Compare and contrast between different motivational theories.  Discuss the use of management styles in helping improve employee motivation and retention Recognize some of the most common examples of why employees leave an organization.  Identify the various types of retention strategies that can be used to help motivate and retain employees. 

1. MANAGING
EMPLOYEE
MOTIVATION AND
RETENTION

2. Outline
• Compare and contrast between different motivational theories.
• Discuss the use of management styles in helping improve employee motivation an
d retention
• Recognize some of the most common examples of why employees leave an
organization.
• Identify the various types of retention strategies that can be used to help motivate
and retain employees.

3. Theories of Motivation
A vital step in motivating employees
and developing retention strategies is
understanding some of the theories
surrounding job satisfaction. There are
a number of theories that attempt to
describe what makes a satisfied
employee versus an unsatisfied
employee, which can help us better
manage employee satisfaction from a
HR perspective.
Motivational theories
and theorists
Maslow
McGregor
Herzberg
Mayo

4. Timeline Lorem Ipsum Maslow came up with a
hierarchy of needs that
have to be met to ensure
motivation from
employees. Lower level
needs are essential, and
should be met first.
Management should then
work their way up the
hierarchy, eventually fully
motivating
employees. The hierarchy
of needs consist of:

5. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Take a closer look at each level of the needs hierarchy:
It was Maslow's belief that physiological
needs are instinctive, and the most basic
in the hierarchy. When these needs are not
met, all other needs become secondary
and are potentially not even considered.
Included in these needs are the most
basic. What we need to survive, such as
the need for water, air, food and sleep. It
was Maslow's belief that physiological
needs are instinctive, and the most basic
in the hierarchy. When these needs are not
met, all other needs become secondary
and are potentially not even considered.
Though they are less demanding that
physiological needs, security needs are
necessary for safety and often for survival
itself. Some examples of this category of
needs are shelter, employment, safe places to
live, and health care.
Social needs are in the middle of the needs
hierarchy. They include the need for love,
belonging, and affection. All positive
relationships help fulfil these needs, whether
they are familial, friendships, or romantic
attachments. The important commonality is
companionship and acceptance, so
involvement in any social or community
group fits with this need.
Safety &
Security needs
Social Needs
Physiological
Needs

6. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Take a closer look at each level of the needs hierarchy:
Esteem becomes important once the first
three needs have been fulfilled. Ego and
self-esteem needs include a need for social
recognition and personal
accomplishment, personal worth, and
positive standing within a community.
The highest level of Maslow's hierarchy of
needs are self-actualisation needs. People who
self-actualise are concerned with their own
personal growth, self aware, and less
concerned with the opinions of others than
most. They are interested in fulfilling their
potential, and have an idea of what that
means and how it would look.
Self-
Actualisation
Needs
Ego & Self
Esteem Needs

7. Herzberg’s Two-Factor
Theory
Herzberg's theory was based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Herzberg also worked
with needs, but distinguished between those he defined as job satisfiers (higher order) and
those he defined as job dissatisfiers (lower order).
In order to motivate employees, Herzberg argued, management must find ways to make
jobs more enjoyable and challenging for them. Dissatisfiers are associated with outside,
extrinsic needs. Satisfiers are associated with internal, intrinsic needs. This theory is based
on the concept that poor 'hygiene factors' decrease employee job satisfaction whereas the
use of motivating factors can help increase employee job satisfaction.
Achievement Company policies
Recognition Supervision
The work itself Work Relationships
Responsibility Work conditions
Advancement Remuneration/Salary
Growth Security
Hygiene
Factors
Motivational
Factors

9. McGregor’s theory gives us a
starting point to
understanding how
management style can impact
the retention of employees
Theory X managers, who have an
authoritarian management style,
have the following basic
management beliefs:
Theory Y managers, on the other
hand, have the following beliefs:
• The average person dislikes work
and will avoid it.
• Most people need to be threatened
with punishment to work toward
company goals.
• The average person needs to be
directed.
• Most workers will avoid
responsibility.
• Most people want to make an effort at
work.
• People will apply self-control and self-
direction in pursuit of company
objectives.
• Commitment to objectives is a
function of expected rewards
received.
• People usually accept and actually
welcome responsibility.

