MODULE 11

Employee Morale and Motivation

By: Ms. Desiree G. Fabreo, MSHRM
WHAT IS MORALE?

Morale is the mental attitude which makes the individual perform his/her
work either willingly and enthusiastically or poorly and reluctantly.
Employee morale is…
 A mental attitude
 It cannot be seen
 But it is manifested through manners and reactions to his/her job, work
conditions, the company policies and programs, colleagues, immediate
boss, pay, and etc.
Ꝍ Every person has different (personal) reasons for working. But we all work to obtain something we need such as pay,
career, recognition, opportunities, etc. And these impact our morale, motivation, and the quality of life. To build
positive impact, managers must treat employees as if they matter – because employees matter.

Ꝍ Individuals react and respond differently to the conditions of work. While some employees may be highly satisfied with
a particular job, other employees may find the same job conditions as extremely dissatisfying.

Ꝍ The important issues are; how will HR influence the level of employee morale? Will it increase or decrease as a result
of different recruiting strategy? A better benefit package? A new training program? Or some other changes in HR
practices?
Ꝍ Low Morale contributes to labor problem, and attempts to organize unions, excessive employee turnover*, labor
grievances, and organizational climate**.
* (turnover means, employees resignations and replacements)
**(organizational climate means the MOOD or repeated patterns of behaviour, attitudes, and feelings of
employees in an organization. Example: friendly climate, competitive climate, dissatisfied climate)

Ꝍ Grievances, absenteeism, and turnover are often used as measures of employee morale. (When many employees
leave the company for no reason at all, then perhaps it is because of low morale).
WHAT IS MOTIVATION?

Motivation is the internal condition that activates behaviour and gives it

direction; energizes and directs goal-oriented behavior.
The heart of motivation… (or ways to motivate people)
 Is to give people what they really want most from work.
 The more people’s want is provided for, the more you can expect for
what you want from them such as ; productivity, quality, and self-service.

Motivation explains why people do what they do.

Motivated employees work harder to achieve organizational objectives.
Are You Motivated?
What motivates you?
History of Motivation
• It was said that in the past, that MONEY is a motivator to work harder.
But Managers realized this is not entirely effective. So that the field of
Psychology find ways for new methods of motivation.
• It was in 1923, when Elton Mayo made clear that based on his experiment
in Philadelphia Textile Mill, he concluded that the cause of low
productivity was the lack of opportunity for the Spinners (or workers) to
communicate with one another.
• Financial or cash incentives given failed to increase productivity.
• Thus, Elton Mayo introduced the two (2) ten-minute breaks for the
Spinners and this produced immediate results: their morale improved and
output increased tremendously.
• Thus, a new era of partnership between the managers and psychology
began by putting emphasis on the psychology and well-being of the
worker.
The Era of Industrial Psychology
• Douglas McGregor, in the 1950’s was influenced by Elton Mayo.
• He changed the old beliefs of managers that worker’s duty was only to work
hard and obey orders and get their salary.
• McGregor opened the doors for managers to realize that Organization and
People need each other which means that;
Organization needs ideas, energy, and talent; people need careers,
salaries, and opportunities.

Performance-based Rewards
Means, that when rewards are associated with higher levels of performance, employees
will presumably be motivated to work harder to achieve those rewards.
Factors Influencing Motivation
1. Individual Differences – people have different characteristics (personal needs, values, attitudes, interests, and
abilities) that they bring in the organization.
Example: One employee may be motivated by money and go for instant high-paying commissions such as Salesman, Real Estate Seller
instead of being a secured regular employee earning low salary.
2. Job Characteristics – this refers to the aspects of the position and its challenges and limitations.

Example: One employee may be motivated with a position that requires variety of skills high and level of thinking, deadlines and freedom.
While another employee may be motivated by routine work such as typing, filing and is guided/supervised closely by a boss.
3. Organizational Practices – this refers to Company rules, HR policies, managerial practices, and compensation-benefits-
and reward systems which can attract new employees and make existing employees happy.
Ꝍ The job must be challenging and also be compensated well according to level of skills of the employee.
Ꝍ Employees who work difficult jobs must be paid more than those doing easy jobs.
 Suggestions to Motivate Employees
1. Recognize Individual Differences
2. Match People’s skills & experience with Jobs.
High performers want autonomy, thus, running a unit within
a larger business will be attractive to them.
3. Use Goal-setting.
High performers are challenged with goals and feedbacks on
how well they are doing.
4. Make Sure that Goals are Attainable.
A challenging but hard to achieve goals will be demotivating.
5. Give Individualize Rewards.
A free vacation travel with accommodation & pocket money
may not be attractive for those who has fear of travelling.
6. Link rewards to performance.
Reward high-performing employee and not on favouritism.
7. Check the system for Equity.
Salaries, rewards, and responsibilities, and outcomes must
be based on experience, ability, efforts, and inputs.
8. Don’t Ignore Money.
Cash rewards, bonuses, and incentives are great motivator
9. Reward Only for Surpassing Business Goals
Give incentives, increases, and bonuses when the
organization achieve its goals.
10. Encourage Team Results.
Encourages working together rather than just thinking of self.
11. Give Extraordinary rewards.
The award must be something that awardees would love and
cherish to keep. If cash, it must be 20% or more of the base pay.
We shall discuss only the Content Approach

Content Approach to Motivation

Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Motivation
This is the best known
Theory of Motivation.

Maslow hypothesized that

people have a complex set of five
categories of needs which he
arranged in order of priority (see
pyramid figure).

Maslow suggested that, as a

person satisfies each level of needs,
his motivation shifts to satisfying
the next higher level of needs.
 Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Physiological Needs – are food, clothing, shelter, and other physical requirements.
FIRST STAGE
Example: A hungry person is motivated to find food rather than seek recognition for
achievements. Majority of people, young and old, are in this stage & never got out.
• Security or Safety Needs – protection from physical and emotional harm.
2ND STAGE
Example: Majority desire to have a stable paying job, with medical & retirement benefits.
• Affiliation or Social Needs – desire for affection, belongingness, acceptance, love, and friendship.
3RD STAGE
Example: People enjoy working well with others, have love partner, and join clubs
4TH STAGE • Esteem Needs – desire for self-respect, a sense of achievement, status, recognition, and attention
Example: People want public recognition of their achievement to build pride and prestige
• Self-actualization – desire for personal growth to achieve one’s potential and self-fulfillment.
FINAL STAGE
Example: Few people reach this level. But they are those who are no longer concerned with the
lower needs. They aim to be a better person & aspire for selflessness such as following God’s
will, serving others, the community, and the rest of the world.
This theory applies when organization helps employees achieve the first 2 lower levels so that the 3 higher level needs
would not influence on-the-job behaviour. Thus, manager must continually re-evaluate what motivates the employees.
End of Module 11
Employee Morale and Motivation