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Running head: EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION How Perceptions, Attitudes and Motivation theories can be used to Re-motivate an Employee? Name of the student: Name of the university: Author note:
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1EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION Table of Contents Introduction................................................................................................................................2 Body...........................................................................................................................................2 Attitude, job satisfaction and commitment............................................................................2 Key issues of influencing motivation.....................................................................................3 Theoretical approaches to motivation....................................................................................4 The practical applicability and usefulness of motivation theories for managers/leaders.......6 Teamworking in the context of individual and organizational needs....................................7 Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9 References................................................................................................................................10
2EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION Introduction The report is aimed at identifyingwhy and how perceptions, attitudes and motivation theories can be useful in re-motivating an employee whose morale is affected greatly from performance assessment procedures in a company. The morale is affected when there is a feeling of being discriminated against. The way people perceive a situation they tend to conclude it accordingly. The situation may or may not be that bad as anticipated by them; however, it is their attitude that encourages perceiving the situation either negatively or positively (Fletcher, Alfes & Robinson, 2018). In this report, attitudes and motivation theories will be used to study the case situation and find ways to re-motivate Mr. Simon who is a tenured line manager in a retail organization. Body Attitude, job satisfaction and commitment Though attitude, job satisfaction and commitment are three distinguished terms yet they share interdependent consequences. A satisfied employee will also perform well as there is motivation to do so. It means positive and negative attitudes of a person have any association with its job commitment and so, their overall job satisfaction. Attitudes can be divided into three different types such as ‘Cognitive’ attitudes, ‘Affective’ attitudes and ‘Behavioural’ attitudes. Cognitive attitudes express the knowledge, opinion, belief and thinking that a person may have. Affective attitudes tell about the emotional or feeling aspects of the attitude. Behavioral attitudes express an intention to behave in a certain way in response to someone or something (Halim et al.,2017).
3EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION About the case scenario, Mr. Simon’s attitudes resemble more of the ‘Cognitive’ attitudes. A person characterized as having a cognitive attitude will tend to work hard. However, they always search for motivation in the form of a reward or recognition. They possess the least agreement to an opinion, which does not go their way (Halim et al.,2017). Mr. Simon can be characterized as having the negative cognitive attitudes developed a feeling to leave his current job for a better opportunity. Mr. Simon reached this decision without even discussing it with the concerned person regarding the issue. A discussion could have shown him the positives of being rejected in the three promotion opportunities (Corbett et al., 2018). Key issues of influencing motivation A motivated employee is more productive than those who are not (Beltrán-Martín & Bou-Llusar, 2018). However, keeping their motivation level high is a difficult job for the managers. It is more because of the perceptions, attitudes and opinions that vary from one employee to another.One of the common issues of influencing motivation is ‘Unclear Expectations’. Creating expectations for employees should be the responsibility of their supervisors and managers. Supervisors and managers can adopt different processes to explain expectations. Every expectation should be made clear to employees as well as repeated time- to-time to help them relate to it. When these things do not happen, every unheard expectation may appear challenging to employees (Beltrán-Martín & Bou-Llusar, 2018). ‘Lack of adequate materials’to perform a task can also affect the motivation level of employees. They might feel undervalued as they have the least access to basic resources. Being the manager of a company, the person should communicate the earliest arrival of the
