Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 774 Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 4:09 pm Post subject: Motivation, Some Thoughts
Motivation has been extensively studied though the information has rarely filtered into management practice. What has largely been embraced is that pay must be tied to production. It is also largely accepted that more pay should result in more motivation. Neither theory can be supported by data, nor application, as far as I can see.
In the 1930's, Maslow theorized the hierarchy of human needs. Very basically this stated that all normal people have needs and they exist in “levels.” Lowest would be very basic, such as food, shelter, life, etc., these are physiological needs. Moving up would be safety or security needs. Things such as a safe dwelling, job security and so on. Next would be the need to love and belong and so on, up to self actualization.
More to the point Maslow’s theory stated that until one level was met, a person is unlikely to think much about the next level. For instance a man that is starving is less concerned with a sense of security and unlikely to consider creativity or lack of prejudice. This was a helpful theory though somewhat incomplete in explaining motivation. Frederick Herzberg took the theory to the next level.
Herzberg realized that some needs are never really met, for instance needs that involve avoidance of pain. These he called hygiene factors. Hygiene factors are things like a safe working environment, job security, pay and so on. These are all important, but do not motivate. Rather they serve to de-motivate if they are not present or are present in what a person considers an insufficient amount.
Hygiene factors also tend to work in a cycle. They always come back to the point where they began. For instance a raise in pay may temporarily raise morale, but will quickly become accepted. This is where “What have you done for me lately” thinking comes from. Any improvement will be short lived and discontinuation/reduction of the factor will result in dis-satisfaction.
Herzberg called this an escalating zero point with no final answer. This is the fallacy of production pay schemes. They try to motivate by removal of discomfort [lack of money.] Unfortunately the opposite of dissatisfaction is not satisfaction. Rather it is a lack of dissatisfaction, which is where most workers find themselves.
They may be well paid and feel secure, but this only results in a lack of dissatisfaction. They feel little or no satisfaction from their job thus little or no motivation for it. Moving toward satisfaction [motivation] is a wholly different matter. If there is interest, I will write further on this topic.
Joined: 19 May 2007 Posts: 206 Location: Camp Verde, AZ
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 11:56 am Post subject:
What you are talking about is what I have experienced with people. A person will not work any harder for $50.00 an hour than they will for $10.00 an hour. That is not to say, do not pay people what they are worth. If a person feels they are greatly under compensated, they will be finding a different place of employment.
Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 146 Location: Garden City, KS
Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 9:50 pm Post subject:
I feel this will be a great topic! I would love to hear more. Can motivation be created by an outside force? Or must it come from within the individual and be "fanned" into ferocity? Thanks Louis. Later, Matt.
_________________ Matt Fanslow
ASE CMAT/L1
Crag-Technologies, Inc
www.wavehook.com
Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 774 Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 2:14 pm Post subject:
Thanks for your interest guys. Mrs. A and I are going out of town for Columbus Day weekend, but I'll put something together when I get back. This is a huge topic, how much detail would you like?
Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 774 Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:21 pm Post subject:
Dave wrote:
What you are talking about is what I have experienced with people. A person will not work any harder for $50.00 an hour than they will for $10.00 an hour. That is not to say, do not pay people what they are worth. If a person feels they are greatly under compensated, they will be finding a different place of employment.
I would like to hear your thoughts on motivation.
Hi Dave,
I think it was Robert McNamara who wrote something like, "A man would not sell his life for a million dollars, but will give it for a piece of ribbon." I remember thinking this incredibly callous at the time, but the though has remained with me. No man gives his life for a piece of ribbon, but many have for the ideals the ribbon represents.
By contrast, people need money to survive and money represents avoidance of pain (e.g., hunger, boredom, ridicule, lack of prestige, etc.) Research suggest, money does not motivate, except as far as it indicates success or some other intangible of importance to the person. This effect will always be temporary.
In these cases the feeling of success [gaining more money] is the actual incentive. This is external to the person, thus referred to as extrinsic. The problem is it always takes more to achieve the same effect. Much like drugs or other external stimulus.
Such a person accustomed to $15.00 per hour may be stimulated by a raise to $18.00. After a short while, receiving the same $18.00 per hour no longer provides any stimulation. The effect is neutral, neither pleased nor displeased. Also neither motivated nor de-motivated. This is where most workers currently find themselves.
