APPLICATION OF MOTIVATIONAL THEORIES

Application of Motivational Theories

            Motivation theories have several important practical applications, although some of their explanations and predictions are disputed. In applying motivation theories at workplace, both intrinsic and extrinsic aspects of the job must be considered. Intrinsic factors are directly related to the contents of a job while extrinsic factors are related to the context or environment in which the job is performed. Thus, various ‘applications of motivation theories are as follows:

1. Rewards: Rewards play an important role in motivating employees. Companies reward their employees with both tangible goods, as well as praise. For example, a sales department may offer a monthly bonus to the highest earner. Not all tangible rewards come in the form of money. Some companies host free lunches, or give away company gear to good workers. Many managers choose to reward their best employees by simply praising them for a job well done, or by recognising the hard work they put into a project. According to Maslow’ s need theory rewards should focus on satisfying individual needs, especially the higher-order needs. Bearing in mind the complexity and variability of needs, it is necessary to understand what needs may be relevant and how they vary. It is also necessary to avoid crude approaches to meeting them. Motivation policies and reward practices must recognise that people are different. Herzberg’s two-factor theory also emphasises the significance of the intrinsic motivating factors when considering reward policies.
2. Job Design: Besides rewards, specialists emphasise job itself as a source of motivation. The process of assigning tasks to a job, including interdependency of those tasks with other jobs, is cal1ed job design. Job design has ,a critical impact on organisation and employee objectives. From the organisation’s perspective, the way tasks and responsibilities are grouped can affect productivity and costs. Jobs that are not satisfying or are too demanding are difficult to fill. Boring jobs may experience higher turnover. For an employee, motivation and job satisfaction are affected by the match between job factor (content, qualifications and rewards) and personal needs. A thoughtful job design, therefore, can help both the organisation and its employees achieve their objectives. Poorly designed job, on the other hand, may lead to lower productivity, employee turnovers absenteeism, complaints, unionisation, resignations and other problems. It was Herzberg who conceived job design as an important instrument to motivate employees. Since then, job design has been used extensively all over the World.
3. Employee Involvement Programmes: Employee involvement has become a catch-all term to cover a variety of techniques. It encompasses employee participation or participative management, workplace democracy, empowerment, and employee ownership. Employee involvement is a participative process that uses the entire capacity of employees and is designed to encourage increased commitment to the organisation’s success. The underlying logic is that by involving workers in those decisions that affect them and by increasing their autonomy and control over their work lives, employees will become more motivated, more committed to the organisation, more productive, and more satisfied with their jobs. Participation and employee involvement are not synonyms. Participation is a more limited term and is a sub-set within the larger framework of employee involvement. Various forms of employee involvement programmes are participative management, employee stock ownership plans, quality circles, etc. Employee involvement draws on a number of the motivation theories. For example, Theory Y is consistent with participative management, and Theory X aligns with the more traditional autocratic style of managing people. In terms of two-factor theory, employee involvement programmes could provide employees with intrinsic motivation by increasing opportunities for growth, responsibility, and involvement in the work itself. Similarly, the opportunity to make and implement decisions and then seeing them work out can. help satisfy an employee’s needs for responsibility, achievement, recognition, growth, and enhanced selfnd esteem. So employee involvement is compatible with ERG theory and efforts to stimulate the achievement need. And extensive employee involvement programmes clearly have the potential to increase employee intrinsic motivation in work tasks.
4. Management by Objective (MBO): Management by Objectives (MBO) is a systematic and organized approach that allows management to focus on achievable goals and to attain the best possible results from available resources. It aims to increase organisational performance by aligning goals and subordinate objectives throughout the organisation. Ideally, employees get strong input to identify their objectives, time lines for completion, etc. MBO includes ongoing tracking and feedback in the process to reach objectives. The core aim of management by objectives is the alignment of company goals and subordinate objectives properly, so everyone in the organisation works towards achieving the same organisational goal. In order to identify the organisational goals, the upper management usually follows techniques such as GQM (Goal, Questions and Metrics).
5. Employee Recognition Programmes: According to Herzberg, recognition is an important motivator and satisfier. Recognising an employee in front of the peers can motivate the employee to do a good job the next time too. Employee recognition programmes formally accept that the employee has done an excellent job. Some organisations also put out a write up about the employee’s achievement in the newsletter or notice boards. Organisations also try to identify an employee as the ‘employee of the week’ or ‘employee of the month’. Such programmes motivate other employees to imitate him. Radiant Info has instituted employee recognition rewards to encourage employees who excel in the work place. Wipro has an employee recognition programme called ‘Encore’. It is directed at recognising employee excellence. This programme is successful in motivating other employees to excel in work performance. The ‘Wipro Hall of Fame’ lists employees who have ‘superlative performance’. It also lists the teams with ‘superlative performance’. The ‘Value creator award’, recognises employee initiative and innovation at HCL.