Cultivating Organizational Leaders:
Finding and Keeping Motivated Employees
Jayson T. French
Human Resources Management and Development, MGMT 534
Professor Dulce Pena, J.D.
March 13, 2011
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Jayson French
Professor D. Pena
MGMT 534 (HRM)
March 1, 2011
Cultivating Organizational Leaders
Finding and Keeping Motivated Employees
There is a solution to every problem. There is an idea, design, product, and or
service that can solve any issue. The disposition is that ideas require the effective
implementation of their creators and the most productive workforce to take the
appropriate action. Without such human capital or the tools necessary to fix these
concerns of society there is suffering. The limitations of resources are the gaps any
organization faces in their pursuit to achieve monetary reward for fulfilling customer
needs. In order to promptly utilize the workforce to close this gap there must be a strong
system to foster employee growth in an organization. To accomplish this management
must employ a human resources system that supports and challenges their employees to
achieve the vision and mission of the organization.
The development of a human resources (HR) program within any institution is
essential. Jack Welch, ex-CEO of GE, states in his book Winning that there is a strong
need to “elevate HR to a position of power and primacy in the organization, and make
sure HR people have the special qualities to help managers build leaders and careers”
(Welch, 2005, p.99). In essence it is the HR function’s vision to grow the organization
into leaders. “Nothing matters more in winning than getting the right people on the field”
(Welch, 2005, p. 81). The HR system must provide the best people possible to enable
employees the support to grow into superior leaders. It is the HR leader who must
differentiate that “before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself” and that
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“when you become a leader, success is all about growing others” (Welch, 2005, p.61).
HR leaders are those who advise, counsel, service, design and carry out policy, and are
the advocates of the employee (Bohlander, 2010, p.32). Without having an HR function
to grow leadership in a company it is unable to best implement the use of its ideas,
designs, products, and or services properly and in result it loses the opportunity of
competitive advantage and eventually can become useless to society.
In the January 2011 report entitled Keeping Talent: Strategies for Retaining
Valued Federal Employees by the Partnership for Public Service with Booz, Allen, and
Hamilton; there is presented a concern that managers and HR professionals do not invest
into “retaining the newly hired and experienced workers already on the job” and that the
consequences and substantial costs of turnover produce unwanted attrition within an
organization (Public Service, 2011). The associated costs that are accrued by dissatisfied
employees leaving an organization include the loss of specialized knowledge and
experience that can be impossible to replace. The gaps created also seem to cause
deterioration of employee commitment and loyalty throughout the organization. In affect
demoralized co-workers and the work left by empty positions are consequential reasons
for low levels of manager productivity and thereby create high levels of attrition. This
can cause for a system slowdown or if untreated an institutional collapse. Therefore it is
irrefutable that organizations must be able to find and keep motivated employees that
limit attrition.
An organization that finds and keeps motivated employees is able to raise its
competitive advantage and therefore allow itself to better reach its vision. This requires
the knowledge of the company and the human resources toolset. The creation of a strong
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strategy is important to building culture, reputation, and prestige inside and out. The use
of proper recruiting processes is important to finding and sorting to select the right
people. Investing in employees by promoting growth and wellness is also critical to
keeping employees. The fundamental background psychology of motivation and job
satisfaction is also important to understanding what employees need to be satisfied.
Altogether these tools directly correlate to finding and keeping employees in the
workplace motivated. Without all of them collectively there is insufficient ability to
retain leaders that best fulfill the vision.
The establishment of a strong innovative planning strategy from management and
HR allows current and perspective talent to latch onto internal values and lead from the
heart. It is within Reframing Organizations, authored by Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E.
Deal, that prescribe that the HR role is to have a philosophy that gives “guidance and
direction” for employees (Bolman, 2003, p. 135). This includes developing a mission, set
of corresponding values, and an ultimate vision. The corporate strategy is to be designed
to thereby instruct the entire organization how it is to build its systems and how to
carryout its philosophy in every other aspect of the business. The mission directly
answers to employees how the business wants to win. The values are associated to how
the company wants its employees to behave in fulfilling its mission. It is incorporating
the mission of a company and the ability to focus on values that directly reflect the
mission that are most essential (Welch, 2005). The vision gives clarity as to why the
mission and values are important as it provides the ability to measure the results of the
goals assigned and behavioral values prescribed in a mental picture of the future.
