Dispute on Employee Motivation

Arnold Bright is the Director of Human Resources at Company XYZ, in the same industry as Company ABC. John Chaplin has recent joined Company XYZ as Human Resources Manager. A recent graduate with a major in Organizational Behavior, he presents new ideas to Bright almost everyday. But, Chaplin has a speech disorder. He stammers, and cannot make himself clear at all times. A week back, Bright and Chaplin began to argue about employee motivation. Bright informed Chaplin that their company has the budget to enhance employee motivation with the best motivation enhancement program in the industry.

He was referring to the use of Company ABC’s motivation enhancement program for its employees. Company ABC happens to be a leader in the industry, after all. Yet, Chaplin asserted that Company XYZ should develop its own employee motivation enhancement program with new research on the needs of employees at Company XYZ in particular. The argument turned into a dispute because Bright refused to agree with Chaplin. The latter was threatened that he would be fired if he fails to follow Bright’s instructions to implement Company ABC’s program. The Problem:

Chaplin would lose his job if he does not agree to implement Company ABC’s program for employee motivation enhancement in Company XYZ. He knows, however, that his boss has an amenable personality. Thus, Chaplin would like to provide further information to Bright. He firmly believes that Bright has to be explained why it is best for Company XYZ to develop its own employee motivation enhancement program based on new research on its employees’ needs. After all, Chaplin is aware of latest research in the field of Organizational Behavior. Should Company XYZ implement Company ABC’s motivation enhancement program?

Organizational behavior theories are known to differ as to what motivates employees, but not necessarily because the essential characteristics of all employees are varied across organizations and industries. Rather, the motivational needs of employees differ from organization to organization because separate work situations, ethics and settings, in addition to their interaction with individual personalities, teams, and managements call for different employee needs to be prioritized. Employee motivation is simply referred to as an organizational method to satisfy employees in areas where they feel unsatisfied.

Whereas poor health and safety conditions might be the Number One challenge to encounter in Company ABC, it is possible that the employees of Company XYZ would be more motivated by higher salaries. Moreover, the employees of Company XYZ may hold a collective opinion that their working conditions are the best in the industry. Given that job performance is a function of ability and motivation, it is appropriate to inquire into the needs of workers in order to employ the correct mix of employee motivation strategies to boost job performance, company-wide (“Employee Motivation”).

As an example, the employees of the Piketon Research and Extension Center and Enterprise Center were asked about the main motivating factors at their particular workplace. According to research findings, the employees believed themselves to be motivated by the following in the order of importance: “a) interesting work, (b) good wages, (c) full appreciation of work done, (d) job security, (e) good working conditions, (f) promotions and growth in the organization, (g) feeling of being in on things, (h) personal loyalty to employees, (i) tactful discipline, and (j) sympathetic help with personal problems” (Lindner).

Contrary to these findings, a peer reviewed study on employee motivation found that most employees across various organizations believe the following to be the chief motivators at the workplace: “enjoyment of the work; work/life balance; pay satisfaction; link between pay and performance;” and “adequate staffing levels” (Katcher). Thus, it appears essential to increase employee motivation only after inquiring into the main motivators in a specific organization.

Also within a single organization, the blue collar workers are expected to be more motivated by an increase in pay, while the white collar employees might believe that enjoyment of work is most essential. In this case, the organization would have to divide up its employees in two separate groups to inquire into the particular motivators for the blue collar workers as opposed to the white collar employees.

It is best, therefore, for employee motivation strategies to be based on group by group studies. Chaplin should write a memorandum to Bright with latest research on the subject. It is possible that the latter has misunderstood Chaplin because of his speech disorder. Chaplin knows that Company XYZ has the budget to conduct new research on its employees’ needs to enhance their motivation.

He should also mention in his note to Bright that implementation of Company ABC’s employee motivation program may possibly waste the resources of Company XYZ. After all, it may very well be that employees at Company ABC have a different set of needs altogether. So, even though Company ABC is a business leader, Company XYZ should refrain from blindly following its programs without a scientific inquiry into its own business processes and workplace culture.