Week 11 Application Assignment- Shanah McKnight

This week’s readings on employee motivation were particularly intriguing to me as it is a big issue in my own organization. Despite the fact that our organization as a whole have some great initiates to keep employees engaged, my division is notorious for lacking in that area. Nohria, Groysberg, and Lee (2008) discuss the four drivers for motivation: acquire, bond, comprehend, and defend.  In each of these areas my division has much room for development. 

By utilizing the model that Nohria, Groysberg, and Lee (2008) suggest, our division as a whole could create an environment that leads to higher employee motivation which in turn would provide higher quality and production from the employees. Currently, I think there is an overemphasis on lack of monetary resources. However, a reward system could be implemented to acknowledge employees such as a “spotlight” section in the newsletter or an employee of the month. The work itself is independent; however, that does not mean there shouldn’t be a culture of teamwork. Even something such as a short weekly unit meeting would foster commonality amongst unit members and provide an opportunity to share best practices. This would tremendously increase the bonding within the units. The job design cannot be altered within most of the division; however, the way the job is communicated to the employees can be changed. Indeed our work is important and each member’s contribution is valuable. Therefore, this should be communicated to the employee. In contrast, currently there is just a production emphasis and it is stressed how far behind we are in processing applications. A change in this focus would allow the employees to comprehend how they contribute to the bigger picture. 

The role of the direct manager is invaluable.  I wish not to diminish the efforts by some of the managers within the division. I have personally witnessed two in particular that have created environments within their units that promote motivated staff members in a toxic environment. These managers “take actions that encourage teamwork and make jobs more meaningful and interesting” (Nohria, Groysberg, & Lee, 2008, 6). Unfortunately for me, I moved from one of these fantastic units to one that fails to instill motivation within its employees. I completely identified with Martin and Schmidt’s (2010) discussion of the top mistakes that organizations make that result in losing the highly potential employees. Although I had not previously considered it, as the reading suggested, my negativity is probably due to my “outsized expectations and lots of alternatives”. As a matter of fact, my promotional opportunity has not met my expectations and I have recently decided to apply to other positions despite the fact that I will not have fulfilled probation in my current position. This is mostly due the fact that in my new position I feel completely disengaged from the organization and do not feel my current contributions are appreciated. If I felt the environment was open I would give suggestions to my manager at how to better fulfill the staff member’s needs. Unfortunately I don’t think that the connection has been made yet that the satisfaction of the employee leads to higher motivation which in turns leads to higher production and quality.
 

Nohria, N., Groysberg, B., and Lee, L. (2008) Employee Motivation: A Powerful New Model, Harvard Business Review, pp. 1-7

Martin, J., and Schmidt, C. (2010). How to Keep Your Top Talent. Harvard Business Review, pp. 3-9