June 21, 2022

Lewis Vacation Rentals has been experiencing a recent d

Initial Postings: Read and reflect on the assigned readings for the week. Then post what you thought was the most important concept(s), method(s), term(s), and/or any other thing that you felt was worthy of your understanding in each assigned textbook chapter.

Your initial post should be based upon the assigned reading for the week, so the textbook should be a source listed in your reference section and cited within the body of the text. Other sources are not required but feel free to use them if they aid in your discussion.

Also, provide a graduate-level response to each of the following questions:

Lewis Vacation Rentals has been experiencing a recent decline in its bookings. In an effort to increase sales, the company is offering its employees a 1 percent share in the company profit over the next six months in addition to regular employee salaries. Will this plan increase motivation? Why or why not?

[Your post must be substantive and demonstrate insight gained from the course material. Postings must be in the student's own words – do not provide quotes!] [Your initial post should be at least 250+ words and in APA format (including Times New Roman with font size 12 and double spaced).

Book:

Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. (2022). Essentials of Organizational Behavior. Student Value Edition. Pearson 15th Edition.

Chapter8.MotivationFromConceptstoApplications.pptx

Essentials of Organizational Behavior

Fifteenth Edition

Chapter 8

Motivation: From Concepts to Applications

Learning Objectives

8.1 Describe how the job characteristics model (JCM) motivates by changing the work environment.

8.2 Compare the main ways jobs can be redesigned.

8.3 Explain how specific alternative work arrangements can motivate employees.

8.4 Describe how employee involvement measures can motivate employees.

8.5 Demonstrate how the different types of variable-pay programs can increase employee motivation.

8.6 Show how flexible benefits turn benefits into motivators.

8.7 Identify the motivational benefits of intrinsic rewards.

Motivating by Job Design: The Job Characteristics Model Learning Objective 8.1

Job characteristics model: jobs are described in terms of five core dimensions:

Skill variety

Task identity

Task significance

Autonomy

Feedback

Job design suggests that the way elements in a job are organized can influence employee effort. The job characteristics model (JCM) looks at describing any job in terms of five core job dimensions. These job dimensions include skill variety, which is the degree to which the job incorporates a number of different skills and talents. Task identity is another dimension that looks at the degree to which the job requires the completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work. Task significance is included and looks at how the job impacts the lives of others. Autonomy, the fourth dimension, identifies how much freedom and independence workers have over their jobs. And finally, feedback is how much the job generates direct and clear information about the worker’s performance.

The Job Characteristics Model (Exhibit 8-1)

Much evidence supports the JCM concept that the presence of a set of job characteristics—variety, identity, significance, autonomy, and feedback—does generate higher and more satisfying job performance.

Long Description:

The details are as below:

Core job dimensions of skill variety, task identity, and task significance link to experienced meaningfulness of the work.

Core job dimension of autonomy links to experienced responsibility for outcomes of the work

Core job dimension of feedback links to knowledge of the actual results of the work activities.

The three critical psychological states combine to bring about four personal and work outcomes: High internal work motivation, high-quality work performance, high satisfaction with the work, and low absenteeism and turnover.

Employee growth-need strength is experienced when all three critical psychological states are present, which in turn reinforces both core job dimensions and personal and work outcomes.

Designing Motivational Jobs

JCM-designed jobs give internal rewards

Individual’s growth needs are moderating factors

Motivating Potential Score (MPS)

Combined core dimensions of the JCM into a single predictive index

JCM creates motivational jobs, as they are designed to give internal rewards. Positive outcomes are moderated by individual growth needs, as each individual will respond differently. In order for the jobs to increase motivation, there should be a high degree of autonomy, feedback, and at least one meaningful factor such as significance, identity, or variety.

Job Redesign: Job Rotation and Job Enrichment Learning Objective 8.2

Job Rotation

The periodic shifting of an employee from one task to another

Also called cross-training

Increases job satisfaction and organizational commitment

Job Enrichment

High level responsibilities are added to the job

There are some helpful ways to redesign a job to increase the motivation of the employees. In job rotation, which is also called cross-training, an organization will shift the employee to different tasks with similar skill requirements but all at the same organizational level.

Research shows that job rotation increases job satisfaction and organizational commitment. However, it can decrease the efficiency of decision making, increase training costs, reduce overall productivity, and require more involvement from supervisors.

