Employee Behaviour
Works Cited Missing
Introduction
To organizations, humans are wonderful resources, because they are compact and multi-purpose, capable of simple manual tasks or dealing with complicated machines. However, there is a problem - how to get employees work effectively and productively? Is their behaviour just a reflection of individual differences? Or can they achieve more effective and efficient performance as motivated by organization?
According to Moorhead & Griffin (1998, 1), Employee performance is frequently described as a joint function of ability and motivation, and one of the primary tasks facing a manager is motivating employees to perform to the best of their
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Personality, as one of those differences, can reflect the ability or inability to cope with the expectation and demands of organizations. An introvert, for example, would possibly not contribute himself to the job which requires expressiveness and implusiveness (such as salesman or M.C.).
Individual values, attitudes, needs and expectations which build up human behaviour explain why and how individuals are motivated to satisfy themselves for certain goals in certain ways (Rosenfeld & Wilson 1999). The question about how motivation dominates individual behaviour will be discussed in the following essay.
2. Motivation and theories --------------------------
2.1. Definition and theory framework ------------------------------------
Motivation can be described as the driving force of individual behaviour to fulfill needs or achieve goals. Mitchell defines motivation as 'the degree to which an individual wants and chooses to engage in certain specified behaviours' (Mullins 2002:418). In terms of this definition, various theories have been developed around. These include firstly, the early theories of motivation such as Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Herzberg's two-factor theory of motivation or motivation hygiene theory, and secondly, contemporary theories such as McClelland's theory of needs, cognitive evaluation theory, Alderfer's ERG (existence, relatedness and
Employee motivation is, or at least must be, one of the key issues for directors, managers and personnel managers. The leader must be able to find the sensitive strings of his subordinates, which can be motivated by influencing them to achieve high performance. The correct use of motivation encourages staff to make more efficient use of their knowledge, skills, and talents. In today's turbulent, often chaotic environment, commercial success depends on the employee's talent and effort. Despite the many existing theories and practices, some of the motivation of leaders today remains a mystical term. This is partly due to the fact that people are motivated by different things and techniques.
(Robbins and Millet and Cacioppe and Waters-Marsh, 1998, p.10). An important area within organisational behaviour is motivation.
“Political Activity is alive and well in organisations. Critically discuss this statement. What factors result in Organisational Politics and what is the role of such behaviour on other people at work?”
The study of Organizational Behavior (OB) is related to individuals, group of people working together in teams. The study becomes more challenging when situational factors interact. No two individuals are likely to behave in the same manner in a particular work situation. It is the predictability of a manager about the expected behavior of an individual. There are no absolutes in human behavior. It is the human factor that is contributory to the productivity hence the study of human behavior is important. Great importance therefore must be attached to the study.
Every organization no matter how large or small has goals they wish to meet. Each organization will have changes in its future and has to have certain set goals and objectives in place to help map out their course of action that will lead to their desired end result (Martin, 2009). In order for a company to successfully meet their final goal it is important for them to continually motivate their employees. According to Organizational Behavior by David Baack, motivation is what starts, maintains and stops behavior (Baack, 2012). Organizations each have their own way to set goals and motivate their
Fischer, Dr. Kahlib, (2009) Lesson 2-Individual Behavior in the Organization [Online Presentation] Retrieved from Module/Week 2 Online Web site https://learn.liberty.edu/
Training is an important aspect of all organizations. Although an individual brings to the organization a specific set of skills and knowledge, it is important that these individuals be consistently developed to ensure growth of the employee and the organization. A method to ensure that training programs are successful and are meeting objectives is to conduct assessments. Assessments can help managers and the organization better understand their employees and who can be developed. In addition, it is a way to find out who cannot be developed and may no longer fit with the organization.
