High Level Of Motivator Factors example essay topic

Workplace Motivational Processes 1 Motivational Processes In a Modern-Day Workplace Management 331 Organizational Behavior Jimmie Morgan Team Paper - June 19, 2002 Assignment Prepare a 1750-2450 word paper analyzing the organization of one of your team members and the motivation processes as identified in one of the following theories: a) Maslow b) Alde ferc) Herzberg) Acquired needs Show how your selected organization applies the motivation theories to workplace productivity. Is it achieving the desired results? Workplace Motivational Processes 2 Motivational Processes In a Modern-Day Workplace Frederick Herzberg developed what is known as the motivator-hygiene theory or, more commonly, the two-factor theory, "which portrays different factors as primary causes of job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction". (Schemer horn et al, p 113) According to the theory, factors that relate more to the environment than to the work itself are known as hygiene factors. These include things such as organizational policies, quality of supervision, working conditions, base wage or salary, relationships with peers, status and security. Herzberg stipulates that hygiene factors are things that affect job dissatisfaction, but will not impact job satisfaction, which he views as a separate dimension.

His theory states that, in order to improve job satisfaction, companies need to focus on motivator factors, which include achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement, growth, and the work itself. Many successful modern-day businesses take a very balanced approach to the motivation of their employees, recognizing that although job satisfaction may be affected more by the motivator factors of the theory, keeping employees from being can be avoided by addressing the hygiene issues. Citigroup, the world's largest financial services institution, takes the balanced approach to complete job satisfaction. The corporation's belief is that satisfaction and dissatisfaction are two sides of the same coin. The company believes that someone may be given the advancement and responsibility they crave.

They also hold the position that if the changes do not include a merited increase in base salary, the employee will feel underpaid, and their increased satisfaction as a consequence of the motivator factors will still not cause them to remain with the company. As such, motivator factors can help keep someone productive and happy with their situation, but hygiene factors are seen as Workplace Motivational Processes 3 contributing to the employee's overall desire to remain as well. At Citigroup, they begin by addressing the hygiene factors, in the belief that those are the reasons people will come to work for them in the first place. They understand that the hygiene factors will attract the right people for the company and the position, which increases the likelihood of retention. By having the choice among different candidates, the company can try to ensure that relationships amongst peers or subordinates can be more harmonious.

The right mix of people, each with similar values towards teamwork, is what can drive a company to the next level. The team, once built, is likely to have more positive interaction as they share experiences through social relations such as group parties. They also collaborate more to take care of one another. A great example of this occurred recently, as different members of a sales group pitched in to pay for over a thousand dollars worth of needed repairs to a co-worker's vehicle. The person in question was a single mom with a nine-year old daughter.

She had a competitive income but had been unable to put aside the money she needed for the emergency. When other team members discovered the situation, they each pitched in as much as they could, with some giving only a few dollars and others giving a few hundred. In doing so, the job satisfaction level of the group as a whole was higher, as the benefactors felt a sense of accomplishment and the woman felt much better about accepting the position a year earlier. Organizational policies dictate things such as the chain of command in a corporation. Citigroup has recognized that most individuals would prefer a shorter chain of command.

This preference has led to changes on a wide scale within the institute. At one time, the lowest-ranking member of a group could expect to go through as many as ten different levels of command before reaching the top decision-maker. Now, almost regardless of Workplace Motivational Processes 4 the branch within the larger whole, no more than four levels of hierarchy exist to report upwards to. This has resulted in a more responsive system, as problems are recognized more quickly instead of simply being shuffled around until forgotten. Policies also dictate factors such as discrimination and other ethical issues. Regardless of the level of advancement promised in a position, if an individual were uncomfortable with what they perceived as blatant discrimination on the part of the corporation, their ethics may be a driving factor which causes them to leave the company.

Citigroup has refined its institutional policies to ensure that no such problems arise. Quality of supervision can also be attributed to organizational policies. With the shorter chain of command, Citigroup can ensure that only the top candidates for a position are chosen. As the world's largest financial institution, the company attracts the highest quality of management staff. Supervisors that don't measure up are terminated, as are those that try to manipulate the system. If need be, replacing any such individual would create less of a disruption in the flow of work, given the availability of qualified candidates.

Citigroup also ensures employee satisfaction by providing the right working conditions. A clean environment and state of the art computers and supplies are just a couple of the amenities the company provides. In many of their facilities, exercise facilities and inexpensive cafeterias are also standard. Smoking, drinking and drugs are prohibited in the workplace, and dress codes help keep employees focused on their jobs instead of the attire of others.

