Motivation of Employees in the Workplace LaKeisha Partridge keisha1585@gmail.

com MGMT 591: Leadership and organizational Behavior February 22, 2014

Table of Contents

Introduction

The organization that will be the topic of discussion in my final paper is ACT (Account Control Technologies). ACT is a national leader in providing debt management, debt recovery and debt collection solutions for education, government and consumer entities. The collections agency specializes in student loan debt collection, assisting bursars with accounts receivable management and financial literacy. Dedicated to "People and Performance," ACT exceeds the highest standards in data security, advanced technology and ethical conduct, enabling the company to achieve outstanding results while safeguarding the reputations of the clients. Like any other sales company, ACT has a high turnover rate. They used to have all sorts of incentives and a great bonus structure, but how management changed the structure of bonuses, you are lucky to see a bonus more than $1000.00 for your efforts.

I noticed that in a sales environment not everyone is motivated, I also noticed that some people are motivated by different rewards or a personal goal or non of the above. Understanding what motivates people is necessary at all levels of management. I believe that some sort of motivation is generally linked to a reward, and it is widely recognized that reward management is central to the regulation of the employment relationship. I understand that the reward system varies from organization to organization, and comes in different forms and that they are offered to the employees as compensation for the productive work they execute. According to Jean Christofferson and Bob King (WorldatWork-2006), an effective reward system can definitely serve the strategic purposes of attracting, motivating, and retaining employees to achieve organizational goals. A more formal reward system I feel is necessary because it appeals to a more capable and skilled employee to fill the available position at Account Control Technology. I truly feel that this type of a method will help retain employees at this organization, hence maintaining a stable workforce with an acceptable

turnover rate. Lastly, an efficient reward system can also help motivate the employees to perform their responsibilities to the fullest degree of their personal capacities, which could then turn around and increase the organizations performance. I believe that every company has its own form of reward system and it often used as a management tool for achieving desired objectives. So this study is intended to examine the relationship between a reward system and the organizations performance as a whole. The success of an organization lies in a motivated workforce because highly motivated employees make every effort to produce at the highest possible level and put in greater effort than workers who are not motivated (Bagraim, 2006:70). Rewards are one of the vital elements to motivate workers for their best contribution towards generating great innovation ideas leading to better business functionality both financially and non-financially. For employees to share and fully get involved in the organizations vision, Edward and Christopher (2006) believe that motivation is a necessary ingredient. Indisputably, many researches have proven that reward strategies are the mechanisms that make this happen (Lee and Wong, 2006; Paul, 1981).

Problem Statement ACT has based a lot of their employees motivation through incentives instead of really understanding and helping the employees know what motivates them. I truly believe that employees need to really know the vision of the company and what motivates them I have worked in sales for nearly 3 years. We have always had a high turnover rate. In my opinion employee satisfaction plays a huge role in the high turnover rate. What is Employee Satisfaction? Employee satisfaction is the terminology used to describe whether employees are happy and contented and fulfilling their desires and needs at work. Many measures purport that employee satisfaction is a factor in employee motivation, employee goal achievement, and positive employee morale in the workplace. Employee satisfaction, while generally a positive in your organization, can also be a downer if mediocre employees stay because they are satisfied with your work environment. Factors contributing to employee satisfaction include treating employees with respect, providing regular employee recognition, empowering employees, offering above industryaverage benefits and compensation, providing employee perks and company activities, and

positive management within a success framework of goals, measurements, and expectations. Employee satisfaction is often measured by anonymous employee satisfaction surveys administered periodically that gauge employee satisfaction. (I do not support these.) Employee satisfaction is looked at in areas such as: management, understanding of mission and vision, empowerment, teamwork, communication, and coworker interaction. The facets of employee satisfaction measured vary from company to company. A second method used to measure employee satisfaction is meeting with small groups of employees and asking the same questions verbally. Depending on the culture of the company, either method can contribute knowledge about employee satisfaction to managers and employees. Exit interviews are another way to assess employee satisfaction in that satisfied employees rarely leave companies. Since I was the Team Lead I had a lot of people come up to me about how they were treated and how they werent motivated and treated fair. I know firsthand, I was the top performer at the company and my manager would throw me accounts to sell and people knew that and they hated the job even more so the customer service was poor and so was their performance. Literature Review What is motivation? Motivation for our purposes is the desire to do something that is so strong it propels you to actually do it. It is a feeling of wanting or needing something- an achievement, position, location, relationship, level of health or wealth, or state of mind-so much you take action that you must take to achieve it. (Gormon,2007)

