orgational behaviour

1. Department of Business Administration
Bachelor of Business Administration
Organizational Behavior

2. Lecture Content
Chapter No. 7: Motivating Employees
(Book: “Organizational Behavior” by Stephen P. Robbins & Timothy A. Judge, 15th Ed.)
• Motivation
• Early motivation theories
• Explain how goals motivate people
• Reinforcement and goal-setting theory
• Ways to design motivating jobs

3. Motivation
Motivation is one of the most frequently researched topics in the
discipline of Organizational Behavior.
A Gallup poll revealed one reason - a majority of U.S. employees
(54 percent) are not actively engaged in their work, and another
portion (17 percent) are actively disengaged.
In another study, workers reported wasting roughly 2 hours per
day (usually Internet surfing and talking with co-workers), not
counting lunch and scheduled breaks.
Clearly, motivation is an issue!

4. Defining Motivation
The same student who struggles to read a textbook for more than
20 minutes may devour a Harry Potter book in a day.
Some individuals seem driven to succeed. Motivation varies both
between individuals and within individuals at different times.
Motivation is the processes that account for an individual’s
intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a
goal.
Motivation

5. Defining Motivation (Contd.)
Three key elements: intensity, direction, and persistence.
Intensity describes how hard a person tries.
However, high intensity is unlikely to lead to favorable job-
performance outcomes unless the effort is channeled in a
direction that benefits organization. Effort directed toward, and
consistent with organization’s goals, is the kind of effort we should
be seeking.
Finally, motivation has a persistence dimension. This measures
how long a person can maintain effort. Motivated individuals stay
with a task long enough to achieve their goal.
Motivation

6. Early Theories of Motivation
Four theories of employee motivation formulated during the 1950s, although
now of questionable validity, are probably still the best known. Practicing
managers still use them and their terminology.
(1). Hierarchy of Needs Theory
The best-known theory of motivation is Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Maslow hypothesized that within every human being, there exists a hierarchy of
five needs:
1. Physiological. Includes hunger, thirst, shelter and other bodily needs.
2. Safety. Security and protection from physical and emotional harm.
3. Social. Affection, belongingness, acceptance, and friendship.
4. Esteem. Internal factors such as self-respect, autonomy, and achievement,
and external factors such as status, recognition, and attention.
5. Self-actualization. Drive to become what we are capable of becoming;
includes growth, achieving our potential, and self-fulfillment.

7. Early Theories of Motivation
Theory says:
• Although no need is ever fully gratified, a substantially satisfied need no
longer motivates.
• Thus, as each need becomes substantially satisfied, the next one becomes
dominant.
• So if you want to motivate someone, according to Maslow, you need to
understand what level of the hierarchy that person is currently on and focus
on satisfying needs at or above that level, moving up the steps.

8. (2). Theory X, and (3). Theory Y
Douglas McGregor proposed two distinct views of human beings: one basically
negative, labeled Theory X, and the other basically positive, labeled Theory Y.
Under Theory X , managers believe employees inherently dislike work and must
therefore be directed or even coerced into performing it.
Under Theory Y , in contrast, managers assume employees can view work as
being as natural as rest or play, and therefore the average person accepts
responsibility.
Theory Y assumes higher-order needs (social, esteem, and self-actualization)
dominate individuals. Therefore, participative decision making, responsible and
challenging jobs, and good group relationships maximize an employee’s job
motivation.
Early Theories of Motivation

9. (4). Two-Factor Theory
Psychologist Frederick Herzberg presented two-factor theory, also called motivation-
hygiene theory.
Early Theories of Motivation

10. (4). Two-Factor Theory (Contd.)
As shown in Exhibit 7-2, intrinsic factors such as advancement, recognition,
responsibility, and achievement (motivation factors) seem related to job satisfaction.
Respondents who felt good about their work attributed these factors to themselves.
Dissatisfied respondents tended to cite extrinsic factors, such as supervision, pay,
company policies, and working conditions (hygiene factors)
Early Theories of Motivation

11. The data suggest that the opposite of satisfaction is not dissatisfaction, as was
traditionally believed. Removing dissatisfying characteristics from a job does not
necessarily make the job satisfying.
As illustrated in Exhibit 7-3 , Herzberg proposed a dual continuum: The opposite
of “satisfaction” is “no satisfaction,” and the opposite of “dissatisfaction” is “no
dissatisfaction.”
According to Herzberg, the factors that lead to job satisfaction are separate and
distinct from those that lead to job dissatisfaction.
Therefore, managers who seek to eliminate factors that can create job
dissatisfaction may bring about peace, but not necessarily motivation.
Additionally, managers will have to provide motivation factors to motivate
employees.
Early Theories of Motivation

12. Contemporary Theories of Motivation
Goal-Setting Theory
Evidence strongly suggests that specific goals increase
performance; that difficult goals, when accepted, result in higher
performance than do easy goals; and that feedback leads to higher
performance than does non-feedback.
Specific goals produce a higher level of output than the
generalized goal such as “do your best.”
Example: When a student commits to achieving A+ grade in a course, he/she
generally outperforms a counterpart with no goals or the generalized goal “do
your best.”