In job enrichment, high-level responsibilities are added to the job to increase a sense of purpose, direction, meaning, and intrinsic motivation.

Redesigning Jobs: Relational Job Design

Relational Job Design

Designing work so employees are motivated to promote the well-being of the organization’s beneficiaries

Relate stories from customers who have benefited from the company’s products or services

Connect employees directly with beneficiaries

Contemporary research is focusing on how to make jobs more prosocially motivating to people. In other words, how can managers design work so employees are motivated to promote the well-being of the organization’s beneficiaries – their customers, clients, patients, or employees?

Alternative Work Arrangements Learning Objective 8.3

Flextime

Some discretion over when worker starts and leaves

Job Sharing

Two or more individuals split a traditional job

Telecommuting

Work remotely at least two days per week

There are some alternative work arrangements that have been successful in helping increase the motivation of workers. These arrangements give workers more control over their work and thereby can increase their level of motivation. An example of this is flextime. Flextime is short for flexible work hours and allows workers to choose what hours they work within a set time period. So, for example, if the worker needs to work 8 hours a day, the manager may say he or she can choose 8 hours between 6am and 8pm. That flexibility may allow a mom to be home when her kids are coming home from school. Flextime has become popular both within and outside the United States.

Another alternative work arrangement is job sharing, where two workers split a job and each works part time.

Telecommuting is another alternative work arrangement that has been utilized. This allows employees to work from home at least 2 days a week that are linked to the employer’s office. With the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, working from home might be the “new normal.”

Employee Involvement Learning Objective 8.4

Employee involvement and participation (EIP): a participative process that uses the input of employees to increase their commitment to the organization’s success

Two types:

Participative management

Representative participation

Employee involvement and participation (EIP) is defined as a participative process that uses employees’ input to increase their commitment to the overall success of the organization. Depending on the country involved, it may be necessary to modify employee involvement programs to reflect the local culture. Some examples of programs that help with employee involvement are participative management and representative participation.

Participative Management

Participative management: subordinates share a significant degree of decision-making power with superiors

To be effective:

Followers must have confidence and trust in leaders

Leaders should avoid coercion, stress organizational consequences of decisions and review progress periodically

Mixed findings

Participative management occurs when managers include employees in the decision-making process.

Participative management has, at times, been considered a panacea for poor morale and low productivity. In reality, for participative management to be effective, followers must have trust and confidence in their leaders. Leaders should refrain from coercive techniques, stress the organizational consequences of decisions to their followers, and review progress periodically.

This type of employee involvement program has shown itself to have limited impact on productivity, motivation, and job satisfaction.

Organizations may realize higher stock return, lower turnover rates, and higher labor productivity, although these effects are typically not large.

Representative Participation

Representative participation: workers are represented by a small group of employees who participate in decisions affecting personnel

Works councils

Board membership

Redistribute power within an organization

Does not appear to be very motivational

Representative participation tries to redistribute power by putting labor on a more equal footing with the interests of managers and stockholders. This is achieved by letting workers be represented by small groups of employees who participate in decisions. Nearly every country in Western Europe requires companies to practice representative participation.

Using Extrinsic Rewards to Motivate Employees

Major strategic rewards decisions:

What to pay employees

How to pay individual employees

As we saw in previous chapters, money is not the primary driver for job satisfaction. However, it does motivate individuals, and companies often underestimate its impact in keeping top talent.

It is critical to figure out what to pay and to establish a pay structure that makes sense for your industry and organization. Then it is imperative that the organization utilizes this pay system and applies it to the pay of individual employees.

What to Pay

Establishing a pay structure

Balance between:

Internal equity – the worth of the job to the organization

External equity – the external competitiveness of an organization’s pay relative to pay elsewhere in its industry

A strategic decision with trade-offs

Setting pay levels can be complex and requires a balance of internal and external pay equity. Internal equity looks at the worth of the job to the organization and compares it with what others are making within the organization. External equity looks at external competitiveness of an organization’s pay relative to pay elsewhere.

Establishing a pay structure is a strategic decision with clear trade-offs.

How to Pay

Variable-Pay Programs

Base a portion of the pay on a given measure of performance

Piece-rate pay plan

Merit-based pay

Bonuses

Profit-sharing plans

Employee-stock ownership plan (ESOP)

A variable-pay program is also known as pay for performance. A portion of an employee’s pay is based on some individual and/or organizational performance measure. Globally, about 84 percent of companies offer some type of variable-pay plan. Some types of variable-pay programs include piece-rate, merit-based, bonuses, profit-sharing, and employee-stock ownership plans.

