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ASSESSMENT TASK : 4000-5000 WORDS ASSIGNMENT COURSE TITLE : MANAGING IN ORGANISATIONS ASSIGNMENT BRIEF: “CHOOSE ONE OR TWO OF THE AREAS COVERED IN THE MANAGING OF ORGANISATIONS MODULE AND CRITICALLY ANALYSE THEM WITH REFERENCE TO AN ORGANISATION IN WHICH YOU HAVE WORKED” LECTURER: PROF. SUSAN MILLER CHOSEN TOPIC 1) MOTIVATION. MOTIVATION What is motivation? In my opinion it is any action, statement, reason or stimulus that acts as a catalyst for either a positive or negative reaction geared towards or against a goal. OTHER DEFINITIONS
Twyla Dell writes of motivating employees “The heart of motivation is to give people what they really want from work. The more you are able to provide what they want, the more you should expect what you really want, namely: productivity, quality, and service” (Dell, 1988). The meaning of motivation is tending to initiate motion; power; that which induces a person to act e . g desire, fear, and circumstance. (Oxford Dictionary 1987) Motivation as defined by Atkinson is “….. the contemporary (immediate) influence on the direction, vigour, and persistence of action. ” (Atkinson, 1964) In the words of Victor Harold Vroom it is “…. process governing choice made by persons or lower organisms among alternative forms of voluntary activity (Vroom, 1964). Everyone is motivated by something either directed towards action or inaction, for example I am working on this assessment because i am motivated to do so in order to fulfil academic obligations, justify the anticipation of good marks and of course the interest I have in research. The Tutor also has motives for requesting this assessment which could be to test the student’s knowledge of the module, ability to synthesise the study material as well as critically analysis.
The Organizations, Government Bodies and Sponsors of Students presently undertaking the MBA also have motives, which could be for the Students to acquire top-class knowledge from a renowned Institution and different business environment so as to come back and put it to practice for the benefit of the granting entity. The UK Boarder Agency will also have motives for granting we International Students visas, it could be to encourage a diverse mix of culture amongst UK Institutions and possibly to increase the revenue that goes to HMRC (Her Majesty Revenue ; Customs) . Why have i digressed so much?
It is to give an insight to the fact that every human activity, endeavour, relationship, work experience and environment is under-pined by Motivation. The business environment i. e organisations are not excluded. To do this justice a critical analysis of theories is pivotal. CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF MOTIVATION THEORIES AS THEY RELATE TO PRACTICAL WORK EXPERIENCE Motivation can be explored from three different but interconnected angles. GOALS: This standpoint is concerned with the reason for our actions: Could it be geared towards wealth acquisition, gaining and maintaining status symbols as well as power.
Is our behaviour propelled towards the accomplishment of pre-determined goals? To satisfy and understand this questions a study of content theories of motivation is necessary. DECISIONS: What determines our choice to chase these pre-determined goals? This perspective sees motivation in relation to the process of making decisions that influence our set goals. To gain insight into probable answers to these questions requires the study ; application of process theories of motivation. INFLUENCE: How can employees be encouraged to work harder through motivation?
How can managers normatively influence employees to perform well and exhibit desired behaviour? This is where job enrichment theories come into play. DRIVES AND MOTIVES DRIVES: This can be described as natural and biological catalysts of behaviour that are triggered by lack or deprivation. Though this has incurred the disagreement of some scholars, who opine that our behaviour is pre-programmed is simplistic. MOTIVES: This is an environmental and social need caused by a fulfilment desire. 1) ARE ACQUIRED 2) SOCIAL 3) ENVIRONMENTALLY ACTIVATED 4) AIMED AT STIMULATION ) ARE ACQUIRED 6) SOCIAL 7) ENVIRONMENTALLY ACTIVATED 8) AIMED AT STIMULATION 1) INNATE 2) PHYSIOLOGICAL 3) TRIGGERED BY LACK 4) AIMED AT SATIATIONN 5) INNATE 6) PHYSIOLOGICAL 7) TRIGGERED BY LACK 8) AIMED AT SATIATIONN DRIVES MOTIVES FIGURE 1. 0 (Adopted from Buchanan and Huczynski, 2010) THEORIES OF MOTIVATION CONTENT THEORIES: These theories of motivation are based on the assumption that factors that invigorate, co-ordinate and maintain behaviour are inherent and are concerned with the ordering of these elements within a person.
