Everything you need to know about motivating your employees. This article will also help to learn about the followings:
- How to Motivate Employees?
- Methods of Motivating Employees in an Organisation
- 5 Ways to Motivate Employees
- Team Motivation Ideas
- How to Motivate Employees in the Workplace
How to Motivate Your Employees: Approaches, Techniques, Methods, Ways and Suggestions
How to Motivate Employees: Top 3 Approach
The approaches are viewpoints held by the manager about the workers. The managers determine what “motivate” workers and then they act accordingly.
Managers have used three basic approaches to motivate employee’s performance:
1. Traditional or Economic Approach.
2. Human Relations or Social Approach.
3. Human Resources or Nature-of-Work Approach.
Approach # 1. Traditional or Economic Approach:
This approach assumes that people are rational and motivated by money. Managers provide wage incentives to motivate workers. This approach is associated with Taylor and scientific management school. It assumed that workers were lazy and managers had better knowledge about the workers’ jobs than the workers could only be motivated by financial rewards. Workers had nothing to contribute beyond their labour.
This approach assumes that ‘money’ is an effective motivator. Money alone can motivate people to accept even unpleasant, boring and repetitive jobs. Also, it can motivate them to perform at a relatively high level. In many situations, this approach is effective.
Approach # 2. Human Relations or Social Approach:
This approach grew out of the work of Elton Mayo and his associates. The proponents of this approach recognized that social contacts, informal talks and personal employee attention at work-place were also important to motivate people. They emphasized the role of social processes in the workplace. They believed that workers want to feel useful and more important, that workers have strong social needs, and that these needs are more important than money in motivating workers.
As a result, workers were given some freedom of self- direction and self-control in carrying out routine activities. They were allowed to make their own decisions on the job. Workers obeyed the orders because supervisors treated them with human behaviour and paid attention to their needs. In both approaches, the object of managers remains the same— “to have workers accept the work situation as established by managers.”
Approach # 3. Human Resources or Nature of Work Approach:
Some theorists such as McGregor, Argyris and Likert criticised the human relations approach as being manipulative. This approach suggests that employees can be motivated by many factors, not only money or the job satisfaction, but also the need for growth, achievement, personal development, or work itself.
This approach is based on the following assumptions:
(a) Work is not inherently distasteful to people.
(b) Most people are already motivated to do a good job.
(c) People want to contribute and are able to make genuine contributions.
(d) Most people can exercise far more creativity. They can use self-direction and self-control.
(e) Contributions themselves are valuable to both individuals and organisations.
A manager who uses this approach believes that work can be interesting and rewarding in itself. The manager focuses on employee’s needs for decision making, responsibility, esteem, meaningful work, job enrichment, job enlargement and personal growth to motivate employees.
The human resources approach departs from the human relations model in these ways:
(a) It views workers as being capable of providing creative inputs to the job (against simply doing as they are told). They have creative skill.
(b) It does not induce workers to comply with managerial goals by giving them high wages, or manipulate them with considerate behaviour. Instead, managers share responsibility for achieving organisational and individual objectives.
(c) It attempts to gain valid employee inputs into the decision making process. It treats workers as valuable ‘resources’.
(d) It views improved performance as the result of increased participation, with high employee morale and satisfaction as a by-product.
Techniques or Methods for Motivation: Top 9 Techniques
Motivation is a planned inducement to the working force offered by an organisation. Since human motives governing human behaviour and attitude towards work are multiple, management can employ a variety of techniques or methods to motivate his staff.
Some important techniques or methods for motivation are as follows:
Technique # (1) Monetary Techniques:
This is based on this popular belief that a man works for money. Therefore, an attraction of getting more money will prove to be the most powerful motivator. Incentives like more pay, fringe benefits, security of tenure, conditions of service etc., are some good and appropriate examples of the monetary techniques of motivation.
Technique #(2) Job-Based Techniques:
These types of techniques are based on social human and psychological beliefs. Job simplification, job-rotation, job-enlargement, job enrichment, freedom in planning for work, sense of recognition, responsibility and achievement are some examples of such techniques.
Technique #(3) MBO Technique-Peter Drucker:
A well-known author of management has developed this technique which emphasizes on self-control and self-motivation. It is a participatory technique of motivation whereby managers and their subordinates jointly participate in achieving the common goals. It requires an emphasis on management by objectives policy in the concern.
Technique #(4) Supervisory Techniques:
This is also called ‘Leadership’ styles. This technique plays a very important role in motivation of employees. Autocratic, democratic and free rein techniques of leadership are important styles as they have their own implications of employee’s motivation, morale and productivity. The management must try different supervisory styles in different circumstances for different employees.
Technique #(5) Group Based Techniques:
Herber Bonner a well-known author on management and motivation has advocated group based techniques for motivating the employees. According to him—”Motivation is not wholly, nor even primarily, an individual variable.
Its force and direction are functions of the social situation in which it arises and is exercised.” Therefore, the management should foster group consciousness and co-activeness among individual employees by laying down general norms and guidelines of work for the group as a whole.
Technique # (6) Training Techniques or T-Groups:
In this the sensitivity training is imparted to make the managers understand themselves better, becoming more open-minded developing insight into group process and cultivating a systematic approach towards the problem of motivation. A manager thus trained is supposed to be more consistently able and willing to communicate with his sub-ordinates inspire them to contribute their best to the common goals and objective.
