Motivation Theories Assignment

Using the motivation theories, explain either your best, or your worst workplace experience in terms of motivation. Go in detail and provide information on your boss, work, context, environment etc. that affected your motivation. How and why did the situation lead you to perform at your best? Alternatively, how and why did you chose to not be performing according to expectations.
please watch the movie “Office Space” and analyze the situation Peter Gibbons and his colleagues are experiencing. Using the theories discussed, explain why he is motivated, or not so motivated, to perform highly.
I also have a link to the book we are using.
You have to use 5 out of 8 theories:
1.Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
2.Alderfer’s ERG Theory
3.Herzberg’s Two-factor Theory
4.McClelland’s Motive Dispositions Theory
5.Equity Theory
6.Expectancy Theory
7.Reinforcement Theory
8.Goal Setting Theory

ANSWER

Motivation Theories Assignment

Motivation Overview

Motivation is a key approach in the workplace since it builds personal and professional development. It empowers and excites workers to deliver excellent results in an organization. The management has a huge role to play in boosting workforce motivation. It is responsible for making the working environment conducive for everyone. This ensures that employees commit their time and effort to deliver optimal results. The workplace culture determines workers’ motivation levels. For instance, if the management develops quality promotional and compensatory approaches, there is a high chance that employees will become increasingly become motivated and satisfied with their duties. Also, opening learning and career developmental opportunities motivates workers to produce better results. Overall, the top-leadership level should ensure that it creates a viable culture that enables workers to achieve increased motivation. For example, having an organizational culture that values and upholds learning and training to enable workers to sharpen their knowledge and skills is an excellent way of boosting workforce motivation.

The Best Workplace Experience in Terms of Motivation

I believe that workers are primarily driven to deliver excellent results due to high motivation in the workplace. I had the opportunity to experience increased motivation in a particular company dealing with food-related products. The company developed massive opportunities for learning and development. The management believed in exposing its workers to learning opportunities to familiarize themselves with the working environment. I had just started working in the company where I was allocated one of the mentors to guide me through an effective transition. I knew that I would advance my skills and knowledge while working under a mentor who would guide and direct me accordingly. My immediate boss was my mentor.

How the Boss Impacted my Motivation

I derived improved motivation from my boss. I had the chance to work under someone who significantly impacted my professional capability. He was my mentor when I commenced working at the company. He often guided me by teaching and educating me on the expectations associated with my position. Every time I completed handling a task, he would thank me as a way of appreciating my efforts. He always took his time to appreciate my efforts irrespective of the outcome. This made me build confidence and motivation to keep doing better and learning. He constantly engaged me one on one or in writing to check if I had any limitations in handling my work. This made me feel valued, respected and being an impactful change factor in the workplace. One of the aspects that I admired about my boss was that he was always there to listen to me. It enabled me to build trust and respect. These are values that drove me into effectively handling my duties. I believe that my boss helped me to develop suitable organizational goals and to work towards achieving them. Every time I experienced a challenge, I would approach him, and he would listen to me, offer advice and follow through to ensure that I made the best decision. I developed a positive attitude about my work, which allowed me to achieve the goals that I set. As the goal-setting theory indicates, positive beliefs and attitudes enable individuals to face a task head-on, analyze the duration needed to achieve the goal and expected outcomes (Wagner, John and John 95). These are aspects that enable a worker to achieve accuracy of role perceptions when handling a given task at hand. Overall, my boss shaped me into developing an excellent attitude and perception towards my work where I set clear goals and mechanisms that allow me to meet them. Besides my boss, the work that I handled greatly motivated me to become the best version.

The Impact of the Work Context

When I started working in the company, I was allocated an area that fell within my specialization. I believe that leaders should allocate workers duties that align with their areas of specialization. As the expectancy theory supports, leaders need to manipulate follower expectancies by reducing frustrating barriers to performance (Wagner, John and John 209). One way to reduce these barriers is to allocate employees’ duties and responsibilities that they can relate to and manage appropriately. This is one of the motivating factors that I encountered when I joined the company. I had always wished and aspired to work in the human resource segment because I always feel that this is my calling. When I learned that the company had recruited me to work in the human resource department, I cultivated improved motivation and satisfaction. This is because I knew that I stood to deliver optimal results. Additionally, I had access to advanced technological systems and structures that enables me to handle my work successfully. I cultivated a high level of motivation since I had optimal satisfaction and access to quality technologies that eased my work. Also, the working environment primarily drove me into building increased motivation.

Environmental Impact

The working environment can either build or damage a worker’s motivation. When I joined the HR team and allocated a mentor, I realized that the company had created an effective culture that established a viable working environment. This was a key opportunity for me to learn and gain appropriate exposure to its corporate processes. I worked in an environment that catered to my safety, security, and overall well-being. The company had communication processes that enhance duty handling and accomplishment. This aligns with Herzberg’s two-factor theory that incorporates policies that ensure workers operate in a conducive environment (Wagner, John and John 130). Businesses ensure that they develop policies that create a viable work setting. For example, leaders develop a framework to ensure workers relate effectively amongst themselves and with the top-leadership level. For example, in my unit, if anyone has a question, they could approach the top-leader to inquire about the best way forward. I often kept in touch with my mentor, who was the boss, to check on the best ways to handle situations. The company had a well-laid down communication structure that supported communication across all angles. Also, I had access to various educative materials to read to learn more about the company. For example, my mentor would provide me with corporate reports that allowed me to assess the milestones that it has achieved since its inception.

