Motivation as a Key Component of Leadership - Case Study Example

1. Motivation has been defined as the conscious or unconscious stimulus, motives or incentives for action towards a goal and the psychological and social factors give the direction or purpose to behavior (Borokowski, 2005). It is the forces within an individual that account for the level, direction and persistence of effort expended at work (Schermerhorn, n.d.). The direction refers to the individual’s choice from a number of possible alternatives (Siengthai, n.d.). The level refers to the amount of effort that one is required to exert and persistence is the length of time that one would need to put in to achieve the goals. Hence motivation is a psychological process through which unsatisfied needs or wants drive an individual to attain those goals. People are moved to act by different types of factors. They can be motivated because they value an activity or because there is a strong external coercion. It could also be from a fear of being surveilled or from a sense of personal commitment (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs suggests that the basic physiological needs have to be met first before a person can look ahead. Only when the basic needs are satisfied he clamors for safety needs, need for love, self-esteem or self-actualization. As one need is somewhat fulfilled, the other needs become important and this motivates or influences his behavior (Gallagher & Einhorn, 1976). This corroborates with Herzberg who proposed that an employee’s motivation is understood when his attitude is understood (Tietjen & Myers, 1998). Herzberg determined that happy feelings or a positive attitude was always task-related while the bad attitude or unpleasant feelings depend upon the surroundings. These are the motivators and include recognition, achievement, career advancement and the work itself. These motivators cause positive job attitudes because they satisfy the need for self-actualization, which is the last in the hierarchy of needs of Maslow. Motivation is a key component of leadership and without the ability to motivate the subordinates the manager would find it difficult to be successful. Motivation means effort or in the words of Ryan and Deci (2000), “motivation produces”. Getting people to work requires a great deal of tact and motivation is one such tact. People who are motivated are willing to exert high levels of effort towards goals. Managers need to understand and learn to influence this kind of effort by recognizing two important principles related to motivation (Schaffer, 2008). One is that individuals differ in their basic motivational drive and the second is that motivation is related to individual performance. Performance of the subordinate is not just based on the motivation provided by the manager. It also depends upon the ability of the individual employee. Since employee motivation has a direct impact on firm performance, it is very important for managers to understand what motivates employees. It helps managers to assist the employees to reach their fullest potential. 2. To have a highly motivated workforce the managers need to understand the factors that can motivate the employees. To deal with people is to deal with people’s mind according to Kanji (1995) and it is important to motivate their mind. The Expectancy Theory also provides insight to managers how to have a motivated workforce. This theory suggests that individuals will be motivated when personal expectations are met. According to Vroom’s Expectancy model, people choose the approach based on the desired outcome (Allen, 1998). This implies that they anticipate which behaviour will result in what outcome. They expect that their effort will bring certain results. This theory is based on three variables – expectancy, performance and effort (Siengthai, n.d.). It helps to understand the link between effort and performance, between effort and rewards and between performance and rewards. This theory demonstrates that the ultimate motive of every human act is the maximization of human pleasure and minimization of pain. If the expectancy or value is low, the motivation will be low. Hence it is essential that managers select people for jobs that match their skills and ability (Schermerhorn, n.d.). Training should also be provided in accordance with the needs and their efforts should be supported. Communication becomes very essential here because the workers should be apprised of the rewards that would come with performance. Managers have to recognize the employees’ beliefs and perception. To develop a key relationship with the employees they should have a deeper understanding of the motivation principles and how it works. A controlled approach can reduce the initiative and these are the esteem needs as specified by Maslow. Self-direction can be a great motivator. Feelings of self-worth, accomplishment and pleasure from using and developing one’s skills can provide with “intrinsic rewards” (Gallagher & Einhorn, 1976) which is superior to any