Explain how empowerment heightens employee motivation

APPLE's Comprehensive Leadership, Communications, Teamwork, Motivation

Research your chosen company (APPLE). Find a minimum of three library sources, which will support your thesis in this assignment. Review your assigned weekly lecture and text reading. Select from this reading 8-10 key concepts (NOTES ATTACHED), which will also support your thesis. In a five- to six-page paper, address the questions below. Your paper should follow APA format including a title and reference page. The five- to six-page paper length requirement does NOT include the title page and reference page. Refer to your classroom area titled South University Policies and Guideline. Using APA Standards in Your Coursework to ensure you are following the correct format.

Imagine you are a management consultant. You have been hired by the company you chose at the beginning of the session to analyze their communications and leadership. You have been asked to submit a final report to the executive team with your findings including the following:

A description of the company’s communication structure and identify ways that culture has influenced the structure.
A discussion of the barriers to communication that may arise when leading diverse teams. Identify specific methods for overcoming those barriers and develop a high performing team.
An analysis of the various leadership styles and different types of leaders.
An assessment of the level of trust in the organization and make recommendations for improvement.
Recommendations for motivating the workforce that are clearly based on motivational theory.

Research your chosen company. Find a minimum of three library sources, which will support your thesis in this assignment. Select from this reading 8-10 key concepts, which will also support your thesis. In a five- to six-page paper, address the questions below. Your paper should follow APA format including a title and reference page. The five- to six-page paper length requirement does NOT include the title page and reference page.

Imagine you are a management consultant. You have been hired by the company you chose at the beginning of the session to analyze their communications and leadership. You have been asked to submit a final report to the executive team with your findings including the following:

1. A description of the company’s communication structure and identify ways that culture has influenced the structure.

2. A discussion of the barriers to communication that may arise when leading diverse teams. Identify specific methods for overcoming those barriers and develop a high performing team.

3. An analysis of the various leadership styles and different types of leaders.

4. An assessment of the level of trust in the organization and make recommendations for improvement.

5. Recommendations for motivating the workforce that are clearly based on motivational theory.

Please incorporate notes from readings.

Communicating Among People

Many top managers admit their performance as communication champions likely fell short during the worst of the recent economic crisis as they spent more time trying to make sure the financial status of their companies remained sound. Yet, as soon as the worst was over, Quicken Loans CEO Bill Emerson got back out among Quicken's 3,000 employees to reinforce his commitment to open communication. Emerson holds two-hour lunch meetings with groups of 15 employees at a time. He fills them in on what is happening with the company and the mortgage industry, asks about their problems and concerns, and solicits ideas and opinions about how the company operates. Emerson depended heavily on middle- and lower-level managers for maintaining a strong communication climate while he wrestled with business problems, but he knows that his visible commitment is essential to keep effective organizational conversations going.10

To achieve the best possible outcome, managers must understand how factors such as open communication climates, communication channels, the ability to persuade, communicating with candor, asking questions, listening, and nonverbal behavior all work to enhance or detract from communication. Managers should also consider how gender affects communication. The Shoptalk explores how gender differences influence the effectiveness of communication between men and women.

OPEN COMMUNICATION CLIMATE

A survey of U.S. employees reveals that people genuinely want open and honest communication from their managers, including the bad news as well as the good.11 This created a dilemma for Tom Szaky, CEO of TerraCycle, a waste-recycling business, because he was hesitant to share bad news with his employees. He didn't want them worrying about something that didn't affect their jobs and becoming distracted and unproductive. “The problem with hiding information,” Szaky said, “was that when challenges came up, I felt pretty much alone on them, and the staff was left guessing what was happening. Predictably, the lack of information fueled rumors and damaged morale.” Today, Szaky encourages transparency and promotes open, honest communication. Employees see everything in great detail, even the bad news. This new climate has fostered a feeling of ownership and trust. It also brings issues to the forefront faster than ever before.12

Open communication means sharing all types of information throughout the organization, across functional and hierarchical boundaries. People throughout the organization need to see the big picture, understand the decisions that managers make, and know how their work contributes to the success of the company. Particularly in times of change, if people don't hear what's happening from managers, they rely on rumors and will often assume the worst.13 In an open communication environment, people know where they stand and what rules they need to play by. Open communication helps people accept, understand, and commit to goals. People can see how their actions interact with and affect others in the organization. When people have access to complete information, they are more likely to come up with creative solutions to problems and make decisions that are good for the company.