Reducing pay to $17.00 per hour would provide displeasure and a lack of motivation. This is often seen in a flat rate-tech. They may make several large pay checks, each larger than the last. They may feel very good, but this is extrinsic. Obviously, pay will not continue to rise forever and when it ceases to rise, the stimulation also ceases. When pay inevitably falls, the results may range from lack of motivation, depression to hostility, depending on the personality type.
I have done a fair amount of study on this topic and could easily bore you to death with details. Instead I would prefer to touch on topics that might be relevant. Is there any specific aspects that would be of interest?
Joined: 19 May 2007 Posts: 206 Location: Camp Verde, AZ
Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 10:55 pm Post subject:
louis wrote:
I have done a fair amount of study on this topic and could easily bore you to death with details. Instead I would prefer to touch on topics that might be relevant. Is there any specific aspects that would be of interest?
Louis,
I feel that I do not know enough about the subject to give you specific areas to touch on. How about a broad overview then, we can chase areas of interest as they come up. Several shop owners that I know feel they are lacking in the area of motivating employees.
Personally, we try to improve the lives of the people working for us. I try to tell each person I hire that one of my goals for them is to be able to own their own business, if they choose. Two of them now do have their own repair businesses. These same two have gone from living pay check to pay check to having money in the bank. They have gone from renting an apartment to owning their own homes. These are our greatest success stories, but there are a lot more that are not.
I had a fellow working for me once that the more money he was paid the less he did. I tried giving him tools or gift certificates to local restaurants as a way to say thanks. We parted on good terms after a couple years, he moved out of the area. But, never did find a way to motivate him.
Another fellow started out pretty decent but in a few months slowed down. We talked about it on several occasions, I asked what I could do to help, he said he would change and for a little bit he would get better, then slide back down. One day I again asked him what I could do to help him out. He said he needed more money and named a figure, so we gave him a raise, but no difference. People started to complain about his work, he would not change, so I fired him.
How do we take ordinary techs and motivate them to want to come to work, want to do a good job, and want to better them selves. What do I need to do in order to help them excel. I can see potential in people but do not know how to bring it out.
Thanks,
_________________ David Wittmayer
Owner / Manager
Hansen Enterprises Fleet Repair, LLC
Camp Verde, AZ
www.hefrshop.com
Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 774 Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 5:18 pm Post subject:
Dave wrote:
I feel that I do not know enough about the subject to give you specific areas to touch on. How about a broad overview then, we can chase areas of interest as they come up. Several shop owners that I know feel they are lacking in the area of motivating employees.
I'll give it a shot, but it's a huge subject. Lack of motivation is not limited to shop owners. Almost every business and even other endeavors [schools, organizations, etc.] complain of low motivation.
Dave wrote:
Personally, we try to improve the lives of the people working for us. I try to tell each person I hire that one of my goals for them is to be able to own their own business, if they choose. Two of them now do have their own repair businesses. These same two have gone from living pay check to pay check to having money in the bank. They have gone from renting an apartment to owning their own homes. These are our greatest success stories, but there are a lot more that are not.
This is very good, achievement can bring out motivation.
Dave wrote:
I had a fellow working for me once that the more money he was paid the less he did. I tried giving him tools or gift certificates to local restaurants as a way to say thanks. We parted on good terms after a couple years, he moved out of the area. But, never did find a way to motivate him.
I don't think a person can be motivated. It is an internal thing and all normal people have it. What an employer can do is remove the de-motivators and provide opportunity for things that bring out motivation.
Dave wrote:
Another fellow started out pretty decent but in a few months slowed down. We talked about it on several occasions, I asked what I could do to help, he said he would change and for a little bit he would get better, then slide back down. One day I again asked him what I could do to help him out. He said he needed more money and named a figure, so we gave him a raise, but no difference. People started to complain about his work, he would not change, so I fired him.
How do we take ordinary techs and motivate them to want to come to work, want to do a good job, and want to better them selves. What do I need to do in order to help them excel. I can see potential in people but do not know how to bring it out.
Thanks,
This has been an age old problem, don't feel too bad. Research exist that can help a great deal. Unfortunately, most management training is in direct conflict with more enlightened research. Deming addresses this in the fourteen points. I will try to write an overview and post it later. In reality several volumes may not fully explain the field. Thanks Dave, I appreciate the reply.
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