MORALE AND MOTIVATION

Brief Introduction:
This module discusses the subject of morale to gain a clearer view of problems related to it and
to appreciate its role in the group’s job satisfaction and how it enhances productivity. It is
necessary to understand the factors influencing it in order to enable management to formulate the
necessary policies and programs that will establish a climate for good relationships among the
people in the organisations.

Morale is the mental attitude which makes the individual perform his work either willingly and
enthusiastically or poorly and reluctantly. Employee morale is an attitude, a state of mind, an
intangible rat manifested by the employee’s manner and reactions to his job, his working
conditions, the company policies and programs, his fellow workers, his supervisors, his
compensation, his opportunities for advancement, and his general environment.

Morale is present in varying degrees, depending upon the individual’s attitude toward the
persons and things around him and his fellow workers, and upon how he finds satisfaction in
doing his work with his supervisors. It is used to describe the level or quality of the attitude or
reaction displayed by an Individual or by a group as being high or low, good or poor, positive or
negative. The qualities indicating high morale are known by such terms as enthusiasm, personal
satisfaction, team spirit, pride of achievement, and willingness to work. Morale is an indicator of
a group’s team spirit, loyalty, and goodwill.

TOPIC 1. FACTORS INFLUENCING MORALE

There are a number of factors which affect employee morale. These may be classified according
to their sources as:
The employees themselves.
Management practices
Outside factors
State of communication in the firm.

1. Employee Factors. The attitude of an employee about things around him is greatly
influenced by his educational, social, and economic background. His ability to understand
company policies, programs, and practices has a significant effect upon his morale. A
recognition of this quality in an individual adds importance to the selection and hiring of
employees. In the selection procedure, every applicant should be tested on his comprehension
and understanding of his surroundings and on how Fast he can adjust himself to new
situations. Good tests and interviews are a great help in determining the prospective worker’s
attitudes and reactions to the organization. For instance, how sensitive is he to change to a
new job or to a new environment?
 During the induction or orientation period, is the new employee informed well about
company Policies and programs in his work relationships? Does he receive adequate
instructions about his job and about the company policies and how these are applied? Is the
supervisor aware of both the weak.
And the strong points of the employee? Is the employee placed on the right job? Every employee
wants to be recognized. If his work performance is not up to par, he should be tactfully told
about it that he can do something to improve it end his supervisor can help him do a better job.
Employees generally want to know both their weak and strong points and how they can improve
and contribute the organization. They also want to know their chances for promotion and
possibility of advancement in the company. These are few of the many things that have great
effect on employee morale. It is thus evident that bod employee selection and placement,
supervisory training, and effective communication in the organization are of great value in the
development of sound employee morale.
2. Management Practices. A program to develop high morale consists of policies carried out
electively in the daily relationship between the supervisor and the people he supervises. The
supervisor’s ability to build team spirit, cooperation, and understanding depends largely on
his appreciations of the factors that make a group of individuals do its work willingly and
ethusiastically for the organization. Even satisfied employees may sometimes lose the desired
enthusiasm and interest and in the end feel frustrated and dissatisfied. Good supervisory
leadership is necessary in building good morale.
Proper handling of complaints within or outside a formal grievance procedure is essential in
building employee goodwill and morale. Management must create conditions under which a
high level of morale can develop. Here is where the supervisors can play a key role in
motivating their workers to develop team spirit. A more positive kind of morale should be
developed if workers are to exert their best efforts on their jobs and understand management
decisions. The development of high morale can not be accomplished overnight. It must be
achieved over a period of time through the application of sound personnel policies and
procedure, good supervisor practices, and good human relations. The means by which
management can achieve high morale should be included in the careful planning. Proper
programming of jobs, wage incentives, motion and time studies, and proper direction and
coordination in work operations. A morale-building program indicates good management
practice and establishes a proper climate for employees to make their work and work
environment satisfying.
The climate of the workplace is made up of feelings, beliefs, attitudes, behavior, and
temperament of the management team that manages the enterprise and makes decisions.
3 Outside Factors. As pointed out earlier, morale is influenced by many factors, so that even the
Employee’s living conditions outside the company may affect his morale because his mental and
physical condition are affected by his environment. For instance, his community and family
relationships are strong forces influencing the employee’s attitudes towards the company. The
Indoctrination that an employee receives from his union or from his affiliation with other
Organisations in the community exerts a strong influence on his attitude toward his employer.
The task of management is to draw the attention of these workers away from such outside
influences That may create a negative attitude in employees’ relationships with their employer.
The company’s Recreational, athletic, and social activities have been fruitfully utilized by some
firms in promoting Good employee morale. The training program and employee development
plans are also important tools Building high morale.
State of Communications in the Firm. Good communication is basic to good relationships
between management and the work group. Effective communications between employees and
management is a strong factor in building morale. Poor communication results in
misunderstanding and lack of interest on the part of the employee. It is estimated that about 80
percent of employee problems can be avoided if management has an effective communication
system in the entire organisation. For example, the communication of information to company
personnel regarding employee benefits and vices and their costs to the company can be a strong
morale builder. The delegation of authority and responsibility from top management to the
different levels of the organisation, including the first ne supervisors, can be firmly established
only when there is an effective communication system- vertically, upward, between one level
and a higher level, downward, between one level and a lower level; and horizontally, between
one position and another in the same level. A free flow of Communication should be established
from management to the rank and file workers, and vice versa.
The channels through which communications can be carried out include interviews, conferences,
meetings, circulars and memoranda grievance procedure, counselling, circulars, suggestion
system, attitude or opinion surveys, reports, bulletin boards, public address system, motion
pictures, and Sound slides.

