The Factors Driving the Employee Discontent - Dissertation Example

? Chapter 2 Literature Review CHAPTER 2 The main purpose of this project is to uncover the factors driving the employee discontent. According to Taxpayer Accountability Report for the fiscal year 2008 to 2009, there has been a decline in the revenues of Colorado State’s revenues (STAR, 2009). As a result of this there have been numerous cuts in the monetary incentives of the employees. The problem of a steep decline in Colorado State’s revenues has had a very huge impact on the employee morale, which as suggested by the survey, decreased by a humongous 36% among individuals who were previously satisfied with their jobs in the 5-year period. Having a clear understanding of the motivation of employees is tremendously significant to managers as well as the supervisors, particularly in the industries today where the limited budgets make it complicated to reward workers monetarily. The supervisors have to possess a clear idea of how the monetary incentives can motivate the employees to work harder in an organization (Bin Saeed, 1985). In order to analyze the effect of the long-term reductions in employee compensation, benefits, and incentives directly affecting the State of Colorado workers’ motivation, job satisfaction and morale, it is important to include the two well-known motivational theories i.e. Herzberg’s two factor theory (1959) as well as Adam’s equity theory (1963), into the project’s theoretical framework. The Herzberg’s Two-factor theory (1959), also commonly known as the motivation-hygiene theory, implies that there are certain factors at a workplace that result in job satisfaction, while an entirely different set of factors cause employee dissatisfaction (Herzberg, 1959). According to the theory, employee motivation is influenced by two distinct factors. Psychological well-being and satisfaction were factors of the ‘motivation factors’, while dissatisfaction resulted from the ‘hygiene factors’. This theory was developed by Herzberg by an investigation among 200 accountants and engineers in the USA (Herzberg. 1959). According to Wigdor & House (2006) this theory by Herzberg proposed that employees’ job satisfaction starts from intrinsic motivators, like recognition, advancement, and the likes, while on the other hand, employee dissatisfaction is usually a result of missing extrinsic motivation factors or the hygiene factors, that include pay, security, conditions, and so on (Wigdor & House, 2006). If we take into consideration the decrease in hygiene factors of the State Workers for e.g. pay, security, and fringe benefits we see that over the previous 3 fiscal years (2007-2010) there was a decrease in typical intrinsic motivators (opportunities of advancement, statewide hiring, and promotion freeze). Herzberg’s theory helps explains the reasons for lack of motivation among the Colorado employees and their consistent job dissatisfaction. As the hygiene factors decrease, the employees lose their motivation to work and this is presumably characteristic of the department of EHS at CSU, since a steady decline in their motivational levels, job satisfaction and productivity is seen. Herzberg’s two factor theory can also be connected to Maslow’s levels of hierarchy in order to provide comprehensive understanding of the fact that negligent incentives can contribute to employee dissatisfaction. Abraham H. Maslow made an effort to devise a needs-based structure of human motivation. Moreover, White & Pierce (2000) also imply that the foundation of Maslow’s motivation theory suggests that human beings are pushed forward by unsatisfied wants, and that some lower factors need to be fulfilled before higher needs can be satisfied. According to Maslow, the needs can be divided into certain categories such as physiological, survival, safety, love, and esteem, that must be fulfilled before a person can act selflessly. He gave these needs the name of "deficiency needs" (White & Pierce, 2000). Relating the research of Maslow as well as Herzberg, we understand that their findings have had a far-reaching theoretical, as well as a practical, impact on the administration attitudes (Maslow, 1943). According to Herzberg, individuals are not satisfied with the fulfillment of lower-order needs at workplace. Rather, employees are in search for the gratification of higher-level psychological needs having to do with advancement, recognition, responsibility, achievement, and the nature of the work in itself. So far, this appears to be consistent with Maslow's theory of a need hierarchy. This theory makes a strong suggestion of the fact that in order to improve productivity as well as job attitudes, administrators must make an effort to pinpoint and cater to both sets of features and not make an assumption that by increasing the satisfaction, there will be an automatic decrease in the dissatisfaction (Maslow, 1959). It very much lies in the realm of possibility that the employees in the department of EHS at CSU are suffering from morale issues, as researched by Maslow and Herzberg, and this is reflecting in their performance as well as the decreased rate of satisfaction over the five-year period. The job features that related to what work an individual performs and its nature , has the ability to fulfill needs such as achievement, competency, status, personal worth, and self-realization, thus making him satisfied and productive. Similarly, the dearth of such fulfilling job characteristics does not always to lead to unhappiness and dissatisfaction. Instead, dissatisfaction may result from unfavorable assessments of such job-related factors as working conditions, company policies, technical problems, supervision, salary as well as interpersonal relations on the job. Therefore, if management wishes to increase satisfaction at the point of work, it should make an effort to improve the nature of the work itself. This means improving the incentives it presents for gaining status, taking responsibility, and for making a climb towards self-realization (Kenrick, 2010). We can also relate Adams’ Equity Theory to the State of Colorado workers’ low morale, motivation levels and job satisfaction in regard to the long-term reductions in employee compensation, benefits, and incentives. In the Equity theory, Adams makes an attempt to give an explanation of relational satisfaction in terms of perceiving fair or unfair monetary distributions within interpersonal relationships (Adams, 1965). The Equity Theory implies that workers in any organization constantly continue to compare discrepancies in the equity and