How to Motivate Employees: Top 7 Suggestions
We have presented a number of theories and explanations. If you are a manager concerned with motivating your employees, how do you apply these theories?
The following suggestions offered by experts may help you in solving the puzzle to some extent:
Suggestion # 1. Recognize Individual Differences:
Employees are not homogeneous. They have different needs. They also differ in term of attitudes, personalities and other important variables. So, recognize these differences and handle the motivational issues carefully.
Suggestion # 2. Match People to Jobs:
People with high growth needs perform better on challenging jobs. Achievers will do best when the job provides opportunities to participatively set goals and when there is autonomy and feedback. At the same time, keep in mind that, not everybody is motivated in jobs with increased autonomy, variety and responsibility. When the right job is given to the right person, the organisation benefits in innumerable ways.
Suggestion # 3. Use Goals:
Provide specific goals, so that the employee knows what he is doing. Also, let people know what you expect of them. Make people understand that they can achieve the goals in a smooth way. If you expect resistance to goals, invite people to participate in the goal-setting process.
Suggestion # 4. Individualize Rewards:
Use rewards selectively, keeping the individual requirements in mind. Some employees have different needs, what acts as a motivator for one may not for another. So, rewards such as pay, promotion, autonomy, challenging jobs, participative management must be used keeping the mental make-up of the employee in question.
Suggestion # 5. Link Rewards to Performance:
Make rewards contingent on performance. To reward factors other than performance (favoritism, nepotism, regionalism, apple-polishing, yes-sir culture etc.), will only act to reinforce (strengthen) those other factors. Employee should be rewarded immediately after attaining the goals.
At the same time, managers should look for ways to increase the visibility of rewards. Publicize the award of performance bonus, lump sum payments for showing excellence, discussing reward structure with people openly-these will go long way in increasing the awareness of people regarding the reward-performance linkage.
Suggestion # 6. Check the System for Equity:
The inputs for each job in the form of experience, abilities, effort, special skills, must be weighed carefully before arriving at the compensation package for employees. Employees must see equity between rewards obtained from the organisation and the efforts put in by them.
Suggestion # 7. Don’t Ignore Money:
Money is a major reason why most people work. Money is not only a means of satisfying the economic needs but also a measure of one’s power, prestige, independence, happiness and so on. Money can buy many things. It can satisfy biological needs (food, shelter, sex, recreation, etc.) as well as security, social and esteem needs.
How to Motivate Employees?
From Theory to Practice – Suggestions for Motivating Employees:
The idea was to get an insight about how to motivate employees so that they can contribute their optimum towards the organization goals. While there’s no simple, all-encompassing set of guidelines, the following suggestions may be drawn from the theories we have discussed-
1. Recognize Individual Differences:
Almost every contemporary motivation theory recognizes that employees aren’t homogeneous. They have different perceptions, values, needs, and abilities, individuals differ in their basic motivational drives. It also depends upon their areas of interest. The concept of motivation is situational and its level varies between different individuals, at different times.
If you understand what motivates people, you have at your command the most powerful tool for dealing with them. For instance, if a person has high need for achievement, assigning a challenging job to him may be a good motivator.
2. Match People to Jobs:
There’s a great deal of evidence showing the motivational benefits of carefully matching people to jobs. For example- high achievers should be sought for a job of running a small business or an autonomous unit within a larger business. However, if the job to be filled is a managerial slot in a large bureaucratic organization, a candidate having high need for power and low need for affiliation should be selected.
3. Use Goals:
Managers should attempt to relate the goals of the organization with the goals of the employees. Ensure that the employees accept the goals of the organization. Now the question is – should the goals be assigned by a manager, or should employees participate in setting goals?
The answer depends on your perception of goal acceptance by employees and the organization’s culture. If you expect resistance to goals, the use of participation should increase acceptance. If participation is inconsistent with the culture, use assigned goals.
4. Ensure that Goals are Perceived as Attainable:
Regardless of whether goals are actually attainable, employees who see these goals as unattainable will reduce their effort-their feeling being “why bother”. Managers must be sure, therefore, that employees feel confident that increased efforts can lead to performance goals. For managers, this means that employees must be capable of doing the job and must perceive the performance appraisal process as both reliable and valid.
5. Individualize Rewards:
Managers should use their knowledge of employee differences to individualize the rewards over which they have control. Some of the more obvious rewards that managers allocate include pay, promotions, autonomy, and the opportunity to participate in goal setting and decision making.
6. Link Rewards to Performance:
Managers need to base the rewards on performance. Key rewards such as pay increases and promotions should be given for the attainment of the employee’s specific goals. Managers should also look for ways to increase the visibility of rewards.
7. Try to Make the Rewards Personal, Public and Immediate:
Rewards are most effective if they are personal, public and immediate. If you wait six months to reward an employee for a job well done, it loses some of its impact. If you do it personally, one-on-one, and discuss specifics of the work that was well-done, it is more powerful. If you do all of this publicly, through an annual awards dinner or a newsletter, it increases its impact several fold.
8. Check the System for Equity:
Employees should perceive that rewards or outcomes are equal to the inputs given. On a simplistic level, experience, ability, effort, and other obvious inputs should explain differences in pay, responsibility, and other obvious outcomes.
