MGT701: Organizational Performance and Motivation Report - Semester 1

This comprehensive report delves into the critical aspects of organizational performance and employee motivation. It begins with an executive summary and introduction, emphasizing the importance of employee engagement, empowerment, and motivation for organizational success. A detailed literature review explores how workplaces engage staff, the necessity of tailored engagement practices, and the value of investing in employee engagement. The report then provides practical guidance for managers on engaging, motivating, and empowering employees within diverse environments, supported by theoretical frameworks. It examines the practical application of employee engagement, motivation, and empowerment theories, offering insights into Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and other relevant concepts. The report concludes with actionable recommendations and a summary of its key findings, providing valuable insights for improving organizational effectiveness and fostering a motivated workforce. The report covers topics like employee engagement, employee motivation, and empowerment theories and provides insights on how managers can engage staff, motivate staff and empower employees.

Organizational Performance and Motivation 0
Title: Organizational Performance and Motivation
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Organizational Performance and Motivation 1
Executive Summary
This report summarizes an introduction on Employee engagement, empowerment, and
motivation. A literature review has been given which emphasizes on How are workplaces today
engaging staff, Are different engagement practices necessary for different staff and Is the
investment in engagement worthwhile. An overview has been provided on as a manager in a
diversified environment how to engage staff, motivate staff, empower employee. The report
provides Practical application of Employee engagement, Employee motivation, and Employee
Empowerment Theories. This is followed by recommendations and conclusion.
Contents

Organizational Performance and Motivation 2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Literature Review............................................................................................................................3
Employee Engagement, Empowerment and Motivation.................................................................3
1. How are the Workplaces Today Engaging Staff?..............................................................................3
2. Are Different Engagement Practices Necessary for Different Staff?................................................4
3. Is the Investment in Engagement Worthwhile?...............................................................................5
As a Manager, How to Engage Staff, Motivate Staff and Empower Employees............................6
Practical Application of Employee Engagement, Employee Motivation and Employee
Empowerment Theories...................................................................................................................8
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................13

Organizational Performance and Motivation 3
Introduction
Motivated employees are considered as the prime factors behind the success of any
corporate organization. Empowerment has an impact over the motivation and this, in turn, leads
to better performance. These are some of the phenomenal links which are considered significant
for a small venture. The employees are less and interactions happen face to face. However,
motivation and empowerment are regarded as complex notions. It is integral to have a better
understanding which can help business managers in enhancing the performance. Empowerment
is regarded as an employee being effective and influential and controllable. Autonomy provides a
sense of freedom and the employee is responsible for making choices.
Literature Review
Employee Engagement, Empowerment, and Motivation
Employee engagement is regarded as crucial for the functioning of an enterprise. When
individuals are involved with work, they are motivated to achieve success as they comprise a
larger stake in the company. However, employee engagement cannot be achieved easily.
According to Zhang and Bartol, more than fifty percent of employees are disengaged at jobs.
When individuals do not like to perform, they will not stick for too long with any company. The
substantial turnover increases the time and money of companies. The companies that have
become successful in engaging employees have resulted in promising results (Zhang and Bartol,
2010).

Organizational Performance and Motivation 4
1. How are the Workplaces Today Engaging Staff?
The prime factors for running the successful business are having the knowledge
on how to engage the staff members. The leaders of the organization or business must
have an understanding of the passion level possessed by the workforce and they will be
one step ahead of the competition. The employees must be proud of what they are doing
for the company. The best efforts must be put by the employees and achieve the goals of
the organization (Alexandri, Kostini and Maulina, 2019). It is essential to care for every
single aspect of the people and what drives them to achieve success. When employees are
operating in the managerial positions, employees are regarded as an important part of the
evaluation (Kosar and M. Mehdi Raza Naqvi, 2015). The CEO of the company must
know the skill sets and hobbies and different aspects of the employees that will end up
becoming an essential part of the organization. Creation of a positive and productive
environment is one of the important skills possessed by the managers of the company.
The company's future is dependent on the employee. There are certain methods through
which employee engagement level can be determined and learned how to engage the
employees in various tasks and goal achievement within an organization.
2. Are Different Engagement Practices Necessary for Different Staff?
According to the Biore, how an employee feels regarding the work is a significant driver
for organizational success. Engaged workers can be more productive and stay with an
employer for a longer duration. Disengaged workers will leave for searching for other
opportunities and decrease the productivity of the team. Effective leaders are aware that
employee engagement is one of the productive edges and can drive better customer