6. • Decision-making styles. When women make decisions, they tend to process and think of options out loud. Men process internally until they come up with a solution. Men can sometimes misunderstand women's verbal brainstorming and assume a woman is seeking approval rather than just thinking aloud.

7. • Success in collaborative environments. A report from McKinsey & Company, “Leadership Through the Crisis and After,” notes that the kinds of behaviors that executives say will help their companies through the economic crisis are most often practiced by female managers. Women typically score higher than men on abilities such as motivating others, fostering communication, and listening, abilities that are more important than ever when organizations are going through tough times.

• Interpretation of nonverbal messages. About 70 percent of communication occurs nonverbally, but men and women interpret nonverbal communication differently. Women believe that good listening skills involve making eye contact and demonstrating understanding by nodding. To men, listening can take place with minimum eye contact and almost no nonverbal feedback. Further, when a man nods, it means he agrees. When a woman nods, it communicates that she is listening. Women tend to be better at interpreting nonverbal communication. They are able to assess coalitions and alliances just by noting who is making eye contact during critical points in a meeting.

(Daft, 2012, p.568)

To achieve the advantages of open communication, managers should use the type of communication network that maximizes employee performance and job satisfaction. Research into employee communication has focused on two characteristics of effective communication: the extent to which team communications are centralized and the nature of the team's task.16 The relationship between these characteristics is illustrated in Exhibit 17.3. In a centralized network, team members must communicate through one individual to solve problems or make decisions. Centralized communication can be effective for large teams because it limits the number of people involved in decision making. The result is a faster decision that involves fewer people.17 In a decentralized network, individuals can communicate freely with other team members. Members process information equally among themselves until all agree on a decision.18 Decentralized communication is best for complex, difficult work environments where teams need a free flow of communication in all directions.19

COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

Managers have a choice of many channels through which to communicate. A manager may discuss a problem face to face, make a telephone call, use text messaging, send an e-mail, write a memo or letter, or post an entry to a company blog, depending on the nature of the message. Research has attempted to explain how managers select communication channels to enhance communication effectiveness.20 One approach to selecting an effective communication channel is to interpret the emotions of the person who will be receiving the message and then select the channel that will result in the best outcome. Scientists have shown that managers can understand how a person is feeling by studying important clues: facial expressions, gestures, body posture, and tone of voice. A smirk, a furrowed brow, or sagging body posture are strong indicators of a person's emotions.21

(Daft, 2012, p.570)

COMMUNICATING TO PERSUADE AND INFLUENCE OTHERS

Communication is not just for conveying information, but also to persuade and influence people. Although communication skills have always been important to managers, the ability to persuade and influence others is even more critical today. The command-and-control mindset of managers telling workers what to do and how to do it is gone. Key points for practicing the art of persuasion include the following:28

8. • Establish credibility. A manager's credibility is based on knowledge, expertise, and interpersonal skills. By demonstrating a consistent ability to make well-informed, sound decisions, managers inspire employees to have stronger confidence in the manager's leadership abilities.

9. • Build goals on common ground. To be persuasive, managers should describe the benefits that employees will experience by embracing a new policy or fulfilling a request. An example is the manager who wanted to persuade fast food franchisees to support new pricing discounts desired by headquarters. The manager didn't just explain that headquarters wanted the policies implemented; he cited research showing that the revised pricing would increase franchisees' profits.29 When the franchisees saw how they would benefit personally, they were eager to adopt the new policies. If a manager can't find common advantages, this is typically a good signal that goals and plans need to be adjusted.

10. • Connect emotionally. The most effective managers learn to understand others' emotions and adjust their approach to match the audience's ability to receive their message. In addition, by looking at how people have interpreted and responded to past events, a manager can get a better grasp on how they might react to new ideas and proposals that the manager wants them to adopt.

