Motivational Theories In Improving Employee Engagement Essay.

Critically evaluate the use of key motivational theories in increasing employee engagement.

In your answer use examples to support your arguments and consider the practical application of the theories relative to improving employee engagement within the organisation.

Organizational Behaviour refers to study of the human behaviour within the organizational setting. It acts as interface between that of human behaviour and organization. Organizational Behaviour is the study of the individuals and the work groups within the framework of an organization. The study of the organizational behaviour can help in maximising output from that of individual group member (Stoyanov 2017). Motivation refers to set of the forces that helps people in choosing certain behaviour from the various alternatives that are available to an individual. The performance of an employee is influenced by the aspect of motivation along with work environment. Motivation is of great significance as it helps in determining performance within an organization. This essay elaborates on the main motivational theories that can help in increasing the engagement of the employees in an organization. The essay also makes use of examples for supporting arguments and it discusses about the practical implication of theories in organizations.

There are various motives that influence the behaviour and the performance of people in an organization. According to Masri, Ahmad and Rani (2018), the motivational theories helps in providing a framework that helps in motivating the staff in an organization so that work is carried out effectively. An important theory in relation to motivation in organization is Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory. This theory states that people within the organization can be motivated owing to the five basic need. The needs are generally arranged in order of its importance in relation to the person who wants to gratify it. The basic needs that an individual has are physiological, need of safety, need of belonging, need for that of esteem and the need pertaining to self-actualization. The physiological needs that an individual has is in relation to food, clothing along with shelter. The need of safety that an individual has pertains to that of job security. It has been argued by Lawler (2017), that an individual working in an organization should be accepted by a group and bestowed love that can prove to be useful in increasing the efficiency of performance of an individual in an organization. An individual has the need of being recognized by other people that can help an individual in getting a feeling of achievement that can serve an individual. An individual in the organization also has the need of self-actualization that is related to the fulfilment of the capacities of an individual.

The theory of Maslow has been under criticism and it has been criticized by that of David McClelland who has said that the human needs cannot be identified in that of five separate stage or hierarchy. The drawback of the Maslow theory is on account of the fact that time in between satisfaction of need and the higher one can hardly be determined in an organization. The extent up to which the needs can be satisfied differs on the basis of individuals and it can hence be stated that this theory cannot improve the aspect of employee engagement in an organization. According to Healy (2016), the jobs in the present age are becoming better rewarded and they are instrumental in providing more amount of security. In the present age, marginal utility will undergo decline and the marginal utility of the non-economic benefits would increase in the present age. It can hence be said that Maslow’s theory of motivation may not be applicable in the present age in increasing the engagement of the employees in an organization. It can also be stated that the human needs cannot be divided into five separate groups. It can be said that money is the most important source in relation to need satisfaction and on the basis of the situation it can help in satisfying the other needs. It can be said that the extent upto which the physical needs of the workers can be satisfied depends on capability of management in providing the adequate financial reward in the form of allowances along with salaries (Baqutayan, Ariffin and Raji 2015). The management should improve upon the wage level which is in line with that of inflationary direction that can help in the creation of a workforce that is well-motivated.

Two Factor Theory of Herzberg

Fred Herzberg is the name of another psychologist who has thrown light on the theories pertaining to motivation. He developed the two-factor theory in relation to job satisfaction where the motivators along with the hygiene factors were identified. According to Einstein, Addams and Roosevelt (2016), the motivators comprise of achievement, recognition along with growth possibilities of an individual in an organization. These can be said to be part of job itself and the workers in an organization want to achieve it. The maintenance factors act as the job context factor in an organization. These consist of style of supervision, peer relations and the relation with the subordinates. It has been argued by Herzberg (2017), that the effectiveness of the satisfier acting as the motivating agents is dependent on existing hygiene factors in right quantity along with quantity that can help in neutralizing the aspect of dissatisfaction in an organization. According to Hur (2018), the two factor theory of Herzberg lays importance on job content factors along with need of management so that greater attention is paid for upgrading them. Studies that have been carried out have failed in identification of existence of the independent factors in relation to motivator along with hygiene. An individual agrees to the fact that hygiene factors can help in making jobs more tolerable and it can help in making a company a better place where the people can work (Sanjeev and Surya 2016). The hygiene factors however provide little amount of direct motivation so that the employees would be contributing more than that of minimum effort.

Megregor has said that the managers can help in operating two styles in relation to management- traditional along with modern styles. Megregor has stated that theory X can tally with the traditional style of the management. Theory Y on the other hand can be said to be oriented towards motivation and it can be said that it tallies with that of the modern style. According to Stoyanov (2017), Megregor has based proposition on the fact that assumptions of manager regarding human nature can help in the determination of style of the leadership that should be adopted in the organization. This assumption can help in influencing every action that manager would take in an organization. It has been argued by Alshmemri, Shahwan-Akl and Maude (2017) that assumptions of manager act as the cause and not effect of behaviour of the employees. Megregor has said that the managers assuming that the workers are indifferent towards that of the organizational goal will pave the way for the creation of such kind of an organization that is called self-fulfilling prophecy. Based on the social research result, Mc Gregor has submitted an opposing theory that is known as theory Y. This can help in providing a realistic assessment pertaining to capabilities of people. Modern manager should make use of the potential in theory Y that can help in propelling the motivated workforce that can help in producing the better results (Miner 2015).

The implications of Theory Y lie in the fact that idea of the integration can help in the creation of environment where the interests and the goals of the workers can be achieved with the help of commitment to that of corporate goals. This theory states that democratic decision making can help in the aspect of engaging the employees in an organization. According to Lazaroiu (2015), that the managers having confidence about the employees can pave the way for the employees behaving in responsible manner in the organization. This theory lays undue stress on the fact that the employees can be motivated with the help of self-esteem while they are on the job (Kiatkawsin and Han 2017). It is necessary on the part of the management to restructure the environment of an organization that can be instrumental in releasing of the human potentials. This cannot always be true as there are some people who do not feel comfortable in the event of having excessive amount of freedom.

