MGT Test 3 Motivating Employees Motivating Employees - Part of the leadership function of management - Two motivational theories o Content § Focused on WHAT motivates employees § Content theories: • Maslow Hierarchy of Needs o Believed humans were motivated to satisfy 5 different categories of needs o One of first to suggest there are different ways to motivate people and to suggest the platinum rule with respect to motivating employees o Needs arranged in a pyramid (top to bottom) § Self-actualization> esteem>social>safety>physiological o Believed humans are motivated to fulfill the lowest unsatisfied need in the hierarchy (diff for everyone) o One a need is satisfied it is no longer motivational o If a need is frustrated, the individual will be stuck and experience demotivation o Finer points: § Given that most people hold specialized jobs esteem and self-actualization needs are typically unmet for most employees • Enriched jobs could satisfy esteem and selfactualization needs § Few people reach self-actualization at work, and if they do its temporary • Self-actualization is different and described as a “peak” experience, it is never fully satisfied o Research on Maslow’s hierarchy § Research has found that only found 2-3 needs that motivate behavior rather than the 5 § Everyone doesn’t climb the hierarchy in the same progression § Satisfies needs can still motivate an employee’s behavior § Not every employee is motivated by the same thing • Meaning managers must tailor rewards § What motivates an employee today may not motivate them in the future (managers need to be • • flexible over time in motivating different and the same employee ) Alderfer’s ERG Theory o A reformulation and extension of Maslow’s hierarchy to be more consistent with the research on motivation o Three Needs § Existence – similar to Maslow’s physiological and safety needs § Relatedness – similar to Maslow’s social and esteem needs § Growth – similar to Maslow’s self-actualization needs o Frustration – Regression Principle § If a higher level need is frustrated, the employee can regress to lower level needs, and attain additional gratification of the needs and still be motivated § Positive view of need frustration (unless it’s an existence need) § One of the main differences between ERG and hierarchy of needs o Application § Not every employee is motivated by the same needs § What motivated an employee today may not motivate them in the future § Employees can still be motivated when a need is frustrated • The frustration of a higher level need can be compensated for by additional satisfaction of a lower level need Herzberg’s 2 factor theory o Really a theory of job satisfaction more than motivation o Satisfaction and dissatisfaction generally views as opposites but Herzberg broke away from this view o Believed that the factors that caused an employee to be satisfied were different from the ones that cause one to be dissatisfied o Motivator factors (satisfaction) § Internal § Interesting/challenging work, autonomy, achievement, recognition, sense of fulfillment § Enrichment § Enrichment type stuff is the only thing that motivates people for this theory the other facts just keep people from being dismotivated o Hygiene factors (dissatisfaction) § External § o o o o Pay/ benefits, co workers, supervisors, working conditions, company policy Believes the only way to motivate employees is through job enrichment and hygiene factors merely prevent demotivation, they cannot motivate Problems: § Assumes everyone is motivated the same § Based on interviews with accountants and engineers ONLY § Interviews were conducted in a biased way § Some peoples hygiene factors are others motivators (ignores instrumental motivation) Examples: § Enriched job + good pay/benefits = job satisfaction, no dissatisfaction § Enriches job + poor pay/benefits = job satisfaction, and dissatisfaction § Specialized job + pays well = no job satisfaction or dissatisfaction § Specialized job +poor pay = no job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction Application: § 2 factor theory advocates for job redesign (job enrichment) as the main way to motivate employees • Works for expressively motivated employees § A lot of the current employee engagement research/practice has 2 factor theory as its theoretical underpinnings o Process § Focuses on HOW employees are motivated § Process theories of motivations • Locke’s goal setting theory o Based on the simple premise o There is a direct connection between what we intend to do and what we actually do o In this theory, we try to specify those goal setting conditions that will maximize effort and performance • SCARF model of goals o S - specific, in terms of what’s desired and by when o C - challenging, should be challenging but achievable o A – accepted, goals should be accepted by the person § Ways to increase goal acceptance: • rewards for goal attainment (WIFM) • o often times employees are rewarded by getting more goals to achieve, managers should apply to what’s in it for me • participation in goal setting by the employee o the manager and employee meet and jointly determine what employee goals will be o the belief is that since the employee is given a say in the goal, this will increase the employees ownership to goal o sometimes participation does not lead to greater employee acceptance § low trust of management, employee doesn’t want to participate, manager is a control freak • autocratic tell and sell method of goal setting o three steps: manager sets the goal for employee, manager tells the employee what the goal is, manager sells the employee on the goal o selling involves explaining the reasons for the goal, the goal importance and value of achieving the goal o the selling is the component that increase employee acceptance of the goal o research has demonstrated that the tell