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Motivation in the Workplace

Written by the https://papers-writings.net/buy-psychology-paper/

Every manager knows that to make an employee work good, he or she should be motivated. But not every manager knows how to motivate a person wisely, to make him or her do job with pleasure. This paper is aimed to find out the main tools of motivation in the workplace, which in future should help managers motivate workers better and more successfully. It does not matter how large or small in size the enterprise is, the employees should be motivated. Whether it is a multinational global company, or a small bakery in a village, the workers should be motivated, because if a person is motivated, he or she does the job some times better and faster, which in turn will increase the income of the business. Besides, this paper will contain not only a theoretical research about motivation, but also true stories of businessmen and successful managers about their own ways of motivation. In the end some tips, which can be useful for managers as well as for the beginners or even businessmen, will be proposed. Motivation has become an important part not only of the every manager’s every day work, but also a part of every worker’s day, because if a person is motivated from the very beginning, he or she will have a desire to work. Besides, wise motivation may decrease the amount of fired employees and thus, increase the quality of work. This paper will show that motivation can be approached in different ways; it may depend not only on a manager, but also on business. Thus, for every type of business there may be different types of motivation. This paper will show the most important of these types and how they may be implemented in real life.

Literature review

To understand what motivation is and how it may become important for the development of every business, it is important to understand what motivation is. According to the Oxford dictionary motivation is “a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way; desire or willingness to do something; enthusiasm” (2013). It is very important to understand that motivation may be shown not only in the form of money, for example increasing salaries or giving the employees some bonuses, but motivation can be of several types. That is why it is necessary first of all, to outline main scholar works that were written on this topic.

This research paper is based on some main works. First of all it is worth to mention a book by Kenneth W. Thomas Intrinsic Motivation at Work, Second Edition What Really Drives Employee Engagement. This book is based on the author’s researches, which is very important because the author experiences all the techniques of motivation in the workplace on himself, and thus he explains everything rather clearly. This book is an explanation of why self-management is important nowadays in the workplace and it describes in details four main rewards that make employee’s job more energetic and thus successful. Kenneth W. Thomas has his own point of view on the theory of motivation in the working place. He claims that nowadays managers and businessmen are more focused on the so called “Extrinsic” motivators as salary, bonuses, some benefits, expense budgets, some profitable retirement plans and so on. Although such motivators are powerful, they are meant to control person’s work, how well it is done. The main purpose of motivation is to encourage the employees to work; they should want to work for this enterprise and that is why intrinsic rewards are more useful. The main four intrinsic rewards, according to Kenneth W. Thomas, are:

· A worker should feel that he is needed in this company, that he is not a simple cog in the business machine, but a very essential part of it.

· A worker should choose on his own how to make the task given by the managers. It is very important to make a person think that he or she is important.

· A worker should understand how important his work is not only for himself but also for the whole company. This will give the worker a sense of importance; a manager should show the worker that without this task being done properly, the company will lose something;

· A worker should have a feeling of some progress. It is important to show the worker that his work is not the waste of time, show that a company needs it, and no matter how slow this work is done, there is some progress, at least a small one.

Another essential book for this research is a book by Frederick Herzberg The Motivation to Work. Although this book was written in 1959, it contains ideas that are still popular nowadays among the managers. Herzberg was one of the first researchers who understood and showed that employee’s satisfaction and dissatisfaction at work may influence the quality of his or her work. Herzberg has concluded that a person has two kinds of needs, according to which a manager should choose a kind of motivation; they are hygiene factors and motivators. To hygiene factors he refers:

· Policy;

· Relationship with supervisor;

· Work conditions;

· Salary;

· Status;

· Security;

· Relationship with subordinates;

· Personal life.

To motivators belong:

· Achievement;

· Recognition;

· Work itself;

· Responsibility;

· Advancement.

The difference between hygiene factors and motivators is shown on the diagram which was developed by Frederick Herzberg:

The second scheme which was also developped by Frederick Herzberg illustrates how dissatisfactory and satisfacroty factors influence the job. It is obvious that a person is more satisfied with work conditions when he or she has career rowth, or the illusion if it, when a worker feels needed not only by the co-workers, his or her friends, but also by the managers, who try to divide work into smaller parts and are interested into the worker’s life. Both scheme and diagram show that motivators belong to the satisfaction factors of work, which are much more important than dissatisfaction factors. Besides, it is not difficult to notice that satisfactory factors are intrinsic, which are according to Kenneth W. Thomas, more important in management. Besides, one may see some paralels between Herzberg’s theory and the theory of Maslow. Maslow has also concluded that a person, in particular a worker, should be motivated firstly with nonmaterial motivators. According to his five stage hierarchy motivation model, the main motivator for every worker is personal growth and fulfillment and the last stage is taken by biological and psychological needs:

According to Maslow every person has some needs that should be satisfied. They are:

· “Physiological needs – the company offers competitive salaries. This gives people the means to acquire the basic needs for living. The company flexible benefits programme allows employees to choose those benefits that suit them. This includes childcare vouchers, cash alternatives to company cars and discounted life assurance schemes. These savings and competitive salaries help workers' pay go further and so motivate them to be loyal to the company” (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs).

