Principles of Management 11: Motivation

Nina manages an IT department. She notices that all of her highly skilled workers seem to be getting bored. She decides one day it is time to motivate her team, so she sets a goal without consulting them. The goal is to improve the company's network speed. She decides to reward the team with a bowling night when they achieve the goal. According to goal-setting theory, what problems may Nina run into with this approach?

Without a stated timeline or deadline, the team won't feel urgency, and momentum will stall.

Human needs are hierarchically ranked. Some needs are basic to all human beings, and in their absence, nothing else matters. As our basic needs are satisfied, we look to satisfy higher-order needs. Once a lower-level need is satisfied, it is no longer a motivator. This is the description of:

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

________ is the motivation theory that behavior is a function of its immediate consequences.

Reinforcement theory

As a manager applying reinforcement theory, what methods would you use to increase the frequency of a desired behavior?

Reward the desired behavior and thereby reinforce it.

As a manager, how can you influence your employee's expectancy perceptions positively?

Talk with employees and discover what they value, and use those as rewards for good performance.

The main point(s) to learn from ERG include:

We can better understand an individual's behavior and create motivation by focusing on one need at a time. (wrong)

As a manager applying reinforcement theory, what methods would you use to reduce the frequency of an undesired behavior?

You might completely ignore the unwanted conduct and reduce the behavior because it receives no reinforcement.

What would be considered "hygiene" factors as described by Herzberg?

Your office building is right next to the dump, so some days it is hard to concentrate over the smell.

Within an organization, Maslow's hierarchy of needs provides:

a systematic way of thinking about the different needs employees may have at any given point.

If you feel a strong need for success, you have a need for ________, according to McClelland's acquired-needs theory.

achievement

MinTsung prefers to work independently as a risk analyst. In fact, he gets upset and competitive if someone else crosses into his responsibilities. But left on his own, he produces exceptional, well-organized work. His manager should

add staff reporting to MinTsung so that he can train someone to support his work.

As a manager you may need to discipline poor-performing employees and clearly communicate both good news and critical feedback. If you are preoccupied by how others perceive you, you have a need for ________, according to McClellend's acquired-needs theory, and you might find managing others difficult.

affiliation

You have an employee who enjoys motivating and influencing others. This same employee saw ways to make the department more efficient and created processes to make that happen. This employee is most likely motivated by ________, according to McClelland's acquired needs theory.

affiliation (wrong)

Gallup estimates that employees who are unmotivated cost US businesses ________. Clearly, this suggests a problem. The good news is that a considerable amount of research now provides us with solid insights into how to improve motivation.

around $500 billion per year

Maslow's hierarchy of needs suggests that an organization begins motivating employees by providing a safe workplace, job security, and a living wage. That is by addressing

basic needs.

Pew Research reported in 2016 that 8 percent of American adults report that they have earned money from some type of digital work platform in the last year, often by doing online tasks. Because this work is generally unstable and the income unreliable, these workers may not satisfy Herzberg's hygiene needs. Companies cannot begin to truly engage and motivate these workers until they satisfy the workers'

basic needs.

Intrinsic motivation exists within a person. Sources of this type of motivation might include

beliefs, sense of accomplishment, or personal pride.

All the following are areas in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, EXCEPT:

collaboration, coordination

Extrinsic rewards come from outside the individual. These stimuli take the form of

commissions, bonuses, raises, promotions, or additional time off from work.

Job rotation has a number of advantages when managers implement it in organizations. It is an effective way for:

employees to gain new skills because of cross-training in new tasks.

All of the needs- and process-based theories of motivation can be addressed within most organizations. To satisfy basic needs, best practices recommend paying people

enough that employees are not distracted by pending mortgage payments or taking a second job to make ends meet.

Individuals are motivated by a sense of fairness in their interactions. According to ________, our sense of fairness is a result of the social comparisons we make.

equity theory

The ERG theory proposes that basic human needs are grouped into what categories?

existence, relatedness, and growth

The expectancy theory says that employees make a rational calculation with three components before committing to a task. The three components are called

expectancy, instrumentality, and valence.

Raj is smart. He doesn't do anything unless he can see the payoff for himself, and he works all the angles. Raj is

extrinsically motivated.

In addition to giving employees direction, goals motivate because they

force employees to think outside the box and reconsider how they are working.

ERG theory has a ________ hypothesis, which suggests that individuals who have difficulty satisfying one need may regress to another one.

frustration-regression

Frederick Herzberg surveyed workers to ask what was important to their motivation. He found these could be grouped into two sets of factors, which he called

hygiene factors and motivators.

Goal-setting theory is one of the most influential management practices. There is strong evidence that setting goals

improves performance toward the goal.

To engage and motivate employees, many firms offer both salary and

incentive pay.