10. Mayo's Human Relations
Motivation Theory is based
on the concept that
employees can be motivated
by giving adequate attention
to the employees and
improving the social
environment of the
workplace.
Mayo claimed that employees aren’t
that motivated by pay and
environmental factors. Instead,
positive relational factors can exert a
more significant influence on
productivity. This theory was
developed from the analysis of data
from experiments used as part of the
Hawthorn Studies.
KPIs, or Key
Performance Indicators
should be used to
evaluate the state of
employee relations.
Alternatively, the
manager can go by the
conduct of an employee
relations audit.

11. Management
Styles
When we look at the styles of management, we see that most styles fall into one of two categories, a
task-oriented management style or a people-centered style:
A manager with a task-oriented style will focus on
the technical or task aspects of the job. The concern
for this manager is that employees know what is
expected of them and have the tools needed to do
their job.
A people-oriented style is more concerned with the
relationships in the workplace. The manager
emphasises the interpersonal relations, as opposed to
the task.

12. Management Style
Autocratic
An autocratic style of management
involves the task-oriented style. The focus
is on getting things done, and
relationships are secondary. This type of
manager tends to tell people what to do
and takes a “my way or the highway”
approach. Another description for this
type of manager is a taskmaster. This
person uses his or her authority and
makes all the decisions as to who does
what, how it is done, and when it
should get done
Participative
A participative style
constantly seeks input from
employees. Setting goals,
making plans, and
determining objectives are
viewed as a group effort,
rather than the manager
making all the decisions.
Free-Reign
A Free-Reign management style gives
employees total freedom to make
decisions on how things will get done.
The manager may establish a few
objectives, but the employees can decide
how those objectives are met.
In other words, the leader tends to be
removed from the day-to-day activities but
is available to help employees deal with
any situation that may come up.

13. Retention and reduction of staff turnover is paramount to a healthy
organisation. HR play an instrumental role in managing employee retention
through retention planning and the implementation of retention
strategies.
Performing research, such as calculating turnover rates, analysing feedback
from exit interviews and surveying employees’ satisfaction, are the first
steps in this process.

14. Reasons for Voluntary Turnover
• Poor job-person fit. A poor match between the job and the skills of the
employee.
• Lack of growth. Some employees feel “stuck” in their job and don’t see
a way to have upward mobility in the organisation.
• Internal pay equity. Some employees, while they may not feel
dissatisfied with their own pay initially, may feel dissatisfaction when
comparing their pay with others.
• Ineffective leadership or management style. Many employees cite
management as their reason for leaving.
• Workload. Some employees feel their workloads are too heavy, resulting
in employees becoming dissatisfied.
Some of the
most
common ex
amples of why
employees
leave an
organisation in
clude:

15. Salaries & Benefits
Training & Development
Performance appraisals
Succession Planning
Flex time, Telecommuting & SabbaticalsManagement Training
Conflict Management & Fairness
Job Design, Job Enlargement, Empowerment
Other Retention Strategies

16. Salaries &
Benefits
Training &
Development
Performance
appraisals
Succession
Planning
• A comprehensive compensation plan that includes not only
pay but things such as health benefits and paid time off
(PTO) is the first retention strategy that should be
addressed.
• For instance, utilising a pay banding system, in which the
levels of compensation for jobs are clearly defined, is one
way to ensure fairness exists within internal
pay structures. Transparency in the process of how raises
are given and then communicating this process can also help
in the retention planning process.
• Another example of this would be a pay-for-performance
strategy which means that employees are rewarded for
meeting preset objectives within the organisation. For
example, in a merit-based pay system, the employee is
rewarded for meeting or exceeding performance during a
given time period.

17. Salaries &
Benefits
Training &
Development
Performance
appraisals
Succession
Planning
To meet our higher level
needs, humans need to
experience self-growth. HR
professionals and
managers can help this
process by offering training
programs within the
organization and paying for
employees to attend career
skill seminars and programs.
In addition, many
companies offer tuition
reimbursement programs to
help the employee earn a
degree.
The performance appraisal is a formalised process to assess how well an employee does his or her job. The effectiveness of
this process can contribute to employee retention, in that employees can gain constructive feedback on their
job performance, and it can be an opportunity for the manager to work with the employee to set goals within the
organisation.
Succession planning is a
process of identifying and
developing internal people
who have the potential
forfilling positions. As we
know, many people leave
organisations because they do
not see career growth or
potential. One way we can
combat this in our retention
plan is to make sure we have a
clear succession planning
process that is communicated
to employees.