· “Safety needs – values the safety of all employees. The company is committed to providing a safe and healthy work environment to prevent accidents. Employees are however accountable - that means they have to take responsibility for observing the health and safety rules and practices. The company also offers employees a range of working patterns. Some may want to work part-time, others may want career breaks or undertake homeworking. This helps employees to choose the best option for a healthy work-life balance” (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs).

· “Social needs – These are associated with a feeling of belonging. These provide informal opportunities for employees to receive and request information on any part of the business, including sales data and company products. This helps strengthen teams and enhances workers' sense of belonging. Having an open approach to communication keeps everybody focused on the company’s aims helps individuals contribute to the company's Values. They include values such as being positive, seeing the best in people and recognising diversity. Kellogg's positively recognises and rewards staff achievements” (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs).

· “Self-actualisation – a company provides employees with the opportunity to take on challenging and stimulating responsibilities. For example, the business provides the opportunity for individuals to take ownership of projects. This enables them to develop and improve” (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs).

There are several theories about motivation in the working place, which may seem different, and where different terms are used, but on the other hand, all the motivational theories have something in common. The theory of motivation in the workplace proposed by Frederick Winslow Taylor is based on the conclusion that workers are motivated mainly by money: increasing salaries, proposing some bonuses, etc. Taylor suggested that workers are not motivated to work; they are dissatisfied by their work from the very beginning. That is why to motivate a person, a manager should divide a task into smaller ones and pay the same, which means that a worker will be paid more for the work done. Taylor’s theory of motivation in the working place was widely used in the beginning of the last century; the most famous adherent of this theory was Henry Ford, who implemented it on his plants.

Mayo stated that workers are motivated not only by payment, but also by some social benefits. This was proven by some experiments that were conducted in Chicago at the Hawthorne factory of the Western Electric Company. The workers were divided into two groups which worked with impropriate working conditions, as lighting. He thought that workers will work worse, and the quality and the quantity of work will decrease, when working conditions are worsening; but he noticed that the level of work remained the same. That is why Mayo concluded that there are three factors of motivation:

· Better communication. Managers should communicate better with workers; there should be some feedback.

· Greater management involvement. Managers should be involved in the workers’ lives, they should show their interest.

· Working in groups or teams. It is necessary for managers to become team leaders; workers should be divided into small teams and perform small tasks.

Analysis

As it was shown above, motivation theories in the working place are very different and the theorists show different points of view and opposite values. That is why it is important for a manager to understand what may be valuable in this or that particular company and one should have a look at the companies where these theories are implemented. Every manager faces such problem as workers’ motivation, and it may be difficult to understand what theory is to be implemented, and what motivators may be useful for the particular company.

1919 was the year when the Tesco Company was founded, and since the very beginning its managers tried to imply motivation theories and find out what better is for the company and for workers. Nowadays Tesco is one of the most famous British grocery and general merchandised retailer. The first Tesco store was opened in 1929 and by now there are more than two thousand stores all over the world, including an online market. The bosses of the company realized that to make the company international, stuff should be interested in this job and motivated. Since the very beginning the workers of Tesco were motivated, they were thoroughly trained and their work was explained. Now the problem is what theory to choose in order to motivate the employees. That is why an experiment was conducted. The employees were divided into three groups: one group was motivated by Taylor’s theory, another was motivated by Mayo approach and the third group of workers was motivated by Maslow and Herzberg theory.

Taylor’s approach, the theory of motivation, was very useful, and besides it became the first theory that was implemented in Tesco Company. As it was mentioned above, Taylor claimed that workers are interested only in the way they were paid; they wanted to do less work but for the same salary. That is why the workers from the first group were motivated only by the salary and bonuses rewards. However, in the end workers were not motivated, but on the opposite, they worked slower and the quality of the work was very low. Besides, such kind of motivation is not appropriate in the modern society, because workers become uninterested in their work; they are not motivated to be creative; that is why Taylor’s theory was a bit modified in Tesco Company:

The first group of the workers helped the managers to understand how important non-material factors of motivation are. Besides, workers are more motivated to work if they feel secure about their future. That is why all the workers in Tesco Company have good retirement rewards. On the other hand, they are motivated by attending different trainings, which highers their qualification, and thus they work better.

