Question

Within your CLC team, discuss your current organization's employee incentives and motivation strategies. Examine the individual organization's compensation challenges and industry competition. Based on this discussion, teams will develop an incentive plan suitable for all participating members that encourages an organizational culture that motivates employees and evaluates their performance. Your incentive plan (1,000-1,250 words) must include:

1.     An overview of the organization for which your team is developing an incentive plan.

2.     A performance metric to monitor employee performance.

3.     Motivation strategies and techniques to appeal to employees.

4.     Incentive compensation to remain competitive within the industry.

5.     Moral hazard affecting employees and the organization.

Answer 1

Answer:

List the factors influencing worker motivation that are under managers' control

As a manager, when it comes to managing my staff who are of different personality types - like the one mentioned in this problem of balancing between staff who enjoy socializing with co-workers to those who simply 'punch in and punch out'. I follow two fundamental work rules based on Process and People lever.

For Process Lever

As I need to ensure everyone's work contributes to the overall deliverable for the team and to the end customer while dealing with such staff with different personality types, I go with divide and rule model. I may not be able to really mingle everyone. However, by assessing their strengths and weakness, I'll be in a position to classify their knowledge, skill and attitude levels and utilize them appropriately to deliver the expected results.

People Lever:

From the people perspective, I follow different motivational techniques for different staff. I go by their individual motivational needs. I've learned this from Maslow's hierarchy of need-based motivation.

Employees will perform better in the organization provided their current stage and what level of motivation they have etc., are being considered before they are engaged in the work. There are 5 stages of motivation. Among these 5 stages, an employee might be lying in any of the stages. They are,

Physiological needs

which address the basic need of an employee like food, clothing & shelter. Eg: An employee, who is having challenges in meeting some of these 3 needs, may not really focus on other things that are essential for his deliverables.

Safety Needs

It is the second stage that talks about basic Security and Safety features where they are protected well in the work environment. Eg: Woman safety at the workplace is a significant measure that organization needs to look at to protect them so their contribution to their work doesn’t get interrupted.

Social Needs

It is the third stage where an employee wants to be part of various different groups within the organization. An employee will be thinking about this only when the first two needs are fulfilled. Eg: An employee willing to be part of Fun committee and sports team etc., in an organization that contributes to employee engagement initiatives.

Esteem Needs

This is typically occurs to someone who had spent a considerable amount of time in their career and reached a situation of self-motivation where external factors don't really motivate this person instead he/she feels active within self due to various accomplishments they had over years. Eg: A seasoned manager who had spent around 30 years working and achieved various different things where no external reinforcement is required.

Self Actualization Need is at the peak of the motivational pyramid where after achieving everything that is required in life, the person reaches this stage that he has seen everything that he is supposed to be seeing in his/her life and starts preaching others about life. Eg: A 60-year-old person after his retirement who has achieved everything in life which is called Nirvana and not necessarily the first four stages pleases him any longer..

In our situation, a set of staff who enjoy socializing with others might be in the 3rd stage of Maslow's hierarchy. Others who might not mingle with rest of the staff might be in the 4th or 5th stage of Maslow's hierarchy. Performance should not be confused with the individual personality types. With the combination of both Process and People lever technique that I described above, I as a Manager will be able to have a balanced approach with all my staff without favoring one style over the other.

Different types of Motivational needs of employees

It is imperative for a leader to promote different motivational and hygiene factors in an organization that results in a satisfied workforce. Some of the types of motivation models are as follows:

• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
• McGregor's Theory X & Y
• Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory
• Fiedler’s Contingency Theory
• Forms of Power

Incentive Management:

• Primary drivers for Incentives are Volume production & Quality
• Significant manual effort to calculate
• Individual performance/no team targets
• Inconsistent calculation methodology
• Calculations are based on Base Salary leading to disparities in earnings

Suggestion:

• Revise timeline for payout to Quarterly instead of monthly
• Implement robust database tool to manage incentive program
• Utilize full budget allocated for Incentives
• No limits on how much an individual can earn
• Eliminate stack ranking and bonus Hours, move to a piece rate
• Differentiate between processes that should be piece rate or based on AIP

Compensation Review:

• Global Compensation Framework - Staff salaries are lesser than the minimum market ranges
• Triggers attrition leading to huge back filling costs, training costs and overall uncertainties
• Markets are offering at a min. ~25% to ~30% hikes to our staff and absorbing them.

We have become training grounds for other companies which hinder new work due to the instabilities associated with attrition

Performance Management System:

• Holds employees accountable for their behavior and performance
• Communicates clear priorities
• Delivers timely, candid and actionable feedback
• Recognizes people for their contributions and performance excellence
• Demonstrates a genuine interest in employees’ career and development