As a company, Citigroup offers one of the most extensive compensation plans on the market. Not only are their base salaries very attractive, but the benefits add to the appeal as well. The company gives all of its employees a wide selection of low-cost insurance Workplace Motivational Processes 5 options, ranging from medical to dental, vision, life and disability. They make coverage effective from the first day of employment instead of having the employees wait thirty to ninety days for the coverage. They also offer 401 K plans, stock options, discounted stock purchase plans, employee tuition reimbursement plans and loan discounts in an effort to make numerous options available to their employees. For those employees whose family life requires a more versatile work schedule, flex hours and job-share programs are also made available, so that people can feel a balance in their lives.

If an employee feels strongly about any particular cause, the company even offers contributions on behalf of that person to the charitable organization. Citigroup also focuses its efforts on the motivator factors of job satisfaction. Of all of the motivator factors, the work itself is the only one that cannot be controlled or contributed to by the company, due to the fact that it is a very highly individualized contributor to job satisfaction. Where one person may absolutely love a position in sales, having no boundaries on income potential, another person may lack the personality needed to solicit business or find new customers. While one individual may thrive in a setting of repetitive work, someone else may desire constant changes or new challenges.

Due to its large size, Citigroup can offer positions to fit just about everyone's wants or needs, but they cannot force people to recognize those needs within themselves. Achievement and recognition can go hand in hand as factors leading to job satisfaction. Every branch of Citigroup has ways of recognizing and rewarding their top producers. There are monthly awards, such as dinner out for the entire branch or bonuses for the employees with the highest production levels. Plaques with the employee's name are displayed in each branch, recognizing top producers, while company newsletters laud them on a corporate level. Some branches may even offer a localized competition based Workplace Motivational Processes 6 on minimum performance standards, with the employee able to win money, desk sets, or even a private lunch out with a corporate vice-president.

Annual programs are also set up to reward the top achievers for the year. The President's Club at Citimortgage is designed to recognize the top twenty loan officers in the nation. Those employees that achieve President's Club status are given a one-week, all-expenses paid vacation to resort locations around the world. Citigroup encourages competition for the award by listing current top achievers on a monthly basis in an employee newsletter.

This serves to drive not only those at the top, to ensure that someone else doesn't take their spot, but also motivates those that are within reach of the group to try a little harder. Not only can people be given awards for sales production, but co-workers are also encouraged to recognize other employees' outstanding efforts. Citigroup allows co-workers to nominate each other and, at no cost to the individual employees, award each other " ", which can then be used to purchase items out of a catalog. In this manner, people that work hard to ensure that everything goes smoothly can also be recognized and rewarded for their efforts. Citigroup also encourages growth and advancement, offering employees web-based training, job training, and corporate reimbursement for post-secondary education.

They list advancement opportunities available on the company's intranet, so that people who feel they are ready for the next step in their careers may be given the first chance for the job opening. In this manner, they encourage people to better and ready themselves for the climb up the corporate ladder. As individuals learn, management in Citigroup gives them greater responsibilities to go along with their level of knowledge. Loan officers at Citimortgage are now able to undergo Core Credit training, which allows them to issue loan commitment letters to Workplace Motivational Processes 7 prospective clients, effectively bypassing the need for an underwriter to review the loan. The employees that perform well and indicate their willingness for growth are also given temporary supervision authority over a group in order to test their leadership skills and group interaction. Some employees are also given the responsibility of beta-testing new programs such as individual websites, and they will help determine whether the software or process will be implemented based on their feedback.

Although Citigroup shows that a corporation can meet Herzberg's hygiene factors, the company views employee satisfaction more as a mathematical equation than anything else. They believe that, if they can hold down those items that can cause job dissatisfaction while maintaining a high level of motivator factors, the net result of the equation will be positive. In other words, if workplace hygiene contributors were measurable and a negative number, and they were limited to a low negative score, employee satisfaction could still be maintained if the motivator factors were high enough to offset that negative number. For example, an employee may be dissatisfied with the level of job security afforded, but if he has high levels of achievement, responsibility and advancement possibilities, those three factors together would outweigh the lack of job security. Such a balanced approach addresses both the needs for motivation as well as the desire for job satisfaction, and is the only way to ensure total employee satisfaction.

It places Citigroup on its way to being a high power organization, as they put the needs of their employees high on their priority list. By doing all of this, the company has also achieved a profit even in trying economic times, proving once again that, when employees are happy, profits will often follow. Workplace Motivational Processes 8

Bibliography

Schemerhorn, J.R. Jr., & Hunt, J.G., & Osborn, R.N. (2000). Organizational Behavior. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.