Variable-Pay Programs (1 of 2) Learning Objective 8.5

Piece-Rate Pay: workers are paid a fixed sum for each unit of production completed

Merit-Based Pay: pay is based on individual performance appraisal ratings

Bonuses: rewards employees for recent performance

Piece-rate pay plans pay a fixed amount of money for each unit of production.

Merit-based pay plans are similar, paying based on performance. However, it is not necessarily tied to production because in some jobs, output is not as easy to measure.

Bonuses are another method that is becoming increasingly popular. Bonuses are a lump sum at the end of a set period of time. The amount of the bonus is typically dependent upon the performance of the individual or the organization or some combination of both.

Variable-Pay Programs (2 of 2)

Profit Sharing Plans: organization-wide programs distributing compensation based on some established formula around a company’s profitability

Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs): plans in which employees acquire stock, often at below-market prices

A profit sharing plan distributes compensation based on some established formula designed around a company’s profitability. Compensation can be direct cash outlays or allocations of stock options.

Finally, ESOPs are a method used to motivate the employees toward the organizational goals. As part of their benefits package they are able to earn or purchase company stock, often at below-market rates. This encourages them to work toward the overall profitability of the organization, as they have ownership in it and will gain as the company gains.

It is important to remember that while it is often thought that pay increases productivity, it is not true that everyone responds positively to variable-pay plans.

Using Benefits to Motivate Employees Learning Objective 8.6

Benefits are both an employee provision and an employee motivator

Individual employees value the components of benefits packages differently

A flexible benefits program allows each employee to create a benefits package individually tailored to their own needs and situation.

Flexible benefits allow employees choices between different benefits. This allows them to customize their options and create a plan that best meets their needs and situation.

As more organizations worldwide adopt flexible benefits, the individual motivation they produce will likely decrease.

Using Intrinsic Rewards to Motivate Employees Learning Objective 8.7

Employee recognition programs: plans to encourage specific employee behaviors by formally appreciating specific employee contributions

Can be as simple as a spontaneous comment

Can be formalized in a program

Recognition is a powerful workplace motivator – and can be inexpensive – but fairness is important

A method of motivation that has been highly successful is employee recognition programs. This idea recognizes the importance of coupling extrinsic and intrinsic methods to help motivate employees. Recognition is an intrinsic motivation technique that can range from giving an employee the proverbial pat on the back to a more public recognition ceremony. Recognition programs are highly effective and can be inexpensive. Research suggests financial incentives may be more motivating in the short term, but in the long run nonfinancial incentives work best. There are critics of such programs, however, who say that they can be politically motivated and if the perception is that they are applied unfairly, they can cause more harm than good.

Implications for Managers

Recognize individual differences

Use goals and feedback

Allow employees to participate in decisions that affect them

Link rewards to performance

Check the reward system for equity

The motivational theories presented in this chapter and the last chapter set forth the following overarching ideas. It is important to recognize individual differences when designing and applying motivational programs. Managers will get better results if they use goals and feedback and allow employees to participate in the decisions that impact them. Finally, by linking rewards to performance and making sure the system is equitable, better results will follow.

Discussion Questions (1 of 2)

Consider the job of an order-taker at a fast food restaurant. Using the job characteristics model, specifically discuss how the MPS might be increased (addressing the five core job characteristics).

How do bonuses help to alleviate some of the limitations of merit-based pay in differentiating between high and low performers?

Discussion Questions (2 of 2)

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using teacher pay-for-performance plans.

Why is pay secrecy considered bad?

In the COVID-19 pandemic, large numbers of employees across the globe became telecommuters – working from home. This is likely to continue as the “new normal.” Discuss specific strategies that managers can use to increase the effectiveness of their telecommuters.

This work is protected by United States copyright laws and is provided solely for the use of instructors in teaching their courses and assessing student learning. Dissemination or sale of any part of this work (including on the World Wide Web) will destroy the integrity of the work and is not permitted. The work and materials from it should never be made available to students except by instructors using the accompanying text in their classes. All recipients of this work are expected to abide by these restrictions and to honor the intended pedagogical purposes and the needs of other instructors who rely on these materials.

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Lewis Vacation Rentals has been experiencing a recent d

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