Chester Barnard (Brooks 1999) led this argument. He believed an organisation not to be a ‘well-oiled machine’, as Taylor and the Classical School believed, but should be a co-operative social system; therefore emotional and social needs of workers were essential to the motivation of employees, not just economical needs.
Following the view of Barnard, George Elton Mayo conducted an experiment in the Hawthorne Studies, (Accel-team, 2003) where he observed a ‘control group’ of workers in Western Electric Company in the US from 1924 to 1927 to determine what caused an increase of productivity. His results showed that: any form of intervention toward the workers, resulted in an increase of productivity. For example when individuals were singled out from the rest of the factory workers, it raised their self esteem. When they were allowed to have friendly relationship with their supervisor they felt happier at work. When he discussed changes in advance with them they felt like a part of a team. This feeling of unity within the group resulted in more efficient and therefore more productive work.
Hence it is clear that direct communication with leadership and management, lead to an increase in productivity as this improved interaction motivated employees. This was the case of Springram bathroom company whose workers were greatly motivated by the managers and executives visiting the shop floor; conversing with them ideas about the company areas that could be improved and making them feel more a part if the company’s success. (Understanding Organisations 1997).
In 1954 Abraham Maslow an American psychologist theorised a general hierarchy in which he believed people lived their everyday lives by. This is commonly known as the ‘hierarchy of needs’. In this he defined 5 needs common in every human being:
-
Physiological: hunger, thirst, shelter, sex and other bodily needs.
-
Safety: security and protection from physical and emotional harm.
-
Belonging & Love: affection, belongingness, acceptance and friendship.
-
Esteem: internal esteem factors such as self-respect, autonomy, and achievement; and external esteem factors such as status, recognition, and attention.
-
Self-actualisation: the drive to become the best one can become; includes growth, achieving one’s potential, and self-fulfilment.
Maslow stated “as each need becomes satisfied, the next need becomes dominant.” (Maslow 1970 page 47) When one need is satisfied, motivation is focused on a different area. Therefore theory would suggest if the workplace satisfies the lower order needs of Maslows hierarchy (a safe working environment with full job security, pension with a good health scheme, a friendly atmosphere and management who praise integral work), and then employees should constantly be at the stage of esteem or self actualization and thus be constantly motivated.
In 1968 Fredrick Hertzberg conducted an experiment in an attempt to find out what aspects of work influenced job satisfaction (Buchanan & Huczynski 1997); he interviewed 203 Pittsburgh engineers and accountants. He asked two “critical incident” questions. The subjects were asked to recall events which made them feel good about their work, others which made them feel bad about it. Hertzberg called this the ‘two factor theory of motivation’. Analysis revealed that the factors which created satisfaction were different to those which prevented dissatisfaction
Environmental Factors
Hertzberg suggested that: When people are dissatisfied with their work it is usually because of discontent with environmental (Hygiene) factors. Hertzberg produced these environmental factors to minimise dissatisfaction, not to provide satisfaction.
The Hygiene factors are:
- Company policy and administration
- Salary
- The quality of supervision
- Interpersonal relations
- Working Conditions
- Job security
Motivating Factors
Motivator factors on the other hand create job satisfaction and can motivate an individual to superior performance and effort. These factors fulfil the individual’s higher need for self-actualisation or personal growth in according to Maslows hierarchy of needs.
The Motivation Factors are:
- Status (although this may be a hygiene factor as well)
- Advancement
- Gaining Recognition
- Being given responsibility
- Challenging Work
- Achievement
- Growth in the job
Douglas McGregor wrote his book “The Human Side of Enterprise” (Robbins 1998) in which he formulated two models, which he calls Theory X, and Theory Y. McGregor saw these two theories as two opposing attitudes. Theory X being that the average human has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if he can, meaning that employees must be coerced, controlled or threatened with punishment to achieve goals. McGregor believes that employees also prefer to be told what to do and seek formal direction wherever possible, and workers display very little ambition and place security above all other factors associated with work.
Theory Y, on the other hand, is a more positive view of human work-related behaviour. This theory states that employees can view work as being as natural as rest or play and that if an employee is committed to their objectives, they will exercise self-direction and self-control. Also, that the average person can accept and will often seek responsibility and that ‘the ability to make innovative decisions is widely dispersed throughout the human population and is not necessarily the sole province of those in management positions’.
