Motivating Staff

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Motivating Staff

• Empowering Staff Clients

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Latting identifies 8 myths related to motivating
social workers

• Myth 1 Social workers derive most of their
  satisfaction from helping others. True or False?

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False social workers need rewards such as money
and other incentives.

• However, rewards can be less tangible such as job
  redesign and participation in management decisions

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Myth 2

• The happy worker is a productive worker.
• True or False?

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False

• Workers are motivated to greater effort if they
  believe that the effort will be rewarded.

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Myth 3

• Workers usually know how well they are performing
  on the job.
• True or False

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False

• Workers need feedback from supervisors to know
  how well they are doing.

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Myth 4

• The less explanation given to workers about the
  basis for pay raises or promotions the better.
• True or False?

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False

• Workers tend to compare themselves to others and
  adjust their performance levels accordingly

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Myth 5

• Some workers just dont have it. Consequently,
  they need to be penalized for their behavior

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Latting argues that this is False

• She argues that behavioral (reinforcement theory)
  suggests that the effective manager will identify
  those conditions which stimulate inappropriate
  behavior on the part of the worker. Consequently,
  managers may be able to modify their own behavior
  or the workplace environment in order to change
  that workers behavior.

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Myth 6

• Most merit rewards systems serve as incentives
  toward better performance.
• True or False?

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False

• People are naturally motivated to do work in a
  manner that will make them feel competent
  (self-efficacy). Giving rewards for good
  performance, can in some circumstances reduce the
  individuals feelings of self-control and
  competency.

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Myth 7

• Specific goals setting in social services is
  meaningless. Agencies use management by
  objectives because funders demand it. Managers
  only need to have general goals describing what
  they want to accomplish and to encourage workers
  to do their best. True or False?

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False

• There is research evidence that people work
  harder if they have difficult, specific goals.
  MBO is effective in situations where workers
  participate in setting their own goals.

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Myth 8

• The most important information about what is
  expected or prohibited on the job are managers
  verbal and written instructions and the agencys
  written policies and procedures.

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False

• Workers actually take their cues about how to
  think, feel, and behave from other workers.

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Latting argues that workers develop their own
frameworks about how to behave in the workplace
or how to practice based on

• Theory
• Research
• Practice wisdom
• Personal experience. Personal experience in the
  workplace may guide what workers do and how they
  interact with others. Consequently, if we change
  their experience and what they expect to happen,
  we can change the workplace, and consequently
  change worker behavior.

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Petter (2002) identifies seven processes for
empowering employees

• Power Grant power and authority to those doing
  the work while building in accountability.
• Decision-making Allow more opportunities for
  staff to participate in decision-making to create
  more of an organizational democracy.
• Information Increase information, especially
  information related to organizational mission and
  goals, so that workers have the necessary
  information to make decisions.
• Autonomy Integrate choice and discretion into
  work performance with appropriate boundaries.
• Initiative and creativity Allow worker to
  initiate tasks and explore creativity consistent
  with organization goals.
• Knowledge and skills Encourage adequate
  knowledge and training not only in job skills,
  but philosophy, principles and benefits of
  empowerment.
• Responsibility Allow employees to track and
  evaluate their own performances in consultation
  with the supervisor rather than the supervisory
  oversight of the job task.

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Techniques for Motivation

• Finding what motivates individuals providing
  them individualized supervisor or job
  opportunities/awards
• Finding a good strategy based on theory to
  motivate individuals and groups in organizations
  rewards, goal orientation, need for power, need
  for affiliation with organization/others.
• Inspirational Leadership/Lead by Example
• Establishing Trust
• Creating a supportive workplace encouraging
  teams or team spirit mentorship group cohesion,
  or peer counseling
• Job Redesign

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Tools for Job Analysis and Design may include

• Desk audits or logs
• Surveys and interviews with staff
• Observation
• Established performance standards and program
  outcomes
• Management by objectives

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Job Restructuring May Involve

• Job enlargement
• Job enrichment
• Job rotation
• Creating teams
• Changing work conditions
• Using technology and training staff in its use.
• Using flex-time and job sharing approaches
• Flattening the organizational hierarchy by
  assigning more workers to supervisors/reducing
  number of supervisors.
• Giving individual workers more autonomy and
  decision making authority.

