Employee motivation and labour productivity
Lal FONSEKA
As promised in the last week, today we will discuss on Employee
Motivation and how it is going to affect the labour productivity in an
organization. Employee motivation has been studied at length over a long
period of time by various researchers. A many organizations in Sri Lanka
have not understood the correct meaning of this much important word
called "Motivation". Though in the globe around us, through research,
significant myths have been dispelled, unfortunately we are still having
the same all ideas about motivation.
 The biggest misconception is that good wages are always the primary
motivational factor among employees regardless of the industry by which
they are employed. This generalization, or supposed knowledge, has
misdirected front line supervisors of industrial workers for years. The
result has been misunderstood industrial employees who were are
concerned with other motivational factors that their supervisors
perceived as secondary or are not aware that existed. However,
hospitality workers consistently rank good wages as their primary
motivational factor. This is a good example of how motivation differs
from one industry to another and why specific research is needed for
each industry.
Review of the literature indicates identifying employee motivation is
considered essential to understanding why an individual chooses one job
over another. Why does one employee work hard to complete a task and a
co-worker feels no obligation to do the same; and, why does an employee
continue to come to work when they have little or no desire to do the
job? The questions of what motivates employees are of more importance
today than ever before.
Workforce morale is low due to downsizing and job instability, and
there are no longer layers of management to supervise employees and keep
them productive (McNerney, 1996). Additionally, research indicates that
productivity of employees decrease far more drastically after a
co-worker quits for reasons of job satisfaction than when a co-worker
quits because of illness (Sheehan 1993). There are a number of theories
that have been developed by industrial psychologists and management
experts that help to explain this dilemma.
It is time the human resource process of hiring, training, and
retaining employees takes a step up to the next level. The paradigm has
shifted and the hospitality and tourism industry, and the service
industry must make the necessary accommodations to insure a high level
of service to guests in order to remain competitive.
There are new strategies to implement and the companies that reinvent
the hiring process, providing superior customer service, are the
organizations that will lead the service industry, but all of these
strategies involve an increased understanding of employee behavior and
their motivation.
Charles de Gaulle of France once said "How can anyone govern a
Country that has 246 different kinds of cheese?" Much of the same
problem faces the manager in an organization: the organization itself
may seem "as one" - but it is made of individuals, each of whom has his
own perceptions of reality and other people. And each of whom desires
and expects different things from his work life.
How then is the organization - and specifically its managers - to
'govern' its own human resources, to get the best possible performance
from them? How can it know what they need and want from the organization
in return?
What is motivation?
Motivation has been defined as "all those inner-striving conditions
describes as wishes, desires, drives, goals, and force. It is an inner
state that activities, moves or energizes and that directs or channel
behavior towards goals". This is a very difficult definition to
understand. In short, I would say that one could come to a conclusion
that a man is really motivated, if he is working hard, sustains the pace
of hard work and his behavior is self-directed towards important goals.
Industrial Employees
Dr. Kenneth Kovach is a professor of management at George Mason
University at Fairfax, Virginia. Kovach has surveyed industrial
employees over a period of forty years.
This questionnaire focuses on the positive, higher level motivational
needs and was applied prior to Herzberg's documentation. In 1946 Kovach
surveyed industrial employees and asked them to rank ten job reward
factors in terms of personal preference.
The results were as follows:
1. Full appreciation of work done;
2. Feeling of being in on things;
3. Sympathetic help with personal problems;
4. Job security;
5. Good wages;
6. Interesting work;
7. Promotion and growth in the organization;
8. Personal Loyalty to employees;
9. Good working conditions
10. Tactful discipline;
A similar questionnaire was given to industrial employees in 1981,
and again in 1986. By 1981 "interesting work" was the top motivating
factor and "sympathetic help with personal problems" had fallen from
third on the list to ninth. The 1986 questionnaire also had significant
changes with "sympathetic help" falling to number ten and only "job
security" and "personal loyalty" remaining in their original positions
from the 1946 survey.
The one consistent response from all three surveys was that
supervisors perceived "good wage" as the top motivational factor for the
employees they supervise. Supervisors and managers seem to operate from
a self-reference point of view. They seem to think that their employees
want the same things that they do and fail to take into account
individual needs. Kovach also hypothesized that the work motivational
factors may be different between categories of employees based on sex,
age, income, job type and organizational level. The 1986 questionnaire
was broken into subgroups to allow for this hypothesis to be tested.
