Chap

ter

Motivation, 2
Morale and 2
Productivit
y
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Motivation, Morale and

Productivity

Introduction
One of the important duties of the modern manager is to get things done
through people. It is in managing human assets that the manager's
capabilities are tested fully, because:
Human resources are heterogeneous. They consist of many different
individuals; each of whom has a unique personality, a combination of
different emotional responses to different stimuli; and different
values, attitudes, motives and models of thought.
Human beings behave in widely differing and complicated ways.
Their reactions to promise, praise, or criticism, for example can be quite
different. It is very difficult to predict their behaviour especially in an
organisation where they work in groups. Their behaviour is
neither
consistent nor readily predictable.
Modern employees are better educated, possess greater skills, have
more sophisticated technology available for their use, and enjoy
higher standards of living than previous generations.
A human being himself determines what he contributes. If he is
motivated, he will work for an organisation more efficiently and
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Motivation, Morale and

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Features of Motivation
Motivation is the set of forces that cause people to behave in certain
ways. Motivation is the work that a manager performs to inspire,
encourage and impel people to take required action. The process of
motivation is characterised by the following:
(a) Motivation is an internal feeling
(b) Motivation produces goal-directed behaviour
(c) Motivation contains systems orientation
(d) Motivation can be either positive or negative
(e) Motivation means bargaining
(f)

Motivation is a complete process

(g) Motivation is different from job satisfaction

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Motivation, Morale and

Productivity

Behaviour

Need

Work hard

(deficiency)

Find another job

Goal

Get a pay raise

Become union
member
and pressure
management

Tension
Reduction

The Motivation Framework

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Motivation, Morale and

Productivity

Importance of Motivation
The following points bring out the importance of motivation in modern
organisations:
1.

Productive use of resources

2.

Increased efficiency and output

3.

Achievement of goals

4.

Development of friendly relationships

5.

Stability in workforce

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Motivation, Morale and

Productivity

Variables Affecting Motivation in Organisational

Setting
Individual
Characteristics

Job Characteristics Work Situation

Characteristics

Interests Attitudes
Towards self
Towards job
Towards aspects of
work situation
Needs
Security
Social
Achievement

Intrinsic Reward

Degree of
autonomy

Degree of variety
in tasks

Immediate Work Environment

Peers

Supervisors
Organisation Actions

Reward practices

Organisational culture

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Motivation, Morale and

Productivity

Theories of Motivation
Motivation theory has evolved through three different eras: the traditional
approach, the human relations approach and the human resource
approach. Three kinds of theories have evolved, over the years, to
capture the essence of these approaches: namely,

content theories,

reinforcement theories and

process theories.

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Productivity

How to Motivate Employees?

Recognise individual differences

Match people to jobs

Use goals

Individualise rewards

Link rewards to performance

Check the system for equity

Don't ignore money

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Motivation, Morale and

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Non-financial Incentives
Individual Incentives

Group Incentives

Status: It is the ranking of

positions, rights and duties in
the organisation. Research
indicated the fact that middle
and higher level employees
prefer escalations in status to
increments in pay.
Promotion: It is the vertical
movement of a person in the
organisation. Promotions are
accompanied by increased
responsibilities, enhanced
prestige and power, usually.
Since promotions depend on
good performance, most
employees try to attain these
if the organisation provides
the opportunities.
Responsibility: People want to
handle responsible and
challenging jobs. If the job is
responsible, it satisfies people
in more than one way.

Social Importance of Work:

People want jobs with high
social status. They are
prepared to accept such
jobs, even when the pay is
comparatively less. High
status jobs enhance the
social status of an individual
in the society. E.g.,
preferring to work in a
foreign bank rather than in a
good private financial
institution.
Team Spirit: People prefer
to work in well-knit groups.
Those organisations that
encourage their employees
to do the jobs in a
cooperative manner, attract
people automatically. When
team spirit is encouraged
among employees, they will
put in their maximum in the
service of the organisation.

Organisational Incentives

Participation: People prefer

organisations that offer them
good opportunities to
participate in the decision
making process.
Participation enables people
to offer valuable
suggestions and concrete
ideas and see that these are
actually translated into
action.
Sound Human Relations: A
positive work climate where
people are treated as
human beings is an
important reward. It permits
people to work with
enthusiasm and spirit and
contribute their best.

Cont

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Motivation, Morale and

Productivity

Recognition of work: Managers

can motivate people by using this
in three ways: show appreciation
when an individual does an
outstanding job; compliment
individuals in front of others;
compliment individuals when the
incident is still fresh in their mind.
Recognition and appreciation will
have a 'tonic' effect on the
psychology of employees.
Interesting work: Jobs that are
varied, pleasant and enjoyable
motivate people thoroughly. Such
jobs allow people to satisfy their
natural instincts. Work in such
cases becomes as natural as play
or recreation and stimulates
people to reach greater heights.
Job Security: People want secure
jobs. They want to be sure about
their future income and job
continuity. For the same reason,
people prefer government jobs to
private jobs, where the security is
good but not the income.

Healthy Competition:
Promoting healthy
competition among
employees through
carefully chosen
reward schemes spurs
people to work harder.

Morale: Morale refers to the

atmosphere created by the
attitudes of the members of
an organisation. Poor morale
is an organisational malady.
The warning signals to be
noted here are in the form of
absenteeism, tardiness, high
turnover, strikes and
sabotage, lack of pride in
work, etc.
Communication and
Discipline: Proper
communication and good
disciplinary procedures
enable people to work with
confidence and along the
prescribed routes. The
behaviour is consistent with
goals and the chances of
meeting the goals are high.

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Motivation, Morale and

Productivity

Morale and Productivity

Morale is a word with multiple meanings. Mayo defined it as 'the
maintenance of cooperative living'. In this sense, it refers to a sense of
belonging to a group. Dr. Leighton described morale as the "capacity of a
group of people to pull together persistently and consistently in pursuit of a
common purpose". Thus, acceptance of a goal and commitment on the
part of the group to work for it are important components of high morale,
according to this view. Yet another view expressed by Prof. Kossen links
morale with employee attitudes. It refers to 'employees' attitude toward
either their employing organisations in general or toward specific job
factors, such as supervision, fellow employees and financial incentives.
Researchers, to add to the confusion, generally come out with two
formulations while using the term morale: (i) job satisfaction as the
concern of an individual and (ii) morale as a group phenomenon. Writers
like Halloran, to clear the fog used the term morale in two different ways.
Individual Morale
Group Morale
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Motivation, Morale and

Productivity

Factors Affecting Morale

The organisation

Leadership

Co-workers

The nature of work

Work environment

The employee

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Motivation, Morale and

Productivity

Morale and Productivity Relationship

High

Morale

High Morale Only

Low

High Morale and

High Productivity

High Productivity Only

Productivity

High

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Motivation, Morale and

Productivity

High
Morale
Low

High Morale

High Morale

Low Productivity

High Productivity

Low Morale

Low Morale

Low Productivity

Low Productivity

Productivity

Morale and Productivity

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Motivation, Morale and

Productivity

Morale Building
Maintaining a reasonable level of morale is not an easy job. Some of the
important steps that need to be taken up by management, that too on a
continuous scale, are listed below:
1.

Remuneration

2.

Job security

3.

Participation

4.

Job enrichment

5.

Organisation structure

6.

Grievance redressal

7.

Employee counsellors

8.

Sound leadership
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