Unfortunately these two theories are both apparent in the work place. Theory X and Theory Y may be appropriate in a particular situation. When we look at McGregor’s X and Y theory in terms of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it is evident that Theory X suggests that Maslow’s lower-order needs, such as safety, security and protection from physical and emotional harm dominate individuals, whereas Theory Y suggests that his higher-order needs, such as earning respect and achieving their optimum efficiency, are dominant.
Importance of Motivational Theories
An understanding of motivation is very important in the workplace as an employee who is motivated will exert a maximum level of effort and intensity, which in turn will lead to successively obtaining the goals set by an organisation, as well as satisfying the employee’s human desire to succeed. A lack of motivation in an individual or group, results in that individual or group under- performing, they become unmotivated, and unity within a group or harmony within an individual is lost.
It is clear, therefore, that a manager must find a way to motivate their staff in order to produce the best results for the organisation and boost the confidence of each employee and their desire to succeed.
A manager who allows their staff to become unmotivated, unwilling to exert effort and motivating them in future will prove difficult as their desire is less apparent.
A manager who has an understanding of why motivation is important is able to increase the productivity of his or her group and boost their morale, as their dedication to their work will show positive results.
Culture & Bureaucracy
Culture The culture of an organisation, “the way we do things round here” (Deal & Kennedy 1982) is a crucial part of motivation. An employee who is happy with the work environment they are involved in will be more highly motivated than those who are discontent. If an employee is not happy with the company’s culture, it will be very hard to motivate them into being a highly productive part of the organisation. When an organisation has strict rigid guidelines that employees find uncomfortable, hostility will form, towards the bureaucratic system and result in staff being unmotivated.
In recent years organisations, or processes seen as bureaucratic are regarded as self-serving, slow and uncaring. The Royal Mail who is prone to strike and union action is well documented as a bureaucratic organisation (Understanding Organisation, 1997), where employees lose motivation because of the large communication lines and
Weber describes organizations as hierarchical reporting structures which mean that most employees report to another person. (Brookes 2003)
“Current thinkers often argue that bureaucracy should be reduced to give organisations the room to think and manoeuvre in order to sustain high performance” (Brookes 2003 page 123). In retrospect of Weber’s thinking, Brooks (2003) believes that bureaucracy leads to a lack of motivation; if the subordinates perceive rules to be unhelpful, unreasonable, suppressing individual initiative and creativity.
Motivation Within
Within the Head Office of Autoglass culture is a significant part in the task of motivation. People subconsciously recognise culture within an organisation when entering. Autoglass, has invested a substantial amount of capital improve the working conditions for employees, as a means of improving culture through its open-plan head office, (built in 1993 costing £11million) intended to enhance communication between team members and team leaders. Also for interaction between team members to develop friendships within the company
Autoglass use many of the theorists ideas on motivation as over the years they have proven a very successful. Taylor (1911) argues to raise productivity one must implement piece work upon a company. Autoglass show knowledge of this; each fitter is paid a basic rate then will get a bonus on top of that depending on how many windscreen wipers he has sold, or how many repairs he has done. This is done so the fitter will achieve his maximum efficiency to the company. The idea, it could be argued, is based on the classical schools “One Best Way” Taylor (1911)
Autoglass’ internal motto is “Get It Right First Time”. The target is perfection at the first attempt throughout all areas in accordance with Taylorism and efficiency.
Getting it right first time
Here is a model of how a customers job should flow through the autoglass system in a ‘perfect’ situation:
If the customer receives the ‘perfect’ service from Autoglass, as above, then this will help every employee who dealt with this job from the adviser in the call centre, to the branch staff, to the fitter themselves, meet their targets. Therefore helping the employee achieve a substantial bonus. It then becomes competition for each employee to beat each other as the standings are displayed and those whom are performing well will get praise.
The perfect model as shown above is not always how jobs go and inevitably lose some jobs due to lack of correct information, thus employees at all stages have targets to meet.
