Reward and Motivaiton

‘Effective HR systems in organisations are designed to exert a significance influence on the behaviour of the individuals in the workplace’.  Critically discuss this statement with reference to research evidence on any one HR system of your choosing

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Organisational Behaviour 2015/16

To address the above statement I aim to do three things in this essay. The first is to discuss organisational behaviour in the basic sense and then, having chosen to focus on rewards being the HR system I will briefly describe rewards as a HR system and then I will discuss the apparent links between rewards systems and employee behaviours. The basis of my argument will be derived from CIPD research, experience, scholarly articles and third level text books.

Organisational Behaviour.

Organisational Behaviour is the study of the organisations and the employees working in them. Organisational behaviour can be defined as ‘the study of the structure, functioning and performance of organisations and the behaviour of groups and individuals within them. (Buchanan, 2010)

Michele Kehoe in her book on Organisational Behaviour (OB) suggests organisations have a bigger effect on people than we may realise. We are connected to an organisation in many facets of our lives from education, consumerism and work but to name a few.
Studying OB can give an important insight into the individual as an employee and how that person reacts to the organisation for example commitment, motivation, entrenchment, satisfaction and loyalty. She goes on to state that ‘An understanding of organizational behaviour is both critical and central to the task of management’ (Kehoe, 2013)

Organisational Behaviour is very complex, highly theorized area of study. To gain an understanding of OB we break the elements down to the individual person. The behaviours of people are determined by a multitude of factors from perception, learning and development, attitude, personality, stress, motivation, conflict and change to name but a few.

So many factors affecting our person at any one time make it difficult to understand the needs and motives of people let alone when put into a controlled and organized environment, being the workplace, to be managed.

(Buchanan, 2010), as cited by (Kehoe, 2013), define organisations as social arrangements for achieving controlled performance undertaking collective goals. Taking this definition of an organization and considering the undertaking of collective goals we understand that whatever the organisation, be it a charity, a university or a for-profit company there is always a goal to be achieved.

In the realm of Human Resource study we know that the basis of a lot of studies and research is on the question of how to get our human resources to achieve the organisational goals. This is evident in strategic human resource planning and change management Kotter’s change management strategy instructs to build-in short term rewards to help ensuring the change happening is achieved (Kiernan, 2015). A properly designed reward structure is management’s most powerful tool for optimising organizational commitment to successful strategy execution and aligning efforts throughout the organization with strategic priorities. (Thompson, et al., 2012)

Though there are many HR systems in place that are there to elicit something from an employee whether tangible results e.g. meeting KPI’s or intangible e.g. showing commitment through working long hours. Rewards being an obvious system and the first one we encounter when we start working. Reward for work is the most basic yet fundamental element in establishing the working relationship.

Rewards.

When we consider rewards the first thing, in relation to work, we tend to think of is money. It can be said money is a key factor in a person’s decision to get a job. We all need money this is a fact of life and the majority of people will find some type of employment and work to receive a weekly wage. Abraham Maslow’s theory on the hierarchy of needs goes some way in indicating this.

Many theorists have studied people and developed what they believe are our motivators in life, the driving force behind what we do. Probably the most notable is Abraham Maslow (1943). Maslow’s hierarchy of Human needs shows us what he believes motivates us and the 5 stages of growth from our physiological needs (eating, breathing etc.) to self-actualization (being all one can be) (Maslow, 1943)

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Before we can attempt to motivate a person we have to identify their needs. People are motivated by different things and what works for one person might not work for the next. (Thompson, et al., 2012) Managers who know their workers can identify their needs and offer incentives and motivated behaviours better suited to that worker and the job.

“A knowledge and understanding of human motivation is essential for effective human resource management”. (Reidy, 2011)

However money is not only an incentive to work but is used as an incentive to do more, or better, work. For example in manufacturing environment employees may be rewarded with a bonus for hitting output targets or for reaching a certain level of quality. Managers may receive a bonus cheque for end of year sales targets being achieved or surpassed. (Torrington, et al., 2014)

Herzberg’s research and theory of motivation further expanded Maslow’s theory, although they both have parallel points, Herzberg stated that the hygiene factors, such as pay, once satisfied do not motivate anymore and simply prevent dissatisfaction. Achievement, recognition, advancement responsibility and personal growth are motivators. (Kehoe, 2013)

So is a reward systems with pay being the entirety of it actually eliciting behaviours to motivate, commit and engage the employees in the way we believe motivated employees behave?

As cited by (Cartwright & Holmes, 2006) for many years, it has been recognized that work fulfils a variety of individual needs other than financial (Warr, 1987). More recent studies (Chalofsky, 2003)& (Mitroff & Denton, 1999)have consistently demonstrated that people rate purpose, fulfilment, autonomy, satisfaction, close working relationships and learning as more important than money. With the decline of neighbourhoods, churches, civic groups and extended families in developed societies, the workplace is now being seen as a primary source of community and a place to feel connected (Conger, 1994)

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