9. Don’t Ignore Money:
It’s easy to get so caught up in setting goals, creating interesting jobs, and providing opportunities for participation that one forgets that money is a major reason why most people work. Thus, the allocation of performance-based wage increases, piecework bonuses, and other pay incentives is important in determining employee motivation.
However, non-monetary awards are also important. Managers should try to reach at an appropriate combination of monetary and non-monetary rewards.
10. Use Group Dynamics:
Managers should be able to identify the informal groups within the organization, and must be aware of their attitude and preferences so that group psychology can be used for motivating it.
11. Employee Development/Feedback:
Feedback and communication between managers and supervisors is very important when it is open, clear, and based on mutual respect. Performance Management systems (the good ones) provide for these functions.
Reward and Punishment – How Important?
Almost all theories of motivation leads to a conclusion that management has to do something to motivate their employees. What is that ‘something’ differs on the basis of individuality of employees, their need levels, etc? Further, while discussing suggestions for designing motivation plan, we talk of individualisation of rewards, linking rewards with performance, equity in rewards, and recognising value of money.
The ultimate truth is that – rewards are needed to motivate employees, and any discrepancy in reward system can demotivate him. In this context, we would have a glance on the most primitive theory of motivation and relate this theory to the modern theories, in the following para.
1. Carrot and Stick Approach to Motivation:
The traditional view of people at work can be best appreciated by a brief look at the work of Jeremy Bentham, an English philosopher, whose ideas were developed in the early years of the Industrial Revolution, around 1800. Bentham’s view was that all people are self-interested and motivated by the desire to avoid pain and seek pleasure.
Any worker will work only if the reward is big enough, or he may undergo punishment that is unpleasant. This view-the ‘carrot and stick’ approach – was built into the philosophies of the age and is still to be found, especially in the older, more traditional sectors of industry.
It comes from the old story to make a donkey move, one must put a carrot in front of him or dab him with a stick from behind. This metaphor relates, of course, to the use of awards and penalties in order to induce desired behaviour.
Despite all the research on the theories of motivation, reward and punishment are still considered strong motivators. For centuries, however, they were too often thought of as the only forces that could motivate people. In an article, Harry Levinson describes his experience- “Frequently, I have asked executives this question- What is the dominant philosophy of motivation in management? Almost invariably, they quickly agree that it is the carrot-and-stick philosophy – reward and punishment.”
The various leading theories of motivation and motivators seldom make reference to the carrot and the stick. At the same time, in all theories of motivation, the inducements of some kind of ‘carrot’ are recognized. Often this is money in the form of pay or bonuses or commissions.
Or non-monetary rewards like higher status, job enrichment, and the like. For instance, Maslow’s need theory talks about monetary rewards to the person at lower needs level, Achievement motivation theory talks about motivating a high achievement needing person by providing him a challenging task, and so on.
The ‘stick’ is there in the form of fear-fear of loss of job, loss of income, reduction of bonus, demotion, or some other penalty-has been and continues to be a strong motivator. Fear of penalty cannot be overlooked.
Whether managers are first-level supervisors or chief executives, the power of their position to give or withhold rewards or impose penalties of various kinds gives them an ability to control, to a very great extent, the economic and social well-being of their subordinates.
In the following, we would discuss the various kinds of rewards and punishment used as tools of motivation-
2. Choosing Right Kind of Motivators- Rewards or Punishment:
In the crude sense there are only two tools of motivation – rewards and punishment. Again, punishment and rewards are two sides of the same coin. “Do this and you’ll get that” is not really very different from “Do this or here’s what will happen to you.” Following discussion would help us knowing the various forms of rewards a manager can use as motivators.
Again, there are only two types of motivators, internal or intrinsic and external or extrinsic. Even though in most of the research there seemed to be a belief that intrinsic motivators had essentially more impact, there didn’t appear to be as much written about intrinsic compared to extrinsic.
An extrinsic motivator is any act or thing that is openly done for or to someone with the intent of producing a predetermined behaviour or change in behaviour. In other words they are external stimulus that are intended to encourage a worker to create a certain behaviour or to change a certain behaviour. They can come in many different forms, from public praise, bonus, facilities like company car, and other rewards.
Intrinsic motivation is the motivation which comes from the inside of a person. “It is an emotional preference for a task that gives us pleasure and enjoyment”. Intrinsic motivation is itself the “outcome,” the result of a work situation that people enjoy— because they are in charge, because they have the opportunity to acquire new skills and abilities to match a different challenge, or because they are part of a successful team. Intrinsic motivation leads to astounding creativity and productive energy that seems to have virtually no limit.
Intrinsic motivations tend to be deeper and more personal than extrinsic motivations. And self-motivations are, by definition, intrinsic.
The following motivations are likely to be intrinsic:
1. Enjoyment of the work itself for its own sake.
2. Desire to have a “piece of the action,” such as sharing visions, missions, leadership, authority, and responsibility.
3. Pride in performing excellently.
4. Need to prove some secret point to oneself.
5. Achievement of a deep-seated value (such as helping another person).
6. Having a deep and abiding belief in the importance of the work one is doing.
7. The excitement and pleasure of a challenge.
8. Desire to exceed one’s previous level of job performance (being self-competitive).
A manager is challenged with finding the right types of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards to motivate people. Keep in mind that a reward is anything that serves to turn on that employee. This means that you will need many different kinds of rewards, because every employee is different. If you rely on one reward, you will not be able to motivate very many people.