There were only minor differences between the gender responses;
however, there were significant differences between age groups and the
findings were that "good wage" was the top ranked job reward of the
younger employees and it descended in rank as the age group matured. The
questionnaire also showed significant differences between traditional
blue collar and white-collar jobs. The blue-collar worker was more
concerned with "appreciation for the work done" while the focus of the
white-collar worker was "interesting work". Management needs to
understand employees within the context of the job they perform to
properly understand what their needs are.
i. Low unemployment in certain countries like us is forecasted to
continue for some time. The majority of apparel industries across the
country are facing a labor shortage. This shortage is felt mainly in
blue category. I have noticed that some companies that were downsizing a
few years ago are finding it difficult to find staff to expand. The end
result is that companies now have to recruit as they never had before.
The high percentage of unskilled labor jobs in the industry has
employers vying for available workers.
ii. Additionally, these same employers are now considering people
candidates that they would not have considered five years ago, and
looking at alternative means of retention that was not considered
reasonable five years ago.
iii. Employee loyalty is on the decline. This is not known to our
organizations. Employee loyalty can be considered a causality of the
transformation from the industrial age to the informational age.
However, the employees are not entirely to blame for the demise.
Organizational change is responsible for the elimination of the old
social contract and as a result a new, a more independent workforce has
emerged. Research has helped to determine what this new work force is
looking for.
Today's employee is more educated, wary, and diverse than ever
before. In certain companies, I have noticed recruiting employees for
the posts of machine operators with Advance level qualification. Today's
employees possess an entrepreneurial quality that has them balancing the
work-life equation in an effort to reduce work related stress and focus
on the other portions of their life. Work is no longer considered the
driving force of today's employee. The end result is fewer full-time
employees and more part-time and alternative staff.
Strum (1998), a well-known researcher identifies five commitment
drivers for employees. The number one employment factor, or driver,
employees are looking for is a fearless culture. Employees value a
nontraditional approach where traditional ways and procedures are
questioned.
This requires open, honest, and at times, a confrontational approach
to communication. The second driver is job satisfaction. Hiring the
right person for the right job has long had a strong correlation to
performance and commitment. Opportunities for personal growth are the
third driver. Today's worker is looking to grow and expand their
knowledge and responsibilities; however, personal growth can be found
through non-traditional means like job sharing or conferences, not just
expanded responsibilities.
Organization direction is the fourth employee driver. Faith is that
the organization is solvent and doing well is important to retention.
This faith allows the employee to commit fully to the organization with
the confidence that the organization will be present for years to come.
Gone are the days when an individual commits to an organization with the
idea that the relationship will be long-term and that the organization
will act as the custodian of the retirement benefits. The final driver
is the employer's ability to recognize the need for work-life balance.
This understanding and promotion of well-rounded people helps the
employee identify with the organization and distinguish a correlation,
or like mindedness between the employee and the organization.
iv. Age has an impact on work motivation, and the X Generation is a
good example. Values most important for the X Generation are a sense of
belonging/teamwork, the ability to learn new things, entrepreneurship,
flexibility, security, and short term rewards.
This generation is perceived as being more skeptical than the Boomers
of traditional relationships in the workplace that are hierarchical, and
believe that a manager needs to earn respect rather than deserve
respect. Traditional marketing techniques have been employed to attract
customers to hospitality and tourism companies for years. These same
techniques must now be applied to the workforce to attract employees.
The goal of an internal marketing strategy is to develop consistency in
employee programs and increase customer satisfaction among the
employee/customer attracting employees of all generations. Organizations
have their own culture.
The culture must be communicated and reinforced so that it can be a
positive motivational influence on the employees and promote involvement
and interaction. The employee employer relationship must change to meet
these new demands. Employers now must focus on relationships and
communication with the employee in order to better meet their needs.
Employers no longer can take employees for granted and treating your
employees as well as your customers appears to be the new standard for
success. Empowerment is another key to increased retention, provide
employees with the tools necessary to do the job and let be your
customer service representative.
v. Hiring - One key factor to retaining more employees is doing a
better job of hiring an employee in the first place. The rush for
employers to hire new staff has compounded the retention issue. The
fundamentals of good hiring practices are more important than ever,
however the time consuming basics like back ground checks, references,
and even the interview process, are being altered in an effort to get
new employees faster.
