EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION AS IT RELATES TO EFFECTIVENESS, EFFICIENCY, PRODUCTIVITY, AND PERFORMANCE

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Proceedings of the Academy of Legal, Ethical and Regulatory Issues, Volume 8, Number 2 Maui, 2004

EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION AS IT RELATES TO

EFFECTIVENESS, EFFICIENCY, PRODUCTIVITY,

AND PERFORMANCE

Rob H. Kamery, Nova Southeastern University

robhkamery@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

Employees may be motivated on the job by many things, such as a sense of achievement,

recognition, enjoyment of the job, promotion opportunities, responsibility, and the chance for

personal growth. Employee motivation and performance are tied directly to the style of

management that is applied and to principles of positive or negative reinforcement. This paper

discusses motivation as it relates to effectiveness, efficiency, productivity, and performance.

INTRODUCTION

Motivation can be induced by the employer or reside within the employee. Employees have

higher levels of motivation when they perceive that management cares about their welfare, when

they are involved in the management process, and when the management-labor environment is

positive. Control stifles motivation while involvement creates a more productive environment. If

the workers feel they are being treated fairly and with respect, this attitude will develop and guide

their behavior in a positive direction. To be motivated, they must be excited about and interested

in their jobs. Activities that can gain interest on the part of workers include employee participation

committees, task force efforts, training programs, opportunities for outside education, newsletters,

contests, and congratulatory messages from management (Kennish, 1998).

EMPLOYEE/MANAGER RELATIONSHIP

The key to motivating employees is remembering that not all employees are the same.

Something different makes each employee tick. In order to achieve motivation, managers must

know each employee. Managers must have a wide range of motivational techniques available. Each

employee has a different set of values and personal experiences that brought them to where they are

today. Employees are motivated by learning and should likewise be motivated to learn. Workers

should be offered regular opportunities to attend conferences in their field, seminars, or in-house

training programs (Buhler, 1998).

A supervisor can provide the environment in which employees are willing to motivate

themselves. The purpose of a motivating environment is to encourage every member of an

organization to motivate himself to contribute his best effort to the job at all times. A motivating

environment is not a permissive environment, but one where the expectations of each employee are

for their best work within their capability. A motivating environment is not necessarily one in which

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Maui, 2004 Proceedings of the Academy of Legal, Ethical and Regulatory Issues, Volume 8, Number 2

all employees are happy all of the time. A motivating environment may produce satisfied

employees, which in turn may make many employees happy. A motivating environment exists with

conditions of high standards, clear objectives, adequate training, effective leadership, rewards that

employees value, and adequate working conditions (Capozzoli, 1998).

The standards to which people are expected to produce should be high, but not so high that

they can never reach them. People will produce to the level of expectation as long as it is not

excessively high. When a manager delegates work to an employee, he or she should be sure the

employee understands all of the standards of the assignment. Every employee wants and needs to

know what is expected. This goes along with the standards that have been set. They must have

adequate training to be able to do the tasks that they are assigned. Employees may get angry and

frustrated if they do not know how to do the job. They want and need to be able to trust their leaders

and know that what the leader tells them is true. It is important for supervisors to have integrity and

to earn the trust of their employees. When an employee does a good job, the supervisor can reward

that employee with something that is valuable to them. If it is expected for the employees to do a

good job, then they must have adequate working conditions. Poor lighting, too much noise, or

uncomfortable temperatures make it difficult for employees to produce both quality and quantity

(Capozzoli, 1998).

TRUE MOTIVATORS

When considering motivators, longevity and effectiveness are important. Motivators such

as fear or incentives have effects that can be counterproductive or short-lived. Thus, the use of

internal motivational factors needs to be considered (Helminger, 1997). "Beecher once said, 'God

made man to go by motives, and he will not go without them any more than a boat without steam,

or a balloon without gas. Find out what motivates man, touch that button to turn the key that makes

men achieve'" (Helminger, 1997).

This idea leads to the debate over where change should occur in terms of employee

motivation. Simply changing the individual usually takes too much time and effort and does not

reap the benefit of helping other employees as much as a company-wide change. However,

managers are primarily interested in how to motivate individuals on the job. Their main focus

should be designing jobs that meet the demands of the organization as well as the skills and abilities

of their employees. Employees are empowered and motivated when they assume additional

planning and evaluating responsibilities through job enrichment. In turn, this enrichment will

benefit the company because they have employees who are better prepared to deal with everyday

situations.