The most common incentive programs involve “Extrinsic” rewards, such as prizes, trips, money, awards. There is a longstanding literature in psychology that says extrinsic rewards don’t last. They motivate for a while, but then they lose their effectiveness. “Intrinsic” rewards, on the other hand, are more durable and therefore more effective.
Intrinsic rewards are more difficult because they depend on the individual employee. They are designed to tap into that person’s individual needs. Some employees are motivated for flexible hours, others want more responsibility or more difficult challenges. Other employees want to be recognized or want to learn some new skills.
The most effective way to motivate employees is a combination of extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. Often times they can be combined, for instance, an awards dinner can give a top-flight employee both recognition and a financial bonus.
3. Monetary Rewards Compared with the Non-Monetary Rewards:
The first thing management thinks about the way to reward employees is money, and rightly so, because money is the basic requirement of every individual. Needless to count the purposes money can serve – recognition, security, easy life, and so on.
Is Cash Ultimate Reward:
One thing is clear that an individual works for money, and money is able to fulfil many of his needs and desires. But our question is – does a monetary rewards always motivate? The answer is – NO.
Although money is the basic need but a worker look for many more things other than money, like sense of achievement, social recognition, etc. There is a level beyond which money stop working as an effective motivator. Thus, just because too little money can irritate and demotivate does not mean that more and more money will bring about increased satisfaction, much less increased motivation. Further, money has certain limitations as motivator.
According to Schneider, paychecks and other cash incentives fail the following motivation tests:
1. Availability – the company may not have cash available for this purpose
2. Flexibility – paychecks cannot easily be varied from week to week according to performance
3. Reversibility – once given, cash cannot be taken away
4. Performance- level of pay is a better predictor of management level or seniority than performance
5. Visibility – cash transactions are one-to-one only
6. Timeliness- bonuses do not immediately follow the performance of desired behaviours Durability – the impact on motivation is short-term at best
In addition to concrete rewards, Schneider identifies three additional rewards that may give rise to more effective extrinsic motivators-
i. The content of the job itself
ii. Recognition and feedback from coworkers, supervisors, and customers
iii. Accomplishing goals that are challenging and meaningful.
Content of the Job as a Motivation Tool:
Lay man’s meaning of job content is – the kind of work a job contains. Management defines the content of a job through the process of Job Designing.
The term job design refers to the way the tasks are combined to form complete jobs. Properly designed jobs can have a positive impact on the motivation, performance, and job satisfaction of those who perform them. On the other hand, poorly designed jobs can impair motivation, performance, and job satisfaction.
Frederick W. Taylor, after his vast management studies concluded that jobs should be scientifically studied, broken down into small component tasks, and then standardized across all workers doing the jobs. Apparently, this job specialization appears to be a rational and efficient way to structure jobs. But these highly structured and routine jobs make the work uninteresting for employees, and may lead to poor performance. A need was felt to redesign the jobs in order to motivate employees.
When jobs are changed, job redesign takes place. More specifically, job redesign refers to any activities that involve the alternation of specific job (or interdependent systems of jobs) that seeks to increase both the quality of an employee’s work experience and on the-job productivity.
A large stream of research has shown that the redesign of jobs can have an enormous impact on motivation, behaviour, productivity and job satisfaction. Two main steps have been taken towards optimising the redesign of jobs. The first step has been concerned with broadening the scope of people’s work to introduce greater task variety. This has generally taken the form of job rotation, job enlargement, or job enrichment.
1. Job Rotation:
Job rotation is systematically moving workers from one job to another in an attempt to minimize monotony and boredom. For instance, assembling pens might involve four discrete steps- testing the ink cartridge, inserting the cartridge into the barrel of the pen, screwing the cap onto the barrel, and inserting the assembled pen into a box.
One worker performs one of these four tasks. When job rotation is introduced, the tasks themselves stay the same. The only change which comes is that the worker periodically perform each of the four tasks, one task in one period.
Job rotation increases variety by permitting workers to shift jobs periodically. The shifts can include as few as two people-the rotation being merely an exchange of jobs. However, the organization can provide much more elaborate rotation designs where a dozen or more employees are involved.
The strengths of job rotation are that it reduces boredom and increases motivation through diversifying the employee’s activities. Of course, it can also have indirect benefits for the organization since employees with a wider range of skills give management more flexibility in scheduling work, adapting to changes, and filling vacancies.
On the other hand, job rotation is not without its drawbacks. Training costs are increased, and productivity is reduced by moving a worker into a new position just when his efficiency at the prior job was creating organizational economies. Job rotation also creates disruptions.
Members of the work group have to adjust to the new employee. The supervisor may also have to spend more time answering questions and monitoring the work of the recently rotated employee. Finally, job rotation can demotivate intelligent and ambitious trainees who seek specific responsibilities in their chosen specialty.
2. Job Enlargement:
Job enlargement involves giving workers more tasks to perform. Before enlargement, workers perform a single, specialized task; afterward, they have a “larger” job to do. However, if the entire production sequence consisted of simple, easy- to-master tasks, merely doing more of them did not significantly change the worker’s job.
If the task of putting two bolts on a piece of machinery was “enlarged’ to putting on three bolts and connecting two wires, For example- the monotony of the original job essentially remained.
