Management Influence on Organizational Structure and Employee Motivation

Introduction: Organizational Structure and Company Success

The organizational structure of a company is key to determining its success or failure upon entry to a specific market or niche. Since any start-up's organization and operation heavily depend on the management and employees, the choice of staff can and will have tremendous impact on the culture and layout of the business in general. Employees will always find it difficult to work in a company whose structure is not aligned with the business goals and mission.

Most small businesses' structures depend heavily on the overall size of the business in question. Entrepreneurs working with small proprietorships will have only a couple of employees at their disposal. A structured organizational hierarchy is not mandatory for managing operations in such a business.

Larger organizations, on the other hand, must run elaborate structures to control operations, manage employees, and ensure proper communication within and outside their ranks. For instance, a large restaurant will function effectively only if it has specific managers: kitchen managers, bar managers, floor managers, and a general manager. The division of work ensures that someone in authority is present to oversee the different operational elements of the restaurant. This level of structure is not a requirement for a small hotel or boutique operation.

A company's level of development always determines how much it needs in terms of organizational structure. For young companies still gathering clients, growth and building a strong client base is a priority. As a business owner, you must invest in a structure focused on convincing potential customers that your company is the best and implement quality assurance to keep newly won customers satisfied. At this stage, the business owner typically maintains direct control of daily activities and can easily monitor and oversee company operations.

The midlife of a company will focus on daily business decisions and sustaining growth. This means the company needs a more complex mix of specialties than was required at inception. However, how you plan to grow your company always has a great impact on the chosen organizational structure. If you plan for an aggressive marketing strategy, you will need a stronger marketing department and be willing to let other aspects lag your marketing efforts. An alternative, more balanced approach focusing on even development might result in slower growth but will require less intensive resource allocation.

Technology and Data-Driven Management

Technological solutions that give both employees and managers accurate, actionable data make decision-making a simpler task. Employees can make more decisions per unit time without overworking themselves. Most decision assistance systems gather relevant information and store it in a networked warehouse. By providing managers with an interface and computational power, such a system can transform raw data into strong decision-making tools. Since the system is networked, managers can collaborate and make unit decisions faster.

The main goal of these information systems is to eliminate data silos—multiple, often redundant data stores available only to specific departments. With a unified data store and teleconferencing capability, managers can plan human resources better and reduce the cost of storing and accessing redundant data.

A good example of such a solution is the Deloitte consultancy firm's solution that allows employees to post profiles and work history. Potential users can interact with this system to identify people with the right skills to provide advice on a specific matter from within the company rather than hiring expensive external counsel. This approach saves both time and resources while building internal expertise networks.

Organizing Information and Delegation

A greater part of modern organizations use standard documents to enhance consistency in information gathering. These documents include titles and dates to differentiate them from previous versions in the same series. With the advent of computers and powerful information management systems, the automation of such tasks has become standard practice.

Most organizations need a wide range of reports to run efficiently. These include financial reports, project reports, and status reports. These reports help monitor who is doing what, when they are doing it, and when they should complete the task. This is crucial for implementing effective delegation, which is essential for getting things done when you have multiple employees.

Delegation has become one of the greatest tools of management influence—a leading rather than controlling activity. Delegation involves giving an employee the responsibility of completing a task and providing all the authority needed to attain and use the resources necessary to achieve the goal. It is up to the employee to decide how the task will be handled; the manager is interested primarily in receiving the end result. However, the person allocating the task bears the responsibility of ensuring that it is done correctly and on time.

Managing Organizational Change

Communication is not always about the bare information transmitted when you speak to employers, employees, or colleagues. People instigating changes ought to explain why the change is inevitable. This is crucial since the success of the plan depends heavily on adoption and full support of the decision by all company employees.