They include but are not limited to Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Alderfer’s ERG theory, Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene theory, McClelland’s Learned Needs theory and Nohria, Groysberg and Lee’s Emotional Needs theory. PROCESS THEORIES: These theories focus on how behaviour is energized, co-ordinated and sustained. They lay more emphasis on the emotional processes that are core action. They include Victor Harold Vroom’s Expectancy theory, Equity theory, Porter and Lawler model, Goal-Setting theory and the recent Inner Work Life theory by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer.
JOB ENRICHMENT THEORY OR TECHNIQUE: This are known as methods or models for expanding the horizon of the experience of work to boost employee satisfaction of needs aimed at the improvement of performance and invariably motivation. This includes the Job Characteristics Model as well as Herzberg’s research. ABRAHAM MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS Maslow developed a model of needs which reasons that we all have needs which are innate and include goals and drives. His model depicted low-level needs such as physiological and safety needs, then the hierarchy elevates to include Social, Esteem and at the apex Self-Actualisation needs.
This theory argues that for the peak need(s) to be satisfied every other level of need must be satisfied in sequence, from the lowest level to the highest, commonly referred to as Satisfaction-Progression principle. He goes on to postulate that once a certain lower level need is satisfied it ceases to motivate and it is subsequently replaced by an immediate higher need in within the hierarchy as depicted in the illustration below. SELF-ACTUALISATION SELF-ACTUALISATION ESTEEM NEEDS ESTEEM NEEDS SOCIAL NEEDS SOCIAL NEEDS SAFETY NEEDS SAFETY NEEDS
PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS Figure 2 Adapted from: ( www. netmba. com/mgt/ob/motivation/maslow) Physiological Needs: These are the pre-requisites for the sustenance of everyday life and they include: air, accommodation, nourishment, rest, comfort and possibly sex. Motivation emanates from the need to satisfy them. Until this basic need is sorted, the higher needs within the hierarchy are inconsequential. However, once they are fulfilled they no longer motivate and satiating the immediate higher need becomes the motivating force.
The question that comes to mind now is: How does one as a manager motivate an employee who doesn’t even have a roof over their head? It seems logical to say that, an accommodation allowance may come in handy at this point. I remember one funny incident that happened at work about 2yrs ago, one of the Customer Service staff had been reported thrice in the space of 2weeks for snapping at customers. On inviting him for a discussion, he was uncomfortable about communicating the issues he had. He was sent to one of the male supervisors and the feedback I received was that his spouse had been depriving him of sex!
This was a complex one, because there was nothing that the business as an employer could do. How then do we motivate in complicated issue like this. Anyway on a lighter note, marriage counselling was the only way out, this was provided at the company’s expense. Safety Needs: Once the first level of basic needs are satiated the next level of needs are inclined to safety. This level of necessity is characterised by the need for security i. e job security, freedom from fear and threat to emotional or body harm, the need for peace and an appreciable level of stability and organisation.
There is basically no room for unforeseen contingency. This need can be fulfilled by the following: * Provision of a safe work environment and secure accommodation * Job certainty and security (Does this phantom of job security exist? I believe it’s a mental construct of the human mind and in the business world does not exist). You are only secured in a job as long as you remain relevant and productive. * Maintaining savings or financial back up, for higher cadre employees it could include investment. However, with the recession it is humbly in doubt about an employee’s propensity to invest at least in stock that is. Security of earnings i. e constant and predictable wages/ remuneration * Provision of medical health facilities, for example, staff are registered with partner hospitals or medical centres for free or subsidised medical care. * Insurance provision. (Health insurance, Life Insurance and could broadly include pension schemes) Recently, the Lagos State Government compulsorily acquired certain housing units and settlements that were obstructing the construction of the roads, bridges and the State’s re-design. A few of our staff were affected as well as the Group manager.
A week of paid leave was granted to allow them to sort out their accommodation issues. Social Needs: These are informally-interactive needs. A strong need for feeling a sense of belonging, to be identified with a group of workers i. e the Finance Department, Procurement, Legal, Marketing team and last but not the least Floor Staff Department. For newly-recruited employees this need is really pivotal as they are fresh to the organisation and are yet to form or join alliances. Esteem Needs: Once the social needs have been met, attention will now shift to the next in line which is regard-oriented.