Motivation is the word derived from the word motive which means needs, desires, wants or drives within the individuals. It is the process of stimulating people to actions to accomplish the goals. In the work goal context the psychological factors stimulating the peoples behavior can be Desire for money Success Recognition Job satisfaction Team work (What is motivation,2013) There are six types of motivation that exist. They are incentive, fear, achievement, growth, power and social. Motivation that comes from incentive is people know that they are being rewarded for the work that they do. Bonus and promotions are excellent in this form of motivation. Fear motivation involves consequences when incentive motivation fails. This form of motivation is referred to as the carrot and stick with incentive being the carrot and fear being the stick. Punishment and negative consequences are a form of fear motivation. This form of motivation is used to motivate students in the education system and in the professional setting. If the rules are broken and the goals we set are not accomplished we are penalized in some form. (lifehack.org2013) Achievement motivation is also commonly referred to as the drive for competency. We are driven to achieve goals and tackle new challenges. We desire to improve skills and prove our competency both to others and to ourselves. Generally, this feeling of accomplishment and achievement is intrinsic in nature. However, in certain circumstances be motivation for achievement may involve external recognition. We often have a desire or need to receive positive feedback from both our peers and our superiors. This may include anything from an award to a simple pat on the back for a job well done. (lifhack.org2013) Power can take the form of a desire for autonomy or the desire to have some form of control over others. Sometimes we want people to do what we want in our timetable and according to how we want it done.

Social factors motivate a lot of people. This involves people wanting to be involved in groups or feel connected with others. These people want to contribute and make a difference in the lives of others. The real importance of understanding the different types of motivation is in our ability to determine which form of motivation is the most effective for inspiring the desired behavior in either others or ourselves. None of these styles of motivation is inherently good or bad, the positive or negative outcome is truly determined by the way they are used. (lifehack.org2013) Keys to Motivation Of things that you would do first to motivate employees in the workplace is set standards of things to go about. Ask the right questions Why are the employees so unhappy What is it that they want to see change in the company If communication is poor, ask what type they need. Establish the point of conflict Explain that the employees own some responsibility for becoming motivated. Help find the employees find some way to facilitate the end result. (Books 24/7 2008) Analysis At Durham School Services the employees feel that they are not appreciated for the work that they perform. Since the summer of 2012 the State of Indiana has taken away unemployment benefits making the employees pay it back. The general manager does not speak to her employees in a professional manner. The benefits that the company has to offer are ridiculous. Employees have no paid time off, vacation time, or sick time. The medical and dental insurance are no good. And to top things off, the employees are blaming the company for the lack of assistance they are receiving about their employment benefits. Many of the company employees are behind on their bills and living expenses because of the unemployment issues. This company transports children to and from school. So when school is out and the kids are on break the drivers and monitors of this company dont get paid. The turnover rate is so high that even upper management has to drive routes on a daily basis. Solution

Present clear goals, standards, expectations, and deadlines Assign challenging but achievable goals Provide adequate training, support, and coaching Ask employees for their input on assignments and decisions Allow employees to determine their working methods to the extent possible Explain decisions and how and why they have been made, and that employee support for decisions is expected once they are made Reward good and extraordinary performance with good and extraordinary pay Provide competitive benefits and working conditions Give employees regular informal feedback on their performance and periodic formal, written evaluations

Model the desired behaviors and prohibit rude, prejudiced, sexist, or unfair speech or behavior Recognize that employees have personal lives as well as professional lives Maintain and express a sense of humor and humanity (Gormon,Tom2007)

Management will hold town hall meetings to address employee concerns. There will be an employee of the month recognition program that will recognize an employee every month that has over excelled in their job. There will be a contract meeting so that we as a company can figure out what we can do about benefits and paid time off. The general manager will take a class on customer service and professionalism. We will have regular company picnics and Christmas parties. The company will address employees concerns in a timely manner. The open door policy will be in full compliance. We as a company will ensure that this is a great place to work. Management will be held fully responsible for the control of the program. We strive to make our employees happy and we want to succeed as a company. Reflection As a manager and a motivator of others it is our responsibility to involve the staff in setting job related goals. We have to ensure that the goals we set forth are realistic yet

challenging. We as a company have to demonstrate our appreciation of their job related knowledge and competency. We as a company need to set forth a plan put it into place. What needs to be done? Who should do it? When is the deadline? And most importantly how will it be done? (Cairo,Jim 1998) If we as a company put this plan into action our future will be excellent. Our employees will be happier and the customers will be satisfied to the fullest beyond expectation.

References Ermatinger, Bill & Timberman, Terri& Villarreal Ph.D., LoraJ. (2006): Motivation Strategies for employees [Book 24/7 version] available from http://common.books24/7.com.proxy.devry.edu/toc.aspx?bookid=13208 Gorman,Tom.( 2007). Motivation. [books24/7version] http://common.books24/7.com.proxy.devry.edu/toc.aspx?bookid=22434 Cairo,Jim(1998) Motivation and goal setting: How to and Achieve Goals and inspire others [books24/7] version available from http://proxy.devry.edu/toc.aspx?booked=4119 Heathfield, Susan Employee Satisfaction from http://humanresources.about.com/od/employeesurvey1/g/employee_satisfy.htm