and sell method and participation in goal setting by the employee are equally effective in terms of increasing goal acceptance, depending on the situation (people would assume the democratic method would be better) o R – rewarded, goal attainment should be rewarded o F- feedback, one should get feedback, on performance Skinners reinforcement theory o Based on the simple law of Thorndike’s law of effect § States that behaviors that are followed by positive consequences tend to be repeated, negative or no consequences tend to behavior not being repeated o The consequence for the behavior determines the behaviors frequency o Managers must manage consequences for employee behavior o They act as transactional managers (good performance = + consequence, poor performance = - consequence o 3 components: § Stimulus: a signal from the environment for a behavior to occur § Behavior: the action taken by the individual § Consequence: the outcome that follows the behavior o 4 types of consequences § Positive reinforcement • when the behavior occurs, it is followed by a positive consequence • Given the law of effect, the behaviors frequency will increase § Negative reinforcement • When the behavior occurs ,a negative consequence is taken away (not given) • With negative reinforcement, the behaviors frequency will increase (not receiving a negative consequence is a positive) • Aka avoidance learning • Example: you do the desired behavior to avoid punishment § Extinction • When the behavior occurs its followed by no consequence • The behaviors frequency should decrease over time • The problem is that sometimes the behavior may actually increase before it decreases (extinction spike) bc it is looking for a positive consequence § Punishment • When the behavior occurs its followed by a negative consequence for the individual • Over time the behaviors frequency will decrease • Problems with punishment: o It only tells you what you’re doing wrong not how to do it correctly o It can cause the person being punished to feel sad, mad, frustrated (can lower productivity) o May lead to the frequency only being decreased around the punisher • Appropriate to use as a LAST resort, or when the behavior is unethical or illegal o Traps to avoid in managing consequences for behavior § Leave alone zap trap • When employees perform well, they are left alone and given no consequence, but when they make a mistake they are zapped and given a negative consequence • The trap is that the no consequence to behavior mimics the exstinction spike until it peaks and falls • Leads to the manager being associated with only negative outcomes and creates a climate based on fear and avoidance o Employees engage in CYA (cover your ass) behaviors and over time performance will suffer • How do managers overcome the zap trap o MBWA (manage by walking around) o Catch people doing things right o Provide positive reinforcement when they do things right o 4 to 1 ration for positive to negative consequences § Jelly bean motivation trap • The manager passes out positive consequences without regard for performance (everyone gets the same positive consequence) • Jelly bean motivators are afraid of conflict o In trying to avoid conflict they create more conflict and lower motivation/productivity in their units • How do managers overcome the jelly bean motivation trap o Managers cannot shy away from conflict o Rewards must be tied to performance “the more you do, the more you get” § Rewarding on assumed needs trap • Rewarding on assumed needs, the manager assumes what motivates them motivates their employees • • • • So when manager wants to positively reinforce the employee good performance she provides a reward that she likes o the problem is that not everyone is motivated by the same things when a manager rewards on assumed needs, the managers reward for the employees good performance could be considers as positive, a punishment, or extinction how to overcome the assumed needs trap o the manager should get to know their employees likes and dislikes so they can tailor the reward to fit the employee o when in doubt the manager should just ask employees what they find rewarding and give the option to choose among rewards if possible Adman equity theory o Equity theory is concerned with: § What people perceive as fair at work § How people react to being treated unfairly at work o Two components of equity theory § Exchange relationship component • People think about what they contribute to the org (inputs) and what they receive in return (outputs) • Equity ratio: (Outcomes)/ (inputs) § Social comparison component • The same people then compare their input outcome ratio to other relevant people to determine if they are being treated fairly o Equity vs equality § Equity: inputs should determine outcomes received § Equality: inputs have no bearing on outcomes o 4 basic tenants of equity theory § People strive to create and maintain a state of equity § When an individual perceives inequity, it creates tension that the individual is motivated to reduce or eliminate § The greater the magnitude of the perceived inequity, the greater the motivation to reduce or eliminate it § Individuals more readily perceive an unfavorable inequity than a favorable one o Two types of inequity § Unfavorable inequity • • Occurs when the unfairness hurts the individual (underpayment/under reward) • Reactions: equity theory hypothesized that individuals will become angry and reduce their inputs, increase their outcomes or do both to restore equity • Research shows that individuals will; reduce quantity/quality of their work, take longer work breaks, have greater absenteeism and turnover, be more likely to steal, ask for a raise § Favorable inequity • Occurs when the unfairness benefits the individual (over payment/ over reward) • Reactions: equity theory hypothesized that