Motivation Theory X

Motivation Theory X

Foundation of today's organizations. These theories go back to the turn of the century and in some cases are considered by the uninformed to be simply fads which come and go. As I have discovered, these theories are rather the steps on a ladder which continually takes us higher and higher. Douglas McGregor in his book, "The Human Side of Enterprise" published in 1960 has examined theories on behavior of individuals at work, and he has formulated two models which he calls Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X Assumptions The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if he can. Because of their dislike for work, most people must be controlled and threatened before they will work hard enough. The average human prefers to be directed, dislikes responsibility, is unambiguous, and desires security above everything. These assumptions lie behind most organizational principles today, and give rise both to "tough" management with punishments and tight controls, and "soft" management which aims at harmony at work.

Two years ago, I was employed by SunTrust Bank working in their stocks & transfers department. Theory Y approach ( basic assumption is that staff will contribute more to the organization if they are treated as responsible and valued employees) was utilize with great success through out our department. The most notable is self directed work teams which are defined as a small number of people with complementary skills, who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals and approach, for which they hold themselves mutually accountable (Katzenbach & Smith, 1993). Collaborative self directed work teams can get complex projects done at faster rates than the traditional boss-worker arrangement, because the decision making process is made faster and more effective in a team. Empowering teams to make decisions about their work also enhances satisfaction and reduces turnover (Berger, 1998). Self directed work teams involve employees in a specific area, or those who are working on a specific product or process. Self directed work teams can be any size, we usually use 5 team members but normally run no more than 12 to 15 employees. The work team makes the decisions that would normally be made by a supervisor or manager, and might interact with the company's suppliers and customers, whether they are inside or ...

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...ple's beliefs about the connection between activity and outcome. These perceptions " can be thought of as subjective probabilities and are referred to as instrumentality perceptions (Schwab 1978)." In essence, people have an idea that there is a link between performance and wage increases. The final premise of the expectancy theory " pertains to the individual's beliefs about the connection or linkage between one's effort to engage in an activity and the likelihood that the activity will be accomplished (Schwab, 1978). Crystallized, the expectancy theory of motivation states that employee motivation is high when a task is attractive in itself, and when the outcomes of the completed task are attractive to the employee. Because of the complexities of the internal nature of the expectancy theory, it is a difficult approach to take as a manager. Though it takes into account that the recognition of the outcome of an action may influence the frequency of that behavior, the expectancy theory still relies too much on the internal processes of motivation because of its basis in cognition. A far simpler way to motivate employees disengages itself from internal (intrinsic) processes and sole.