PLC Part 4: Applied Motivation

March 13, 2023

For the past 4 summers, I’ve worked for my dad’s painting company. This past summer I was lucky enough to be a part of a leadership role at 300 main street in the new tower being built. I took on the partnered role as assistant to site supervisor with my brother when he applied for the position for his co-op. My Dad thought it would be a good idea to let me join the positions and gain the knowledge my brother would have invadable gained from this role.

The role as the assistant to the site supervisor had many tasks including, daily manpower counts, verifying deficiency lists, quality control checklists, material and equipment tracking, and progress reports to name some. The organizational goal we were to achieve was to make the site run more efficiently. By doing the little things we made it easier for our experienced painters to continue painting with fewer obstacles in the way.

Motivation is made up of many factors and it influences what people do, how they do it, and how much effort they put into it. While working at security decorating for the past few summers I’ve come to know many of the employees and their specific behaviors. One takeaway I’ve learned is that most employees in trades prefer extrinsic motivation rather than intrinsic. A good way to motivate these employees would come from additional bonuses for site supervisors and employees who did an exceptional job if a job was finished early or under budget. In addition to this, I’ve noticed many employees value days off so every once in a while I would offer Fridays off if the week was productive or if the office was slow.

Equity theory is all about perceived fairness, it is far from equality because, unlike equality which calls for equal opportunities, equity calls for equal outcomes. This means some will be given more opportunities than others because they are lower on the totem pole, although this is nice it isn’t true fairness. In a leadership role, I will use equality theory in the business structure to give and treat my employees equally. In addition to this, I do see some value in equity theory. I don’t think it should be implemented in the business structure but In certain situations as a leader I think it’s nice/necessary to give extra help to employees who may be struggling more than others. This can bring them the motivation they need that equality theory may have not provided

Expectancy theory explains how motivation is directly influenced by the expectation that the job will have a positive outcome for the employee. Some important terms include instrumentality which refers to the belief that the employee will be rewarded for the completion of a goal. Valence which describes how much an employee wants the reward, and expectancy which is the belief that the employee can actually accomplish the goal. Working in the construction industry I’ve noticed that there’s a high level of Expectancy and valence. I will improve on my instrumentality as a leader in order to provide increased motivation, this will include being clear about what the reward is, how to achieve it, and how it will be allocated. In addition to this, I will be sure to give my team a valuable reward so they can trust the importance of their effort.

Job rotation is a simple motivator that is often forgotten. If forgotten employees will get bored, and frustrated. This is a key motivator in the construction industry which I will use to give employees a break, pinpoint where employees work best, and further develop employee skills. Included in my tasks as the assistant to the site supervisor, when the normal tasks were done I was sanding or rolling walls. This happened often and after a full week of sanding, my body was sore and I didn’t have the motivation to come back in on Monday. When Monday came and my site supervisor told me I would be switching tasks it was a breath of fresh air and most definitely increased my motivation.

Job enlargement is the next step I’d take in providing motivation to my employees. Job enlargement increases the amount of tasks that an employee performs, some advantages include skill development, career growth earning you a higher wage, and a sense of increased responsibility. Within the painting industry, there are so many tasks you can do whether it’s brushing, rolling, masking, taping, sanding, or spraying. In my first summer with the company, I was fascinated by the spray machine and really wanted to learn that skill. As a leader giving loyal employees the possibility to get excited to learn new skills will increase their efficiency and will be an overall asset to the company.

Reinforcement theory sees behavior as environmentally controlled rather than internally controlled. This theory positively reinforces actions there in line with company goals in hopes that the employee will continually do them. In terms of using this in the workforce some employees may see this as belittling because they’re being treated like an animal, but if done correctly can be extremely positive for the company. Consistency is an easy way to describe this theory, when we consistently give favorable rewards to the employee we will consistently see positive actions and it keeps its course like a revolving circle. Including this in the ways I will motivate employee’s will increase my trustworthiness, and likeability, as well as my employees efficiency in relation to company objectives.

The key to motivation is being able to understand your employee’s wants and needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs suggests after our basic physiological and security needs are met we then need to fill our social, esteem, and self-actualization needs. These needs include love, friendship, family, the desire to be respected and feel important, and the need to learn new skills and pursue life goals. The many tactics in this paper for motivating employees are all very helpful but seem situational. In general, as a leader, it is most important to meet Maslow’s hierarchy of needs because these are the most basic things we can do to bring fulfillment and motivation to our team members or employees.