University of Aberdeen

Human Resources
Motivation & Appraisals
Vijay R. I Mohan

07
Contents
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 3
Motivation:................................................................................................................................................ 3
2. Communication Skills:.......................................................................................................................... 4
3. Conflict Management Skills: ................................................................................................................ 4
4. Negotiation Skills: ................................................................................................................................ 4
5. Self-Awareness and Improvement: ....................................................................................................... 5
THE TRADITIONAL APPRAISAL SYSTEM: .......................................................................................... 7
THE MODERN APPRAISAL SYSTEM: .................................................................................................... 7
David I. McClelland ................................................................................................................................. 11
Frederick Herzberg.................................................................................................................................. 11
Victor Vroom ........................................................................................................................................... 12
Sheila Ritchie and Peter Martin .............................................................................................................. 12
MOTIVATION MISTAKES THAT MANAGERS MAKE ..................................................................................... 13
CONCLUSION:.............................................................................................................................................. 15
REFERENCES: ............................................................................................................................................... 15
INTRODUCTION
Motivation:
„„Motivation can be defined in a variety of ways, depending on whom you ask. If you ask

Someone on the street, you may get a response like, “It‟s what drives us” or “Motivation is

What makes us do the things we do.” As far as a formal definition, motivation can be defined

as “forces within an individual that account for the level, direction, and persistence of effort

expended at work,” according to Schermerhorn, et al.‟‟

To keep the workforce at their optimal efficiency, motivation plays a key role. It is a double

edged sword and hence must be used with precision. The manager must device a plan on the

scale of his attempt. He must first realize the group‟s intention and behavioral pattern. His

own attitude would play a humungous role, if he intends for a direct confrontation with his

subordinates. A manager must realize that the prime factor which drives any employee is

„need‟. To understand this need, he must have a very close look at the behavioural

psychology of his workers.

“An effective manager should have the following skills.

1. Creative Problem Solving Skills:

(1) Describing and analyzing a problem: this is the first step towards problem

evaluation. A neutral and sincere evaluation is often succeeded by purposeful

results.

(2) Identifying causes of a problem: to critically analyze and review the

reasons of the problem. The extent of damage caused is also assessed. The

extent of preventable damage caused is analyzed as well.

(3) Developing creative options and choosing the best course of action: the

least time consuming and the most widely effective options are considered. A

mutual platform is sought and the problem is dealt with.

(4) Implementing and evaluating effective and efficiency of the decision:

after a certain period the efficiency of the decision against the problem has to
be evaluated.

2. Communication Skills:
(1) Listening skills: a good manager needs to be a calm and neutral listener.

Human psychology tends to get emotional from time to time, and one feels

like letting out his feelings. At this sensitive junction, it is the managers

responsibility to be non-judgmental and unbiased while listening to the issues

concerning an employee.

(2) Presentation skills: a clear and straight forward representation of goals

and vision is a characteristic of a good manager. His presentations are

streamlined and focused. His address to his subordinates must be with

politeness but with authority and inspiration.

(3) Feedback Skills: to assess and review is probably the most important part

of a result analysis. The proper reviewal must be feedback to the employees so

that they know that they‟ve been treated fairly without any bias.

(4) Report writing skills: the summarisation of an experiment, or a project

must be written with atmost professionalism. Wayward notations and remarks

must be avoided.

3. Conflict Management Skills:

(1) Identifying sources of conflict – functional and dysfunctional conflicts,

(2) Understanding personal style of conflict resolution,

(3) Choosing the best strategy for dealing with a conflict, and

(4) Developing skills in promoting constructive conflicts in organization and teams.

4. Negotiation Skills:
(1) Distinguishing distributive and integrative negotiations, position and principle

negotiation,

(2) Identifying common mistakes in negotiation and ways to avoid them,

(3) Developing rational thinking in negotiation, and

(4) Developing effective skills in negotiation that benefits all parties involved.

5. Self-Awareness and Improvement:

(1) Understanding the concept of self-management,

(2) Evaluate the effectiveness of self-management,

(3) Developing creative and holistic thinking,

(4) Understanding the importance of emotions in works as well in self-development,

(5) Understand of self-motivation, and

(6) Effectively managing self-learning and change.”

