One of the factors which influence organisational behaviour is motivation. The theory of motivation examines the way people behave in terms of the efforts. Organisations can improve the morale by introducing means such as incentives, rewards and progression through the company. ‘the aim is to obtain added value through people in the sense that the value of their output exceeds the cost of generating it’ (Armstrong M. 2006). This role of motivation allows the organisation to make the most out of the workers within the company. A theory that can be applied to motivational research is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
This theory broke down the complexity of motivation into five stages, as shown in the diagram below: The theory of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs covers the need of human motivation. There are 5 different levels in which the theory covers. The theory states ‘when one need is satisfied, then another emerges. ’ (Maslow A. 1943). Looking at another element which affects performance of individuals within an organisation is perception. As perception describes the way people filter, organize and interpret sensory information (smallbusiness.chron. com).
This determines how people react to a situation and the actions of another person. An precise perception allows the employee to calculate what they see and hear effectively within the workplace, to make rational decisions, for example stereotyping which may lead to persons making a false judgment. ‘An active mental process which involves the selection, organisation, structuring and interpretation of information in order to make inferences and give meaning to the information’ (Rollinson et al, 1998:104)
looking at the halo and horns effect, it is applied in a situation where you have a favourable conclusion about a person based on a small difference such as a hand shake or likes and dislikes. As well as individuals perception we can see that the organisations culture also has an effect on the way an organisation is run. ‘organisational culture is the pattern of values, norms, beliefs, attitudes and assumptions that may not have been articulated but shape the ways in which people behave and get things done. ’ (Armstrong M. 2006).
This shows that organisations have a great deal in how individuals can work together in order to get things done. This can vastly influence the productivity, as a team who is more laidback in their approach to the task may not get the full benefits if the task is done under organised structure. Another component that affects performance is stress. This is a major problem in the work place as stress can alter a person’s effectiveness within the work place. An article on the independent’s site headlines ‘Record numbers are phoning in sick because of heavy workloads and bullying, says Mind, the mental health charity.
Better support from bosses would save money and misery’. The sources of stress can range from the environment, organisational and the individual themselves. A survey conducted by CIPD has concluded that stress is the most common cause of a longstanding sickness, which results in absence at work, this covers manual non-manual labour jobs. Although there are ways in which organisations can reduce the amount of stress. All the factors determining the performance of individuals can be overturned by interventions of other people for example, a manager’s involvement with the workers can motivate the staff members.
Ale of interventions but other people may be family and friends, as they may impact on the way a person works as they may have a family to provide for. To conclude there are ways in which organisational research can influence a company to gain more from the individuals within a workplace. With research an organisation can study the process of their work and draw conclusions if the production is fully productive. After drawing these conclusions organisations can look at the behaviour of the individuals and alter and change how things are done.
This in turn can help an organisation reap the benefits of a more industrious workforce. looking at the types of research methods there are some which may suit an organisation more than others so the research method used is very important in order to get the most out of the research. For example for a large company it would be better to give out a questionnaire to each individual worker in order to get the most general views of the employees. Whereas an observation of only a small sector of a large organisation may not highlight the majority of the problems that are occurring within the organisation.
After analysing the different ways the main elements can affect the performance of the individuals within the workplace. I can evaluate that there are a number of factors which can determine the productivity of a business’s work force. Although some elements of an individual can be more influential within the organisations. For example one of the main components is the motivation of the employees, as this can determine what a worker is able to produce in terms of quality and quantity of the work. the different elements can be affected by the interventions of other people for example the motivation applied by a manager by providing incentives.