TOPIC 2. ATTITUDE OR MORALE SURVEY

Progressive management is interested in knowing the state of morale among its employees and
how the latter regard its policies and the company in general. As partners in a common
undertaking. Management and labour must live up to the expectations of each other if they are to
work harmoniously and contribute to their mutual benefit. This condition can be best attained if
both know how they stand in each other’s eyes.
How can management obtain reliable information about what its employees think of their work,
their pay, their supervisors, their working conditions, and the company in general? Oftentimes,
management merely relies on what the supervisors say about the state of morale in their
respective departments, which may not be accurate. Management should find out the employees’
reactions and attitudes toward the firm – its policies, programs, and practices, in order to be able
to provide timely remedies to improve and to prevent any problem from developing. For
instance, are there any grievances whose existence management does not know about? Many
grievances and dissatisfactions have developed more from failure to get employee opinions than
from any other cause. What is the best way to find this out?
A more reliable method found in discovering the real feelings and attributes of employees toward
the company is the attitude or morale survey of employees in the firm. Although intangible and
not easy to measure, the state of morale can be reasonably determined Through systematic
interviews, surveys, and observations by the supervisor. If properly handled, a well-planned
survey of employee attitudes and opinions will give fairly reliable information which
management can use in assessing the feelings and reactions of its employees toward company
policies, programs and practices. Knowledge of the employees’ feelings and opinions about their
jobs, management policies, and other matters relating to their work environment will enable
management to uncover morale problems or pinpoint other possible problem areas and to take
timely remedial Measures to preserve sound employee relations.

*What Is an Employee Attitude or Morale Survey?

-An employee attitude and morale survey is a method of finding out the effectiveness of
management and supervision, its policies and programs, and things affecting employees feel
about and react to these matters.
Other terms used are: employee attitude survey, employee morale survey, employee opinion
survey, personnel audit, personnel appraisal, and personnel inventory.

*Purpose of an Employee Attitude Survey

-The main objective of an attitude or morale survey is to find out employee reactions about
specific policies, procedures, programs, management practices and other issues most directly
related to work accomplishment which are not easily discernible on the surface but do affect the
employee’s job satisfaction.
The results of an employee opinion survey will show the feelings and reactions of employees in
each work group or department about the way they are managed and supervised, their work and
their pay, their job security, working conditions, and other company policies and programs. This
information is valuable to management in discovering the needs, interests, problems, and
concerns of the employees. More specifically, its uses are:
1.It measures such intangible matters as employee morale. It determines specific satisfactions
and dissatisfactions among employees in various work groups or departments.
2.It helps management in re-examining its success or failure in personnel relations in order that it
can take the necessary measures.
3.It pinpoints problem areas, trouble-some situations, feelings of dissatisfaction, sources of
irritation, and management’s weaknesses so that measures can be taken to prevent them from
worsening.
4.It brings out training needs for supervisors and executives because the survey results will
reflect the employees’ evaluation of the human relations skills and technical competence of their
supervisors and executives.
5.It measures the effectiveness of communications, both up and down the line, and it shows the
specific areas about which the employees lack information.
6.It stimulates the interest of executives and supervisors in human relations problems and widens
these officials’ awareness of company policies, programs, and objectives.
7.It improves the relations of the firm with its publics, specifically its customers.
8.It provides an outlet for the employee’s pent-up feelings against the company.

TOPIC 3. ESTABLISHING A PROGRAM FOR EMPLOYEE ATTITUDE SURVEY

In planning an employee attitude survey, the following questions are usually asked: how shall it
be Started, who should administer the survey, what method should be used in undertaking the
survey, how should the survey be announced to the employees, and how should the results of the
survey be analyzed, interpreted and announced?

