Motivation A key to company success

Two cases what would you do (in teams) Case 1: Bread factory. Physical labor. Hot. Paying employees minimum wage or near minimum wage if seniority. Problem is absenteeism. Employees do not show up to work. Any given day of 100 employees, 10 will not show up. How do you motivate them to come to work?

questions When is the best time to discuss a person’s bad behavior at work. Right away or let it sit. How do you deal with inadequate civilian worker who can not easily be fired because they are protected by a union? What disciplinary measure do managers enforce for bad employee behavior?

Notice the focus is on bad Motivation if done well—minimizes the dark side.

Motivation Forces within an individual that energize, direct, and sustain behavior. Motivation usually focuses on level and persistence (quantity and quality). Sometimes it focuses on Direction. Doing the critical tasks or sometimes citizenship behavior.

Think of a work environment when highly motivated? What made it motivating? Describe it.

Think of a job when not motivated Describe it.

Push forces Internal to the individual Needs, desire, goal driven desire. Implications-Transformational leadership (see book p.393). Effective managers motivate through inspiration. Getting others to have the desire to try hard.

Pull Forces Job Characteristics Organizational actions by supervisors (usually rewards, punishments, but also training and other sources of pressure including groups).

More of a transactional leader. What can you do to get others to work harder. Supervisor’s job. Often exchange based leadership.

Approaches to motivation What motivates (two factor theory, Maslow.) How to motivate (job characteristics, expectancy theory, reinforcement theory, goal setting theory).

What motivates Read Maslow p. 414—many other classes

Two factor theory Dissatisfiers working conditions Co-workers technical quality of supervision Compensation and benefits Satisfiers Sense of achievement recognition responsibility personal growth

Leads into Job Characteristics model

Core Job characteristics creates psychological (Motivational) states—that leads to outcomes such as job satisfaction, work effectiveness (work smarter not harder), and higher intrinsic motivation.

Core job characteristics Skill variety of tasks that requires different skills Task Identity doing the whole job from beginning to end Task significance –impact of job on others inside and outside the organization. Autonomy—empowerment, freedom to act and work smarter. Feedback—Informational control process about performance effectiveness.

Psychological states Meaningfulness Responsibility Knowledge of results

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Expectancy theory Relevant to direction of activities. Many employees especially professionals have a choice of activities. Example in sales-- sales, customer service, or inventory management including shrinkage. All equally important. What do people choose to do.

Expectancy theory assumes People will do the activity that is easiest for them to do with the biggest payoff. People reluctant to do thinks they can not readily do or have low pay off. You as a manager have control of this.

Assumes multiplicative Expectancy X instrumentality X valence Thus if any single one approaches 0 then motivation approaches 0 (low).

Ways to increase expectancy Ways to increase instrumentality Valence—about choosing right incentives. Book lists several.

Application Questions If people work on a sales commission, how do you manage inventory? If you pay people on wages only, what will determine which sales task gets done? What factors should you consider in selecting employees for sales when there is a diversity of job duties?

More applications How do you motivate people to adopt new technologies? How would you apply this to the bread factory and absenteeism.

Goal Setting Theory Assumes the greater the task clarity and the more challenging the task, the greater the task performance. Issues too many tasks to do on most jobs. Clarify expectations. Grocery clerks rings per minute. Used with safety. Used with freight loading in airlines.

Making Goal Setting Effective Set specific goals Set challenging goals Build acceptance and commitment--usually through participation Clarify goal priorities Feedback of goal attainment Reward goal accomplishment

Comments Controlling leadership style OK for many jobs, poor for others. High pressure environment. Does get higher performance Could be used with absenteeism in bread factory.

Feedback and Reinforcement Read p Skinnerian theory in other courses. No need to repeat again. Powerful!!!! Management application as feedback Rewards are powerful!

Most clearly linked to Performance appraisal feedback Annual feedback Periodic feedback. There should be no surprises in the annual feedback. Use of role models. Part of culture and heroes.

Effective leaders use Punishment or positive reinforcement? (positive or negative feedback) How often to you give positive reinforcement? Do you give just for exceptional performance? What is the best general reinforcer. How would you use in bread factory situation.

Guidelines for Positive Reinforcement/feedback Clearly identify correct behaviors Use diverse rewards Inform what is needed to get rewards Give feedback immediately. Individual difference in book but it is controversial in terms of equity.

Reluctance for Positive feedback They get paid to do a good job. Problem solving orientation vs problem prevention Not enough time Save for only exceptional performance.

Reinforcement also linked to Merit pay. Merit pay is pay for performance.

Forms Piece rate bonuses for meeting goals Different level pay increase

Punishment What was done wrong Tell what needs to be done right (not classic skinnerian) Match the punishment and behavior Administer in private Immediacy.

Fear of Negative Feedback Social approval Retaliation Short term vs Long term issues

Putting it all together Satisfaction and performance. Type of work Feedback is critical and seldom given frequently enough.

Summary Motivation important aspect of productivity. Different ways to motivate. Often have “problem employee”. Often motivational. Application to different situations