(TIỂU LUẬN) ESSAY ON HUMAN RESOURCES COURSE SUBJECT roles of HR manager in motivating employees

• Understand the importance of motivation in work • The importance of HR in the collective and in the company • HR manager responsibilities and duties and the involvement of HR manage

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI H C KINH T Ọ Ế QUỐC DÂN

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ESSAY ON HUMAN RESOURCES COURSE

SUBJECT: Roles of HR manager in motivating employees

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION……… 2

Reasons for choosing topic:……… ……… ……… 2

Objectives of the study:……….… …… 3

Research methods:……… … … 3

Outline of topic :……… 3

Chapter1: Theoretical basis for motivating employees……… 4

Chapter2 : Some theories of motivation……… 6

Chapter 3: Risk Analysis of De-Motivated Employees in Organizations ……… 14

Chapter 4: HR manager responsibilities and duties of HR manager in motivating employees.……… 17

Chapter 5: Difficulties encountered when motivating employees……….……… 25

Chapter 6:Solutions ……… 31

Conclusion……… 35

Preferences……… 36

Introduction

Topic: Roles of HR manager in motivating employees

Reasons for chosing topic:

The Human Resources sector has a very strategic role in organizations Through their activities, motivation can be encouraged and in such, increase the quality of life-work balance for their employees In the same way, the organizational climate can improve and directly impact productivity

The HR manager must understand that motivation is directly related to the

improvement of individual performance This is how you will be able to work on this aspect in a strategic way to leverage the results wished for by the organization

How to do this? The answer lies in an action that promotes and protects the potential

of individuals The purpose is to encourage creativity, self-confidence, autonomy and initiative essential characteristics to meet the internal demands and streamline the productive flow for work performance

HR must also enable professionals to interact dynamically with productive and

personal processes, always considering their skills, qualities and personalities Thus, teamwork is encouraged so that the team builds strategies of principles, means and ends to achieve organizational goals

All these actions must be guided by the mission, vision and values of the company, because it is from them that HR policies will be aligned with organizational strategies However, human capital should never be overlooked, because it is the main asset of the company

A positive work culture and a good organizational climate helps bring effective results

to a company Using this strategy, it’s possible to increase employee productivity and engagement, as well as create an environment conducive to innovation However, these benefits are only achieved with employee motivation and performance

Realizing that importance, I decided to choose the above topic to study

Objectives of the study:

• Understanding motivational theories

• Understand the importance of motivation in work

• The importance of HR in the collective and in the company

• HR manager responsibilities and duties and the involvement of HR manager in motivating employees

Research methods :

• Sources of data : secondary data ( the internet )

• Methods of collecting data : mostly available in the internet

Outline of topic :

• Chapter1: Theoretical basis for motivating employees

• Chapter2 : Some theories of motivation

• Chapter 3: Risk Analysis of De-Motivated Employees in

Motivation is a state of mind, filled with energy and enthusiasm, which drives a

person to work in a certain way to achieve desired goals Motivation is a force that pushes people to work with a high level of commitment and focus, even if things are going against them Motivation translates into a certain kind of human behavior.  In short, motivation is the driving force behind human actions

There are many different forces that guide and direct our motivations It is important

to ensure that every team member in an organization is motivated and meets project management bottomline Various psychologists have studied human behavior and

motivational theories provide insights into the way people behave and what motivates them.  

Motivation theory is a way of looking at the motivation of a person and how this influences their behavior, whether for personal or professional reasons It's important

to every aspect of society but is especially relevant to business and management Motivation is the key to more profitable employees, as a motivated employee is more productive

Importance of Motivation in the Workplace

Motivation can emanate from with an employee with a passion and desire to work and produce results This kind of motivation is self-driven by an employee in order to elevate his feelings to accomplish However, in extrinsic motivation, an external factor such as a reward is used to boost the employee’s moral and desire to work As is a normal case, employees work in exchange for compensation for their hard labour but how far they go depends on how motivated they are According to Perry and