Companies and consulting firms that have undertaken such surveys have worked out the
following procedures:

Step 1- Decide what information are needed and why. Decide also its coverage. Will it be
company-wide or will it be restricted to a particular division or department?

Step 2-Selling the idea to top management Since the employee attitude survey involves company
policy, top management’s approval and support are necessary for its success and effectiveness.
Management must impress the employees with its sincerity and honesty in launching the survey.

A survey can be an accurate measure of employee attitudes only if management:

1. Insures the anonymity of the employees participating in the survey.
2.Shows real interest in their ideas and opinions.
3.Accepts their views and suggestions for what they are worth as guidelines.

Step 3- Appointment of a survey administrator and a survey committee. A survey committee

composed of persons within the organization should be appointed to help the survey
administrator plan the details of the survey and follow up the results. The committee’s main job
is to decide the subjects to be covered in the survey, the procedure to be followed in conducting
it, and the announcements to the employees and the executives. The survey administrator and the
members of the committee should be composed of the company executives who have company-
wide authority.

The personnel manager, who is familiar with company personnel policies, programs, and
problems is the most appropriate man to administer this survey.

Step 4-Methods to be used in the survey.

The most common method used in a survey is either the questionnaire method or the interview
method.
Questionnaire method. In the questionnaire method, a series of questions are asked in a
questionnaire form. The participants are asked to indicate their responses by checking the most
appropriate answers. The questionnaire usually provides opportunity for write-in comments
related to a particular question or tem not covered in the form.
The questionnaire method is the most popular because it is the least expensive, is easy to
administer, and its results are easy to tabulate. It is, however, difficult to formulate a
questionnaire that can be understood by the workers the way the framers of the questions
intended them to be understood.

*Interview method. There are two kinds of interview techniques: the guided or directive and the
unguided non-directive.
Guided interviews range from rigid adherence to formal questions to one of minimum control. In
some cases, the directive interview uses questions with simple choice responses, similar to those
included in printed questionnaires, which are to be answered orally instead of in writing.
The interview technique is better than the questionnaire method because it reveals to the
interviewer the personal feelings and impressions of the interviewee who can give his accurate
reactions to the questions asked. This method, however, is expensive and time-consuming. There
is also a possibility that the employee may not reveal his actual feelings to the interviewer.

6. Who will conduct the survey?

Employee opinion surveys are usually conducted by one of the following:

a. Outside consultants who have specialized knowledge and experience in this field. One
important advantage of using the services of an outside consultant is that, because he is
not connected with the firm, the employee will likely have more trust and confidence in
his impartiality and in keeping his anonymity, especially in the tabulation and
interpretation of the survey findings. Employees will feel that they will not be singled out
and identified, thus encouraging them to speak up frankly. Being familiar with the
operations of such an activity, the consultant can properly advise management and
conduct the survey more efficiently and expeditiously.

The services of outside consultants, however, are relatively expensive.

Another disadvantage is that outside consultants may lack adequate knowledge of the company’s
policies, operations, procedures, and peculiarities, and such knowledge is important in the
formulation of questionnaires that will cover the essential information needed by management in
the particular company. This handicap may, however, be remedied through close collaboration of
the company’s survey administrator and the consultants.

b. A survey committee. Another method is the use of a group composed of persons within
the organization as mentioned in the second step of this procedure.

c. A college or university research department. Some universities have industrial research

departments experienced along this line. A university may undertake the survey at a
minimum cost as its service to business and industry.
7. Planning the details of the survey.

Before the survey is announced to supervisors and employees, management must resolve certain
questions such as the scope of its subject matter, the employees to be covered, the
announcements of the survey results, the date and time of the survey, the manner of
administering the survey, and such other details that are needed to insure the survey’s success.
As to the time for conducting the survey, It is not advisable to conduct one when collective
bargaining negotiations are in progress or when a Labor-management controversy is raging.

8. Announcing the survey to foremen, supervisors, and middle management.

In a conference or meeting of foremen and supervisors, a top executive should explain the survey
to all supervisors in order to give them a clear understanding of the purpose of the survey and to
assure them of the fruitful uses of its results. The supervisors should also be fully informed of the
schedule and the procedure to be followed in the survey. This preliminary work should be done a
day or two before the survey. Full cooperation of all supervisors is desirable.

9.Selling the survey to employees and advising the union.

Selling the survey to employees in advance but not too far ahead of time so as to prevent
discussions and unfounded rumors about it. A day before the survey should be sufficient. The
survey can be announced by means of a memorandum or circular sent out to all employees or
posted on strategically located bulletin boards or it can be announced at a general meeting or
conference.

10. Announcing the results of the survey.

The results of the survey should be announced to the employees and their supervisors soon after
the survey. The results of the survey may be announced by means of the bulletin board, the
house organ, or at meetings or conferences. Some firms publish the survey results in a brochure
for distribution to the supervisors and employees.

