MOTIVATION IN THE WORKPLACE

Motivation in the workplace



Motivation in the Workplace

Introduction

More than forty years ago Leibenstein argued that “for a variety of reasons people and organizations normally work neither as hard nor as effectively as they could” and regarded motivation to be a major determinant of X-efficiency. Since Leibenstein's work, the debate about what motivates real people in real organizations unfolded along the idea that people's management should hinge on commitment rather than control and contributed to the emergence of innovative work systems and management practices aimed at enhancing employees' commitment through substantial involvement and empowerment. This paper will be discussing the case studies and will be mainly focusing on the following question:

What do you consider to be Anne's main motivating factors?

Do you believe that her motivation has actually changed on a long-term basis?

Case Study: Discussion Analysis

Anne's main motivating factors

There are many factors that motivate Anne in the workplace. There are many different things that motivate stress and conflict in the workplace. How a person handles the stress is what will make or break a working relationship. Intrinsic Motivation Theory, Theory of Scientific Management, and Motivation-Hygiene Theory give people the initiative and drive to do their job well and to help relieve stress at the workplace. Intrinsic Motivation Theory is used by management teams to motivate people with intrinsic rewards. Under this theory employees desire to do a good job because they are proud of what they are doing, and want to be a part of something good. For example a Disney Imagineer feels satisfaction when he or she creates a new ride. The feeling of being a part of something so spectacular motivates him or her to do a great job.

The Theory of Scientific Management has a different view of workers and what motivates them. This theory states that workers are motivated by their productivity. Whereas with the Intrinsic Theory workers are motivation to create a job well done, this theory strives for workers to produce a lot of product in a specific period of time. Workers are paid more if they produce more. This theory works best in businesses that require high productivity and mass production, such as automobile manufacturers. This theory does in time lead to workers who are dissatisfied, because they feel more like they are machines than people. The Intrinsic theory promotes a happier workplace than the Scientific Management Theory.

The Motivation-Hygiene Theory is similar to the intrinsic theory in that it promotes people taking pride in something. However, in this theory workers are motivated to take pride in their physical appearance and hygiene. This theory promotes employee benefits given by how clean a person is. This theory has not been very successful because it does not promote employee motivation at work. However, it can help to give an employee more self esteem which does help them to perform better. The best motivator though is the pride an employee takes in a job well done.

If a person becomes too stressed at work he ...