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Without having a place where the mission reins true employees can find it rather
unimportant to fulfill the hypocritical demands of management. To counteract this
requires incorporating a strong sense of candor and performance reward-based systems
that drive employees to pay attention to more than just words on a sign. Employees must
be given the chance to give feedback on the corporate strategy and also contribute toward
its development. More importantly it shows how Leaders in HR must shine the light to
where employees are to build. Management must believe and act out the mission through
values in such a way that employees trust through sincerity. This gives employees the
direction and guidance to enable employees the security to grow.
To be able to develop leaders HR must be able to advise managers exactly what
they need to be looking for in their employees. This requires the ability to find the right
person for each position because “strong companies are clear about what they want”
(Bolman, 2003, p. 137). Through the use of a job analysis the company is forced to guide
the employee of the responsibilities and the measurement of performance requested of
them. Doing research into the exact position requires gathering information from current
employees and understanding management concerns. Job descriptions help everyone to
know what the duties of the position are. This puts focus on knowing the exact candidates
to refer to in regards to the necessary education, background experience, skills, abilities,
and company culture fit needed for the position. Employees also desire the respect and
ownership of their position and the duties and recognition assigned to it. By being
organized it also lets the employee work towards something rather than leave due to
insufficient long-term succession planning. That is because employees desire to grow in a
company and need achievement. The use of a systematic authority structure and
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succession plan is key to attaining employees who are willing to gain the extra
requirements of promotion and lowers HR costs for outside entrants. It is by having such
a system that provides a sense of direction for the employee for the length of their careers
and encourages growth and leadership.
In order to attract the right people and keep them within an organization there
must be the right incentives such as compensation available to entice the employee to join
stay with the company in the first place. The CEO of Costco, James Sinegal, proclaims,
“if you pay the best wages, you get the highest productivity” (Bolman, 2003, p. 138). The
idea being that what you pay is what you get. This may illustrate that compensation and
benefits attract employees that are better qualified by negotiating higher pay for higher
qualified entrants, but evidence does prove that keeping employees motivated and
satisfied is not solely based on the money.
Another incentive is the use of performance-based compensation programs that
give employees the drive to compete to new levels of effectiveness. This adds in an
additional aspect not related to compensation but rather on performance challenges and
competition-based achievement rewards. It is true that the employees should be paid for
achieving goals assigned and it is fair to claim that receiving bonuses for doing so is
appropriate. A monumental performance-based compensation system was implemented
at The San Diego Zoological Society and illustrates a real world example of how such a
system can turn an organization around (Bohlander, 2010, p. 402-4). The Zoo had
previously used a performance evaluation system that was not tied to compensation. The
Zoo had been facing low success and was facing a challenge to turn its employee
retention and quality around. The HR director implemented a new online-based
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performance appraisal that allowed employees to keep a continuous online journal with
their direct supervisors. Managers were to set five goals that directly adhered to the
company’s objectives. This gave employees the benefit of setting challenging goals that
provided a reward based on achievement. Knowing how much emphasis is placed on
compensation in today’s business climate there is other research pointing toward more
than just the money that makes employees want to stay at the organization. The use of
employee based support and wellness programs are other examples of incentives that
provide motivation for employees to grow within a firm.
Further evidence of the HR function points toward the need to instigate programs
that facilitate employee wellness. According to the World Economic Forum’s report
entitled The Wellness Imperative Creating More Effective Organizations, which stated
that research suggests “organizations are seen as two and a half times more likely to
perform” when their employer places an importance on the well being of the employee
(Dornan, 2010). The report further stated that “organizations are seen as four times less
likely to lose talent within the next year” and most importantly “organizations are seen as
three times more likely to be productive” (Dornan, 2010). This research illustrates how
the HR function can take a prominent role in yielding effective organizational
productivity by promoting policies that deliver a sense of wellness to the employee. In
essence investing in the growth of the employee keeps them effective and lowers
turnover.