• Use multiple media to send important messages. When managers send the same message using different media, they move their projects forward faster and more smoothly. By saying the same thing twice, they add more weight to the message and keep their issues at the top of the employee's mind. For example, one manager explained a request to an employee in person. He immediately composed a follow-up e-mail to the same employee that summarized the request in writing.30

(Daft, 2012, p.572)

Listening involves the skill of grasping both facts and feelings to interpret a message's genuine meaning. Only then can the manager provide the appropriate response. Listening requires attention, energy, and skill. Although about 75 percent of effective communication is listening, most people spend only 30 to 40 percent of their time listening, which leads to many communication errors.41 One of the secrets of highly successful salespeople is that they spend 60 to 70 percent of a sales call letting the customer talk.42 However, listening involves much more than just not talking. Many people do not know how to listen effectively. They concentrate on formulating what they are going to say next rather than on what is being said to them. Our listening efficiency, as measured by the amount of material understood and remembered by subjects 48 hours after listening to a 10-minute message, is, on average, no better than 25 percent.43

(Daft, 2012, p.575)

NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

Managers should be aware that their body language—facial expressions, gestures, touch, and use of space— can communicate a range of messages, from enthusiasm, warmth, and confidence to arrogance, indifference, and displeasure.48 Nonverbal communication refers to messages sent through human actions and behavior rather than through words.49 Managers are watched, and their behavior, appearance, actions, and attitudes are symbolic of what they value and expect of others.

Most of us have heard the saying “Actions speak louder than words.” Indeed, we communicate without words all the time, whether we realize it or not. Most managers are astonished to learn that words themselves carry little meaning. A significant portion of the shared understanding from communication comes from the nonverbal messages of facial expression, voice, mannerisms, posture, and dress.

(Daft, 2012, p.576)

leadership styles

Contemporary Leadership

The concept of leadership evolves as the needs of organizations change. That is, the environmental context in which leadership is practiced influences which approach might be most effective, as well as what kinds of leaders are most admired by society. The technology, economic conditions, labor conditions, and social and cultural mores of the times all play a role. A significant influence on leadership styles in recent years is the turbulence and uncertainty of the environment. Ethical and economic difficulties, corporate governance concerns, globalization, changes in technology, new ways of working, shifting employee expectations, and significant social transitions have contributed to a shift in how we think about and practice leadership. Four approaches that are in tune with leadership for today's turbulent times are Level 5 leadership, servant leadership, authentic leadership, and interactive leadership, which has been associated with women's style of leading.

LEVEL 5 LEADERSHIP

A study conducted by Jim Collins and his research associates identified the critical importance of what Collins calls Level 5 leadership in transforming companies from merely good to truly great organizations.4 As described in his book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don't, Level 5 leadership refers to the highest level in a hierarchy of manager capabilities, as illustrated in Exhibit 15.1.

As reflected in the exhibit, a key characteristic of Level 5 leaders is an almost complete lack of ego (humility) coupled with a fierce resolve to do what is best for the organization (will). Humility means being unpretentious and modest rather than arrogant and prideful. In contrast to the view of great leaders as larger-than-life personalities with strong egos and big ambitions, Level 5 leaders often seem shy and self-effacing. Although they accept full responsibility for mistakes, poor results, or failures, Level 5 leaders give credit for successes to other people. Level 5 leaders build organizations based on solid values that go far beyond just making money, with an unwavering resolve to do whatever is needed to make the company successful over the long term.5

(Daft, 2012, p.495)

SERVANT LEADERSHIP

When Jack Welch, longtime CEO of General Electric (GE), speaks to MBA students, he reminds them that “any time you are managing people, your job is not about you, it's about them. It starts out about you as … an individual in a company,” Welch says. “But once you get a leadership job, it moves very quickly to being about them.”8 Some leaders operate from the assumption that work exists for the development of the worker as much as the worker exists to do the work.9 The concept of servant leadership, first described by Robert Greenleaf in 1970, has gained renewed interest in recent years as companies recover from ethical scandals and compete to attract and retain the best human talent.

(Daft, 2012, p.496)

AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP

Another popular concept in leadership today is the idea of authentic leadership , which refers to individuals who know and understand themselves, who espouse and act consistent with higher-order ethical values, and who empower and inspire others with their openness and authenticity.15 To be authentic means being real, staying true to one's values and beliefs, and acting based on one's true self rather than emulating what others do. Authentic leaders inspire trust and commitment because they respect diverse viewpoints, encourage collaboration, and help others learn, grow, and develop as leaders.