It encapsulates the desire to be thought-well-of by colleagues, employers and others generally. This could be further classified into internal and external needs. Examples of such needs are: Self-Respect and a perceived sense of dignity, recognition, a good reputation and a sense of achievement. Self-Actualisation: This is the peak, where the need to achieve a complete and total level of potential as an individual is crucial. Maslow in his work indicates that this need is unquenchable and insatiable. (Steers, Porter and Bigley, 1996) Psychologically as one advances there are novel opportunities to continue to grow.
He argues that employees or individuals that can be categorised at this level are extinct and that creating the enabling environment for self-actualisation is a herculean task. This theory was later refined to include Knowledge, Aesthetics and Divine existence between Self-Actualisation and Esteem needs. (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2010) PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS IN VIEW OF MASLOW’S THEORY For this theory to hold managers must be able to cater for all the needs in progressive succession. To satisfy physiological needs managers should provide adequate breaks at intervals during the working day for e. at Yem-Yem Pharmacy and Stores the staff get an hour lunch break, two 15min breaks. In addition, a sufficient salary as part of a remuneration package should be paid, to enable employees afford the basics of life. (Food, shelter ; housing) For the satisfaction of safety needs an employer should ensure that there is a benign work environment. In the UK this is major because you have the Health and Safety at Work Act, things like keeping Safety manuals, having Fire drills and Accident reporting. However, the organisation I work for has most of this on paper but not in practice.
In contrast when I worked with a firm of Architects and Builders, safety of employees and the workplace was a priority. Job security is also important to employees but as mentioned earlier this is a phantom in most countries, except for places like Germany, Italy and China where laying-off employees is almost impossible and the concept of a job-for-life may still be practiced. To solve the problem of social needs managers should structure group projects as well as team-centred tasks. Activities like away days, beach parties, after-work weekend socials.
In the past before the former CEO passed on, we used to have TGIF chicken and chips night but the new CEO cancelled it and this didn’t go down well with the staff because it had become an informal custom. Esteem needs can be fulfilled by employee recognition of their value and achievements, this will foster a sense of appreciation of the value they add to the organisation. Job designation should be described with appropriate status nomenclature to give credence to the position and its importance. For e. g H. O. D of Finance Department as opposed to Finance Head.
Self-Actualisation can be encouraged by creating an enabling environment that is intellectually and maintaining a progressive employee-potential realisation. The SAS Institute in Cary, in North-Carolina has an overwhelmingly low staff turnover ratio compared to the high turnover that their industry is associated with. The organisation has achieved this by offering employees “…intellectually engaging work; a family-friendly environment that features exceptional benefits; and the opportunity to work with fun, interesting people using state-of-the-art equipment” (Pfeffer, 1998, 111) CRITICISM
Though the hierarchy of needs by Maslow is logical it is not fortified by empirical evidence. “Maslow did not carry out industrial psychology studies himself and he did not attempt to verify his conceptions empirically himself, neither through field nor laboratory studies” (Scheuer, 2000) It is not sufficient enough to assert that needs arise and must be fulfilled in a hierarchy, needs may be simultaneous and the fulfilment of one may not necessarily lead to the other. “…with the publication of Wahba and Brdwell’s (1976) critique, Maslow’s need hierarchy theory was largely abandoned by the research community. (Latham, 2007) This is where Alderfer picks up from. ERG THEORY OF MOTIVATION Clayton Alderfer propounded the Existence, Relatedness & Growth theory in 1972, it is theoretically an offshoot of Maslow’s theory evidently as it shares hierarchical similarities but has certain distinguishable areas in its scope. It basically addresses the deficiency of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. It consists of three levels of needs as expressed below: GROWTH GROWTH RELATEDNESS RELATEDNESS EXISTENCE EXISTENCE
Figure 3 EXISTENCE: This is the lowest level of need which relates to the basics of life just like Maslow’s physiological and safety needs, air, water, etc. RELATEDNESS: This need pertains to maintaining positive relationships with colleagues and co-workers; it is similar to Maslow’s Social and Esteem needs. In my previous organisation this was not an equilibrium consensus for all employees. Some of the floor staff couldn’t be bothered to bond while others felt this need to be of immense importance in the workplace.