Hondeghem (1999), the individuals desire to perform, and provide services to

customers, with the mandate to do good is enough factor to motivate Performance at work is related to the employees pay of which the employee may not have control of that reward as it is external Apart from rewards, there are other factors that are

external such as promotion at work, security of the job, salary increment that may give meaning to employees motivation Therefore, for organizations to continue existing and retaining its workforce, they must keep on working on strategies that can help in motivating its employees Motivated employees have a sense of belonging and loyalty

to the organization and always work hard to be associated with the results of their labour Motivation have effect on employees as individuals to achieve and as well as ability to be innovative because they believe in themselves which will benefit the organization to succeed (Yang Jie, 2010) A motivated worker is easy to be retained hence saving the organization finances of replacing workers, also it encourages

workers to always achieve more on daily productions as they are having a sense of security of their work Management will have time to attend to other important issues because their motivated workforce can build teams that can help with the supervision and production of work

Chapter 2: Some theories of motivation

Motivation is a huge field of study. Psychologists have proposed many different

theories of motivation Some of the most famous motivational theories include the following: 

1 Maslow’s Theory of Hierarchical Needs 

2 Hertzberg’s two-factor Theory

3 McClelland’s Theory of Needs 

4 Vroom’s Theory of Expectancy

5 McGregor’s Theory X and theory Y 

6 Alderfer’s ERG Theory

I Maslow’s Theory of Hierarchical Needs 

Abraham Maslow postulated that a person will be motivated when all his needs are fulfilled. People do not work for security or money, but they work to contribute and to use their skills He demonstrated this by creating a pyramid to show how people are motivated and mentioned that ONE CANNOT ASCEND TO THE NEXT LEVEL UNLESS LOWER-LEVEL NEEDS ARE FULFILLED The lowest level needs in the pyramid are basic needs and unless these lower-level needs are satisfied people do not look at working toward satisfying the upper-level needs.  

Below is the hierarchy of needs: 

• Physiological needs: are basic needs for survival such as air, sleep, food, water, clothing, sex, and shelter. 

• Safety needs: Protection from threats, deprivation, and other dangers (e.g., health, secure employment, and property) 

• Social (belongingness and love) needs: The need for association,

affiliation, friendship, and so on. 

• Self-actualization needs:  The opportunity for personal development, learning, and fun/creative/challenging work  Self-actualization is the

highest-level need to which a human being can aspire. 

The leader will have to understand at what level the team members

are currently, and seek out to help them to satisfy those specific needs and accordingly work to help fulfil those needs. This will help the team members perform better and move ahead with the project Also, as their needs get fulfilled, the team members will start performing, till the time they start thinking of fulfilling the next upper level of need as mentioned in the pyramid. 

2 Hertzberg’s two-factor Theory

One of the first and best-known content theories to describe why people have

dissimilar needs at diverse times is Abraham Maslow’s needs hierarchy theory

discovered in the late 1943 and formulated in 1954 He revealed five basic classes of human needs and positioned them in a hierarchy (Burtin K, 2012, Robins & Coulter

2012, Armstrong 2009, Luthans & Doh 2009 and McShane 2000) Maslow

hypothesized that everybody has five basic needs that create a need hierarchy In ascending order, starting with the simplest needs such as: Physiological needs like –

water, food, sex, clothing, and shelter Maslow opposed that an individual’s

determination to fulfill these biological needs is bigger than the ambition to satisfy any other type of need In the context of work motivation, these physiological needs often are satisfied through the wages and salaries paid by the organization Safety needs - are wishes for security (i.e protection from physical and emotional harm), as well as assurance that physical needs will be met (stability), and absence of pain Organizations usually support personnel to satisfy these needs through safety

programs and equipment and by providing security through medical insurance,

unemployment and retirement plans, and related benefits Social needs - a person’s need for affection, belongingness, acceptance, and friendship This want for