Exhibit 15.2 outlines the key characteristics of authentic leaders, and each is discussed below.16

11. • Authentic leaders pursue their purpose with passion. Leaders who lead without a purpose can fall prey to greed and the desires of the ego. When leaders demonstrate a high level of passion and commitment to a purpose, they inspire commitment from followers.

12. • Authentic leaders practice solid values. Authentic leaders have values that are shaped by their personal beliefs, and they stay true to them even under pressure. People come to know what the leader stands for, which inspires trust.

13. • Authentic leaders lead with their hearts as well as their heads. All leaders sometimes have to make tough choices, but authentic leaders maintain a compassion for others as well as the courage to make difficult decisions.

14. • Authentic leaders establish connected relationships. Authentic leaders build positive and enduring relationships, which makes followers want to do their best. In addition, authentic leaders surround themselves with good people and work to help others grow and develop.

15. • Authentic leaders demonstrate self-discipline. A high degree of self-control and self-discipline keeps leaders from taking excessive or unethical risks that could harm others and the organization. When authentic leaders make mistakes, they openly admit them.

“ True leadership is a fire in the mind. … It is a strength of purpose and belief in a cause that reaches out to others, touches their hearts, and makes them eager to follow.”

· ROBERT M.GATES, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

(Daft, 2012, p.497)

Remember This

• Interactive leadership is a leadership style characterized by values such as inclusion, collaboration, relationship building, and caring.

• Although interactive leadership is associated with women's style of leading, both men and women can be effective interactive leaders.

INDIVIDUAL NEEDS AND MOTIVATION

A simple model of human motivation is illustrated in Exhibit 16.1. People have needs—such as for recognition, achievement, or monetary gain—that translate into an internal tension that motivates specific behaviors with which to fulfill various needs. To the extent that the behavior is successful, the person is rewarded because the need is satisfied. The reward also informs the person that the behavior was appropriate and can be used again in the future.

Managers who understand the motives that compel people to initiate, alter, or continue a desired behavior are more successful as motivators. Exhibit 16.2 illustrates four categories of motives based on two criteria. The vertical dimension contrasts intrinsic versus extrinsic rewards. Intrinsic rewards are the satisfactions a person receives in the process of performing a particular action. The completion of a complex task may bestow a pleasant feeling of accomplishment, or solving a problem that benefits others may fulfill a personal mission. For example, employees at Salesforce .com, which provides cloud computing services to organizations such as Bank of America, Cisco, Google, and the Japanese government, are motivated by being on the “cutting edge” of reinventing how companies handle ordinary but critical tasks like sales, customer relations, and internal communications.4 Extrinsic rewards are given by another person, typically a manager, and include promotions, praise, and pay increases. They originate externally, as a result of pleasing others. At the Alta Gracia factory in the Dominican Republic, owned by Knights Apparel, employees are motivated by the extrinsic reward of high pay because they need money to support their families and can't make nearly as much anywhere else.5

(Daft, 2012, p.531)

MANAGERS AS MOTIVATORS

Studies have found that high employee motivation goes hand in hand with high organizational performance and profits.9 It is the responsibility of managers to find the right combination of motivational techniques and rewards to satisfy employees' needs and simultaneously encourage high work performance. Some ideas about motivation, referred to as content theories, stress the analysis of underlying human needs and how managers can satisfy needs in the workplace. Process theories concern the thought processes that influence behavior. They focus on how people seek rewards in work circumstances. Reinforcement and social learning theories focus on employee learning of desired work behaviors. In Exhibit 16.1, content theories focus on the concepts in the first box, process theories on those in the second, and reinforcement and social learning theories on those in the third.

Remember This

16. • Motivation is the arousal of enthusiasm and persistence to pursue a certain course of action.

17. • All behaviors are motivated by something, such as the desire to fulfill needs for money, recognition, friendship, or a sense of accomplishment.

18. • Intrinsic rewards are the satisfactions that a person receives in the process of performing a particular action.

19. • Extrinsic rewards are given by another person, such as a manager, and include pay increases, promotions, and praise.