Within the field of organizational behavior there is a strong emphasis placed upon
creating employer productivity by fostering job satisfaction. In exhibit 3-3 of the book
Organizational Behavior, authored by Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy A. Judge, that
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there is almost no relationship between average pay in a job and job satisfaction of the
employee beyond around forty thousand per year (Robbins, 2009, p. 86). An example of
various employee-based motivators that are more effective in creating job satisfaction
include providing mentally challenging work, equitable rewards, supportive working
conditions, and supportive colleagues among others. These satisfiers can be cultivated by
the use of the proper values in an organization. Giving more autonomy to take risks and
create self-directed goals can instill a sense of challenge to the employee. Using
performance-based pay, equal pay for comparable work, and nondiscriminatory rewards
or punishment are all ways of incorporating equitable rewards into HR policy. In order to
foster supportive relationships there should be more team development. Teams play an
important role in facilitating a social atmosphere. Introducing support with teams that
form trust through social intelligence and empathy-based exercises will indeed cultivate
better colleague support. Therefore it is important to employ a competitive set of
incentives that collectively motivate perspective recruits, enforce current employee drive,
and retains leaders long-term.
The fundamental principle of knowing how to find and keep motivated
employees requires the understanding of the basic motivational theories of psychology.
That is to comprehend how various tactics specifically motivate an individual to produce
at the psychological level. The formal definition of motivation is “the processes that
account for an individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining
a goal” (Robbins, 2009, p. 175). This focuses on the individual mindset and what
motivates him or her to achieve a goal. The importance of motivation is that it is by
definition what enables employees to produce the vision of an organization. Thereby
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making it the most prominent study of HR and management. It is also a fundamental
element of finding and keeping a productive workforce.
The history of motivation is based upon a set of early theories of motivation that
include Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Douglas McGregor’s theory of X and Y,
Herzberg’s two-factor theory, and McClelland’s theory of needs. More contemporary
theories of motivation include that of cognitive evaluation theory, goal-setting theory,
self-efficacy theory, reinforcement theory, equity theory, and expectancy theory.
Understanding some of these main concepts allow for higher productivity by delivering
the best approach to motivation when used correctly.
In order to comprehend the desired motivational theory applicable to the work
environment David Sirota (Ph.D.), and founder of Sirota Consulting Corporation, in his
article entitled Human Motivation in the Workplace: What Workers Want. Sirota
explains, “it is insane to focus on just one goal as the primary motivation of workers” and
that doing so returns “high rates of failure”(Consulting Corp., 2002, p. 4). Rather than
focusing on one central motivator he prescribes to ask the employees themselves in “the
most direct way possible” (Consulting Corp., 2002, p.4). Sirota created his very own
motivation theory and in doing so learned a modern approach to achieving productivity
and morale within an organization.
The Sirota Three-Factor Theory of Human Motivation includes the goal of equity,
achievement, and camaraderie. These are the three most potent factors that enable job
satisfaction and thereby cultivate organizational productivity and loyalty.
The basis of equity is” to be treated justly in relation to the basic conditions of
employment” (Consulting Corp., 2002, p. 6). Essentially employees desire the
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physiological, economic, and psychological justices that proclaim to provide wellness.
Needs much like addressed in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Employees need to be given
a safe work environment, competitive compensation and benefits, as well as respect of
personal family needs.
The second factor is that of achievement. This is the need to have “pride in one’s
accomplishments” and the organization’s and being recognized for doing a job well done
(Consulting Corp., 2002, p. 8). This implies the need to provide challenging work that
requires acquiring new skills. Performing jobs that get recognition and reward are also a
building block to enabling employee achievement. More importantly employees desire to
work for firms that allow them to be proud of the work accomplished. That is no one
wants to work for a company that does not stand for their values or respect their
accomplishments. Therefore providing a sense of pride in work ownership and
respectable work recognition is of the utmost importance for keeping employees.