“belongingness” frequently is contented on the job over social collaboration within work groups in which people give and receive friendship Social needs can be satisfied not only in officially dispensed work groups but also informal groups Esteem needs - are desires for power and status Individual need to feel vital and get recognition from others More importantly, receives promotions, awards, and feedback from the boss that will lead to self-confidence, prestige, and self-important; and Self-actualization needs - which represents the need for self-fulfillment – a sense that the person’s

potential has been achieved In an organization, an individual may attain

selfactualization not over promotion but in its place by mastering his or her

environment and setting and achieving goals (Robins & Coulter 2012, Luthans & Doh

2009 and McShane 2000) However, Maslow’s 1954 model does not take account of

“money”, which suggest that he does not consider the need for money is essential In practice all the same, ‘money plays a part at every level of the model, which helps us recognize how monetary reward functions as a means to an end, rather than an end in itself’ (Mead & Andrews 2009)

3 McClelland’s Theory of Needs 

McClelland affirms that we all have three motivating drivers, which do not depend on our gender or age One of these drives will be dominant in our behaviour The

dominant drive depends on our life experiences.  

• Achievement: a need to accomplish and demonstrate own

competence. People with a high need for achievement prefer tasks that provide for personal responsibility and results based on their own efforts  They also prefer quick acknowledgment of their progress. 

• Affiliation: a need for love, belonging and social acceptance. People with a high need for affiliation are motivated by being liked and accepted

by others  They tend to participate in social gatherings and may be

uncomfortable with conflict  

• Power: a need for controlling own work or the work of others People with a high need for power desire situations in which they exercise power and influence over others  They aspire for positions with status and

authority and tend to be more concerned about their level of influence than about effective work performance

He observed that diverse persons have dissimilar stages of these needs A number of them ‘have a greater need for achievement, others a stronger need for affiliation, and still others a stronger need for power Whereas one need may be central, though, this does not mean that the others are nonexistent’ According to McClelland, these three needs might be given ‘different priorities at different levels of management’

Moreover, Achievement needs are mainly vital for achievement ‘in many junior and middle management jobs where it is possible to feel directly responsibility for task accomplishment’ However ‘in senior management positions a concern for

institutionalized as opposed to personal power becomes more important’ Therefore, a strong need for attachment is not so important at any level

4 Vroom’s Theory of Expectancy

Vroom V.H (1964, Stráníková 2008, William 2010 and Egbu n.d) formulated the Expectancy theory The theory endeavor to study the process of motivation In order

to progress with the study, Vroom uses three variables: “Valence” “expectancy” and

“instrumentality” Valence is the measure of an individual’s desire for certain results and stands for value It may be positive (desired outcome) or negative (unattractive

outcome) Expectancy is the belief that the output will lead towards expected

performance Instrumentality is the credence that after meeting the anticipated

performance, the desired reward will be received According to Vroom’s formula, if

one of these three variables is zero, motivation is absent: Motivation = f (Valence x Expectancy x Instrumentality) As valency stands for value, instrumentality the

belief that one action will lead to another, and expectancy is the likelihood that action

or effort will lead to an outcome

As a result, the ‘strength of expectations’ may perhaps base on ‘past experiences (reinforcement), but individuals are frequently presented with new situations – a change in job, payment system, or working conditions imposed by management In these circumstances, motivation may be reduced Motivation is only likely when a clearly perceived and usable relationship exists between performance and outcome, and the outcome is seen as a means of satisfying needs’ The key support of this

theory is that it takes a complete view of the motivational process and point out that individuals will only act when they have a realistic expectancy that their behaviour will lead to the desired outcome (Armstrong 2009, Egbu n.d)

Bose (2004) elaborated on Vroom’s theory which, clarifies the relationship between employee and organizational goals and; at the same time recognizes the differences between work and motivation Besides, this theory is consistent with the awareness that a manager’s job is to design the supporting environment for performance to take place by taking into account the various situations So Vroom’s theory is to a certain extent consistent with ‘management by objectives’ model Schwind et al (2005)

narrated a true story that serves as a good example of how the expectancy theory can

be operationalized through the concept of ‘management by objectives’:

