Teamwork and Motivation, Research Paper Example

Introduction

The manufacturing industry has continued to grow in both market size and profitability, especially in widget manufacturing. The commodity WooWoo has become a successful product in the company, and is less expensive and more readily available than the nationally known market leader. However, there have been many defects, leading to increasing costs and delivery delays, despite high sales growth. The following organizational motivation plan will enable employees in all departments to improve in the areas of job satisfaction, low turnover, high productivity and high quality work.

Job Satisfaction

Employees in this company often become efficient and effective at their jobs if they have the right motivation to succeed. As job satisfaction increases, other employees will also be motivated to improve, and the entire company benefits as a result.

In particular, employees in the sales department who demonstrate efficiency and effectiveness in improving the WooWoo widget will be given the promotion advantages and further opportunities to advance in the organization.

A recent study shows that conscientiousness and job status were both significant predictors of job satisfaction (Furnham, Eracleous and Chamorro-Premuzic, 2009). This also led to better work ethics and motivational traits amongst other employees with similar results. Therefore, employees of the company who demonstrate such traits will be provided with the opportunity of promotion, leading to job satisfaction.

Low Turnover

As the WooWoo widget currently has many defects, workers who find ways to improve the widget and eliminate defects should be rewarded, in terms of monetary and non-monetary rewards, which will be discussed below.

Although turnover usually has a negative connation and association, especially in such an industry as manufacturing, low turnover is always a goal of departments such as administration. It is important that certain steps are taken to ensure that the goal of low turnover is reached. Research shows that a high-involvement work organization and long-term investments are associated with significantly lower turnover (Batt and Colvin, 2011).

High Productivity

One of the most important factors in motivating employees is based on high productivity. This allows for employees, especially in the manufacturing industry, to improve processes and identify ways of becoming more efficient and effective in production and assembly.

Those who identify ways of improving the WooWoo widget will be rewarded for their efforts through performance-based pay. This will be determined via key performance indicators, in terms of high achievement. Key performance indicators are found to affect the productivity of manufacturing organizations, especially in the form of an error free manufacturing process (Ali et. al., 2010). The way to achieve such a process is by decreasing lead time and cost, while increasing quality, efficiency, effectiveness and dependability.

High Quality Work

Lastly, the quality of work to improve to a higher level requires an additionally higher level of motivation, in regards to encouraging employees to do better. The employees who achieve a high quality of work are also better equipped and motivated to encourage others, as mentioned earlier.

Employees who use innovative technological initiatives to improve and tweak the WooWoo widget will have the opportunity of using higher-end technology for future use, as per their insightful inputs and advice.

A recent study undertaken between two manufacturing companies in relation to the quality or work showed that it was a combined effect of cognitive demands that resulted high quality of work attributed to workers (Layer, Karwowski, and Furr, 2009). Therefore, if employees are to improve their quality of work to a very high level, the cognitive demands of workers should be tuned to higher work ethics. This is achieved by high levels of motivation coupled with the possibility of advancement in the employee’s area of interest, in relation to their position within the company in the technology department.

Methods of Motivation

Though each of the departments in the company has different aspects of motivation to focus on in order to improve, there are two methods of motivation which are applicable to motivate all employees within the organization.

Firstly, monetary motivation often spurs employees to improve in their job and also in their work output. These incentives can consist of performance-based pay and also bonuses for workers who specifically enhance the WooWoo widget, and also help cut costs and delivery delays.

Secondly, employees will also be equally motivated to succeed through the provision of non-monetary rewards. These rewards can include, but are not limited to company recognition and awards. Such a method of motivation involves almost no cost, but allows the employee to continue to improve and be known as a role model within the company for others to emulate.

Motivation Theory

Often, the minimum wage worker in any organization, but especially in manufacturing, works harder and achieves more than their higher paid colleagues. There are three main ways of motivating such workers to continue their methods, but also to improve their work ethic as well. This is found in the Machiavellian Theory of Motivation. Promotion of non-economic motivation based on this theory show that people are motivated to seek power and status (Darrington and Howell, 2011).

Therefore, the first way to motivate workers is through the power support. Company management in large organizations often find it difficult to show support to minimum wage workers, especially in a lengthy chain of command when primarily dealing with managers. However, since this is a reasonably small organization, it is possible for company management to support minimum wage workers by granting them sufficient power to ensure that the job is done to the best of their ability.

The second way to motivate workers is through the increasing of job status. This allows minimum wage workers to feel valued and respected, as aforementioned, but also to thrive in their new position. In such a company, promotion is often a possibility and provides a higher status to the minimum wage worker, motivating them to work better.

Finally, the third way to motivate workers is through non-economic motivation, as mentioned earlier. In addition to power support and job status, this form of motivation allows workers to work on a level playing field with other employees and co-workers. This motivates the entire workforce to continue to work together towards improving the manufacturing of the WooWoo widget, and therefore improve the whole organization.

Relevance of Individual Worker

Currently, the relevance of the individual worker in the organizational context has often been lost as companies become larger and larger. It often becomes the focus of the company’s growth and improvement, instead of the individual working with other individuals to improve the organization.

The way that companies can improve is by refocussing on the individual’s contribution to the organization and the relevant impact that they are making on not only an individual, but also on a corporate level.

As a small manufacturing company, the organization has a competitive advantage over the current nationally known brand to utilize the WooWoo widget and its manufacturing to improve the company’s reputation, its brand, and also the individuals behind the commodity who make everything possible. Through this organization motivation plan, all fifty employees in this company will be more valued, rewarded and acknowledged as the company continues to move forward.

Conclusion

In summary, the company has identified the area of motivation as the key to unlocking the potential of all employees and to encourage them to improve their job satisfaction, low turnover, high productivity and high quality work. In the department of sales, assembly, technology and administration, as well as the company in a holistic sense, the two methods of monetary rewards and non-monetary rewards will be utilized. Furthermore, the identification of the three ways to motivate minimum wage workers includes power support, increase of job status, and non-economic motivation. These methods of motivation will allow the company to improve its production of the WooWoo widget, to value its employees, and to springboard the company forward in the manufacturing industry.

References

Ali, S., Yousof, J., Khan, M., and Masood, S. (2011). Evaluation of Performance in Manufacturing Organization through Productivity and Quality. African Journal of Business Management, 5(6), 2211-2219.

Batt, R. and Colvin, A. (2011). An Employment Systems Approach to Turnover: Human Resource Practices, Quits, Dismissals, and Performance. Academy of Management Journal, 54(4), 695-717.

Darrington, J. and Howell, G. (2011) Motivation and Incentives in Relational Contracts, Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction, 16(1), 42 – 51.

Furnham, A., Eracleous, A., Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2009). Personality, Motivation and Job Satisfaction: Hertzberg meets the Big Five. Emerald 24(1), 111-118.

Layer, J., Karwowski, W., and Furr, A. (2009). The Effect of Cognitive Demands and Perceived Quality of Work Life on Human Performance in Manufacturing Environments. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 39(2), 413-421.