Motivation and Productivity in the Workplace - Coursework Example

Two weeks into the training and the women are not learning as fast as it was expected. The fact that some women have left and been replaced b new ones has made the learning process hard. The group leader is constantly complaining and this calls for immediate action to resolve the problems. Using this case study, I will couple the knowledge with sufficient literature on organizational management to bring out the importance of work motivation and how it can be used to boost production.

Motivation and Productivity in the workplace

One of the greatest challenges that leaders in an organization can face is how to boost the motivation of the workers and ensure that they are working with enthusiasm, therefore, boosting production. According to Carla Valencia, employees who are not motivated are likely to spend very minimal effort if any in ensuring that the goals set by the organization are achieved. This forms a major problem for the managers on the way to make them realize the objectives that are meant to be achieved. Motivation plays an important role in the performance of an individual together with their personality, attitudes towards the job, and their perception (Adeyinka, Ayeni & Popoola, 2000). The employees must be committed to their work if any positive results are to be registered. Creativity and motivation are two aspects that managers and other leaders in an organization should work to build (Schein & Bennis, 1969).

While dealing with groups as it happens in our given case study where the women tend to have their representative, it is good to induce a sense of responsibility whereby the employees will feel satisfied and not in a position to complain (Delbecq, Ven & Gustafson, 1975). Application of the Adams equity theory is sometimes important to ensure that there is a balance between the employees’ input and the compensation they are getting for the work (Mind Tools). Employees’ loss of morale could be attributed to many factors which include the feeling that their work is not appreciated or that the effort they are putting in is not being compensated in the best way. The management should therefore develop a logical remuneration to address the problem. Vroom’s expectancy theory describes motivation to be a product of three variables which include valence, instrumentality, and expectancy (Iwise2 Library).

Personal attitudes can also lead to low motivation in the job place and hence result in poor results. These can be due to a lack of job satisfaction, involvement, and organizational commitment (Ivanko, 2013; Hofstede, 2001). Looking at the given case study, the women are not having a positive attitude toward the job they are doing. Having a negative attitude makes them have a bad perception and the feeling that they are being exploited instead of working in collaboration with the management to elevate the performance of the organization. Since their grievances are not addressed at the right time the results are a high turnover rate, absenteeism, and low morale in the section. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, self-actualization occurs when one is allowed to exercise creativity and work in a position where the environment is not suppressing them.  This is where one aims at becoming the best person they have been aiming at being. Unfortunately, many people do not get to such a position and so they end up having a nasty attitude toward the job they are doing. This can be averted by ensuring that the employees change their perceptions and appreciate the work that they are doing.

Effective Team Performance

Effecting team performance is an important task in creating motivation in the workplace. Most employees work in a group and so the first step that should be taken is to effect group cohesiveness (Plowman, 2013). It has been established that individuals work with the motive of achieving a common goal. On top of that, the management should work at ensuring group homogeneity so that the group is more similar and hence the achievement of their goals can be made easier. Handling a group that is much similar is easier than another one that shows a great divergence in traits and interests (Plowman, 2013). Once the group has been harmonized, the management can then work to improve their performance (Armstrong & Baron, 2007).

Human resource development is a new but widely applied method that is aimed at improving the performance of employees in a given organization. Human resource development aims at developing the employees’ skills before they are given the mandate of performing on a competitive basis or position.  This is lacking in this setup and the management has not invested enough to ensure that the women have the knowledge needed to work in the section. On top of that, there should be gender balance in any given section of a plant. Allowing women to work solely in such a section may show gender bias and hence can be a source of demotivation for the employees.