Employee Motivation, Power and Conflict

PART 1 

Employee motivation is a business issue affecting many healthcare organizations. Every employee has got activities, goals, people, and events which he or she finds motivating. To create an environment of work whereby employees are motivated regarding their job involves both extrinsically and intrinsically satisfying and encouraging factors. There are some obvious things which have to take place in the workplace for an employee to feel motivated. They include treating them with respect, empowering them, recognizing them regularly, transparent communication and many other things (Linder and James, 2018) . The trick for an employer is to determine the methods of inspiring and motivating every employee at work. 

What can be updated 

What needs to be considered is what motivates each individual worker. Some people respond to intrinsic motivation better. This means that motivation originates from within them and can accomplish something provided they have passion on the same. On the other hand, there are other people that respond to extrinsic motivation better. These people believe that even the hardest tasks can be accomplished provided they are promised to be rewarded after the tasks are completed. It is, therefore, significant that one knows the motivation type that works best for those that they are working with. People that are motivated have high chances of solving issues on their own instead of needing managers to assist in any problems that arise (Maslow, 2015). Some of the factors which affect motivation include recognition, empowerment, salary and benefits and others and if they are used appropriately in healthcare organization they can lead to increased productivity. To improve the process of motivation, healthcare managers should know what motivate individual employees. 

What can be Applied to Improve the Process 

How can a manager tell who is motivated? There are particular steps which should be followed in motivating employees. Through the use of the following steps, employee motivation becomes a core function of the manager’s role. Put every employee in the right role. Managers can achieve this by hiring the right candidate and put them in the right roles. This strategy goes hand in hand with talent acquisition and retention. The second step is to offer the right training to employees. Offering proper training and development enables employees to engage with their managers’ well, offer ideas, ask questions and voice concerns. The third step is to provide meaningful work (Mak & Sockel, 2017). Engaged employees only do meaningful work and they clearly understand how they contribute to the company’s purpose, mission, and objectives. The fourth step is to check on employee development. In today’s businesses, employees crave for feedback that offers a quick course correction. In this case, managers can use formal and informal check-in strategies and apply them more often. Lastly, managers should not micromanage. Employees can only be engaged if they have freedom on how best they do their job. Managers should leave details of the work up to their employees and will be free to apply their own methods and ideas to produce their best. 

Best Decisions 

Training and Development 

Training provides employees with an opportunity to build their knowledge and skills. Workers who are trained are more motivated as compared to those who are not. Having training programs makes employees be self-assured, develop in career and possess positive thoughts for the healthcare organizations (Linder and James, 2018). The training programs should aim at amending skills for the healthcare staff. Healthcare workers that are trained believe they are cared for and this increases their motivation. 

Job Enrichment and Empowerment 

Healthcare workers should be provided with an opportunity to have a say in the jobs that they do. Managers should seek their input concerning how performance can be improved. A number of employees have got ideas on how they can improve their performance and being efficient. Regular reviews should be used in order to discuss improvements (Maslow, 2015). If healthcare workers really need to be motivated and empowered, managers should seek their advice and also implement it. They should also be provided with the authority to come up with their own decisions. 

Providing Growth Opportunities 

Any employee becomes motivated when he or she knows he is working towards a particular thing. If an employee thinks there is a chance of growing, he has to work for it. Nobody wants to work in the same position until the end. Employees should be motivated by being provided with training with will give them skills and knowledge to claim the ladder. Grooming the young employees is significant to both the employees and the organization as it helps in building the reputation of the company. 

Treating Everyone Equally and not Playing Favorites 

This would be the first initiative for fostering both theologically and strategically sound HRD practices. Playing favorites is likely to destroy the working relationships among the employees. Playing favorites is also not among the purposes of God for business. It is Godly to treat people equally and so it applies to employees. The company should try as much as possible to avoid playing favorites. It is good to appreciate and reward those who perform well but this should be done openly and the reason for rewarding should be made known to other employees. The leaders should treat every employee fairly (Mak & Sockel, 2017). They should set similar expectations for all the employees and have rules that should be followed by everyone and not a few members. When creating these rules, the leaders should involve other employees to ensure that everyone agrees to abide by the rules and uphold similar sets of standards. When a company sets clear expectations including roles and responsibilities that are clear, there will be no surprises. 

