Introduction to Human Resource Management &
Learning and Talent Development
Question 1
Outline the three motivation Content theories and discuss their role in the workplace
Introduction
Employee motivation is seen as one of the most crucial aspects in human resource management since it is the driving force that encourages the staff to put efforts at achieving the organizational goals. Moreover, the success of any organisation is also dependent on its workforce as committed employees work aligned with the organizational goals. Demotivated employees are not dedicated to the work and also impact negatively the image of an organisation. This essay has been prepared with an intention to cover the outline as well as the role that three content motivation theories play in the workplace (De Sousa Sabbagha et al. 2018).
Main body
The content theories of motivation are based on the system of requirements that in turn encourages the people towards the actions. The content theories describe what are the needs or motives that encourage the employees. The three content theories of motivation along with their role in the workplace are given below-
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS MODEL
This theory states that the procedure of meeting and satisfying the needs of the individuals is a continuous one and as soon as one requirement of an individual is satisfied, its place is taken by another one (Fallatah and Syed, 2018). This theory suggests that requirements of an individual form a hierarchy and hence when a need is fulfilled it no longer acts as an effective motivator. There are five needs of employees based on this model and they are described as below-
Physiological needs: This need is related to the one that is crucial for the survival of the individuals in the workplace such as food, water, air, sleep etc. These needs are significant for making the employees feel comfortable in the workplace.
Safety needs: The safety needs of the individuals are next in this model and it suggests that an individual must feel secure and get family-like surroundings in the workplace. Thus an organisation is required to meet the emotional as well as the financial security of the employees such as health and wellbeing, social stability, law and order etc (Fallatah and Syed, 2018).
Love/belonging needs: This need of an individual are aligned at making the individual get feeling of belongingness in the workplace. Maintaining the interpersonal relationship such as trust, friendship, intimacy and affection with employees effectively and building engaged culture assist in meeting this need of employees (Buksh, 2020).
Esteem needs: The esteem needs based on this model are related to the belief of an individual that good job has been done by the individual. The feeling of getting the required recognition from the organisation is the needs of employees under this category.
Self-actualization needs: This need of an individual is aligned with the realization of the full potential of an individual along with personal growth and self-fulfilment. Employees feel valued, trusted and empowered with the self-actualization (Fallatah and Syed, 2018).
Thus the major role of this theory in the workplace is to make manager ensure that the organisation is meeting these five needs of an individual to further achieve a loyal, committed and motivated workforce that works aligned with the organizational goals. Further, it helps the managers to get an idea about the basic needs that are must be fulfilled to make the employees feel valued and recognized thereby aligning their efforts towards the organizational goals. This theory makes organisation understands that without fulfilling the basic needs if they make efforts at rewarding the employees then their efforts go in vain as tired, hungry or cold employees cannot be motivated by rewards and benefits until their basic needs are fulfilled (Buksh, 2020).
HERZBERG’S TWO FACTOR THEORY
This is another content motivation theory that suggests that there are two major factors that an organisation can focus on to influence the motivation level among the employees (Alshmemri et al. 2017). These two factors are named as the motivators and the hygiene factors and they are described as below-
MOTIVATOR FACTORS
These factors are also known as the growth factors or intrinsic motivators and it involves those factors of the work that influences and persuades the people to showcase supreme performances. Such factors are related to less tangible and more emotional requirements of the employees in the workplace. The presence of these factors motivates the employees in the workplace to work harder and they are present within the actual job itself (Alshmemri et al. 2017). The divergent motivating factors along with their role are described as below-
Achievement: The sense of achievement assist in providing a proud feeling of having done some difficult but worth task in the workplace (Alfayad and Arif, 2017).
Recognition: An organisation is required to give the employees required recognition and praise from superiors as well as peers for their successes.
Responsibility: employees who own the work and feel accountable for the completion of the work and this responsible attitude further acts as a motivator to them (Alshmemri et al. 2017).
Advancement and growth: the employees must be given promotional opportunities as well as growth chances through which they can enhance their existing skills and competencies.
The work itself: the job must be interesting for the employees and must have adequate challenges to keep the staff motivated.
HYGIENE FACTORS
The hygiene factors involve the aspects of the surroundings that can prevent the dissatisfaction and discontent of the employees and they don’t contribute directly to the psychological growth and hence the motivation of the employees. The presence of such factors can’t encourage the staff but their absence can demotivate the employees. They are not present in the actual job but rather surround the job. The divergent hygiene factors that assist in motivating the employees are described as below-
Supervision: the supervision of an organisation must be appropriate and fair and they must be given reasonable autonomy in the workplace (Alfayad and Arif, 2017).
Company policies: the policies of an organisation must be fair and transparent otherwise the staff can feel demotivated.
Relationship: an organisation is required to maintain an amiable, healthy and appropriate relationship with the employees to make them feel satisfied in the workplace (Alshmemri et al. 2017).
Work conditions: the work environment and the equipment should be safe and hygienic for the employees to further persuade them towards work.