20. • People can be driven to act by fear, but good managers avoid the use of fear tactics to motivate people because this approach damages employee commitment and performance in the long run.

• In addition to providing appropriate extrinsic rewards, effective managers try to help people achieve intrinsic rewards from their work.

(Daft, 2012, p.533)

Content Perspectives on Motivation

Content theories emphasize the needs that motivate people. At any point in time, people have a variety of needs. These needs translate into an internal drive that motivates specific behaviors in an attempt to fulfill the needs. In other words, our needs are like a hidden catalog of the things that we want and will work to get. To the extent that managers understand employees' needs, they can design reward systems to meet them and direct employees' energies and priorities toward attaining organizational goals.

THE HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

Probably the most famous content theory was developed by Abraham Maslow.10 Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory proposes that people are motivated by multiple needs and that these needs exist in a hierarchical order, as illustrated in Exhibit 16.3. Maslow identified five general types of motivating needs in order of ascendance:

21. 1. Physiological needs . These most basic human physical needs include food, water, and oxygen. In the organizational setting, they are reflected in the needs for adequate heat, air, and base salary to ensure survival.

2. Safety needs . These needs include a safe and secure physical and emotional environment and freedom from threats—that is, for freedom from violence and for an orderly society. In the workplace, safety needs reflect the needs for safe jobs, fringe benefits, and job security. Because of the weak economy and high unemployment in recent years, safety needs have taken priority for many people. A recent job satisfaction survey indicated that job security was the most important element of job satisfaction, with good benefits being second most important. 11 When managers at Burgerville, a regional restaurant chain based in Vancouver, Washington, began paying at least 90 percent of health insurance premiums for hourly employees who worked at least 20 hours a week, turnover plunged, employees began working harder to get more hours (which are assigned based on performance), service improved, and sales increased.

22. 3. Belongingness needs . These needs reflect the desire to be accepted by one's peers, have friendships, be part of a group, and be loved. In the organization, these needs influence the desire for good relationships with coworkers, participation in a work group, and a positive relationship with supervisors. PortionPac Chemical, a maker of cleaning fluids in Chicago, has exceptionally low turnover because people feel a sense of belonging. Most of the employees have worked together for more than a decade, and people treat one another like family, which contributes to a high level of motivation.13

23. 4. Esteem needs . These needs relate to the desire for a positive self-image and to receive attention, recognition, and appreciation from others. Within organizations, esteem needs reflect a motivation for recognition, an increase in responsibility, high status, and credit for contributions to the organization. One example comes from Intuit, where Jennifer Lepird spent weeks working long, grueling hours on a big acquisition deal. After the deal closed, Lepird was delighted to get a thank-you note from her manager, along with a small gift certificate, because it met her need to feel appreciated. “The fact that somebody took the time to recognize the effort made the long hours just melt away,” she says.14

5. Self-actualization needs . These needs include the need for self-fulfillment, which is the highest need category. They concern developing one's full potential, increasing one's competence, and becoming a better person. Self-actualization needs can be met in the organization by providing people with opportunities to grow, be creative, and acquire training for challenging assignments and advancement.

(Daft, 2012, p.534)

A TWO-FACTOR APPROACH TO MOTIVATION

Frederick Herzberg developed another popular theory of motivation called the two-factor theory.21 Herzberg interviewed hundreds of workers about times when they were highly motivated to work and other times when they were dissatisfied and unmotivated. His findings suggested that the work characteristics associated with dissatisfaction were quite different from those pertaining to satisfaction, which prompted the notion that two factors influence work motivation.

The two-factor theory is illustrated in Exhibit 16.4. The center of the scale is neutral, meaning that workers are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. Herzberg believed that two entirely separate dimensions contribute to an employee's behavior at work. The first, called hygiene factors , involves the presence or absence of job dissatisfiers, such as working conditions, pay, company policies, and interpersonal relationships. When hygiene factors are poor, work is dissatisfying. However, good hygiene factors simply remove the dissatisfaction; they do not in themselves cause people to become highly satisfied and motivated in their work.