Why they are Best Decisions 

Motivated employees demonstrate high satisfaction. In any company, employee satisfaction is important. When employees are motivated at their workplace they feel satisfied with their positions and connected. Therefore, motivated employees are more likely to offer quality work that benefits the organization together with its clients. Employees who are engaged have high retention and low turnover. The hiring process for new employees is time-consuming and expensive. Investing in employee engagement helps to retain top employees and minimize an organization’s turnover rates that teams are happy. The other benefit of employee motivation is high productivity. Motivated employees work harder, faster and stronger since they like what they do (Andrew and Kent, 2017). Motivated employees feel that they are treated well by their managers which give them a sense of responsibility to put in their best effort in whatever they do. Increased profitability is the other benefit organizations can derive from engaged employees. When employees are happy at their workplaces, they work harder to produce more and quality products that create happy customers. In return, happy customers reward the organization by referring other customers hence increasing the company’s profitability. 

Recognition is a factor that is essential in increasing the satisfaction and motivation of healthcare workers according to research. A researcher did a study that examined the association between recognition inform of rewards and motivation in the healthcare industry. The findings of the research were that workers that are recognized and rewarded have high job satisfaction than those that are not (Mak & Sockel, 2017). Another study was also done to examine the satisfaction of workers in the retail industry. This study showed a correlation coefficient of 0.356 for providing workers with rewards. This indicates that there is a positive relationship between rewarding employees and job satisfaction (Herzberg & Snyderman, 2018). 

PART 2 

Referent Power 

Referent power is the form of power which is most effective for healthcare leaders. This is a form of power that is based on the leader’s ability to administer to subordinates a sense of approval and acceptance. A leader that uses or has this power is considered a role model. The power of such a leader is normally treated with charm and admiration (Dormehl, 2014). Referent power is basically leading by example by modeling the behavior of the leader to demonstrate good conduct. 

Subordinates are likely to observe the behavior of the leader and act in a manner they believe their leader would have acted in various situations. The leader is the point of reference when it comes to this type of power and leadership. The power comes from a leader who is liked by subordinates and identifies with them strongly (O’Grady, 2018). A leader that possesses referent power appreciates the environment they are in and therefore is highly influential. When it comes to responsibility in this kind of power, it is heavy and if a leader is not careful, he or she can lose himself in the process. It is very useful especially when it is combined with some few aspects of other power forms. 

Referent power enables leaders to be trusted by their subordinates. Referent power enables leaders to handle situations in a manner that makes subordinates to trust their leadership and believe that the way they handle situations is the best. For instance, for a leader that treats all employees fairly will be consulted when there are cases of unfair treatment as people trust that he is the one who can handle those situations better. Referent power also reduces bureaucratic obstacles in the workplace through effective communication and the development of good working relationships (Rivlin, 2010). A good referent leader inspires employees to develop a commitment to their jobs. Also, modeling the desired behavior consistently can decrease counterproductive behavior. 

How Managers Resolve Conflicts 

Conflicts happen in every place of work. There are conflicts such as rivalry which are beneficial in the workplace and there are others like bullying which are destructive. Managers use different methods to resolve conflicts in the workplace. The main method used is collaboration and negotiation. When using this method, the manager acts as a go-between those in conflict. During collaboration, the individuals in conflict work in harmony to offer a set of ideas and suggestion which can help them get a solution that works for both the parties. 

Managers also use mediation. In this process, they introduce a mediator who is a person that is not involved in the conflict and can provide an impartial solution to the conflict. Instead of providing or compelling a solution, the mediator works with the involved parties to facilitate open communication while trying to reach a mutually acceptable resolution. Mediation is an informal method which is conducted voluntarily by those in conflict (O’Grady, 2018). The other method used by managers similar to mediation is arbitration. In this method, the manager also introduces a third party who listens to both sides of the conflict. After getting the argument from both sides and examining proof, the arbitrator normally offers the solution. 