For instance there was a Store/ Stock officer Mr Belema Whyte who hardly associated with his colleagues except when it was absolutely unavoidable, the others felt he was strange because bonding was pivotal to them. On interviewing him, it was discovered that he suffered kidney problems and almost all his earnings were being diverted to the treatment. So for him bonding was not a top priority and at that time his needs were different from the others. GROWTH: This is related to the attainment of total human potential, it corresponds with Maslow’s self-actualisation needs and a slight overlap with inherent esteem needs.
SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ERG THEORY AND MASLOW’S THEORY The major similarity between Alderfer and Maslow’s theory is that they are both laced with hierarchy in structure, with different levels of needs and importance attached to each need. They both depict that the satisfaction of one need leads to the pursuit of another. However, they differ in that the ERG theory stipulates that if a higher level of need is not satisfied, there is a downward or backward shift to the previous pursuit of lower needs which is hassle-free or less-complicated to satisfy. In the words of Richard Steers and his colleagues, “….
ERG theory differs from the needs hierarchy model in two important respects. First, Alderfer contends that in addition to the satisfaction-progression process described by Maslow, a frustration-regression sequence also exists” (Steers, Porter and Bigley, 1998) Unlike Maslow’s theory the ERG theory creates an enabling environment for the simultaneous pursuit of the different levels of need. I remember when the senior management were canvassing for provision of car-packing facilities, while middle management was chasing the purchase of personal official cars and the low cadre staff wanted transport allowance increases all at once.
His theory portrays individual need-differentials. It makes provision for the explanation of the “starving artist” that places growth needs over existence needs” There is this African Artist I came in contact with during an exhibition, he graduated from the University of Lagos and he turned down several mouth-watering jobs to pursue his painting career. He once enthused that all he cared about was for his paintings to receive international acclaim like the Monet, Rembrandt, and Picasso etc.
On first sight, you could easily ignorantly assume that he was mentally-impaired but on getting to know him, you’ll discover a talented and self-driven creator of Art. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS; If this theory holds forth, it behoves on managers to take note of the fact that employees have diverse needs all at once, to be satisfied by managers. Therefore, managers shouldn’t focus on the satisfaction of one need alone for all employees. They must be able to identify when the frustration-regression occurs and try to fulfil the present level of need.
CRITICISM: Though the ERG theory is more theoretically appealing, because it allows for flexibility in the observance of human behaviour and the presence of its regressive and progressive interplay, it is also criticised for its lack of scientific backing. LEARNED NEEDS THEORY (McClelland) Also in this league of theories is the learned needs theory propounded by McClelland (1961, 1971). Although, it was initially introduced by Murray (1938) it ignored the hierarchical patterns of his predecessors and concentrated on how an assortment of visibly distinct needs were capable of motivating. Steers, Mowday and Shapiro, 2004, 29) He viewed needs as socially-acquired based on our interpretive experiencing, as opposed to being innately conceived. This theoretical model displaces the previous hierarchical structure of previous needs theories. Need for Achievement (n-Ach): Here the theorist simply explains this as highly competitive exceptional behaviour. The quantum of research undertaken by him and his colleagues was majorly on this need.
They characterised people with high achievement needs as: having the tendency to set herculean but achievable standards, an intense need to take personal responsibility and disposed to solving problems. “There is also the need for feedback about performance” (Miller, 2010) While I undertook practical apprenticeship before at a law firm, Tunji Abayomi & Co before my previous job, two of the most experienced senior lawyers were fond of taking brief of highly controversial and difficult cases and took pride in resolving the case expeditiously and passed the files on to the Head of chambers for comment.
Need for Power (n-Pow): this is expressed by the need to maintain control of others, by directing their work activities or otherwise. This need could be expressed on a personal level by directing others individually which may not resonate with everyone or it could be organisation-wide which is controlling the effort of others to achieve organisational aims. Need for Affiliation (n-Aff): this need is characterised by the requirement to maintain healthy relationships with others. Such employees crave acceptance & perform optimally when they are in groups.
