Chapter 10: Human Relations and Motivation

Chapter 10: Human Relations and Motivation

Layout of Chapter:

1.                  Understanding Motivation – Why is it important?

2.                  What is Motivation?

3.                  Theories of Management and Needs

a.      Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy

b.      McGregor’s ‘Theory X’ and ‘Theory Y’

c.      Ouchi’s ‘Theory Z’

d.      Herzberg’s Two Factor Model of Motivation

4.                  Motivating Employees – Behavior Modification

1.                  Understanding Motivation – Why is it important?

The term motivation can be traced to the Latin word MOVERE (to move). In terms of the work to be performed in an organization, moving employees to accomplish desired goals is extremely important.

When a skilled employee does not perform up to his capabilities, is this a motivation problem? Yes, it probably is.

Successful business managers must create an atmosphere that motivates employees to use their skills and abilities.

A manager’s job is to identify employees’ drives & needs, and to channel their behavior, to motivate them, toward task performance.

Motivation attempts to influence or cause certain behaviors, in order to improve performance at work.

2.                  What is Motivation?

Motivation is the way in which drives or needs direct a person's behavior toward a goal. It determines the level of effort put forth to pursue the goal.

It is an unobservable phenomenon that takes place inside everyone. Managers can readily observe a person’s behavior, but they can only make assumptions about what causes the person to behave in that way.

Although a few human activities occur without motivation, nearly all conscious behavior is motivated, or caused. E.g. it requires no motivation to grow hair, but getting a haircut does. Eventually, anyone will fall asleep without motivation (although parents with young children may doubt this), but going to bed is a conscious act requiring motivation.

Generally, rewards and punishments are the tools managers use to motivate employees. Rewards can be extrinsic or intrinsic:

Extrinsic Reward: Reward external to the work itself and administered by someone else, such as a manager. Examples include pay, fringe benefits, recognition and praise.

Intrinsic Reward: A sense of gratification directly related to performing the job. For example, feeling good about accomplishing an objective.

Punishment: An undesirable consequence for a particular behavior. For example, taking something away from a person or a frequently tardy worker may be punished by having his pay deducted for the time missed.

3.                  Theories of Management and Needs

Given below are some theories which discuss – various types of needs and how they can used to motivate and manage employees.

Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy:

Psychologist Abraham Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy is a popular theory of human needs that helps us understand motivation. Maslow believed that people’s behavior was motivated by their desire to fulfill needs. These needs were arranged in a hierarchy from the most basic survival needs at the bottom to self-fulfilling needs at the top.

Needs Hierarchy: A motivational theory, offered by Maslow, that people have five needs arranged in a hierarchy from psychological to self-realization.

Maslow identified five basic needs that explain the internal motivation process: (1) Physiological need, (2) safety need, (3) social need, (4) esteem need, and (5) self-actualization need.

Physiological need: Biological need, such as for food, air, water.

Safety need: Security need, such as the need to be financially secure and protected against job loss.

Social need: The need to belong and to interact with other people; i.e. friendship, group membership.

Esteem need: The need for self-respect and for respect from others.

Self-actualization: The need to use and display one’s full range of skills and competence.

After needs on the lowest level have been satisfied, people are motivated to fulfill needs at the next highest level.

McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y:

Although managers should try to understand needs, they often don’t. Douglas McGregor, a professor of management, introduced a theory of managerial style, referred to as Theory X and Theory Y, to explain this phenomenon.

Theory X managers are assumed to view the average employee as:

• Disliking work and finding ways to avoid it as much as possible.
• Responding to threats of punishment or control because of the dislike of work.
• Avoiding responsibility because of lack of ambition.
• Wanting to be directed and have security.

Theory Y manager assumes that the average employee:

• Enjoys work and does not want to avoid it.
• Wants to achieve organizational goals through self-directed behavior.
• Responds to rewards associated with accomplishing goals.
• Will accept responsibility.
• Has initiative and can be creative in solving organizational problems.
• Is intellectually underutilized.

Theory X managers will probably focus on creating conditions to satisfy the physiological and safety needs of the employee. These managers will control and supervise the employees tightly. Of course some employees will respond favourably to this style, but others feel frustrated, anxious, and very much in conflict. Their goals for self-esteem and self-actualization cannot be achieved.

On the other hand, Theory Y managers emphasis on human growth and development instead of corrective authority. They are concerned with fulfilling their employee’s higher-level needs; their managerial style results in looser control and more delegation of authority.

Theory X and Theory Y represent two extremely different positions—an autocratic management style and democratic management style. A manager must review the people involved and the situation and then determine if a Theory X or a Theory Y management style will work.

Ouchi’s Theory Z:

William Ouchi’s Theory Z approach draws on characteristics of successful U.S. and Japanese management styles and organizational practices. Ouchi, a management researcher, emphasizes these characteristics of Theory Z practices:

• Lifetime employment
• Consensus decision making
• Individual responsibility
• Careful evaluation and promotion
• Opportunity to use skills

Theory Z places a special emphasis on participative management. Employees participate in goal setting, decision making, problem solving, and designing and implementing changes. Participation, or being involved, is thought to improve employee motivation.

For more knowledge on this, one can consult with Table 10.2 (page 244)

Herzberg’s Two-Factor Model of Motivation:

In the 1950s, Fredrick Herzberg, a social psychologist and consultant, proposed a work motivation model that is still very popular among business managers.

Herzberg surveyed accountants and engineers, asking them to describe when they felt good or bad about their jobs. He found that one set of job and personal factors produced good feelings and that another created bad feelings.

One set of factors Herzberg called hygiene factors (also called maintenance factors). These factors, if present and unavailable, are essential to job satisfaction, although they cannot motivate an employee.

Salary	Working conditions	Technical supervision
Job security	Status	Company policies
Personal life	Interpersonal relations

Hygiene factors, if absent or inadequate, cause job dissatisfaction. Herzberg believes that by providing these factors, managers can prevent job dissatisfaction but cannot motivate employees to perform any better.

The second set of factors was described by Herzberg as motivators of on- the-job behavior. They include:

Achievement	Advancement	Growth opportunities
Recognition	The job itself	Responsibility

These factors or motivators, according to Herzberg, really motivate the employees.

Hygiene factors can result in not being dissatisfied, but they are not motivational. Managers need to know this because the elimination of job dissatisfaction will not necessarily motivate employees. If motivation is what the manager wants to achieve, then he or she must emphasize recognition, achievement, and growth – the motivators.

To find the similarities between Maslow’s need hierarchy and Herzberg’s work motivation model please check figure 10.4 (page 347).

4.                  Motivating Employees – Behavior Modification:

Developed by psychologist B.F. Skinner.

Skinner believed that the way people behave is a function of heredity, past experience, and the present situation. Managers can only control the present situation. According to skinner, (1) if an act (behavior) is followed by a pleasant consequence (say, a pat on the back), it probably will be repeated; (2) if an act followed by an unpleasant consequence (a reprimand, a harsh glare), it probably will not be repeated. Therefore, the manager’s job is to design the present situation so that good performance will result.

Reinforcer: A consequence of behavior that improves the chances it will or will not reoccur.

Positive reinforcer: A consequence of behavior, such as praise or other rewards, that when administered increases the chances that the behavior will be repeated. You get the highest score, I reward you.

Negative reinforcer: A consequence of behavior, such as a reprimand, that when administered encourages employee to adapt more desirable behavior to avoid the unpleasant consequence. You get the lowest score, I criticize you.