Employers must be as diligent as ever in assessing candidates so
those new employees are a good fit for the organization. One strategy is
to hold interviews at different hours to see how an employee might
perform at the time they would normally work. This would be especially
effective for an employee who works late or is required to arrive early
in the morning. (Hertneky, 1999).
vi. Training has long been a human resources buzzword. Training
programs can have a significant impact on employee retention. Employees
who receive extensive training generally feel rewarded and realize the
investment and commitment that their employer is making. However, one
size fits all training no longer provides an employer with an edge. It
is not unusual for an employee to embrace one portion of their
employment more than another. This is an opportunity to apply a
technique called job sculpting. Job sculpting is nothing more than
identifying the life interests of an employee, or, what makes them happy
(Butler, 1999).
This alignment of interests and tasks has proven useful to employees
who have established themselves with an organization. Often times the
alteration of tasks is minimal and may require added responsibilities to
enable the employee to pursue these interests. Job sculpting also has an
application as a recruitment tool to attract new employees to an
organization, but it is the development of the relationship between the
manager and the employee that enables job sculpting to be successful. A
relationship that is based on trust is the core of job sculpting.
Employers who take the time to develop a relationship out of concern and
caring are the employers who will have a higher retention rate because
they will be able to motivate their employees.
vii. Avoiding de-motivators is another key to staff retention.
Different aspects of the job will attract different employees, but
de-motivators will be around long after an employee has chosen a job.
(Spitzer, 1995) These obstacles to blissful employment can take on a
number of forms. Politics and unclear expectations are two problems that
organizations face. Other problems that have a negative effect are
constant change, low quality standards, and unproductive meetings. This
is another serious problem our organization do in operation their
businesses. They do not realize that they make seven grave sins during
these regular meetings. To contact a responsible organizational top
person for an urgent business matter, I took nearly about 72 hours from
my first attempt. Is this not a grave sin that organization does? The
first step to eliminating these moral busters is to obtain employee
feedback to identify consistent themes.
viii. Employees tend to appreciate these collaborative efforts as
they are viewed as tangible efforts to improve the quality of the work
environment. Employers who assume that they know what the problems are
relying on their own perspective and fail to see the issue through the
eyes of their employees.
ix. Dutton (1998) provides good examples of emerging trends in the
field of employee benefits aimed at retaining staff. Dutton clearly
states that the most important benefits are the health and pension
benefits. This is a well-established truth; however the benefit industry
has gone to the next level to distinguish benefits within employment
opportunities. The term used to identify this new type of employee
benefit is "Soft Benefits".
These soft benefits are considered secondary benefits, something to
be considered when all else is equal. These benefits can provide for a
wide variety of compensation and protect employees in different areas.
Good examples of soft benefits might include onsite flu shots, take-home
meals, or even onsite physical or massage therapy.
What could be done?
On the face value of some researches done in Sri Lanka, it gives the
impression that blue collar workers could be motivated by monitory
gains. But by glancing through the successful organizations' success
stories, it has been proved beyond without any doubt that money is
certainly not a motivator. Money is a temporary measure and no man in
the world could be motivated by giving salary increases and with the
increase he will be satisfied but after a couple of months' time, you
could see his long face once again.
Recommendations to improve motivation and human relationship are as
follows. If you follow these recommendations, you will at least be able
to enhance your labour productivity in the organization. Now it is up to
you and practice and let us has your end results.
1. Enlarge and enrich jobs to make more interesting
2. Institute training to modify supervisory style to par with the 21st
century requirements.
3. Foster employee "participation" by encouraging employees to take part
in the decision process.
4. Use lot of praise and recognition to improve their individual
efforts.
5. Encourage informal work relationship by introducing techniques such
as Kaizen, Quality Control and 6 Sigma etc.;
6. Full appreciation of work done;
7. Job security;
8. Good wages;
9. Promotion and growth in the organization;
10. Personal Loyalty to employees;
11. Good working conditions
12. Tactful discipline;
13. In recruiting employees, follow 3R concept - Right time, Right
Person and Right Place
14. Organize emblems, slogans and contests among employees
15. Sympathetic help with personal problems;
See you again in the next week.
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