Organizational Behavior: Managing

People and Organizations,

Ninth Edition
Gregory Moorhead, Ricky W. Griffin
Chapter 5

Individual
Performance

Motivation and Employee Performance

Using Theories of Motivation
No single theory explains motivationeach theory
covers only some factors that motivate behavior
More than one theory or method can be used to
enhance performance in an organization
Each theory or method must be tied to specific need
or process and translated into operational terms that
foster enhanced performance

Figure 5.1

Enhancing Performance in Organizations

Work Design in Organizations

Job Design
How organizations define and structure jobs to have a
positive impact on motivation, performance, and job
satisfaction

Job Specialization (Fredrick Taylor)

Jobs should be scientifically studied, broken down
into small component tasks, and then standardized
across all workers doing those jobs
Follows Adam Smiths concept of the division of labor
Jobs designed for efficiency can become boring and
monotonous, resulting in job dissatisfaction

Early Alternatives to Job Specialization

Job Rotation

Systematically moving workers from one

job to another in an attempt to minimize
monotony and boredom

Job Enlargement
Giving workers more tasks to perform
(horizontal job loading)
Job Enrichment
(vertical job loading)

Giving workers a greater variety of tasks

to perform and more control over how to
perform them

Work Design in Organizations

The Job Characteristics Theory
Critical psychological states of workers
1. Experienced meaningfulness of the work
2. Experienced responsibility for work outcomes
3. Knowledge of results
Motivational properties of tasks
1. Skill variety
2. Task identity
3. Task significance
4. Autonomy
5. Feedback

Job Characteristics Theory:

Research Findings
Research generally supports the theory,
however:
Performance seldom found to correlate with job
characteristics
Measures used to test theory are not always valid
and reliable
Role of individual differences is not supported
Theory is lacking in specific guidelines for
implementation

Employee Involvement and Motivation

Extending job design to
include:
Participation
Giving employees a voice in
making decisions about their
own work
Empowerment
Enabling workers to set their
own work goals, make
decisions, and solve problems
within their sphere of
responsibility and authority

Employee Involvement and Motivation

Early Perspectives on Employee Involvement
In the beginning:
Employee satisfaction is a result of their
participation in decision-making
Recently:
Employees are valued human resources who can
contribute to organizational effectiveness
Their participation is valued

Employee Involvement and Motivation

Areas of Employee Involvement
Personal job-related decisions
Administrative matters (e.g., work schedules)
Product quality decisions

Techniques and Issues in Employee

Involvement
Empowerment through work teams (quality circles)
Decentralization of decision-making and increased
delegation

Requirements for Effective Empowerment

An organization must be:
Sincere in its efforts to spread power and autonomy
to lower levels of the organization
Committed to maintaining participation and
empowerment
Systematic and patient in its efforts to empower
workers
Prepared to increase its commitment to training

Flexible Work Arrangements

Variable Work Schedules
Compressed work schedule
Employees work a full forty-hour week in fewer
than the traditional five days
Flexible work schedules (flextime)
Employees gain more personal control over the
hours they work each day

Job Sharing
Part-time employees share one full-time job

Telecommuting
Employees spend part of their time working off-site

Figure 5.4

Flexible Work Schedules

Flexible Work Arrangements (contd)

Telecommutings Benefits to Organizations
Reduced absenteeism and turnover
Reduction in indirect expenses

Telecommutings Downside Considerations

Employees miss the workplace social interaction
Employees lack self-control/discipline
Difficulties arise in coordinating in-face meetings
Workplace safety requirements
Information security (cybercrime)