MAN204 - Individual Essay: Improving Staff Motivation in the Workplace

This essay analyzes organizational behavior with a focus on motivation in the workplace. It begins by defining motivation and its role in achieving organizational and individual objectives. The essay then differentiates between intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors, providing examples from Google's practices. It explores the benefits of each type of motivation, such as enhanced task performance and innovation, while also acknowledging potential limitations, like financial costs and turnover rates. The essay discusses Google's motivational strategies, including benefits, freedom in work, and fun activities, and identifies strengths such as increased efficiency and employee retention, as well as weaknesses such as high costs and potential for employee leniency. The essay concludes with recommendations for improvement, including a balanced approach to rewards, training and development, cost reduction strategies, and adjustments to time flexibility and fun activities. The essay uses Herzberg's two-factor theory to support its arguments.

Running Head: ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOR 0
ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOR
student name
4/22/2019

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Organizational behaviour
Motivation is a cause for people to act and willing to perform towards a specific
objective. These include external and internal factors that will stimulate energy and desire in
individuals to be rapidly committed and interested to perform a role, job or to take efforts to
achieve goals. Motivation is an outcome of the integration of unconscious and conscious factors
like need intensity, individual expectations and their peer ones, reward value or incentives. These
factors could be the cause of the behaviour of an individual in a specific way. In an organization,
motivation plays a vital role to make employees perform effectively and their personal objectives
are achieved along with the organizational objectives (Bailey, 2018).
The report objective is to understand the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic
motivational factors. This would be done while analysing a company’s motivational factors used.
The objective is to identify the key weakness and strength of the company through motivation
and solution to eliminate the weakness of the company. Google is an American based global
company offering customers with internet related goods and services across the globe (google,
2019).
Intrinsic motivation is the way an individual act that is determined through internal
rewards. This includes the factors that will alter the behaviour of an individual which are within
the individual as it is intrinsically rewarding. There are three major intrinsic motivators identified
in Weinberg and gloud’s theory. This includes accomplishment, knowledge, and stimulation
(Lazaroiu, 2015). Extrinsic motivation is the behaviour that is determined through external
rewards like fame, praise, money, and grades. This kind of motivation is aroused from the
external environment of people. There are various kinds of extrinsic rewards, among which three

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major rewards are performance contingent rewards, competition contingent rewards, and
unexpected rewards.
The major differences in intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are the extrinsic motivation
includes the desire to accomplish the task derived through external cues like avoiding
consequences and gaining rewards. While intrinsic motivation is the intrinsic motivation includes
the desire to accomplish, the task derived through internal cues for example interest in action and
enjoyment.
The major benefits of extrinsic motivation include pushing the peculiar limits through
rewards, enhance the task speed, and enhance social learning compliance. While intrinsic
advantages include success with a particular task, sticking to the project, investing additional
time in a project, being innovative, and self-motivation. For example, in a university the
following presented factors would be extrinsic v/s extrinsic (Som & Aguenza, 2018).
Figure 1: (Source: (Miner, 2015)
Google is a work diverse company, who is motivating its employees through various
factors. Considering the intrinsic factors, the company recruitment process is developed so as to
recruit the best human resource with high competency. Moreover, the work culture of the

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company is providing an environment for the employees to enhance the intrinsic motivational
values like self-motivation among the employees. Moreover, considering extrinsic motivation,
the company has been taken various factors to keep the employees highly motivated. Google has
been implementing Herzberg two-factor theory to ensure that the employees are having a good
and enjoyable working environment. According to this theory, there two types of factors that are
motivation factors and hygiene (tankonyvtar, 2018). Among these, the hygiene factors are the
basic and the constraints that are important for an individual to work in an environment. These
factors do not contribute to additional motivation, but the absence of this factor can increase the
dissatisfaction level among the employees. While the motivation factors include the constraints
that are responsible to motivate the employees to perform better in the corporation (Som &
Aguenza, 2018).
Google is providing best hygiene factors that mean that there is no scope for the
employees to be dissatisfied due to basic need like restroom facilities, cleanliness and easily
available food. Googlers do not have to visit a place for having food, the company has a huge
cafeteria or restaurant in the company’s building. Some of the motivation factors implemented in
Google are first, Benefits and Perks; there are various benefits and the perks that the company is
offering to the employees. For example, reimbursement for legal expenses for their employees
up to $5000, the maternity benefits for the female employees are of 100 percent paid of 18 weeks
off. The mother and father of the newborn child are provided the expenses of $500 maximum for
meals for initially three months. Moreover, the company provides financial support for child
adoption (Bombiak, 2018).
Second, Voice and value; this is the sigh for the democracy in the organizations they are
provided with a considerable voice like an employee forum is hosts by the company on every

