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Showing posts with the label employee motivation

What We Can Learn About Management From Sigmund Freud

As a pioneer of psychotherapy and introspection Sigmund Freud developed a theory of human development that was popular during the 70's and sparked a way of thinking about human development and general management of employee needs. Freud was part of the humanistic movement that tried to understand the nature of human behavior. Even though some of what Freud discussed has been discredited he did bring up a few ideas that help us think about proper management techniques. As a theory Freud discussed the Id, Ego and Superego that interact throughout the 5 psychosexual stages of development that include oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital stages. Each of these stages are that which a child might experience and develop their personality with. If a person becomes stuck in any one of the stages it will skew their personality. Stuck individuals may develop personality quirks that impact their management styles. Learning management from Freud isn't necessarily about agreeing or n

Managers Model Motivation for Employees

Art Work: Dr. Murad Abel Motivation is an important tool for achieving goals. Motivation is not an all or nothing thing and different people show motivation in varying ways. Some employees will be motivated in a few tasks and others may not show any motivation whatsoever. A paper by Coget (2011) reviews managerial motivation in the fostering of employee motivation to adopt new technology and skills that service their customers better.  It should be understood that adopting new technology and learning new skills can be difficult for employees. To master a new system or serve customers better requires employees who want to learn these new skills and are willing to move through initial frustration to gain mastery. When managers help employees by modeling motivated behavior they can raise motivation levels in their employees.  In the case of technology adaptation, those managers who modeled the adaptation and use of technology found that their employees were motivated to d

Improving Employee Performance through Expectancy Theory

Expectancy Theory postulates that a person will act in a certain way and make particular decisions based upon what they expect the results to be.   Managers that desire to better understand how to motivate employees should explore expectancy theory and its practical use to boost performance. The theory has been used in a number of companies and situations with great success. It is such a popular theory that additional theories have been developed off of its seminal findings. Victor Vroom indicated in his 1968 ground breaking research that motivation can be fostered when employers ensure that rewards are desired and tied directly to performance. His research showed through a number of cases studies and experimental approaches that workers will perform better when rewards are of significant value to employees. When the association of effort and reward is too distant employees may have a hard time making the connection and putting forward effort.  The Theory takes into accou

Book Review: Work and Motivation by Victor Vroom

Work and Motivation by Victor Vroom is a paradigm shifting book that looks at the human motivation within the workplace through both an individual and group based lens. For managers who are seeking methods of improving on worker motivation the book is not one that should be passed up without a thorough read.   It provides keen insight on the potential, nature, and limitations of employee motivation.  The book attempts to summarize the findings of industrial psychologists and research related to human motivation within the workplace. The work focused on three areas: 1.        The choices made by persons among work roles. 2.        The extent of their satisfaction with their chosen work roles 3.        The level of their performance or effectiveness in their chosen work roles.  Vroom makes the assertion that there are two types of determinants of attitudes which include 1.) The cognized utility of the attitude toward attaining particular outcomes; and, 2.) The inten

Fostering Cultural Innovation Through Employee Satisfaction

Are satisfied employees more innovative? Research helps to show how fostering the right organization culture leads to both satisfaction and innovation. Such concepts are embedded in social dynamics of a company and create subtle expectations on employees. Those organizations that foster positive interaction and recognition also set the right tone within their populations to overcome market challenges. Organizational culture can be envisioned as the totality of beliefs, values, knowledge, ideas, and habits that defines the very nature of an organization. Such culture impacts how employees make meaning of their environment and their chosen methods of needs attainment (Olivier, 2008). Through culture an organization can define how it is going to view, understand, approach, and overcome organizational challenges through innovative behavior. When culture has encouraged beneficial premises that are focused on innovation and problem solving the entire organization can achieve rewards rein

Goal Setting and Motivated Behavior in the Workplace

Goal directed behavior exists within the motivational aspirations of the employee. Nearly all behavior is seen as having some goal or objective that is striving to be fulfilled. Focused goal directed behavior is not driven by environmental conditioning or instinct alone (Locke, 1997). Such behavior must be made through the free choice of options and turned from thoughts into actions. It has a specific goal outcome that employee hopes to achieve by putting forth the energy into a strategy that finally reaches its desired outcome. Employees will set all types of goals throughout their entire spectrum of influence. Management's job is to help employees ensure that those goals that pertain to the workplace are appropriate for both the employer and employee. Through such directed goals organizations can seek higher levels of alignment between employee actions and organizational needs. True alignment exists when the totality of employee goals further foster the strategic objectives of