The Acquired need theory puts forward interesting findings. According to this theory, needs

are actually shaped by experiences gained over time. “Each one of us is born with two

contradictory sets of instructions. Conservative tendency made up of instincts for self

preservations, self aggrandizement and saving energy. An expensive tendency made up for

instincts for exploring, for enjoying novelty and risk. The curiosity that leads to creativity

belongs to this set. But whereas the first tendency requires little encouragement or support

from outside to motivate behaviour, the second can wilt if not cultivated.

The primary needs are broadly classified into three. The need for achievement, the need for

power and the need for affiliation. These needs vary by person and by preference over time,

directly influenced by his position and environment. For achievers, there is a constant need of

recognition, even if it is not consequential. Such people are actually characterised as risk

avoiders. In situations of high risk but high gain as well, they back away. It is the same when

a small amount of risk is involved for no significant gain at all. Managers must look out for

such pseudo-achievers and tend to them for bringing quantity to the work force and not more.

Some individuals are typically affiliation seekers. They are more on a look out for

harmonious relationships at work. They are shy and prefer standing out of the crowd than

leading the group. They re content by seeking approval rather than getting recognition for

their work and relationships. The final category is the most difficult to maunder, the Power

Seekers. These individuals prefer control over recognition and respect. They want to attain a
higher goal and not their peer‟s approval. Their outlook is for agreement and immediate

compliance and hence the manager has to affect large precautions in finding out such

individuals and removing them. This may lead to a revolt as these individuals hold a key role

in the employee unions.

Another way of motivation that can be used by a manager could be by affecting preferential

perseverance. If the leader could have an impact on the sensitive side of his group, the feeling

could supersede facts and evidence. This requires the manager to have an excellent rapport

with his work force and a history of sensitive actions if requires to expect the same from his

workers. It continues where an emotional preference is made.

“Attitudes are predispositions to behaviour.” An individual‟s attitude is strongly held around

one‟s core beliefs. This as well is a derivative of past experiences. Both the manager and the

employee find a common platform for their attitudes to merge. The manager hence should be

careful of causing confusions and for sending mixed signals if he acts outside of his visible

attitude.”

Attribution theory reflects on the effect of one‟s explanation of his/hers behaviour on others.

We all need to, at one point of time, or another explains our stand to the world. This is one‟s

opportunity to make an influence on the presumptions and perceptions of his listeners. The

more influential the explanation the more are the chances of converging the mindsets of

people in the group.

The next motivation pattern discussed is probably the most extensively used but least

frequently accepted or talked about. Motivating by profiting over cognitive dissonance. The

stress/tension arriving from holding two conflicting thoughts in the mind at the same time is

referred to as dissonance. At such a state an individual is psychologically very vulnerable and

is many times made use of. “This dissonance tends to increase with the impact of the

decision, that is, its importance along with the difficulty of recovering from it.”

According to the consistence theory, conflict between behavioural patterns that are consistent
with inner systems and the ones which are consistent with social norms, the potential threat of

social exclusion sways one towards the latter causing a lot of inner dissonance. The

manager‟s role is to clarify such ambiguous situations, how ever impractical they may be.

As James Collin said “it is better to first get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off

the bus, the right people in their right seats, and then figure out where to drive.”

“Performance is an employee's accomplishment of assigned work as specified in the

critical elements and as measured against standards of the employee's position. The term

“Performance Appraisal” is concerned with the process of valuing a person‟s worth to an

organization with a view to increasing it.”

THE TRADITIONAL APPRAISAL SYSTEM:

It was a technique which was brought about as a tool for income justification. This

technique earlier used to decide whether an employee‟s salary was justified or not. Any

increment or decrement on the payroll would solely depend on the workers performance.

THE MODERN APPRAISAL SYSTEM:

The modern system defines performance appraisal as a well structured and formulated

interaction between the employee and the employer in a fixed periodic interview. In such an

interview the workers strengths and weaknesses are discussed and future opportunities with

the company is revealed.

If an employee performs at an unacceptable level, performance based actions grade his

efficiency and result in the removal of such inefficient work force.

“Performance Plans are the documentation of performance expectations communicated to

employees from supervisors. Plans define the critical elements and the performance

standards by which an employee's performance will be evaluated.”

