Motivation and Satisfaction 1

Grand Canyon University

Employee Evaluation

Psych 565

Jesse Herriott

March 25, 2020

1. Compare and contrast the psychological job characteristic theory/consistency theory to determine

which one would be most effective in improving employee motivation.

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2. Describe how you, as a manager, would measure these variables with respect to your employees.

3. As a manager, what steps would you take, other than economic steps, to improve employee

satisfaction?

Employees will perform to the degree that they are inspired to perform, regardless of the

conditions. One of the important tools for leadership is to recognize that leaders balance the

powers of delegation with the ability to lead out front and receive wise counsel. There is nothing

worse than having to work at a company where your opinion as an employee does not matter,

and the management team cuts corners in order to lighten their workload while increasing the

work load of their subordinates. This kind of behavior contributes to the toxic work environment

that is prevelant in our capitalistic society. From the perspective of an employee, companies

often forget that they are in the people business first; the focus on capitalism and profit with such

an intensity, the needs of the ordinary person that helps to make the company function is often

overlooked.

Job Characteristics Theory and Consistency Theory

Aamodt (2016) suggests the three components of job characteristics theory, meaning,

autonomy, and feedback are extremely important for employees. Similarly, consistent theory

suggests employees will perform to the degree that they are motivated. If an employee is having

self-esteem issues, he or she may not perform as well. Now, this places a heavy burden on the

shoulders of companies. However, companies should remember that they are in the people

business first. Companies cannot create a successful company without hard-working employees.
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People are not perfect, so companies cannot and should not expect perfection. Yet there are

certain standards that should be accepted as baseline that an employee could meet on his or her

worse day. With that said, regardless of the budge that a company has, there are things that

companies can do to offset the viccisitudes of everyday life. Divoce, parenting issues, sickness,

death, old age, finances and other events are bound to happen, and companies should expect it.

The best way to assist employees is not to try to solve the issues directly; ensuring that

employees have access to resources both within the community and within the company is

sometimes enough to show that the company cares. Additionally, there are organizations that

often provide in-house training periodically that could assist companies with providing coaching

support regarding issues that are beyond the scope of the management team. When a company

does what it can to rally behind its staff it shows good leadership; good leadership does not

demand folks get behind them and follow them. Good leadership sets the standard and leads out

front, and by nature of the leadership employees will want to follow and work with leadership in

order to help produce an environment where everyone can win.

Problems with Job Characteristics Theory

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References:

Aamodt, M. G. (2015). Industrial/organization psychology: An applied approach (8th ed.).

Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage. ISBN-13: 9781305118423