Motivation and Organizational Culture Essay

What makes a good manager? What makes an employee motivated? There are different types of leaders and everyone has a place in workplace psychology. What is the role of the managers and employees? In workplace psychology management’s role should be to motivate employees and get the tasks completed. Managers are a key in the workplace; they are role models for the employees. Managers should keep a professional relationship with employees but not be so strict that their employees are scared to ask for help or talk about what they need. The key to being able to talk to managers is a positive for managers and employees. It tells the manager what the employee needs to be motivated and always the manager to know where the employee is. Managers keep some of the pressure of the upper level managers and owners. Motivating employees is a key part of management because it helps get the job done and keep the employees happy. If an employee is not motivated and unhappy with their job then they will not do a good job and their work becomes sloppy, eventually they will quit. In workplace psychology employees have the role of carrying out tasks and helping the company become successful. Employees need a clearly defined task, adequate working environment, motivation, and feedback. I the case of Ayame Nakamura, managers need to talk with her to understand her work style and how she can be motivated to do her best. Each person is different and coming from a non-confrontational culture Ayame needs to work in a non-confrontational environment. Her managers need to give her positive feedback so she knows what she is doing right. Being told what she is doing right and wrong in a positive, non-confrontational way may boost Ayame’s motivation, and she may enjoy work again (Robbins, DeCenzo, & Coulter, 2011). Ayame was brought up to avoid being confrontational and always be polite. Japanese are very strict in their business and are very straight forward. If Ayame’s work environment is hostile then she is more likely to think she is doing a bad job. In most cultures, if someone feels they are doing bad then they will try harder, if they never receive the feedback for doing a good job they lose motivation and eventually just stop trying. Ayame comes from a very straight forward culture and does not understand when someone is not straight forward with her. Ayame’s employer needs to change his approach with Ayame to give her more motivation and understand feedback clearly (Robbins, DeCenzo, & Coulter, 2011). Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard have a model called situational leadership theory. In Hersey-Blanchard theory there are different types of managers; telling managers tell employees when, where, and how to complete tasks. They also have low relationships with their employees. Selling managers provide detailed tasks and have a high relationship with employees. Participating managers give low detail on tasks and have high level of communication with employees. Delegating managers give little direction and have low level relationships with employees. Ayame’s managers could help make her more motivated by taking time to get to know the way she works. If they talk to her and understand where she is at in her hierarchy of needs then they can come up with a reward system to motivate Ayame. Also, understanding that Ayame needs to have a non-confrontational environment this is another thing that can motivate her. It seems that Ayame has telling manager and she needs a selling or participating manager. Giving Ayame a good relationship and communication will help her know what she needs to do. Ayame relies on feedback from her employer and is not getting it in her current situation (Robbins, DeCenzo, & Coulter, 2011). Giving employees what they need and keeping them motivated is the job of the manager. There are many different types of managers and some do not give employees what they need. Managers have responsibility to the company to make it as efficient as possible. Some key things managers should remember is that employees need tasks that are clearly defined, some employees may need more direction then others, and all employees need high level of support. Feedback lets employees know what they are doing well and what they can work on. Having something to work toward keeps an employee motivated. A motivated employee is more likely to be happy on the job and complete tasks efficiently; while, an unhappy employee is more likely to be slower, sloppier, and more likely to quit.