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4EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION required resources. Insufficient resources affect job outcomes. It affects the efficiency of employees and so, their overall productivity (Kazimoto, 2016). ‘Asking for opinions’from employees can be a real boost to their performance. They will feel valued when they are being approached to give input (Graban, 2018).‘Reward management’if not handled the way it should be done, may affect the working interest of the employee (Korir & Kipkebut, 2016).For example, Mr. Simon feels being unvalued for not being rewarded a promotion on three successive annually held promotion process. Mr. Simon has all complaints about the management as he feels being undervalued despite giving his best to the work for three years. Theoretical approaches to motivation Theoretical approaches to motivation look good on the paper; however, do these make any sense in the real world business scenario. This section will discuss theories of motivation in the context of Mr. Simon. One of the motivation theories is‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’. The name itself suggests that the theory contains a hierarchy of needs for employees. Maslow says that employees' needs may vary depending on their work experience as well as their personal & professional life contexts. It means there will be different demands from different employees. As long as these demands are met they will stay motivated to work. Although, the theory has the most basic elements of an employment contract such as physiological needs, and safety and security needs, these are still not practiced completely in the real-world scenario. Adherence to all these needs depends on the work nature of the business. If a business demands intensive work output throughout the working hours, there will hardly be any
5EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION moment to practice socialization (Shih et al., 2019). Maslow’s theory is therefore partially applicable to organizations where work pressure is high. Based on the‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’, it can be said that Mr. Simon in the case perceives that his ‘Esteem Needs’ of the theory is not met by the managers. Mr. Simon was expecting an acknowledgment from the managers for his hard work. Mr. Simon has been in this company for 12 years. He missed to pass out the promotion interview thrice. After spending so many years into the system and not receiving recognition in the form of a promotion, Mr. Simon felt being unrewarded. ‘Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory’says that there are certain factors, which bring about employee satisfaction while the other set of factors demoralize employees. Herzberg says that achievement, recognition, responsibility, job nature and the advancement produce satisfactory outcomes. Herzberg also says that organizational politics, supervision, pay, management approach, working conditions and relationships at work affect the level of motivation of employees (Andersson, 2017).Concerning the case study, Herzberg’s theory effectively answers to the problem as faced by Mr. Simon. One of the motivation factors of Herzberg’s theory is recognition. Since Mr. Simon feels that his performance did not win him any recognition, he has all the right to blame the management for this. However, it is difficult to say anything against the management as no valid data is proving the unjust done to Mr. Simon. ‘McClelland’s Need Achievement Theory’says that few people are self-driven to perform and do not seek any return rewards for the performance. This theory is widely applicable to the business environment where managers set themselves high goals. These
6EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION high goals drive them to perform (Rybnicek, Bergner & Gutschelhofer, 2019). According to the 'Need Achievement' theory, Mr. Simon's work contribution for so many years should itself be the reason for satisfaction. It cannot be anything but a good performance and desire to cross high limits, which brings about satisfaction to many people. Thepracticalapplicabilityandusefulnessofmotivationtheoriesfor managers/leaders The theories of motivation as discussed above are all applicable to the managers to some extent. Managers have to abide by the instructions of a company’s CEO and the top management team. It is the hierarchy management policy, which they need to follow to sustain their job in the long-term. Hence, to provide any support to employees, the managers will have to wait till their proposals are approved and are allocated with the required resources. ‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’ says that the different needs of employees must be satisfied to drive their motivation. Physiological needs and safety and security needs are usually available to employees in major companies. However, the social needs and esteem needs are a call of the higher management team. Their decision in these aspects is considered as the final. The top managers rely on the data submitted to them. Hence, an unbiased act of the middle managers in presenting the individual performance can certainly trigger the growth aspects for the employee (Jonas, 2016).Considering the theory from a certain perspective, the managers should have met Mr. Simon at least once to clarify the issue. There should have been a prompt explanation as to why Mr. Simon was not picked for the vacant position.