The second group was motivated according to the Mayo theory. As it was explained above, Mayo proved that the resultsof work do not depend on the work conditions of the emplyee. That is why he concluded that the main factors of the successful work are:

· Greater communication.

· Good teamwork.

· Showing interest in others.

· Involving others in decision making.

· Ensuring the wellbeing of others.

· Ensuring work is interesting and non-repetitive. (Motivational theory in practice in Tesco).

Communication is very important in Tesco Company: managers communicate with each other, with workers and with chief executive officers. This may be a tet-a-tet discussion or a meeting where the managers of all the levels are gathered. Besides, managers communicate with each other and workers communicate through the intranet or e-mails, which help everyone be up to date with all the news and have a quality feedback. Workers have a lot of training and development opportunities; besides it is not only a career training which helps workers to perform more quality job, but also trainings for leadership, which help some workers to climb up the service ladder. In the Tesco experiment, the Mayo theory was implemented very successfully, because workers were not rewarded materially, which also saved money for the company, but on the other hand, workers became more self-developed:

Nowadays all the workers of Tesco Company have their own Personal Development Plans, which help the managers of the company provide quality feedback and provide the opportuities for their personal development: trainings and meetings. This helps the workers be creative and invent their own ways of solving problems. Thus, the second group perform more quality work in comparison with the first one; besides, the second group has proven that Mayo’s theory is more profitable nowadays, because more and more workers are interested in slef development.

The third group was motivated according to the theories of Herzberg and Maslow, mostly because these theories resemble each other.

This scheme shows how Maslow theory of five stage pyramid was implemented in life. Workers were motivated beginning from the bottom. Basic or physical needs were motivated through the payment: increasing salaries and granting some bonuses. When such needs were satisfied, workers started worried about security needs, which were also satisfied by signing long term contracts and guaranteeing retirement security. After that social needs became the most important, but they were also satisfied: workers were dividied into small groups and every group had a teamleader. Self esteem was satisfied by the feedback of the managers, who could wisely praise every worker for some achievements. The last need, self fulfillment, was satisfied by Personal Development Plan, which was firstly used in the second group.

As it was shown above, Herzberg showed that there are hygiene factors and motivators to make workers perform their job better. Motivators are non-material factors such as: responsibility, achievements, promotion and growth; and hygiene factors are: salary and bonuses, working conditions, security, company policy and relaitonship with managers and co-workers.

Tesco aims to motivate its employees both by paying attention to hygiene factors and by enabling satisfiers. For example, it motivates and empowers its employees by appropriate and timely communication, by delegating responsibility and involving staff in decision making. It holds forums every year in which staff can be part of the discussions on pay rises. This shows recognition of the work Tesco people do and rewards them (Motivational theory in practice in Tesco).

These experiments showed that employees are more interested nowadays in personal growth and in self development, than in money encouragement. Taylor showed that employees are interested in money they are paid and not in quality of the work done, however nowadays workers strive to be smarter and have more personal qualities, than an average employee. That is why it is important for them to be motivated non-materially, allowing them to develop and have the opportunity to show their extraordinary thinking in work. That is why Tesco Company provides its workers and managers with all the means of self development. “Since every employee is an individual, with different needs and aspirations, the process of reviews and personal development plans allows recognition of their abilities and achievement, as well as potential development” (Motivational theory in practice in Tesco).

Another company where all these theories were implemented is Kellogg’s. This company produces food, which is distributed all over the world. According to the studies, the best theory that motivated workers is Herzberg theory, but unlike the Tesco case, here one may find worker’s feedback for every theory. The group of workers that were motivated according to Taylor’s theory is not satisfied with this kind of motivation, and is not striving to work better. They say that the so called scientific management does not allow people to develop and they work only to earn money. That is why workers are not happy and do not like their job. One woman, Laura Bryant is a participant of the second group, the group of those who were motivated according to the Maslow’s theory. She says that this theory is much better:

She joined the Field Sales team initially. This involved visiting five to ten supermarkets a day to develop relationships at a local level. After two years her hard work was rewarded and she was promoted to Customer Marketing Manager at Head Office. This helped to raise her profile as she wanted to move into marketing. With support from her manager, Laura made the transition from Sales to Marketing as Assistant Brand Manager on Rice Krispies and Frosties. In 2009 she was promoted again to manage the marketing plan for Special K and she is now Brand Manager for Kellogg's Cornflakes. The company has helped motivate her to climb the hierarchy of needs and achieve her career ambitions (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs).

