Improving Staff Performance

Content & Process Theories

Mary Simpson - Lecture notes - Week 3

Businesses use both content and process theories to motivate staff.
If a business uses 'Content Theories', then they assume that people already have a set of needs that they need to pursue. Content theories concentrate on WHAT motivates employees. The business then uses these needs to motivate their staff in stages. (Forsyth, 2010)


On the other hand, if a business uses 'Process Theories', then it assumes that individuals select their goals and choose how to get them by a process of calculation. Process theories concentrate on the actual process of motivation. The business then uses these to motivate their staff continually. (Mullins, 2005)

One of the process theories is the Goal Theory. This theory focuses on setting challenging yet achievable goals. This theory works because employees tend to work harder if they are set harder goals, than if they were set goals that are easy to achieve. For the goal theory to work, the individual needs to be involved in deciding what his or her goals are and they need to be committed to achieve their goals. This will lead to higher performance than if the individual was set general 'do your best' goals that don't relate to the individual. Another critical part of the goal theory is the need for feedback or appraisals. Without these, the employee won't get the motivation needed to complete the next task effectively and efficiently. (Mullins, 2005)

For example, an employee will work harder if he or she has a goal to take all of the stock out and fill up the freezers by 2pm, than if their goal was to take the stock out of the freezer. This is because the employee will have something to work towards and will aim to complete their tasks by a given time. If no time scale is set, then the employee will feel like they have nothing to aim for and can take their time. This will result in the employee not working to the best of their ability and will take longer to do the given tasks. The feedback and appraisals show the employee that they've done a good job and show them that their work is being recognised. Without feedback or appraisals the employee will get de-motivated as they will feel that their work is not being recognised. (Torrington and Weightman, 1994)

The Co-operative

The Co-operative use various different methods to motivate their staff.

The Co-operative use a competitive salary to initially motivate staff to come and work for them. The competitive salary motivates people to come and work for them instead of other companies because they know that they offer a good rate of pay. If the Co-operative didn't offer a competitive salary then staff might become demotivated and might choose to leave the Co-operative and work for someone else.

The working conditions at the Co-operative are above standard and are comfortable to work in. This also motivates employees to work at the Co-operative because they feel comfortable when they work there. If the working conditions were poor, then employees might become demotivated because they're not comfortable working in those conditions and might decide to leave.

The Co-op also provides all of its employees with a good reward scheme and benefit package. These also motivate motivate employees to keep working for them because of the rewards and benefits they receive. The benefits package includes discounts across the whole range of the Co-op services, including childcare, funeral care, holidays and discounts in their supermarkets and convenience stores. All of these benefits and rewards motivate the employees to stay working for the Co-op because if they leave and go to work for someone else, they wont receive the benefits that the Co-op offer.

To further motivate employees, the Co-operative runs social events to let the staff get to know each other better. These events help staff work as a team but also motivate them to work hard and to remain at the Co-operative. These events motivate staff to remain at the Co-op because it allows them to make friendships with the rest of the staff. This would make them enjoy work and make them want to stay working for the Co-op. Without these events, employees might not interact with each other. This means that teamwork between staff wouldn't be as effective. Employees would also be less motivated to stay with the Co-op because they haven't had the chance to develop any strong friendships with any of their colleagues.

The Co-operative use job titles as another way to motivate employees. The Co-operative recently changed the job title for all of the 'Supervisors' to 'Duty Manager'. This motivates staff to work harder because alothough their job hasnt changed, they feel more important because of their new job title.

At the Co-operative, they frequently offer promotion opportunities. This would motivate employees to work hard because they know if they work hard, they might get the chance to be promoted. This means that staff are more likely to try hard at work and make a good effort. Without any opportunities for promotion, employees might become demotivated because there is no opportunities to progress.

The Goal Theory

The Co-op use the goal theory to motivate their staff. SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time) goals are used by staff as much as they can to motivate employees.


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The goals they set their employees are specific to the employee. This motivates employees because they know that the goal is their goal, specific to them. If the employee was set a goal that wasn't specific to them, then they might feel like the goal is unachievable; this might demotivate them.  (Mullins, 2010)

The goals are also measurable. This helps motivate the employee because they know whether they are achieving their goals or not. If the goals weren't measurable then the employee would have no idea whether they are achieving their goals. (Mullins, 2010)


The goals that the Co-operative are also achievable. This motivates their employees to work to the best of their abilities. If the goals weren't achievable, then the employee may become demotivated because they know they cant achieve the goals they have been set. (Mullins, 2010)


The goals are also realistic. The Co-operative set realistic goals so that the employee knows that they can be achieved if they work hard. This would motivate their employees to work to their full potential so they can achieve their goals. If their goals aren't realistic, the employee wouldn't work as hard because the know that the goals they're trying to achieve aren't realistic; leading to the employee becoming demotivated. (Mullins, 2010)


The employees at the Co-operative get goals with a time scale. A time scale motivates employees to work harder because it gives them something to aim for. This means that they will work harder to achieve their goals. If there was no time scale, then they employees might not work as hard and might take their time to complete their goals. (Mullins, 2010)


At the beggining of my research, I thought that the goal theory wouldn't be that important whilst motivating staff. As I conducted my research, I realised that the goal theory is a very good way of motivating staff. The goal theory is an effective way to motivate staff by using specific, measurable goals that are acheivable and realistic and can work with a variety of businesses and I found that the Co-operative use the goal theory a lot to motivate its staff.

Bibliography:

Forsyth, P. (2010) How to Motivate People. 2nd ed.

Mullins, L.J. (2005) Management and Organisational Behavior. 7th ed.

Torrington, D. and Weightman, J. (1994) Effective management: people and organisation. 2nd ed.