Managers can increase employee motivation by seeking employees' input on daily decisions.

The ability to make good decisions should not be the sole responsibility of the managers, but a

concerted effort by individuals with the best knowledge of the situation. When employees are

encouraged to make their own decisions, managers should not micromanage, but allow employees

to learn from their mistakes and learn to tolerate some learning errors. Other motivators that can

be implemented by management include providing social interaction and teamwork, implementing

goals and challenges, and instituting employee appreciation programs (Zimmer, 1998).

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Some examples of motivators used by various organizations include educational assistance

programs, stock options, and savings plan benefits. All of these represent long-term programs that

are specifically designed to increase worker satisfaction and effectiveness. It is the policy of many

organizations to encourage employees to take college-level courses to increase effectiveness in their

present positions or prepare them for increased or new responsibilities. Many organizations will

reimburse 100 percent of the cost of tuition, books, entrance exam fees, and lab fees for courses

toward a job-related bachelor's degree and/or a master's degree. Many will also reimburse these

costs for non-degree courses if the material covered is job-related. The corporate standard is that

reimbursement is contingent upon the satisfactory completion of the course with a grade of "C" or

better.

In terms of stock options and savings plans for employees, some organizations require that

employees be 21 years of age or older and have at least 1,000 hours of service in order to be eligible.

Once these requirements are met, the employee is eligible to participate in the employee retirement

savings and stock plans. The savings plan allows employees to defer up to a certain percent of their

annual salary, and the organization matches the first few percentage points of deferral and

contributes 50 percent of the next one percent of deferral to each participant's account. Employees

become 100 percent vested in the company-matching portion of their account after five years of

service. In addition, the board of directors makes an annual contribution (based on the results of

operations) in the form of company stock to the plan.

MOTIVATIONAL JOB DESIGN

In order to be effective, management should be concerned with motivating individuals on

the job. Therefore, managers should seek different methods of designing motivating jobs. Job

design should incorporate environmental dynamics, the organization's resources, and individual

preference. Job enlargement, job enrichment, and the job characteristics model are three methods

that can be used in the process of designing motivating jobs (Robbins & Coulter, 1996).

Job enlargement is a type of horizontal expansion designed to overcome the narrow focus

of highly specialized jobs. It involves the concept of knowledge enlargement--enrichment of the

individual through increased job knowledge/training. Some examples of the results of enrichment

include increased worker satisfaction, enhanced customer service, and increased accuracy. In

contrast, job enrichment is a vertical expansion that provides for increased worker responsibility

(i.e., planning and evaluating duties). Greater responsibility increases job depth (worker control)

and results in employee empowerment. This empowerment often leads to a higher quality of output

and employee motivation since workers feel connected to their jobs. The job characteristics model

is a method of job analysis and design which identifies five job characteristics: 1) skill variety

(range of skill/talent), 2) task identity (worker-task connection), 3) task significance (degree of

impact), 4) autonomy (worker freedom/independence), and 5) feedback (worker

critique/performance evaluation).

The above characteristics measure the intrinsic rewards derived by workers via increased

knowledge and performance review--such rewards have led to greater motivation, performance, and

satisfaction while decreasing employee absenteeism and turnover rates. According to the job

characteristics model, managers should: 1) combine tasks to increase skill and task identification,

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2) create natural work units to encourage worker-task identification, 3) establish client relationships

to increase variety, obtain valuable feedback, and increase worker autonomy, 4) expand jobs

vertically via job enrichment, and 5) open feedback channels via employee performance reviews

(Robbins & Coulter, 1996).

Employers and managers must also realize that sometimes it becomes necessary to take a

break from the job. This helps to reduce stress that can build up in a person who is faced with a high

degree of job enlargement. Friendships can also be made during these periods of relaxation. This

is possible through company gatherings and/or parties. Many organizations sponsor company

picnics at recreational facilities for employees and their families. These facilities are rented at the

company's expense and lunch is often catered. Activities such as door prizes, bingo, face painting,

etc. are offered (also at the company's expense). In addition, many organizations sponsor a

Christmas party for employees and their spouses/dates. This event is also usually catered and

entertainment is provided at the company's expense. Most organizations appreciate the work

endeavors of their employees and wish to convey thanks via social gatherings such as these. Most

organizations believe that it is important to promote healthy work relationships, and these events

place employees face-to-face with individuals they might not encounter during a normal workday

(i.e., executive management, manufacturing personnel, second/third shift employees).

