Mr. McGregor theorizes that management views an employee’s motivation toward work in two distinct ways—Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X managers believe the following: (1) The average worker naturally does not like work and will avoid it whenever possible. (2) Managers must always control, motivate, and direct their employees to perform well. (3) Most workers prefer being directed, avoid responsibility, and seek job security. On the other hand, Theory Y managers assume the following: (1) Employees enjoy working. (2) Managers do not need to control and punish workers to accomplish organizational goals. (3) Workers will be committed to an organization if their work is satisfying. (4) Managers should “…arrange organizational conditions and methods of operation so that people can achieve their own goals best by directing their own efforts toward organizational objectives'; (Kolb, et al., 1995, p. 62).
The theory McGregor believes will best stimulate employee motivation toward accomplishing organizational goals is Theory Y. The goal of Theory Y is to provide employees ways to attain the higher levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (esteem (ego) and self-actualization (-fulfillment)) so that the establishment may prosper. McGregor thinks that most organizations today already fulfill the lower needs of employees (physiological, safety, and love (social)) and therefore should concentrate on the higher needs of individuals.
Therefore, McGregor says that management should try to develop a relationship based on two-way trust between management and employees.
Latham, G. P & Pinder, C. C 2005, Work Motivation Theory and Research at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century, Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 56, Issue 1, pp. 485-516, viewed 8 March 2014,
McGregor has written two theories about human nature. Theory X basically assumes that people will do the least amount of work required of them. That they will need to be monitored and workers will need a set of rules for every employee to follow . There is also no incentive for them to go above their current job duty. Theory Y basically believes that if you give the employee the opportunity to do well the employee will take that opportunity and use it to the best of their abilities. They are able to set their own work goals and really strive to put their all into their career. They will be go getters that are responsible for their self and willing to do whatever the company needs from them. They will own up to any issue and trust that their co-workers will do the same (Larsson, Vinberg & Wiklund, 2007).
Most leaders believed that employees in their organization disliked work and would avoid it if they could. Daniel McGregor in his 1960 groundbreaking book The Human Side of Enterprise argued that “Those running companies were operating from a faulty assumption about human behavior” (Pink, 2009, p. 74). Managers believe employees must be coerced, controlled, directed, and threaten with punishment to acquire them to put forth an effort to achieve set objectives. McGregor’s X-Y theory suggest that there are two ways to manage people.
Motivational theories can be applied in a multitude of situations, but in this case the problems that must be resolved include poor morale, low performance levels, and frequent absences. After speaking with the employees it was found that none of them cared about their performance in the workplace. To properly address these issues, Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory, McClelland’s Theory, and McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y can be applied. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory can be used to improve working conditions and decrease employee dissatisfaction. Doing so would potentially motivate employees to perform better in the workplace and be more inclined to be involved in the job. Applying McClelland’s Theory would allow for the employees three basic categories
Here I will explain briefly about three theories for the motivation of the employees in an organization. I will answer one of the questions in the assignment. “Discuss at least three key motivation theories you believe are most relevant to the SAS, Inc situation.”
McGregor was intrigued by what motivated people to work hard and how leaders could foster their motivation (Bobic and Davis, 2003, p. 241). He also wanted to know why so many workerss were not happy with their jobs (McGregor, 1060, p. 22-24, 54). McGregor wrote The Human Side of Enterprise (1960) where he discussed his perspectives about management which “was that management was more than simply giving orders and coercing obedience; it was a careful balancing of needs of the organization with the needs of individuals” (McGregor 1960, 53-55). He based his new theories off of the idea of a classification of needs developed Abraham Maslow.
Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y Biography of Douglas McGregor Douglas McGregor was born on 1906 in Detroit, America. In 1895, it was here that his grandfather, Thomas McGregor started his business and given its name as, McGregor Institute. The business provides assistance to Great Lakes sailors and other transient labour. The Institute provided shelter, warmth and food to approximately 100 men every year. When Thomas McGregor passed away, his son Murray McGregor (Douglas’s father) continued to manage the business.