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7EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION ‘Herzberg’sTwo-Factortheory’canalsobeusefulinthemanagerialcontext. Managers have to fulfill the productivity expectations of the company's higher management. The chase for the expectations can be daily or monthly depending on the business nature as well as the other internal and external business environment. In all such contexts, the management approach does make a difference in employee performance as well as their work motivation. Managers with absorbing characteristics will try to strike a balance between the expectationsandindividualcapabilitytodoextremelywell.Thoselackingsucha characteristic will release their pressure downward in the management hierarchy and so, on the employees (Holmberg, Caro & Sobis, 2018). Elaborately, it means that managers by being good leaders can influence the motivation level of employees like Mr. Simon. ‘The Need Achievement Theory’can be very useful for the managers in setting high goals and having the motivation to achieve those. High achievers tend to interact more frequently with employees and try to listen to their issues. They believe in providing the extra care, which they have control.Considering Mr. Simon’s case, the person who failed the promotion interview thrice should have contacted at the earliest by his managers. The managers should have felt the urgency to talk with the person who has been in the system for years and still not being able to achieve higher positions (Osemeke & Adegboyega, 2017). Teamworking in the context of individual and organizational needs Teamwork is slightly different from a concept from grouping. Grouping means forming a group of people best fit for a project or else. On the other hand, Teamworking is very subjective where team members tend to help others on their respective issues (Bell et al., 2018). A freshly recruited employee needs the assistance of its supervisors and its team members to some extent. It is because the other team members are experienced in doing
8EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION similar things that an individual was hired for. A freshly recruited employee will be more comfortable asking a query from one of its experienced team members compared to the team leads. Nevertheless, there are ample benefits of Teamworking both for an individual as well as the organization. Teamwork fosters learning and creativity. Creativity happens when individuals work together on a project. The different thoughts that the individuals come with can be more or less the unheard facts for many. It is how individuals get to learn new things and shape their professional careers. Teamwork can be a good process to build trust among the team members. When there is trust there will be knowledge flow as well between the team members. Instead of keeping it secret they will share new ideas and pass on to their colleagues. A flow of knowledge between the team members is essentially the essence of a productive team (Chuang, Jackson & Jiang, 2016).Had there been moral support to Mr. Simonfrom any of his team members, he would not have thought of looking for a new opportunity. Instead, Mr. Simon would have looked to his weak zones and repairing it as well. Teamwork can be used as a solution to fight against workplace conflicts, a major management issue for a company. Teamwork fosters knowledge flow from one member to another. It does not just help in solving a problem but also increases the overall team productivity. Teamwork promotes a sense of ownership in the members (Lindsjørn et al., 2016). Companies having such people would face fewer issues than those faced by the companywhere Mr. Simon worked. Conclusion
9EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION On a concluding note, it can be said that attitudes and motivation theories can be used to re-motivate an employee. An issue such as of Mr. Simon is very much controllable provided if theoretical approaches to motivation are put to the practice as well. Mr. Simon as understood from the findings of the essay lacked a sense of ownership, which encourages working harder not just to gain incentives but also to satisfy the personal high goals. Managers perhaps lacked the leadership needed to bridge the gap between them and the employees.
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10EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION References Andersson, S. (2017). Assessing job satisfaction using Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory: A qualitative study between US and Japanese insurance employees.IAFOR Journal of Business & Management,2(1), 22-35. Bell, S. T., Brown, S. G., Colaneri, A., & Outland, N. (2018). Team composition and the ABCs of teamwork.American Psychologist,73(4), 349. Beltrán-Martín, I., & Bou-Llusar, J. C. (2018). Examining the intermediate role of employee abilities, motivation and opportunities to participate in the relationship between HR bundles and employee performance.BRQ Business Research Quarterly,21(2), 99- 110. Chuang, C. H., Jackson, S. E., & Jiang, Y. (2016). Can knowledge-intensive teamwork be managed?ExaminingtherolesofHRMsystems,leadership,andtacit knowledge.Journal of management,42(2), 524-554. Corbett, A., Mitchell, R., Shelton, L. M., & Wood, M. (2018). The attitudes, behaviors and cognitionofentrepreneurs:rebelswithacause.InternationalJournalof Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research. Fletcher, L., Alfes, K., & Robinson, D. (2018). The relationship between perceived training and development and employee retention: the mediating role of work attitudes.The International Journal of Human Resource Management,29(18), 2701-2728. Graban,M.(2018).Leanhospitals:improvingquality,patientsafety,andemployee engagement. Productivity Press.
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12EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION Shih, C. Y., Huang, C. Y., Huang, M. L., Chen, C. M., Lin, C. C., & Tang, F. I. (2019). The associationofsociodemographicfactorsandneedsofhaemodialysispatients according to Maslow's hierarchy of needs.Journal of clinical nursing,28(1-2), 270- 278.