They tend to succumb to peer-pressure and are honestly bothered about others emotions. (The pink and fuzzy stuff) Need for Autonomy (n-Aut): This is characterised by a desire to be independent and an unequivocal distaste for procedure and rigid rules. Employees that fall under this category like to control their work environment and are non-conformist. You find them wanting to work solo. (Steers, Porter and Bigley, 1996) PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS For this theory to hold forth in practice, employers must realise that their staff have different needs and several motivating factors exist for fulfilling them.
Employers should place n-Ach type employees on tasks or projects that are goal-oriented & sufficiently challenging. In the case of n-Aff type employees, they will work better on team projects & achieving goals on a collective basis, group rewards will be an excellent motivator. However, there may be a downside to this, when certain activities must be allocated individually, it will be a challenge for the employee as optimal individual functioning would be an up-hill task.
Regarding n-Pow type staff, top and middle management or supervisory roles will give them the opportunity to coordinate others. As for n-Aut type employees should be engaged by intellectual individual tasks, work that is straightforward and not burdened with unnecessary procedure. EVALUATION AND CRITICISM: This theory is quite flexible in its approach; it allows for modification to suit a particular employee need profile, possibly through training. McClelland and his colleagues used a measure called ” Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) as atool to measure the individual needs of different people. (www. netmba. com, 29/11/2010) However, the argument that needs are acquired as opposed to being innate from childhood is questionable. Also it doesn’t make provision with regard to employees who are a hybrid of different need types. HERBERG’S MOTIVATION-HYGIENE (TWO-FACTOR) THEORY Frederick Herzberg the American Psychologist conducted research on over 200 Engineers and Accountants in Pittsburgh. (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2010) The survey queried the factors that led to job satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
The tested employees were quizzed about past ; present work-related happenings that made them feel elated or deflated about work. The satisfiers are referred to as motivators while factors that dissatisfy, he labelled hygiene factors. 1) Supervisory style 2) Company policy ; admin 3) Interpersonal relationships 4) Money 5) Status ; Security 6) Work conditions 7) Supervisory style 8) Company policy ; admin 9) Interpersonal relationships 10) Money 11) Status ; Security 12) Work conditions ) Recognition 2) Achievement 3) Advancement 4) Responsibility 5) The job itself 6) Growth 7) Recognition 8) Achievement 9) Advancement 10) Responsibility 11) The job itself 12) Growth MOTIVATORS HYGIENE FACTORS Figure 4 Adapted from www. netmba. com 29/11/10 He argued that motivators that led to satisfaction were intrinsic to the job content itself while the hygiene factors were not related to the job such as company policy, etc. PRACTICAL IMPLICATION FOR MANAGERS:
If this theory still holds forth till this present age of management, then it places a responsibility on managers to: Design jobs that are adequately challenging and in-sync with the employee’s full potential. The higher the level of competence displayed by the employee the higher the degree of responsibility assumed. If the job doesn’t adequately utilise an employee’s full potential, then a replacement should be arranged otherwise it’ll pose a motivational challenge. Imagine recruiting a renowned Professor of Physics to teach drama and choreography!
Granted he can teach very well but the question is can he teach drama and dance? EVALUATION AND CRITICISM: It is worthy of mention that “Herzberg deserves acclaim for introducing the field to the role of job-design, specifically job enrichment- as a key factor in work motivation and job attitudes” (Steers, Mowday, and Shapiro, 2004) However, his theory focuses on similarities in patterns of motivation and not taking cognisance of differences. Another deficiency of this theory is that the presence of satisfaction on the job doesn’t ultimately connote elevated levels of motivation and productivity.
Overall, even with its evident weaknesses it continues to influence management thinking especially because it sees motivation as intrinsic. Expectancy leads to ? Instrumentality leads to? Valence? Expectancy leads to ? Instrumentality leads to? Valence? EXPECTANCY THEORY EFFORT EFFORT PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE OUTCOME (REWARD) OUTCOME (REWARD) PERRSONAL GOALS PERRSONAL GOALS Figure 5: Adopted from (www. 12manage. com , 2010) The expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964) was developed by Victor Harold Vroom & it is the first expectancy theory of work motivation based on valence, instrumentality and expectancy.
However, it is worthy of note that the first expectancy theory was the work of Edward . C. Tolman. The Formula is expressed as: Motivation= E? I? V Where E= Expectancy, I= Instrumentality and V= Valence. (Pearson and Hui, 2001) In this theory Vroom makes use of valences multiplied by the strength of probabilities of the instrumentality of outcomes. The result is an estimation of the force on an individual to perform an action.
