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Arguments by Topic for
“Motivating Business and the Business of Motivation”
Era of Irrationality
Management philosophies have changed from honoring “best practices” (107)
which follow rational decision-making, to honoring “motivation, mood boosting, and
positive thinking” (113) after downsizing became a normal corporate strategy and
employees who were not laid off (including managers) needed motivation to keep being
productive. Ehrenreich compares the old and new views held by managers: “Rejecting
the old, slow, thoughtful methods of profession management, American managers
become enamored of intuition, snap judgments and hunches” (109-10). Due to these
changes, CEOs self-images want to be portrayed “as charismatic leaders who could be
counted on to have the right intuitions [...] in a fast-changing world” (110). In this
capacity as motivational mood-boosters, CEOs and managers try to keep employees
motivated during and after downsizing.
Lonely Salespeople
Salespeople face loneliness yet have to generate enthusiasm for their jobs to
potential clients/consumers: “however lonely and wounded, the salesman has to be
prepared to pick himself up and generate fresh enthusiasm for the next customer” (101).
Salespeople need a way to overcome self-doubt and generate optimism so they can
make sales, keep their jobs, and, hopefully, become successful (101). Companies put
efforts into motivating salesmen to be enthusiastic and productive, such as motivational
seminars, books, and CDs.
Motivational Speakers
Positive thinking has transformed into “a means of social control in the
workplace, a goad to perform at ever-higher levels” (101). In the hands of employers,
motivations can renew faith in what salesmen sell and in their organization, but at times
the motivations are used to punish employees: “One unusually forthcoming motivational
speaker expressed some discomfort with her role, telling me that employers use people
like her in part ‘to beat up employees’ if they don’t achieve the goals that have been set
for them [by saying to employees] ‘Didn’t you listen to the speaker we brought in?’”
(117). Motivational speaking further profits speakers whose books are sold at their
speaking engagements and to companies who purchase the books in bulk to distribute
to employees.
Workplace Incentives
“Another straightforward way to motivate a sales force is to offer rewards for high
performers. Top sellers of Mary Kay cosmetics get pink Cadillacs” (103), and
employees of the month get benefits, like special parking spots. Companies do this
because employees may continuously aim to earn incentives and work harder to
achieve them. “U.S. employers spend $100 billion a year on incentives like T-shirts, golf
outings and free trips to Florida in the belief that they somehow motivate and inspire
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their employees” (103). The employers are not even sure if the incentives actually work
and they spend an outrageous amount of money on something that may or may not be
seen as helpful to employees.
Managing Despair
During the downsizing of large corporations and government institutions between
1981 and 2003, roughly thirty million full-time American workers lost their jobs. Many
workers quickly found new jobs that paid 17% less than their former salaries. Due to the
downsizing, “formerly middle class people often tumbled quickly into low wage jobs and
even destitution” (114). The only thing the motivation industry “could do was to offer
how one thought about it, insisting that corporate restructuring was an exhilaratingly
progressive ‘change’ to be embraced, that job loss presented an opportunity for selftransformation, that a new batch of ‘winners’ would emerge from the turmoil” (115).
Corporations tried to manage despair through promoting positive thinking.
Mind Control
Ehrenreich states that companies these days “left their salespeople’s bodies
untouched and sought only to control their minds” (104). For example, a company called
Amway requires their salespeople to pay with their own money for seminars and buy
books which convey positive thinking and ways to succeed. Mind control is used to
encourage workers to work productively towards incentives, even when employees are
not guaranteed job security. Ehrenreich cites a journalism professor who observed,
“Corporate downsizers fire every third person and then put up inspirational posters in
the halls to cover the psychic wounds” (116).
Layoffs
Companies would use euphemisms to lessen the severity of layoffs and try to
make them sound less awful, like calling layoffs “career-change opportunities” (118).
“Managing the actual layoffs had become a specialized art in itself” (118): people were
hired from outside to fire employees “suddenly and all at once” (118), and involving
security to escort laid off employees out. Some companies even used out-placement
firms “which often charge over $10,000 per layoff victim” (119) to help laid off
employees with their skills, such as resume writing, and motivational services to help
them see layoffs as ways to move forward
CEOs and average employees have the possibility of getting laid off, but if CEOs
do get laid off, they get a nice severance package including stock options. The average
employees don’t get as much as they deserve, if anything. When layoffs occur, stock
shares rise in price and the stockholders, including CEOs, will benefit even more.