South-Western - Management  
A Question of People
Topic Motivation
Key Words Motivation, Maslow
InfoTrac Reference A86123578
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News Story

Rod Unger of 5 Dimensional Management explains how to motivate staff, resulting in better employee retention and better client relationships. He states that we are all responsible for motivating ourselves, but we can help each other.

People are motivated by and give importance to a number of things: money, personal safety, health, and job security. Managers can help people fulfill themselves by:

  1. creating an open, honest, safe environment
  2. being role models
  3. being fair
  4. using appraisals and training to encourage people to fulfill themselves
  5. setting parameters for success rather than telling people how to do their jobs
  6. getting honest feedback from employees and clients
  7. communicating the company's vision
  8. showing commitment to improvement
  9. not criticizing

Ways people can motivate themselves are:

  1. do your best and keep your word
  2. have a balance between work and home
  3. have balance between materialistic and nonmaterialistic things
  4. try others' ideas
  5. reward yourself
  6. don't criticize yourself or others
  7. manage your time
  8. commit to learning
  9. praise others
  10. set challenging goals
Questions
1.

Do you agree that managers can't motivate people, people can only motivate themselves? Explain.

2.

Compare Rod Unger's list of what motivates people with Maslow's hierarchy of needs. How are they alike or different? Make a list of the things that motivate you. How does it correspond to Unger's?

3.

Choose one of the theories of motivation from your text and compare and contrast it with Unger's.

Source Rod Unger, "A Question of People," Contract Journal, May 22, 2002, p. 18.
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