Motivation: From Concepts to Applications
7-1
The process of determining what an
employee does on a job: the tasks, duties ,
responsibilities, decision making and level of
authority . The design of the job also
determines the working relationships with
other employees, supervisors, customers etc.
7-2
Job Characteristics Model (JCM)
Hackman and Oldham’s concept that any job
can be described through five core job
dimensions:
Skill variety – Requirements for different tasks in the
job.
Task identity – Completion of a whole piece of work.
Task significance – The job’s impact on others.
Autonomy – Level of discretion in decision making.
Feedback – Amount of direct and clear information on
performance.
Theway elements in a job are organized (job
design) impacts motivation, satisfaction and
performance.
7-3
7-4
7-5
Five dimensions combined into a single
predictive index of motivation.
People who work on jobs with high core dimensions
are generally more motivated, satisfied, and
productive.
Job dimensions operate through the psychological
states in influencing personal and work outcome
variables rather than influencing them directly.
Jobs that are high on motivating potential must
be high on at least one of the three factors that
lead to experienced meaningfulness and they
must be high on both autonomy and feedback.
7-6
Job Rotation
Theperiodic shifting of a worker from one task
to another
Job Enlargement
The horizontal expansion of jobs
Job Enrichment
The vertical expansion of jobs
Guidelines for enriching a job: Exhibit 7-2
7-7
When an activity is no longer challenging,
the employee is rotated to another job
usually at the same level , that has similar
skill requirements.
The strengths of job rotation are that it
reduces boredom, increases motivation
through diversifying the employee’s
activities, and helps employees better
understand how their work contributes to the
Organization.
7-8
Increasing the number and variety of tasks
that an individual performed resulted in jobs
with more diversity.
JOB ENRICHMENT: It increases the degree to
which the worker controls the planning,
execution, and evaluation of the work.
It allows worker to do a complete activity,
increases the employee’s freedom and
independence, increases responsibility, and
provides feedback so individual will be able
to assess and correct performance.
7-9
Flextime
Employees work during a common core time
period each day but have discretion in forming
their total workday from a flexible set of hours
outside the core
Job Sharing
Thepractice of having two or more people split a
40-hour-a-week job
7-10
Telecommuting
Employees do their work at home at least
two days a week on a computer that is
linked to their office.
The Virtual Office
Employees work out of their home on a
relatively permanent basis.
7-11
Larger labor pool Employer
Higher productivity
Less direct supervision
of employees
Less turnover Difficult to coordinate
Improved teamwork
morale
Difficult to evaluate
Reduced office-space non-quantitative
costs performance
Employee
May not be as noticed for
his or her efforts
Advantages Disadvantages
7-12
P = f(A x M x O)
Performance is the result of the interaction of:
Ability (A)
Motivation (M) and
Opportunity to Perform (O)
7-13
A participative process that uses the
input of employees to increase their
commitment to the organization’s
success
Byincreasing worker autonomy and
control over work lives (involvement),
organizations:
Increase employee motivation
Gain greater organizational commitment
Experience greater worker productivity
Observe higher levels of job satisfaction
7-14
Participative Management
Subordinates
share a significant degree of decision-
making power with their immediate superiors
Representative Participation
Works Councils
Groups of nominated or elected employees who must be
consulted for any personnel decisions
Board Representative
An employee sits on a company’s board of directors and
represents the interests of the firm’s employees.
Quality Circle
A work group of employees who meet regularly to
discuss their quality problems, investigate causes,
recommend solutions, and take corrective actions
7-15
Theory Y
Employees want to be involved
Managerial viewpoint
Two-Factor Theory
Intrinsic Motivation
Growth
Responsibility
Involvement
ERG Theory
Stimulate nAch
Growth
Recognition
Self-esteem
7-16
1. What to pay? (pay structure)
2. How to pay individuals? (variable pay plans
and skill-based pay plans)
3. What benefits to offer? Do we offer choice
of benefits? (flexible benefits)
4. How to build recognition programs?
7-17
Internal equity
The worth of the job to the organization
Determined by job evaluations
External equity
The competitiveness of the company’s pay relative to
pay elsewhere in the industry
Determined through pay surveys
Choose organizational position:
Pay leaders
Greater employee loyalty
Attracts better quality employees
Paylaggards – accept high turnover for low hourly
costs(pay is the single highest operating cost for an
organization).
7-18
Types of Variable Pay Programs
A portion of an employee’s pay is based on some
individual and/or organization measure of
performance
Piece Rate:
Workers are paid a fixed sum for each unit of production
completed
Weakness: not feasible for many jobs
Merit-Based:
Based on performance appraisal ratings
Gap between average and top-performers increasing
Weaknesses: validity of system based on annual
appraisals, pay pool can be small, unions strongly resist
Bonuses:
Reward recent performance
Weakness: employees consider this a pay
7-19
Types of Skill-Based Programs:
Also known as competency- or knowledge-
based pay - sets pay based on skills or number
of jobs an employee can perform
Profit Sharing:
Organization-wide programs that distribute
compensation based on some established formula
designed around a company’s profitability
Gain Sharing:
An incentive plan in which improvements in group
productivity determine the total amount of money
that is allocated
Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)
Company-established benefit plans in which
employees acquire stock as part of their benefits
7-20
To some extent, variable pay does increase
motivation and productivity
Benefits of Skill-based Pay Plans
Provide staffing flexibility
Facilitate communication across the organization
Lessen “protection of territory” behaviors
Meet the needs of employees for advancement
Lead to performance improvements
Drawbacks:
Lack of additional learning opportunities
Continuing to pay employees for obsolete skills
Paying for skills of no immediate use to the organization
Paying for a skill, not for performance of the skill
7-21
Employees tailor their benefit program to meet
their personal need by picking and choosing from
a menu of benefit options.
Modular Plans
Predesigned benefits packages for specific groups of
employees
Core-Plus Plans
A core of essential benefits and a menu-like selection
of other benefit options
Flexible Spending Plans
Allowemployees to use their tax-free benefit dollars
to purchase benefits and pay service premiums
7-22
Intrinsic Rewards: Stimulate Intrinsic Motivation
Personal attention given to employee
Approval and appreciation for a job well done
Growing in popularity and usage
Benefits of Programs
Fulfill
employees’ desire for recognition
Inexpensive to implement
Encourage repetition of desired behaviors
Drawbacks of Programs
Susceptible to manipulation by management
Exhibit 7-4
7-23
Job Characteristics and Job Enrichment
Inconsistent results across cultures
Telecommuting
U.S.does this more, but EU workers are
interested in it
Variable Pay
Notmuch research available, but some possible
hypotheses on relationships
Flexible Benefits
This concept is becoming more prevalent globally
Employee Benefits
Practices must be modified to match culture
7-24
To Motivate Employees:
Recognize individual differences
Use goals and feedback
Allowemployees to participate in decisions that
affect them
Link rewards to performance
Check the reward system for equity
7-25