Theory X and Y of McGregor

The Vroom Expectancy Theory pertaining to motivation focuses on the behaviour of the workers in an organization. He stated that work behaviour pertaining to the employees can help in explanation of process that is involved and the assumptions were based on the idea that observed behaviour of an individual can pave the path for motivation in an organisation. The primary method that is developed for this purpose is called ‘objective observation’. According to Lloyd and Mertens (2018), the Vroom’s expectancy theory states that the motivated behaviour of an individual is product of the two variables- valence of outcome for that of an individual and the expectation that an act will be followed by an outcome that is predictable.  It has been stated by Chen, Ellis and Suresh (2016), that valence is indicative of anticipated satisfaction from that of an outcome and expectancy is indicative of momentary belief relating to likelihood that a particular act will lead the way for particular outcome. Vroom has said that motivation refers to force that translates into pressure that can help an individual in performing an act.

The theory of Vroom has been criticized owing to the fact that factors that can help in determination of effort that a worker puts into the job can hardly be accurately identified. The practical implication of this theory is that this theory may be difficult for implementation because factors affecting relationship in between the effort of employees and the actual performance can get blurred. According to Baumhof et al. (2017), the practical implication of Vroom’s theory for the managers is that managers should identify the values along with preference of the employees and they should be harmonised with that of the corporate objective. This can prove to be effective in enhancing the aspect of employee motivation that can be useful in engaging the employees in an organisation. For the purpose of providing motivation to the employees, managers should be involved in publicising and offering rewards that can be of value to the employees of an organization. It can be stated that rewards that are based on the aspect of value can be linked to that of performance of the employees in an organization. The modern managers can work on the arena of non-financial incentives that can prove to be instrumental in engaging the employees in the workforce. The monitoring of the financial rewards at regular interval can help in providing encouragement to the employees in an organisation. The managers in an organisation should identify the training requirements that can help in guaranteeing employee effort that can give rise to effective performance of the employees within an organisation (Baumann and Bonner 2017). The training needs of the workers in an organisation should be identified that can help the workers in acquiring the requisite amount of skills that can help the employees in actualizing potential in the organization. Here should be retraining programs in the organization that can help in effective engagement of employees within an organization. The modern managers have to embark on the process of re-designing the jobs that can help in accommodating rewards that are sought by the employees in an organization.

The “Erg” theory of motivation of that of Clayton Alderfer acts as an offshoot of that of the need hierarchy theory of Maslow. Alderfer has been involved in criticizing Maslow because he felt that the human needs cannot be provided with rank on the basis of hierarchy and that the same needs can be ranked along that of a continuum. Alderfer has said that there exist three groups pertaining to human needs in contrast to that of five needs hierarchy of Maslow. “Existence” needs corresponds to that of Maslow’s physiological needs that is also referred to as the lower order need. The needs pertaining to “relatedness” tallies with the theory of Maslow and “growth” needs correspond to that of higher level need of Maslow. It has been stated that theory of Alderfer is more dynamic as compared to Maslow because it helps the employees in dealing with two set of the need at the same time (Chen, Ellis and Suresh 2016).  This theory has however been criticized owing to the fact that it lacks in respect to originality. The ideas can be said to be borrowed from the theory of Maslow and on this Alderfer built the ERG theory. There existed some psychological underpinning which influenced the human needs that theory of Alderfer did not take into consideration.

The practical implication of Erg theory lies in the fact that it focusses on the fact that management should improve upon the emoluments of the workers along wih fringe benefits that can prove to be useful in engagement of employees in an organisation. The managers should provide inflationary direction that can help in the creation of appropriate avenue in relation to motivation. The modern managers have shown high amount of responsibility with the help of their sustained efforts pertaining to physical security of the work environment. There are a large number of managers who want the security of tenure in relation to the employees. According to Hur (2018), the co-operative spirit existing between the peer and the superior can pave the way for the engagement of employees within an organization. The managers should maintain personal contact with all the employees that can help in engaging the employees in an organization. The managers should treat the employees in a fair manner that can be useful in engaging the employees within an organization. The managers in an organisation should maintain that of relaxed supervision that can help in engaging employees in the organization. Informal interactive session should be held with the workers that can be useful for the purpose of engaging the employees within an organization.

Conclusion

Organizational Behaviour is indicative of study of human behaviour in the setting of an organization. It refers to study of individuals and that of work groups in an organization. Motivational theories provide framework that can motivate staff within an organization which helps in effective performance of the employees. The need hierarchy theory of Maslow talks about the basic needs that an individual has like the physiological needs, safety needs and self-esteem needs that can help the employees in delivering effective performance within the organizational setting. Fred Herzberg has also thrown significant amount of light on the aspect of motivation that can engage employees in an organization. The two-factor theory of Herzberg has talked about motivators and that of hygiene factors that can be useful in engaging employees in an organization. The hygiene factors can play an important role in providing small amount of motivation to employees of an organization so that the employees can contribute successfully to the organization. The assumptions that are held by the managers have an effect on the behaviour of the employees in an organization. Vroom Expectancy Theory has said that in the event of an individual observing the behaviour of other employees an employee can be motivated to deliver effective performance within that of the organizational setting. It states that training needs of workers being identified can help the workers in gaining the skills that can help in the aspect of actualization of potential in the organization. “Erg” theory pertaining to motivation has stated the fact that relaxed supervision can prove to be useful for engagement of the employees in organization. Informal interactive session can be held in the organization that can engage employees in the organizational setting.

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