material reward. The motivation has to come from within and cannot be enforced. Managers can provide motivation by just listening to the employees and valuing them as individuals with unique strengths and needs. Incorporating their suggestions into the company policy can work as great motivators. Sainsbury in the UK designed a web-based program that encouraged employees to contribute their own ideas on regeneration and offered reward for employees whose behaviour matched the regeneration drive (HRMID, 2008). As Ryan and Deci have clarified that different factors motivate different people, rewards too have a role to play in motivation. Gallagher and Einhorn contend that extrinsic rewards of money and threats of punishment decrease intrinsic motivation while verbal praise and similar positive external reinforcement increase intrinsic reward. Money and control should not become the reason for behaviour as attention is diverted to the rewards. Verbal praise augments an internal motivation as it reinforces the competence and self-determination reactions that arise after the work is completed. Managers normally praise in private but rebuke or point out failures and mistakes publicly. It should be the other way round because when a subordinate is praised in public it boosts his self-esteem and personal worth as state Gallagher and Einhorn. Maslow too agrees that internal reward system results in less anxiety thereby being more conducive to mental health than external reward system. 3. The goal setting theory has established that reasonably challenging goals can lead to a highly motivated can lead to higher levels of motivation (Schaffer, 2008). This requires the manager to work together with the concerned employee to establish goals that are specific clearly identifying the objective that need to be realized. Goals that are challenging can increase employees’ self-efficacy but if the goals are either too easy or too hard to achieve, it can be de-motivating. Managers need to find out the threshold at which difficulty level represents a challenge for their employees. If difficult but achievable goals are set by the manager, many become motivated to achieve it because the risks involved are high and so are the outcomes (McClelland, 2006). There are some who are contented with low gains and prefer to take no risks while the gamblers are those who take a reasonable amount of risk for moderate benefits. These are the achievement-motivated people who feel their efforts and abilities will influence the outcome. They are more concerned with the personal achievement than with the reward of success. To help the subordinates achieve their full potential, it is imperative that their self-worth is enhanced. This requires that the job should be such designed that the job provides sufficient variety and challenge, say Gallagher and Einhorn. When the job is challenging and the employee feels he has performed well, he can reward himself. According to McGregor (1960) jobs should be delegated and people should be given a degree of freedom to assume responsibility in helping to achieve organizational goals (cited by Amaratunga & Baldry, 2002). People at all levels should be encouraged to participate in developing solutions to the problems. This would increase the commitment level amongst the workers. The workers should also be engaged in setting their own goals that should be in alignment with the organizational objectives. At the same time it has to be ensured that goals are specific and not abstract. Specific goals define what constitutes an acceptable level of performance while abstract goals give employees the benefit of doubt in evaluating their performance (Seijts, 2001). There will be a tendency to assume that there performance is better than it actually is. Their effort is reduced when they are asked to deliver their best. Allen and Meyer identify that an employee’s commitment to the organization can either be affective, normative or continuance commitment (cited by Malhotra & Mukherjee, 2004). An employee can either have an emotional attachment with the company or feel obliged to carry on working or is concerned with the costs involved if he leaves the company (Malhotra & Mukherjee, 2004). Each of these commitments will have a different outcome and affect the job performance and behaviour of the employee. Committed employees deliver better than non-committed employees. Research evidences that only affective commitment induces employees to support organizational goals and attains job satisfaction. Goals need to be realistic to attain the optimum performance level because commitment becomes harder to obtain with increased goal levels (Seijts, 2001). 