A manager's display of social sensitivity, such as the level of respect and dignity shown to employees, will have a positive effect on employees' level of engagement. This describes

interactional justice.

Nick's Pizza and Pub requires employees to mix it up. After training, they can serve customers, run the cash register or make pizza, whatever needs doing at the time. This approach is

job enlargement

Gucci manufactures luxury shoes. It allows individuals to make changes to their work responsibilities, even dramatic changes, if they create or discover more efficient ways to work. This is an example of a company using ________.

job enrichment

Volvo tried ________ in the 1960s, and quality skyrocketed, according to then-president Pehr Gyllenhammar (who retired in the 1990s). This approach dramatically boosted quality (and often raised productivity as well) by pushing power down, replacing inspection with responsibility, and having people work in teams. Volvo found that production under teams stayed constant, largely due to systems constraints, but that the time and capital invested to make the switch was more than paid off in cost savings from reduced turnover and absenteeism.

job enrichment

Equity theory proposed that individuals who are over-rewarded would experience guilt and would try to restore equity. Research showed that

many individuals experience distress as a result of being over-rewarded. (wrong)

Karen is a programmer with Yahoo and a mother. Her work has been outstanding but she is distracted recently. Her children are both in school and after-school-care, and she is worried about them. Since her work output is easily measured, her manager could

offer flexible hours.

Only about ________ of US employees are engaged and thriving in their work.

one-third

Glassdoor, the job search site, releases an annual list of the "Best Places to Work," which is based on employee reviews on the website. The stocks of companies that appear on the list have ________ the S&P500 in the year following the announcement. Companies that look after employees also do well for stockholders.

outperformed

According to the equity theory of motivation, we:

perceive fairness if we believe that the input-to-output ratio we are bringing into the situation is similar to the input/output ratio of a comparison person, or a referent

George is fun to be around but loses interest in his work without regular dialogues about it. As a portfolio risk analyst, his tasks can be tedious and detail-oriented. To keep George motivated, his manager can

plan weekly meetings for the staff to discuss their work.

McClelland's research showed that success in management could be predicted, to some extent, based on an employee's needs. Candidates who "need" ________ were more likely to become managers.

power

In the United States, the wealth inequality is extraordinary. The wealthiest 10% control three-quarters of all family wealth in the country, and the rich are still getting richer. But most Americans are not disturbed by this outcome. They have faith in the free markets for labor and capital. This approach to wealth distribution falls under

procedural justice.

Which is an example of meeting the needs of the esteem tier in Maslow's hierarchy of needs?

Liam working well with his coworkers and feeling that they appreciate his contribution.

Jefferson has worked as an inventory specialist at the DeFeet sock company for seven years and receives $15 an hour. He is very diligent on the job and has never been late. As his skills have grown, he has become more like the manager of the inventory department. He makes sure everyone has the tools, access, and information needed to do their jobs effectively. Jefferson is management material. Today, Jefferson shows up at work to discover a new manager has been hired to oversee inventory. He discovers that the new manager is paid $25 an hour. In this scenario, what are the inputs according to equity theory?

$25 per hour

Gallup's survey, the "State of the American Workforce," shows that ________ percent of employees are either "actively disengaged" or "not engaged." "Actively disengaged" means employees aren't just unhappy at work—they are resentful and are acting out their unhappiness. Every day, these workers potentially undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish.

67

The expectancy theory says that a rational calculation determines whether individuals are motivated to demonstrate more effort or less effort. Questions people ask themselves as part of this rational calculation include:

Do I find the outcomes desirable? Will my effort lead to high performance? Will management deliver if the goal is met?

________ focuses on employees' perceptions of the quality of the interpersonal treatment.

Interactional justice

What does the ERG theory add to Maslow's assumptions?

It defines the "frustration-regression" principle.

Greg created an instructional game for employees to demonstrate how financial markets work. The game was a multiple stage lottery. Half the players "lost" at each round and dropped out. After each round, winners could bargain, selling their tickets or combining tickets into pools. Although luck was a factor, skill or a willingness to take risk soon dominated. The losers thought it was unfair. The winners argued it was fair under

procedural justice. The rules were the same for everyone.

Ultimately, managers have the greatest influence on an employee's motivation. Even though an individual manager cannot change the company's reward systems, the manager can link performance to

recognition, bonuses, and good work assignments.

Intrinsic rewards are not tangible, meaning that they can't be easily measured or quantified. Some examples are

skill development and skill mastery, social status, or power.

Merely the presence of a goal is not motivation enough. According to the goal-setting theory, a goal must be SMART. This stands for:

specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound

The ________ in expectancy theory means the value the employee puts on the reward.

valence

Reinforcement theory was developed in training animals. B.F. Skinner called it operant conditioning and worked with pigeons, rats, and dogs. Rewards are generally effective, but some people, especially professionals,

will take offense if they are treated like animals.