscape. The mistrust-based organization will increasingly pave way for the trust-based organization as knowledge becomes more important to the work done within an organization (Rainey, 2009).
According to Frey and Osterloh (2002), there are several reasons why companies are dependent on the motivation of their employees. One of the reasons is attributed to the firm-specific pool resources. Some common examples of such resources include a company’s unique corporate culture, its good name, good relations with its customers and suppliers, and accumulated knowledge. All employees benefit from these resources regardless of whether they have contributed to them or not. Self-centered employees who are only interested in personal gain will contribute nothing of their own volition, a situation called free-riding. Under this situation, the resource pool can only be formed in the presence of a line manager who acts on the capacity of command and control. Only employees who are intrinsically motivated will endeavor to make a contribution to the firm-specific resource pool (Frey, 2002).
Thomas (2009) noted that, intrinsic motivation fosters innovation and creativity. Activities that are creative and innovative in nature rely heavily on intrinsic motivation. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation diminishes and slows down the process of learning. Experimental studies have shown that supervision adversely affects conceptual understanding and the rate of learning. There is preference for a less rigorous learning effort under the pressure of a reward-based system. Consequently, employees who are extrinsically motivated tend to unquestionably adhere to the tried-and-tested route. Additionally, fatigue tends to set in if external factors intervene to prevent employees from performing a given task (Thomas, 2009).
The art of creating the appropriate motivation is fundamental. For organizations to come up with the right incentive measures, they should weight the difficulties and the imponderables associated with generation and undermining of intrinsic motivation against the fairly predictable impact of price sanctions, the price effect. Failure to choose the right form of intrinsic motivation may pose a negative impact to an organization. For instance, intrinsic motivation may assume an undesirable or immoral dimension (Martin, 2005). History has revealed that the worst crimes against humanity are often aggravated intrinsically. Primary examples are fanatics such as Stalin and Hitler. Vengeance, envy, and the lust for power are no less intrinsically motivated than love, altruism and conscience. It is therefore essential for organization to impart the right from of motivation that will foster innovation and increases productivity (Chopra, 2002).
Discussion
The possible research approach that can be employed in investigating the subject of motivation in management is the use of case studies for companies applying motivational theories on their employees. Tesco Company is among the companies well known for applying motivational theory in practice. Tesco is a company that was established Jack Cohen, a market stallholder selling groceries in London, in the year 1919. A merger with T. E. Stockwell with whom Jack purchased teas for sale is what resulted to formation of TESCO. The opening of the first store took place in 1929 and since then Tesco has expanded globally. Currently, the company has stores exceeding 2,200 including Tesco Express outlets and hypermarkets aimed at meeting various consumer needs. Tesco has transformed into the largest British retailer and among the world’s leading retail outlets with net profits of approximately 3.4 billion pounds (Humby, Hunt and Phillips, 2007).
Tesco needs employees that are motivated, well-trained, and flexible and who recognize consumer needs to support its growth. Tesco in turn supports its employees in their different roles at varying levels. A fact that Tesco recognizes is the essence of employee motivation for continual company growth. A case study of Tesco Company examines how employees are motivated by increasing their skills, knowledge and job satisfaction via development and training as well as provision of timely and relevant reward and recognition (Humby, et al., 2007).
Tesco believes that motivation may originate from individual interest like keeping safe or external factors like reward or praise. Though pay is considered to be a primary motivator, other significant motivators include a sense of achievement, appreciation of hard work, opportunity for advancement, responsibility and empowerment and finally, a sense of challenge and enjoyment. A workforce that is motivated will work harder and attain a greater output within a limited time period, consequently minimizing the costs of labor. Moreover, motivated employees tend to have less absenteeism and show greater loyalty to the company.
Tesco considers that the enterprise relies on two groups of people, the staff and customers. It gives appreciation to the fact that its staff are is distinct and has lifestyles that are diverse. To this end, the company gives significant support to its staff through a work/life balance. The company gives rewards in form of competitive salaries, flexible working, discount gym membership, free or reduced rate health benefits, company share options and staff discount. Tesco has realized the essence of creating respect and trust. It has discovered that employees’ motivation is greatly increased by valuing employees, providing an interesting environment and realistic goals (Humby, et al., 2007).
One of the earliest motivation theories was published by Fredrick Taylor, an engineer in 1911. According to a research conducted by Taylor, people worked solely for money. Workers were paid according to their results, and this approach was deemed to be good for the business. The end result was increased productivity though employees were given limited encouragement, opportunity and time to be innovative and think independently. There is some similarity between Tesco’s Employee Reward Program and the theory proposed by Taylor. Among the motivating factors of Tesco are its financial reward packages. Tesco advances beyond Taylor through giving more than just a mere pay increase. Through relevant targeted benefits, Tesco supports the diverse lifestyles of individual workers. Employees can be motivated via several non-monetary factors. Promotion achievement and improving personal skills are examples of such non-financial factors (Humby, et al., 2007).