The expectancy is often used to predict such things as job satisfaction, a person’s occupational choice(s), the likelihood of staying in a job and the effort one might expend at work. (Behling and Starke, 1973) Basically Vroom gave a systematic composition of the expectancy theory in relation to the work environment. His argument is central on the view that employee behaviour is a product of individual rationalism of work performance, which leads to desired outcomes. For instance in 2007 the organisation I worked for launched a profit-sharing scheme, the higher the profits made, the higher the bonus in cash paid out quarterly.
The focus of the purchasing and pricing unit became buying cheaper brands and an increase in the profit-margin. Customers were furious, but employees were pretty happy because it meant a fatter take-home package. Valence: This is the perceived value of the desired outcome. The gains that may accrue to the employee (reward, bonus, promotion etc. ) Instrumentality: This is the conception that achieving a certain level of action will result in the desired outcome. Expectancy: This relates to the level of individual employee capability, i. e whether they possess propensity to undertake the task.
This is where training, capability improvement, supervision and communication become relevant. How all the above interrelate create a motivational force that is geared towards increasing pleasure and decreasing pain. PRATICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS Managers must create transparent links between performance and rewards, they should not be seen to reward for action A and expect to achieve desired behaviour B. Rewards offered should be of value to recipients, don’t give someone afraid of heights a ticket to go sky-diving or a Muslim a carton of alcohol.
The system of reward must be dynamic and flexible with a clear link between performance and required results. EVALUATION AND CRITICISM This theory in error tries to forecast the level of effort that an individual employee will exert on a specific task. There is no logical mode of research on the findings and no specifics as to which results are relevant to each separate individual at a particular time. However the theory still gives valuable insight to the study of motivation. EQUITY THEORY: J.
Stacy Adams equity theory is based on perceptions of what constitutes equal or unequal treatment. His argument is that employees are motivated by the fairness or unfairness in treatment based on socially constructed comparisons. It postulates further that, the greater the perception of inequity the higher the level of tension and the greater the inclination to respond. When an employee gets the short-end of the bargain this doesn’t go unnoticed. Conversely, if an employee is enjoying an advantage this may lead to feelings of guilt, but in reality nothing is done to change the status quo.
Shortly before I left on study leave to come to University of Hull, there was a major showdown involving the Group Manager and the Manager of the Pharmacy ; Stores. The latter, felt he was underpaid because the earnings of the Group Manager is in excess of his by a wide margin. It was communicated to him that the job profile of both of them was not parallel and as such they couldn’t earn the same. He was asked to step into her shoes for a week and as expected he reverted to his position without another word, after coming to the realisation that the grass on the other side isn’t greener.
PRACTICAL IMPLICATION FOR MANAGERS: It behoves on the employer to define the job profile and delineate job functions clearly. It is also important that remuneration is tied to performance and not status or service requirement. Equity and transparency alongside adequate communication should be enshrined in the corporate culture. CRITICISM: This theory and its application is subject to variability, what we conceive as fairness will be grossly different from what other employees conceive as equity or inequity. EMOTIONAL NEEDS THEORY
In their quest to unravel the key indicators of motivation, Nitin Nohria and colleagues conducted two major studies, by survey. It involved over 300 employees of two businesses, the first study involved an IT firm and a giant in the financial services industry. The second study involved employees from 300 Fortune 500 companies. (Nohria, Groysberg, and Lee, 2008) They itemised four measures of workplace indicators, namely: Engagement: This is the level of zeal, initiative and effort that employees display on the job Commitment: This encapsulates how well the employees see themselves as citizens of the organisation.
Satisfaction: Basically this is the perceived degree to which employee anticipations at work are catered for i. e the written and implied terms of employment. Intention to quit: This is the measure of the employee turnover propensity and not actual turnover. They identified four drives which in their opinion are a wired framework within the human brain and as such the degree of satisfaction has a direct impact on our emotions and the way we behave.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DRIVES THAT UNDERPIN MOTIVATION AND THE LEVERS TO SATISFY THEM Acquisition: This is the quest to obtain the unavailable in order to improve our sense of well-being, such as food, accommodation, and other tangibles. However, it extends to things like adventure, travel and fun. In addition status symbols like promotion, board appointment or being on prestigious work committees. The theorists argue that this is based on comparison with what others possess and that this need can never be satiated, for e. , Salary comparison. Reward system: This is the most appropriate lever to satisfy the drive to acquire, for it to be effective it must distinguish between good and bad performance. It should align reward to performance and ensure progression opportunities to performers. When RBS merged with NatWest, the latter had a highly political reward system, based on status and length of service. This culture was turned around after the merger with the introduction of a reward system based on specific goals and good performance. Nohria, Groysberg ; Lee, 2008) Criticism: Though it is agreed that individuals are driven by the need to acquire and usually base this on comparison. However this is not the case with all employees. The first ever Pharmaceuticals dispenser that was employed at the inception of the Pharmaceuticals arm of the business used to give his earnings to charities. Though he is late, the legacy he left lives on. He wasn’t driven to acquire but to put smiles on people’s faces. The best way to sum this up is this: “People do work for money- but they work even more for meaning in their lives. In fact, they work to have fun.
Companies that ignore this fact are essentially bribing their employees and will pay the price in a lack of loyalty and commitment. ” (Pfeffer, 1998) Bonding: The drive to bond is the need for a sense of belonging and attachment amongst employees in an organisation. The emotional needs theorists opine that there is an enormous motivational boost when employees are proud to be a part of the organisation and conversely there is a loss of moral when this is not met. When the drive is met it elucidates strong positive emotions and when not satiated it tilts the tables towards anomie and loneliness.
Culture: The best tool for achieving the above is to have a culture framework that encourages collaboration, friendship and working together as a team. It is recommended that organisations should include in their budget, provision for fun away-days for all employees, to encourage organisation-wide bonding. Criticism: It is good for bonding to be encouraged but sometimes it may boomerang on the organisation. The Purchasing unit at the company I work for had slowly but surely become some sort of mafia, they colluded to steal from the store and ordered goods that were not fast sellers, because they had developed cosy relationships with uppliers and no one blew the whistle until it was uncovered. The theory doesn’t take into consideration the interplay of diverse family backgrounds, religious inclination and cultural beliefs with the culture of the organisation. Good culture on paper isn’t synonymous with total culture congruence in reality. Drive to comprehend: This is the need for employees to have an understanding of the surrounding work environment. We tend to give cultural, religious or technological accounts of why things are the way they are.
It follows that employees are highly propelled by tasks that constitute a challenge and create an avenue for learning and advancement. Where the job is monotonous it leads to demotivation and a sense of confinement. This may lead to staff turnover. Job- design: This is the design of meaningful jobs that are challenging yet stimulating and interesting. It behoves on organisations to have a recruiting culture that encourages the intake of best-fit candidates for a job. Don’t put a square peg in a round hole.
Criticism: It is all well and good to creatively design jobs but some employees do not have this as their main needs, some are just concerned with earning a living especially employees with basic education, professionals are those likely to fall into this category e. g. Lawyers, Doctors and Lecturers. Drive to defend: This drive goes hand in hand with resistance to change. This brings to memory, when the process to automate the business started. The Head, Cashier department who was a retired-typist was so apprehensive about this and tried to frustrate the process.
She felt she would be made redundant when the barcode machines were installed. Performance-management: Communication, training and capability improvement should accompany change. Performance and talent management are central to this. Criticism: Granted training is pivotal but not all employees can adapt to change and thus they may have to shape-up or shape-out. In summary the theorists propose that for there to be a tremendous impact on motivation, all drives must be fulfilled equally and that managers may not be solely responsible for company policy but they sure can influence it to achieve high levels of motivation.
In conclusion, the world of motivation is dynamic and as such organisations should respond to such evolution. From the days of scientific management when time studies and assembly line systems were prominent, to the present day age of managing motivation, the central issue is that there is a “beast, pauper and prince in every man whichever you appeal to appears to you”. REFERENCES Buchanan, D. A. a. Huczynski A. A. (2010) Organizational Behaviour. Pearson: Essex. Cosack, S. , Guthridge, Mathew, Lawson, Emily. (2010) ‘Retaining Key Employees In Times of Change. ‘, McKinsley Quarterly, (3), pp. 135-139. Dell, T. (1988) ‘An Honest Day’s Work’.
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