Motivation in the workplace is one of the major concerns that managers face when trying to encourage their employees to work harder and do what is expected of them on a day-to-day basis. According to Organizational Behavior by John R. Schermerhorn, James G. Hunt and Richard N. Osborn the definition of motivation is "the individual forces that account for the direction, level, and persistence of a person's effort expended at work." They go on to say that "motivation is a key concern in firms across the globe." Through the years there have been several theories as to what motivates employees to do their best at work. In order to better understand these theories we will apply them to a fictitious organization that has the following
Being a good employee is essential in today’s world, especially in these tough economic times when there are many seeking work. Consequently, it is important to keep in mind that no employee is irreplaceable. While hearing many complain these days about his or her job, one just needs to look around and be thankful that they have the means in which to survive and are able to work. There are many who are not only unemployed, but also unable to perform due to illness or a disability. Sometimes when a person is feeling in a mood to complain, they may need to sit back, relax and take a look around in order to appreciate what they have, and learn how to be a good employee.
Motivation is central to understanding behavior in organizations and a key managerial factor. Two aspects of motivation are structuring tasks to satisfy worker and organizational needs and providing the proper direction for worker actions (Stroh, Northcraft and Neale, 2002). There are a number of factors when it comes to the difference in worker performance. One of these factors is related to different levels of ability
Theoretical background The relationship between people and their work has long attracted psychologists and other behavioural scientists. Psychologists’ interests, dating back to the early years of the twentieth century, reflect the development of the industrial psychology and vocational guidance disciplines. Their work dealt with measurement of aptitudes and abilities to improve the job-person fit. The study of motivation now forms an integral part of both industrial and vocational psychology. However, in both fields, concepts like need, motive, goal, incentive and attitude are appearing with
Theories can never be proven, only supported or rejected. Although there are many theories of motivation, there are only a few that I feel can be relevant and valuable in the work setting. Before settling on a theory to use to assist with the creation of my specific theory of motivation, I wanted to get a better understanding of some of the most well-known motivational theories. Throughout my research I’ve noticed a common trend in the motivational theories and how they are applied. Many theories such as McClelland’s Needs Theory (1961), Maslows’ Hierarchy of Needs Theory (1954), and
‘Motivation’ is derived from the Latin term ‘movere’ that means ‘to move’. Thus, motivation is a process that starts with a physiological or psychological deficiency or need that activates a behaviour or a drive that is aimed at a goal or incentive (Luthans). Broadly speaking, motivation is willingness to exert high levels of efforts towards organizational goals, conditioned by the efforts’ ability to satisfy some individual needs (Robbins). Need means some internal state that make certain outcomes appear attractive. An unsatisfied need creates tension that stimulates drives within the individual. These drives generate a search behaviour to find particular goals, that if attained,
In Douglas McGregor’s The Human Side of Enterprise (2006) brings attention to the managerial assumption of human behaviors. McGregor explains that there are two groups that the manager’s assumption falls under and they are Theory X or Theory Y. Theses theories were developed in the 1960’s at MIT Sloan School of management. Both theories describe a dissimilar organizational motivation. In the book, McGregor explains that managers who use the Theory X style assume that their employees are disinterested and will avoid working if they can. McGregor explains, “every managerial act rests on assumptions” (McGregor, 2006, p. 8). In result, managers believe that their workers should be supervised and “coerced, controlled, directed, [and] threatened with punishment to get them to put forth adequate effort”. (McGregor, 2006, p. 45). This is to make sure that the employees are doing their job in a sufficient manner. According to McGregor, employees will be less motivated and will not perform to their best ability without an incentive program and will avoid taking on responsibility. (McGregor, 2006, p. 53) On the other hand, Theory Y has a different approach than Theory X. In theory Y managers assume that their employees are self-motivated and believe that their employees do not “inherently dislike work” (McGregor, 2006, p. 65). Managers who participate in Theory Y believe, given the proper conditions, their employees will accept responsibility of exercising
Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology is devoted to the study of employee behavior in the workplace and understanding the issues facing organizations and employees in today’s complex and ever changing environment. Motivation refers to the set of forces that influence people to choose various behaviors among several alternatives available to them. An organization depends on the ability of management to provide a positive, fostering and motivating environment for its employees in order to increase profits, productivity and lower turnover rates of its employees. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and compare six academic journal articles and explore the behavior, job, and need based theories of motivation that can aid management in motivating and understanding their employees. Finding that delicate balance to can sometimes be elusive so effectively learning how to motivate by understanding, controlling and influencing factors to manipulate behavior and choices that are available to employees can produce the desired outcome.