1 *A bank manager needs to hire a teller She interviews many applicants and decides

on one who has the necessary abilities, skills, and traits She gives the teller a through briefing on what will be expected of him, and explains how his performance will be measured The teller also receives a job description that explains all the tasks he is expected to fulfill, complete with performance standards, priorities, and

accountabilities (role clarity)

The manager makes sure that for the first few days the trainee is working with an experienced teller who guides him through the routines The manager also does some roleplaying with the trainee to make sure that he knows how to react when he

encounters any angry customer (thereby developing self-confidence) She also make it very clear to him that she is always available if he needs any help, and that he can also rely on the support of his colleagues in the branch (supervisory and peer support raises self-confidence)

The manager explains to the new teller how the bank’s pay system works, and she describes the performance appraisal system and the criteria that are used to assess a teller’s performance She also discusses the performance objectives with the teller and agrees with him on some realistic goals and sets deadlines for their accomplishment During the discussion, she tries to find out what rewards are valued by the teller If, for example, it turns out that the teller is more interested in time off than in bonuses, the manager will keep this in mind for reward purposes

The main element in expectancy model is the role clarity, which affects the degree to which employees apprehend their job, objectives, and their supervisor’s expectations (Schwind et al 2005)

5 McGregor’s Theory X and theory Y 

Theory X and Theory Y were first explained by McGregor in his book, "The Human Side of Enterprise," and they refer to two styles of management authoritarian –

(Theory X) and participative (Theory Y)

If you believe that your team members dislike their work and have little motivation, then, according to McGregor, you'll likely use an authoritarian style of management This approach is very "hands-on" and usually involves micromanaging people's work

to ensure that it gets done properly McGregor called this Theory X

On the other hand, if you believe that your people take pride in their work and see it as

a challenge , then you'll more likely adopt a participative management style Managers who use this approach trust their people to take ownership of their work and do it effectively by themselves McGregor called this Theory Y

The approach that you take will have a significant impact on your ability to motivate your team members So, it's important to understand how your perceptions of what motivates them can shape your management style

We'll now take a more in-depth look at the two different theories, and discover how and when they can be useful in the workplace

Performance appraisals  and remuneration  are usually based on tangible results, such

as sales figures or product output, and are used to control and "keep tabs" on staff This style of management assumes that workers:

• Dislike their work

• Avoid responsibility and need constant direction

• Have to be controlled, forced and threatened to deliver work

• Need to be supervised at every step

• Have no incentive to work or ambition, and therefore need to be enticed by rewards to achieve goals

According to McGregor, organizations with a Theory X approach tend to have several tiers of managers and supervisors to oversee and direct workers Authority is rarely delegated, and control remains firmly centralized

Although Theory X management has largely fallen out of fashion in recent times, big organizations may find that adopting it is unavoidable due to the sheer number of people that they employ and the tight deadlines that they have to meet

Theory Y

Theory Y managers have an optimistic opinion of their people, and they use a

decentralized, participative management style This encourages a

more collaborative trust-based ,    relationship between managers and their team

members

People have greater responsibility, and managers encourage them to develop their skills and suggest improvements Appraisals are regular but, unlike in Theory X

organizations, they are used to encourage open communication rather than to control staff

Theory Y organizations also give employees frequent opportunities for promotion This style of management assumes that workers are:

• Happy to work on their own initiative

• More involved in decision making

• Self-motivated to complete their tasks

• Enjoy taking ownership  of their work

• Seek and accept responsibility, and need little direction

• View work as fulfilling and challenging

• Solve problems creatively and imaginatively

Theory Y has become more popular among organizations This reflects workers' increasing desire for more meaningful careers  that provide them with more than just money

It's also viewed by McGregor as superior to Theory X, which, he says, reduces

workers to "cogs in a machine," and likely demotivates people in the long term

6 Alderfer’s ERG Theory

C P Alderfer, an American psychologist, developed Maslow’s hierarchy of needs into a theory of his own.  

His theory suggests that there are three groups of core needs: existence (E),

relatedness (R), and growth (G) These groups are aligned with Maslow’s levels of physiological needs, social needs, and self-actualization needs, respectively. 