MOTIVATIONAL THEORIES

Because each organization has a distinct personality, managers should try and remove

barriers from their organization that cause job dissatisfaction and are a detriment to motivating

employees. Factors such as company politics, unproductive meetings, withholding information, and

unfairness lead to low morale and overall job dissatisfaction (Robbins & Coulter, 1996).

Another theory related to employee motivation is the equity theory. This theory suggests

that individuals compare their performance and compensation against their co-workers' performance

and compensation and act to correct any inequities. For example, two workers are paid an hourly

rate for the same task; however, worker A is paid more per hour than worker B. Thus, worker B may

act to correct this inequity or just continue to perform below his or her potential. Similarly, worker

A will increase his work efforts given his or her elevated level of compensation (Robbins & Coulter,

1996).

Recent studies have expanded the concept of employee motivation beyond job design and

identified issues such as motivating a diverse workforce, pay-for-performance programs, and

employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) (Robbins & Coulter, 1996). Researchers suggest that

management exercise flexibility when confronting a diverse workforce. For example, different

groups of workers have different needs. A single mother may need daycare or a second job and

therefore require specific motivators. Research also suggests that tailoring rewards to the individual

worker can be a highly motivational tool. A few such tailored rewards in use today include

compressed workweeks (four 10-hour days), flextime (set number of hours, with flexible

scheduling), job sharing, and telecommuting (Robbins & Coulter, 1996).

Pay-for-performance plans are designed to link specific performance goals with employee

compensation. Since most individuals work to obtain the amount of money required to meet their

needs and wants, these types of plans can be highly motivating since they positively relate the

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amount of pay with the amount of work effort. Pay-for-performance programs compensate

employees based on some pre-determined performance measurement (objective). Examples include

piece-rate pay plans, wage incentive plans, profit sharing, and bonus plans.

Performance measurements may include individual or team goals, departmental objectives,

or overall organizational profit. The basis for such programs is that by making a portion of an

employee's compensation contingent on some specific performance objective, he or she will be more

focused and devote more effort toward attaining that objective (Robbins & Coulter, 1996).

Some organizations have management incentive programs under which managers and

executive managers pledge to meet certain MBOs by year-end. At the end of the period, their

performance is measured against these MBOs and compensation is granted according to the

organization's results of operations for the year. These programs work well for management;

however, as only a targeted group of employees are allowed to participate, the overall success is

debatable.

Yet another type of specific reward program is The Idea Program (TIP). In this program,

employees are encouraged to submit cost savings ideas, and an appointed TIP committee researches

every idea to determine the cost savings, if any, that are applicable. The idea program awards are

granted on a quarterly basis, and the amount (up to a certain dollar amount) is based on the projected

cost savings. Employees should be recognized at the state-of-the-company meeting and in the

company newsletter. They also might receive a plaque for their idea.

CONCLUSION

There are many factors that play into the concept of employee motivation. The first

necessary step is to determine what motivational tools will actually be effective in each particular

situation. Some tools may work for some companies, but not for others and vice versa. It is

important to note that the decisions dealing with motivation are based upon several theories.

No single theory seems best suited for every situation; therefore, theories are often combined

to provide the best possible combination to motivate employees. Although no single theory works

all the time, there is an underlying theme to all of the theories that respect and participation are two

key items that employees tend to appreciate. Oftentimes, the existence or nonexistence of these two

factors can determine how productive an employee will or will not be. It is important to note that

these two factors are almost always more important than monetary compensation. Of course, there

are some individuals for whom this generalization will not apply. Also, many of the motivational

theories that have been developed are used in industry today. However, they have been modified

to meet specific needs of the particular company.

REFERENCES

Buhler, P. (1998). Motivating the employee of the 90s. New York: Irwin Publishers, 8-11.

Capozzoli, T.K. (1998). Creating a motivating environment for employees. New York: McGraw-Hill Inc., 16.

Helminger, W. (1997). Human resources. Retrieved August 12, 1998, from http://www.cratus. comlresources/html

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Kennish, J.W. (1998). Motivating with a positive participatory policy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 22-24.

Robbins, S.P. & M. Coulter (1996). Management (Fifth Edition). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Zimmer, E. (1998). The entrepreneur network. Retrieved August 12, 1998, from http://www.tenonhne.org/art/9611.html