Motivating to Perform in the Workplace Work

Motivating to Perform in the Workplace

Work Based Assignment

Worked Based Assignment M3.13 -- Motivating to Perform in the Workplace

Worked Based Assignment M3.13 -- Motivating to Perform in the Workplace

Like any other manufacturing or services industry, construction industry is also exposed to certain market challenges and a stiff competition among its participants. In order to stay competitive and ensure a sustainable future, construction companies have to strive for their continuous financial growth and high level of operational performance. The biggest part in the success of a company is played by its most precious asset -- the Human Capital. In a construction industry, human resource may be composed of personnel from various fields and specialties. Generally, a medium size construction company employs lower level laborers to highly experienced engineers in its development and construction projects. The number of employees and their tenure of employment depend upon the scale and complexity of different projects which the company undertakes from time to time (Rounds & Segner, 2011).

A construction company may assess the performance of its employees through formal or informal means. Formal means may include TQM practices, Cost Control and Budgetary Objectives, Response to technological changes, Management by Objectives (MBO), etc. Total Quality Management (TQM) is the most effective way of assessing the organizational performance. It is basically a process by which the Management ensures the highest quality of business operations through various work-related tools and techniques. Through TQM, Managers can assess the overall performance of a particular department. But the limitation of this process is that it does not give assessment of performance of individual employees. In order to improve its value, Managers can set small but attainable targets to every individual who can be answerable about his progress towards those targets (Rounds & Segner, 2011).

Another formal way to assessing employees' performance is Cost Control and Budgetary Objectives. In order to save business costs and make the business operations more cost-efficient, Managers in a construction company limit the budget to every job task in a department. It restricts the employee who performs that job task to expend the organizational resources according to the available budget. Thus, an employee who accomplishes a certain target in lesser budget than his co-worker is considered a good and efficient performer (Rounds & Segner, 2011). Management by Objectives (MBO) is yet another formal mean of performance appraisal. In this system, Managers also involve the lower level employees in the decision making process. Those employees who are active in the Management meetings and give logical recommendations and feedback are considered better performers than those who do not take this system seriously (Robbins, Judge, & Sanghi, 2007).

These systems are only effective when employees are made to believe that these are for the betterment of the whole organizational setup. In order to improve the MBO process, Managers can start it at the lower level and proceed towards the higher level in order to develop the interest of all kinds of employees in the process. In addition to formal means, Managers also assess their employees' performance through informal means. These include; efficiency at work, punctuality, attendance, effective communication, etc. These informal means may not be conversed with the employees but they have proved to be more effective means of performance appraisal than many formal means.

The behavior of employees at the workplace mainly depends upon their job satisfaction and level of motivation. Job satisfaction may come from interest in the work, convenience in reaching the workplace, pressure at work, work environment, behavior of managers and co-workers, etc. On the other hand, level of motivation depends upon certain factors from job satisfaction and a composition of monetary and non-monetary benefits (Robbins, Judge, & Sanghi, 2007). The studies of Dr. Geert Hofstede give deep insights into the implications of organizational behavior, diversity management, and cultural differences when business managers deal with the organizational members that vary with respect to job satisfaction and level of motivation. The Hofstede studies on cultural dimensions describe the human relations in five different ways; Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Long-Term Orientation. In order to improve the performance of employees, managers can mold these dimensions according to the personality and preferences of every individual employee (Robbins, Judge, & Sanghi, 2007). For instance, individualism may be advantageous for an employee who takes challenging tasks and likes to achieve targets alone.