There are some managers who use disciplinary action. Some businesses have a set of policies which guide employees such as in behavior, speech, dressing and other aspects. When employees fail to follow these policies, conflicts arise. Managers, therefore, make it a point of enforcing the policies by disciplining those who do not follow them and cause conflicts. The disciplinary actions used by managers include unpaid leave off and verbal reprimands. The simple reprimands help in getting employees back to the behavior that is appropriate (Taylor, 2014). There are a few cases however where employees have to be suspended or dismissed when it seems like the only viable solution or method of conflict resolution. 

Appropriate Methods of Resolving Conflicts 

The main appropriate method of solving conflicts is mediation. Mediation is a, method which brings the individuals in conflict together. Mediation is normally a voluntarily, confidential process of shared making of decisions whereby one or more impartial individuals referred to as mediators assist those in conflict to work towards a number of goals. Mediation is a method of resolving conflicts without having to file a formal lawsuit or complaint. It offers a non-public platform in which those parties in conflict discuss the dispute (Rivlin, 2010). Using this process makes those in conflict to feel like they are heard. 

Mediation is the appropriate method because it enhances understanding and recognition. When people feel that they are heard and have got a chance of understanding the view of the other party, there is a probability that a solution will be reached. It also encourages self-empowerment (Smith & Smock, 2016). A workplace is a place whereby employees sometimes feel that they do not have a contribution in decision making. Mediation, therefore, provides the employees with a chance to give their input in resolving conflicts. The speed and time that mediation takes place are also short making it effective. A formal complaint may take a very long time since a court can take years to argue a case. Mediation in the workplace is also cost-effective. It is effective both in terms of finance, time and human capital. The fee that is normally given to the mediator is just a fraction of the fees which can be used in litigation. 

Confidentiality is another aspect that makes mediation a good method of resolving conflicts. Once there is a lawsuit that has been filled, it becomes a public matter as they attend the court sessions. For mediation, however, only some few individuals are involved. The communication that happens during mediation is inadmissible. The mediation agreement durability is another benefit of mediation. Studies indicate that when parties are disputed voluntarily, they are more likely to adhere to the mediation agreement terms (Taylor, 2014). This is because they are involved in designing and drafting the agreement instead of a judgment being just made by a regulatory agency or court. 

The second appropriate model of solving conflicts is the competence conflict model. Competence is made of two aspects. The first one is appropriateness which involves following the relevant expectations, norms, and rules for specific situations. The second one is effectiveness which involves achieving the goals of conflict resolution successfully. Competence during resolution of conflicts involves paying attention and mindfulness. A number of strategies enable people to engage in conflict resolution effectively. An approach that is competency-based is a valuable one since it is an ethical conflict management and resolution approach. The competency approach is ethical because it focuses on the rights of both parties and emphasizes that the opposing parties have to respect each other, not exploit each other and not ignore or harm each other (Smith & Smock, 2016). Conflict competence is generally the ability to use and develop emotional, behavioral, and cognitive skills which enhance the production of effective outcomes during conflict resolution. The results of using the competence-based model include creative solutions, quality relationships, and lasting relationships. 

References 

Andrew, D. and Kent, R. (2017). The impact of perceived leadership behaviors on satisfaction, commitment, and motivation: An expansion of the multidimensional model of leadership‟, International Journal of Coaching Science, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 3556. 

Dormehl, L. (2014). Business Politics and Power . London: Virgin. 

Herzberg, F. & Snyderman (2018). The motivation to work, John Wiley & Sons, New York. 

Linder, R. and James (2018). Understanding Employee Motivation‟, Journal of Extension, Vol. 36, No. 3, PP. 2. 

Mak, B. & Sockel, H. (2017). A confirmatory factor analysis of IS employee motivation and retention‟, Information & Management, Vol. 38, No. 5, PP. 265-276. 

Maslow, H. (2015). A theory of human motivation‟, Psychological Review, July 1943, PP. 370-396. 

O'Grady, J. D. (2018). Sources of Organizational Power . Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. 

Rivlin, B. (Ed.). (2010). Types of Power . NY: Holmes & Meier. 

Smith, A. L., & Smock, D. R. (2016). Managing a negotiation process, pp. 31-36. 

Taylor, B. A. (2014). Conflict management styles preferences of Mennonite and Methodist missionaries .