With such an approach, staff will contribute to making the change work rather than leaving it all to management. However, it is up to the team leader to identify any problems in a plan and address them as soon as possible. Sitting back and letting such problems remain unattended is a sure way to kill the success rate of the proposed change. Since many middle managers have experienced multiple organizational changes, they may be rigid and resistant to new propositions. It is up to the change sponsor to motivate these managers into adopting the changes.

Every change made in an organization will be different. You must identify how different the changes you propose are. By understanding this, you will be better positioned to determine the right methodology for implementing the change. Consider these crucial factors when putting your changes into play:

In this way, you will identify the people most affected by the change and edit your plans to accommodate them better. Those who will experience minor change need not be engaged fully, while those at the core of the change must be part of the transition. People will never be willing to leave their comfort zones easily. You need proof that your solution will provide them with a better environment.

Motivational Theories in Practice

Multiple motivational theories inform how modern managers structure organizations and incentive systems. A central principle is that employees who are adequately motivated to perform will be more productive, more engaged and feel more invested in their work. When employees feel these things, it helps both them and their managers be more successful. The following theories provide frameworks for understanding and applying motivation in organizational settings.

David McClelland built on Abraham Maslow's ideas and developed a theory focusing on three motivation receptors evident in all human beings: the need for improvement, the need for affiliation, and the desire for power. McClelland's Learned Theory suggests that different people manifest these basic wants differently depending on their dominant motivator. Unlike innate drives, McClelland argued that these motivators are learned through culture, environment, and life experiences.

With this theory, managers can identify the dominant motivator in each team member and develop strategies that feed each employee's passion appropriately. Those driven by the need for improvement want achievable challenges. Those in the affiliation category work best in groups. Power-motivated employees will work hard to gain promotions and increased authority.

Dr. Sirota's theory addresses how to re-motivate frustrated, indifferent, and non-cooperating employees without relying on the standard approaches of promotions, bonuses, or transfers. According to his book The Enthusiastic Employee, the best way to motivate employees is by giving them what they desire most. The three factors of his theory state that:

Maslow suggested that every successful action must have powerful motivation. In his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation and subsequent book Motivation and Personality, Maslow proposed the hierarchy of needs concept. The theory suggests that human beings are motivated to achieve basic needs before moving on to fulfill other advanced needs.

The Maslow hierarchy of needs is a pyramid with tiered needs. The precedence of different human needs changes as one progresses up the pyramid. Understanding where a specific employee is on the pyramid is key to delivering the right motivation to that individual.

Contentment or lack of it at the workplace comes from many factors, not merely as an oppositional reaction to the absence of positive factors. This is the pioneering thought put forward by Herzberg. In 1959, Herzberg elaborated his theory by indicating that multiple factors drive people at their workplaces. However, lack of motivation does not result simply from the absence of these factors. The same factors that drive one to take on a particular job lead to job contentment. Additionally, those that cause dissatisfaction are those that compel one to fulfill their job description.

Herzberg's main point was that contentment does not last. He proved that people continually work toward achieving what he called "hygiene." Lack of hygiene brings dissatisfaction, but this feeling immediately disappears once it is achieved. Firms suffering from poor management often do not realize that solving hygiene needs does not motivate personnel. Staff derives true motivation when they are allowed to pursue and satisfy their real motivators: achievement, advancement, and development. These bring about more meaning in life and a deeper level of satisfaction.

Hygiene factors that Herzberg identified in the workplace included policy, working conditions, earnings, employer-employee relationships, company benefits, rank, security, relationships with coworkers, and private life. True motivators in the workplace included achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement, and the work itself.

Herzberg's analysis of salary and compensation is particularly complex. He stated that money does not lead to satisfaction in the same manner that achievement and recognition do as primary motivators. Instead, salary featured multiple times as an event that led to high or low attitude feelings, appearing in assessments of both satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Significantly, salary featured three times more often in long-range attitude changes compared to short-range ones. This discrimination toward long-range feelings was not evident in high-attitude events, suggesting that monetary incentives have limited sustained impact on employee motivation.