“Performance appraisal system describes how agency will identify performance

standards and core competencies and communicate them to employees. Periodical appraisal

helps the company to compare employee‟s performance and to take apt decisions for further
improvement. A structured business planning depends on the performance of the employee

and it will be successful only when the employees are analyzing their work performance

individually. The formal performance appraisal in a company is conducted annually for all

staff and each staff member are appraised by their line manager. Generally employees are

appraised based on the structure of the company

Annual performance appraisals evaluate the role of the employee in the organizational

development and also monitoring the standard, expectations, objectives, efficiency in

handling task and responsibilities in a period of time. Appraisal also helps to analyze the

individual training needs of the employee and planning of future job allocation. It also helps

to adopt appropriate strategy based on organizational training needs. Performance appraisal

analyzes employee‟s performance and which utilize to review the grades and modify the

annual pay. It generally reviews each individual performance against the objectives and

standard of the organization. Performance management creating a work environment and it

is enabling the employees to perform best of their abilities. Through performance

management companies are hiring efficient people .Then the company building up their

skills and talents through employee development programmes. The tools like performance

appraisal, performance review, and appraisal forms create the process of nurturing

employee developments.

Effective appraisal considering increase in staff productivity, knowledge and contribution.

Formal management procedure used the evaluation of work performance. Effective

appraisal helps the employer in providing increased productivity, knowledge and

contribution from the staff. These resources increase the ability to do performance

consulting, measure performance improvement, and provide resultant training using

internal staff, which increases self-sufficiency in performance consulting and improvement.

Providing feed back about employee‟s job performance and the contribution of reward for

their work is very essential in the smooth functioning of an organization.”

“Performance appraisal tries to:

1. Give feedback to employees to improve subsequent performance.

2. Identify employee-training needs.

3. Document criteria used to allocate organizational rewards.

4. Form a basis for personnel decisions-salary (merit) increases, disciplinary actions,

etc.

5. Provide the opportunity for organizational diagnosis and development.

6. Facilitate communication between employee and administrator.”

Similarly, the documentation of expected performance levels for the upcoming fiscal year

are usually communicated by the manager to the employees so that they are acquainted with

the evaluation standards which would be put in place later on.

“Performance Improvement Plans (PIP) are developed for employees at any point in the

appraisal cycle when performance becomes Level 1 (unacceptable) in one or more critical

elements. This plan affords an employee the opportunity to demonstrate acceptable

performance and it is developed with specific guidance provided by a servicing human

resources office.”

Some methods can be used by managers to gauge motivation probability, viz:

• Employee Selection

• High oraganisational expectation

Employee selection is probably the first step taken by any manager before organising his

workforce. He must choose such a work force which would be compatible to his style of

management. „„The hiring of employees that are self-motivated is crucial to the success of

any business.‟‟ If any employee is self motivated, it takes a lot of burden off from the

managers shoulder to play the „motivator‟ part. According to Abraham Moslov, „„There is a

colossal barrier to only hiring those that are self-motivated” .With the legal restraints today

in regard to discrimination, managers often give up trying to make “good” hiring decisions
for fear of discriminating illegally. Therefore, most managers have become solely reliant on

intuition during the hiring process. The trick seems to be to try to hire those that are

motivated to do what is best for the organization without discriminating against those who

may be motivated, but not to work, and those that have the skills necessary for a position but

lack the motivation all together. Its is this challenge that will puzzle today‟s managers and

those of tomorrow.‟‟

When there is high organisational expectation, there is bound to be stress on the

manager to keep up the efficiency of his task force. This can be done by incorporating a

feeling of high productivity expectations of quality, quantity and responsibility. the

manager can do this to by stressing to the new employess the results attained by a few „pace

setters‟ to make them feel that such efficiency is expected throughout the workforce.

Motivation at each phase is still very important but „„this can be made easier by attempting

to hire self-motivated employees and impressing high standards upon them and reinforcing

the standards on a daily basis.‟‟

There have been major studies done to understand the variability and flexibility a manager

has to accept while attending to his team of employees who come from varying experience

levels and environments. The most important few are as follows:

„„Ivan Pavlov

Pavlov did extensive studies on classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is “a form of

learning through association that involves the manipulation of stimuli to influence

behavior.”More simply, within organizations, employees associate an action with a following

action, and then they expect the following action each time the initial action appears. This is a

natural reaction for some. Pavlov‟s theory is difficult to argue with and is applicable today

and probably will be for a long time.