Efforts at job enlargement met with less than enthusiastic results. As one employee who experienced such a redesign on his job remarked, “Before I had one lousy job. Now, through enlargement, I have three!” However, there have been some successful applications of job enlargement. Although job enlargement attacked the lack of diversity in overspecialized jobs, it did little to instill challenge or meaningfulness to a worker’s activities.
3. Job Enrichment:
Bill Gates, on a recent appearance of Larry King, said that “leaders are those who empower others”. He is a master at giving people more and more responsibility, letting them take risks and make mistakes. He gets people to work ungodly hours and love it. How does he do it?
Job enrichment entails giving workers more tasks to perform and more control over how to perform them. The technique of job enrichment is based on the premise that employees could be motivated by positive job-related experiences such as feelings of achievement, responsibility, and recognition.
To achieve this, job enrichment relies on vertical job loading-not only adding more tasks to a job, as in horizontal loading, but giving the employee more control over those tasks. It increases the degree to which the worker controls the planning, execution, and evaluation of his or her job. Job enrichment was introduced to deal with the shortcomings of enlargement.
In the above, we have discussed the job rotation, job enlargement, and job enrichment in context of an individual during the last ten to fifteen years, the focus on redesign options has shifted from the individual to the group. Integrated work teams and autonomous work teams are examples of redesign options developed around group tasks.
4. Integrated Work Teams:
Under this technique, work teams are identified. Instead of assigning a single task to each individual, a large number of tasks are assigned to a group. The group decides the specific assignments of members and be responsible for rotating jobs among the members as the tasks required. The team has a supervisor who would oversee the group’s activities.
You see the frequent use of integrated work team’s activities like building maintenance and construction. In the cleaning of a large office building, it is not unusual for the supervisor to identify the tasks to be completed and then to let the maintenance workers, as a group, choose how the tasks will be allocated. Similarly, a road construction crew frequently decides, as a group, how its various tasks are to be completed.
5. Autonomous Work Teams:
One of the most powerful intrinsic rewards is to let people chose who they want to work with. When people feel part of a team, they subdue their own self-interests for the overall welfare of the team. Many turn down higher paying jobs if they are happy at work and enjoy working with their colleagues. Team building is an effective substitute for pay raises and other extrinsic rewards.
Autonomous work teams represent job enrichment at the group level. The team is given a goal to achieve and then is free to determine work assignments, rest breaks, inspection procedures, and the like. Fully autonomous work teams select their own members and have the members evaluate each other’s performance. As a result, supervisory positions take on decreased importance and may even be eliminated.
6. Quality Circles:
The most recent addition to job redesign alternatives has been the quality circle. Originally begun in the United States and exported to Japan, it developed there and was used extensively. In the 1950s, the quality circle has been imported back to the United States.
What is a quality circle? It’s a work group of eight to ten employees and supervisors who have a shared area of responsibility. They meet regularly-typically once a week, on company time and on company premises-to discuss their quality problems, investigate causes of the problems, recommend solutions, and take corrective actions. They take over the responsibility for solving quality problems, and they generate and evaluate their own feedback.
But management typically retains control over the final decision regarding implementation of recommended solutions. Of course, it is not presumed that employees inherently have this ability to analyze and solve quality problems. Therefore, part of the quality circle concept includes teaching participating employees group communication skills, various quality strategies, and measurement and problem analysis techniques.
Quality Circles have not always produced commendable results in the Indian context.
Quality Circles may fail for a number of reasons, more important of which are:
1. Membership by compulsion
2. Inadequate training in problems analysis
3. Inadequate awareness of the technicalities of the function
4. Lack of group discussion skills
5. Lack of freedom to experiment
6. Lack of operational data to study issues
7. Inadequate management support.
However, the concept of quality circles, if followed in a result oriented way can give tremendous boost to the organization’s performance as has been a happening in Japan.
Employee Recognition as a Motivation Tool:
Recognizing employee as an important individual who has ability to contribute to the objectives of the organization work as an important motivator as it fulfils social and esteem needs of an individual.
1. Employee participation
2. Employee empowerment
3. Management by objectives
1. Employee Participation:
Employee Participation means that the employees are allowed to have a voice in decisions about their own work.
Employees can participate in addressing questions and making decisions about their own jobs. For example- instead of just telling them how to do their jobs, managers can ask employees to make their own decisions about how to do them.
Based on their own expertise and experience with their task, workers might be able to improve their own productivity. In many situations, they might also be well qualified to make decisions about what material is to be used, what tools to use and so forth.
It might also help to let workers make decisions about administrative matters, such as work schedules. If jobs are relatively independent of one another, employees might decide when to change shifts, take breaks, go to lunch, and so forth. A work group or team might also be able to schedule vacations and days off for all of its members.
Methods of Participation:
Participation may take place through informal meetings or through formal meetings, on a one-to-one basis or as a group.
Following are the common methods used to promote the employee participation:
1. Worker directors – employee representative on the board of directors.
2. Works councils – employee representatives form a committee. They have a right to influence policies involving employees and appoint a director to the main board.
3. Quality circles – voluntary group of employees (usually 5-12), meet during working hours to discuss problems relating to their work and they present their ideas to management.
4. Consultative committees – employee representatives are consulted on issues such as health and safety or new developments. They deal with issues affecting the whole firm.
5. Team briefings – the manager meets with employees regularly to discuss issues relevant to their work. Objective is to make sure employees know and understand what they are doing and why.