4. Job satisfaction has been defined as an attitudinal state which reflects all the affective feelings that a person has about the job, cite Biggs and Swailes (2006). This includes growth, pay, co-workers and supervisors that contribute towards satisfaction in varying degrees. Job satisfaction has been related to role clarity. It relates to the kind of work they do and the nature of their job. Employees who are clear about what is expected of them are more satisfied with their jobs than those who are not clear as to how and what they should perform (Mukherjee & Malhotra, 2006). Enhanced sustained job quality and thereby satisfaction does not result from the work environment but it relies on the organizational commitment of the employee, role clarity or the basic duty assigned, and all those intrinsic feelings that produce positive attitude about the duty. Work brings fulfilment and the attainment of the higher order of needs as specified by Maslow (cited by Tietjen & Myers, 1998). These factors can have a lasting impression on worker’s attitude, satisfaction and thus work. The employees are expected to deliver more than what is expected of them. Some suggest paying more for excellent results but it has been found that bonuses can lead to inappropriate behaviour than improved working practices (HRMID, 2008). The performance can decline and so can the creativity be reduced. If the pay is linked just to complete a particular order they would not spend time in coming out with innovative ideas and just somehow complete the assignment. The equity model suggests that people with similar inputs experience similar outcomes (Allen, 1998). There is a tendency to compare rewards that they have received against the rewards received by others. If employees feel that their efforts have fetched the same rewards even to those who did not put in the same effort, they are likely to withdraw some of their contribution. At the same time, it may induce a worker to increase the amount of work or input if she feels she is being overpaid. Thus, there is likelihood of the employees distorting their own perception and those of others. The equity theory also suggests that motivation is influenced by relative rewards as well as absolute rewards (Siengthai, n.d.). When people believe that they have been treated unfairly, they try to eliminate the discomfort and restore a perceived sense of equity to the situation (Schermerhorn, n.d). People would respond to negative equity by changing the work input or the rewards received. The underpaid people experience anger while the overpaid experience guilt. The negative comparisons should be minimized since pay is a very important factor. Hence managers should use pay to ensure that input is balanced with some fair output otherwise the motivation process will be difficult. They should be able to manage the perception of fairness in the minds of the employees. The employees should not feel that they are being underpaid or not treated fairly as this could affect the motivation. References: Allen, G. (1998). Supervision. Available from http://telecollege.dcccd.edu/mgmt1374/book_contents/4directing/motivatg/motivate.htm; acessed 03 May 2008 Amaratunga, D. & Baldry, D. (2002). Performanace management in facilities management and its relationship with management theory and motivation, Facilities, Vol. 20 No. 10, pp. 327-336 Biggs, D. & Swailes, S. (2006). Relations, commitment and satisfaction in agency workers and permanent workers, Employee Relations, Vol. 28 No. 2, 2006pp. 130-143 Borkowski, N., (2005), Content Theories of Motivation, Ch 5, Available from http://healthadmin.jbpub.com/Borkowski/chapter5.pd; accessed 03 May 2008 Gallagher, W. E. & Einhorn, H. J. (1976). Motivation Theory and Job Design, The Journal of Business, Vol. 49, No. 3. (Jul., 1976), pp. 358-373. HRMID, (2008). Feeling valued is the best motivation. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL DIGEST. VOL. 16 NO. 3 2008, pp. 28-31 Kanji, G. K. (1995). Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 6:4, 427 - 434 Malhotra, N. & Mukherjee, A. (2004). The relative influence of organisational commitment and job satisfaction on service quality of customer contact employees in banking call centres, Journal of Services Marketing Volume 18 McClelland, D. (2006). Human Relations Contributors, Achievement Motivation, ACCEL Team, Available from http://www.accel-team.com/human_relations/hrels_06_mcclelland.html; accessed 03 May 2008 Ryan, R. M. & Deci. E. L. (2000). Self-Determination Theory and the Facilitation of Intrinsic Motivation, Social Development, and Well-Being, American Psychological Association, Vol. 55, No. 1, 68-78 Schaffer, B. (2008).Leadership and Motivation. SuperVision; Feb 2008; 69, 2; ABI/INFORM Global pg. 6 Schermerhorn, J. R, (n.d.). Management, 9/e, Chapter 14: Motivation – Theory and Practice, Available from http://higheredbcs.wiley.com/legacy/college/schermerhorn/0470078359/ppt/ch14.ppt; accessed 03 May 2008 Seijts, G. H. (2001). Setting goals: When performance doesnt matter. Ivey Business Journal; Jan/Feb 2001; 65, 3; ABI/INFORM Global pg. 40 Siengthai, S. (n.d.). Motivation: Implications for Performance and Satisfaction, Available from http://www.mabe.econ.chula.ac.th/Sununta/Motivation.ppt; accessed 03 May 2008 Tietjen, M. A. & Myers, R. M. (1998). Motivation and job satisfaction, Management Decision 36/4 [1998] 226–231 Read More