11. Management’s Action

After the survey, management should study carefully the findings of the survey. It should then
plan concrete measures called for by the problems revealed by the survey and take appropriate
action.
The success of the survey will depend upon how the managers will view its findings and the
action they will take on it. Since management plays an important role in creating the proper
climate for wholesome employee attitudes and behavior, and employee-employer relations in the
organization, it must admit its responsibility for solving the problems that the survey may reveal.

TOPIC 4. MOTIVATION

*What is motivation?

-The word “motivation” is derived from the word “motivate” which means to move, impel or
induce to act to satisfy a need or want. Any consideration, idea or object prompting or exciting
an individual to act or move him to do what his leader wants to be accomplished is motivation.
Motivation may therefore be defined as a willingness to exert effort to achieve a goal or
objective for reward Without motivation or will to do, not much by way of accomplishment can
be made. It is the need, want, or motive within the individual that will urge him to accomplish
his objectives.

The terms need, want, motive, and drive are often used interchangeably by psychologists. Needs
Differ among individuals and in the same individual at different times. Motivation implies a
promise Or expectation of reward as a result of one’s action. The reward is usually in the form of
satisfaction Of the individual’s wants, desires or needs – his objectives.
One of the most important tasks of management is how to arouse and maintain the interest of its
Employees work willingly and enthusiastically to achieve the company’s goals. Anything that is
Designed to make the individual or group of individuals obtain or satisfy their needs is
motivation.

Types of motivation
-There are two types of motivation- positive and negative, both of which are used by managers to
achieve goals. Positive motivation is a human relations or leadership approach whereby
subordinates enthusiastically follow the leader’s will because of some possible gain, reward or
satisfaction they expect to get such as feeling of achievement, sense of responsibility,
appreciation, promotion etc.

Negative motivation on the other hand, also Influences others to follow the leader’s will, but not
because of any expected advantage but fear of punishment or the application of certain sanctions
such as losing some money or status, recognition, or even one’s job. Some factors in negative
motivation are strict imposition of work rules, poor working conditions, unsatisfactory
compensation, fringe benefits and the like. Authority and punishment are used to make people do
what management wants them to do. These are the negative types of motivating people to work.

Good managers and supervisors must be alert to know employee dissatisfaction which may be
the beginning of serious problems.

Positive motivation creates greater worker enthusiasm to work with a higher level of morale and
with fewer complaints and less problems, thus accomplishing a good record of productive level.

In negative motivation, the supervisor or manager may get more results in terms of productivity
while the workers are being watched. The negative leader may get immediate response to his
instructions and in terms of productivity he may get more than that of the positive leader, but this
advantage lasts only for a short time. As Flippo puts it, (1) fear can be used to advantage if it is
not made the predominant approach, and (2) it is impossible completely to eliminate fear from
any organisation, no matter how skillful the executive.

In matters of motivation, it is the science of management that will provide organised and
systematic knowledge about motivation and motivational techniques, but it is the art of
management that will provide the various types of motivation to effect the maximum results. A
good leader uses both positive and negative motivation but he must know how to balance his
motivational appeals, how much of each he must use at a certain time. The supervisor, as the
leader, must study his people and determine the types of motivation that will stimulate them to
act as desired.

*Self-Motivation

-The best form of motivation is self-motivation with proper attitudes toward his work, his co-
workers and the management because this comes from within the individual. His own motivators
are his own personal drives to achieve his ambition and goals. The company may provide the
necessary motivations such as good pay, excellent benefits, and good environment but if he lacks
personal drive, or the will to forge ahead and achieve, no amount of motivation will make him
strive for great achievement. The employee needs personal initiative and motivation to achieve
superior performance. Management should develop in the employees good work attitudes and
proper behaviour through Seminars, conferences, workshops and consultations.

*POSITIVE MOTIVATION

-The following are some of the positive factors in motivating people. It is up to management to
Carefully balance their application because overdoing the use of any factor can bring bad results.

@Money
-The most commonly used incentive to stimulate the worker to greater production and efficiency
is monetary remuneration. Unions usually ask for increased pay as a part of their bargaining
demand knowing this is what the employees want. While money is important for providing the
material necessities of life, its effect upon the work does not last long.
McClelland pointed out that several research studies showed that workers do not work harder
just for the purpose of making more money alone, but are also motivated by their desire for
accomplishment and success in their job. This is especially true with workers who are already
earning enough to meet the basic necessities of life.
The study of Aganon and Amante shows that in the Philippines, the majority of the workers (in
garment and food companies, particularly) feel that they will be most motivated to do their best
by monetary rewards. Accordingly, an adequate wage and benefit package enhances worker
productivity and individual well-being for the following expressly stated reasons:

1.It gives one a light feeling (magaan ang pakiramdam)

2.It keeps one from thinking about financial problems at the workplace.
3.Management can be assured that workers will give “the right quality”.
4.No one will sabotage the workplace and the instruments.

