How to Improve Employee Motivation in an Educational Non ...



How to Improve Employee Motivation in an Educational Non-Profit OrganizationMaria Teresa SolorzanoPepperdine UniversityEmployee motivation is a very important topic for leaders and managers to deal with. As a new manager in a non-profit organization, I find this topic to be extremely essential and feel it can become a central problem if it is not dealt with. I believe that motivation is one of the main reasons why employees complete their tasks. Unmotivated employees are likely to expend little effort in their jobs, avoid the workplace as much as possible, exit the organization if given the opportunity, and produce low quality work (Amabile, 1993). This can be detrimental to any company, specially a non-profit organization due to the financial loss caused by losing a valuable employee. On the other hand, employees who feel motivated toward their work are likely to be persistent, creative and productive, turnout high quality work that they willingly undertake (Amabile, 1993). Therefore, how can leaders and managers improve employee motivation?What truly motivates an employee should be easily understood by managers and leaders alike. Employees have many needs that need to be met by the employer. I will be analyzing books and scholarly journals on different theories of motivation and help determine how employers can implement them in order to ensure positive and motivated employees in the workplace. Moreover, I will attempt to interpret the key themes that emerged on my mini lit review table as a result of reviewing eight sources for the purpose of my action research. The key themes that surfaced are: the theories behind motivation in the workplace, the role of positive psychology to enhance, satisfy, and motivate employees, motivational conceptualizations of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the workplace, lastly, improving organizational performance by recognizing, appreciating and rewarding staff.In analyzing the key theme that emerged about the theories of motivation, the following theories resonated the most and were commonly referred in the literature reviews: Herzberg’s two factor theory, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, Theory X and Theory Y, Fredrickson positive emotions theory. Every one of these theories are tailored to meet the needs of employees at different stages of their lives making it easier for managers and leaders to inspire their employees and motivate them to successfully fulfill their roles. Among the various behavioral theories long believed and embraced by American businesses are those of Frederick Herzberg and Abraham Maslow. Herzberg, a psychologist who proposed a theory about job factors that motivate employees (Herzberg, 1959). Maslow, a behavioral scientist and contemporary of Herzberg’s, developed a theory about the rank and satisfaction of various human needs and how people pursue these needs (Maslow, 1954).Herzberg theory has been of the most influential in recent decades (Amabile, 1993, Rose 2011). His research among accountants and engineers in the 1950’s asked the subjects to recall examples of situations where they had positive and negative feelings about the job (Herzberg, Mausner and Snyderman, 1959). Based on the responses, his theory is that there are: “motivators” that can change behavior positively relation to job content – achievement, recognition (which could come from almost anyone: supervisor, client, peer, etc.) work itself, responsibility and advancement. “Hygiene factors” which act as dissatisfiers, relating to job context – company policy and administration, supervision, salary, interpersonal relations and working conditions. According to the theory, the absence of hygiene factors can create job dissatisfaction, but their presence does not motivate or create satisfaction. Herzberg was an advocate for job enrichment and encouraged people to build motivational factors into jobs (Herzberg, 1974). Achievement was the most frequent factor related to positive feelings about the job, followed by recognition. Lack of recognition for work done was a very significant factor for negative feelings about the job. The research found that whereas achievement on its own can be a source of good feelings about the job, recognition is rarely independent of achievement. A feeling that you have achieved and a feeling that you have been recognized are the two most frequent feelings that are associated with an increase in job satisfaction (Herzberg, Mausner, and Snyderman, 1959). In 1954, Maslow first published Motivation and Personality, which introduced his theory about how people satisfy various personal needs in the context of their work. His theory is one of the most referenced motivational theories in scholarly and management literature (Kroth, 2007) He postulated, based on this observations as humanistic psychologist, that there is a general pattern of needs recognition and satisfaction that people follow in generally the same sequence. He also theorized that a person could not recognize or pursue the next higher need in the hierarchy until her or his currently recognized need was substantially or completely satisfied, a concept call prepotency. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is often illustrated as a pyramid with the survival need at the broad-based bottom and the self-actualization need at the narrow top (Gawel, 1997). Maslow’s “esteem” need is of particular interest; it is essentially a combination of two elements: self-respect or self-esteem, which he sees as ‘the desire for strength, achievement, adequancy, mastery, competence, and for confidence in the face of the world and for independence and freedom’, the esteem (or recognition) of others: ‘what we may call the desire for reputation or prestige, status, fame and glory, dominance, recognition, attention, importance, dignity and appreciation.’ (table will be inserted).MIT professor Douglas McGregor was probably the first psychologist to recognize that personnel policies have strategic organizational importance. McGregor claimed that Management may assume that humans naturally want to grow and achieve, take responsibility, and care about their jobs. Or, management may assume that most humans are passive, dependent and lazy. Managers believing the first assumption are labeled Theory Y, will behave differently than those believing the second, Theory X. Those accepting Theory X will create externally controlled environments, with close supervision. Theory Y adherents are more likely to be coaches, create teams, and build upon internal needs of employees, and their self-control (Kroth 2007).Barbara Fredrickson, Professor of Psychology and principal investigator of the Positive Emotions theory, believed that positive emotions and related psychologic processes have in helping people to not only cope with economic stress, and upheaval, but also open their hearts and minds to become receptive, productive, and creative (Fredrickson, 2009). The positive emotions like hope, joy, gratitude, interest, inspiration, and love, can be transformational and fuel upward spirals toward optimal individual and organizational functioning (Fredrickson, 2009). Hope in the context of the workplace, has been found to support and sustain the capacity of workers to be resilient, to overcome adversity, and to bounce back in ways that strengthens their effectiveness (Youssef and Luthans 2007). For gratitude, as noted by Fredrickson, “opens your heart and carries the urge to give back; to do something good in return, either for the person who helped you or for someone else. Unexpected acts of kindness can happen in the workplace, by a coworker who helps, or becomes an official mentor (Fredrickson, 2009). For interest, inspiration and pride, Frederick notes that we are inspired by new possibilities and new pathways and want to find out where they lead. In the workplace, when we are assigned to a new job, or forced by circumstance to look for a new one, we are faced with new challenges. Which in turn, causes a state of self-motivation.In analyzing the key theme on the role of positive psychology in the workplace, Wiegand and Gellar (2004) address the potential contribution of positive psychology to enhance, satisfy and motivate employees in the workplace (Froman, 2009, Martin, 2005). Wiegand and Gellar point to a number of strategies to enhance individual success orientation and conclude their discussion with the actively caring model which appears to be a useful means of representing pivotal facets of positive and supportive workplace climate which are: the belief that one can make a difference, the belief in one’s value and one’s sense of belonging. Andrew J. Martin (2005) extends some of the concepts presented by Wiegand and Gellar and adapts a model of motivation to develop the Occupational Motivation and Engagement Wheel. The Student Motivation and Engagement Wheel (Martin, 2001) is a multidimensional model of motivation that draws together theory and provides scope for targeted intervention and support to students. The model comprises eleven facets of motivation that taken together, are intended to capture the breadth of dimensions underpinning student’s engagement. These dimensions include self-efficacy, mastery orientation, valuing of school, planning, study management, and persistence. In terms of impeding and maladaptive dimensions of the wheel, key facets are anxiety, failure avoidance, uncertain control, self-handicapping, and disengagement. These dimensions are grouped into a higher order factor structure. It is suggested that the Student Motivation and Engagement Wheel can be readily adapted to apply to the workplace (Martin, 2003a). (Table will be inserted)In analyzing the key theme of motivational synergy toward new conceptualizations of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, the model outlines the ways in which intrinsic motivation (which arises from the intrinsic value of the work of the individual) might interact with extrinsic motivation (which arises from the desire to obtain outcomes that are apart from the work itself). In a modification of the prevailing psychological view that extrinsic motivation undermines intrinsic motivation, this conceptualization proposes that certain types of extrinsic motivation can combine synergistically with intrinsic motivation, particularly when initial levels of intrinsic motivation are high. Such synergistic motivational combinations should lead to high levels of employee satisfaction and performance. (Deci 1975; Deci & Ryan 1985). One of the most central questions facing motivation theorists is the nature of the relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and a consideration of the ways in which they might interact. Deci and Ryan suggest that one can build on the other. Other theorists propose that they are incompatible (Amabile, 1993). A research study conducted by (Amabile, Hill, Hennessey and Tighe 1993) called the Work Preference Inventory (WPI), a short paper and pencil personality instrument, with items assessing all proposed aspects of intrinsic motivation (self-determination, competence challenge, task involvement, curiosity, enjoyment and interest) and extrinsic motivation (concerns with competition, evaluation, recognition, money or other tangible incentives and constraint imposed by others). After administering the questionnaire to hundreds of working adults in a variety of professions, industries, levels, it was found that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation do seem to be meaningful trait like constructs. The intrinsic items clustered onto two scales, labelled Challenge and Enjoyment. The extrinsic items also clustered onto two scales, labeled Recognition and Compensation (Amabile, 1993).In analyzing the key theme of recognizing and rewarding staff to improve organizational performance, the theory was quite simple. Organizations should stick to two simple ideas: Recognize the great things people do and use more non-cash awards to help recognize and incentivize people (Rose, M. 2011). Recognition is defined as a process of acknowledging or giving special attention to a high level of accomplishment or performance, such as customer care or support to colleagues, which is not dependent on achievement against a given target or objective. It can be day to day, informal or formal. Recognition is intrinsic reward and is about behaviors and values (Rose, M. 2011). The recognition of the great things people do is a fundamental driver that has been understood for a very long time; from at least the early 16th century. Niccolo Machiavelli (1469 – 1527) understood the need for recognition. He wrote in The Prince, A prince should also show his esteem for talent, actively encouraging able men and honoring