Overall, my entry into the human resource position and subsequent assignment to my boss as my mentor was one of my best motivating experiences. I often felt that companies should provide learning and developmental opportunities to new workers to ensure that they build appropriate motivation in their duties. I had always desired to start my career as a human resource professional, and getting the opportunity to work in a local company was a key motivational factor. Notably, I was assigned my immediate boss to act as my mentor. He always guided me and exposed me to different educative materials that deepened my insights about the company. I deepened my motivation since I felt that I had a role to play in this reputable company’s continued success. Overall, the subsequent provision of training and developmental opportunities when I commenced working at the human resource department was one of the best motivational experiences that I have had in my career.

Peter Gibbon’s Motivation Level in the ‘Office Space” Movie

Peter Gibbon is a protagonist in the “Office Space” movie. He experiences high levels of demotivation due to the status of his working environment. One of the issues that he experiences is the lack of clearly-defined duties. Peter spends a large portion of his working time staring at the space while almost doing things (Office Space Movie). His situation portrays management that has failed to develop clear-cut duties and responsibilities in the workplace. Peter is largely demotivated in his work due to the failure to understand his duties and expectations. He is less likely to achieve self-actualization since he does not understand his tasks and expectation. Maslow’s Need Hierarchy incorporates the self-actualization level to realize their potential, achieve fulfillment, and personal and professional growth. Peter is likely to miss all these as he spends his working day staring at the space. He fails to achieve personal fulfillment because he does not accomplish anything. Notably, the management level is constantly on his case, arguing that he does not meet the expectations.

The manager often tells Peter that he keeps doing the wrong thing where this is expected to affect his attitude towards the job. For example, the manager’s repeated negative calls might make Peter develop lower motivation and satisfaction towards his job. He might feel as if the manager can fire him anytime. This highlights an issue with job security where Peter is likely to associate these encounters with a potential job loss. Workers need assurance of their job safety and security to enable them to deliver the expectations. In Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory, safety and security needs are related to acquiring relationships that protect workers from future threats (Wagner, John and John 85). These needs affect physiological needs. For example, if an employee feels that their job is threatened, they might develop psychological issues due to the potential lack of access to basic needs. The loss of a job opportunity leaves an individual prone to a lack of food, clothing, and shelter. In Peter’s case, he might relate to the managers’ negative feedback about him and his job with a future job loss. The constant negative feedback he always receives from different managers might create a potential job loss feeling. He often ignores his job due to the absence of job safety and security in the future. Also, Peter might develop low self-esteem emerging from his managers’ attitude towards him. He stands to feel insignificant and thus has low self-esteem.  As Wagner, John and John (86), self-esteem is a crucial aspect that enables individuals to build motivation. Respect, recognition, and appreciation as opposed to identifying wrongs all the time assists in enhancing motivation. Overall, Peter’s working environment fails to provide appropriate motivation considering he lacks clearly-defined duties, and his manager is always pointing out the wrongs that he commits. The lack of a quality workplace culture is another aspect that demotivates Peter.

In the movie “Office Space,” the company lacks key motivating factors incorporated in the workplace culture to boost workforce motivation. For example, the workplace culture is unfair and unjust. As the equity theory of motivation highlights, employees are motivated by fairness (Wagner, John and John 146). If some of the workers are treated unfairly, others tend to become demotivated in their work. In the movie, Peter’s friends are fired while he remains despite making candid remarks about the firm, his casual attitude, and inappropriate body language (Office Space). This depicts a lack of fairness because the management retains workers who appear to challenge them but fires some who might have committed no wrong. This forces Peter to develop increased demotivation where he conspires with his fired co-workers to plant a virus that wipes out the company’s financial resources. Overall, Peter’s case informs the readers about the need for managers and leaders to develop a fair and just working environment to motivate employees.

Conclusion

Motivation offers individuals and companies the opportunity to boost productivity in the workplace. Leaders have a role to play in building a corporate culture that supports increased motivation. Employee’s motivation level relies on the system of beliefs, practices, and values that a business has developed as its key guiding elements. These aspects determine if workers are likely to generate high motivation towards their work. Thus, leaders remain the focal point as far as workers’ motivation is concerned. They should ensure that they develop systems and structures that attract workers to build advanced motivation. Access to learning and career development opportunities exists as an area that helps companies boost workforce motivation.

Works Cited

Wagner III, John A., and John R. Hollenbeck. Organizational Behavior: Securing competitive advantage. Routledge, 2014. 1-419.

“Watch Office Space (1999) Full Movie Online Free | Uwatchfree”. Uwatchfree | Watch Movies And TV-Series Online Free, 2021, https://www.uwatchfree.mu/2020/03/office-space-1999-full-movie/.