@Job Security
-Employees want to feel secure in their jobs and would prefer lower-paying jobs that are
permanent to higher paying ones without security of tenure. The Constitution of the Philippines
in fact provides for the security of tenure of employees. Likewise, the Labor Code declares
security of tenure of workers in employment as a basic policy.

@Praise and Recognition

-Whenever a worker accomplishes a good job, it is good to organize such accomplishment by
praising or rewarding him so he would be motivated to always do a good job.

@Sense of Belonging
-The main function of induction or orientation of the new employee in the company is to make
him feel that he is part of the group and that the group accepts and recognizes him as a member
of the team. If he feels that he does not belong to the group, he gets dissatisfied and disappointed.

@Competition
-When done properly, competition can be a good motivator for the employee because it
encourages creativity, initiative, better performance, and improved production. With the use of
records and charts, management can encourage employees to work harder to beat their previous
records of performance.

@Delegation of Authority
-Responsibility and authority delegated to a subordinate are great motivators. They stimulate the
employee’s interest and provide him an opportunity for development. The employee takes this as
a recognition of his ability to perform his job well.

@Sincere Interest in Subordinates

-Taking sincere interest in subordinates is a human relations approach in motivating people and
promoting their morale and feeling of belongingness. The supervisor gets immediate results from
his subordinates if the latter knows their welfare. Some examples are visiting sick employees,
giving good advice and counselling. The direction desired by management.

EFFECTS OF MOTIVATION
From the studies made by researchers on motivation, the following effects of motivating
employees

have been definitely established:

1. That employees who are sufficiently motivated, move and act to follow the direction desired
by management.
2. That the motivated employees achieve high output and produce good quality products and
services.
3.That employees who are properly motivated are more careful in the use and care of machines
and equipment, avoid or prevent accidents, and minimise or prevent losses or waste.
4. That employees accept willingly the changes made by management provided that the changes
to be made have been previously explained to and understood by them and proper training is
provided to adjust them to the change.
5. That motivated employees willingly respond in times of emergencies or during rush periods or
occasions requiring special effort, overtime, and the like.
6. That with motivated employees the problems of discipline are minimised. When a man is
sufficiently motivated, discipline will take care of itself.
Specific studies substantiate the influence of certain factors on motivation. The investigative
attempt of Martinez and Zamora reveals the rank ordered needs of 176 department heads in 38
government corporations as follows: (1) physiological; (2) self-realisation; (3) security and
safety, (4) social; (5) status and prestige. In another study by Martinez, results showed that
security and physiological needs are of utmost importance among workers and middle
management groups. Self-actualization, social autonomy and esteem needs (in the order
mentioned) were the last priorities among the perceived important needs.

A research on job satisfaction factors among workers in a hotel by Lopez reveals that hygiene
factors
(those extrinsic to the job like pay, policies, supervision) are more satisfying motivational
variables (intrinsic to the job as the giving of autonomy and responsibility). Empirical evidence
on the effects of motivation factors on productivity or work performance is offered by the
following studies:

1. Velasco's research (1985) found a significant positive relationship between salary and
job. knowledge, safety and industry and security and industry.
2. Setiawan's thesis (1975) showed that the most important, yet most unsatisfactory job
morale factor was salary. However, perceived dissatisfaction with salary was not
significantly associated with employee performance.
3. Lee and Tarce (1981) likewise discovered that there is no correlation between monetary
rewards and worker's affiliation with output.
4. Buen (1979) showed that perception of the sensibility of the organisational reward
system (ORS) has a direct influence on satisfaction with and motivation for the job.
However, ability for the job remains as the strongest predictor for variations in job
performance.
5. Aganon and Amante (1988) revealed that productivity-based motivators tend to raise
both labor and total (firm) productivity levels. Higher pay exhorts higher individual
worker productivity, while employee participation in problem-solving and decision-
making raises total productivity of the company. Quality of work life approaches to
solving work issues help increase employee commitment to organisation goals and give
them a sense of belonging, and hence, higher performance levels.
6. De Jesus' Ph.D. Dissertation (1985), dweit on finding which aspects could best explain
job performance. She concluded that: (a) management controlled factors were said to
have "managed" performance satisfaction levels; and (b) there is no substantial evidence
which links socio- psychological dimensions to work performance.

