1. Chapter 6: Creating a Motivating Work Setting
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

2. ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Chapter Objectives
Appreciate the advantages and disadvantages of the scientific management approach to job design
Describe the job characteristics model and its implications for using job design to create a motivating work setting
Understand implications of the social information processing model
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

3. ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Chapter Objectives
Appreciate how and why organizational objectives can motivate employees
Describe goal setting theory and the kinds of goals that contribute to a motivating work setting
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

4. Figure 6.1 Motivation Tools
This figure illustrates the use of job design and goal setting as key factors in motivating employees by linking job design and goal setting to the motivation equation.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

5. ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
What is Job Design?
Linking specific tasks to specific jobs
Deciding what techniques, equipment, and procedures should be used to perform those tasks
Job design may increase motivation and encourage good performance
Managers design jobs to increase motivation and encourage employees to perform well, enjoy their work, and receive outcomes available to those who perform at an acceptable level.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

6. Job Design: Early Approaches
Scientific Management
Job Enlargement
Job Enrichment
These three theories represent the early approaches to job design. Each suggests how new and existing jobs can be designed to improve motivation and performance. Some can also be used to design a job so that performing the job will promote job satisfaction.
These approaches are discussed on the following slides.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

7. Scientific Management
A set of principles and practices stressing job simplification and specialization
There is one best way to perform any job
Management’s responsibility is to determine what that way is
Time and Motion Studies
Scientific management was developed in 1911 by Frederick W. Taylor. He published his ideas in a book entitled The Principles of Scientific Management. Taylor was concerned that employees were slacking off and not performing as highly as they should on their jobs.
He believed that following the principles of job simplification and job specialization would help managers determine the best way to perform each job.
Job simplification is the breaking up of work that needs to be performed in an organization into the smallest identifiable tasks. Jobs are then designed around these narrow tasks.
Job specialization is the assignment of employees to perform small, simple tasks. Employees specialize, or focus exclusively, on those tasks.
Time and motion studies reveal exactly how long it takes to perform a task and the best way to perform it.
Pay is the principal outcome used to motivate employees to contribute their inputs.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

8. Disadvantages of the Scientific Management Method
Loss of control
Repetitive, boring tasks
Meaningless, monotonous work
High job dissatisfaction
No opportunity to develop and acquire new skills
Scientific management focuses exclusively on extrinsic motivation and ignores the important role of intrinsic motivation. This narrow focus results in the disadvantages listed above.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

9. ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Job Enlargement
Increasing the number of tasks an employee performs but keeping all of the tasks at the same level of difficulty and responsibility
Horizontal job loading
Do more tasks
Equal level of responsibility
Intended to increase intrinsic motivation
Job enlargement was the first widespread attempt to counteract some of the disadvantages of designing jobs according to the principles of scientific management. This movement started in the late 1940s and continued through the 1950s.
It is referred to as horizontal job loading because the content of a job is expanded but the difficulty remains constant.
Proponents thought that increasing the number of tasks performed on a job would increase intrinsic motivation. It was put into effect by companies such as IBM, Maytag, and AT&T. Some reported success but others did not. This is not surprising. Even though employees with enlarged jobs could perform more than one simple task, the tasks could still be boring.
In response to the limited effects of job enlargement, job enrichment emerged in the 1960s. Job enrichment is discussed on the next slide.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

10. ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Job Enrichment
Designing jobs to provide opportunities for employee growth by giving employees more responsibility and control over their work
Vertical job loading
Based on Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene Theory
Job enrichment is referred to as vertical job loading because employees are given some of the responsibilities that used to belong to their supervisors.
It is aimed at increasing intrinsic motivation so that employees enjoy their jobs more. When employees are given more responsibility, they are more likely to feel competent and to feel that they have control over their own work behaviors.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

11. ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Enrichment Methods
Allow employees to plan their own work schedules
Allow employees to decide how the work should be performed
Allow employees to check their own work
Allow employees to learn new skills
These are methods a manager can use to enrich existing jobs.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

