Application of Organizational Behavior Theories
Due to globalisation, the demand for talented employees has increased worldwide. The leading organisations sustain their future growth by retaining highly qualified, talented and creative employees in their organisation. In order to reduce the attrition rate, the human resource department of the corporations focuses on building strong relationships with employees so that they feel like a part of the company. Employees who have strong relationships with the management are more likely to engage in the decision-making process to found new solutions to the corporate problems in order to improve the growth of the enterprise (Dhanesh, 2014). Furthermore, motivation is another key factor which is important for the HR department in the company since it encourages employees to improve their performance and achieve organisational goals. In order to build strong relationships with employees and motivating them, the HR department uses monetary rewards. Financial rewards are considered as a fundamental part of building strong relationship with employees and motivating them (Skudiene and Auruskeviciene, 2012). Although there are various advantages of using monetary rewards, however, there are various disadvantages as well. The purpose of this essay is to evaluate how monetary and other financial rewards are used by corporations to motivate their employees by evaluating various organisational behaviour theories. Both pros and cons of using financial rewards will be analysed in the essay as well based on the evaluation of organisational behaviour theories.
The HR department in a company focuses on retaining talented staff members in the organisation since it assists them in fulfilling their overall objective. Talented workforce is in demand across the globe and corporations pay high bucks to talented and experienced employees in order to attract them into their company. Along with attraction, retention of talented employees is a key factor which provides a competitive advantage to organisations. In order to retain talented workers, corporations focus on building strong relationships with them because employees who have strong relationship with their organisations are more likely to retain in the company (Alfes et al., 2013). Personality and attitude organisational behaviour theories point out the fact that employees have needs based on their personalities which can be fulfilled by the corporation to build strong relationship with them. Catell has provided 16 personality factors in his theory which can be evaluated by the HR department to build strong relationship with employees. Factors such as agreeableness, extraversion, conscientiousness and emotional stability are some of the options which assist the management in predicting how a person will act within a job. ‘Predicting job performance: Personality’ theory provides that selection of right employees assist the management in creating a positive environment in the company which results in retaining more employees (Judge et al., 2013). Employees who have similar personalities are more likely to be in close relationship with each other based on which they build a strong relationship at the workplace. In this aspect, financial rewards did not play a crucial role since people did not prefer to work for high paying jobs if the overall environment of the workplace is hostile.
Impact of Monetary Rewards on Employee Relationship and Motivation
Similarly, the personality traits of an employee can be evaluated by the management to motivate them in order to achieve organisational targets. In this aspect, monetary rewards do play a significant role; however, they are not always effective. In this context, the ‘hierarchy of needs’ theory is relevant which was developed by Abraham Maslow. The theory provides that in order to motivate employees, the management is required to fulfill their needs which are divided into five categories which include physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem and self-actualisation (Jerome, 2013). In this aspect, people have basic needs such as physiological and safety which are fulfilled by monetary and other financial rewards. Thus, money is a fundamental part of motivating employees and building strong relationship with them. However, Maslow argued in his theory that once a need is fulfilled that it cannot be used by the management to motivate an employee again. Based on this factor, it can be concluded that although money is a fundament part of building relationship with employees and motivating them, however, it is not possible to motive employees only through monetary rewards. Employees who have needs such as esteem, belongingness, and self-actualisation are less likely to be motivated by financial rewards (Thielke et al., 2012). These employees prioritise factors such as working environment, supportive co-workers, effective organisational policies and others over monetary incentives. Thus, the advantage of using monetary rewards is that it enables the management to motivate low-level staff; however, it is not a fundamental part of motivating employees from middle or high-level positions.
Building a strong relationship is a crucial part which is affected by a number of factors. Since most managers consider monetary rewards as fundamental part of motivating employees, they are less likely to focus on other factors which play a crucial role in affecting job satisfaction of employees. As per Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory, there are different factors which affect job satisfaction and dissatisfaction level of employees. This theory is also called ‘two-factor theory’ since it provides two factors regarding motivation of employees which include motivators hygiene factors (Ozguner and Ozguner, 2014). The motivator factors influence employees satisfaction level in the organisation, and it includes various factors such as advancements, recognition from seniors, personal development, responsibility, work itself and others. On the other hand, hygiene factors result in decreasing job dissatisfaction among employees which include factors such as salary, working conditions, policies, co-worker relations and others. Based on this theory, monetary rewards can be considered as a fundamental part of reducing job dissatisfaction among employees. However, they are not enough to increase job satisfaction level of employees which is crucial for building strong relationship with them and motivating them (Ghazi, Shahzada and Khan, 2013). Thus, the advantage of monetary rewards as a fundamental part is that they assist the management in reducing job dissatisfaction level of employees. However, their disadvantage is that they are not enough to satisfy employees based on which the management finds it difficult to build a strong relationship with employees and motivate them. Another advantage of financial rewards is that it is a quick way for the management to motivate their employees to achieve their targets since they can easily understand by everyone, and they approach a large audience as well (Aydin, 2012). However, its cons are that the management can only use them to achieve small targets, and they are not suitable for a longer period of time.
Advantages of Using Monetary Rewards
Based on the above analysis, it can be seen that although monetary rewards can be considered as a fundamental part of building strong relationships with employees and motivate them, however, they are not the most effective tool for most employees, and they are not reliable in case of a longer period of time. Various recommendations can be given based on an evaluation of organisational behaviour theories which can be used by the management to build strong relationships with employees and motivate them. For example, Social Cognitive Theory provides that employees learn by watching other do after which they replicate their behaviour (Bandura, 2014). The theory provides that just like children learn by watching their parents, employees do too; it is a common way of learning across the globe. Similarly, employees learn by watching the behaviour of other employees and the management. Thus, if the management uses monetary rewards to motivate their performance of their employees, then it creates a hostile working environment in which every employee compete with each other to meet their targets (Young et al., 2014). Employees are less likely to help other employees or build strong relationship with them since they wanted others to lose in order for them to become number one. Thus, monetary rewards are not always effective in building strong relationship with employees and motivating them.
In conclusion, monetary rewards are common motivational tools which are used by the management in order to motivate their employees and build strong relationship with them since they are considered as their fundamental part. Based on the evaluation of organisational behaviour theories, there are both pros and cons of this statement because most of the time financial rewards are an effective way of motivation employees; however, they are not suitable in every situation. The impact of monetary rewards is affected by the needs of employees based on which employees are encouraged to improve their performance. They are the universal way to encourage employee participation and improving their performance; however, it does not mean that they are most effective. Rather than solely using financial rewards to build strong relationships with employees and motivating them, the management should also focus on other factors such as working conditions, policies, workplace relations and others which affect the job satisfaction level of employees. Fulfilment of these factors results in improving employees’ performance and motivating them to improve their performance which sustains the future growth of an enterprise.
References
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