2.4 Motivation & demotivation

Motivation

• The desire, effort, passion to achieve something

• Willingness to complete a task / job w intent + purpose

Why do managers want to motivate their workforce?

To maximise

1. Job satisfaction

2. Staff morale

3. Labor productivity

Pros of increased worker motivation

2. Higher staff morale + job satisfaction → higher productivity

3. Better industrial relations (less chance of conflict)

4. Lower absenteeism

5. Low staff turnover → reduces recruitment costs

6. Improvers corporate rep (easier to attract employees)

7. Higher profitability

Signs of poor motivation

1. High absenteeism

2. High labour turnover → increases costs

3. High wastage level (defective / substandard output)

4. High no. customer complaints (due to poor quality)

5. Low quality output (make more mstakes, care less abt quality)

6. Poor puncuality (time, deadlines)

7. More disciplinary problems

Absenteeism

% of workforce that misses work w/o valid reason

Motivation theories

1. Taylor

2. Maslow

3. Herzberg (motivation-hygiene theory)

4. McClelland's acquired needs theory

5. Deci + Ryan's self-determination theory

6. Equity + expectancy theory

Taylor motivation theory

• Employees primarily motivated by money

• Scientific management theory

Scientific management

• Developed by Taylor

• Use specialisation + div of labour help increase productivity level

• Esp if pay is linked to piece rate system

How did Taylor suggest to improve productivity?

Set output + efficiency targets related to pay

• Use piece rate

Division of labour

• Process of breaking down diff aspects of a job

• Assign diff ppl to each part of the work

• Aim: improve efficiency + output

Differentiated piecework

Incentive scheme that rewards more productive workers who exceed a pre-determined benchmark

• Workers paid standard level of output + higher pay if they exceed it

Role of managers vs workers in Taylors theory

MANAGERS:

• Plan work using div of labour, differentiated piecework to increase productivity

• Train employees

• Plan, control supervise tasks / employe

WORKERS:

• Perform work in standardized fashion

• Receive wages based on differentiated piecework

• No input in how things are done

Cons of Taylors theory

1. Ignores non-physical contributions of workers

• Service industry (teaching, healthcare)

• Scientific management = ineffective more jobs that focus on mental vs physical output

2. Ignores non-financial factors that motivate

3. Ignores that workers can be innovative + independent thinkers

• Esp in highly educated societies (dont like being told what to do)

4. Repetitive + monotonous tasks → dissatisfaction

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

5 levels of needs

• From satisfying physiological needs → seld-actualisation

• Lower needs must be met before people progress up the hierarchy

Hierarchy of needs

• Maslow’s motivation theory

• Ppl motivated by diff levels of needs: physiological, safety, social, esteem, self-actualisation

Physiological needs (basic needs)

• Requirements for human survival

• Food, warmth, water, shelter, sleep

• Ability to achieve these depends on the amount of money workers earn

Safety needs (security needs)

• Requirements that make people feel safe

• Job security, sick pay, pensions

• Predictability (routine), order (protect from harm)

Love + belonging needs (social needs)

• Requirement to be accepted by others (friendship, family)

• Satisfy by improved communication, gatherings, opportunities for teamwork, compliance w anti-discriminaton laws

Esteem needs

• Desire of ppl to feel respected, having value, self-respect

• Job titles, praise, training, employee of month, internal promotion (not external recruitment)

Internal vs external esteem needs

• I = ppl need to feel good abt themselves (achievement)

• E = desire to be recognised by others (status)

Self-actualisation

• Highest level of needs

• Forces that drive ppl to be the very best they can be + fulfill their potential

• Achieve by firm provide opportunities for professional development + promotion

IRL why is it not feasible for firms to motivate all workers to the top of the hierarchy of needs?

1. Realistic to only satisfy physiological + security of low-skilled workers

2. Focus on meeting higher level of neesd of core staff (senior manager)

Cons of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

1. Difficult to identify / measure workers needs

2. Not everyone has the same 5 needs (other factors involved)

3. Self-actualisation needs rarely permanently achieved.

• Doesn’t explain what motivates them once they achieve htis

Herzberg motivation-hygiene theory

• Looks at the factors that must be met in order to prevent dissatisfaction

• + the factors that actually motivate employees

Hygiene factors (maintenance factors)

• Parts of a job that don’t increase job satisfaction but prevent dissatisfaction

• Don’t motivate employees to work harder

Motivators

Factors that increase job satisfaction + motivation levels

• Lead to psychological growth

Examples of hygiene factors

• Cause dissatisfaction

1. Job security

2. Organization rules

3. Pay- salary, wages

4. Status

5. Relationship with peers, subordinates supervisors

6. Physical working conditions

7. Supervision

8. Physical security

Examples of motivators

• Cause satisfaction

1. Achievement

2. Promotion opportunities

3. Interesting tasks

4. Personal growth

5. Recognition

6. Responsibility

7. The work itself

8. Job enrich/enlarge/empower ment

3 ways to improve employee motivation by training employees to perform tasks they weren’t originally capable of doing

