Motivation [week 3]

Improving Staff performance

Difference between content and process theory:
Content theory is the theory that concentrates on what factors make the individual tick. This theory looks at what it is about people that make them want things and what will make them do or not do certain things. These theories suggest that people have certain needs and desires which have been internalised .This means that as we have grown up we have learned that these are things that we want and need and we come to believe it so strongly that we think that it is a natural thing to want these things. The main theories in this category are Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which identifies five levels of needs, and Hertzberg’s two-factor theory.

Process theory looks at how and by what goals a certain individual is motivated. Theories in this category look at what factors an individual is thinking about when they decide how much effort they put into a certain task. One of the main theories in this category is Vroom’s Expectancy Model. This model suggests that individuals choose different behaviour in order to achieve different levels of desired outcome.

Ways in which McDonald’s and BA motivate their employees:

Motivation is based on giving people an appropriate combination of rewards. Employees need an awareness of the possibilities for them at work and the freedom to choose options and goals. Individuals need to feel they have responsibility and the power to influence results by their actions. Everyone has their own priorities in relation to the rewards they get from work. Rewards may include money, recognition, friendships, security, the challenge of new projects or a sense of doing something worthwhile and making a difference. For many people the chance to achieve ambitions is a major motivation. These are the main motivational factors any company needs to be aware of and need to put in place in order to get the best from their employees.

 McDonalds and BA are both large multinational companies. McDonald’s supplies millions of people with fast food and BA provide millions of people an airline service. It is important for them to ensure that the workforce they employ is working to their full potential. They are very customer/market orientated. They depend on reputation for customer service. If employees are not motivated then this will suffer. If workers aren't motivated costs rise. E.g. training costs increase in proportion to staff turnover. Therefore in order to be a success it is vital they motivate their employees properly.

 McDonald's motivate their staff in many ways, their policy is ''Hire the smile''. By this they mean they aim to employ happy people and then work on keeping their employees smiling by offering them rewards that fit their individual lifestyle. They have a diverse work culture because they employ people from all walks on life. They are known to be good at providing opportunities, which gives their employees a chance to prove themselves and progress as well as fulfil their potential. They offer flexibility so their employees can fit work around their lifestyle. They aim to make the environment in which the staff are working organised and fun place to work and also make sure their employees are learning, building confidence and developing work and life skills. [McDonalds.co.uk]. As I previously worked there I know that they had many competitions on Saturdays where they offered cinema tickets to staff that served most customers or sold the most amount of large meals. This meant staff had a day out with other colleagues so then had an opportunity to make friends with other employees outside work, which defiantly made the working environment a friendly place to be. They also had prizes of chocolates for staff in second place so everyone who tried won something.

 They also do regular performance appraisals in order to make sure they are providing employees with recognition for their work efforts. This gives their employees as well as the line managers who are carrying out the appraisal an opportunity to get together, engage in a dialogue about the individual’s performance, development and the support required from the manager. There are four key elements to McDonald's performance appraisals, these are as follows:

1. Objectives - whether they were achieved and if not the reasons why.
2. Competence – whether individuals are performance below, within or above the requirements of the role.
3. Training – what training the individual has received in the review period and what training or development they would like to receive in the future.
4. Actions – a note of any actions that need to be carried out by the individual or the appraiser. [www.Mcdonalds/trainanddevelop.co.uk]

 Abstract:'' Before 1983 there was much criticism of the level of service at British Airways. Describes how British Airways has moved since then to the position of being able to call itself “The World’s Favourite Airline”. This took place by means of four staff programmes, “Putting People First”, “A Day in the Life”, “To Be the Best” and “Winning for Customers”. The aim is ensure that quality permeates the organisation in order to ensure the long-term success of the company. [http://www.faqs.org/abstract/British-Airways.com]

 BA now concentrates on developing a closer relationship with their employees so that they can improve their customer service. BA understands the importance of motivating their staff. They offer benefits such as reduced air travel fares, holiday entitlement, pension and private health care schemes etc.

Which motivation models McDonald's do and do not appear to use in practice

McDonald’s meet Maslow’s hierarchy of needs because the staff will then gain the sense of belonging when they socialise with other colleagues they will love and feel loved. They are also meeting the factors of Hertzberg’s theory as they are making an achievement and getting recognition. They where given the responsibility of achieving a target and then have the opportunity of advancement.

 An appraisal program indicates to an employee that the organisation is genuinely interested in their individual performance and development. This has a positive influence on the individual's sense of worth, commitment and belonging, which again meets Maslow's hierarchy of needs. However an appraisal may not always be a good motivator some employees may not be doing as well as others and therefore will feel their efforts are not appreciated or not good enough. This will mean that Hertzberg hygiene factors are not being met because employees will feel dissatisfied and de- motivated and therefore will not be able to meet the motivator factors. Also neither is vroom’s

Conclusion

Existing theories can be used to identify many motivational factors saving time and money for the company. The main disadvantage was that each individual is different from the other and categorising them will be difficult and time consuming. In conclusion, I can say that these theories have both usefulness and cause problems to the manager of a company when he/she is trying to identify motivational factors. I can say that they have more use than not because many individuals can be classified into the separate categories identified in the various theories. There will only be a few individuals whose motivational factors will be hard to identify. I have also found that it is important for any organisation to find out what motivates each individual because everyone is different so what motivates one person may not motivate another e.g. for some employees a pay rise will be a satisfying motivational factor for other they may prefer to enjoy what they are doing instead. Therefore the theories do help identify each persons different needs to an extent.

 Referencing

Webb, P. [2002] British airways. ft business. p.33.
Ferguson, I. [2006]] content theories of motivation. http://www./article/foundationsofpsychology.com  [ Accessed 21st September 2009]
Herzberg, Frederick, B. Mausner, and B. Snyderman. The Motivation to Work. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1959.
Steers, Richard M., Lyman W. Porter, and Gregory A. Bigley. Motivation and Leadership at Work. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996.
Kinsella, S. [1995] Motivational theories. Available from: www.glossary.com/reference.Motivational+Theory [Accessed 29 Septembe 2009]
John, B. [2005] organisational behaviour. Available from http://findarticles.com/p/articles [Accessed 02nd October 2009]
[Anon], [2009], [sl], McDonald's [online]. Available from: www.McDonald's/staff.com [Accessed on 29th September 2009]