Organizational Performance and Motivation 5
productivity. This also involves employee retention and enhanced levels of productivity.
With enhanced competition levels, there are huge costs associated with the retention of new
staff and employee engagement has become more significant than ever (Biore, 2015).
Best practices are regarded as the process which falls apart when engagement is lower,
through the help of practical methods, ideal outcomes can be produced. Measurement of
present engagement levels, the identification of key factors and pitfalls can be recognized
(Stander and Rothmann, 2010). The organizations must get into the establishment of critical
metrics and gauge the engagement levels and help in the identification of opportunities and
strengths. This is important periodically to ascertain whether the engagement efforts are
increasing the productivity levels. However, it is also important to recognize employee
engagement with clear expectations and strategic priority must be in place (Al-Dmour,
Yassine and Masa’deh, 2018).
3. Is the Investment in Engagement Worthwhile?
According to the researchers, what are the most important assets of the organizations?
The answer can be technology, inventory or real estate, but the owners who think employees,
are on the right path towards the achievement of success. It is the workforce within an
organization that can create defensible competitive advantage and also the ROI for long term
success of the company (Lavigna, 2015). The employees must be engaged successfully to
give the best performance and this is possible through employee engagement programs.
When employees are not engaged, they outperform the work and this is represented by the
percentage of 60 percent. The amount of any investment made in employee engagement will
see positive returns in the near future. There are a number of factors which have an effect
over employee engagement and the prime reason behind disengagement is discontent with

Organizational Performance and Motivation 6
management (Mohanan, Sequeira and Kumar, 2012). The organization and employees must
contribute to society in constructive ways. Employers need to work for gaining loyalty and
trust of the employees. Effective communication is also one of the significant aspects through
which association between employer and employee can lead towards higher productivity
levels. The senior management must be able to share the goals and plans with the employees
(Sinha et al., 2014).
As a Manager, How to Engage Staff, Motivate Staff and Empower Employees
Working groups are made from diverse teams of people. There are individuals who
comprise of strong interpersonal skills and few of them can be insecure and needs direction. The
strong manager will easily understand the significance of learning and what are the factors that
will motivate the employees. The managers will utilize the information for increasing the
productivity levels within the organization (Ferinia, Yuniarsi and Disman, 2016). In order to
understand the employees, it is essential to find what motivated them to achieve success. The
manager must comprehend that no two people can be alike and everyone is motivated to take
action for different reasons. This can be easily done through the communication survey floated
within the teams or groups. The manager must respond to the employee's requirement within a
given time frame. It is essential to understand the needs of the employees. There is a very high
percentage of people who complain about the unanswered questions of the management. The
managers need to arrange face-to-face interactions with group members and focus on improving
communication skills. The manager must be able to adapt the communication style of every
employee and a few of them prefer written communication when compared with others who
prefer oral communication (Zhang, 2010).

Organizational Performance and Motivation 7
The employees must be praised for the regular accomplishments and efforts made by
them towards the organization goals and aims. However, most of the employees do not enjoy
public recognition and monitoring of individual behavior. The employees must be provided with
praise with clear and specific writing and close to the situation (Kuokkanen et al., 2009).
The unmotivated employees lose the focus sense through setting the achievement goals
and managers need to explain the timeline with which goals must be achieved. However, the
managers need to explain how the assignments and projects will get fit in the big picture. It is
important, how each employee is important for the growth and success of the overall company.
The managers need to provide a supportive environment. The methodology through
which failure and fears could be eliminated is through addressing the frustrations in an open
manner. This can be done through weekly staff meeting and different communication forms.
Ambiguity and secrecy help in fostering the mistrust between the employer and employee. The
managers need to set the example and provide training and development to the employees. This
is essential from the viewpoint of achieving the productivity levels within the organization.
Managers need to focus on daily interactions and focus on employee training as a priority. The
manager needs to constantly focus on the employment needs and this could be achieved by
fostering the learning culture. The learning culture can be initiated at all the levels, without any
exceptions (Cattermole, Johnson and Roberts, 2013).
The successful learning culture will lead to increased productivity levels, decrease in
employee turnover, enhanced levels of employee satisfaction, the knowledge sharing culture and
enhanced learning agility. Training programs are effective from the viewpoint of daily
interaction that can foster regular achievement of goals. These range from job projects to

