Motivation

Myths

Myth #1 -- "I can motivate people" Not really -- they have to motivate themselves. You can't motivate people anymore than you can empower them. Employees have to motivate and empower themselves. However, you can set up an environment where they best motivate and empower themselves. The talent lies in knowing how to set up the environment for each of your employees. Myth #2 -- "Money is a good motivator" Not really. Certain things like money, a nice office and job security can help people from becoming less motivated, but they usually don't help people to become more motivated. A key goal is to understand the motivations of each of your employees. Myth #3 -- "Fear is a damn good motivator" Fear is a great motivator -- for a very short time. That's why a lot of yelling from the boss won't seem to "light a spark under employees" for a very long time

Myths

Myth #4 -- "I know what motivates me, so I know what motivates my employees" Not really. Different people are motivated by different things. I may be greatly motivated by earning time away from my job to spend more time my family. You might be motivated much more by recognition of a job well done. People are not motivated by the same things. Again, a key goal is to understand what motivates each of your employees. Myth #5 -- "Increased job satisfaction means increased job performance" Research shows this isn't necessarily true at all. Increased job satisfaction does not necessarily mean increased job performance. If the goals of the organization are not aligned with the goals of employees, then employees aren't effectively working toward the mission of the organization.

Basic Principles

Motivating employees starts with motivating yourself It's amazing how, if you hate your job, it seems like everyone else does, too. If you are very stressed out, it seems like everyone else is, too. Enthusiasm is contagious. If you're enthusiastic about your job, it's much easier for others to be, too. Also, if you're doing a good job of taking care of yourself and your own job, you'll have much clearer perspective on how others are doing in theirs. Key to supporting the motivation of your employees is understanding what motivates each of them Each person is motivated by different things. Whatever steps you take to support the motivation of your employees, they should first include finding out what it is that really motivates each of your employees. You can find this out by asking them, listening to them and observing them. Recognize that supporting employee motivation is a process, not a task Organizations change all the time, as do people. Indeed, it is an ongoing process to sustain an environment where each employee can strongly motivate themselves. If you look at sustaining employee motivation as an ongoing process, then you'll be much more fulfilled and motivated yourself.

Steps You Can Take

Reward it when you see it A critical lesson for new managers and supervisors is to learn to focus on employee behaviors, not on employee personalities. Performance in the workplace should be based on behaviors toward goals, not on popularity of employees. You can get in a great deal of trouble (legally, morally and interpersonally) for focusing only on how you feel about your employees rather than on what you're seeing. Reward it soon after you see it This helps to reinforce the notion that you highly prefer the behaviors that you're currently seeing from your employees. Often, the shorter the time between an employee's action and your reward for the action, the clearer it is to the employee that you highly prefer that action.

Steps You Can Take

Establish goals that are SMARTER SMARTER goals are: specific, measurable, acceptable, realistic, timely, extending of capabilities, and rewarding to those involved. Celebrate achievements This critical step is often forgotten. New managers and supervisors are often focused on a getting "a lot done". This usually means identifying and solving problems. Experienced managers come to understand that acknowledging and celebrating a solution to a problem can be every bit as important as the solution itself. Without ongoing acknowledgement of success, employees become frustrated, skeptical and even cynical about efforts in the organization.

Steps You Can Take

Admit to yourself (and to an appropriate someone else) if you don't like an employee Managers and supervisors are people. It's not unusual to just not like someone who works for you. That someone could, for example, look like an uncle you don't like. In this case, admit to yourself that you don't like the employee. Then talk to someone else who is appropriate to hear about your distaste for the employee, for example, a peer, your boss etc. Indicate to the appropriate person that you want to explore what it is that you don't like about the employee and would like to come to a clearer perception of how you can accomplish a positive working relationship with the employee. It often helps a great deal just to talk out loud about how you feel and get someone else's opinion about the situation. As noted above, if you continue to focus on what you see about employee performance, you'll go a long way toward ensuring that your treatment of employees remains fair and equitable.

Exercise

Case A You are a manager of the regional office of a firm in the service sector involved with organizing hospitality events for corporate clients. The slowdown in the economy has led to a reduction in companies' entertainment budgets which has resulted in sales falling. The Head Office is contemplating merging regional offices. The outcome would necessitate staff from your office re-locating to an office 20 miles away if they wanted to retain their posts. In any event, there are likely to be redundancies amounting to 15% of the current staff which numbers 55. The Head Office has made it clear that more aggressive sales techniques are going to be required to help boost sales to prevent more jobs from being lost in the future.

