2. Content Perspectives on Motivation

Read the following scenario and apply your knowledge of Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation to answer the questions.

Management at Work

Harry’s Grill is a popular local eatery. Recently, Harry noticed that sales were starting to slip a bit. In general, employees are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied—they tend to have neutral satisfaction levels. Harry has decided to try some new management techniques to see if he can increase employee satisfaction and, he hopes, sales.

Harry asks each employee what kind of work is most interesting to him or her. He assigns new tasks based on employee interests. This is an example of a    .

Harry decides to raise employee wages. Each employee will receive a 15% increase in their base pay. This is an example of a    .

Apply your knowledge of individual human needs that are important in organizations to match each example in the following table with its related need.

Example

Need

Sean, your manager, wants everyone to like him, so he brings lunch for everyone in the office on Fridays.    

When a student asked a question, Professor Smith said, “I’m in charge of this classroom. You’ll ask questions when I permit you to!”    

Musashi, a McDonald’s crew member, rushes to beat the store record for drive-through service speed.    

You couldn’t ask for a nicer boss than Ginny. Ginny is always willing to bend the rules when someone has a problem and will do anything possible to help her employees feel satisfied at work. Ginny rarely tells people that they have done something wrong. Instead, she tries to cover up the problem so that others won’t notice it. Ginny is likely to have a high need for:

 

Achievement

Affiliation

Equity

Power