Chapter 15: Managing Employee Motivation and Performance

Delroy decides to hold more video meetings.

Choose a behavior to satisfy the need.

Delroy finds that he can accomplish most client tasks with video calls and no longer needs to travel as much.

Evaluate: Has the need been satisfied?

Delroy could hold more video meetings, or he could invite clients to his office.

Search for ways to satisfy the need.

Delroy would like to travel less for work.

Identify a need.

Allison has been a manager for nearly 10 years and is feeling as though there is no way for her to advance further. During her performance evaluation, her director suggests that she could get higher performance from her employees if she encouraged them to participate fully in decision making about which projects the department will undertake and how it will accomplish them. Which perspective on motivation does Allison's boss hold?

Human resource approach

Traditional approach

Human relations approach

Human resource approach

Harry decides to buy devices that allow servers to take orders more easily by tapping an app, rather than writing them down and giving them to the cook staff. This is an example of a _______________________.

hygiene factor

Harry decides to give his employees more responsibility. Each employee will have complete control over one area of each day's menu. This is an example of a __________________________________.

motivation factor

Van is good friends with everyone on your study team, and he does everything he can to avoid problems with other team members.

affiliation

As secretary of state, Hillary Clinton wanted to change the behavior of nations. Her bid for president of the United States in 2008 was based in part on her desire to lead others.

power

Kenji, a McDonald's crew member, rushes to beat the store record for drive-through service speed.

achievement

You couldn't ask for a nicer boss than Deborah. Deborah is always willing to bend the rules when someone has a problem and will do anything possible to help her employees feel satisfied at work. Deborah rarely tells people that they have done something wrong. Instead, she tries to cover up the problem so that others won't notice it. Deborah is likely to have a high need for:

Affiliation

Equity

Achievement

Power

Affiliation

Vonda is frustrated with her manager, Glenda. Last week, when Vonda asked about Glenda's expectations, Glenda said, "Just do your best." But Vonda doesn't know exactly what to do, and as a result, she isn't very motivated.

goal specificity

Lelani really likes her new boss. During a meeting last month, the boss outlined specific goals for Lelani to meet, which excited Lelani. But now Lelani isn't sure how well she is doing in terms of meeting the goals, so she is not very motivated.

feedback

What do the results of Morisano's study illustrate?

Students performed better in their second semester than they did in their first semester.

Having specific, difficult goals increases a student's GPA.

Training students in goal setting leads to an increase in achieving their objectives.

Students with higher GPAs are more likely to set goals.

Training students in goal setting leads to an increase in achieving their objectives.

Because students set their own goals in this experiment, they are likely to have a higher level of ______________________ than students whose goals were set for them by professors.

goal acceptance

The goal-setting theory of motivation assumes that a person's behavior results from conscious intentions and goals. __________________ refers to information people receive about how well they are doing on reaching a goal.

Feedback

Are you kidding? I get to be outside, it'll take an hour at the most, and I can have my friends over while I work. My ______________________ are much lower than yours, and you know it! And since I get the same allowance you do, our _________________ are equal!

inputs; outcomes

Wait, what? Thanks for helping me to recognize how _________________ this situation is!

inequitable

According to equity theory, what is Diana likely to do in this situation? Check all that apply.

Decide that raking leaves is harder than she thought it was initially

Work harder at raking leaves

Not rake any leaves at all

Request an increase in her allowance

Decide that raking leaves is harder than she thought it was initially

Work harder at raking leaves

If Juanita increased Gilberto's allowance, which reinforcement technique would Juanita be using?

Punishment

Avoidance learning

Positive reinforcement

Extinction

Positive reinforcement

On the other hand, if Juanita stopped nagging Gilberto, which reinforcement technique would this reflect?

Avoidance learning

Extinction

Punishment

Positive reinforcement

Avoidance learning

You are trying to convince a group of volunteers to show up at the library for their scheduled hours of work. Unfortunately, people tend to come in late on a regular basis, and this makes it difficult to get the books back on the shelves in a timely manner. You decide to give the volunteers __________________________. Anyone who is on time for 2 weeks gets a $5 gift card from Starbucks. Soon, all of the volunteers are showing up for their shifts right on time.

a positive reinforcer

If a manager uses positive reinforcers, such as money and gift certificates, to shape the behavior of his or her employees, what can the manager then expect? Check all that apply.

To satisfy the employees' affiliation needs

To see a long-term increase in the rewarded behaviors

To satisfy the employees' lower-level needs

To see a temporary increase in the rewarded behaviors

To satisfy the employees' lower-level needs

To see a temporary increase in the rewarded behaviors

The most empowered employees:

Give input

Are responsible for decision process and strategy

Participate in decisions

Make decisions

Are responsible for decision process and strategy

When Brad John, one of the owners of Flight001, asks employees what products are selling and what ideas they have, he is increasing _____________________________________________________________.

the power employees have to make their own decisions

Suppose you just accepted a job as the manager of a Flight 001 store. Which of the following actions could you take to empower your employees? Check all that apply.

Give employees special benefits such as pet care or extra vacation.

Give employees regular updates about the productivity of the company.

Give employees regular raises, based on seniority.

Give employees bonuses when the company achieves annual performance goals.

Give employees regular updates about the productivity of the company.

Give employees bonuses when the company achieves annual performance goals.

Imagine that you conducted a survey to assess employee job satisfaction. The results were encouraging but a substantial percentage of employees explained that the traditional work schedule of 8 hours per day for 5 days per week was not ideal for them. Some employees wanted to be able to pick their children up from school. Others wanted to be able to travel on the weekend. Some employees wanted to work part-time.

Which alternative work schedule should you use if the office space available is insufficient for your growing workforce, but much of the work can be accessed through the corporate website?

Temporary work schedule

Job sharing

Telecommuting

Compressed work schedule

Telecommuting

Carla has just received her annual performance review. Because Carla had the highest productivity of anyone in her department, she will get the largest raise this year. This is an example of:

Pay for knowledge

Gainsharing

Employee stock options

Merit pay

Merit pay

When the U.S. Department of Defense identifies a department where efficiency has increased over prior years and work quality has remained the same or gotten better, everyone in the department is rewarded based on how much money they have saved the agency. This type of reward system is known as:

Lump-sum bonuses

Employee stock options

Pay for knowledge

Gainsharing

Gainsharing

At Southwest Airlines, employees participate in every decision the company makes—including the financial ones. Their payoff for their efforts includes owning part of the company. This reflects a rewards system that includes:

Employee stock options

Gainsharing

Pay for knowledge

Lump-sum bonuses

Employee stock options

Chinese telecom giant Huawei believes that employees will work most effectively when all employees benefit directly from the organization's success. Chinese telecom giant Huawei believes called:

Profit sharing

Organizational development

Pay for knowledge

Team-based compensation

Profit sharing