Organisations motivational practices and rewards systems

In this task, what I have tried to accomplish is to outline how an organisation’s motivational practices and rewards systems can be implemented with the help of different motivational theories. For any organisation to be successful they need to motivate their workforce to work better so that they can perform better, hence providing quality service to the patients.

Over the last century organisations have been dealing with the problems of having a technical aspect to the business and also a social aspect. Therefore, it is evident that the requirement of the people (employees) must be fulfilled in order to run a business successfully. There have been different motivational theories addressed with various rewards systems. However, here is what I believe that HNT should follow.

I would like to see theories of Mayo, Maslow and Herzberg to be implemented in HNT for the best possible results. Mayo has talked about the ‘Theory of human relations’ that concentrates on two main factors that is:

The importance of teamwork: The sense of team spirit and doing what the team expected always increases motivation and the same can be done for Hargreen hospital. Small teams can be made and given responsibilities.

The need for managers to take an interest in their workers (Hawthorne effect): If the superior shows interest in what their subordinates are doing and closely communicates then that gives a sense of importance and boosts up the morale of the employee.HNT needs to do the same in their organisation.

Mayo received some criticism over his theory as well. It is said that the experiment carried out by Mayo are far from being scientific. Only groups with small number of workers were observed and the later experiments have failed to confirm the findings. Another thing that has been pointed out from Mayo’s theory is that the goals of managers will not be the same as for the worker despite their best effort. Trade may see these efforts as management’s attempt to fool workers into boosting productivity.

Maslow on the other hand talks about the ‘hierarchy of needs’. HNT should use this to understand what their employees want and how can they provide it to them. The hierarchy is as follows:

Self actualisation: it means that HNT should arrange training, challenges and opportunities to develop the skills of employees.

Esteem needs: HNT should give rewards for achievements, promotion and status.

Love and belonging needs: There should be opportunities for teamwork, social facilities and a positive working relationship between the employees.

Safety needs: The organisation must make sure that there are high standards of health and safety with job security and no bullying culture.

Physiological needs: Organisations must pay decent salaries to enable the needs of employees to be met. The working hours should be comfortable and so should be the condition.

There have been some opponents for Maslow’s hierarchy as they find the theory unconvincing on various grounds. They argue that any generalisation about levels of human needs is bound to have exceptions. There are cases where businesses would find that there are workers who are not interested in gaining praise or developing their personal skills. Workers like artists can even ask for creativity need before financial rewards. Another thing that is to be taken into account is that even if Maslow’s theory is good, it would be possible for workers to hold all levels of needs at the same workplace. If a person is satisfied with his or her salary then other levels of needs might not be that significant.

Herzberg’s ‘Two-factor theory’ is also something that intrigues me. It has two set of factors

Motivators: These motivate the workers by providing job satisfaction including:

Sense of achievement

Recognition of effort

Interesting work

Responsibility

Hygiene factors: Everything that can cause dissatisfaction in the workplace are related to the working environment like

Company policy

Relationship with supervisor and colleagues

Pay and status

Security

A major problem with Herzberg’s theory according to several researches has shown that it cannot be applied to all workers in every business. Some jobs like low skilled cannot be enriched that easily and many workers may not see responsibility or advancement.

In the above discussion I have tried to discuss different motivational theories and have illustrated their pros and cons. A mixture of these three motivational theories should be implemented in HNT. Rewards and recognitions both should be given in the shape of financial as in some sort of bonus or a paid trip to vacation spot sponsored by the company. Non financial acknowledgement can be given as a promotion or certificate or letter of appreciation that will make the employee feel good about working hard and will make them even more determined and hard working than before.

BTEC National Certificate in Business

Unit 16- HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN BUSINESS

Task 2 (P4)

Cooperation through contract of employment and employment involving techniques

In this section, I will try to show the significance of cooperation in an organisation. The cooperation at any level in any company needs to be from both ends that is from the management side and the employee side. The two factors that contribute the most for the cooperation are the contract of employment and the employment involving techniques.

