MOTIVATION
CHANGE FACTORS
STAGES IN CHANGE
Planning
Initiation
Implementation
Completion
Evaluation
SYMPTOMS OF POOR MOTIVATION
Absenteeism
Complaints
Poor quality work
Low productivity
High staff turnover
Poor time-keeping
Resistance to change
Apathy
High sickness rate
Conflict
Demarcation
No ‘goodwill’
SOME DEMOTIVATORS
Poor teamwork
Dissatisfaction with pay & benefits
Poor communication
Management by criticism/threat
No opportunities to use initiative
Not being listened to
Poor induction/training
Insecure environment
Unproductive rivalry
Unattainable targets/ ‘goalposts’ moved
Unclear standards/no objectives
No recognition/thanks
Routine tasks
10 THINGS PEOPLE WANT MOST FROM THEIR JOBS
- Efficient managers
- To think for themselves
- To see the end result of their work
- To be given interesting work
- To be informed
- To be listened to
- To be respected
- To be recognised for their efforts
- To be challenged
- To have opportunities for increased skill development
TO MOTIVATE PEOPLE
GIVE THEM:
Knowledge of their job:
- its importance
- where it fits in
Ownership of their job:
- challenge
- responsibility
- interest
Reinforcement:
- recognition
- highlight achievement
AND:
Trust them, listen to them and know them as individuals
MOTIVATION
- Knowledge of the job
Achievement cannot be highlighted or recognition provided unless everyone is clear about what is important and what needs to be achieved.
This is partly a matter of stating priorities and goals through formal targets, having clear job descriptions and so on. But a more important factor is the first line manager’s day-to-day behaviour. All managers have to cope with a variety of demands, some of them conflicting. They must therefore focus on what really matters and express that focus to their work-groups through their conversation and in the priorities they set. - Ownership
The idea is that the more interest and responsibility of a job contains, the more the person doing it will feel he/she owns the job and the more motivated he will be. This is a popular idea and one for which a good deal of empirical evidence can be assembled.
But this is not an automatic solution for a number of reasons:
To work, the ownership has to be real. Management must relinquish some measure of control over the work. And the kind of manager who expects motivation theory to provide a new way of manipulating increased output from employees is the kind who has the most difficulty in relinquishing control.
There are employees who get all the interest and responsibility they want outside work and will resist attempts to provide them with more meaningful jobs.
The technology and nature of the job often presents real barriers to increasing job interest and giving people more responsibility. This is never an insuperable problem, but it can take real effort and cost real money to overcome.
The application of this idea has to be based on conviction and that is often hard to generate amongst managers whose observation and experience tells them that people don’t want responsibility. The difficulty lies in persuading such managers that what they have been seeing is a self-fulfilling prophecy at work. If people are treated as if they have no interest in their work, then no interest is exactly what they will display.
3. Providing reinforcement
There are some simple rules governing how to provide recognition and highlight achievement. Reinforcement should be (OHP7.7):
- Specific. People should be told as precisely as possible what they have done successfully. As well as being more motivating than a vague ‘well done’, being specific provides another opportunity for the manager to focus on the values that the group is trying to achieve.
MOTIVATION
- Immediate. One of the main reasons that many suggestions schemes fail is that it takes too long to process the ideas and produce the rewards. Recognition should be as immediate as possible. When Tom Watson Snr., the man who founded IBM came across an achievement he thought worthwhile in the company, he used to write a cheque and hand it to the person responsible there and then.
- For achievable goals. We all like to think of ourselves as winners. We become very unmotivated if the system only recognises exceptional talent and behaviour. That is not to say either that people should be rewarded for sub-standard work or that the real stars should be ignored. But most people working reasonably hard and effectively should be able to meet the targets set for them.
- Partly intangible. The principle of motivation which we are discussing here is that people like to be noticed, particularly when they are doing good work. They do not have rewards all the time. In fact trying to provide a constant stream of concrete awards will often build a very calculative atmosphere, filled with unhealthy competition.
- Intermittent and unpredictable. One way of looking at first line manager’s contribution to the motivation of their work-groups is to say that their job is to create a never-ending succession of small scale Hawthorn effects. In doing this they have one great advantage over their colleagues at other levels in the management hierarchy. This makes it easy for them to recognise achievement as and when it arises.
4.Knowledge of individuals
These theories are generalisations which can be dangerous if applied unthinkingly. Some people need reassurance in their work. Others regard it as interference. To some people a simple ‘thank you’ is sufficient recognition for good work. Others need brass bands and fireworks.
First line managers have to know the individuals in their groups well enough to understand what each person considers the proper way to be treated and rewarded.
SUMMARY
- Motivated people work with enthusiasm
- People are motivated by many different kinds of rewards, of which money is just one.
- Recognising an individual’s needs helps you find ways to motivate them to do their job better.
- People may seek to satisfy a number of needs at work for:
- Achievement
- Respect
- Social Contact
- Security
- Basic Physical Necessities - The first priority for people at work is the task they are paid to do.
- Hygiene factors are factors outside a job which can provide dissatisfaction.
- Motivating factors are factors within a job itself which can provide satisfaction.
- Bring hygiene up-to-scratch, then improve on the motivators.
- No matter how goof the pay and conditions, if the work is uninteresting people will not be well motivated.
- Motivation can be improved by making jobs more meaningful.
- Knowing how a job contributes to the overall performance of the organisation can motivate.
SPUR: An Action Plan
Remember: go for small quick wins (S.Q.W.’s)
SELF-DETERMINED:
What will you do to involve your people more in the decisions that affect their work?
PURPOSEFUL:
What steps will you take to clarify objectives and give individuals meaningful feedback?
USEFUL:
How will you help your people to see how what they do is important and of value to others?
REWARDING:
How will you go about enriching the jobs of each of your people?
SPUR: Motivation
SELF-DETERMINED- Participation
- Contribution
- Clear Tasks/Objectives
- Ownership
- Tough but achievable targets
- Positive feedback
USEFUL
- Customer Service
- Induction
- Achievement
- Teamwork
- Growth
- Recognition
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
Where are you on the Pyramid?
Maslow’s Hierarcy shows that all humans have virtually the same needs. Put an ‘X’ on the level where you think you spend most of your time.
Look again at the triangle. Circle your ‘X’ and then place new ‘X’s with the initials of others you work with to show where you think they fit.
SUMMARY
Rate yourself as follows:
High=3 Average=2 Below Average=1 Not at all=0
-I am an efficient manager
-I encourage & teach people to think for themselves
-I arrange work so people can see the end result
-I divide work to make it as interesting as possible to everyone
-I listen when there are ideas on how to do things better
-I inform those who need to know about what is going on
-I treat people like professionals at all times
-I recognise individuals for good work, both formally and informally
-I offer challenges whenever possible
-I encourage skills development
Total Score = ______
How did you score?
24 – 30You’re already an outstanding supervisor.
15 – 23 You have the potential to be a good leader. Keep practicing.
8 – 14You’re getting the picture but your staff are probably still hoping for better days. Now is a good time to think of making some changes for the better.
0 – 7You have the most to gain from this course as it will give you the opportunity to take a fresh look at how you supervise your people and help you to think about how you can do it more effectively.
No matter what you’ve scored, you can always benefit from sharing experiences and ideas with the other supervisors on this course and learning more together.
Remember – you can’t learn less!