TOPIC 5. THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

Several research studies on motivation have been undertaken by industrial psychologists and
behavioral scientists. As a result some theories about motivation and human behavior have been
developed by researchers like Douglas McGregor, Abraham Maslow, Frederick Herzberg, Elton
Mayo, J. Stacey Adams, Chris Argyris, Rensis Likert, David C. McClelland, Peter Drucker, Saul
W. Gellerman and others.

*McGregors’s Theory X and Theory Y

-Douglas McGregor presented in the 1950’s his study on motivation. The purpose of his research
was to examine the factors that influence human action particularly at work. He presented two
different assumptions about workers which he labelled as Theory X and Theory Y.

McGregor’s assumptions on the nature of man which he labelled as Theory X are:

1. The average human being has an inherent dislike for work and will avoid it if he can.

2. Because of this human characteristic of dislike for work, most people must be coerced,
controlled, directed, and threatened with punishment to get them to exert adequate effort toward
the achievement
of organisational objectives.

3. The average human being prefers to be directed, avoids responsibility, has relatively little
ambition, and wants security above all.

Under these assumptions, organizations must be structured with policies, procedures, and work
rules because people can be directed and controlled. Job responsibilities must be clearly spelled
out, goals are determined without the employment and must exercise authority, supervision, and
close control to get people to do what management wants them to do. In order to make them
work, rewards and punishment must be applied accordingly.

McGregor felt that Theory X is inaccurate as it cannot be applied universally. He believed that
motivating people requires an understanding of human nature. So he developed Theory Y.

Theory Y, a direct opposite of Theory X, assumes that:

1. The expenditures of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest
2. External control and the threat of punishment are not the only means for bringing about
effort toward organizational objectives. Man will exercise self-direction and self-control
in the service of the objectives to which he is committed.
3. Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their achievement.
4. The average human being learns under proper conditions not only to accept but also to
seek responsibility.
5. The capacity to exercise a relatively high degree of imagination, ingenuity, and creativity
in the solution of organizational problems is widely, not narrowly, distributed in the
population.
6. Under the conditions of modern industrial life, the intellectual potentialities of the
average human being are only partially utilized.
Under Theory Y, management is more understanding and allows its employees to achieve to the
limits of their talents and capabilities. Theory Y approach sets high standards for people to reach
the organization’s goals. Under proper conditions, the human being seeks responsibility and
develops his potential ability. The Theory Y manager considers man as a growing, developing,
and learning being, capable of responsibility and initiative to achieve goals. McGregor believes
that people in general are really more like Theory Y than Theory X. They exercise self-control
and self-discipline. They use their imagination, creativity, and initiative to achieve their
organization’s goals. Accordingly, management must structure the work so that an employee can
develop a sense of responsibility for the work and achieve personal growth and the feeling of
accomplishment. It should make use of the work itself as the motivator. The employee’s rewards
should be the satisfaction of his need for self- respect, personal improvement, and growth.

*Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

- The most popular and widely accepted theory of motivation is that of Maslow's which classifies
human needs into five levels, arranged in the order of their priority as follows:

1.Basic physiological need

2.Safety need
3. Attention or social need
4.Esteem need
5.Self-realization

The desire to satisfy these needs is what motivates a man to act, but the satisfaction of these
needs must be done in the order of their priority so that a higher need does not strongly motivate
a person unless the next preceding lower need has been substantially satisfied.

According to Maslow, human needs arrange themselves in a hierarchy of prepotency, that is,
according to the dominant need at the time. The appearance of one need becomes dominant
usually after the satisfaction of the next lower need. The needs of people are unending in the
ascending order from the first level of the hierarchy, to the next higher one and so on until the
highest level needs which is self-actualization.

Maslow found that the physiological needs are the most fundamental - the basic human needs to
sustain life such as food, clothing, shelter, water, rest, etc., that are required for maintaining the
body in a state of equilibrium. Until these basic needs are sufficiently satisfied, the attention of a
person's activity will remain at this level.

Once the physiological needs are reasonably satisfied, the next level of need - the need for safety,
stability, and security - becomes the predominant in a person's attention. These concern the need
to be free from physical danger and for self-preservation. His attention is on safety or security
from physical danger or security from injury as well as from adverse economic conditions.
Employees would prefer to work in an orderly and peaceful society, in jobs that are free from
physical and psychological hazards, pleasant working environment, protective rules, and work
that provides stability of tenure.
The third in the hierarchy is the belongingness and love needs. The individual needs attention
and companionship with others, that he is accepted and recognized by his group. His love needs
are also satisfied through his relationships with his family, and affection and recognition by his
friends. This need is especially reflected in his employment situation, in his association with his
fellow employees and his superiors. An individual wants happy relationships with the people in
his environment.