1. Job enlargement

2. Job enrichment

3. Job empowerment

Job enlargement

• Increase no. of tasks an employee performs

• → reduces / eliminates monotony of repetitive tasks

• Eg job rotation

• Tasks = same level of difficulty

Job rotation

• Form of job enlargement

• Workers given diff tasks, but at same complexity level

• Reduces problems asociated w repetitive tasks

Job enrichment

• Give workers more responsibilities + challenging jobs

• Gives thems ense of achievement

Job empowerment

• Delegate decision-making authority to workers for their job area

• Increases morale

Herzberg: motivation vs movement

Movement

• When ppl do something bc they need to (feel obliged to)

• Eg part of job

• Extrinsic incentive

Motivation

• Desire, effort passion to do something bc they want to

• Intrinsic

Herzberg theory summary

Cons of Herzberg 2 factor theory

1. Hygiene factors taken for granted

2. Issues for managers: diff ppl = diff motivators, moods affect motivation level (what motivates someone today won’t motivate them tmr)

3. Doesn’t apply to many occupations

• Eg low-skilled, low-paid jobs

• Bc job enrichment, empowermentn ot part of their work

• His study only used professional workers, skilled engineers → not representative of other groups

2. Employees may not want extra responsibility bc more stress

McClelland’s acquired needs theory

3 types of needs must be satisfied to boost motivation (regardless of gender, culture, age):

• Need for

1. Achievement

2. Power

3. Affiliation

But relative intensity of each varies from person to person

Need for Achievement (n-Ach)

Achievement motivated people:

• Moderate risk takers

• Prefer to work on tasks where they hold key responsibilities / work w high achievers

• More interested in personal success over extrinsic rewards (recognition)

• Prefer not to delegate

• Self reflect on performance → find ways to improve

Why do achievement motivated people not like low and high risk tasks?

Low

• Too easy

• Don’t feel like they have achieved anything

High

• Outcome based on luck. Not own efforts

Need for Power (n-Pow)

Power motivated people:

• Strong-willed: like to influence others behaviour

• Personal or institutional power

Why do ppl seek personal power?

• To pass on instructions to others

• Makes them feel more imp

• But others can view them as bossy

Why do ppl seek institutional power?

• Make others work harder to achieve business objectives

• Use authority to bring out best in teams

• These ppl more likely to be successful

Need for Affiliation (n-Aff)

Affiliation seekers:

• Seek good social + working relations w colleagues + senior managers

• Makes them happier at work → increase motivation

• Conform to group norms to avoid conflict → accepted

• Prefer teamwork

What does McClelland’s theory show?

Ppl w diff types of needs motivated in diff ways

Summary: how to motivate employees w diff types of needs (McClelland)?

High:

• n-Ach: give challenging but achievable tasks

• n-Pow: give opportunities to manage + lead diff teams

• n-Aff: give cooperative + collaborative working environments to gain their best performance

Deci + Ryan self determination theory (SDT)

Describes 3 core requirements that facilitate growth + motivation in ppl:

• Autonomy

• Competence

• Relatedness

Autonomy

• The need to have control over what a person does

What happens when autonomy is met vs not met?

Met:

• Person feels integrity + authenticity w their decisions

Not met:

• Person feels frustrated, pressurized

Competence

The need to feel confident in doing a specific task / job role

• Sense of effectiveness, value, mastery

How to achieve competence?

Provide opportunities to use + extend ppls skills

What happens if the need for competence isn’t met?

Person feels ineffective, vulnerable, failure

Relatedness

The need to interact, be connected to + experience caring for others

• Met when ppl have meaningful RS w others, feel significant to others

What happens if relatedness needs are not met?

• Ppl feel social alienation, exclusion, lonely

• Reduce motivation, producitvity

Does SDT focus on intrinsic or extrinsic motivation?

Intrinsic

• Intangible

• Eg sense of recognition, purpose, achievement

• These 3 needs r essential for intrinsic motivation bc ppl feel valued

Equity theory

• JS Adam’s theory of motivation

• Ppl make comparisons of perceived fairness in the workplace based on the ratio of their input (effort) to output (rewards)

• Compare effort + rewards to otyers

Inputs in equity theory

1. Expertise

2. Effort

Contributions made by the employee

• Physical or intellectual

Outputs in equity theory

1. Remuneration

2. Recognition (praise)

3. Rank (status

4. Responsibilities

Tangible or intangible

Financial or non financial rewards

When does equity exist?

Inputs + outputs = balanced

• Workers have greater motivation in their jobs → productive

According to equity theory, employees will only be motivated if?