Salary: the employees must be given reasonable and fair salaries and also it must be competitive with the other organisations of the same industry.
Security: it is required that an organisation must make the employees feel that their job is secure to eradicate the job dissatisfaction (Alfayad and Arif, 2017).
Thus the role of this theory is to motivate the employees towards work by assisting them with required motivator and further reducing the job dissatisfaction by helping them with hygiene factors.
MCLELLAND’S ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION THEORY
This theory of motivation is one that explains the procedure of motivation by breaking down what and how the requirements of an individual are and how they have to be approached. This theory suggests that every individual has one of the three driving motivators (KHURANA and JOSHI, 2017). Based on this theory there are three important motivators through which the individuals in the workplace can be motivated and they are described as below-
Need for achievement: under this need, an individual looks for firstly setting the challenging goals and then achieving it with effectiveness. An individual in the workplace needs opportunities to showcase their potential and drive for excel and achieve the standards set and further strive to succeed. Further, the individuals take calculated risks to complete and achieve the goals with effectiveness. An organisation can give regular feedback in context with the progress of the employees as well as for their achievements. Assisting the employees with such achievements needs can help in motivating them and further aligning their efforts towards organisational goals (KHURANA and JOSHI, 2017).
Need for power: it is seen as the desire within a person to have authority and control over other person and further tends to alter their decisions based on their own needs and desires. Under this need, an individual tends to enhance the self-esteem as well as reputation and this further makes an individual desire that their ideas and views must be accepted and implemented in the workplace over the ideas and views of others. Under this need, an individual often desires to win the arguments and wants to both control and influence others. The individual also prefers winning competitions and enjoys both status and recognition (Osemeke and Adegboyega, 2017).
Need for affiliation: it is seen as the urge of an individual to have a social and interpersonal relationship with the subordinates in the workplace. The individuals want to work in groups by creating a cordial and friendly environment and they often tend to avoid uncertainty and high-risk situations. The individuals under this needs want to be liked by others and favours collaboration over the competitive beliefs and attitude.
Thus the role of this theory is to help the business managers get an idea about the driving motivators in an individual and further fulfil their needs aligned to it and hence further motivate them to accomplish their goals with effectiveness and assist the business in achieving the organisational goals (Osemeke and Adegboyega, 2017).
Conclusion
Thus it can be deduced that it is important to motivate the human resources and this can be done by fulfilling their needs. The three content theories names as Maslow's need for hierarchy, Herzberg's two-factor theory and Mclelland’s achievement motivation theory plays a significant role in motivating the individuals based on their needs.
Question 2
Outline the differences between the psychological contract and the contract of employment. Identify why the psychological contract is so important in organisations today?
Introduction
The employment contract is an integral and crucial aspect of human resource management that further assists in maintaining the relationship between the employee and the employer. The employment relationship is seen as a contract which is based on mutually agreed and voluntarily made exchanges of promises. If the exchange agreement is fulfilled effectively both employee and employer gets gain whereas in case if it is not fulfilled then both the employer and employee faces loses. This essay has been prepared with an intention to outline the basic difference between the psychological contract and the contract of employment (Sora et al. 2019).
Main body
A contract of employment is established between the employee and the employer if there are mutual agreements between them over the policies and terms of employment. The employment contract is seen as a promise that the employee often makes with the employer to render the services in exchange with the pays (Roba, 2020). The employee contract exists when both the employee and employer gives the consent to agree on the terms and conditions and fulfil on the obligations of the agreement which is also termed as the contractual terms. The employment relationship can either be documented in the form of a written contract of employment or can be one that is not written. Under the employment contract thus there are two major types of contract that can be established between the employee and the employer. The written one is termed as a contract of employment whereas the other in which written terms and conditions are not present and is based on obligations (Eyoun et al. 2020).
The main differentiation between the written and the psychological contract can be seen in context with how they are formulated or made. The contract of employment is always documented and written and the duties and accountabilities are given in generalized forms. Whereas in case of the psychological contract the perceive obligations for the part of both employee and employers are involved. The written contract or the contract of employment is based on specific wordings in context with the accountabilities of both the parties and the terms of the contract (Roba, 2020). On other hand, the psychological contract indulges reasonable judgments about the roles and accountabilities that one should undertake.
The psychological contracts are subjective since there can be contradicting interpretation of the contract depending on the perception and belief of both the parties about what is contained in the contract. Thus the belief and perception or the subjective viewpoints of the individuals involved in the contract can have a varied interpretation of the contract in case of this type of employment contracts (Eyoun et al. 2020). The written or the contract of employment on other hand is seen to be objective since every term and conditions are clearly stated in the contract form in such way that the expectations of both the parties about the results are same. Thus it is seen that the psychological contracts are uncertain since it becomes very difficult to resolve the issue or the problems since evidence of agreement may not be categorically substantiated as compared to the written contracts in which formal and signed written documents cannot be ignored and there is hence no scope of misinterpretation and conflicts among the employees and the employer (Roba, 2020).