Leaders who allow participation by subordinates are:
1. Showing concern for subordinate development
2. Sharing their skills with subordinates
3. Expressing confidence and trust in subordinate to perform relieving themselves of some burden, becoming free to attend to other tasks of importance
Leaders may not practice participation if:
1. They do not have faith in their subordinates competence and/or reliability
2. They think that work will be done faster and better without participation
3. They think that participation is a waste of time
4. They do not perceive subordinate development as their responsibility
5. They are afraid they may become redundant
6. The subordinates are not willing to accept responsibility
7. The subordinates are afraid of making mistakes
8. The subordinates do not respect the leader’s competence
9. The subordinates perceive that the leader’s intentions are not bona fide.
Theory Y assumptions will make a leader resort to increasing participation. A leader who does not practice participation is operating on Theory X assumptions, resorting to detailed instructions, and close supervision. A subordinate may not be willing to take responsibility or may be afraid of making mistakes, because the leader is operating on Theory X assumptions.
The extent to which subordinates participate, when given an opportunity to do so, depends on the participants themselves their personal attributes, their motivations, belief systems etc. which may in turn have been influenced by the leaders themselves. Past experiences have an influence.
Advantages of Employee Participation:
Some of the advantages which may result due to employee participation are enumerated below:
1. Participation may result in better decisions. Employees often have information which senior management lacks.
2. People may be more likely to implement decisions they helped make themselves than if these decisions are imposed from above. Not only do they know better what is expected of them, but helping make a decision commits them to it.
3. Motivation is enhanced, by the setting of goals during the participative decision process.
4. Participation may improve communications and cooperation; employees may coordinate each other, thus saving management time. Further, by disseminating the experience in employee problem-solving, participation may facilitate organizational learning. In so doing participation contributes to what is referred to as dynamic (as opposed to static) efficiency.
5. Participative subordinates may supervise themselves, again making managers’ and supervisors’ life easier.
6. Joint participation by employees and management to solve problems on a non- adversarial basis may improve employee-management relations generally.
7. On a personal level, employees may learn new skills through participation; leadership potential may be readily identified and developed.
In short, from an organizational point of view participation may change (a) how employees perceive their jobs, (b) how they do these jobs, and (c) how they and their unions relate to their employer.
Problems Faced in Working on Employee Participation:
Implementing the formula of employee participation entails its own limitations, some of which are:
1. Deciding upon which method of participation is best.
2. Costs (workers technical knowledge, training and expertise in finance).
3. Time.
4. Slower decision making.
5. There may be a conflict of interests.
6. Workers may not want responsibility; managers are paid to make the best use of the company’s assets and the maximization of profit in the long-term.
2. Employee Empowerment:
Empowerment is the process enabling the workers to set their own work goals, make decisions, and solve problems within their sphere of responsibility and authority. In recent years many organizations have actively sought ways to extend participation beyond the traditional areas. One method some firms use to empower their workers is the use of work teams. This method grew out of early attempts to use what Japanese firms call quality circles.
The other method some other organizations use to facilitate empowerment is to change their overall method of organizing. The basic pattern for an organization to eliminate layers from its hierarchy form thereby becoming much more centralized.
Benefits of Employee Empowerment:
Employee empowerment can be a powerful tool.
It can result into many advantages:
1. It can increase productivity and allow managers more time to work on more important business matters.
2. Empowered employees can make decisions and suggestions that will improve customer service, save the company money, and save long drawn out disputes with customers.
3. Empowerment is the best way to promote a good long-lasting employee-customer relationship.
4. Empowerment makes the employees give more inputs to the company which promotes higher productivity.
5. It exercises employees’ minds to find better solutions to problems on the job and increases the employees’ potential for promotions and job satisfaction.
6. It results in personal growth, feelings of confidence and control in themselves and their companies.
7. It makes workers utilize their potentials and it enables them to stand behind their decisions, assume risks, participate and take actions.
8. It is a win-win-win situation. Customers benefit from employees, organizations benefit from the employees and the customers, and employees benefit from higher confidence and self-esteem.
Some disadvantages of employee empowerment include:
1. Employees can abuse the increase in power given to them
2. It can be too much responsibility for some employees
3. Employees may leave if they focus on their own success instead of group successes
4. Managers must facilitate through sharing information, cooperation, and referrals
5. All employees must accept the concept first
6. Increased training and educational costs to the company
7. Increased time in groups which takes away from regular jobs
8. Increased conflict or power struggle
9. Some employees may not be knowledgeable enough to make good business decisions
10. Decisions may be based on personality
3. Management by Objectives (MBO) – A Participative Management Process:
MBO is a collaborative process whereby the manager and each subordinate jointly determine objectives for that subordinate. To be successful MBO programs should include commitment and participation in the MBO process at all levels, from top management to the lowest position in the organization.
MBO begins when the supervisor explains the goals for the department in a meeting. The subordinate takes the goals and proposes objectives for his particular job. The supervisor meets with the subordinate to approve and, if necessary, modify the individual objectives.
Modification of the individual’s objectives is accomplished through negotiation since the supervisor has resources to help the subordinate commit to the achievement of the objective. Thus, a set of verifiable objectives for each individual are jointly determined, prioritized, and formalized.
