Bases of Work Motivation in Development Societies: A Framework for Performance Management

In this essay authors endeavored to analyse and understand variables that adversely affect level of motivation and performance of people within work organizations in developing societies. The authors analyse and identify the endogenous and the exogenous variables affecting worker motivation. With respect to exogenous variables, it is apparent that employees, owing to enduring influences of past socialization, bring with them habits, norms, and expectations that guide their behaviours at work place. It is this cultural baggage they carry that is stubbornly resistant to change. This has to be accepted as given while attempting to improve employee motivation and performance. It is the set of endogenous organizational variables that need to be looked at more carefully for identifying action levers for improving worker motivation and performance. These action levers have to be designed in such a way that they become compatible with the socio-cultural norms of the employees. With particular reference to Indian organizations, we have formed these into the following imperatives. 1. The management ought to be guided by the dictum: “Labour is an investment” and develop an organizational culture that values and promotes human resource as an important asset. Top management must demonstrate a commitment to establish such a culture with proactive policies in human resource management areas such as recruitment, training, placement, job design, supervision etc. It is not enough to remain merely at the level of pious pronouncements, but to go further in demonstrating that pronouncements are translated into actions. Establishment of a culture that values human asset will go a long way in enhancing employee self-esteem and loyalty. 2. The management must undertake systematic manpower planning, evolve recruitment criteria and procedures based on behaviourally and/or skill anchored job analysis. 3. With respect to tasks, job definitions should be unambiguous and performance standards clear. Such job clarity would be welcome by the employees who belong to a culture high on uncertainty avoidance (Ho fstede, 1980). 4. Rewards, financial or otherwise, should be valued and must be perceived as based on performance. Perhaps there is no hitch in acknowledging this principle. But most organizations have far to go in implementing them. We have alluded to several management practices such as time-based compensation, inadequate performance appraisal etc. that hinder reward – performance contingency and equity in the Indian context. Such practices have to change if management wants organizational rewards to have motivational effects. What is needed is a systematic evaluation of both compensation and appraisal systems on the basis of two criteria culture congruence and motivational effectiveness. On the basis of such evaluation, the systems can then be redesigned to ensure that whatever rewards are offered by the organizations are needed and valued by employees, and perceived as equitable and are contingent on performance desired by the organizations. 5. Finally, appropriate supervisory support and guidance are necessary for the employees to be motivated to perform. Mendonca and Kanungo (1990) have proposed several concrete organizational interventions for effective performance management in developing countries. They also suggested that in the Indian context the manager must adopt a nurturant-task leadership style (Sinha 1980, 1990) which is congruent with the employees familial and cultural values.