Existence needs concern our basic material requirements for living, which include what Maslow categorized as physiological needs such as air, sleep, food, water,

clothing, sex and shelter and safety-related needs such as health, secure employment, and property. 

Relatedness needs have to do with the importance of maintaining interpersonal

relationships These needs are based in social interactions with others and are aligned

with Maslow’s levels of love/belonging-related needs such as friendship, family and sexual intimacy and esteem-related needs such as gaining the respect of others. 

Growth needs describe our intrinsic desire for personal development These needs are aligned with the other part of Maslow’s esteem-related needs such as self-esteem, self-confidence, and achievement and self-actualization needs such as morality, creativity, problem-solving and discovery. 

Alderfer is of the opinion that when a certain category of needs is not being met,

people will redouble their efforts to fulfil needs in a lower category. 

Maslow’s theory is very rigid and it assumes that the needs follow a specific and

orderly hierarchy and unless a lower-level need is satisfied, an individual cannot proceed to the higher-level need i.e., an individual remains at a particular need level until that need is satisfied. 

Whereas, according to Alderfer’s theory, if a higher-level need is aggravated, an individual may revert to increase the satisfaction of a lower-level need This is called frustration-regression aspect of ERG theory ERG theory is very flexible as Alderfer perceived the needs as a range/variety instead of perceiving them as a hierarchy i.e.,

an individual can work on growth needs even if his existence or relatedness needs remain unsatisfied.  

For e.g., when growth needs aggravate, then an individual might be motivated to

accomplish the relatedness need and if there are issues in accomplishing relatedness needs, then he might be motivated by the existence needs Hence in this manner, frustration or aggravation can result in regression to a lower-level need  

Another example could be, if someone’s self-esteem is suffering, he or she will invest

more effort in the relatedness category of needs. 

Implications of the ERG Theory 

All managers must understand that an employee has various needs that must be

satisfied at the same time According to the ERG theory, if the manager focuses solely

on one need at a time, then this will not effectively motivate the employee The

frustration-regression aspect of ERG Theory has an added effect on workplace

motivation For e.g., if an employee is not provided with growth and advancement

opportunities in an organization, then he or she might revert to related needs such as socializing needs.  

To meet those socializing needs, if the environment or circumstances do not permit,

he might revert to the need for money to fulfill those socializing needs By the time the manager realizes and discovers this, they will take more immediate steps to fulfill those needs which are frustrated until such time that the employee can again pursue growth. 

Chapter 3 : Risk Analysis of De-Motivated Employees in Organizations

Employees who lack motivation in the work places are a risk factor when it comes to executing day to day operations of the business Some employees are engaged in company equipment and tools on a daily basis, some of which need maximum

attention and safety when using So it is the responsibility of the organization to have

a well-balanced workforce of employees and their emotions as far as work issues are concerned. theories of motivation

1 Operational Risks

Absenteeism: Van der Merwe and Miller (1988,) cite a definition used by the United States Department of Labour which defines absenteeism as the failure of workers to report on the job when they are scheduled to work Regarding this definition, non-attendance such as vacation leave, military service, block release leave and suspension

do not qualify as absenteeism and should be completely excluded from the ensuing absenteeism analysis process Levy (2006, p.412) provides a more comprehensive definition in describing absenteeism as the chronic or continued failure of the

employees to attend for duty, especially when the pattern of absenteeism suggests that either the absence is avoidable, or that the employees failed in their duty to the

employer in accordance with their contract of employment or common law duty to attend the place of work regularly and reliably. theories of motivation

• Poor quality work: In terms of quality outputs and results, disgruntled employees will not perform at their best hence produce shoddy products or services that will not

be competitive in the market thereby costing an organization

• Toxic Work environment: Cordial and mutual relationship among employees will be disrupted Employee’s behaviour and attitudes will be affected since their moral is down