individuals will feel guilt and increase their inputs, decrease their outcomes or both to restore equity • Research shows that individuals: will not feel guilty, will rationalize overpayment, will not change their behavior in a positive way, will not volunteer to give the over reward back § In the jelly bean motivation trap high performers receive unfavorable inequity and low performers receive favorable inequity o Problem with equity theory § Fairness is subjective and based on the individual’s perception of the situation § This perceptual issue leads to situations where managers can treat employees fairly in reality but they end up believing they are being treated unfairly Equity sensitivity theory o Addresses the perceptual issue surrounding the definition of fairness o Proposed that even when people are being treated fairly not everyone will perceive it as fairness o It postulates that there are 3 different types of individuals each with a diff definition of fairness o Types of individuals: § Entitled: aka “the takers” • More focused on what they can take at work rather than what they can give at work • They overestimate their level of contribution and value of their contribution • § § When they’re treated fairly in reality, they perceive unfavorable inequity (then they feel angry and reduce their contributions) • How to manage: o Need to recalibrate their perception of their contributions § need a lot of performance feedback to create an accurate view of the entitled’s performance (management and HR must be on onboard before starting this process) o don’t reallocate their work to others (reinforces bad behavior) o don’t allow others to do their work o messages should be: move your performance up or we’ll move you out Benevolent: aka “The Givers” • They are more focused on what they can give at work rather than what they can take at work • They underestimate their level of contribution and the value of their contribution • When they’re treated fairly in reality, they will perceive favorable inequity (they’ll feel guilty and increase their contributions) • How to manage: o recognize that no is not a part of their vocabulary o their workload needs to be managed because they can become the path of least resistance for the manager or be taken advantage of by co workers Equity sensitives “Give and Take Equally” • They have a realistic view of their contribution and the value associated with it • When treated fairly in reality, they will perceive fairness • They have comparionsitis are most bothered when entitleds are coddled by management • How to manage: • o they want management to make sure that everyone is doing their jobs and to hold everyone accountable o they are a barometer of how well a unit is managed, they can shift depending on the quality of management received (poor management moves them toward entitlement, good management moves them toward benevolence) in summary: if a manager treats all employees fairly, the entitled perceives it an unfavorable inequity, the benevolent perceives it as favorable inequity and the equity sensitive perceives it as equity Leadership - Leadership is the art of influencing induvial and groups to willingly pursue organizational goals - Involves goal setting, communicating, and motivating (if the first two are done well the 3rd one should follow) - Leadership is one of the five functions of management o Being a great leader doesn’t mean you will be a great manager o But as a rule of thumb, normally when you are a good leader people will be more motivated and it helps you be a good manager - Leadership vs supervision o Leadership - Employees comply with request because they want to (voluntary compliance) o Supervision- employees complies because they have to (forced compliance) o Supervision is positional but leadership is personal, one is given and one is earned o French and raven’s 5 bases of power § Managers can use 5 different bases of power to gain compliance from employees § Supervisors and leaders use different power bases to gain compliance § Power bases in detail: • Reward power o When the manager used rewards to gain compliance o Wifm (whats in it for me) o Power of positive reinforcement o Supervisors usually rely on this power • Coercive power o Manager uses punishment or the threat of it to gain compliance o Power of punishment and negative reinforcement o Supervisors usually rely on this power • Legitimate power o When the manager relies upon the authority associated with the position to gain compliance o “do it because im the boss” o Employee does the boss tells them to o Backed by reward and coercive power o Supervisors usually rely on this power § Best example of supervision • Expert power o When the manager uses their knowledge, skill and expertise to gain compliance o Knowledge/expertise is power o Employees comply because the manager has made good decisions in the past , etc and they trust their guidance o Must be earned o Leaders primary rely on this power • Referent power o When the manager relies on the power of example to gain compliance o Employee sees commonalities and complies because they look up to the manager and desire their approval o High level of trust between manager and employee o Gained by showing loyalty, competence, reliability, open o Also earned o Leaders primary rely on this power § Best example of leadership § “lead by example” • 5 power bases relationships to productivity o Leadership is better than supervision and research backs it up o Coercive power has a negative impact on productivity o Legitimate and reward power have no significant impact on productivity o Referent and expert power have a positive impact on productivity o Leadership attitudes § McGregor’s Theory X and Y • Believed the assumptions managers make about other people affect their leadership behavior • Theory x is a negative