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Spotlight series

Motivating Others

Some people believe that managers can directly motivate their staff. Others believe that motivation comes entirely from within and that managers can only provide an environment within which people will feel motivated. Either way, in today's turbulent business environment, it is important for organisational success that employees are motivated to use their full potential. There are many theories and practices about how managers can help to motivate their employees. Hertzberg's hygiene theory, McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y and Maslow's hierarchy of needs come readily to mind, although these date back some years. Their validity today stems from the huge influence they have had on more recent thinkers, such as Edgar Schein, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Peter Senge and Tom Peters, to name but a few. Managers often view motivation as something of a mystery to which there is no ready solution. This is possibly because individuals are motivated by different things and in different ways, so that it is a complex process which usually requires more than one approach. The ability to motivate those working for you is a key aspect of leadership and has a powerful effect on your own performance as a manager, as well as on the performance of individuals in your team. A highly motivated individual or group can improve product or service quality and process efficiency, saving time and effort in every way. Elton Mayo's classic, early research into motivation in the 1920s and 1930s is often referred to as the Hawthorne experiments. Mayo's work involved participant observation and focussed on workers at the Western Electric Company. He concluded that: job satisfaction increased as workers were given more freedom to determine the conditions of their working environment and to set their own standards of output intensified interaction and co-operation between people created a high level of group cohesion job satisfaction and output depended more on co-operation and feelings of worth that on physical working conditions.

Later research has served to reinforce Mayo's findings, but also to show that many factors affect individual levels of motivation. These include having a sense of purpose and satisfaction, enjoying the work carried out, feeling challenged and gaining recognition for achievements. Other factors can work against motivation and these may include poor physical work conditions, real or perceived unfairness, excessive bureaucracy and ineffective management.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any forms or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the Chartered Management Institute.

Spotlight series

In addition to such general factors, it is necessary to remember that individuals have different reasons for doing things and different ways of doing things. They therefore need to be managed and rewarded as individuals, not as numbers or cogs in a machine. As a manager, you have both the opportunity and the obligation to create an environment that motivates your staff. Whilst creating a motivated workforce may need to be seen as a long-term goal, the investment in time and effort will produce benefits for you, your team and ultimately your organisation. A Skills Benchmarking tool on this subject is available to members within the Institute's Online CPD scheme. This tool presents a series of questions that enables you to evaluate and obtain feedback on your ability in this area. Non-members may like to explore the wider benefits of membership.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any forms or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the Chartered Management Institute.

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