18. Flex time, Telecommuting & Sabbaticals
The ability to implement this type of retention strategy might be difficult, depending on the type of business. For example,
a retailer may not be able to implement this, since the sales associate must be in the store to assist customers. However, for
many professions, it is a viable option, worth including in the retention plan and part of work-life balance.
Management Training
A manager can affect an employee’s willingness to stay on the job. While in HR we cannot control a manager’s behavior, we
can provide training to create better management. Training managers to be better motivators and communicators is a way to
handle this retention issue.
Other Retention Strategies
Other, more unique ways of retaining employees might include offering services to make the employee’s life easier and
increase his/her work-life balance, such as dry cleaning, daycare services, or on-site yoga classes.

19. Perceptions on fairness and how organisations handle conflict can be a contributing factor to retention. Thus, it is important to ensure that
HR retention strategies can apply to everyone within the organisation; otherwise it may cause retention problems. There are four basic steps
to handle conflict:
1. Discussion. The individuals in conflict should try to handle the conflict by discussing the problem with one another.
2. Recommendation. A panel of representatives from the organisation should hear both sides of the dispute and make a
recommendation.
3. Mediation, a neutral third party from outside the organisation hears both sides of a dispute and tries to get the parties to come to a
resolution.
4. Arbitration, an outside person hears both sides and makes a specific decision about how things should proceed.
• Review the job design to ensure the employee is experiencing growth within their job. Changing the job through empowerment or job
enlargement to help the growth of the employee can create better retention.
• For instance, job enrichment means to enhance a job by adding more meaningful tasks to make the employee’s work more rewarding.
For example, if a retail salesperson is good at creating eye-catching displays, allow him or her to practice this skill and assign tasks
revolving around this.
• Employee empowerment involves employees in their work by allowing them to make decisions and take more initiative. Employees who
are not micromanaged and who have the power to determine the sequence of their own work day, for example, tend to be more satisfied
than those who are not empowered.
Conflict Management & Fairness
Job Design, Job Enlargement, Empowerment

20. References
• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Entrepreneurial Needs, / Online available: https://www.danmartell.com/hierarchy-of-entrepreneurial-needs/
/ www.timvandevall.comICopyright, 2013, Dutch Renaissance Press LLC. / Accessed on 11 May 2020
• EMPLOYEE CLIPART 6 / Clipart Station official website / Online available: https://clipartstation.com/employee-clipart-6-
2/ / Accessed on 11 May 2020
• Theory X and Theory Y / By John Dudovskiy / 21 march 2013 / Research Methodology official website / Online available:
https://research-methodology.net/theory-x-and-theory-y/ / Accessed on 11 May 2020
• Douglas Mcgregor Theory / BY Luke Pitty / Blendspace official website / Online available:
https://www.tes.com/lessons/Kl5gJmk__HpSeg/douglas-mcgregor-theory / Accessed on 11 May 2020
• clip royalty free stock teach clipart - teacher clipart transparent / by Toppng / 4 September 2019 / Online available:
https://toppng.com/clip-royalty-free-stock-teach-clipart-teacher-clipart-transparent-PNG-free-PNG-Images_192468?search-
result=teacher-clipart / Accessed on 11 May 2020
• Elton Mayo’s Hawthorne Experiments / by changeminor / October 23, 2008 / Online available:
https://changeminor.wordpress.com/2008/10/23/elton-mayos-hawthorne-experiments/ / Accessed on 11 May 2020
• Using people analytics to drive retention success (webinar) / By XpertHR on 19 Sep 2017 in Webinars, People analytics, Retention of
staff / Personnel today official website / Online available: https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/retention-people-analytics-webinars
/ Accessed on 11 May 2020
• Zomato to give pink slips to 300 employees to "streamline operations“ / Online available: https://e27.co/zomato-to-give-pink-slips-
to-300-employees-to-streamline-operations-20151019 / Accessed on 11 May 2020