The supervisor and the subordinate meet periodically to review the latter’s progress. Communication is the key factor in determining MBO’s success or failure. The supervisor gives feedback and may authorize modifications to the objectives or their timetables as circumstances dictate. Finally, the employee’s performance is measured against his objectives, and he is rewarded accordingly.
Steps of a typical MBO program may be summarized as under:
1. The organization’s overall objectives and strategies are formulated.
2. Major objectives are allocated among divisional and departmental units.
3. Unit managers collaboratively set specific objectives for their units with their superiors.
4. Specific objectives are collaboratively set for all department members.
5. Action plans, defining how objectives are to be achieved, are specified and agreed upon by managers and subordinates.
6. The action plans are implemented.
7. Progress toward objectives is periodically reviewed, and feedback is provided.
8. Successful achievement of objectives is reinforced by performance based rewards.
Various Ways of Motivating Employees
Modern organisations have been coming out with various innovative incentive packages in order to attract, retain and motivate their employees. Some of the popular ones include- pay for performance, gain sharing, employee stock ownership, lump-sum bonuses, team-based compensation, flexible work schedules and employee empowerment schemes of various kinds.
Let us discuss these briefly:
Way # 1. Work Scheduling:
Another aspect of job design which has received great attention in the recent past is the scheduling of work hours. The increase in the workforce of dual-career couples with children and the increased realisation by employees that production needs may be better served by varied schedules, have been largely responsible for the shift in work week scheduling. The requirements of balancing work shifts with family and other personal demands, for example, can make work a difficult endeavour for many people.
A manager should recognise at least five alternatives to the traditional 8-hour per day / 5 days per week work schedule, the compressed work week, flexible working hours, job-sharing and part- time work. Each of these approaches shares a common concern for making the workday and its time requirements more compatible with individual needs and non-work activities.
(i) Compressed Work Week:
A compressed work week is any scheduling of work that allows a full-time job to be complete in fewer than the standard five days. The most common form of compressed work week is the “4-40”, that is, 40 hours of work accomplished in four 10-hour days. A 4-40 schedule for a work unit of two employees is shown in Table 22.2. As the table shows, one result of the 4-40 is that employees have three consecutive days off from each week.
This added time off is the source of most benefits associated with compressed work week plans. The individual often benefits from increased leisure time, more three-day weekends, free weekdays to pursue personal business and lower commuting costs. The organisation can benefit, too, in terms of reduced energy consumption during three-day shutdowns, lower employee absenteeism, improved recruiting of new employees and having extra time available for building and equipment maintenance.
The disadvantages may include increased fatigue from the extended workday and family adjustment problems for the individual and increased work scheduling problems and possible customer complaints due to breaks in work coverage for the organisation. Possible constraints on utilisation of compressed work week schedules include occasional union opposition and laws that require some organisations to pay overtime for work that exceeds 8 hours of individual labour in any one day.
(ii) Flexible Working Hours (Flexitime):
Flexitime may be defined as “any work schedule that gives employees daily choice in the timing between work and non-work activities.” A sample flexible working hour schedule is depicted in Table 22.3. Employees are required to work four hours of ‘core’ time. They are then free to choose their remaining four hours of work from among flexible time blocks.
Flexible working hours or ‘flexitime’ increases individual autonomy in work scheduling. Early risers may choose to come in early and leave at 4 pm; late sleepers may choose to start at 10 am and leave at 6 pm. In between these, two extremes are opportunities to attend to such personal affairs as dental appointments, home emergencies, visiting the bank and so on. There are several types of flexitime schedules which vary according to the amount of scheduling flexibility that is allowed.
These include:
a. Flexitour- Workers choose starting and stopping times, which must be adhered to for a set period of time, from among lists provided by the organisation.
b. Gliding time- Workers may vary their starting and finishing times daily, but must work a set number of hours per day.
c. Variable working hours- Workers are free to choose hours irrespective of core time, provided they contract a set number of hours with their supervisors.
d. Maxiflex- Workers have the freedom to vary their hours daily irrespective of core times. Maxiflex is similar to a compressed work week.
e. Flexiplace- Workers may work part of the time outside the workplace, such as home.
Like other alternative work scheduling systems, flexitime has both benefits and disadvantages. Workers find that the flexibility afforded them under flexitime systems increases the amount of time they can spend together with their families. It allows the scheduling of work hours to avoid commuting difficulties and it provides feelings of control over the working environment. For employers, flexitime provides ease of scheduling, reduced overtime costs, higher productivity because of increase in morale.
It is an effective recruiting tool. For employees, there seem to be few, if any, disadvantages of flexitime systems. Employers, however, sometimes find that overhead costs based on variation in hours increases, unions object to the decrease in overtime pay attributable to certain flexitime programmes (such as maxiflex) and many supervisors experience difficulty in managing a flexitime workforce.
(iii) Job-Sharing:
Another alternative work schedule is job-sharing. This occurs when one full- time job is assigned to two persons who then divide the work according to agreements made between themselves and with the employer. Job-sharing often occurs where each person works one half-day, although it can also be done on such bases as weekly or monthly sharing arrangements. Organisations can benefit from job-sharing when they are able to attract talented people who would otherwise be unable to work.
An example is the qualified school teacher who is also a parent. This person may feel unable to be away from the home full day, but able to work a half-day. Through job-sharing, two such persons can be employed to teach one class. Many other opportunities for job-sharing exist.