The second set of factors does influence job satisfaction. Motivators focus on highlevel needs and include achievement, recognition, responsibility, and opportunity for growth. Herzberg believed that when motivators are absent, workers are neutral toward work, but when motivators are present, workers are highly motivated and satisfied. Thus, hygiene factors and motivators represent two distinct factors that influence motivation. Hygiene factors work only in the area of dissatisfaction. Unsafe working conditions or a noisy work environment will cause people to be dissatisfied, but their correction will not lead to a high level of motivation and satisfaction. Motivators such as challenge, responsibility, and recognition must be in place before employees will be highly motivated to excel at their work.

There is a growing realization among managers of the importance of employee recognition, perhaps because tough economic conditions have made it more difficult for them to reward people with large pay increases. The Globoforce 2012 Mood Tracker survey found that employee recognition programs are on the rise. Moreover, 82 percent of employees say that being recognized for their contributions motivates them, and 78 percent say that they would work harder if their efforts were better recognized and appreciated

(Daft, 2012, p.537)

The acquired needs theory, developed by David McClelland, proposes that certain types of needs are acquired during the individual's lifetime. In other words, people are not born with these needs but may learn them through their life experiences.23 The three needs most frequently studied are these:

24. • Need for achievement . The desire to accomplish something difficult, attain a high standard of success, master complex tasks, and surpass others

25. • Need for affiliation . The desire to form close personal relationships, avoid conflict, and establish warm friendships

• Need for power . The desire to influence or control others, be responsible for others, and have authority over others

(Daft, 2012, p.538)

Goal-setting theory , described by Edwin Locke and Gary Latham, proposes that managers can increase motivation and enhance performance by setting specific, challenging goals, and then helping people track their progress toward goal achievement by providing timely feedback. Exhibit 16.5 illustrates key components of goal-setting theory.26

26. • Goal specificity refers to the degree to which goals are concrete and unambiguous. Specific goals such as “Visit one new customer each day,” or “Sell $1,000 worth of merchandise a week” are more motivating than vague goals such as “Keep in touch with new customers” or “Increase merchandise sales.” For example, a lack of clear, specific goals is cited as a major cause of the failure of pay-for-performance incentive plans in many organizations.27 Vague goals can be frustrating for employees.

27. • In terms of goal difficulty, hard goals are more motivating than easy ones. Easy goals provide little challenge for employees and don't require them to increase their output. Highly ambitious but achievable goals ask people to stretch their abilities and provide a basis for greater feelings of accomplishment and personal effectiveness. A study in Germany found that, over a three-year period, only employees who perceived their goals as difficult reported increases in positive emotions and feelings of job satisfaction and success.28

28. • Goal acceptance means that employees have to “buy into” the goals and be committed to them. Having people participate in setting goals is a good way to increase acceptance and commitment.

• Finally, the component of feedback means that people get information about how well they are doing in progressing toward goal achievement. It is important for managers to provide performance feedback on a regular, ongoing basis. However, selffeedback, where people are able to monitor their own progress toward a goal, has been found to be an even stronger motivator than external feedback.

(Daft, 2012, p.540)

EXPECTANCY THEORY

Expectancy theory suggests that motivation depends on individuals' expectations about their ability to perform tasks and receive desired rewards. Expectancy theory is associated with the work of Victor Vroom, although a number of scholars have made contributions in this area.38

Expectancy theory is concerned not with identifying types of needs, but with the thinking process that individuals use to achieve rewards. For example, one interesting study of expectancy theory looked at patrol officer drug arrests in the midwestern United States. The research found that officers who produced the most drug arrests were more likely to have perceived that such arrests were a management priority and were rewarded by their organization, received specialized training to hone their skills related to drug interdiction, and perceived that they had sufficient time and resources to investigate suspected drug activity properly.39

Expectancy theory is based on the relationship among the individual's effort, the individual's performance, and the desirability of outcomes associated with high performance. These elements and the relationships among them are illustrated in Exhibit 16.6. The keys to expectancy theory are the expectancies for the relationships among effort, performance, and the value of the outcomes to the individual.