Organizational Performance and Motivation 8
encouragement, where the employees can find challenges towards implementation and
maintenance (Kim, 2013).
The employees must be given deeper insight. A training program is designed through the
consultation of the subject matter. The managers must be included in this process. The manager
has a responsibility towards the employees whether they are able to meet with the needs of
present jobs and ready for upcoming challenges. Most of the employees require up-skilling for a
meeting with the changes in the industry. There is very less percentage of people that believe
employer provides a huge number of opportunities for the development of soft skills and
technical skills that can go with the advancement process (Montoya Restrepo and Vélez
Restrepo, 2014). Managers need to focus on improvising the statistics. This can be done through
understanding the requirements of group needs and how the skills will lead to high productivity
levels. The employees must be provided with particular job requirements and development
needs. Managers are considered as the valuable source of providing the employees with first-
hand information regarding the skills and training employees. The employee development
program must be communicated by the employer and provide a clear path towards the
achievement of goals. Entry level training must be provided to fresher and long-serving
individuals in the company (Turturean, 2014).
Practical Application of Employee Engagement, Employee Motivation, and
Employee Empowerment Theories
In all the enterprises irrespective of the premise, they are state or privately owned,
motivation, employee engagement, and employee empowerment play a key role in driving the
workforce towards the achievement of goals. To a certain extent, the dreams are also achieved by

Organizational Performance and Motivation 9
the individuals. The motivation is a positive state of emotions and measured review of employee
work done by the employer. Employee engagement refers to cognitive intentions of the employer
to engage the workforce in various programs or projects that can benefit the organization as a
whole. Employee empowerment refers to the achievement of goals through monitoring and
initiation. Motivated employees must be job satisfied. The job satisfaction is largely dependent
on the perception of employees and the degree to which the work gets delivered within a given
time-frame (Muise and Impett, 2016). However, job satisfaction can be considered as the
emotional response which can be only inferred, not seen.
1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs-The people focus on how to achieve the different things
in life and this is prioritized according to the significance. The needs are derived through
the hierarchy of needs through Maslow, job satisfaction theories which revolve around
the employees. The factors are responsible for bringing different levels of satisfaction.
These needs are
a) Physiological needs
b) Security and safety needs
c) Social needs
d) Esteem needs
e) Self-actualization needs
2. Herzberg Two Factor theory
This is a motivator-hygiene theory which has emerged from the accounts and engineers
and determines how an individual feels regarding their job. Herzberg has identified five
work features which can bring satisfaction, recognition, achievement, advancement and
responsibility and job. Employees must be promoted on the completion of different

Organizational Performance and Motivation 10
stages in career level. However, this theory fails to differentiate between physiological
and physical needs (Waller and Papi, 2017).
3. McGregor X and Y Theory-This theory categorize employees belonging to one of the
groups and this is based on the assumptions. Theory X has taken into account the
negative perspective. There are people who have an inherent dislike of work. Due to
these reasons, the employees must be coerced, directed and controlled threatened to
work. These people prefer to avoid taking any roles and responsibility and prefers to get
directed and want security. These people have less or no ambitions in life. Theory Y is
completely the opposite. The physical and mental inputs are consumed at workplaces.
These people can exercise discipline and caution for achieving the objectives. These
people have a hard desire to complete the objectives and they can achieve big goals and
ambitions in their life. These people are known for undertaking responsibility (Thornley
et al., 2017).
4. Porter Lawler Model-This is a complete and comprehensive theory and provides an
overview of attitudes and job performance possessed by the employee. This model
touches the human behavior aspects. The individual behavior can be influenced through
internal or external factors and rational choices made about the behavior. People have
different goals, needs and desires and individuals need to decide between alternative
behaviors (Ţicu, 2013).
5. McClelland’s Need Achievement Theory-This theory postulates that few individuals
are driven to the achievement of goals through personal aims rather than the rewards.
This theory is applicable to environments and provides an explanation of why few
teachers can achieve high goals irrespective of the problems faced by them.

Organizational Performance and Motivation 11
6. Equity Theory-This theory provides an explanation of how satisfaction can be achieved
about what brings motivation. According to the equity theory, employees will weigh the
input into the job against the yield received from it. However, when rewards are more,
the satisfaction levels are greater. There are certain aspects of the job which can shape
employee behavior. Tasks must be concise and clear and must bring job satisfaction
levels and how much involvement can be put in to complete the work. There are certain
job characteristics which have an impact on physiological and employee state and how
does it bring influence on motivation as well as job satisfaction. This also takes into
account the absenteeism levels, which include the skill variety involved with a given task,
significance and identity of the task. Employees need to compare the input-outcome ratio
with other project teams or groups as they perceived to be clear and fair, employees can
experience a satisfaction.
Recommendations
1. Empowerment enhances employee commitment, productivity, and creativity, motivation,
and satisfaction. Effective motivation will arise within the individual.
2. The workforce can be offered traditional rewards like monetary compensation. Creation
of a flexible and happy environment and personal achievement are some of the powerful
motivators. Empowerment enables better performance through different mechanisms.
3. Empowerment helps in improving commitment and job satisfaction. The information
must be shared and communicated to the employee and this can boost the ownership
feelings and morale.