2 Personnel Risks

It is the desire of organization to keep their staff for longer periods of time

Organisations spend a lot of money and time in training their employees High staff turnover due to unhappy employees will cost the organization of all the spent

resources This will result in disruptions of organization’s operations as replacement

of staff will be needed as well as more costs of another training for new employees Strategic leadership is the critical point in achieving companies objectives The

negative side of leaders can jeopardize the firm’s operations (Hogan and Hogan

2001)

3 Reputational Risks

Dissatisfaction: The morale of the entire office can be brought down when one

employee lacks motivation Employees who are not satisfied with their job might resort to quitting; therefore, this scenario should be avoided The employees are to perform to their abilities in order to satisfy their customers and to retain them all the time It is very easy for customers to spread word of mouth about a company that they are not satisfied with its performance, and the information can be spread very rapidly which can ruin the company’s reputation Leadership is very vital because according

to Stankiewicz-Mroz (2015), change in human resources will be expected, as well as re-evaluating the paradigms A managerial skill will be needed to pull people together for the reputation of the company

4 Environmental Risks

Employees who are not happy with the organization will manifest their dissatisfaction

to the outside world Customers are bound to experience unwelcoming acts of

aggression and bitterness emanating from unhappy employees Poor customer service will be the order of the day among employees which will end up tarnishing the name

of the business A company is bound to even follow international regulations not only

it domestic laws (Darroux and Xixiang, 2013), even those that impact on the

5 Health Risks

Employees who are not entirely happy at work can have health problems including stress Stress related illnesses will jeopardize wellness efforts in the work place of keeping healthy employees Stressed and de-motivated employees may cause

accidents at work when using machineries and other dangerous tools Work stress and other psychosocial factors are recognized worldwide as a major challenge to workers’ health and the health of organizations All levels in the organization are be responsible for the safety of risks in the company and help with avoidance of such risks (Tasmin and Salehudin, 2016). theories of motivation

6 Financial Risks

Employees who are highly motivated will always put their best efforts in their work and help the company to be productive Production at work will bear more output in which it will be able to generate much needed income If employees are happy

absenteeism’s will be reduced thereby saving costs for their organisations Taylor (2009 and 2012) agree that financial crisis can be because of economic circumstances, making it extremely difficult for business to operate This then will extend to

difficulties in acquisitions Again according to Peter and Daniel (2013), Political influence, outside the context of deficit accommodation, can also provide

accommodation for specific fiscal policy initiatives.theories of motivation

Chapter 4: HR manager responsibilities and duties

Some General Roles of HR

HR manager plays a pivotal role to achieve organizational objectives It is human resource/work people who perform task and achieve company goals So, human resource is a must in an organization To get the right number and right kind of human resource at the right time of company need and to motivate, prepare and develop the human resource to perform task, the person in charge of such job, i.e., human resource manager is no less important in an organization than human

resource at work HR manager is a guide, philosopher, friend, path-finder, path

identifier, problem solver, competence maker of the human resource

Role of HR Manager in an Organisation I.

Role of HR Manager – Top 18 Pivotal Role to Achieve Organizational Objectives

HR manager plays a pivotal role to achieve organizational objectives It is human resource/work people who perform task and achieve company goals So, human resource is a must in an organization To get the right number and right kind of human resource at the right time of company need and to motivate, prepare and develop the human resource to perform task, the person in charge of such job, i.e., human resource manager is no less important in an organization than human

resource at work HR manager is a guide, philosopher, friend, path-finder, path identifier, problem solver, competence maker of the human resource Ulrich

(1997) has developed a model of multiple roles for HR professionals who focus ranges from long-term strategic to short-term operational, and activities range from managing processes (HR tools and systems) to managing people Whatever the role HR manager plays, it helps growth and development of the people at work and

workers’ to help the transformational process of dynamism

2 Pro-Acting Role:

HR manager ascertains the probable areas of conflict and differences between workers and management, identifies the factors that may create problems in future, forecasts the extent, quantum of loss that may occur and the department may suffer loss and takes remedial measures beforehand by way of developing organizational culture, climate, introducing system, mechanism, and does not leave any room to crop up

problems, grievances