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Work Teams A group of people who work together
toward common goals and objectives.
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Organizations use teams to

• Make work more productive.
• Allow work to be undertaken by interdisciplinary
  groups of people.
• Meet the needs of clients in a holistic rather
  than a fragmented way.
• To eliminate harmful effects of organization
  hierarchies and empower staff.

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Stages of Team Development (Perlmutter, Bailey,
Netting, p. 132)

• Stage 1. Dependency on the leader Concerns about
  who is included on the team and the rules for
  team governance.
• Stage 2. Counter dependency and fight. Group
  seeks to free itself from dependency on the
  leader.
• Stage 3. Trust and Structure. Focus on resolving
  conflicts and tasks accomplishment. Cooperation,
  negotiation, and open communication.
• Stage 4. Work and Productivity. Goals are
  achieved.
• Stage 5. Termination. Assessment of the Work
  Accomplished.

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Critical tasks for building effective teams

• Selecting and Orienting Team Members.
• Ensuring Open Communication
• Building Mutual Trust and Support
• Managing Differences

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Researchers have identified the following
attributes of effective teams

• Cohesive and cooperative work units that can
  engage in problem-solving
• High levels of coordination
• The ability to make decisions in a timely manner
• High levels of personal self-efficacy among staff
  members
• Ability to work across professional differences

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Research also confirms that team approaches can
be effective for empowering staff and increasing
feels of autonomy and self-efficacy

• Kirkman and Rosen (1999) found that with
  sufficient management support, the provision of
  performance-related awards, and access to
  information, team members as a group will feel
  empowered. They also found that feelings of team
  empowerment increased the level of productivity
  for the team as a whole, stimulated employee
  initiative, and improved customer service.
• Team membership contributes to the ability of
  organization staff to adopt service innovations
  and practice principles (Allen, Foster-Fishman,
  Salem, 2002).
• A high degree of task and goal interdependence
  among team members increases job satisfaction,
  reduces conflict, and increases cooperation among
  staff members (Van der Verg, Emans, Van de
  Vliert, 2001).

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Interdisciplinary teams

• Teams inside the organization or within
  collaborative arrangements among several
  organizations include professionals across a
  number of different disciplines.
• These teams help decrease service fragmentation
  and address the whole needs of clients.
• In organizations, they also help bring workers of
  different status together and consequently can
  increase productivity and commitment to the
  organization

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Problems with interdisciplinary teams

• Professional turf battles among workers.
• Lack of communication due to differences in
  professional philosophy, status, and values.
• A team that focuses on conflict rather than work.

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Brownsteins model of effective interdisciplinary
collaboration

• Interdependence among team members
• Team ownership of goals
• Flexibility or the capacity to alter member roles
  in response to situational demands
• The ability to reflect on group processes
• The development of new professional activities by
  the team that build on the existing strengths and
  expertise of each member

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Additional Problems with Team Functioning

• Team members may have incompatible goals or
  levels of commitment
• Team members may have hidden agendas that
  interfere with the process.
• Someone may not be a team player
• Team may lack a clear direction or a sense of
  purpose.
• The leader may not be focused on the task or not
  be concerned about outcomes or group functioning.
• Inexperience with teams may hinder the process.
• The organization may not give full support to the
  team.
• Unappreciated and unsupported teams may
  disintegrate.

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Training Team Members

• Provide information on group processes including
  goal setting, and the provision and use of
  feedback on group performance.
• Inform members about the professional skills and
  values of each discipline represented on the team
  in order to prevent turf battles among members.
• Provide information about how to conduct
  effective meetings, interpersonal communication
  skills, collaboration, and diversity.

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Other types of team structures

• Virtual teams.
• Converting organization structure from a
  hierarchy to a total team approach.