(iv) Part-Time Work:
There is another work schedule of increasing prominence and controversy in the United States. Part-time work is done on a schedule that classifies any employee as ‘temporary’ and requires less than the standard 40-hour work week. It is estimated that as many as 12 million people or 13 per cent of American workers do part-time work. Some 70 per cent of them are females.
Part-timers are usually easy to release and hire as needs dictate. Because of this, many organisations use part-time work to hold down labour costs and help smooth out peaks and valleys in the business cycle. Part-time work provides benefits both to employers and to society.
Employers find that the use of part-time employees allows for greater flexibility in scheduling, more accurate matching of the workforce to the workload and substantial cost saving because part-time worker usually receives no statutory benefits.
Society benefits because involuntary unemployment, consequently is reduced by providing opportunities to workers who would otherwise be unable to obtain employment. The major disadvantage to part-time work is felt by employers in increased costs and union opposition. Benefits mandated by the government, such as unemployment compensation and social security benefits must be paid for each worker regardless of his working status.
Consequently, several part-time employees fulfilling the job of one full-time worker may be more costly in benefit administration. Finally, unions sometimes object to the use of part-time employees because it reduces the job opportunities available for their members.
Way # 2. Employee Empowerment:
Empowerment is the authority to take decisions within one’s area of operations without having to get approval from anyone else. Here, the operatives are encouraged to use their initiative to do things the way they like. To this end, the employees are given not just authority but resources as well so that they not only take decisions but implement them quickly. Thus, empowerment means giving the employees the authority to make decisions and providing them with financial resources to implement these decisions.
Conditions Necessary for Employee Empowerment:
There are four basic conditions necessary for empowerment to gain credibility and acceptance at various levels in an organisation.
These are discussed below:
i. Participation:
Workers must be encouraged to take the initiative. To this end, the bureaucratic hurdles that come in the way must be removed. Proper training should be given to employees so that they can participate more actively and make things happen.
ii. Innovation:
Management must encourage employees to try out new ideas and make decisions that help in finding new and improved ways of doing things. Even when employees fail in their attempts to break the cake of custom, the words of encouragement must come the same way, so that they begin to feel that failures are stepping stones to success. One day, with such a supportive management, they are sure to ride the tidal wave of success.
iii. Information:
Employees must have free access to information and resources that they need to nurture their talents. If they need additional training in putting the classified information to use, it should be offered readily.
iv. Reward:
Organisations that empower workers often reward them based on the results shown in the company’s bottom line. Companies also reward star performers these days through lump sum bonuses, stock option plans, merit pay, flexible working schedules, etc.
v. Accountability:
Empowered employees should be held accountable for results. This step is not intended to identify their black spots and single them out for punishment. The intent, instead, is to see that they are giving their best efforts, working toward mutually-agreed goals and behaving responsibly towards each other.
When employees exhibit such behaviours, they are encouraged to go the same way at their own ‘comfortable pace’. A wide variety of companies, nowadays have undertaken interventions to empower employees at various levels, such as quality circles, autonomous work groups, quality of work life councils, etc.
Way # 3. Quality of Work Life:
The term “quality of work life” means different things to different persons, for example, to a worker on an assembly line, it may just mean a fair day’s pay, safe working conditions, and a supervisor who treats him with dignity. To a young new entrant, it may mean opportunities for advancement, creative tasks and a successful career.
To Prof. Lloyd it means, “The degree to which members of a work organisation are able to satisfy important personal needs through their experiences in the organisation.” There are many factors which can contribute to “quality of work life.”
Walton cites the following, among others:
i. Adequate and fair compensation.
ii. A safe and healthy environment.
iii. Jobs and aimed at developing and using employee’s skills and abilities.
iv. Growth and security; jobs aimed at expanding employees capabilities, rather than leading to their obsolescence.
v. An environment in which employees develop self-esteem and a sense of identity.
vi. Protection and respect for employee’s rights to privacy, dissent, equity, etc.
vii. A sensible integration of job career and family life and leisure time.
It would not be incorrect to say that “quality of work life” in fact, covers all aspects of worker’s life with special reference to his interaction with his work and his working environment.
The following are suggested:
a. Adequate and fair compensation, adequacy to the extent to which the income from full-time work needs of the socially determined standard of living.
b. Safety and healthy working conditions, including reasonable hours of work and rest pauses, physical working conditions that ensure safety, minimize risk of illness and occupational diseases and special measures for protection of women and children.
c. Security and growth opportunity, including factors like security of employment and opportunity for advancement and self-improvement.
d. Opportunity to use and develop creativity, such as work autonomy, nature of supervision, use of multiple skills, workers’ role in total work process and his appreciation of the outcome of his own effort and self-regulation.
e. Respect for the individual’s personal rights, such as the application of the principles of natural justice and equity, acceptance of the right of free speech and the right to personal privacy in respect of the worker’s off-the-job behaviour.
f. Work and family life, including transfers, schedule of hours of work, travel requirements, overtime requirements, etc.
It is worth noting that often the conditions that contribute to motivation (equitable salaries, financial incentives, effective employee selection, etc.) will also contribute to the “quality of work life”. Some of these activities (like job enrichment) might contribute indirectly to the quality of work life by tapping worker’s “higher-order needs,” and motivating them.
Still other activities may contribute directly to the quality of work life providing for a safer workplace, less discrimination on the job, and so forth.