For HNT to survive and retreat its good reputation that is being lost at the moment they need to have consent from both sides that is the employer and the employee. With the cooperation of both parties only it is possible to have a successful plan implemented and getting the desired results.

Contract of employment: Clearly illustrates the terms and conditions to which both employer and employee has to abide by. If one of them violates the policy then the contract will be dismissed. Contracts states the date of beginning with employer and employee name on it. It clearly shows the responsibilities of both parties and what policies and procedures needs to be followed in the organisation. Like for HNT it will be mentioned that they are bound to pay the stated amount of salary on the contract to the doctor and if they fail to do so they can be accountable for that. The same goes for the employee if they don’t work for the stated amount of hours then HNT has the right to deduct their salaries according or penalise the employee.

Along different aspects that are covered in the contract, one of the important aspects mentioned is conditions of work and service. In that paragraph says conditions may include the following:

The number of hours to be worked: When HNT is signing a contract with its employees the number of hours worked by individuals should be clearly stated. There are some limitations even according to visa policies and the employees should be asked to work within their limits.

Appointment and termination: The clauses for appointment and termination are also mentioned where the employee and management is addressed to all responsibilities that are required to be adhered. The conditions in which an employee can be terminated are also explicitly mentioned so that when the contract is formed the employee exactly knows about it.

The designation of the job: The designation for which an employee has been hired in the company will be mentioned on each and every contract. If an employee is a heart surgeon then his or her designation will be clearly written on the contract.

Pay: What will be the salary of the employee being hired needs to be mentioned. Things like how the salary is paid? Will it be a basic salary or will it also be commission based? These things should be mentioned for HNT to be on safer side and for the employee as well.

Benefits: If HNT plans to give out benefits to their employee then they should be written in the contract as well. It will tell what benefits are available to the employee and when.

Disciplinary procedures: This shows what action will be taken by the Hargreen Hospital if there is a problem with doctors and nurses or the low skilled workers. Action is taken only if the employees in Hargreen Hospital fail to comply with the disciplinary or organisational rules and regulations or if doctors and nurses do full fill their responsibilities. It is important to Hargreen Hospital because if the doctors and nurses knows what action will be taken for example if it states that breaking rules leads to dismissal, this will encourage doctors and nurses not to break the rules so that they can to retain their job in Hargreen Hospital. It is important to the Hargreen Hospital because it can easily take action if doctor and nurses misbehaves because it was written in the contract. The contract of employment forces the employees to change their behaviour and behaviour according to the rules and regulations of Hargreen Hospital and this case the employee cooperates with the employer

Notice: If an employee needs to leave the job or if the company is not happy with the performance of an employee there should be a notice period of at least one month that both the parties of HNT, management and employee, must obey.

Grievance procedures: If there are complaint or issues by the employees of HNT there should a procedure mentioned in the contract that should guide the employees as to what they need to do to make a point.

Employee rights: All the rights that are being possessed by the employee must be mentioned in clear words in the contract. If any employee wants to have maternity leave at HNT then it is their right to be given a paid leave and it should be written in the contract.

All contracts have some express terms that are normally mentioned in the terms and conditions or the policy and procedure sections. These are the terms that are stated explicitly to make sure that both parties abide by them. For example the leave system, it can be explicitly stated that an employee cannot take more than 20 days paid leave. There are some implied terms as well that are automatically included to every contract. For example the Data Protection Act. If the company ask the employee to disclose sensitive data like religion, sexual orientation or the employee faces racial discrimination then the company is accountable for that and can be taken to the court of justice at any time. There are individual labour laws that protect employees from:

Discrimination: HNT have to make sure that there is no display of discrimination from their side on the basis of age, race or disability. For example if a patient is discriminated i.e. due to his or her age, gender, race or colour, that patient has the right to report that doctor to court or to the authorities. Hargreen Hospital could then carry out an investigation and also provide further training for the medical staff.

Pay: All employees doing similar jobs must be paid the same amount of money otherwise the employee has the right to hold HNT accountable in court.

Absences: HNT have to make sure they provide paid leave to the employee’s especially maternity leaves and the employees have the right to ask for these leaves.

Dismissay: Employees of HNT have the right not to be dismissed on disciplinary action for trade union activity or on health and safety grounds.

Health and Safety Regulations: The health and safety regulations relate to the physical environment of Hargreen Hospital, relates to aspects like; safety entry and exit routes, safe working environment, and safe equipment which also relates to theory of motivating staff by Frederick Herzberg who believed that employees are only motivated if their hygiene factors are met first and then the organisation can use them to work harder. He believed that if the working conditions in an organisation are unsafe, then the employees will remain demotivated and if the organisation has safe working environment, the safe will be motivated. If doctors in Hargreen Hospital have safe equipments, they will use these equipments effectively to finish their jobs quickly for example during surgery and examinations.

All these above stated points will give confidence to both the employer and the employee and provide them a good healthy relation to work together that will result in better performance of Hargreen hospital and lesser employee turnover rate.

Employment involving techniques: It is another way of achieving organisational cooperation between the two parties. It’s not just the legal binding between the employer and the employee that makes the work together but different techniques can be used that involves them both to work together. Here are some examples

Quality Circle: HNT can assign a group of employees (doctors, nurses, technicians etc) under supervision to identify, analyse and solve work-related problems and present their solutions to management in order to improve the performance of the organization, and motivate and enrich the work of employees.

Suggestion scheme: The company can also implement a suggestion scheme where all employees will have the right to give in their suggestion regarding a certain problem and then the management will address to it in the best possible manner and try to rectify it. Thus ensuring better working conditions and satisfaction to the employees.

Communication groups: Different formal (finance dept, accounts dept etc) and informal (sports club, charity club etc) groups can be formed within HNT. These groups can be used often and then to socialise all the employee and management. This will allow the workforce to know each other better and will increase the understanding between them. Therefore, it will increase the performance of the workforce and a better repute of HNT.

From the above discussion it is understandable that cooperation between the management and the employee is a key factor for the success of HNT. They have to make sure that they abide by the rules and make sure that the communication link between the superior and subordinate is always good and healthy just as said by Herzberg and Mayo in their respective motivational theories.

BTEC National Certificate in Business

Unit 16-HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN BUSINESS

Task 2 (M2)

Use of motivation theories in Hargreen Hospital

In this section, we will try and compare the use of motivation in an organisation. We will start off with discussing the different motivations theories that we have discussed earlier and then see how they have managed to affect the effectiveness of an organisation.

The three motivational theories recommended by me to HNT (Mayo, Maslow and Herzberg) can be used at different levels of hierarchy in the organisation. But first let us have a look at the use of motivation.

If the motivational theory of Mayo, Maslow and Herzberg is applied to HNT it will definitely reduce the turnover rate and absenteeism as all the needs of the employees will be fulfilled and the coordination of subordinates with their superior will be much better.

When the staff is more motivated then they can be used in a much more efficient manner than before. When the employee is provided with good health and safety measures and they know that they are secured they will obviously work better than before.

Motivational theories have always emphasised on better relation and understanding between management and staff. Good relation on the basis of motivation can lead to resolving big issues such as industrial relationship issues and problems like strikes. A good motivated team of labourer would never want to go on strike when they know that all their basic necessities are being taken care of by their management.

A planned, well trained and flexible workforce can only be built if HNT has a good motivational plan implemented in the organisation. This will benefit the organisation in the long run.

At this point we can even recommend that HNT can use Mayo’s theory for all blue collar workers (porters, drivers etc) as it will provide them the sense of working in teams and would give them the idea of how important it is to have communication with their subordinates and peers.

A combination of Herzberg and Maslow can be used for an efficient white collars (nurse, doctors etc) workforce as at this stage most of the staff is skilled or semi skilled and these are the people that HNT would want to retain for a longer period of time as they will be spending money to train them and they will have the expertise and knowledge that is vital for the company’s growth.