balance between others. According to Adams’ theory, an individual’s level of motivation is directly related to management’s perceived fairness in any organization (Gibson et al., 2009). The Equity theory may prove useful in identifying imbalances and designing strategies to motivate state workers in these economically depressed times. According to Goodman &Friedman (1971), Adams’s theory implies that an employee will perceive that he is treated in a fair manner if he thinks that the ratio of his input to his work outcome is in symmetry to those around him. Thus, if everything else is consistent and equal, it would be completely acceptable for a senior colleague to receive higher compensation for his job thank a junior one, since the overall value of his experience exceeds that of the junior employee. If an employee takes notice of the fact that another employee is getting more rewards and recognition for their contributions, even when the two of them have done the same quality and amount of work, it would lead to the dissatisfaction of the worker (Goodman & Friedman, 1971). According to Spector (2008) Adams' equity theory model, hence, encompasses further than the individual self, and integrates impact and contrast of other people's situations in forming a view that is comparative as well as an awareness of equity, which usually exhibits as a sense of what is just. When people have a feeling that they are being impartially or favourably treated they are more probable to be motivated; when they feel unethically treated they are extremely susceptible to outlooks that are those of alienation and demoralization. The way that the employees will gauge this sense of fairness lies at the very core of the equity theory (Spector, 2008). As Traupmann (1978) asserts, equity, and therefore the actual motivational state that we might use to measure using the model, is not dependent on the extent to which a person believes remuneration exceeds work, neither necessarily on the conviction that incentives are greater than the effort at all. Instead, equity, also known as the aspect of fairness which generally supports motivation, is highly reliant on the contrast a person makes between their rewards vs. investment coefficient with that enjoyed (or in some cases, endured) by others in the similar situations (Traupmann, 1978). Moreover, according to Sankey (1999), Adams equity theory goes further than - and is fairly more out-reaching than simply evaluating work and remuneration. In addition to that, the equity theory also adds a vital additional dimension of contrast with the other counterparts, or the people who are in similar situations as ours. The workers form observations of what creates a rational ratio of contributions and yields by relating their own position with other 'referents' in the economy (Sankey, 1999). As a result of this dissatisfaction, the employee will encumber feelings that he is underappreciated and perhaps worthless. This is directly against the idea of equity theory where the idea is to have the outcomes that can be directly related with the quality and quantity of the employee’s inputs. If both employees were given the same rewards, it would help the workforce realize that the organization is appreciative, fair as well as observant (Adams, 1965). As mentioned previously, the author’s personal observation as a state-worker for over 15 years can attest that large numbers of complaints from fellow coworkers were related to the perceived imbalance between levels of recognition, fringe benefits, and pay in direct comparison to private industries. Therefore, in relation to Adam’s Equity theory, we see that it prove useful in identifying imbalances and designing strategies to motivate state workers in these economically depressed times. REFERENCES: Herzberg, F., Mausner, B. & Snyderman, B.B. 1959, The Motivation to Work. John Wiley. New York. Frederick Herzberg, Work and the Nature of Man (Cleveland: World Publishing, 1966); F. Herzberg et al., The Motivation to Work, 2nd ed. (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1959). Herzberg, "The Motivation-Hygiene Concept and Problems of Manpower", Personnel Administration (January-February 1964), pp. 3–7. Motivation and Personality, Third Edition, Harper and Row Publishers Goble, F. The Third Force: The Psychology of Abraham Maslow. Richmond, Ca: Maurice Bassett Publishing, 1970. Pg. 62. Janet A. Simons, Donald B. Irwin and Beverly A. Drinnien. West Publishing Company, New York, 1987. Retrieved 24 March, 2011 from http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/maslow.htm Kenrick, D. (2010). Rebuilding Maslow’s pyramid on an evolutionary foundation. Psychology Retrieved 24 March, 2011, from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sex-murder-and-the-meaning-life/201005/rebuilding-maslow-s-pyramid-evolutionary-foundation Gibson, J.L, Ivanchevich, J.M., Donelly, J.H., and Konopaske, R. (2003) Organizations: Behavior Structure Processes, 11th edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher education. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:19dYUvNXhFAJ:www.colorado.gov/dpa/dfp/sco/STAR/STAR09.pdf+a+steep+decline+in+Colorado+State%E2%80%99s+revenues&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=pk&source=www.google.com.pk Bin Saeed, O. (1985). Work Motivation and Employee Performance: A Review of Vie Theory. Retrieved 24th March, 2011 from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27768878 House, R. J. & Wigdor L.A. (2006) Herzberg's dual-factor theory of job satisfaction and motivation: a review of the evidence and a criticism. Retrieved 24th March, 2011 from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1967.tb02440.x/abstract Fudge R.S. & Schlacter, J. L. (1999). Motivating Employees to Act Ethically: An Expectancy Theory Approach. Retrieved 24th March, 2011 from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25074054 White, R. E. & Pierce, B. D. (2000) On Maslow, Monkeys, and Evolution, Retrieved 24th March, 2011 from http://www.jstor.org/stable/259197 Goodman & Friedman (1971). An Examination of Adams' Theory of Inequity Retrieved 24th March, 2011 from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2391900 Spector, P.E. (2008). Industrial and Organizational Behavior (5th ed.). Wiley: Hoboken, NJ. Traupmann, J. (1978). A longitudinal study of equity in intimate relationships. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin. Sankey, C.D., (1999). Assessing the employment exchanges of Business Educators in Arizona. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Arizona State University. Read More