Current Issues in Motivation Essay

Motivating a Diverse Workforce –Flexibility is the key to motivating a diverse workforce †¢ Diverse array of rewards necessary to satisfy diverse personal needs and goals. Flexible Working Schedule †¢ compressed workweek – employees work longer hours per day but fewer days per week. †¢ Flexible work hours (flextime) – employees required to work a specific number of hours a week but are free to vary those hours within certain limits – System entails common core hours when all employees are required to be on the job – Starting, ending, and lunch-hour times are flexible †¢ Job sharing – two or more people split a full-time job †¢ Telecommuting – employees work at home and are linked to the workplace by computer and modem. – Cultural Differences in Motivation †¢ Motivation theories developed in the U.S. and validated with American workers †¢ may be some cross-cultural consistencies Pay-for-Performance – Instead of paying for time on the job, pay is adjusted to reflect some performance measure – Compatible with expectancy theory †¢ imparts strong performance-reward linkage – Programs are gaining in popularity †¢ Research suggests that programs affect performance. Open-Book Management – involve employees in workplace decisions by opening up the financial statements – Workers treated as business partners – get workers to think like an owner – may also provide bonuses based on profit improvements Motivating the â€Å"New Workforce† – Motivating Professionals – professionals tend to derive intrinsic satisfaction from their work and receive high pay †¢ More loyal to their profession than their employer †¢ value challenging jobs and support for their work Motivating Contingent Workers – part-time, contract, or temporary workers †¢ Less security and stability than permanent employees – receive fewer benefits †¢ display little identification or commitment to their employers †¢ Hard to motivate contingent workers – Opportunity to become a permanent employee – Opportunity for training †¢ Repercussions of mixing permanent and contingent workers when pay differentials are significant Motivating Low-Skilled, Minimum-Wage Employees †¢ Difficult challenge to keep performance levels high †¢ Employee recognition programs – highlight employees whose work performance has been good – encourage others to perform better – Power of praise †¢ In service industries, empower front-line employees to address customers’ problems – tie compensation to customer satisfaction