Kim Woods Only (613 3.2 Disc)

Post #1

The text states that “high performing companies do a better job of understanding and responding to the needs of both employees and customers.  As a result, they attract better people who are motivated to do a superior job.”  I think that this ‘appreciation’ of human resources from a management perspective enables organizations to productively enhance its efficiency in, and quality of, its human capital.  By embracing the capabilities of the organization’s human assets, its leadership can foster growth and align employees with the prospective successes toward organizational goals.  While practical motivators can be applied like pay increases and career advancements, the subtler approaches are also effective, like community incentives and recognition focused individual efforts leading to the group success.

 Another insight for motivating employees is through the benefit of an individual having goals aligned and a sense-of-purpose in the greater organizational picture.  The impact of an individual’s role in an organization is felt in smaller communities and the motivation can be attributed to the direct effect on the organization from the role the person fills.  This is tougher to embody for an individual in a much larger organization.  The individual may feel that their efforts are lessened due to their minimal impact on a large organization, marking a stark influence on their motivation.  Their talents and efforts can be overlooked as well.  Plainly, their perspective on the role they fill may not be detrimental in the grand scheme.  Applying the perspective garnered by the quote above can re-establish worth and motivation for the individual in the larger organization.

 With regard to reinforcement theory, I had a subordinate that had no cause for motivation or goals for his place in the organization.  The situation was new and perplexing to me.  He was hired to perform specific tasks and fill a specific role, but he simply did not want to do anything productive, take responsibilities, or commit to group involvement.  We ultimately let him go, but we initially tried the theory of reinforcement.  The reward and punishment methods did not work.  We made efforts to provide perspective of his worth and impact on the organization to no avail.  The extinction method failed too.  We approached him with the consequences of terminating his employment, which he preferred, after he questioned why he was under our employ to begin with.

 Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2013). Reframing organizations artistry, choice, and leadership. San Francisco, CA. Jossey-Bass.

Post #2

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory is known to be the oldest most influential and commonly used model that theorizes causes for one to have motivation at work. The five basic needs of Maslow’s theory ranked from lowest to highest are: physiological, safety, social/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization (Bolman & Deal, 2013). Initially Maslow postulated that, “once lower needs are fulfilled, individuals move up to social needs (for belongingness, love, and inclusion) and ego needs (for esteem, respect, and recognition)” (Bolman & Deal, 2013). However, later Maslow clarified “that satisfaction of a needs is not an“all-or-none” phenomenon, admitting that his earlier statements may have given “the false impression that a need must be satisfied 100 percent before the next need emerges” (Mcleod, n.d.).

One insight this theory provides into motivating employees is that the first four needs are referred to as deficiency needs, therefore, “Deficiency needs arise due to deprivation and are said to motivate people when they are unmet. Also, the motivation to fulfill such needs will become stronger the longer the duration they are denied. For example, the longer a person goes without food, the more hungry they will become” (Mcleod, n.d.). Another example using an organizational setting is that an employee may be more motivated to complete their work on time in the most efficient manner and slack off less at work to avoid having to take their unfinished work home to complete. Having to take work home to complete can conflict with one’s physiological needs, therefore an employee may be more motivated to perform better at work. Another insight it provides into motivating employees is regarding the fulfillment of the self-actualization need. The self-actualization need is referred to growth and/or being needs. “Growth needs do not stem from a lack of something, but rather from a desire to grow as a person. Once these growth needs have been reasonably satisfied, one may be able to reach the highest level called self-actualization” (Mcleod, n.d.)). However some may continue to feel growth needs and develop a stronger urge for them once they have been engaged. For example, an employee and/or individual who has a desire to grow as a person will constantly and continuously feel the desire to grow, leaving them wanting to do and learn more. “With self-actualization, the employee will be interested in growth and individual development. He will also need to be skilled at what he does. He may want a challenging job, an opportunity to complete further education, increased freedom from supervision, or autonomy to define his own processes for meeting organizational objectives” (Tanner, 2018). For example, no employee will want to do the exact same work for 20 plus years, which is why they will be motivated towards their work and eventually would work towards fulfilling their need of self-actualization.

References

 Bolman, L.G., & Deal, T.E. (2013). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, & leadership (5th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

 Mcleod, S. (n.d.). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved March 20, 2018, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

 Tanner, R. (2018, February 21). Motivation – Applying Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory. Retrieved March 20, 2018, from https://managementisajourney.com/motivation-applying-maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-theory/

Post #3

Motivation simply defined is providing someone with the will to act in order to accomplish a mission.  The theory I have chosen is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.   Maslow was of the notion that people become actualized to accomplish higher motives only after they have fulfilled certain basic needs According to Maslow, individuals must meet the needs at the lower levels of the pyramid before they can successfully be motivated to tackle the next levels. The lowest four levels represent deficiency needs, and the upper three levels represent growth needs (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2007).  There are four types of needs that must be satisfied before a person can act unselfishly, these are; psychological, safety, belonging, and esteem.  For example, before health and financial security becomes a priority, physiological needs for food and water must be met first.  Another example, if you are homeless and do not know where your next meal is coming from, it is very unlikely that you will be concerned with financial security

Expectancy theory, assumes that behavior results from conscious choices among alternatives whose purpose it is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain.   Vroom realized that an employee's performance is based on individual’s factors such as personality, skills, knowledge, experience and abilities.  Employees have personal goals which they like to achieve and for this reason they work in organizations (Parijat, 2014). Parijat, believes that there are four variables that matter to an employee in motivation; individual effort, individual performance, organizational rewards/work outcomes and personal goals.

Equity theory focuses on two sides: the input and the outcome.  An employee compares his or her job’s inputs with an outcomes ratio. If the employee perceives inequality, he or she will act to correct the inequity.  The employee may lower productivity or reduce the quality of their job.  Many times inequities can lead to an increase in absenteeism and even resignation of an organization (Greenberg, 1999).  When two people exchange something there is the likelihood that one or both of them will fill the value of the exchange is not equal.

Management by Objectives (MBO) is a personnel management technique where managers and employees work together to set, record and monitor goals for a specific period of time. Organizational goals and planning flow top-down through the organization and are translated into personal goals for organizational members.  In an organization where management and employees respect each other and work towards a common goal, the organization is more likely to increase profit as well as the morale of its employees.

References

 

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2013). Reframing organizations artistry, choice, and leadership. San Francisco, CA. Jossey-Bass

(n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2018, from https://study.com/academy/lesson/maslows-safety-needs-examples-definition-quiz.html#transcriptHeader

D. Martin and K. Joomis, Building Teachers: A Constructivist Approach to Introducing Education,

(Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2007)

VROOM’S EXPECTANCY THEORY. AN EMPIRICAL STUDY: CIVIL ... (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2018, from http://www.bing.com

Greenberg, J. (1999). Managing behavior in organizations. 2nd

edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.