Abraham Maslow

Maslow developed a “hierarchy of needs” or an order of needs that need to be fulfilled in

each person. If a manager embraces Maslow‟s hierarchy, he/she will motivate employees,

keeping the order of needs in mind. The hierarchy of needs is shown below:

1. Self actualization – need to grow and use abilities to the fullest; highest need

2. Esteem – need for respect, prestige, and recognition from others as well as self esteem

and personal sense of competence

3. Social – need for love, affection, and belongingness in one‟s relationships with others

4. Safety – need for security, protection, and stability in the personal events of everyday life

5. Physiological – most basic of human needs; need for food, water, and sustenance

Using this theory, managers can use the hierarchy to motivate people by satisfying the most

important needs.

David I. McClelland
McClelland and his associates came up with a test to measure human needs. They came up

with three: need for achievement, need for affiliation, and need for power. According to

McClelland, these needs are acquired with time and life experience. McClelland urged

managers to be able to identify these needs in others to help themselves understand how to

motivate individuals. Different motivation approaches would be used depending upon which

need is identified. McClelland‟s ideas are very good, according to this author, and they can be

applied today and tomorrow.

Frederick Herzberg
Herzberg developed his two factor theory, taking a different approach from others. Herzberg

argues that hygiene factors in the work setting are sources for job dissatisfaction. Also, he

says that motivator factors in work tasks are sources for job satisfaction. His theories can

summarized by quote from him, “If you want people to do a good job, give them a good job

to do.”The theory of Herzberg may seem a little vague, but it is based on superb ideas. The

two factor theory may be as useful, or more, than other theories of the time, because job

context and content are major issues in the business world today.
Victor Vroom
Vroom‟s expectancy theory argues that motivation is based in values and beliefs of

individuals or how a person feels effort, performance and outcomes. He developed an

equation to “calculate” motivation using three factors:

1. .Expectancy – the probability that effort will be followed by personal

accomplishment.

2. Instrumentality – the probability that performance will lead to outcomes

3. Valence -the value of an individual of an outcome

Vroom argues that a manager can use the equation M = E * I * V to predict whether a

particular reward will motivate an individual. While the basis of Vroom‟s expectancy theory

is very good, the equation seems a little awkward today.

Sheila Ritchie and Peter Martin

Ritchie and Martin developed their motivation management theory in the late 1990‟s.The

basic assumption is that “„the task of the manager is to find out what motivates people‟ and to

make them „smile more and carp less.‟”From literature and their own observations, they

identified twelve “motivational drivers.”These include human needs for interesting work,

achievement, self development, variety, creativity, power, influence, social contact, money

and tangible rewards, structure and rules, long-term relationships, and good working

conditions. They then developed a motivational profile survey with thirty-three

questions. After scoring, a unique pattern of the individual‟s motivational drivers is revealed

that can be compared to the data of the original one thousand three hundred fifty-five

respondents.

Knowing an individual‟s profile, a manager can then tailor a motivation method for that

person. For instance, if a manager is considering giving an employee a raise and their profile

shows that creativity and variety motivate this person, and then the manager should reward

accordingly, not with a raise. Ritchie and Martin claim that each of the twelve drivers is

independent of the others. The motivation management theory of Ritchie and Martin would be
classified as a content theory, which suggest that motivation results from the individual‟s

attempts to satisfy needs. The order of the twelve drivers listed above reflects the profile

scores of the original sample. This is to say that, among this group of managers, the needs for

interesting work and achievement were most important.‟‟

MOTIVATION MISTAKES THAT MANAGERS MAKE

„„I. Too much emphasis on pay, benefits, and perks:

The Saratoga Institute reports that 88% of employees voluntarily leave their jobs for other

reasons, such as misalignment of mutual expectations, person-job mismatch, insufficient

coaching and feedback, perception of poor career-advancement prospects, work-life

imbalance and both distrust toward and low confidence in senior leadership. Still, most

managers refuse to acknowledge the "push" factors, preferring to see the "pull" factor of more

money as the prime motivator.

