Outline of Small Group Communication Topic: Motivating Employees

Outline

General Goal: The general goal of this research is to improve communication and performance from employees by properly motivating them.

Specific Goal: A specific goal of this paper is to determine some of the greatest hardships when it comes to motivating employees as a small group, such as a lack of willingness to communicate and identify the most effective ways to surmount these difficulties.

Thesis Statement: Many businesses struggle with employees who simply lack motivation, and improving this lack of employee motivation is crucial to the operation of the business.

Introduction: Motivating employees within a small group can be extremely challenging, for both the leader responsible for motivating the employees as well as the employees themselves, since motivation can be difficult to acquire. To motivate employees, a line of communication must be established between employees and the person responsible for motivation. After a set period, the employees may be "weaned" off of the motivator, but achieving this motivation in the first place can prove to be extremely difficult, as much research has attested.

Body of Outline: One of the greatest underlying difficulties in regards to motivating employees is a concept known as the "paradox of trying not to try" (Maslow, Frager, & Cox, 1970). Essentially, this paradox is that employees who hold on too closely to their feelings of self are, paradoxically, oftentimes the least motivated, at least according to studies (Maslow et al, 1970). It is thought that this is largely because an individual who has given themselves over to the company, or otherwise a just cause, will derive pleasure and satisfaction from their work and success within the company, essentially creating a circuit between the individual and company, so that, in a sense, one may not exist without the other, or at least it seems that way to the employee (Maslow et al, 1970). However, employees who are not properly motivated lack this underlying connection with a higher cause, and as a result concern themselves too much with their happiness and well-being, and this happiness is rarely felt within the workplace, since it is, after all, work. Therefore, the most effective solution to this particular cause of lack of motivation is simple: establish a connection between the employee and the company. Oftentimes, this can be done by offering encouragement or some other incentive to the employee. For example, an employee may have his or her work examined for the few weeks that this motivation period is being undertaken, and have their work within the company reinforced and appreciated, helping to create this underlying satisfaction within their job. This underlying concept is also known as the "Self-Determination Theory," and also helps to explain the effectiveness of praise as a motivator for employees, as the praise influences their sense of self-worth to the company (Ryan & Deci, 2000).

Another method of improving employee motivation is almost opposite the previous method, as this method deals with the external, i.e., the job itself, rather than the internal, or the employee. Simply put, one concept, known as "job attitudes" affects an employee's motivation because these job attitudes are the underlying feelings an employee has for his or her job, and all the factors that go into that (Herzberg, Mausner, & Snyderman, 2011). This means that one possible way to improve employee motivation is to attempt to improve some of the problem areas for the employee within their job. However, this measure, just like the last one, requires a great deal of communication with the employee or employees in question to ascertain their problems (Herzberg et al., 2011). The basic outline to achieving this involves interviewing all employees who report a lack of motivation, for any reason, and deducing their exact problems, be they internal or external (Herzberg et al., 2011). From here, the interviewers will be able to create a basic landscape for the problems that these employees may have that are causing their lack of motivation, and attempt to rectify them. Furthermore, these studies will also provide a much clearer picture of the internal factors that might be influencing or outright causing an employee's lack of motivation.

The key aspect of this particular method is that it involves a great deal of listening, rather than speaking. The listening aspect of communication is one that is frequently neglected. This belief is backed up by one study that found that casual ascriptions, or attributions of causes to specific factors, played a leading role in the identification and elimination of specific symptoms of a lack of motivation (Weiner, 1985). The reason that this type of communication is so effective for motivating employees is that it puts the listener, or the motivator, in a position of vulnerability as a listener, which gives the employee, who is not motivated, the feeling that they are truly being listened to, and this establishes a bond of communication and trust between the listener and the employee (Weiner, 1985). Furthermore, this focus on listening also allows the person interviewing the employee to more clearly and accurately understand the factors that are leading to the employee's lack of motivation and allow for these factors to possibly be remedied.

Conclusion: A lack of motivation within a company's employees is not an uncommon problem, but it is a problem that is oftentimes not handled effectively. The key to ameliorating the problem lies in communication, both on the part of the employee as well as those responsible for motivating the employee. This helps to demonstrate how communication within a small group is not one-way, even when there is a clear chain of command, as within a business. On the contrary, communication remains a two-way street, and following the two steps outlined above, involving speaking to the employee about their lack of motivation as well as listening to the employee's grievances and problems, will, combined, help to make the chances of motivating that employee much greater.

References

Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., & Snyderman, B. B. (2011). The motivation to work (Vol. 1). Transaction Publishers.

Maslow, A. H., Frager, R., & Cox, R. (1970). Motivation and personality (Vol. 2). J. Fadiman, & C. McReynolds (Eds.). New York: Harper & Row.

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68.

Weiner, B. (1985). An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion. Psychological Review, 92(4), 548-549.