MOTIVATION

Without willing, sustained, individual eIIort and coordinated teamwork Iocused on meeting
organizational goals, TQ is an impossible dream. 1. Deming spoke oI motivation as being
primarily intrinsic (intenal), and was suspicious oI extrinsic (external) Iorms oI motivation, such
as incentives and bonuses, even though they are popular with business organizations and appear
to positively rein-Iorce employees.

Both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards are vital to sustained individual eIIorts. As managers in a TQ
environment increasingly take on the roles oI coaches and Iacilitators, their skills in motivating
employees become even more crucial. There is no such thing as an unmotivated employee, but
the system within which people work can either seriously impede motivation or enhance it
Compensation, recognition/reward systems, and the work environment must be careIully
designed to motivate employees to achieve organizational as well as personal objectives.


Compensation
Compensation is always a sticky issue, closely tied to the subject oI motivation and employee
satisIaction. Although money can be a motivator, it oIten causes employees to believe they are
being treated unIairly, and Iorces managers to deliver negative messages. Eventually, it
diminishes intrinsic motivation and creates win-lose situations. The objectives oI a good
compensation system should be to attract, retain, and not demotivate employees.


Team-based pay and gain sharing, approaches in which all employees share savings equally, are
gaining in popularity and importance. Compensation Ior individuals is sometimes tied to the
acquisition oI new skills, oIten within the context oI continuous improvement program in which
all employees are given opportunities to broaden their work-related competencies

Recognition and Rewards
Special recognition and rewards can be monetary or nonmonetary, Iormal or iI1Iormal,
individual or group. These rewards might include trips, promotional giIts, clothing, time oII, or
special company-sponsored awards and events. Most important, rewards should lead to
behaviors that increase customer satisIaction.

Recognition provides a visible means oI promoting quality eIIorts and telling employees that the
organization values their eIIorts, which stimulates their motivation to improve. Employees
should contribute to the company's perIormance and recognition approaches

Certain key practices lead to eIIective employee recognition and rewards:
O iving both individual and team awards.
O Involving everyone.
O Tying rewards to quality based on measurable objectives.
O Allowing peers and customers to nominate and cognize superior perIormance.
O !ublicizing extensively.
O Making recognition Iun.



ork Environment
Working in an organization that cares Ior its employees is perhaps the best Iorm oI motivation
(see box 'Working Ior the Best). Most comprise. !rovide many opportunities to enhance the
quality oI working liIe, they can provide personal and career counseling, career development and
employability services, recreational or cultural activities, daycare, special leave Ior Iamily
responsibilities or Ior community services, Ilexible work hours, outplacement services, and
extended health care Ior retirees.

EM!EE EN AEMENT AND THERIES MTIVATIN

The TQ perspective oI employee engagement and empowerment in particular, are quite
consistent with organizational behavior (B) theory. In Iact, most TQ-based thinking about
empowerment and motivation is derived directly or indirectly, Irom B theory. Managers'
willingness to accept these ideas and put them into practice, however, has been greatly increased
by the incorporation oI these ideas into the total quality package. A Iew examples should serve to
make our point. The idea that quality problems are usually attributable to management-created
systems rather than employee motivation was proposed by organizational psychologist Chris
Argyrols.
60
Resins iker described an organizational system he called "System IV," which
Ieatured empowered workgroups and cross-Iunctional.teams.Douglas Mcregor developed the
well-known "Theory " approach to managing employees, which is based on the asswnption that
people wish to do a good job and emphasizes that people in organizations should make decisions
Ior themselves. 111ese are the Iundamental principles oI the human side oI perIormance
excellence, but they were developed decades ago by theorists concerned with reconciling the
psychological needs oI people and the economic needs oI businesses.

ob Characteristics Theory
The job characteristics theory (JCT) states that people will be more motivated to work and more
satisIied with their jobs to the extent that their jobs possess certain core characteristics: skill
variety, task identity (doing a meaningIul unit oI work), task signiIicance: autonomy, and
Ieedback. II jobs do not have such characteristics - that is, involve Iew skills and give workers
ittle control over what they do-most employees are likely to be unmotivated and dissatisIied.
6l
this theory, developed by Hackman and ldham, is described little control over what they
Do-most employees are likely to be unmotivated and dissatisIied.
6l
this theory, developed by
Hackman and ldham, is described in igure 9.3.

Hackman ldham Job Characteristics Theory

















Acquired Needs Theory
Another perspective on employee motivation states that people are motivated by work that
IulIills their needs. SpeciIically, the need Ior achievement, the need Ior aIIiliation, and the need
Ior power have been the subjects oI ' extensive research.
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!eople Who has a strong need Ior
achievement will. Work hard to reach a High standard oI excellence. The need Ior aIIiliation
reIers to the desire to have close relationships with other people, Ior example
The need Ior aIIiliation reIers to the desire to have close relationships with other people, Ior
example as part oI a team. The need Ior power is the desire to have inIluence over one's
environment and the people in it.

The connection between quality and the need Ior achievement is a bit murkier. EIIective
utilization oI quality principles should allow organizations to achieve higher levels oI
perIormance in such areas as -quality and customer satisIaction, but these achievements are
likely to come through team, rather than individual, eIIorts. Thus, the opportunity to participate
in such eIIorts is likely to motivate people with high achievement motivation only iI they can see
the relationship between their own work and team perIormance and Ieel a sense oI achievement
on that basis. !erIormance excellence and empowerment are likely to be motivating Ior
employees with a high need Ior power. In Iact, employees` with a high need Ior power are likely
to be quite Irustrated with traditional organizations that give them little inIluence.

Core !ob
Characteristics

CrlLlcal
sychologlcal
sLaLes
CuLcomes

Sklll varleLy
1ask ldenLlfy
1ask Slgnlflcance



AuLonomy




leedback from [ob
Lxperlenced
meanlngfulness
Cf Lhe work

Lxperlenced
8esponslblllLy for
CuLcomes of Lhe
work

knowledge of Lhe
acLual resulL of Lhe
Work acLlvlLles

Plgh lnLernal
Work moLlvaLlon


Plgh growLh"
SaLlsfacLlon

Plgh general
!ob saLlsfacLlon


Plgh work
LffecLlveness

ModeraLors
1 knowledge and sklll
2 CrowLhneed sLrengLh
3 ConLexL saLlsfacLlon


oal-Setting Theory
The central insight oI goal-setting theory is that people whose goals are clear will work more
quickly, perIorm better, and generally be more motivated than people who lack clear goals (you
might look back on the os Alamos National Bank case as a practical example oI this concept).
A great deal oI research has been perIormed on goal-setting theory and generally supports the
theory's predictions. According to the: theory, goals will be motivating to people when they are
speciIic and diIIicult, and people accept them as their own.51 However, goals should also be
attainable; speciIic, challenging goals that seem impossible are demotivating.

The principle that goals should be speciIic and diIIicult can be related to total quality and
empowerment. In general, the principle oI breakthrough improvement leads to Iairly diIIicult
goals. In traditional management, when an acceptable level oI perIormance is reached, people
simply try to maintain it. In a quality-Iocused environment, an acceptable perIormance level
would be a stepping-stone to Iurther improvements. ThereIore, the diIIiculty oI goals would be
enhanced by perIormance excellence approaches. oals need not be impossible; even
incremental (and thus seemingly achievable) improvement goals supported by the kaizen
philosophy Iall into this realm. ne wonders whether this compromises the long-run speciIicity
oI goals.