Motivating Employees

1. Critical Definition of Motivation

Motivation is formally defined as the process by which a person's efforts are energized, directed,
and sustained toward attaining a goal (Robbins & Coulter, 2018, p. 590). This definition is built
upon three essential and interdependent elements:
• Energy: A measure of intensity, drive, and vigor. A motivated person works hard and
exerts significant effort. However, high levels of effort must also be of the right quality
— effort that benefits the organization rather than being misdirected.
• Direction: Effort must be channeled toward and consistent with the goals of the
organization. It is not enough simply to work hard; the work must contribute to the
desired outcomes. Without direction, even intense effort can be wasted.
• Persistence: Employees must sustain their effort over time. Motivation is not a
momentary phenomenon; it requires continued commitment to working toward
organizational goals even when facing challenges or setbacks.
Critically, motivation should not be viewed as a fixed personal trait. Individuals differ
significantly in their motivational drives, and the same person's motivation may vary across
different situations, tasks, and work contexts. Effective managers recognize this complexity and
tailor motivational strategies to meet the distinct needs and values of each employee. Research
reveals that approximately 68% of U.S. employees and 87% globally are disengaged at work —
a stark reminder that motivation cannot be assumed and must be actively cultivated.

2. Theories of Motivation
2.1 Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory
Abraham Maslow proposed that within every individual exists a hierarchy of five needs arranged
in a pyramid structure. He argued that each level must be substantially satisfied before the next
level becomes a motivating force. This theory separates needs into two categories: lower-order
needs (physiological and safety), predominantly satisfied externally, and higher-order needs
(social, esteem, and self-actualization), satisfied internally.
 • Physiological Needs: Basic survival requirements including food, water, shelter, and
physical comfort. These represent the foundational level of the hierarchy.
• Safety Needs: Security and protection from physical and emotional harm. In a work
context, this includes job security, safe working conditions, and benefits such as health
insurance.
• Social Needs: The human need for affection, belonging, friendship, and acceptance.
Managers can address this through team-building, inclusive work cultures, and
encouraging workplace relationships.
• Esteem Needs: Internal factors (self-respect, autonomy, achievement) and external
factors (recognition, status, attention). Satisfied through promotions, public
acknowledgment, and meaningful responsibilities.
• Self-Actualization Needs: The drive to grow, achieve one's full potential, and fulfill
one's capabilities. At this level, individuals seek challenging, meaningful work that
enables them to express creativity and realize personal ambitions.
Critical Evaluation: Although Maslow's hierarchy was widely recognized in the 1960s–70s for
its intuitive logic, it lacks empirical support. Multiple research studies failed to validate the rigid
hierarchical progression. Moreover, the model has a North American cultural bias — in countries
with strong uncertainty avoidance (e.g., Japan, Mexico), security needs may take precedence
over physiological needs, while in nurturing cultures (e.g., Scandinavia), social needs may be
foundational. Despite its limitations, the theory remains valuable as a conceptual framework for
understanding the diversity of human needs.
2.2 Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory (Two-Factor Theory)
Frederick Herzberg's two-factor theory proposes that job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are
produced by two distinct and separate sets of factors. Herzberg's research asked employees to
describe situations in which they felt exceptionally good or bad about their jobs. His key finding
was that the factors causing satisfaction were fundamentally different from those causing
dissatisfaction.
Motivators (Intrinsic Factors) — Lead to Satisfaction:
• Achievement — successfully completing a challenging task
• Recognition — being acknowledged for one's contributions
• The work itself — intrinsically meaningful and engaging tasks
• Responsibility — control over one's own work
• Advancement and growth opportunities
Hygiene Factors (Extrinsic Factors) — Prevent Dissatisfaction But Do Not Motivate:
• Company policy and administration
• Supervision and interpersonal relationships
• Salary and working conditions
• Job security and personal life
A central insight of Herzberg's theory is that the opposite of satisfaction is not dissatisfaction, but
rather 'no satisfaction.' Similarly, the opposite of dissatisfaction is 'no dissatisfaction.' This dual
continuum means that eliminating hygiene problems will prevent employees from being
unhappy, but will not motivate them. True motivation requires the presence of motivators. This
insight has profoundly influenced modern job design practices, particularly job enrichment —
the vertical expansion of a job that gives employees more autonomy, responsibility, and
feedback.
Critical Evaluation: Although Herzberg's methodology has been criticized for oversimplification
and for not accounting for individual differences, his theory retains significant practical value.
Research across multiple cultures suggests that intrinsic motivators — particularly interesting
and meaningful work — may represent near-universal motivational drivers. His framework
directly underpins modern approaches to employee engagement and job enrichment.
2.3 McClelland's Three-Needs Theory
David McClelland proposed that three acquired (not innate) needs serve as major motivators in
the workplace. Unlike Maslow's universal hierarchy, these needs are shaped through life
experience and cultural conditioning, and individuals differ significantly in the strength of each
need.
 • Need for Achievement (nAch): The drive to succeed and excel relative to a set of
standards. High achievers prefer tasks with personal responsibility, rapid and
unambiguous feedback, and moderate risk — not too easy, not impossibly difficult. They
are motivated by accomplishment itself rather than by external rewards. Importantly, a
high nAch does not necessarily predict good management, as effective managers must
motivate others rather than focusing solely on personal achievement.
• Need for Power (nPow): The desire to influence and control the behavior of others.
Research indicates that the most effective managers tend to have a high need for power,
as it drives them to create impact and lead teams toward organizational goals. This need
is associated with competitiveness, assertiveness, and a preference for leadership roles.
• Need for Affiliation (nAff): The desire for friendly, close, and cooperative interpersonal
relationships. High-affiliation individuals are motivated by collaboration, belonging, and
social harmony. While valuable in team environments, overly high affiliation needs in
managers may compromise objective decision-making in the interest of maintaining
relationships.
Critical Evaluation: McClelland's research demonstrated that the need for achievement can be
trained and developed — employees can be placed in environments with personal responsibility,
feedback, and moderate risk to stimulate their achievement drive. The theory's recognition that
motivational needs are learned and culturally shaped makes it particularly useful for cross-
cultural management contexts. The three needs are typically assessed using the Thematic
Apperception Test (TAT), where individuals write stories based on ambiguous pictures, which
trained interpreters then analyze for achievement, power, and affiliation themes.

