Drs Joan Harvey and George Erdos Motivation at work Drs Joan Harvey and George Erdos

Motivation Complex area- many theories Studied since early 1900s Largely based on American and Western European theorists Taylor and scientific management was the first Then Hawthorne studies Maslow Herzberg, McGregor Later theories include goal theory, equity theory, expectancy theories

Motivation theories Intrinsic theories: Maslow Physiological- housing, clothing, food and drink Safety and security- job security, burglar alarms, safety features on products Social, love and belongingness- friendships and social support at work, team sports Self esteem- feeling of worth or importance- recognition, promotion, luxury goods Self actualisation- doing what you really want to do at work, education, skills development, ‘experience goods’

Motivators: which is most important to you? [based on Herzberg] Responsibility Achievement Promotion/advancement Pay Company policy Working conditions Interesting work Recognition My development Good style of manager Work colleagues Job security

Motivation theories Murray’s inventory of social needs Arousal theory Including superiority, achievement, play, succourance, nurturance etc. Arousal theory Failure to arouse will have little effect Priming to create arousal Theory X and theory Y and theory Z X and Y relevant insofar as make statements which you can apply at work; Z is Japanese style of management

Incentive and reinforcement theories Studies of role of money Instrumentality Indicative of status Provides some independence and autonomy Principles of incentive theories Perceives reward to be worth the effort Wants that reward Perceives that action will lead to that reward

Utility and related theories Based on nature of utility, usually a product of value and probability, of both success and loss; e.g. more reward not seen to happen for working hard money, social, psychological, appearance, injury Need for achievement nAch and fear of failure Need for affiliation Need for power Equity theory Motivational calculus and expectancy theory

Modern intrinsic theories Cognitive evaluation theory Curiosity, incongruity and discrepancy Competence, mastery, efficacy and challenge Personal control over environment and self-determination

Other motivational issues Unconscious motivation Work behaviours or products as substitutes and fulfillments Reinforces needs that one is unaware of Semiotics and the meaning of NVBs, or goods, logos, symbolism and ritual gift giving

So what would you do? You are now manager of a department managing accounts within a large company. There are 20 people; they have been there for many years and all are older than you. They have some qualifications but cannot work directly as accountants as their qualifications are lower grade They have mostly reached the highest work grade that they can, so there are few opportunities for you to promote them Because the pay scales are determined by a general company agreement you are not in control of any budget to pay them more. As a group, they are not performing well, and seem relatively unhappy at work.

Job satisfaction Thousands of journal articles Thought now that shared variance between JS and work performance is 20-25% Links to absenteeism, labour T/O, accident rates, well-being and mental health at work

Different types of workplace attitudes: job satisfaction A pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or job experiences (Locke, 1976). Components include: pay and benefits co-workers supervision recognition the work itself career opportunities job security working conditions

Motivational mix Multiple motives Approach and avoidance issues [Lewin] Force of inertia Strong in 50% of people, opposite to embracing change Involvement Antecedents – what happened before Properties- feelings and behaviour when involvement aroused Outcomes- depend on interaction of antecedents and properties as above Preferences for different types of motive: e.g. when of equal value to employer, differences in what people prefer: Pay increase.. or more holidays… or less hours… or more pension…. or health insurance… ??

HOWEVER……. These theories are all Western European and especially American in nature There are different motives in other cultures: Maslow in totally different order Harmony, not letting the team down, quality of work as motivators Being strongly motivated by money may be unacceptable in some cultures Some theories, e.g. equity, goal-directed, expectancy, Maslow and even Herzberg need to be rethought Motivation must always be considered in relation to the cultures involved

Thank you for listening Joan Harvey