Pay and Job Performance Essay -- Business Management Studies:

Critically evaluate this statement: Managers who rely only on pay to motivate their employees to higher levels of job performance will always be disappointed n the results. Pay is one thing that causes many discrepancies within the work environment. Most employees continue to try and further themselves in work usually with the hope of better pay; fringe benefits i.e. company cars, pensions and so on. There are however, those who show â€Å"highly motivated behaviour where economic rewards are low.†[1] This citation agrees with the above statement, however, throughout this essay I will sum up where pay can be seen as a good motivator and where extrinsic benefits fail. Content theorists such as Maslow and Herzberg look at needs and what gives people the drive to work. A similar theme arises in the different theories which on face value seem opposing they all look at ones desire to work in order to satisfy their needs. To start, Maslow believed there is a hierarchy as to what makes people work. The first being for survival. People need basic requirements such as food, water and shelter. Those in this group are not necessarily poorly motivated but are purely working to satisfy needs. The second level of five is for safety reasons i.e. a safe work environment – job security. Thirdly Maslow believed some are motivated by the need for social interaction, friendship with fellow colleagues. This is inclusive of a sense of belonging. Further up the hierarchy is the need for status. When an employee is made to feel important and needed in a job this will motivate them to do well. Lastly is personal ambition called self-actualisation. This is a level of complete satisfaction. For Maslow, pay is the lowest in all of the motivators. He believes you move up the scale towards self-motivation. However, his theory has been met by much criticism. It can be seen as â€Å"patronising and elitist in terms of the values it expresses.†[2] People can achieve complete self-motivation from activities they do outside of work i.e. childcare, for these employees they can have reached a higher order before satisfying the lower ones. It is also practically impossible to generalise everyone’s strengths and weaknesses as each person is an individual. The theory is also often contradicted by research such as the study by Hall and Nougain. (1968)[3] In reality... ...r hard work showed in their performance. In conclusion, the essay has shown circumstances where pay works as a motivator and where it fails. The overwhelming feeling is that pay is fine as a short term motivator but when it is used continually workers can become reliant and it can put pressure on employee relations as well as encouraging them to work purely for economic reward. Managers will not always be disappointed with results as explained but there are other ways to motivate which have shown to produce continually good results such as job enrichment and making employees feel as though they genuinely matter. In my opinion, managers who use pay incentives can achieve good results but from reading the articles as evidence my advice would be to use them sparingly. [1] Organisational Behaviour – compiled by A. Beauregard page 201 [2] Organisational Behaviour – compiled by A. Beauregard page 204 [3] This study â€Å"examined the changes in needs of a group of people.† OB – A. Beauregard page 205 [4] Organisational Behaviour – compiled by A. Beauregard page 205 [5] Organisational Behaviour – compiled by A. Beauregard page 206 [6] Harvard Business Review