Libr 204: Management Motivation







Management Motivation
Katrina Deliramich



Nigel Nicholson’s article entitled “How to Motivate Your Problem People,” hypothesizes how managers approach problem employees. He states that through his research and studies results show the usual techniques do not always help the situation but can do more harm than good (Nicholson, 2003).
            Nicholson starts with a summary of the typical problem employee, stating, “The most intractable employees take up a disproportionate amount of one’s time and energy.” This is a common theme in the workplace, as they say the squeakiest wheel gets the grease. Nicholson goes on to explain how in an ideal world the manager would give a motivating speech, backed up with a reward and troops would follow, but as Nicholson points out “…few executives are truly gifted at rallying the troops” (Nicholson, 2003).
            When faced with a problem person Nicholson explains that it may be the manager who is approaching the situation wrong. It is really not up to the manager to motivate people to work, it is up to the employee themselves. According to Nicholson, managers need to perform three steps to teach their employees how to succeed:
  1. Show they care and understand where the person is coming from and that they care about them as a person, since Nicholson feels most employees do not like their managers this can help show the employee the human side of management by really getting to know and understand their employee.
  2. Create and adjust goals so the person can reach them and feel successful.
  3. The manager and employee need to sit down and discuss the problems and solutions and come to an agreement together. It is up to the manger to shift his usual style of managing to seem open and understanding to the problem employee (Nicholson, 2003).

            I agreed with Nicholson’s views on problem people. He seemed to really hit it on the head about how the problem employee takes up the most time and effort. I have personally noticed in the workplace that the problem person gets the most attention and those who do well are left to fend for themselves most of the time, which can be a good thing in increasing responsibility but can be frustrating if you feel your actions go unnoticed. Nicholson outlines the reasons problem people act the way they do and he offers solution to fix the problem. I agree with his idea of the manager looking at the style and actions of himself as well as the other bosses actions to collaborate on how it would come across to the problem employee. It makes sense to step back and see where some conflict can arise in how problems are dealt with.
            Nicholson’s theory that employees do not really care for their managers because they are in the leadership role and might not come across as caring or understanding is a valid point. It is important that a manager knows how to lead and encourage their employees correctly to get the most out of them. It is also the responsibility of the manager to create an encouraging work environment.
            There are many different ways for a manager to manage. In the following four readings I will compare styles and address the authors thoughts on managers and how they can lead their employees successfully.
In Abraham Zaleznik’s article, “Managers and leaders are they different?” he discusses the differences between managers and leaders. Zaleznik feels managers are more level headed, goal oriented people who work for the team and they attempt to solve problems for the good of all. They are not motivated by rewards and do not try to succeed past the group good. In Zaleznik’s opinion, managers are the safe routes for companies to go because they do not take power to their heads and cause little threat to the working of the company. He also states, managers approach solving problems rationally, “on one hand, they negotiate and bargain; on the other, they use rewards, punishments, and other forms of coercion” (Zaleznik, 1977).
Zaleznik describes leaders as being people that everyone looks up to. They are reward oriented and work to achieve power and success. They are a threat to the company and the group because they can cause conflict and unrest and they can let power go to their head, which can potentially hurt the company. On the other hand they do have the ability to encourage the team and create excitement in the workplace (Zaleznik, 1977).
In relation to Nicholson’s article, Zaleznik description of a manager easily describes how problem people can feel their manager does not care about their well being and cannot try to succeed. Zaleznik says a manager, “relates to people according to the role they play in a sequence of events” (Zaleznik, 1977).  Whereas, he describes a leader as being someone who relates to people on a more personal level. In order to create the type of manager that is needed to deal with the problem people a manager needs to become more of a balance between a leader, as defined by Zaleznik, and a manager. If the manager is a people person they can create a safe caring and exciting environment for their workers to want to try harder to succeed which would follow Nicholson’s idea of understanding the employee on their level allowing the manager to work with the problem person to achieve success (Zaleznik, 1977).
            In his article, “What makes a leader,” Daniel Goleman discusses his views on leaders, focusing on emotional intelligence to describe how leaders act in certain environments. Goleman states, “…the most effective leaders are alike in one crucial way: They all have a high degree of what has come to be known as emotional intelligence” (Goleman, 2004).  Goleman feels there are other requirements to make a leader such as training, and a high IQ but he describes the results of his studies show that emotional intelligence plays a very important role.
            Goleman breaks emotional intelligence into five categories:
  1. Self-awareness
  2. Self regulation
  3. Motivation,
  4. Empathy 
  5. Social skill.
      There are similarities to Nicholson in some of these areas; he discusses it in his steps to creating motivation in problem people (Goleman, 2004).
      Self-awareness is the first step. Goleman describes self-awareness as knowing your capabilities, and being able to adjust your day and emotions to succeed at your goals. This would be an important characteristic in any manager and Nicholson’s steps would fit this category because in order for a manager to step back and focus on what is going wrong with their approach of a situation they need to get to know the problem person better making self-awareness crucial (Goleman, 2004).
      Self-regulation is the next step, this encompasses the ability to step back and stop
 a problem from forming and rethink about situation, a good skill for a leader to have (Goleman, 2004).
Next is Motivation, the ability to motivate people for more then just rewards, this fits Nicholson’s step by working with the person to help them achieve goals and feel successful and want to try harder. Goleman stresses the importance of a leader wanting to achieve their goals and have passion, not just a need to external rewards. Empathy is the fourth step; it also plays a role in Nicholson’s plan and is key for any manger to understand those they are working with on a more personal level (Goleman, 2004).
The final step is social skills that are needed to increase relationships. Goleman’s five categories create a specific formula for a good leader. His idea of emotional intelligence fits nicely with Nicholson’s steps and if a manager follows a combination of these ideas they would have success according to both authors (Goleman, 2004).
In Melissa Raffoni’s article, “Honing strengths or shoring up weaknesses: which is more effective? ” she focuses on how to motivate your employees. Raffoni argues the idea that each employee is motivated in a different way for different reasons and it is the job of the manger to discover their employee’s strengths and weaknesses and to help them overcome the weaknesses with motivation strategies that fit the specific employee (Raffoni, 2002).  Raffoni states, “Be strategic in your choice of weaknesses to concentrate on, customizing your approach to fit each individual’s particular sources of motivation” (Raffoni, 2002).  This focuses on encouraging the employee to create a better and more successful work environment.
Raffoni discusses the different ways a manager can improve an employees weaknesses. First she says to not conquer too much at once. If approached too harshly the employee will be overwhelmed and become unwilling to try. Next she focuses on the smaller weaknesses, something that will add to the employee’s strengths but might not be the weakness that the manager needs to fix. Raffoni focuses on the fact that some employee’s strengths might not be what they find motivating. She says, “You have to do more than help employees discover their natural talents; you have to help them discover what most energizes them about work” (Raffoni, 2002).
Raffoni and Nicholson share similar ideas on motivation. When focusing on the employee and discovering what makes them tick Raffoni is following the same idea as Nicholson’s step to get more personal with the employee in order to encourage them. Raffoni shares important ideas on how to reach out to the employee and approach problems in a way that can be more motivating then just chastising them. She takes a more humanistic approach, which is along the lines of Nicholson’s three steps and would fit with Zaleznik’s and Goleman’s ideas as well.
In the book Management Basics for Information Professionals, G. Edward Evans and Patricia Layzell Ward talk about motivation in the workplace. “Motivating people is a challenge for mangers; their staff advisers are individuals, each with her/his own internal state of mind that can produce either desirable or undesirable behavior” (Evans and Ward, 2007, p.293). Evans and Ward talk about the mangers duties to create an environment the employee wants to work in and feels comfortable in. The way a manager treats his employees is also important because, Evans and Ward say, “Staff members often feel and think they are the “bottoms” and that the management does not care what they think…” (Evans and Ward, 2007, p.294).
Evans and Ward give various situations that simulate creating motivation in employees. They break motivation into three theories: content, process and reinforcement. These theories cover needs, rewards and guidance about behaviors. Content theory relates back to Goleman’s article and his idea of fulfilling social needs and self-actualization. Evans and Ward discuss these needs in a hierarchy, with some needs that require attention before others. Process theories relate to how people think about goals and how that will motivate them. Reinforcement theories focus on positive and negative reinforcement to get an employee to exhibit the behavior the manager was looking for (Evans and Ward, 2007).
Nicholson relates to Evans and Wards chapter on motivation in many ways. Nicholson looks at how an employee needs to feel the management is open and understanding to them in order to work harder. This relates to the content theory discussed and the hierarchy of which needs are more important to motivate a person. Reinforcement fits with Nicholson’s idea of creating a smaller goal to meet first so they can feel they did a good job and get recognition and with positive reinforcement they will try for the next goal. 
Each author has a different way to motivate their employees. Nicholson focuses on the problem person specifically. Zaleznik and Goleman focus on motivation and improving the workplace whereas Raffoni focuses on motivating employees and improving job performance by eliminating weaknesses while encouraging strengths. All the articles make it clear that motivation is key in having a successful workplace. Each employee works differently than another, the same with managers and there is no one way to motivate an employee just as there is no one way to manage an employee. A combination of all these approaches would be beneficial to the workplace.  As my research has found using any of these five approaches, as a building block will improve motivation. A manager who reads these articles will use the tools that fit their style and create their own managerial approach to motivate their employees.








































                                                Reference List




Evans, G. E., & Ward, P. L. (2007). Management Basics for Information Professionals. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.

Goleman, D. (2004). What Makes a Leader? Harvard Business Review, 82(1), 82-91.

Nicholson, N. (2003). How to Motivate Your Problem People. Harvard Business Review,  81(1), 57-65.

Raffoni, M. (2002). Honing strengths or shoring up weaknesses: which is more effective? Harvard Management Update, 7(6), 3.

Zaleznik, A. (1977).  Managers and leaders: are they different? Harvard Business Review, 55(3), 67-78.

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