Targets that need to be met, to obtain bonus
Call Centre Advisors
(For each appendix labelled – Actual Company Statistics shown)
(Appendices 1.0 + 1.1)
Appointment – The customer must agree to the appointment time given, 90%+ (%Appt vs Sec) of the time
Validation – The customer must give insurance policy no, exp date and the (% Ins Val by underwriter of the policy 90%+. Difficulties include when an agent) customer is at work or even on the road and have no details only 46% of vehicles broken into happen at home.
Online Payment – Customer must pay over the phone via debit or credit card for (OLP) the excess on the insurance policy. Difficulties include: Chip repairs, cash jobs, Card was stolen when the car was broken in to.
If these targets are met throughout the team in which you are in then there are incentives such as free team nights out if your team finishes 1st at the week end. Rewarding the teams for efficient work is a good motivational factor.
There are targets which need to be met also to get a bonus the bonus is arranged quarterly and is a chance of getting £2000 per quarter. Targets that need to be met for this are
Productivity (Appendix 1.3) – You must take 9 calls per hour or more
Secure (Appendix 1.2) - You must pass 1300 jobs by the end of the quarter.
Right First Time Conversion (Appendix 1.2) - All other targets need to be met and no disciplinary action has been taken against you in the period. How many the jobs you put through to the branch got done e.g. 100% minus the percentage of cancellations for any reason as well as prices given which are not sold.
Price Quotes: When Price quotes are given it will also come off the RFT conversion.
Targets
RFT Conversion Amount
85+ £195
86+ £223
87+ £390
88+ £482
89+ £628
90+ £791
91+ £907
92+ £1050
93+ £1189
94+ £1356
95+ £1568
96+ £1824
97+ £2000
Fitters
They have to achieve a 25% of all the work done over week 25% must have been repairs
They must sell 10 pairs of windscreen wipers per week.
They must have less than 12% of their job have Customer Care Reports against them e.g. Fitter not arrived (including lateness)
Bad Workmanship (fitted badly)
Service Issue (Could the service have been any more helpful?)
Conclusions & Recommendations for
It is clear that Autoglass primarily use Taylor’s theory of money is the biggest motivator under the ‘right first time’ system with the financial rewards. Hertzberg however argued that money is not something that satisfies but some thing that is used to prevent dissatisfaction. Therefore with constant possible bonus schemes available throughout the company, the staff should not get dissatisfied in this respect
This system of piece work (measured on the level of output) is a strong basis to bonus the employees on. If the employee does not pull his/her weight they simply will not get paid as much as someone who does. This proves effective in efficiency as everyone is in direct competition. Those who want to impress will strive to be noticed and do a high level of work similar to McGregor’s theory Y employee.
The idea of delayering in a company is something that I believe to be a great motivational factor. If an employee who is at the bottom of the hierarchy if he has been empowered he will understand the companies objectives and learn the importance of the job. Also in regards to the companies benefits; empowerment and delayering the organisation would give the company a competitive advantage by the short lines of communication and ability to make quick decisions. Thus striving towards a feeling of Maslow’s self-actualisation for the employee.
If the company were to bring in a system of rewarding people, not for meeting targets but to go out of their way to help a job get done or being consistently good at their job. To earn the reward you would need to show either;: Innovation, Care, Professionalism, Integrity, or Expertise and each nomination should fall under one off these categories. The employee must be voted by their fellow employee’s and if the feat is deems worthy, then the employee should receive a bonus: a paid day off or £100 or even a mention in the monthly newsletter telling why the employee got this reward. This would inevitably improve the service provided. Each employee would see what needs to be achieved. In the sense of motivation from a theorists perspective the employee would gain recognition for their work and feel a sense of achievement, two of Hertzberg’s Motivational Factors.
Bibliography
-
Robbins, S (1999) Organisational Behaviour New York : Addison Wesley Longman Inc
-
on 31/10/2003
-
on 31/10/2003
-
Buchanan, D & Huczynski, A (1997) Organizational Behaviour: an introductory text 3rd Edition Europe: Prentice Hall
-
Taylor, F (1911) The Science of Management New York:@@@@@@@
-
Maslow, A (1970) Motivation and Personality 2nd Edition, New York : Harper & Row
-
McGregor, D (1960) The Human Side of Enterprise, New York : McGraw-Hill
-
Brooks, I (2003) Organisational Behaviour: individual, Groups and Organisation 2nd edition, London : Pearson
-
25minUnderstanding Organisation (1997)