The third and final factor is that of camaraderie that includes providing an
atmosphere where employees can have interesting, warm, and cooperative relations with
their colleagues. Employees have the strong need for a social community within their
workplace. This is because it provides for a peaceful and helpful environment that better
enables them to be productive. The research seems to also place significance on the
“strong relationship between teamwork and organization success” as an organization’s
ability to form effective teamwork among employees equates to the very fundamental
concept that business is a team sport. Without creating the best team environment a
business fails to succeed, which proves another consequential element of keeping
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employees is to foster the environment that creates strong teamwork (organizational
success).
All in all the Sirota Three-Factor Theory of Human Motivation is a modern,
however, relevant tool for learning the background to approaching employee motivation
within the workplace. It gives an introduction to the inherent psychology of motivation,
job satisfaction, and well being of the individual employee and hence provides a way to
develop corporate strategy that ties the needed values and policies that effective
management and HR can generate in order to build strong organizations while also
keeping the human capital they invested in. No company wants to lose their investment
and no employee wants to lose an employer that motivates them to succeed. This
relationship is based on a team, dependent on each other for success, something greatly
lost in today’s businesses because they do not realize the lost potential of a motivated
workforce.
In conclusion, there is a solution to every problem. The main dilemma is that
there is a gap between how organizations can cultivate effective solutions through the use
of human capital in the most productive way possible. As research suggests there is a
problem within the modern workplace to retain employees and in result it leaves higher
rates of attrition. The result of which actions permits a relationship constructed on the
disguise that is healthy when based upon a paradigm of a power to fear dynamic. The
truth reveals a rather different approach. The solution is to change perspectives of the
place of management in order to succeed in either profit or market share.
The answer to solving the retention problem facing companies today requires
several elements that an effective HR program can offer to management and employees
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alike. This is to promote a successful environment for employees to foster growth and
leadership through the HR management program. Indeed evidence is provided to show
how the wellness of employees is directly related to lower turnover and higher
productivity. The importance is then placed on emphasizing a two-way street when
developing strategy. Incorporating values that reflect the mission that employees can
respect and be proud of. By being organized and giving an assigned job description that
guides employees through their career within a company enables a long-term outlook on
company loyalty.
A company must additionally provide competitive compensation and benefits
however; understand that other incentives play a higher emphasis in building satisfaction
within the workplace. That is employees desire to have challenging work, respect,
recognition, justifiable job security, fairness, performance-based reward systems, and a
camaraderie among co-workers that promotes a stress-reduced environment where
teamwork is important to organizational goal fulfillment. Collectively the use of multiple
motivators is essential to fostering job satisfaction for employees therefore grant a two-
way relationship of dependency. The lesson being that the employer must understand that
the employee-employer relationship is that of a co-dependent team and must act to create
a win-win scenario.
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References
Consulting Corporation. (n.d.). Human Motivation in the Workplace: What Workers
Want. Human Motivation in the Workplace: What Workers Want. Retrieved
March 5, 2011, from
www.sirota.com/pdfs/Human_Motivation_in_the_Workplace_What_Workers_
Want.pdf
Dornan of Right Management. (n.d.). The Wellness Imperative Creating More Effective
Organizations. The Wellness Imperative Creating More Effective Organizations.
Retrieved March 5, 2011, from www.right.com/thought-leadership/articles-and-
publications/the-wellness-imperative-creating-more-effective-organizations-
world-economic-forum-in-partnership-with-right-management.pdf
Bohlander, G. W., Snell, S., & Sherman, A. W. (2001). Managing human resources
(12th ed.). Cincinnati, Ohio: South-Western College Pub..
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2003). Reframing organizations artistry, choice, and
leadership, third edition (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Public Service. (n.d.). Keeping Talent: Strategies for Retaining Valued Federal
Employees. Keeping Talent: Strategies for Retaining Valued Federal Employees.
Retrieved March 5, 2011, from
www.boozallen.com/media/file/PPS_Retention_Report-2011.pdf
Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. (2009). Organizational behavior (13th ed.). Upper Saddle
River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Welch, J., & Welch, S. (2005). Winning . London: HarperBusiness.
