Sergeant George’s position is not an uncommon trend in the management field. This is mainly due to the fact that each employee has their own way of being motivated while the leader has their own; at times these motivation styles are not similar as is the case for Welsh. In such cases the efficacy of operations within the organization or department depends on how the different styles are fixed into one motivation method. If I was in the sergeant’s position I would first take time to understand the motivational dynamics of the sector that I have been assigned. This is especially necessary since a rushed change of the motivation technique would result in resentment from the officers as they had a supervisor they liked and hence may want to hold on to the latter’s approach. After understanding these dynamics, I would formulate a plan how I was going to integrate my motivational method into the sector. It is important to note that each officer in the sector has their own motivational needs. To acquire information on these needs I would prepare and give the officers questionnaires that will give them an opportunity to share with me what they expect in terms of motivation.
One major motivational need that I would appreciate is that the officers come from different backgrounds. For example there are officers who came from the military and there are others who had civilian jobs prior to enrolling to the force. Since each of the background has unique motivational needs and leadership styles, I would organize to meet the officers as a group and later individually to brainstorm on some of the responses from the questionnaires they will have already filled by this time. I would target to conduct these group discussions and individual interviews within the first month. The time is necessary so that by the next month I may start implementing the motivation model that I advocate for.
I am more of a transformational manager and hence I believe in inspiring people to take responsibility for their work and also for me to be a role model (Robbins & Judge, 2010, p. 28). This also involves invoking a sense of self identity and responsibility towards the organization in the employees. As a way of ensuring the officers take personal responsibility for their work, I would apply the Theory Y motivation approach. The theory is based on the assumption that people are self motivated and exercise self control in their work (Thomas, 2009, p. 116). I believe this theory would be effective in improving motivation within my sector as it would shift the responsibility from the supervisor to the individuals. This is necessary so as to ensure that even in the case of a supervisor who is not liked by the officers, the latter would still perform their duties diligently as they would be self motivated. Theory Y would also be effective for motivating the officers since they all chose working the force and left their previous jobs. This means that the officers at one point had the passion for the job. This is the passion that I would seek to rekindle to ensure self motivation.
Amongst all the other officers in my sector I am the most experienced while the other officers have more formal education. I had previously decided that I was not pursuing any more higher education but I believe that working in this sector requires me to increase my formal education. This is necessary to equip me with the knowledge required to handle various emerging situations in the work environment. It is important to note that my decision to go back to school is not influenced by fear of lack of co-operation by the officers but rather by a desire to lead the sector in all aspects; experience and education. Also, if I am to motivate the officers to change their motivational style I will need to show them that I am also willing to change something as long as it is for the good of the department.
I would make work meaningful to these officers by holding weekly reviews of our performance. In these meetings I would ask the officers to share their problems so that we may address them. This would help to identify problems before they can cause any a lot of damage to the productivity of the employees. During these meetings I would also encourage the officers to share their unique ways of handling work pressure, self motivation, and various scenarios in our work. This will help other officers learn new and tested ways of dealing with these issues. Such meetings will also help me to ensure that the officers own any decision I make regarding the sector. It is necessary to have the goodwill of the officers as it increases the likelihood of the decisions made being applied without any coercion (Walker & Dobbs, 2010, p. 72). Such meetings would also help improve the team spirit in the organization which would consequently impact positively on its performance.
Thomas, K. (2009). Intrinsic Motivation at Work: What Really Drives Employee Engagement.
California: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Walker, R. & Dobbs, R. (2010). Transformational Leadership: A Blueprint for Real
Organizational Change. South Carolina: Dobbs Leadership
