CASE Study 3 Management and Motivation PDF

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Case Study on Management and Motivation for Human Resource Development Class...

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CASE STUDY NO. 3 – MANAGEMENT & MOTIVATION Jane is a supervisor at Venture, a local store. She has been with the company for 6 years and had to work her way up the ladder starting as a cashier at age 16, her first job. Jane has been moved from position to position and is now the most knowledgeable and respected supervisor in the store. Her managers have recognized her potential and performance by offering her feedback in order to be promoted to the next level. Jane is excited and begins working very hard, skipping breaks, and taking on more responsibilities. She begins to notice her peers and managers sitting in the office a lot and not completing their work. At first, she brushes it off and keeps working hard, but soon she feels overwhelmed and upset she is working so many hours and the others are relaxing in the office. Jane is conflicted and does not know how to approach the situation so she tells her supervisor. Her supervisor tells her not to worry and it will be taken care of. A week later, Jane sees her supervisor in the office with the others for over a half hour. Her coworkers’ failure to complete their tasks begins to interfere with her job. She begins having to do more than just her job to complete her work. Jane then begins to hear complaints from her subordinates about the group of managers always being in the office. They poke fun of the management staff, which includes her, and she feels forced to take action. Jane complains to another supervisor who asks her if he can go to the Human Resources Manager about the issue. Jane is apprehensive because she doesn’t want to cause problems, but eventually agrees. The Human Resources Manager acknowledges the issue and speaks with each leader about their failure to complete their work due to spending too much time in the office. Each leader is defensive and complains about Jane, saying she is just jealous she is not involved in their group. The leaders are then verbally warned and told to complete their work in the future and spend only breaks, lunches, and other authorized time in the office. The Human Resources Manager then reaches out to Jane and tells her the issue has been solved. After a few months, Jane notices the group completing more work, and is satisfied with how she handled the situation.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Explain how equity theory can help the management address the issue raised by Jane. The equity theory of motivation by J. Stacey Adams deals with the way people compare the value of themselves to others in similar work situations based on their inputs and outputs. It says that the level of reward we receive, compared to our own sense of contributions, affects our motivation. In given case, Jane noticed that her colleagues did not exert the same effort as her with their assigned work. Jane was upset because she felt that she is giving more inputs than others but is receiving the same kind of compensation. This is a case of underpayment inequity. If not addressed properly, the employees may lose the drive or

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motivation to work well in the organization because of the inequitable work arrangements. Through the equity theory, the management may address issues occurring in the organization and work with the inequities being observed. In this case, it is a good thing that Jane reported her observations to the management. They can make a realignment of the employee’s’ behaviors to the organization’s cultural behavior to achieve good outputs. They should also communicate with the employees the importance of equality in the organization where the level of rewards they may receive be equitably the same of those of their colleagues exerting the same effort and resource in contribution to the achievement of organizational goals. 2. How can you relate this scenario to the following Theories of Motivation? a)Hertzberg’s Two Factor Theory This theory classifies the motivational needs into two categories which are the hygiene factors and motivating factors, which is also important for the management to look into, in order for them to assess employee behavior and properly motivate them. This may address the issues on those non-performing employees which may possibly have motivational issues not being met by the management. According also to this theory, hygiene factors such as working conditions and salary are not enough to strengthen the drive of the employees. Thus, the management must reassess the organization as a whole to identify the factors that demotivates its employees and work with it to avoid the same issues in the future. b)McClelland’s Theory of Needs McClelland affirms that we all have three motivating drivers, achievement, affiliation and power, and it does not depend on our gender or age. In the given case, Jane alone has the achievement drive among the employees. Jane had developed a strong leadership skill that motivated her towards the achievement of the goals of the team yet her colleagues have less enforcement of this as they tend to leave their responsibilities behind. Therefore, the management should look into the varying drivers that motivates each employee and implement better motivational strategies that would help them have that passion and drive to work well in the organization. 3. Identify the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of Jane and discuss how this affects her motivational behavior. Based on the case scenario, here are the intrinsic factors that brought motivation to Jane:  Receiving feedbacks from her managers. This factor led Jane to selfimprovement. It made Jane excited to work harder and even motivated her to go extra mile with her job.  Delegation of responsibility. This factor motivated Jane to be faithful to her assigned tasks and responsibilities. It also drove her to...