Motivation in the workplace is one of the major concerns that managers face when trying to encourage their employees to work harder and do what is expected of them on a day-to-day basis. According to Organizational Behavior by John R. Schermerhorn, James G. Hunt and Richard N. Osborn the definition of motivation is "the individual forces that account for the direction, level, and persistence of a person's effort expended at work." They go on to say that "motivation is a key concern in firms across the globe." Through the years there have been several theories as to what motivates employees to do their best at work. In order to better understand these theories we will apply them to a fictitious organization that has the following three types of employees: salespeople, production workers, and administrative staff. We will discuss which of these theories would or would not be most effective to motivate these employee groups and try to explain why. The motivation theories that will be discussed are: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, ERG (Aldefer), Two-Factor Theory (Herzberg), Equity Theory (Adams), and the Expectancy Theory (Vroom). Let's start with salespeople.
... Vandenberghe, C. (2004). Employee commitment and motivation: A conceptual analysis and integrative model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(6), 991-1007. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.89.6.991
Latham G.P and Pinder C.C. (2005). Work Motivation Theory and Research at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century. Annual Review of Psychology 56.
Yet, despite the criticism, Herzberg’s theory still holds merit in many managerial situations. Experts have built their theories on the foundations of the motivator-hygiene theory to better explain worker motivation. Among the most prominent is the expectancy theory or Victor
Motivation is an important function in organizations to motivate their employees for their ability to perform well, improving their skills, increasing productivity, job satisfaction and employee extension. Employees also are not a machines that we could just program their task in their brain and they will do it automatically, they require motivation to actually do their job properly. And so, after discussing the process models of the Maslow’s “Hierarchy of needs”, Douglas McGregor theory X and Y, and also the Herzberg’s “two factor motivation hygiene theory.” understanding the ways of motivating people, the human nature, and the substance of nature. I believe that the true motivation can only come from within and also managers can actually motivate all of their employees.
Ever since the beginning of Organizational Psychology, work motivation has been a big topic of discussion and research. Based off of what I learned in class lectures, motivation is a complex force that drives people to behave in certain ways. Motivation is an effort expenditure that energizes, directs, and sustains, however, it is not the same thing as performance or ability. Over the course of this discussion, I have formed a variety of ideas about workplace motivation and have better equipped myself to define what I believe creates a motivated, productive, and engaged workforce. Looking at all of the different motivational theories, I believe Herzberg’s two-factor theory, job characteristics theory, the equity theory, the equity theory,
December 2009). Researchers from various organizations unequivocally agree that managers can use an employee’s intrinsic motivation to gain the maximum output from that employee as well as support the employee in achieving his personal career goals as stated by (George N. Root III 2016). According to (Thomas, K) managers should help their employees understand self-management process that involves four steps to increase intrinsic motivation. Those steps may perhaps be nominated as a sense of meaninglessness, of choice, of competence and as a sense of progress. One of the successful strategies that managers can take into consideration is to clearly define strategic visions and goals set by an organisation. Moreover, by providing a broad vision of a company, managers demonstrate a warm sense of meaningless for an employee that makes him feel like there is an opportunity for him to accomplish something of real value, something that matters in the big picture as said by (Thomas, K 2009). In addition, Managers should make employees feel like their job is a choice, not a requirement in order to encourage employees to demonstrate intrinsic willingness to perform better. Nevertheless, some organisations emphasize that managers can experience numerous issues in increasing intrinsic motivation. For instance, an intrinsically motivated employee will only be able to do the particular task depending on “interesting, challenging, and has personal meaning based on the satisfaction they receive from performing the activity itself” (Giancola, 2014, p. 25). Essentially managers would face issues with increasing an employee’s performance when an extremely vital task has been assigned to the employee that has no interest in undertaking the given task. Although In my mind,
Motivation is therefore the force that transforms and uplifts people to be productive and perform in their jobs. Maximising an employee's motivation is necessary and vital to successfully accomplish the organisation's objectives and targets. However this is a considerable challenge to any organisation's managers, due to the complexity of motivation and the fact that there is no ready made solution or an answer to what motivates people to work well (Mullins, 2002).