Communication and Motivation at the Workplace
There is a lot of pressure on the auto mobile firm after the recall of the faulty auto parts from the market. There appears to be a huge communication gap between the employees and management and no motivational measures to encourage the workforce. Effective communication is mandatory in both personal and professional life. Almost all managerial decisions and actions require some form of communication. For information and ideas to register with the receiver, the communications needs to be effective. The two major problems troubling the company are lack of effective communication and motivation.
Identification
A growing trend in the work places is the pursuit of balance between work, family responsibilities, and recreation (Elliott 5). It appears that the employees are not interested in knowing the big picture of the managerial plans. They have their excuses and stories as to why a project will not meet its deadline, they lack motivation. A huge disconnect appears to exist between the management and the employees. Whatever is communicated does not have the desired effect. Every individual’s capacity to communicate affects the organization. In the organizational setting there are many modes of communication available. It is apparent that creating the environment of effective communication in the company seems tedious. However, if face-to-ace communication is difficult the management can use other forms of communication. The content of communication needs to carry certain amount of detail to satisfy the motivation (Jack 283). The reason the responsibility of the initiative lies on the management is because they are in the driving seat. The management is responsible for the employees. So, they might try meetings, or digital charts and graphs to specifically identify the job duties of each designation.
Lack of motivation is crippling the productivity. The duty of the production manager is to deliver the required output of auto parts. The management and the employees do not see eye to eye. Hiring the top quality guys for the production work will not happen overnight, it will take some time. As an immediate remedy, the manager needs to communicate the precise job responsibilities and utilize motivational strategies. Modes and ways of communications vary. Some people like to get detailed communication in a message while others prefer brief accounts (Jack 285). Assessing preferences there is no route around it but to communicate frequently and productively with the employees.
Recommendations
Job satisfaction and motivation are complicated concepts where different theories contradict each other (Walker 130). However, the concept is too important to discard because of complexities. The production manager must define performance of every worker. Any employee will not have the excuse about vague instructions or expectations. Also the manager will set performance monitoring and evaluation measures. As a short term strategy, only the ‘performance goals’ will be defined. This tactic is to cover the current orders waiting in line. The workers do not lack in skills, they just do not have motivation and clear objectives to pursue. There is lack of effective management. Hence, performance goals will define the majority of operations.
At a later stage, to improve efficiency ‘learning goals’ will be added to the expectations from the workers. The first step will be to set the goal and then promote goal commitment. For instance, instead of yelling at the worker Phil should report what appeared to be the problem with the worker. This way the manage will have a deeper understanding about the core issues regarding production delays. Motivation can be created through job design. For instance, after evaluation, adjustments such as altering the type of tasks assigned to workers might motivate employees. This approach of motivating employees considers the desire of workers as well as the environmental factors that can create the most productive combinations.
After goal setting and motivational job design every worker will have their performance attached to their profile. They will be monitored daily as whether they are working towards their set goals. Also their enthusiasm or commitment will also be observed to make sure that hey remain on track. Good performances such as workers achieving their goals will be given feedback and encouragement. The manager needs to ensure that the workers are fully aware that they have a support system in the form of management.
Balance is the key to professional management and satisfied employees (Valcik and Benavides 88). Hence, every effort will be made to ensure that every individual is capable of reaching their goal, that they have the required skills, and the physical ability to do so. As part of the goal setting, it will be monitored carefully what truly motivates an employee. When it comes to motivation there is no ‘one fits all’ solution. Some employees like financial rewards for better performance while others prefer non-monetary perks. It is the obligation of the manager to understand what makes every employee tick.
Monitoring the performance of employees by defining gals should not be that difficult considering nature of work. Every employee will have their ‘project goals’ defined for them. They will know exactly what and how much to deliver. Performance evaluation will also highlight leaves and absents. People taking frequent sick leaves damage the production schedules. Other employees need to work over time, which also increases the risk of faulty equipment going through. Clear mentioning of the number of monthly leaves is mandatory and crossing the line will have consequences. Punishment is also a form of motivation.
Implementation Strategies
Mastering motivational strategies is a skill that is best learned by implementing. The objective is not to implement but to get the results such as more devoted employees. As mentioned before, the production manager must know if the employees are motivated by extrinsic or intrinsic modes of motivation. Identifying the needs and satisfaction of employees will help identify their motivational factors. For instance, if the manager will have trouble in identifying the best motivational factors the content and process motivational theories can be applied one after the other to truly understand the work force. Apparently, McGregor’s Theory X will be more applicable; if people are taking sick leaves and do not care about their missing tools they probably dislike their work and would like rewards and punishments to motivate them.
The manager can also experiment with deadlines as a motivational factor. Deadlines tend to make people focused and determined. It is not the desire of the company or the management to push the employees to the extreme to exhaust them. However, a deadline with a safety margin will ensure that the production delivers what it is supposed to within the given time frame. Also, the deadline safety net will also provide enough time to ensure the quality of the parts. Hopefully, there will be no recalls of parts in the future.
Works Cited
Elliott, Gary. Organisational Psychology: Career Dynamics and Motivation in Organisations. GRIN Verlag, 2014. Print.
Fugate, Mel, and Angelo Kinicki. Loose-Leaf for Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach. McGraw-Hill Education. 2015. Print.
Jack, Hugh. Engineering Design, Planning, and Management. Academic Press, 2013. Print.
Valcik, Nicolas A., and Teodoro J. Benavides. Practical Human Resources for Public Managers: A Case Study Approach. CRC Press, 2011. Print.
Walker, Anthony. Organizational Behaviour in Construction. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. Print.