Employees are greatly motivated when they are content with their job. This is achieved when employers create a good working environment that value employees, generally via increased interaction and consideration of employees’ opinions. Employee motivation also tends to be higher in an organization that invests in its workforce via training and development. Tesco invites its staff to take part in a staff satisfaction survey annually. This survey gives employees a chance to air out their views in virtually all aspects of their job. Tesco utilizes the survey results to motivate its staff and make sure that it is providing appropriate things to them. Some of the staff benefits offered by Tesco include career break, lifestyle break and a pension scheme, which provides long term benefits that are clearly defined.
In addition to Frederick Taylor, another theorist is known as Elton Mayo, who is behind the Mayo Effect. A person may be motivated to change or develop their actions through external or internal factors. The desire to learn a new skill is an example of an internal factor which serves to reward an individual. Examples of external factors include incentives and sales targets. Some of the factors that were suggested by Elton Mayo in the early 1930s to promote motivation include good teamwork, greater communication, showing interest in others, ensuring the well-being of others, involving others in decision making and ensuring that work is non-repetitive and interesting. Mayo’s views held that motivation could be increased via giving employees a degree of freedom to make their own decisions and making them feel important.
The Mayo theory seems to be operating throughout Tesco Company. An extremely important factor in motivating the Tesco workforce is motivating employees. This may be done through face-to-face discussion with managers, through appraisals and the company newsletters or intranet. A daily meeting is held by line managers to update staff on daily activities and disburse Value Awards (Humby, et al., 2007).
Tesco also promotes employee motivation through several opportunities for training and development. Ever employee has access to training required to perform their job as well as leadership training required for growth within the company. Strategic career planning is offered by the company to enable the workforce to attain the extraordinary. In addition to weekly career discussion with employees, Tesco focuses on individual development, has established a 360 degree feedback system. This system enables employees to understand their strengths, behavior and weaknesses.
According to Abraham Maslow’s argument, there are five essential needs that motivate humans. Maslow developed a pyramid that demonstrated these needs and named it, “hierarchy of needs”. The bottom of the pyramid consists of basic needs such as shelter and food, which motivate people to work. Once the basic needs are met, there is the need for security and safety, for instance, through good working conditions. Social needs entail the desire to belong or be part of a group. At the top of the pyramid is self-fulfillment which entails challenge, creativity and interest. According to Maslow, achievement of one level motivates people to achieve the next level.
The two factor theory of motivation was developed by Frederick Herzberg in the year 1959. Herzberg’s research revealed that certain factors were satisfiers or true motivators. In contrast, absence or inadequacy in hygiene factors resulted to dissatisfaction. To prevent dissatisfaction, it is recommendable to improve hygiene factors though this improvement would not solely provide motivation. According to Herzberg’s view, creation of conditions that make employees feel fulfilled in the workforce truly motivates an employee.
The aim of Tesco is to motive is employees both by enabling satisfiers and paying attention to hygiene factors. For instance, the company motivates and empowers its workforce by timely and appropriate communication. It also delegates responsibility and involves its staff in the decision making procedure. The company holds forums annually in which staff form part of discussions concerning pay rises. This shows that Tesco recognizes its employees and rewards them. The staff in Tesco can even have the capability of influencing the type of food to be included in the company’s restaurant menus. The result of all the efforts put forth by Tesco is motivation of employees towards making choices that would improve business performance and productivity (Miner, 2007).
Another motivational theory that is worth noting is the reinforcement theory, based on the work of psychologist Edward Thorndike. There are four types of reinforcers, which are positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment and extinction. A variety of work behaviors including safety, are motivated by rewards. Because security is a matter of life and death in coal mines, Massey Energy, based in Chamanville, West Virginia wanted to motivate its employees to improve communication and awareness of safety habits. Employees were assigned to a tem and teams competed with each other on a monthly basis for best performance records. Points were awarded in accordance to three-tiered system based on individual teams members, whole teams and the members of the entire mine site working without a lost-time accident for a month. Quarterly updates were posted on the website of the program, and the points earned were redeemed for merchandise. The result of the program was a significant decrease in absenteeism and an annual reduction in lost-time accidents of forty seven percent (Martin, 2005).