those who excel in their profession. Furthermore, Andrew Carnegie was one of the riches people ever. He earned over $300 billion from the steel industry. One reason for his phenomenal success was attributed to Carnegie’s view of the need to emphasize the positive and praise his colleagues both publicly and privately.In the USA recognition programs are much more common than in most other countries. A 2008 World at Work survey found that 89 percent of organizations had recognition schemes. The 2009 survey produced by Best 600 companies to work for – who also produce the annual Sunday Times 100 best companies to work for, ranks companies by one, two and three stars. Of the three star companies, 51 percent mentioned some form of recognition in the short notes about them in the Best Companies analysis. Therefore, use of recognition in may or may not be a contributing cause for their success, but they certainly use recognition more than other companies (Rose, M. 2011).An incentive is defined as a material tangible reward that is earned through achieving specific defined aims or objectives that are known in advance. Incentives are extrinsic rewards and are about measures and outputs (Rose, M. 2011). There are two types of incentives. Cash which can be paid through payroll or check. Tax may be paid by the individual or organization but once the individual has it, they can do whatever they like with it. Non-cash is any tangible award or gift that is not cash. It might be small and low in value like flowers, box of chocolates, or substantial and valuable like a holiday on an exotic vacation, or electronic equipment. Adrian Furnham, professor of psychology a University College London, believes non-cash can work well because although people have more choice with money, it doesn’t always mean they get more enjoyment out of how it is spent (Employee Benefits, September 2008). Another source that I analyzed is “The five languages of Appreciation in the workplace” (Chapman, White, 2012). This technique applies the love language concept principles in the workplace to better understand how employees like to be recognized. The principles of different languages of appreciation imply that there are different ways to communicate appreciation and encouragement to others. An individual will value a certain language more than another. The most effective communication of appreciation and encouragement occurs when the message is sent in the language of appreciation most valued by the receiver. Message of appreciation and encouragement languages not valued by the recipient tend to miss the mark (Chapman, White, 2012).The five languages of appreciation are words of affirmation, quality time, acts of service, tangible gifts, and physical touch (Chapman, White, 2012). Words of affirmation uses words to communicate a positive message to another person in the form of a praise, affirmation of character, and praise for personality. This can be done via one-on-one, in front of others, written (email, hand written) or public. Quality time is giving the person your focused attention. Quality conversation (eye contact, no distractions, listen to feelings and thoughts), shared experiences, small group dialogue and close proximity on a project. This can be done by going out to lunch together, stop by the office for a check in, go on a walk, off-site retreat, watch a sporting event together and a phone call to check in. Acts of service provide assistance, “what can I do to help?” Tangible gifts are physical items. Gifts should be something the person values, most common food, can be time off, etc. Physical touch is human to human contact not primary in the workplace. Examples are handshakes, touching shoulders, brief hugs, high fives and fist bumps. Ways for leaders or managers to discover the employee’s language is by doing a team building activity where these principles are presented and hand out a fun survey where they can select what language of appreciation they prefer. Another way is by observing their behavior, what they do for others. Observe what they request of others. Lastly listen to their complaints. The things about which an individual complains may well reveal their primary appreciation language (Chapman, White, 2012).The purpose of this literature review was to identify ways in which leaders and managers can improve employee motivation. There was an abundance of information articulated in scholarly articles about motivation in the workplace. From the eight sources that I analyzed, the themes that emerged the most were the theories behind motivation in the workplace, the role of positive psychology to enhance, satisfy, and motivate employees, motivational conceptualizations of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the workplace, lastly, improving organizational performance by recognizing, appreciating and rewarding staff. Overall, organizations bring out the best in their employees by focusing on employee needs, recognizing them, appreciating them and most of all supporting them. ReferencesGary Chapman & Paul White (2012) The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace.Amabile, T. M. (January 01, 1993). Motivational synergy: Toward new conceptualizations of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the workplace.?Human Resource Management Review,?3,?3, 185-201.Rose, M. (2011).?A Guide to Non-Cash Reward: Learn the Value of Recognition; Reward Staff at Virtually No Expense; Improve Organizational Performance. London: Kogan Page.Froman, L. (June 01, 2010). Positive Psychology in the Workplace.?Journal of Adult Development,?17,?2, 59-69.Martin, A. (January 01, 2005). The Role of Positive Psychology in Enhancing Satisfaction, Motivation, and Productivity in the Workplace.?Journal of Organizational Behavior Management,?24,?111-131.Kroth, M. (September 06, 2007). Maslow--Move Aside! A Heuristical Motivation Model for Leaders in Career and Technical Education.?Journal of Industrial Teacher Education,?44,?2, 5-36.Joseph E. Gawel. (January 01, 1997). Herzberg's Theory of Motivation and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.?Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation,?5,?11, 1-3.Rose, M. (2011).?A Guide to Non-Cash Reward: Learn the Value of Recognition; Reward Staff at Virtually No Expense ; Improve Organizational Performance. London: Kogan Page. ................
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