view of what people are like at work o Low trust o Results in the manager supervising employees o Only way to get work out of them is threatening and negative things • Theory y is a positive view of how people are at work o Results in the manager leading employees • Assumptions that managers hold become reality o Assumptions affect managerial behavior and managerial behavior affects employee behavior o Leadership theories § Trait theory of leadership • The theory that has tried to identify the characteristics that separate leaders from followers • Started off as a “great man theory” (you are either born with it or not) • In the end it became a learned traits theory • Research on trait theory, o in general leaders are slightly taller, more intelligent, socially adept and more visible o recently “behavioral flexibility” has reliably been discovered to separate leaders from followers § Behavioral theory of leadership • focuses on what leaders DO • also known as the Ohio State Studies because most of the research was done at the university • two types of dimensions that affect satisfaction + performance: o initiating structure § task oriented leadership behavior § examples: scheduling employees work, determining their work methods and procedures, providing task oriented feedback o consideration § people oriented leadership behavior § example: listening to employee concerns, providing emotional support/encouragement, facilitating interactions o they are independent of one another, each behavior can take on 2 values (high or low) making 4 possible combinations • research: started off as a “one best way” theory, thought thst high initiating structure and high consideration would result in the highest subordinate satisfaction and performance o research concluded there is no one best way o each of the 4 combos could be the best depending on the situation • examples: o employee is able and willing to do task: Low both o employee is unable to do the task and is unwilling to learn: high initiating low consideration o employee is unable to do the task but willings to learn: high both o employee is able to do the task but lacks self condifence: low initiating high consideration - o theory x managers will exhibit: high initiating structure and low consideration o theory y managers will exhibit: low initiating structure and high consideration situational leadership theories o fiedlers contingency theory of leadership § believed that leaderships style was based on ones personality and was pretty much fixed • believed most leadership training programs are useless • its like trying to get someone to change their personality, it will not work § theres no best way to lead § situational theory § work performance depends on the match between a leaders style and the favorableness of the situation • Leadership style: § developed the least preferred coworker scale to measure ones leadership style § asks them to describe their least preferred co workers using a series of bipolar adjectives (positive and negative) § how the leader describes the LPC is indicative of their leadership style § you can either be task or relationship oriented • low score= LPC is mainly negative and task oriented • high score = LPC mainly positive, relationship oriented • Situational favorableness: o Determined by three factors: § Leader member relations • Most important determinant of situational favorableness • Extent to which followers trust the leader and are willing to follow them • Can take on 2 values: Good or poor § Task structure • Second determinant • Extent to which the followers tasks are performed according to step by step procedures • Can be high or low (high =specialized jobs, low= enriched jobs) § Position power • Least important determinant • The extent to which the leader can hire, fire, promote and demote and get support from upper management for these decision • Can be strong or weak § Each factor has 2 possible values making 8 possible situations • Situational favorableness is really a measure of how much control the leader has over the work situation • good match = high performance, bad match =low performance • research results: o fiedler put both task oriented and relationship oriented leaders into each of the 8 situations and looked at the group performance that resulted o Low LPC (task oriented) leaders were best in very favorable and very unfavorable situations o High LPC (relationship oriented) were best in moderately favorable conditions o Kennedy’s research found that Middle LPC (behaviorally flexible) were best in all 8 situations (huge blow to the main premise of the theory) • Major implications o Anyone can be a leader if they find the right situation to match their style o If the work group isn’t performing well then the situation is at fault (not the leader) o There are no effective/ ineffective leaders just situations • Leadership training program o Believed most training programs teach flexibility which is ineffective o This program teaches leaders how to identify and select situations that are best for their style and how to change the situation to fit their style • Problem is that the recommendations are often impractical or illogical o vroom and yettons normative theory of leadership § in this theory, the leader has to determine how much subordinates should participate in making decisions § more of a theory about decision making than leadership § leader can choose from 5 diff decision making methods • autocratic I: leader makes decision alone using available info • autocratic II: leader obtains necessary info from subordinates then makes decision alone • consultative I: leader shares problem individually, gets their ideas and suggestions then makes decision alone • - consultative II: leader shares problem with a group, getting their ideas and suggestions together then makes decision alone • Group: leader and subordinates jointly solve the problem together § Situational analysis • Used to determine which decision making method is best • Depends on decision quality and subordinate acceptance • Developed a decision tree (7 questions) concerning decision quality and subordinate acceptance (first 3 address decision quality, last 4 address subordinate acceptance) Recent developments in leadership theory o Reciprocal theory § Criticizes other leadership theories because other theories assume only the leader influences the follower § This theory believes in a two way influence • Leader to follower AND follower to leader § Managers can influence by leading or supervising • The in/ out group membership determines if the employee is lead or supervised • In group = led, out group = supervised • Over time the in group will outperform the outgroup • Leadership is associated with high performance outcomes and supervision is associated with average performance at best • The manager determines if the employee is in the in or out group depending on the perceived quality of the their relationship • Managers may decide in/out group membership based on likeability, biases, nepotism, competition, performance, etc • Most factors have no relevance to the effect management of the group leading to group displacement and unfairness • Research shows that when manages are instructed to leader both groups the same, the performance differences disappear ( being incorrectly placed hurts the employee AND the manager) § Recommendations from reciprocal theory is that managers treat everyone like in group members and people are moved based on performance o Implicit theory § States that leadership is in the eye of the beholder § Believes that people have stereotypes about how leaders should look and act (managers may need to tap into stereotypes to gain acceptance) § In this theory’s view, it may be more important to look like a leader than to actually be one (crafting the right leadership image is important) o Substitutes for leadership theory § There are factors in the situation that can neutralize a leaders influence over subordinates satisfaction and performance (leader becomes irrelevant) § Sometimes leaders receive credit and blame for their subordinates performance when they aren’t responsible for it § Some management experts consider this an anti-leadership theory § § Factors that substitute for leadership • Experienced/ knowledgeable employees (subs initiating structure) • Technology (subs initiating structure) • Cohesive work groups (subs initiating structure+ consideration) • Self motivated employees (subs consideration) Low initiating structure, low consideration suggest that the leader has been substituted the most Work Groups - Two or more people who interact regularly to achieve a common goal - Formal vs informal group o Formal § Deliberately created by the organization § Supports the orgs goals § Emphasizes authority and position § Focused on specialized roles and duties o Informal § Developed naturally § May not support the orgs goals § Emphasizes personal and social relationships - Personal needs satisficed by work groups o Safety: the group provides a sense of security o Social: the group provides friendship and belongingness o Esteem: the group recognizes one’s unique contributions to the group o Reality: the group provides a sounding board, so as to test ones perceptions of reality to see if they are accurate or not ( not a part of Maslow’s hierarchy) - Stages of group development o Steps: § Forming: coming together and understanding group roles/dynamics) § Storming: people jockey for positions, makes for lots of conflict § Norming: conflict has been resolved, people get along and norms created § Performing: become very task oriented, work best as a team (highest level of group development and task orient) § Adjourning: team is disbanded o Not all groups get through all the stages o Interpersonal and intragroup conflict is the greatest at the storming stage o Cohesiveness is the greatest at the norming stage o Teamwork is the best at the performing stage - Factors impacting group effectiveness o Group size § As group size increases: friendless decreases, member satisfaction decreases, less participating is put forth (social loafing), one or few members start to dominate, subgroups start to form making decisions and teamwork more difficult § The upper limit for teams is 12 o Cohesiveness § The desire of group members to remain part of the group § § § § § § When the group has high levels of cohesiveness the group sticks together The greater the cohesiveness of the group the more influence it has on its members Benefits of high cohesiveness: high more/ job satisfaction, greater sense of security, high member self-esteem, low absenteeism/ turnover, better teamwork Drawbacks of high cohesiveness: demands lots of conformality, limits creativity and originality Increase cohesiveness: small in size, winning, high status group, sttractive group goals, external threat, severe initiation, lots of time together Decrease cohesiveness; large in size, losing, poor public image, unattractive group goals, disagreeable tasks o Norms § An unwritten rule about how group members should behave in the group § Can either be prescriptive (what you should do) or proscriptive (what you shouldn’t do) o Norms and cohesiveness interactions § High cohesiveness groups are a double-edged sword. • High cohesiveness groups with high productivity norms are high performance teams. • High cohesiveness groups with low productivity norms are low performance teams. § Low cohesiveness groups have very little influence over their members performance. • Low cohesiveness groups with high productivity norms are average performance teams. • Low cohesiveness groups with low productivity norms are average performance teams
