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Motivation of subordinates is an important aspect of a manager’s job. a)What do you think motivates a person to work well? b)What steps can a manager take...

      

Motivation of subordinates is an important aspect of a manager’s job.
a)What do you think motivates a person to work well?
b)What steps can a manager take to motivate his subordinates?
c)“People only come to work for money”. Discuss.

  

Answers

Kavungya
a)
i. Most people are motivated by money to the extent that they come to work to fulfill economic needs. It is very debatable whether people are motivated to work harder by the lure of money. Even when money is seen as a real incentive, the evidence seems to be that it is not a lasting form of motivation.
ii. Most people are also motivated by the social contacts made at work. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that the formation of social relationships and the need to belong to groups, is a very important motivator. The building of supportive work teams can therefore be a powerful motivator to people.
iii. A person’s standing or reputation at work are important motivators, whether he receives them from his peers or from the organization. Opportunities to achieve and to receive recognition for that achievement are also significant factors in the work needs of most people. On balance, the evidence seems to suggest that motives associated with the job itself are the most likely to encourage people at work. Nothing succeeds like success !

b) A manager could take the following steps to motivate his/her subordinates:
i. ensure adequate level of pay. etc
ii. train the individual so as to enable him to master the job, and eventually move to a bigger one.
iii. develop a team spirit in which the members feel that they can support the others and yet be supported by them as well.
iv. provide means whereby the employee can measure his progress in the job.
v. take an interest in the person and thank him when he has worked well.
vi. ensure that the person’s job was a challenging one, however modest the level
vii. keep the employee well-informed about matters that may concern him.

c)
i. People do come to work for money i.e. they have economic motives. It is unlikely that they come only for money. The reasons why people work have been studied by various writers and researchers. In several cases, assumptions about people’s behaviour have been considered as important as research evidence.
ii. In the first twenty-five years of the 20th Century, the assumptions made by owners and managers were that people come to work primarily to fulfil economic needs. Therefore pay and monetary incentives are the key to employee motivation. Examples of this concept are those of F.W. Taylor and the scientific managers.
iii. By the 1930s it was becoming evident, on the basis of research studies such as the Hawthorne experiments, that people have other needs, especially needs relating to personal relationships. In other words, while money is still an important factor, it is by no means an overriding one.
iv. Since the period following World War II, a number of theorists and research workers have concluded that people have a variety of needs at work .In particular, there is strong evidence, from the work of social scientists such as Herzberg and Likert, that people seek self-actualization at work, i.e. they seek to realize their full potential.
v. The implications of self-actualization are that people seek more than financial returns from work. They seek more than friendly relationships. What they are looking for are opportunities to exercise responsibility, to obtain a sense of achievement and to develop new ways of doing things.
vi. In the final analysis, people come to work for a variety of motives. Each person has his or her own set of priorities. The challenge for modern management is to be aware of these needs and to meet them in an adaptable manner.
Kavungya answered the question on April 30, 2021 at 07:44

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