Input to output ratio is deemed fair in relation to others

• Degree of equity directly impacts motivation level

3 ways degree of equity impacts the motivation level

1. Equity norm 

2. Social comparison

3. Cognitive distortion

3 ways degree of equity impacts the motivation level: equity norm

• Workers expect fair remuneration package based on their contributions to the firm

• Firms should ensure staff percieve equity throughout organization

3 ways degree of equity impacts the motivation level: social comparison

• Workers determine what is fair based on comparison of in+outputs w peers

When does inequity exist?

Workers who put more effort r paid relatively less

• Compared to co-workers

3 ways degree of equity impacts the motivation level: cognitive distortion

• Workers who feel undercompensation (input>output) → demotivated → withdraw goodwill

• Workers aim for a balance → alter inputs (less effort) or outputs (negotiate pay rise)

What happens if inequity isn’t dealt with?

1. Increase absenteeism

2. Workers become disruptive (industrial action)

3. Increase staff turnover

Cons of equity theory

1. Fairness = subjective

• Ignores cultural / demographic factors that affect perception of fairness

2. Limit to equity → demotivating

• Senior managers excessively remunerated / compensated more

• Workers don’t always view this as fair

Example of perceived equity in the workplace

Example of perceived inequity in the workplace

Equity vs equality

• Equity = fairness

• Equality = same (all paid same despite doing diff work)

Expectancy theory

• Vroom’s theory

• Assumes ppl behave in a certain way in exchange for rewards based on their conscious expectations

• Ppl will only put in effort to do a job if they expect their role will help achieve the required result

According to expectancy theory, what happensif workers feel they lack the ability / skill to achieve a target?

Minimal effort level (lower motivation)

Expectancy theory: level of motivation equation

Expectancy x instrumentality x valence = motivation

Expectancy

The belief that effort will lead to acceptable performance

• Ppl have diff expectations abt their ability to do a job + its difficulty level

Instumentality

The performance reward

• Ppl have the perception that if they meet performance targets, they will be rewarded accordingly

• Managers must keep promises to gain peoples trust, hence loyalty + motivation

Valence

The value of the reward to the individual employee

• Managers must find out what staff value

• When doing a job, ppl consider if it is worth any extra effort in terms of intrinsic + extrinsic rewards

Values for level of motivation equation

• All components betw 0-1

• 0 = lowest, 1 highest

• Higher number = likely employees r highly motivated

Expectancy theory: there is a correlation betw effort ppl put at work +

Expected rewards they achieve from that effort

Expectancy theory: employees will be motivated if…

They believe their strong effort will lead to good performance that will lead to their desired results

Cons of expectancy theory

1. Doesn’t give specific suggestions on how to motivate workers

• Only gives a framework that highlights individual + cognitive differences in motivation

Equity vs expectancy theory

Equity

• Ppl gain job satisfaction by comparing input + output ratio w others

• Employee is motivated if they feel input:output if fair + in line w others in firm / society

Expectancy

• Ppl behave a certain way in exchange for rewards based on their conscious expectations

• Employee is motivated if they intrinsically perceive a reward is adequate

Summary of motivation theories

Labour turnover

Measures the % if the workforce that leaves the organization in a given time perod

• Usually 1 year

Labour turnover equation

(No. of staff leaving / total. no of staff) x 100

Reasons why people leave their jobs (CLAMPS)

1. Challenge

2. Location

3. Advancement

4. Money

5. Pride / prestige

6. Security (or job)

What does a low labour turnover rate suggest?

• Firm recruited right ppl for the job

• Existing employees are motivated

What does a high labour turnover rate suggest?

• Lack of job satisfaction

• Better job opps + remuneration packages offered by other employeers

Cons of high labour turnover rate

Increases costs: train, recruit, less productivity when staff leave

• + new staff need time to adjust

Which businesses are likely to accept high labour turnover rates?

Jobs w:

• Lots of part-time staff

• Low skilled workers

• Low wages

Pros of new employees

• New ideas + creativity

• New perspectives → improve business performance

Labour retention

The proportion of employees remaining with a business during a specific time period

Appraisal

• The formal assessment of an employee’s performance in fulfilling their job based on the tasks + responsibilities set in their job description

Pros of appraisals

Cons of appraisals

4 types of appraisals

1. Formative

2. Summative

3. 360-degree feedback

4. Self-appraisal

Formative appraisal

• The planned + ongoing process in which data + evidence are used to inform employees abt how to improve their work practices

Goals of formative appraisal

1. Monitor learning + performance of employees

2. Help employees identify strengths + weaknesses (areas need to develop)

3. Help managers recognise areas where staff r struggling → can adress issues promptly

What type of workers is formative appraisal usually used for?

Workers hired for probation (trial) period

Summative appraisal

• A written description of an employee’s performance at work

• Summarizes what they have done + achieved during a given time period (1 year)

Goal of summative appraisal

Eval performance / contribution of workers by comparing w a benchmark

• → identify areas of improvement

Do summative appraisals hold staff accountable for their work?

Yes

• By testing their knowledge