12. The Job Characteristics Model
Skill variety
Task identity
Task significance
Autonomy
Feedback
The Job Characteristics Model was proposed by Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham in the 1970s and built on the early approaches. They attempted to identify exactly which job characteristics contribute to intrinsically motivating work and what the consequences of these characteristics are. According to this model, any job has five core dimensions that affect intrinsic motivation. The higher a job scores on each dimension, the higher the level o intrinsic motivation.
Skill variety is the extent to which a job requires an employee to use a number of different skills, abilities, or talents. Employees are more intrinsically motivated by jobs that are high on skill variety.
Task identity is the extent to which a job involves performing a whole piece of work from its beginning to its end. The higher the level of task identity, the more intrinsically motivated an employee is likely to be.
Task significance is the extent to which a job has an impact on their lives or work of other people in or out of the organization. Employees are more likely to enjoy performing their jobs when they think their jobs are important in the wider scheme of things.
Autonomy is the degree to which a job allows an employee the freedom and independence to schedule work and decide how to carry it out. High autonomy generally contributes high levels of intrinsic motivation.
Feedback is the extent to which performing a job provides a employee with clear information about his or her effectiveness. Receiving feedback has a positive effect on intrinsic motivation.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

13. ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Job Diagnostic Survey
Scales used to measure the five dimensions
Allows for the computation of a job’s motivating potential score
A measure of the overall potential of a job to foster intrinsic motivation
Average of skill variety, task identity, and task significance multiplied by autonomy and feedback
Identifies the dimensions most in need of redesign
Hackman and Oldham developed the Job Diagnostic Survey to measure employees’ perceptions of their jobs on each of the core dimensions. The scales used to measure the five dimensions are shown in Figure 7.2. It is possible to compute the job’s motivating potential score. The motivating potential score (MPS) is a measure of the overall potential of a job to foster intrinsic motivation.
Since the Job Diagnostic Survey provides for each of the core dimensions a score ranging from a low of 1 to a high of 7, the lowest MPS possible for a job is 1 and the highest MPS possible is 343 (7 * 7 * 7). Hackman and Oldham suggest that an average motivating potential score for jobs in U.S. corporations is around 128.
It can also be used to identify the core dimensions that are most in need of redesign in order to increase a job’s motivating potential score.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

14. Figure 6.3 Sample Job Diagnostic Survey Profiles
This figure shows a survey profile for a gardener who works for a landscape company. The gardener’s levels of task identity and autonomy are especially low and should be the main focus of any redesign efforts.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

15. Ways to Redesign Jobs to Increase MPS
Combine tasks so that an employee is responsible for work from start to finish
Group tasks into natural work units
Allow employees to interact with customers or clients
Vertically load jobs to give employees more control and higher levels of responsibility
Open feedback channels
This list is excerpted from Table 7.1. The table lists these common ways to redesign jobs in order to increase MPS, identifies the core job dimensions affected by each method, and provides an example.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

16. Job Dimensions and Psychological States
Experienced meaningfulness of the work
Experienced responsibility for work outcomes
Knowledge of results
Hackman and Oldham proposed that the five core job dimensions contribute to three critical psychological states that determine how employees react to the design of their jobs: experienced meaningfulness of the work, experienced responsibility for work outcomes, and knowledge of results.
Experienced meaningfulness of the work is the degree to which employees feel their jobs are important.
Experienced responsibility for work outcomes is the extent to which employees feel that they are personally responsible or accountable for their job performance.
Knowledge of results is the degree to which employees know how well they perform their jobs on a continuous basis. It stems from the core dimension of feedback.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

17. Work and Personal Outcomes
High intrinsic motivation
High job performance
High job satisfaction
Low absenteeism and turnover
Hackman and Oldham further proposed that the critical psychological states result in four key outcomes for employees and their organizations.
When the five core dimensions are high, employees will be intrinsically motivated. They will also be motivated to perform at a high level. They will be more satisfied because they will have more opportunities for growth and development on the job. When employees enjoy performing their jobs, they will be less likely to be absent or quit.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

18. ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

19. Individual Differences
Growth-need strength
Knowledge and skills
Satisfaction with the work context
The Job Characteristics Model acknowledges the role that individual differences play in determining how employees respond to the design of their jobs.
Growth-need strength is the extent to which an individual wants his or her work to contribute to personal growth, learning, and development.
Knowledge and skills at an appropriate level enable employees to perform their jobs effectively. When employees do not have the necessary knowledge and skills, the relationships depicted in Figure 7.4 may be weak or even negative.
Satisfaction with the work context describes how satisfied employees are with extrinsic outcomes they receive from their jobs. Hackman and Oldham reasoned that when employees are dissatisfied with their work context, they spend much of their energy trying to deal with their dissatisfaction with the context and are not able to appreciate and respond to the potential for intrinsic motivation on their jobs.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

