Motivation Overview. Introduction

Transcription

1 Introduction Some people believe that managers can directly motivate their staff. Others believe that motivation comes entirely from within and that managers can only provide an environment within which people will feel motivated. Either way, in today's turbulent business environment, it is important for organisational success that employees are motivated to use their full potential. There are many theories and practices about how managers can help to motivate their employees. Hertzberg's hygiene theory, McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y and Maslow's hierarchy of needs come readily to mind, although these date back some years. Their validity today stems from the huge influence they have had on more recent thinkers, such as Edgar Schein, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Peter Senge and Tom Peters, to name but a few. Managers often view motivation as something of a mystery to which there is no ready solution. This is possibly because individuals are motivated by different things and in different ways, so that it is a complex process that usually requires more than one approach. The ability to motivate those working for you is a key aspect of leadership and has a powerful effect on your own performance as a manager, as well as on the performance of individuals in your team. A highly motivated individual or group can improve product or service quality and process efficiency, saving time and effort in every way. Elton Mayo's classic, early research into motivation in the 1920s and 1930s is often referred to as the Hawthorne experiments. Mayo's work involved participant observation and focussed on workers at the Western Electric Company. He concluded that: job satisfaction increased as workers were given more freedom to determine the conditions of their working environment and to set their own standards of output intensified interaction and co-operation between people created a high level of group cohesion job satisfaction and output depended more on co-operation and feelings of worth that on physical working conditions. Later research has served to reinforce Mayo's findings, but also to show that many factors affect individual levels of motivation. These include having a sense of purpose and satisfaction, enjoying the work carried out, feeling challenged and gaining recognition for achievements. Other factors can work against motivation and these may include poor physical work conditions, real or perceived unfairness, excessive bureaucracy and ineffective management. In addition to such general factors, it is necessary to remember that individuals have different reasons for doing things and different ways of doing things. They therefore need to be managed and rewarded as individuals, not as numbers or cogs in a machine. 1

2 As a manager, you have both the opportunity and the obligation to create an environment that motivates your staff. Whilst creating a motivated workforce may need to be seen as a long-term goal, the investment in time and effort will produce benefits for you, your team and ultimately your organisation. Motivation Motivation is getting others to do something because they want to do it. An intricate part of leadership is to recognise how people are motivated. Your ability to motivate is how you excite and move people to action and achievement whilst satisfying their needs. To understand how to motivate people is to know how you can get people to work willingly and productively to achieve the results that you and the organisation want them to achieve. What motivates employees? people: Personal forces (personal ambition, will to win) There are three generic types of drives that motivate Push forces (obligations to family, colleagues, superiors) Pull forces (desire for a holiday or new car). For a manager, motivation means helping people to satisfy these drives so that they will work to meet organisational goals. In simple terms, for people to perform effectively they must know how to do their job, must want to do their job and must have a conducive, well supported environment (Griffin, 1984). If any of these factors is absent, it is unlikely that people will be truly effective. Point to Ponder If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people. Chinese Proverb 2

3 Worksheet: What Motivates You Motivation Overview What motivates you at work? Please consider and list five things that motivate you One of the most enduring theories of motivation is Maslow s Needs Hierarchy (1954) which asserts that human beings have five categories of needs and that these needs are arranged in a hierarchy of importance: Self Actualisation Desire to maximise own skills and potential Esteem Desire for self esteem Social Need for family, friends, groups Security & Safety Need for salary, insurance, law Physiological Need for food, water and shelter 3

4 As people satisfy the lower order needs, the higher level needs become motivators. The difficult challenge for management is to seek to provide opportunities to allow staff to satisfy their higher needs. Herzberg Two-Factor Theory Herzburg (1968) developed Maslow s idea of the hierarchy, by making a stronger distinction between lower and higher order needs. He described the lower order needs as potential dissatisfiers, or hygiene factors, and the higher order needs as potential satisfiers or motivators. He contended that those managing organisations had to get the hygiene factors right, just as an operating theatre has to be clean to allow for a successful operation. Without these satisfactory conditions staff would be dissatisfied. Equally, Herzberg contended that once these conditions had been met they would no longer motivate. He listed these basic hygiene factors in organisations to include: Company Policy and Administration Supervision Working Conditions Salary Relationship with Peers Personal Life Relationship with Subordinates Status. Most of these have in common the fact that they are EXTRINSIC, coming form outside the person. Herzberg s list of satisfiers or motivators is shorter: Achievement Recognition Work Itself Responsibility Advancement Growth. This second list of motivators are generally INTRINSIC, coming from inside the person, and are not so easily satisfied. Motivational theory has an enormous literature. In this brief review we will look at some of the main theories which underpin the type of practical steps that can be taken to encourage staff and create a motivating environment. 4