Foundations of Controlling
1. What Is Controlling and Why Is It Important?
Controlling is the final yet critically important step in the management process. It is formally
defined as the process of monitoring, comparing, and correcting work performance
(Robbins & Coulter, 2018, p. 632). All managers must engage in controlling regardless of
whether their units appear to be performing well, because without evaluation, they cannot truly
know whether organizational goals are being met efficiently and effectively.
Control is important for three primary reasons:
• Accountability to Planning: Controlling closes the loop between planning and
execution. Without monitoring outcomes, managers have no mechanism to determine
whether strategies are working or whether goals have been achieved. Control provides
the essential feedback that informs future planning.
• Enabling Employee Empowerment: Many managers hesitate to delegate authority
because they fear accountability for errors. An effective control system provides
information and feedback on employee performance, minimizing the risk of problems
and giving managers the confidence to empower employees with greater autonomy.
• Protecting Organizational Assets: In today's complex environment, organizations face
threats including natural disasters, financial fraud, workplace violence, cybersecurity
 breaches, and global supply chain disruptions. Comprehensive controls and contingency
plans help safeguard assets and ensure operational continuity.

2. The Three-Step Control Process

The control process is a systematic, three-step approach that assumes performance standards —
derived from the planning process — already exist. These steps are sequential and
interdependent.

Step 1: Measuring Actual Performance

The first step requires gathering information about actual performance. Managers can measure
performance through four main approaches:
• Personal Observations: Direct, firsthand observation of employees and work activities.
Provides unfiltered information but is time-consuming and may introduce personal bias.
• Statistical Reports: Quantitative data such as sales figures, productivity metrics, error
rates, and financial reports. Easy to visualize and compare over time, but may overlook
qualitative or contextual factors.
• Oral Reports: Information gathered through conversations, meetings, and presentations.
Fast and allows two-way interaction, but subject to selective filtering and cannot be easily
documented.
• Written Reports: Formal documentation of performance data. Comprehensive, formal,
and easy to archive and retrieve, though more time-consuming to prepare.
A critical consideration is what to measure, not just how. Selecting the wrong performance
criteria can cause serious organizational problems, as employees will direct their behavior
toward whatever is being measured. Criteria must align with true organizational goals.
Step 2: Comparing Actual Performance Against the Standard
The second step involves evaluating the degree to which actual performance deviates from the
established standard. Since some variation is inevitable in all work activities, managers must
determine an acceptable range of variation. Deviations outside this range — whether above or
below the standard — require managerial attention.
Critically, both underperformance and overperformance may signal issues. For example,
consistently exceeding sales targets for a product might indicate underestimated demand, while
falling significantly short may indicate an unrealistic goal or a performance problem requiring
corrective intervention.
Step 3: Taking Managerial Action
Based on the comparison in Step 2, managers choose from three possible courses of action:
• Do Nothing: When performance is within the acceptable range and goals are being met,
no intervention is required.
• Correct Actual Performance: When performance falls outside acceptable variation,
managers must intervene. This may involve immediate corrective action (fixing the
problem at once) or basic corrective action (investigating the root cause before
implementing a solution). Effective managers prefer basic corrective action, as
addressing root causes prevents recurrence.
• Revise the Standard: When repeated performance deviations suggest that the standard
itself is unrealistic — either too low or too high — the standard may need adjustment.
Managers must exercise caution here, distinguishing between genuinely unattainable
standards and performance problems being attributed to the goal.