(Daft, 2012, p.543)

BUILDING A THRIVING WORKFORCE

Recent research examining what creates a consistently high-performing organization has focused on the importance of an environment in which people can thrive. A thriving workforce is one in which people are not just satisfied and productive but also engaged in creating the future—their own and that of the organization.57 Two components of thriving individuals are vitality and learning. A thriving employee is one who feels alive, energized, and passionate about what he or she is doing. The individual has a sense that his or her work has purpose and meaning. In addition, a thriving employee is one who is learning and growing, developing new knowledge, skills, and abilities that can be applied now and in the future.

Managers promote thriving by applying many of the motivational techniques described throughout this chapter, such as meeting higher-level needs, helping people get intrinsic rewards from their work, and providing regular feedback on performance and progress. Two specific approaches to building a thriving workforce are empowering employees and creating an environment that promotes employee engagement.

EMPOWERING PEOPLE TO MEET HIGHER NEEDS

One significant way that managers can meet higher motivational needs is to shift power down from the top of the organization and share it with employees to enable them to achieve goals. Empowerment is power sharing, the delegation of power and authority to subordinates in an organization.58 Increasing employee power heightens motivation for task accomplishment because people improve their own effectiveness, choosing how to do a task and using their creativity.59 Empowering employees involves giving them four elements that enable them to act more freely to accomplish their jobs: information, knowledge, power, and rewards.60

29. 1. Employees receive information about company performance . In companies where employees are fully empowered, all employees have access to all financial and operational information.

2. Employees have knowledge and skills to contribute to company goals . Companies use training programs and other development tools to help people acquire the knowledge and skills that they need to contribute to organizational performance.

(Daft, 2012, p.551)

30. 3. Employees have the power to make substantive decisions . Empowered employees have the authority to influence work procedures and organizational performance directly, such as through quality circles or selfdirected work teams.

31. 4. Employees are rewarded based on company performance . Organizations that empower workers often reward them based on the results shown in the company's bottom line. Organizations may also use other motivational compensation programs described in Exhibit 16.9 to tie employee efforts to company performance.

“I think a lot of times it's not money that's the primary motivation factor; it's the passion for your job and the professional and personal satisfaction that you get out of doing what you do that motivates you.”

· MARTIN YAN, CHINESE CHEF, AUTHOR, AND HOST OF COOKING SHOWS INCLUDING YAN CAN COOK AND MARTIN YAN'S CHINA

(Daft, 2012, p.551)

GIVING MEANING TO WORK THROUGH ENGAGEMENT

Employee engagement means that people enjoy their jobs and are satisfied with their work conditions, contribute enthusiastically to meeting team and organizational goals, and feel a sense of belonging and commitment to the organization. Fully engaged employees care deeply about the organization and actively seek ways to serve the mission.63

How do managers engage employees? Exhibit 16.10 illustrates the three elements that create employee engagement: a sense of meaningfulness, a sense of connection, and a sense of growth.64 When managers organize the workplace in such a way as to create these feelings, employee engagement grows, leading to high motivation and high organizational performance.

32. • People feel that they are working toward something of importance . When employees have a chance to accomplish something that provides real value, they feel a sense of meaningfulness. Good managers help people understand the purpose of their work, which contributes to feelings of pride and dignity. Kenexa, the leading human resources services company in the United States (recently purchased by IBM), uses psychologists and other scientists to study what motivates employees. One finding is that turnover is significantly lower among people who feel pride in their company and its mission than among those who don't.65

33. • People feel connected to the company, to one another, and to their managers . In a survey asking people what factors contribute to their engagement, 79 percent of people said “good relationships with coworkers” drove engagement to a high or very high extent. Even more, 91 percent, pointed to good relationships with their immediate supervisor as highly important.66 It is the behavior of managers that makes the biggest difference in whether or not people feel engaged at work.67 Managers promote engagement when they listen to employees, genuinely care about their concerns, and help them develop positive relationships with colleagues.

• People have the chance to learn, grow, and advance . To be fully engaged, people need not only to feel that they are competent to handle what is asked of them, but also that they have the chance to learn and expand their potential. Good managers help employees understand their own unique set of talents, skills, interests, attitudes, and needs; put people in jobs where they can make their best contribution and receive intrinsic rewards every day; and make sure people have what they need to perform well. In addition, they give people the chance to work on challenging projects, participate in high-quality training and learning programs, and provide opportunities for advancement within the organization.

(Daft, 2012, p.552)