5 Equity Theory Motivation Overview A further consideration in understanding staff motivation is the notion of fairness. J Stacy Adams (1963) assumes that staff want to be treated fairly and tend to make comparison with fellow members of staff. An obvious problem with this is that staff can over-estimate their own contribution and the rewards others receive. Expectancy Theory Vroom (1964) proposed that motivation is a function of an individual s expectations. He suggests that staff s motivation depends on two things: how much they actually want to do something, and how likely they think it is that they will get it. In addition to the individual s needs (Maslow, Herzberg) and the rewards available in a situation, we need to consider an individual s perceptions and the expectations of: The situation The rewards The likelihood of being able to perform in a way that will ensure rewards The likelihood of being paid even if satisfactory performance is achieved. Hence, expectancy theories expand on the needs theories by going beyond, or expanding, their content perspective. They acknowledge that different workers have different needs and will try to satisfy these in different ways. Motivating Staff A starting point for motivating staff is to recognise that your job is to obtain their commitment, not just their compliance. At an individual level it is often possible for a manager to identify and meet a member of staff s motivational needs. However, where that individual is a member of a work team, the question of how to motivate the group or team is more difficult. Motivating Factors for Young Managers Based on a survey of 253 high flyer young managers (30-48 yrs) in 2002 the motivating top factors were: Personal growth 32% Autonomy 15% Pleasure 13% Entrusted responsibilities 12% New situations to handle 11% Diversity 09% Stability 04% Remuneration 04% 5

6 Strategies for Motivation As a guideline, here are a number of strategies to motivate people: Setting appropriate, achievable but difficult goals Give regular feedback with positive reinforcement Involve people in decisions and communicate well Treat people fairly Understand and try to satisfy people s individual needs Giving people roles/tasks they are willing and able to do Changing roles/tasks to keep people interested and stretched Recognise good performance, a job (however small) well done Plan small wins and celebrate achievement Give people the opportunity to work with and learn from others Deal effectively with poor performance. Nine Laws of Motivation The nine laws of motivation 1 according to Denny (2002) are:- You have to be motivated to motivate Everybody has a motivational fuse Motivation requires a goal Challenge only motivates if you can win Seeing potential for personal growth motivates Motivation requires recognition Participation motivates Group belonging motivates Motivation, once established, never lasts as the environment keeps changing. 1 Denny, Richard (2002) Motivate to Win 6

7 Key Learning Points The key learning points from this paper are as follows: Motivating people is a key element of leadership and you can learn how to do it People are motivated by recognition and positive reinforcement as much as by financial reward The most effective motivating process at work is to set challenging and achievable goals and give feedback on progress. 7

8 Worksheet: Motivation Motivation Overview A combination of the following activities might help you improve the motivation of your team as a whole? Please tick those items that you feel need to be given more attention in your work situation. Making sure the combined purpose and importance of the team s work is understood by all Ensuring that the team has discussed and committed itself to the overall tasks or objectives of the group Ensuring that everyone in the team understands the contribution made by every other member to the team s tasks and objectives Keeping the team informed of its progress towards objectives and of its level of performance Encouraging shared beliefs, values and rewards within the team Promoting discussion, suggestions and constructive criticism of work practices within the team Creating a mutually trusting climate, in which staff are able to express their ideas and feelings without giving offence or offence being taken Giving the team as much freedom as they can handle in deciding what needs doing and how to do it Encouraging the team in arriving at consensus decision, rather that allowing bossy individuals to ignore other members best interests Looking out for and dealing with any jealousies or other conflicts that arise within the team Being seen to be a vigorous champion of your team in dealing with people outside it. 8

9 Worksheet: Motivating Your Team Motivation Overview In reviewing this section on motivation, please consider and list five factors, if implemented tomorrow, would really increase the motivation of your staff: Personal Action Plan 9

10 Useful References All these books are available from Herzberg, F Mausner, B and Syndorman, B B (1959) The Motivation to Work, New York: Wiley Locke, E A and Latham, G P (1990) The Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance, Englefield Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall McClelland, D C (1961) The Achieving Society, Princeton NJ: Nostrand Maslow, A H (1942) A Theory of Human Motivation Psychological Review,50, Pinder, C C (1984) Work Motivation Glenview, IL: Scott, Foreman Robertson, I T, Smith, J M and Cooper, M D (1992) Motivation: Strategies, Theory and Practice, London: IPM Townsend, A (2001) Get Out of the Office, Management OHS&E, Vol 5(4), Vroom, V H (1964) Work and Motivation, New York: John Wiley Wood, R E (2000) Special Issue on Work Motivation: Theory, Research and Practice, Applied Psychology and International Review, Vol 49(3), Wooldridge, E (1995) Time to stand Maslow s hierarchy on its head? People Management, 21 Dec. 10