3. Feedforward, Concurrent, and Feedback Controls

Controls can be implemented at three different points in relation to the work activity: before,
during, and after. Each type serves a distinct purpose in the overall control system.

3.1 Feedforward Control

Feedforward control — also called preventive control — takes place before the work activity is
performed. It is the most desirable type of control because it anticipates and prevents problems
rather than correcting them after damage has occurred.
Examples include: pre-hiring employee screening to ensure qualified candidates are selected;
quality control protocols put in place before production begins (e.g., McDonald's training
Russian farmers in quality potato cultivation before opening its Moscow location); and scheduled
preventive maintenance on critical equipment to detect potential failures before they occur.
The key advantage of feedforward control is that it eliminates problems at the source. However,
it requires accurate, timely information about potential future performance — which is not
always easy to obtain — making it the least commonly used type in practice.
3.2 Concurrent Control
Concurrent control takes place while a work activity is in progress. It enables managers to
identify and correct problems in real time, before they escalate or result in significant losses.
The most prevalent form of concurrent control is direct supervision, also known as management
by walking around (MBWA), where managers actively observe and interact with employees in
the work area. Technology also facilitates concurrent control — for example, Google's business
product management team monitors online advertising metrics hour by hour, adjusting strategies
in real time based on performance data.
Concurrent control is particularly valuable for first-line managers, as early detection of
deviations prevents minor issues from escalating into costly problems.
3.3 Feedback Control
Feedback control is the most commonly used type and takes place after the work activity has
been completed. While this means that problems are only identified after they have occurred —
resulting in some degree of waste or damage — feedback control offers two important
advantages:
• Planning Validation: It provides meaningful information on whether planning efforts
were effective. Small variances suggest planning was on target; large variances signal a
need to revise future plans.
• Motivational Value: Employees want to know how well they are performing. Feedback
satisfies this need, reinforcing positive behaviors and identifying areas for improvement.
This aligns with the performance feedback dimension of goal-setting theory.
In many operational domains — particularly financial controls — feedback is the only viable
control option, as performance can only be meaningfully assessed after results are recorded.

4. Information Controls
Managers approach information controls in two interconnected ways: (1) as a tool to help control
other organizational activities, and (2) as an organizational area that must itself be controlled to
protect sensitive data and organizational assets.
4.1 Management Information Systems (MIS)
A Management Information System (MIS) is a structured system — increasingly computer-
based — that provides managers with the relevant, processed information they need on a regular
basis to monitor and manage organizational performance. Unlike raw data, an MIS processes and
analyzes information to make it directly actionable for decision-making.
An effective MIS enables managers to monitor actual performance in real time, compare
outcomes against standards, identify deviations, and determine appropriate corrective actions.
The critical value of an MIS lies not in the volume of data it contains, but in its ability to deliver
the right information to the right manager at the right time.
4.2 Controlling Information Security
In the digital age, information security has become one of the most critical control challenges for
organizations. Data breaches, cyberattacks, unauthorized access, and information leaks pose
significant threats. Managers must implement comprehensive security controls to protect
organizational information assets. These controls include:
• Data encryption to protect sensitive information in transit and at rest
• System firewalls and network security protocols to prevent unauthorized access
• Regular data backups to ensure operational continuity in the event of system failure
• Employee training and awareness programs regarding information security
responsibilities
• Clear policies on acceptable use of email, internet, and personal devices in the workplace
Information controls should be monitored and updated regularly, as the threat landscape evolves
continuously. The increasing prevalence of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs and
remote work arrangements has further complicated information security, requiring organizations
to balance employee privacy with the legitimate need to protect organizational data.

5. Conclusion
The theories of motivation examined in this assignment — Maslow's hierarchy of needs,
Herzberg's two-factor theory, and McClelland's three-needs theory — collectively underscore
that effective employee motivation requires a nuanced understanding of diverse individual needs,
values, and contexts. No single theory provides a complete picture, and managers must draw
critically on multiple frameworks to tailor their motivational approaches.
Similarly, the controlling function represents far more than mere surveillance of employee
activity. The three-step control process — measuring, comparing, and acting — provides a
systematic framework for maintaining organizational performance. Feedforward, concurrent, and
feedback controls each play a complementary role in a comprehensive control system, while
effective information controls safeguard the data infrastructure upon which organizational
decision-making depends.
Together, motivation and control represent two sides of effective management: the human
dimension of inspiring and directing employee effort, and the structural dimension of monitoring
and correcting performance to ensure organizational goals are achieved.

References
Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. (2018). Management (14th ed.). Pearson Education.
Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality. Harper & Row.
Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., & Snyderman, B. B. (1959). The motivation to work. John Wiley &
Sons.
McClelland, D. C. (1961). The achieving society. Van Nostrand Reinhold.
McGregor, D. (1960). The human side of enterprise. McGraw-Hill.