Organizational Performance and Motivation 12
4. Employee empowerment must go along with training and coaching and the creation of a
collaborative work environment. The work of employees can be interrelated. The
company must collaborate with the employees in good faith and provide consistently
better performance.
5. Employees need training and coaching that can cope with enhanced independence as well
as roles and responsibilities. True empowerment leads to increasing the collaborative
spirit and accountability. Managers must hear the concerns of employees and genuinely
collaborative.
Conclusion
Employees must be made to feel that they have a significant role to play within the
company. This is possible through the manager and employee self-service. Companies must
provide a wide number of opportunities for hearing the voices of employees and give a strategic
contribution to decisions made within the company. Employees must be able to question the
Human resource department and receive the answers in a given methodology. The different
programs must be launched within the organization and employees must learn through different
training programs and enhance the skill set. Learning about a diverse range of people helps in
achieving productivity levels. The employees will be motivated to take on responsibilities and
achieve the best position within the company.

Organizational Performance and Motivation 13
References
Al-Dmour, R., Yassine, O. and Masa’deh, R. (2018). A Review of Literature on the Associations
among Employee Empowerment, Work Engagement and Employee Performance. Modern
Applied Science, 12(11), p.313.
Alexandri, M., Kostini, N. and Maulina, E. (2019). Employee Empowerment, Psycological
Contract, Employee Engagement di Universitas di Indonesia. Responsive, 1(2), p.81.
Biore, C. (2015). Career Management, Employee Empowerment and Motivation in an Academic
Institution: Fostering Job Satisfaction. JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research, 22(1).
Cattermole, G., Johnson, J. and Roberts, K. (2013). Employee engagement welcomes the dawn
of an empowerment culture. Strategic HR Review, 12(5), pp.250-254.
Ferinia, R., Yuniarsi, T. and Disman, H. (2016). Relationship between selected factors of
motivation, employee engagement and employee performance among nurses at adventist
hospital. International Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 5(3), p.177.
Kim, M. (2013). Handbook of Moral Motivation: Theories, Models, Applications. Australian
Journal of Teacher Education, 39(1).
Kosar, R. and M. Mehdi Raza Naqvi, S. (2015). Psychological Empowerment and Employee
Behaviors: Employee Engagement As Mediator and Leader-Member Exchange as
Moderator. Journal Of International Business Research And Marketing, 1(6), pp.24-30.
Kuokkanen, L., Suominen, T., Härkönen, E., Kukkurainen, M. and Doran, D. (2009). Effects of
Organizational Change on Work-related Empowerment, Employee Satisfaction, and
Motivation. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 33(2), pp.116-124.

Organizational Performance and Motivation 14
Lavigna, B. (2015). Commentary: Public Service Motivation and Employee Engagement. Public
Administration Review, 75(5), pp.732-733.
Mohanan, M., Sequeira, A. and Kumar, M. (2012). Employee Engagement and Motivation : A
Case Study. SSRN Electronic Journal.
Montoya Restrepo, I. and Vélez Restrepo, J. (2014). Motivational theories in the study of
entrepreneurship. Revista científica Pensamiento y Gestión, 36, pp.204-236.
Muise, A. and Impett, E. (2016). Applying Theories of Communal Motivation to
Sexuality. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 10(8), pp.455-467.
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Thornley, N., Chang, T., Martin, D., Thau, S. and Hall, B. (2017). Implicit theories of
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Management Proceedings, 2017(1), p.13263.
Ţicu, D. (2013). Theories of Motivation in Public Policies Process. Procedia - Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 92, pp.925-929.
Turturean, M. (2014). Theories of Motivation and Performance in Education. SSRN Electronic
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Waller, L. and Papi, M. (2017). Motivation and feedback: How implicit theories of intelligence
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35, pp.54-65.

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Zhang, X. (2010). Linking empowering leadership and employee creativity: the influence of
psychological empowerment, intrinsic motivation, and creative process
engagement. Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal, 24(5).
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