The fourth level is the need for self-esteem, the esteem of others and ego status. These include
the desire for self-respect, attention, and social approval for his achievements, ego status, self-
assertion, self-confidence, prestige, reputation, admiration from other people for doing a good
job and the desire to excel and display competence and ability.

The need for self-actualization, self-realization, and self-accomplishment comes as the highest
need
in the hierarchy. These include the desire for self-fulfilment, personal growth, achievement, and
the realization of one's potential capabilities. While this is the highest level needed, it has the
lowest priority because not very many people can strive for it. Some people strive hard to use
their abilities, potentials and talents in achieving their need for "self-fulfilment" and personal
success. This is especially true of scientists, artists, writers, and other professionals. To the
professionals, "self-fulfilment" is a strong motivator.

In summarising his theory of human motivation, Maslow said:

This man is perpetually wanting an animal. Ordinarily the satisfaction of these wants is not
altogether mutually exclusive, but only tends to be. The average member of society is most often
partially satisfied and partially unsatisfied in all of his wants. The hierarchy principle is usually
empirically observed in terms of increasing percentages of non-satisfaction as we go up the
hierarchy. Reversals of the average order of hierarchy are sometimes observed. Also it has been
observed that an individual may permanently lose the higher wants in the hierarchy under special
conditions. There are not only ordinarily multiple motivations for usual behavior, but in addition
may be determinants other than motives.

Based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs some writers believe that some managers commit the
mistake of providing elaborate personnel benefits and service programs without first satisfying
the basic need for a fair and adequate wage of their personnel.

"Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory

-Herzberg developed this theory from his research in the 1950's when he and his associates
conducted interviews on the problem of attitudes with two hundred engineers and accountants
who worked for eleven different companies in the Pittsburg area. Herzberg asked his subjects to
tell about the times when they especially liked their jobs and listed the incidents that they
mentioned. Then he asked the same people to tell him about the times when they strongly
disliked their jobs and, again, he listed the circumstances they mentioned.
After the data gathered from the interviews were analyzed, Herzberg concluded that people have
different categories of needs that are essentially independent of each other and which affect them
in different ways. He classified these into two groups; the first group he termed Motivators
Factors. These factors were found to be important in motivating employees to superior
performance and in improving productivity.. The findings indicated that when the employees felt
good about their jobs they were motivated to work because they found the job challenging and
satisfying with the expectation of accomplishment and rewards.

The following factors were found to motivate employees to do superior performance:

1.Achievement - a feeling of personal accomplishment or the feeling of having done a job well.
2. Recognition - being recognized for doing a job well such as being complimented by the boss
or receiving a company reward, promotion, or salary increase.
3.Participation – being personally involved in one’s work; having some responsibility for
making decisions about one’s job.
4. Growth – challenge of the job itself; and the chance to learn skills, acquire knowledge, and
achieve development and advancement. As more varied tasks are included in the job under the
job enrichment program, the work is made more interesting and challenging, the job becomes
more satisfying and the employees more productive.

With the second question which asked about the times that the subjects felt they were dissatisfied
with their jobs, Herzberg arrived at a second list of factors which he termed hygiene or
maintenance factors because the presence of these conditions only maintained current levels of
efficiency and production but did not lead to improvements in production or to beet job
performance, Said conditions concern the environment in which they were working such as
company policy, supervision, salary, interpersonal relations and working conditions. Since
people feel dissatisfied when these conditions or factors were not satisfactory, they are also
called dissatisfied. Thus, if the employee’s salary, fringe benefits, and working conditions, and
the company policies are inadequate, the workers will feel dissatisfied.

In other words, when the hygiene or maintenance factors were not satisfactory (that is, when
people felt they weren’t paid enough, didn’t like their supervisors, were not happy about their
working conditions or were insecure in their jobs) productivity decreased. However, if they felt
that the maintenance factors were satisfactory, that is, their pay and other working conditions
were good, they only maintained current levels of production and efficiency.

Adam’s Equity Theory

- J. Stacy Adams asserts that when people work in exchange for pay, they tend to think of their
Contribution to the job (inputs) in relation to what they get for working (outcomes). Inputs are
anything workers perceive as deserving of a payoff (e.g. Education, experience, skills, job effort,
saniority). Outcomes on the other hand, refer to factors individuals see as payoff for their
invested efforts. Examples are pay, fringe benefits, job status, seniority benefits and job
perquisites.
If a person feels that, in comparison to other, what he or she is giving to the organization is equal
to what is being received, equity exists. In essence, it is defined by the following equation:
Perons’s outcomes = Other’s outcomes
Person’s inputs’ Other’s inputs

Four basic postulates are propounded. Thus:

1. Individuals strive to create and maintain a state of equity.

2. When a state of inequity is perceived, it creates tensions which the individual is motivated to
reduce or eliminate
3. The greater the magnitude of the perceived equity, the greater the motivations to act to reduce
the state of tension.
4.Individuals should perceived an unfavourable inequity (e.g., getting too little pay) than a
favourable one (e.g., receiving too much pay)

As an example, imagine that you work as job analysts in a company with another individual. You
think you have higher inputs than a fellow worker in the same unit. You have a master’s degree
in Industrial Relations, trained in computer programming, have more experience in the rudiments
of job analysis and l job evaluation, and have worked in the company longer. However, the other
person (who is the relative of the boss’ wife) receives more pay and has a higher status (higher
outcomes) than you. This situation makes you feel that you are being treated unfairly, since you
think that your inputs are not being rewarded to the same degree as the other job analyst. Equity
theory predicts that you should act to eliminate the tension you feel as a result of the perceived
inequity.

There are several alternative ways to reduce inequity (with the individual using more than one if
the tension is very strong):

1 reducing work output.

2.reducing the quality of work.
3.convincing the boss to give a raise
4.quitting.
5.selecting another comparison person.
6.distorting inputs or outcomes as well as those of the comparison person.
7.harassing the comparison personalities

Empirical studies strongly support equity theory predictions, particularly in relation to money
outcomes. For example, Goodman (1977) and Goodman and Friedman (1971) noted that hourly
paid subjects who feel underpaid produce fewer units of work and the quality of their work is
inferior than those who feel equitably paid. In another research effort, Dittrich and Carrell found
out that employee perceptions about how equitably they were treated was a stronger predictor of
absenteeism and turnover than were job satisfaction variables.

Research results indicate that employees do act to reduce perceived inequities over time, and that
they are motivated by considerations of equity. Unfortunately, however, it has been criticised for
being vague about certain concepts (e.g., mode of inequity reduction an individual will employ
and the manner in which a comparison person is chosen)
*Locke’s Goal Theory
- Goal theory attributed to Locke, attempts to explain the relationship between intentions (goals)
and Behavior, assumed by several motivation theories, Focusing on conscious goal setting,
Locke posits
That clearly stated, specific and difficult goals, if accepted, will result in higher performance
than ambiguous, non-specific easily attainable goals, or no goals at all. He furthers that goal
setting mediates the effects of feedback, participation and incentives on performance.

The implication of this theory is that goals should be set clearly and specifically at high but
realistic levels. Management must not assume that goals are understood and accepted by
employees when in fact they are not. This makes implementation often ineffective. Management
by objectives (MBO) helps in goal setting. It emphasizes joint participation by management and
employees in goal setting and the establishment of action plans, criteria for success and periodic
feedback sessions.

Research results on goal setting corroborate with goal setting predictions, i.e., that clear and
specific goals, when accepted result in better performance. It is also indicated that providing
knowledge of results on performance increases the benefits of goal setting. The study of Latham
and Saari likewise proved the importance of supportive behavior by an authority figure during
goal setting.

Goal theory has been criticized for being based on a solid intuitive base. However, it has proved
useful to several organizations and has received considerable support over the past years.

Reference: The same reference found in module 1,2,3 and 4

Important reminders: Just follow important reminders found in the module 1 to 4.

Learning Activity:

1. Give a possible explanation for a situation in a firm where employee morale is high but
production is low. Discuss your answer.

2. What advantages may be derived from a well administered employee-opinion survey?

3.If you were the administrator of a company, how would you raise personnel morale?
Explain.

4.Give reasons why a manager or leader must motivate his subordinates?

5. What do workers want from their jobs? Discuss your answer.

6.Compare and contrast the different theories of motivation. (Note: You are not asked to
define.

Understand the question)

 7. Discuss how the different theories of motivation can be applied in encouraging
employees to superior performance.

8.Identify as many types of rewards as possible that managers can use for motivating
employees. In deciding which to use, how could you use the theory of McGrecor’s Theory X
and Theory Y, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory or Adam’s
Equity Theory?

9.Establish the relationship between the level of morale of employees and job satisfaction.

10.In what way can non-work related factors influence the level of morale of employees?

CASE ANALYSIS
(Note: This must be written in a yellow pad paper and double space)
Case 1. R.M. Herrera, general manager of a firm with a worlk force of 2,000 men, does not
believe in performance rating. He does not require such ratings to be made on his personnel.
What may be some of Mr. Herrera's reasons?
Case 2. Company believed that performance ratings were important. But its manager found that
its performance rating program was not working as well as he had expected. What would you say
were the possible causes of the difficulties being encountered? What would you do about them?
Note: Always follow the important reminders found in Module1, 2, and 3.

GOOD LUCK AND STAY SAFE