Skill based pay is another way through which employee motivation can be increased. Instead of paying employees for job performance, employees are paid for the range and depth of their skills and knowledge in skill-based pay. Workers become more flexible and are enabled to contribute to the organization in various ways through broader skills. When work organization is based on teams, skill-based pay may encourage all members of a team to develop the skills required to increase the team’s performance and flexibility.
A case study example of a skill based pay is when a General Mills Plant implemented a plan that paid employees in various job types on the basis of their attained skill levels for their job. There are three levels skills that workers could attain in their job. These levels are the limited liability, which refers to the capability of performing simple tasks without supervision, partial proficiency, which refers to the capability of applying more advanced principles on the job and finally full competence, which refers to the capability of analyzing and solving problems related to that job. The company tested workers periodically to see if they had achieved certification at the next higher skill level on their job. If the results were positive, they received higher pay even though they maintained the same job. The overall result of the program was increase in employees’ overall skill levels, and increased ability of mangers to shift employees from one job to another as needed (Thomas, 2009).
Besides monetary incentives, employees also value appreciation, recognition and support in balancing their work and family lives. Non-monetary rewards and recognition are typically inexpensive, but can be effective motivators. Some of the methods of employee recognition include a preferred parking space, a personal thank-you note. A unique reward, public praise, company picnics, just to mention but a few. Sometimes simple gestures can achieve great results. A Westinghouse sales manager agreed to pay for and cook lunch for all sixteen of his direct reports if they met their sales quotas. They subsequently outdid their goals in eighteen out of nineteen months.
Employees have lives outside work, and facilitation of work-life balance can motivate and reward employees. A case study example is a Global Financial Group, IFC, which promotes employees’ work-life balance by providing paid-time off for volunteer community efforts, onsite and emergency childcare as well as flexible working hours.
A PNC Financial Services Group operations centre in suburban Philadelphia compressed the traditional five-day workweek schedule of a trial group of employees into four ten-hour days. The results obtained were a dramatic increase in employee productivity and a decline in their absenteeism and turnover (Rainey, 2009).
In addition to increasing performance and minimizing turnover, alternative rewards like flextime, telecommuting and compressed workweeks may also lead to promotion of ethical work behavior. Results from one survey indicated that ninety one percent of employed adults agreed that workers have a higher likelihood of behaving ethically when they have a good work-life balance (Chopra, 2002).
Non-monetary rewards and recognition are also part of alternative rewards. A case study example is JetBlue Airline which trains its managers to recognize and reward exemplary behavior in their departments. All promoted or newly-hired supervisors are required to attend a week-long program whose key objective is to teach them how to become more effective in motivating their subordinates. JetBlue also attempts to make the recognition fit the accomplishment. In one particular case, an employee commented that making hundred of badges had ruined her nails. The Airline decided to reward the employee with a manicure. It is therefore clear that JetBlue Airline consider non-monetary factors to be effective employee motivators (Martin, 2005).
Summary
It is clear that employee motivation is fundamental for the success of any given organization. An organization that invests in its staff and puts the motivation theory into practice fosters innovation, improves productivity and eventually attains long-term goals and objectives. Tesco Company and JetBlue Airlines have attained remarkable results in terms of performance due to application of employee motivational theories. Though majority of enterprises believe that employees are motivated solely through monetary incentives, this is not the case. Non-monetary rewards such as appreciating, supporting and respecting employees yield remarkable outcomes.
Employee motivation is therefore a fundamental task to managers. Early theories of motivation such as that proposed by Taylor indicated that pay led to employee motivation to increase productivity. However, organizations now need workers to attain greater motivation in addition to having a stake in the company for which they work, as suggested by Elton Mayo. Herzberg and Maslow demonstrated that there are different factors that can motivate employees. Companies that provide a chance for the workforce to take a greater interest and share in their own employment, reinforce employee motivation. Due to the fact that every employee is an individual with diverse aspirations and needs, personal development plans and process reviews enables recognition of their achievement and abilities, which in turn increases the level of motivation.
References
Chopra, S. (2002). Motivation in Management. Sarup & Sons
Frey, B. S., & Osterloh, M. (2002). Successful management by motivation. Springer
Humby, C., Hunt, & Phillips, T. (2007). Scoring Points: how Tesco continues to win customer loyalty. Kogan Page Publishers
Martin, J. (2005). Organizational behavior and management. Cengage Learning, pg 42
Miner, J. B. (2007). Organizational behavior: From theory to practice. M. E. Sharpe
Rainey, H. G. (2009). Understanding and Managing Public Organizations. John Wiley and Sons
Thomas, K. W. (2009). Intrinsic Motivation at Work: What Really Drives Employee Engagement. Berrett-Koehler Publishers
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