My literture review

1. Motivating Employees through Rewards and Appraisals<br />Pamela Green<br />Advanced General Psychology PSY492 UB<br />June 4, 2011<br />Motivating Employees through Rewards and Appraisals<br />Organizations can find that they are juggling pleasing their customers, pleasing their employees and saving money; while still trying to turn a profit and maintain company values and adhere to their mission and vision statement plus maintaining a budget. One of the dilemmas that they can face while juggling these concepts are motivating and rewarding their employees for a job well done. Prior to unionization in the Industrial Revolution employers bullied, threatened and fired employees that could not or would not fall in line with the company’s vision. Throughout the years employees fought back by walkouts or strikes demanding to be treated fairly and with respect and dignity while earning a fair wage, thus forming unions. Organizations began to realize that if they offer appraisals and rewards instead of punishments and fear then the employees would take pride in their organization and embrace the organizations vision and therefore become motivated to perform better.<br />(Woodward, 2011) gives ten suggestions in his article, Perking up the Workplace for improving the morale of an organization. Some of the suggestions are finding a point of difference. Finding what works for one organization that motivates its work force may not work in another organization. He also recommends that healthy competitions between teams can increase productivity. Another excellent point is to link the rewards to the results. This can be done by receiving a bonus for a job well-done. Another incentive and benefit that an organization could embrace is to look after the people. (Woodard, 2011) encourages such services like a concierge dry-cleaning service and postal service for the employees as well as an exercise and wellness program. (PR Blotter, 2009) offers ways to show employee appreciation and discusses what happens when praise is not perceived as being genuine. They suggest publicly praising employees for a job well-done as well as offering specific praises. They caution manager from offering praises that are not sincere. The opposite effect can happen when praises are perceived to be disingenuous.<br /> Learning to manage people is the foundation in striving for excellence. Sixty to ninety percent of all organizations attempt to obtain excellence but fail (Daley, 2010). (Daley, 2010) acknowledges that praises can motivate a company’s employees. Monetary motivation is only a short-term solution when trying to motivate employees. (Daley, 2010) also draws a connection between offering healthy incentives and benefits to increase productivity and decrease absenteeism. Creating a fun work atmosphere can reduce employee related stress.<br />(Murray & Rusignuolo, 2010), discusses motivational incentives which focus on motivating employees that cost the companies little to no money. (Murray & Rusignuolo, 2010) made the observation that when a supervisor praises an employee they should not make general praise comments such as “good job”, but they should be specific and tell the employee why they are receiving the praise. An organization could also employ offering discounts on the company’s products and services. Advancement and training opportunities can be veiwed as an incentive and reward. A company that can offer certification for specialized labor offers a double bonus to its employees. <br />American Printer, (2009) looked at the perspective of the customer who receives the services from an organizations employee. Twenty to thirty percent of all customers will respond to a survey. Of the 20-30% that responds 25-50% will respond by telling you exactly what they think of an organizations product and or service American Printer, (2009). People respond to feedback rather the feedback is positive or negative. An effective way to acknowledge positive feedback that can showcase company appreciation is posting positive feedback for all employees and customers to see.<br />Motivating during Innovation<br />Innovation introduces a new perspective to motivating a labor force (Gurchiek, 2009). She discusses ways to approach an organization that is experiencing Innovation. Innovation is a necessary path for an organization to venture towards if they wish to stay viable in a changing economy. Employees need to understand that change and innovation equal’s growth. The motivation that the company must offer its employees in a time of innovation is not necessarily praise but reassurance. Just as innovation is important for growth so is failure. Employees should be encouraged to embrace and welcome failures and use the failures as motivation. Employees feel appreciated and valued when department heads and managers hand pick a few employees to represent all employees, (PR Blotter, 2009).<br />Trying to motivate employees in a struggling economy can be difficult. The question was asked in (Murray & Rusignuolo, 2010) article is it necessary to reward top CEO and executive with financial bonuses when the economy is experiencing difficulty. In the time span of 1978-1989 CEO’s income increased 35 times higher than in previous years while the average salaried workers income increased 71 times higher (Murray & Rusignuolo, 2010). This increase exploited in the 1990’s to the average pay increase being 300 times more than in 1978 (Murray & Rusignuolo, 2010). Though bonuses were paid out productivity, and the bottom-line plummeted. The organizations received better results from verbal praise and recognition then paying out bonuses.