The truth is, both push and pull factors come into play, but companies make a big mistake by

hanging their employee-retention strategies solely on the easier-to-manipulate tangible

factors of more pay, better benefits, and flashier perks. It's not that these factors are

unimportant; they're very important. In fact, most employers of choice typically offer better

pay and benefits than their competitors. But what set them apart are positive, caring cultures

where most managers know how to provide the everyday coaching, feedback, and recognition

that keeps employees engaged.

II. Blindly following other companies' best practices:

One of the disadvantages of reading Fortune magazine's "100 Best Places to Work in

America" list each year is that we become so enamored of great employers that we think their

best practices will work equally well for our companies. Sometimes they do, but often they

don't.

The best employers thoughtfully match their cultures, benefits, and management practices to

the needs and desires of their workers. FedEx gears its workplace to the short-term work experience
needs of younger part-timers, while American Express focuses on long-term

career development with a strong emphasis on gender equity. SAS Institute has created an

employment brand that says, "Come to work for us and enjoy a campus-like environment,

and have a life outside of work." This software-development company is famous for its 3%

turnover rate in an industry where 20% is the norm.

Most companies can't-or won't-invest the up-front dollars to do what SAS has done. The good

news is they don't have to. But by asking their particular workforce what they most want and

need, companies can usually provide what it takes to keep employees-and keep them

engaged.

The danger of benchmarking against others in your industry is that it may keep you from

tailoring an innovative benefit or practice to meet the needs of the 20% of the talent that's

creating 80% of the value in your company or department.

III. Failure to train managers and hold them accountable:

Studies of employee turnover consistently show that the direct supervisor builds or destroys

employee commitment. Yet, how many companies select executives for their ability to

manage people, train them in effective people-management skills, and then hold them

accountable? You could probably count those on the fingers of one hand.

Many employers of choice carefully monitor their managers' voluntary-turnover rates, new hire

retention rates and employee-engagement survey scores, and reward those who score

highly with bigger bonuses. Managers with low scores get lower bonuses and are called into

meeting with their superiors, which may lead to more training, coaching, reassignment, or

termination.

In other words, smart companies know that as the competition for talent heats up, they can no

longer afford the luxury of another bad manager.‟‟

(source: http://www.super-solutions.com/employeemotivation-mistakes.asp accesed on

24/04/08)
CONCLUSION:
Managers hold a huge responsibility of employee satisfaction in today‟s organisations. Any

productive work environment needs to be as stress free as possible. “Employees must know

that their ideas will be listened to, and if found viable, acted upon. If this is done it is possible

to mobilize individual creativity on a very broad scale.”

„„Regardless of which theory of motivation is followed, interesting work and employee pay

appear to be important links to higher motivation of centers' employees. Options such as job

enlargement, job enrichment, promotions, internal and external stipends, monetary, and nonmonetary

compensation should be considered. Job enlargement can be used (by managers) to

make work more interesting (for employees) by increasing the number and variety of

activities performed. Job enrichment can used to make work more interesting and increase

pay by adding higher level responsibilities to a job and providing monetary compensation

(raise or stipend) to employees for accepting this responsibility. These are just two examples

of an infinite number of methods to increase motivation of employees at the centers. The key

to motivating centers' employees is to know what motivates them and designing a motivation

program based on those needs.‟‟

REFERENCES:
How to motivate low-wage workers Nation's Business, May, 1997 by Roberta Maynard

Speen, Gerald B.“Maximizing employee performance through motivation.”Incentive

People Performance SupplementOct. 1998, p. 2-7

Methods of Motivation: Yesterday and Today By Brian C. Young

Motivation in Work Organizations. Lawler, Edward E., III

Vroom, V. H. (1964). Work and motivation. New York: Wiley.

Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, July 1943.

370-396.

Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., & Snyderman, B. B. (1959). The motivation to work. New York:
John Wiley & Sons.

Key elements of motivation and the modern manager by Matthew Russell

http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/a_motivation.htm (accessed on 21/04/08)

Understanding Employee Motivation by James R. Lindner Research and Extension Associate

The Ohio State University.

Multifactor Motivation Theory By Stephen Moulton

(http://www.actioninsight.com/Article18.htm accesed on 21/04/08)