Exercise

Case B You are the manager of the fresh produce department at a large supermarket. You have steady sales figures whereas the rest of the departments in the store have sales figures that have been rising. You have a wide range of staff working for you - a total number of 32 but only two are full time and both had taken early retirement from their lifetime careers. The remaining staff consists of working mothers, students primarily from the local college - and a string of part time workers sent from the local job centre. The latter group do not have any specific desire to work in a supermarket but need to show that they are willing to take jobs offered in order to ensure they secure benefits. Often they will leave after a couple of weeks. You have heard rumors that you are to be 'questioned about the disappointing trend in your sales figures' and expected to at least meet the figures experienced by other departments in the store.

Exercise

Case C You are a manager of a call center where hours are long and recognition is low. The turnover rate is currently at three hundred percent on a rolling average. As soon as you get one person trained another is leaving due to the demands of the job Your sales have been falling and you are receiving extreme pressure from the executive team to make budgeted targets for the fiscal year. You have proposed to your manager that an increase in headcount, for your department, will be the resources required to turn the current state around. Your manager agrees to give you two additional employees but wants to see results in ninety days.

Exercise

Case D You have just been hired into a new company and have been handed a hostile team which is currently outsourced inside of a client facility. The staff openly speaks poorly about the client and home office relations while on site. The contract is coming up for bid for a five year / twenty five million dollar price tag. The decision maker has conveyed that the current state with employee relations must change or they will actively consider another vendor when the RFP session begins. The team is highly talented even though their attitudes are less than desired. Within the window of time available cleaning house would not be an advantageous option.

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

Herzbergs Motivation-Hygiene Theory

Historical Perspectives on Motivation

Douglas McGregor
Sets of assumptions about managerial attitudes and beliefs about worker behavior

Theory X
Generally consistent with Taylors scientific management Employees dislike work and will function only in a controlled work environment

Theory Y
Generally consistent with the human relations movement Employees accept responsibility and work toward organizational goals if they will also achieve personal rewards

Theory Z
Some middle ground between Ouchis Type A (American) and Type J (Japanese) practices is best for American business Emphasis is on participative decision making with a view of the organization as a family

Equity Theory
Outcomes (self) Inputs (self) Outcomes (other) Inputs (other)

compared with

Contemporary Views on Motivation

Expectancy theory (Victor Vroom)

Motivation depends on how much we want something and on how likely we think we are to get it Implications are that managers must recognize that
Employees work for a variety of reasons The reasons, or expected outcomes, may change over time It is necessary to show employees how they can attain the outcomes they desire

Key Motivation Techniques

Job Enrichment

Provides employees with more variety and responsibility in their jobs

Job Enlargement

The expansion of a workers assignments to include additional but similar tasks

Job Redesign

A type of job enrichment in which work is restructured to cultivate the worker-job match

Behavior Modification

A systematic program of reinforcement to encourage desirable behavior

Key Motivation Techniques

Flextime A system in which employees set their own work hours within employerdetermined limits Typically, there are two bands of time

Core time, when all employees are expected to be at work Flexible time, when employees may choose whether to be at work
Benefits

Employees sense of independence and autonomy is motivating Employees with enough time to deal with nonwork issues are more productive and satisfied
Drawbacks

Supervisors jobs are complicated by having employees who come and go at different times Employees without flextime may resent coworkers who have

Two Examples of Flexible and Core Time

Sources: Management, Ninth Edition by Robert Kreitner. Copyright 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company and Organizational Behavior, by Gregory Moorhead and Ricky W. Griffin. Copyright by Houghton Mifflin Company. Used with permission.

Key Motivation Techniques

Part-Time Work

A permanent employment situation in which individuals work less than a standard workweek Disadvantage: often does not provide the benefits that come with a full-time position

Job Sharing

An arrangement whereby two people share one full-time position Companies can save on expenses by reducing benefits and avoiding employee turnover Employees gain flexibility but may lose benefits Sharing can be difficult if work is not easily divisible or if two people cannot work well

Key Motivation Techniques

Telecommuting

Working at home all the time or for a portion of the work week Advantages
Increased employee productivity Lower real estate and travel costs Reduced absenteeism and turnover Increased work/life balance and improved morale Access to additional labor pools

Disadvantages
Feelings of isolation Putting in longer hours Distractions at home Difficulty monitoring productivity

References

http://www.managementhelp.org/guiding/moti vate/basics.htm http://www.bized.ac.uk/educators/1619/business/hrm/activity/motivation.htm