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Friday, this considers an examination of questions that are most frequently asked. Employees of
Google can utilize various channel to express their thoughts and ideas like Google plus
conversations, Fixits etc. moreover, regular surveys are considered by the company from
employees to identify the best and worst managers. Third, Freedom in work; The Company
believes that the employees can give their best performance when there is no major restriction
over them of time deadline. This freedom includes working hours of employees and they can
have some fun in between the between work like indulging in volleyball, heading to the gym,
getting a massage. Forth, Regular fun activities; there are various opportunities for the
employees to have fun like having frequent breaks, going out and interact with people, bowling,
personal creative time, pajama days, Halloween costume party and facilities for wall climbing
(Bruggeman & Baerdemaeker, 2015).
Key Strengths or advantage to Google are more efficient employees. The motivational
factors applied by Google has made the employees more efficient in nature. They get breaks that
make them work better after each break. A company like fun at work to make people think more
effectively has increased the efficiency of the employees through programs (Gabriel, 2016).
Retaining employees; the motivational factors have allowed Google to retain more
employees. The Employees retention rate is very high of the company and the reasons are the
motivational factors applied by the company. The company believes that the cost to the company
increase when an employee’s leave the organisation, therefore this is considered to be the most
beneficial aspect for the company (Miner, 2015). Another strength include more innovative
products; The employees have provided flexibility and have authority to speck and share ideas
and thought that have resulted in various innovative products of Google. Voice and value have
increased the idea sharing by the employees and the company provides time to interact that

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introduce to new ideas from the employee (Caillier, 2014). Entrepreneurial skills; the freedom to
share thoughts and provide flexibility in work has enhanced employee’s entrepreneurial skills.
One of the programs by the company includes “20% of free time for employees. This has led to
the introduction of innovative products for Google. For example, Gmail, and Google suggest are
two products that are the result of this program (Donohue, R, 2016).
Weakness or limitations to Google includes firstly Waste of money, the money spent by
the company is very large for employee motivation. The company is providing various benefits
and financial perks to the employees which have resulted in great expenses for the company.
Moreover, the money used by the company did not assure if it is going to pay back to the
company in for employee efficiency or increase in profit for the company or not. Therefore, it
can be said that the amount spent by the company can be considered as weakness from the
motivational factors considered by the company (Fang & Gerhart, 2014).
Make employees lenient with the timely competition of task – The freedom to work, and
more flexibility and completion of the task could adversely result in leniency by the employees.
They have been provided frequent breaks, which could halo hamper their performance as they
will spend maximum time free and may be distracted by all other activities in the company.
Every individual is not self-motivated to perform that means that there are chances that the
employees can take undue advantage through these factors or programs by the company and the
actual productivity of the firm decreased. Secondly, high turnover rate, even after so many
benefits and perks, Google has been facing the same issue that is the high turnover rate. The
company is able to increase the satisfaction level among the employees by an average of 85% but
still, the turnover rate of the employees are high (forbes, 2019).

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The major Recommendations to the company include Extrinsic and intrinsic rewards –
The Company can reward the extrinsic and intrinsic factors of employees separately to increase
the self-motivation among the people and increase the desire to be recognized (Gibson, 2016).
Secondly, Training and development; the Company can provide training and
development for the employees in order to keep assure that their competencies are increasing and
would be beneficial in increases the performance of the employee. Moreover the company can
get ideas from the employees through such programs like brainstorming to get ideas from the
employees and not wasting time and money by providing them 20% free time (Peters & Ryan,
2015). Thirdly, Reduce cost; the cost of the company can decrease by increasing the efficiency
of the employees. The issue of a large amount of money spent on motivational factors can be
solved by assuring if motivational program initiated by the company has resulted in productivity
or not. The company must do the evaluation and control, and increase the result of the
motivational factors has not identified then the factors must be altered as per the needs. This is to
ensure if the company is investing in human resource or wasting money and time (Smith &
Barrick, 2015).
Fourthly, reduce time flexibility; the time flexibility had increased the risk of not
completing the take in time. The employees can become careless with time management. For this
the company must impose the last deadline for the completion of work, and before that the
employees can enjoy the flexibility. This step can assure that the task is not stretched to a limit
that is not appropriate. This will make the balance among the employee's work and timely
completion of the task. Fifthly, limit time for fun activities; the fun activities by the employees
must be for a limited time span. The employees can take due advantage of this facility and spend
their maximum time in these activities and unable to concentrate on work. This will also assure

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that people are enjoying their flexible time along with productivity by employees (Raban &
Ritcher, 2015).
From the report, it can be concluded that Google is an American based global company
offering customers with internet related goods and services across the globe. In an organization
motivation, plays a vital role to make employees perform effectively and their personal
objectives are achieved along with the organizational objectives. Google has been implementing
Herzberg two-factor theory to ensure that the employees are having a good and enjoyable
working environment. Google is providing best hygiene factors that mean that there is no scope
for the employees to be dissatisfied due to basic need like restroom facilities, cleanliness and
easily available food.Some of the motivation factors implemented in Google are voice and value,
benefits and perks, regular fun activities, and freedom in work. These motivational factors by
Google have resulted in various strengths for the company as well as some limitation is
identified.

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