Allied Academies International Conference page 139
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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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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Regulatory Issues, Volume 8, Number 2 Maui, 2004
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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and Regulatory Issues, Volume 8, Number 2
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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Regulatory Issues, Volume 8, Number 2 Maui, 2004
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
page 144 Allied Academies International Conference
Maui, 2004 Proceedings of the Academy of Legal, Ethical
and Regulatory Issues, Volume 8, Number 2
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