That is why it is reasonable to say that Maslow theory is a small progress in comparison with the Taylor’s theory. But, on the other hand, it is not the most perfect, the absolute truth, because it also has its own disadvantages. For example, Maslow theory put emphasis on the self development and not on the personal achievements or praises. People have very difficult state of mind which is one of the reasons, why every human being wants to be praised. The third group was praised and motivated to work better according to the Mayo’s theory. The participants of this group have enjoyed such kind of motivation:

Here at Kellogg's listening is a central premise of the way we work. We believe that our employees have some of the best ideas and that a successful company is one that listens to the grass roots feedback and acts on it. Any employee can raise an issue or a suggestion via their rep who will raise it at one of their monthly meetings (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs).

The third group was motivated according to Herzberg theory, which appeared to be the best one:

Claire Duckworth works in the Consumer Insight team at Kellogg's. She takes part in Latin American ballroom dancing competitively with her partner. They are ranked 7th in England in the over-35 category. Flexible working at Kellogg's enables her to travel to events and provides her with the opportunity to pursue her hobby at a serious level. This opportunity to adjust her working life to accommodate her personal ambitions makes Claire feel respected and supported (Herzberg, 1968).

As one may see, such opinions show that people are more encouraged to be motivated non-materially, because it is more praised nowadays. It is easy to become reach, but it is almost impossible to become smart and creative when a person is more than forty, that is why not only old skilled workers are mastering their skills, but young alumni of the universities try to work hard in order to show how smart and intelligent they are and that they are worth working for a company. That is why Herzberg motivation theory is considered to be the best in encouraging the employees.

Synthesis – Integration

The main purpose of every theory is to implement it in life that is why it is important to understand what theory may be implemented. There are several tips for a manager how to motivate workers, which were developed by the analytics of the “Forbes” magazine:

· Trustworthy Leadership. A leader should encourage workers to self develop and to strive for more. Besides, a leader or a manager should trust the employees, which will make their relationships not so intense.

· Being relevant. A manager should help employees self develop and choose trainings or some courses for them; he or she should help them improve their skills and learn something new.

· Proving others wrong.

This particular motivation to achieve has been heighten as of late from younger professionals that seek to prove themselves faster amongst older generations in the workplace.   Employees never want to be stereotyped or marginalized, but for many younger professionals this serves as the trigger to awaken them from within. (Llopis, 2012).

· Career advancement. A manager should show employees that every opportunity they take, make become a huge step in their further career.

· No regrets.

· Stable future.

· Self-indulgence.

· Impact.

· Happiness, which is thought to be one of the greatest motivations. Happiness makes people hope for better future and work for it. An employee should be mentally satisfied with his or her work; he or she should go for work with a smile.

Besides, there are seven stages how to develop high and quality performance:

· Build a strong foundation.

· Employee development.

· Goal setting.

· Have fun.

· Review.

· Coach.

· Change or stay.

Such tips may be very useful for managers who have just graduated, and have no experience in team leading. Besides, a manager should be skilled; there are several skills that should be mastered constantly: “Leadership, Team Building, Stress Management, Time Management, Performance Management, Managing Change, Managing Conflict, Communication, Business Ethics, Performing Presentations, Project Management, Motivating employees, and Self Motivation” (How to create successful motivation in the workplace).

Not every manager is able to be proud of being perfectly skilled in these spheres, but nevertheless, it is not the cause to stop improving and self developing.

Conclusion

This research paper was aimed to show the main theories of motivation in the workplace and how they are implemented in real life. The main theories that are used nowadays are: Herzberg, Maslow, Mayo and Thomas theories, which state that non-material motivators are much better than material ones. Taylor stated the opposite in his theory, claiming that workers are interested only in money. The project of Tesco Company, when all the theories were implemented, proved that Taylor theory is not reliable nowadays, because employees are interested in self development; they strive to be more useful for the company, more skilled. That is why Tesco Company organizes different trainings and courses for their employees. Thus, a manager should become a teacher for the employees, he or she should help them to self develop, to master some skills and to climb up the service ladder. The analysis part of the research describes the experiment of Tesco Company and its positive impact on worker’s life. Some useful tips for managers are given in the last part of the research, because it may be difficult to choose a particular theory and implement it. That is why a manager beginner should pay attention to employees the way the employees work.

To my mind, Herzberg theory is the most useful and may be successfully implemented. This theory is based on the statement that every work has its own disadvantages (hygiene factors) and advantages (motivators), and every manager should know that the better motivators are implemented, the better and more quality work is done. Besides, the analysis has proven that the worse theory of motivating nowadays is Taylor’s theory, the author of which claims that employees work only for money and thus they should be motivated only with money.

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