The psychological contracts are usually implemented and established on informal platforms through verbal exchange or dialogue between the employee and the employer in context with the role that both of them will stick to during the whole period of the contract and this is done without specifying the details of the duties that each party will perform (Soares and Mosquera, 2019). Whereas in case of the contract of employment the documents of the contract involve the explicit outline about the duties, accountabilities and expectations on which the contract is based and this contract must be signed by both the parties involved (Roba, 2020).
The breach of the Psychological contract happens when either of the party involved in the contract has felt that another party is not fulfilling the obligations of the contract which was promised as earlier. In such a contract, the breach's magnitude is not explicitly defined so the person who has the feeling that another party is not meeting obligations may be affected emotionally or psychologically (Soares and Mosquera, 2019). This in turn results in loss of motivation or loyalty that can even result in underperformance of the individuals. Also, any sort of unresolved breach of the psychological contracts can be costly in case if the reputation of the firm is involved. On other hand, it is easier to quantify the breach of the contract of employment that is written especially in the circumstance when either of the party fails to meet the expectation of the contract and the resolution of the same is involved in the contract form (Eyoun et al. 2020).
However, it has been seen that the psychological contracts are becoming important for the organisations today as it assists in managing the human resources in context with the employment contracts which is an integral part of the HRM department. This includes an unwritten set of expectations that remains between the employees and the employer of an organisation. Such contracts are crucial for business organisations since they are based on mutual beliefs and expectations and thus assist in strengthening the relationship between the employee and the employer (Tufan and Wendt, 2020). Also, it is easier to develop and modify such contracts based on the constant communication between the employee and the employer. The contracts assist in developing mutual trust and respect among the employee and employer and thus make them feel valued and recognized and hence significant for the success of the business. This mutual trust and motivation in turn assist the organisation through enhanced productivity and the positive employee-employer relationship. Further, the continuous interaction between the employee and the employers helps in enhancing the loyalty among the employees and thus they work with more dedication and performances to achieve the organizational goals (Soares and Mosquera, 2019).
The psychological contracts are focused individually and thus give the benefit of more codified contracts. Every psychological contract is divergent as they are based on individual and this brings contract diversity which makes a positive and huge impact on both the employees and the employer (Stevenson, 2018). Also, it helps the employees to perceive the value and the role that they are having in the business and there are no unrealistic expectations between the employees and the employer and it makes the business operations smooth and conflict-free. Further amendments in the contract can also be done which also acts as a benefit for the business as it makes the contract aligned with the needs of the employees and the employer both. The psychological contracts are based on certain characteristics such as trust, compassion, loyalty, fairness, empathy that further helps the business achieve its business objectives through mutual efforts of the employees and the employer (Tufan and Wendt, 2020).
The psychological contracts are seen to be having an important role within the business organisation since it is not possible to spell out in the traditional contracts. Thus this contract helps in coming to mutual agreements and discussion over issues that make the employees feel valued in the organisation and it further also helps an organisation to manage the talent and retain the talented and potential employees within the workplace (Tufan and Wendt, 2020). Thus it can be seen that the psychological contracts can be revised and made more aligned with the needs of employees and employer both through mutual agreements which enhances the ability to manage the talent and further retain them in the business and this ultimately helps in achieving the organisational goals. This all are the reasons due to which the psychological contracts are seen as important for an organisation (Stevenson, 2018).
Conclusion
Thus from the essay, it can be deduced that there is a significant difference between the contract of employment and the psychological contracts. The contract of employment is based on written terms and conditions mentioned in the contract form whereas in the psychological contract the written aspects are not present but rather are based on mutual beliefs and unwritten reciprocal expectations of the employer and the employees. Further, it is also seen that the psychological contracts are enhancing getting significance in a business organisation as it assists in uplifting effective relationship between the employee and the employer which further helps in achieving the organizational goals with ease and effectiveness.
References
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Buksh, S. (2020). Maslow before Bloom. Independent Education, 50(2), 20-21.
De Sousa Sabbagha, M., Ledimo, O., and Martins, N. (2018). Predicting staff retention from employee motivation and job satisfaction. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 28(2), 136-140.
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Sora, B., Höge, T., Caballer, A., and Peiró, J. M. (2019). Employment contract, job insecurity and employees’ affective well-being: The role of self-and collective efficacy. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 40(2), 193-214.
Stevenson, M. (2018). The Importance of the Psychological Contract. Online available from: https://www.hrexchangenetwork.com/employee-engagement/articles/the-importance-of-the-psychological-contract#:~:text=Individual%20psychological%20contracts%20allow%20the,is%20done%20through%20regular%20communication [Last Accessed February 2020]
Tufan, P., and Wendt, H. (2020). Organizational identification as a mediator for the effects of psychological contract breaches on organizational citizenship behavior: Insights from the perspective of ethnic minority employees. European Management Journal, 38(1), 179-190.