Last but not the least a combination of all three, Mayo, Maslow and Herzberg can be used for the gold collars (directors, CEO etc) at the top. They are the ones who have to do the decision making. They should be acquainted with each and every aspect of the organisation. Therefore, it is necessary for them to know about all three motivational theories suggested so that they can implement them all to their subordinates and the process goes on until the last subordinate.

BTEC National Certificate in Business

Unit 16- HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN BUSINESS

Task 2 (D1)

Ways of improving motivation in HNT

In this section, we will try to suggest how different ways of motivation can be improved and then try to justify them. We will be giving examples where possible to make the point more clear.

Taking into account the current situation it can be seen that the morale of the workforce is low at the moment. Due to this reason there is high turnover rate and also is the cause of absenteeism. For this matter Maslow’s hierarchy and Mayo’s theory of human relation can do wonders. If self actualisation is provided by the company to enhance the skills of their workforce then HNT will benefit from it in the long run. The more the employees get skilled the more will the service quality increase and thus increase the patient satisfaction rate. This will enable the employees to be motivated as they can be getting promotions for their good work. Thus the employees would not think of leaving HNT. The sense of working in teams will also be a vital player in the motivation of the employees. If the employee work together in teams they get to know their peers and other employees better. They develop better understanding that lifts up the performance of the whole organisation.

The long and tedious hours of working and low security has also demotivated the employees. For this purpose Herzberg’s two-factor theory is the best solution. A good motivator for the employees at this stage can be giving them interesting work to do. Cut down their long tedious shifts to normal sized shifts and give then different task every day. Provide them with facilities to relax a bit (the concept of breaks by Taylor can be used at this point). When HNT will do all this it will make the employee feel good about their jobs. Formation of formal and informal groups at this stage will also be beneficial for the organisation. The Hygiene factor at this point can be providing security to the employees especially to those who work at night. We know that there is high crime rate in that area. No employee would want to work in such a place living is by far out of question. So HNT must try to provide as much security as possible to all its employees so that they are not intimidated at any point of the day while working.

As stated there has been a decline in the standards as well. This is also clearly a lack of motivation. There is lot of potential in the organisation but the work force the human element needs to be boosted up. The social aspect of the strategy must be understood and motivational theories at all level from higher, middle and lower level must be implemented in order to regain the good standards that HNT once had.

If Mayo, Maslow and Herzberg’s theories are implemented in a proper way in HNT the organisation can be up and running within a matter of few days. New recruitment from Poland and Germany will also work as a catalyst in this scenario. New workforce coming from abroad will make the working environment more competitive and employees if given incentive with proper rewards and recognition will strive to do better than ever.

Motivation can also be improved among employees by using job rotation at work for example different nurses and doctors can be assigned to observe during surgery so that they can see how surgery is carried out. This gives them time to have new experiences and also this can act as an educational tour which can improve their skills.

Employees can be assigned to perform tasks that porters do for example delivering mails or equipments to surgery room. The organisation uses this type of motivation so that doctors and nurses don’t do the same job over and over which leads to boredom.

Motivation in Hargreen Hospital can be improved by offering doctors and nurses some incentives for example free parking space, subsidised travel, vouchers, health insurance schemes, and nursery places for example if they are offered vouchers, it is like way of appreciating their services such instead of paying £5 for a meal in Hargreen canteen, they can only pay half price which is their way of being motivated. Free parking space enable them to free to come in whenever they want because they will not charged for parking which allows them to do extra work for example the low skilled workers can come in on weekends to clean the hospital even doctors and nurses can come in do work on their own without inviting them.

Offering nursery places allows doctors and nurses to bring their children to study at Hargreen Hospital which will all them to have spare time that they have been using to go to get their kids from schools but if Hargreen offers nursery places to doctors then they can bring their kids to the hospital in the morning and go back home with them in the evening.