<br />Self-determination Theory and Motivating Employees<br /> Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan developed the self-determination theory (SDT) (Stone, D., 2009). They discuss six different applications of SDT, and two case studies supporting the theory. SDT looks at competency, relatedness, and autonomy as it related to motivation. Deci and Ryan wanted to understand why managers did not use the motivational practices that they talked about. When applying self-determination theory to productivity the employees are less stressed and show signs of less anxiety and depression. When SDT is applies to motivating employees the employees view this as a sense of self-worth and in exchanged feel obligated to perform better.<br />Safety is a major concern for every employer. On the job injuries can cost an organization a conservable amount of money. Therefore, what is the motivation for employees to practice safety precautions? (Williams, 2009), looks past motivation employee through money and bonuses to focus on a real concern not just the overall performances. Employees felt motivated to practice specific safety procedures when they were included in the decision –making process of the policies. This improved communication between employees and managers (Williams, 2009). A monitoring system to train and retrain employees such as the buddy system improved the rapport and safety training. One of the motivators in fostering proper safety habits is personal pride in ones work.<br />Conclusion<br />There are several ways to motivate a workforce. All organizations should assess the manners in which they give praise and motivate their workforce. Some organizations reward employees with gift and money and others through verbal praise and recognition. One resounding point that could be draw from almost all of the article was that even if money was used as an incentive or motivator it was not the only incentive or motivator. In fact, in some cases money as an incentive did not rank as high as flexibility in scheduling. Motivation is not only important to increase productivity but motivation can be used to calm anxiety. Innovation can be unsettling to employees and they can experience a lack or even loss of motivation. Health incentives are a popular luring tool for new applicants the biggest drawback to health incentives is that they are usually offered to office level employees.<br />Motivating workers either through a reward system or giving the workers constant appraisal is an individual company decision. I think that the common thread that all of the research shows is that in order for an organization to be profitable and productive it must motivate its work force. One organization can be successful motivating its employees through providing paid vacations, monetary bonuses, or a wellness plan. While another organization can motivate its employees through, giving their employees specific praises instead of a general job well-done. Employers have learned that employees do not just want to receive bigger pay checks but they desire feedback. Surveys and employee structured teams help to establish loyalty. A workforce that has a sense of loyalty is less likely to experience absenteeism. Organizations have the flexibility to create incentive plans that will promote loyalty that falls in line with the company’s values and mission. Furthermore, office level employees need different motivation than manual working employees. An office employee may feel that constant praise from upper level management throughout the day is micro-managing, while entry-level employees may view it as encouragement. Finally, research in this area should be further examined because different variables affect a workforce. Different variables such as recession, depression, and war all can affect an organizations workforce. Other variables such an aging workforce, technology, and globalization should be considered when developing motivational techniques. In conclusion, I think that no matter the industry all companies need to explore and implement an employee reward and incentive program. Employers should take into consideration its, culture, values, and workforce when developing these types of programs as well as the other factors such as the economy, retiring employees, new employees, and technology.<br />References:<br />Casey, M. (Sept.2009) Comments are worth their weight in gold. American Printer. Vol. 126 Issue 9, p14-14, 2/3p. Retrieved from: Proquest.com. Retrieved on May 12, 2011.<br />Daley, J. (Mar2010) Creating a culture of excellence. Entrepreneur. Vol. 38 Issue 3, p81-87, 7p. . Retrieved from: Proquest.com. Retrieved on May 12, 2011<br />Gurchiek, K. (Sept. 2009), Motivation Innovation. HR Magazine.Vol. 54 Issue 9, p30-35, 6p. Retrieved from: Business Source Elite. Retrieved on: May 12, 2011<br />Hinkin,T. & Schriesheim,C.A., (Mar2009). Performance incentive for rough times. Harvard Business Review. Vol. 87 Issue 3, p26-26, 2/5p. Retrieved from: Business Source Elite. Retrieved on: May 12, 2011.<br />Kirwan-Taylor, H., (May2009), Suffering from the Hawthorne effect. Management Today. p18-18, 1/4p. Retrieved from: Business Source Elite. Retrieved on: May 12, 2011.<br />Murray, E. & Rusignuolo, R. (Jan2010). Rewarding outstanding performance: don’t break the bank. Franchising World. Vol. 42 Issue 1, p80-81, 2p. Retrieved from: Business Source Elite. Retrieved on: May 12, 2011.<br />PR Blotter (Mar. 2009) Vol. 16 Issue 3, p4-5, 2p. Public Relation Tactics. Retrieved from : Business Source Elite. Retrieved on: May 12, 2011.<br />Stone, D.N., et al. (Spring2009) Beyond talk; creating autonomous motivation through self-determination theory. Journal of General Management. Vol. 34 Issue 3, p75-91, 17. Retrieved from: Business Source Elite. Retrieved on: May 12, 2011.<br />Woodard D., ( Feb. 2011) Perking up the work place. HR Magazine.Vol.64. Issue 6. p.33-34, 2p. Retrieved from: Proquest.com. Retrieved on May 12, 2011.<br />