13. Contemporary Theories of Motivation
The more difficult the goal, the higher the level of performance. Of course, it’s
logical to assume easier goals are more likely to be accepted. But once a hard
task is accepted, we can expect the employee to exert a high level of effort to
try to achieve it.
Example: Students usually study hard for an difficult exam as compared to an easy exam.
When goals are difficult, people persist in trying to attain them. Moreover,
difficult goals lead us to discover strategies that help us perform the job or task
more effectively.
People do better when they get feedback on how well they are progressing
toward their goals, because it helps identify discrepancies between what they
have done and what they were required to do - that is, feedback guides
behavior.
Example: Students usually tend to exert more effort in final-term if they get feedback
from course instructor that the performance in mid-term is not up to the mark and that
they may have difficulty in securing desirable grade.

14. Reinforcement Theory
Reinforcement theory takes a behavioristic view, arguing that reinforcement
conditions/regulates behavior.
Creating pleasing consequences for following specific forms of behavior
increases the frequency of that behavior.
People most likely engage in desired behaviors if they are positively reinforced
for doing so; that rewards are most effective if they immediately follow the
desired response; and that behavior that is not rewarded, or is punished, is less
likely to be repeated.
Contemporary Theories of Motivation

15. Reinforcement Theory (Contd.)
Example of positive reinforcer: A company enacts a rewards program in which employees
earn prizes dependent on the number of items sold. The prizes the employees receive are
the positive reinforcement if they increase sales.
Example of a negative reinforcer: A company has a policy that if an employee completes
their assigned work by Friday, they can have Saturday off. Working Saturday is the
negative reinforcer, the employee’s productivity will be improved as they would want to
avoid experiencing the negative reinforcer.
Contemporary Theories of Motivation

16. Motivating by Job Design: The Job
Characteristics Model
The Job Characteristics Model
Developed by J. Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham, the job characteristics model (JCM)
says we can describe any job in terms of five core job dimensions:
1. Skill variety is the degree to which a job requires a variety of different activities so
the worker can use a number of different skills and talent.
Example: The work of a garage owner-operator who does electrical repairs, rebuilds
engines, does bodywork, and interacts with customers scores high on skill variety. The job
of a body-shop worker who sprays paint 8 hours a day scores low on this dimension.
2. Task identity is the degree to which a job requires completion of a whole and
identifiable piece of work.
Example: A cabinetmaker who designs a piece of furniture, selects the wood, builds the
object, and finishes it to perfection has a job that scores high on task identity. A job
scoring low on this dimension e.g. operating a factory lathe solely to make table legs.

17. Motivating by Job Design: The Job
Characteristics Model
3. Task significance is the degree to which a job affects the lives/work of other people.
Example: The job of a nurse handling the diverse needs of patients in a hospital intensive
care unit scores high on task significance; sweeping floors in a hospital scores low.
4. Autonomy is the degree to which a job provides the worker freedom, independence,
and discretion in scheduling work and determining the procedures in carrying it out.
Example: A salesperson who schedules his or her own work each day and decides on the
most effective sales approach for each customer without supervision has a highly
autonomous job versus a salesperson who is given a set of sales leads to follow each day.
5. Feedback is the degree to which carrying out work activities generates direct and
clear information about your own performance.
Example: A job with high feedback is assembling iPads and testing them to see whether
they operate properly. A factory worker who assembles iPads but then routes them to a
quality-control inspector for testing and adjustments receives low feedback from his or
her activities.

18. The first three dimensions - skill variety, task identity, and task significance – combine to create meaningful work
the incumbent will view as important, valuable, and worthwhile.
Jobs with high autonomy give employees a feeling of personal responsibility for the results and that, if a job
provides feedback, employees will know how effectively they are performing.
From a motivational standpoint, the JCM proposes that individuals obtain internal rewards when they learn
(knowledge of results) that they personally (experienced responsibility) have performed well on a task they care
about (experienced meaningfulness).
The more these three psychological states are present, the greater will be employees’ motivation, performance, and
satisfaction.
Motivating by Job Design: The Job Characteristics Model

19. Motivating by Job Design
1. Job Rotation If employees suffer from overroutinization of their work, one
alternative is job rotation , or the periodic shifting of an employee from one task
to another with similar skill requirements at the same organizational level (also
called cross-training).
Example: In an airlines, a ticket agent may take on the duties of a baggage
handler.
2. Job Enrichment Job enrichment expands jobs by increasing the degree to
which the worker controls the planning, execution, and evaluation of the work
(increasing decision-making authority)
Example: A project’s responsibilities may be devolved completely. Team
members are given the task of new product development and a budget and
asked to sort out for themselves how to achieve the task.

20. Motivating through Job Design
3. Alternative Work Arrangements
Other approaches of motivation are to alter work arrangements with flextime,
job sharing, or telecommuting.
These may be important for workforce such as single parents, employees caring
for a sick or aging relative etc.
Flextime: Employees must work a specific number of hours per week but are
free to vary their hours of work within certain limits.
Job Sharing: Job sharing allows two or more individuals to split a traditional 40-
hour-a-week job. One might perform the job from 8:00 a.m. to noon and the
other from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., or the two could work full but alternate days
etc.
Telecommuting: It might be close to the ideal job for many people. No
commuting, flexible hours, freedom to dress as you please, and few or no
interruptions from colleagues. It’s called telecommuting , and it refers to
working at home on a computer linked to the employer’s office

21. Assignment No. 2
Skills Exercise: Developing your motivating employees skills
Write down ten different managerial practices to motivate your
team members and explain how they affect the motivation of
individuals.
Note: handwritten, two sheets (one-sided) maximum, submission due on