20. The Social Information Processing Model
Factors other than the core dimensions influence how employees respond to job design
Social information
Social environment provides employees with information about how they should evaluate their jobs and work outcomes
The Job Characteristics Model is complemented by another approach to job design, the social information processing model. It was developed in 1978 by Gerald Salancik and Jeffrey Pfeffer. According to this model, factors other than the core dimensions specified by Hackman and Oldham influence how employees respond to the design of their jobs. Salancik and Pfeffer propose that how employees perceive and respond to the design of their jobs is influenced by social information and by employees’ own past behaviors.
Social environment refers to the other individuals with whom employees come into contact at work. It includes co-workers, supervisors, and other members of the work group. The model suggests that the social environment provides employees with information about how they should evaluate their jobs and work outcomes.
The increasing reliance of organizations on contingent employees has some interesting implications for social environments at work. Contingent workers are employees organizations hire or contract with on a temporary basis to fill needs for labor which change over time. They have little job security and loyalty to their organizations.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

21. Meeting Organizational Objectives
Social Identity Theory
Goal Setting
Management by Objectives (MBO)
Organizational objectives describe the overarching purpose of an organization – what it stands for and what it seeks to accomplish. Organizational objectives contribute to creating a motivating work setting because they can provide employees with a sense of meaning and purpose.
These three theories address the role of objectives in creating a motivating work setting. They are discussed further on the following slides.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

22. Social Identity Theory
People tend to classify themselves and others into social categories
Team membership
Religious affiliation
Social identity theory indicates that people tend to classify themselves and others into social categories such as a member of a certain group or team, religion, political party, or organization. When people identify with an organization, one of the ways in which they define themselves is in terms of being a member of the organization and they see their destiny as being connected to the destiny of the organization.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

23. ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Goal Setting
Explains what types of goals are most effective in producing high levels of motivation and performance
Emphasizes how to motivate employees to contribute inputs to their jobs
Stresses importance of ensuring that employees’ inputs result in acceptable levels of job performance
A goal is what an individual is trying to accomplish through his or her behavior and actions. Goal-setting theory focuses on how to motivate employees to contribute inputs to their jobs.
Edwin Locke and Gary Latham are the leading figures in goal-setting theory and research. They suggest that the goals employees try to attain at work have a major impact on their levels of motivation and performance.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

24. ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Goal Characteristics
Specificity
Difficulty
Specific goals lead to higher performance than do vague goals or no goals. Difficult goals lead to higher motivation and performance than do easy or moderate goals. Difficult goals are goals that are hard (but not impossible) for most employees to reach. Moderate goals can be achieved, on average, by about half of the people working toward the goal.
The major proposition of goal-setting theory is that goals that are both specific and difficult lead to higher motivation and performance than do easy, moderate, or vague goals or no goals at all. This is true whether the goals are set by managers for their subordinates, by employees for themselves, or by managers and employees together.
It is important that the goals be accepted and that employees are committed to attaining goals.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

25. How Do Goals Affect Motivation?
By directing employees’ attention and action toward goal-relevant activities
By encouraging higher levels of effort
By encouraging the development of action plans
By causing persistence in the face of difficulty
This slide explains how goals affect motivation and performance.
There are limits to goal-setting theory. Specific, difficult goals will not lead to high motivation and performance when employees lack the skills and abilities needed to perform at a high level, when employees are given complicated and difficult tasks that require all of their attention and require a considerable amount of learning, and when employees need to be creative.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

26. Management By Objectives (MBO)
Goal-setting process
Setting and evaluation of goals with manager on periodic basis
Basic Steps
Goal setting
Implementation
evaluation
MBO is a goal-setting process in which a manager meets periodically with the manager who is his or her supervisor to set goals and evaluate the extent to which previously set goals have been achieved. The objective of MBO is to make sure that all goals that are set contribute to organizational effectiveness. MBO programs are usually reserved for managers. Although the form and content varies from organization to organization, most MBO programs have three basic steps.
The success of a MBO program depends on the appropriateness and difficulty of the goals that are set.
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

27. Figure 6.5 Basic Steps in MBO
Goal
setting
Implementation
Evaluation
DDG 2183
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR