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Poor Employee Performance And Low Employee Morale

Decent Essays

The Engstrom Automirror Plant case study highlights the problem of poor employee performance and low employee morale. The company’s managers have implemented a bonus system that is based on the assumption that the employees will be motivated solely by extrinsic rewards. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory, the bonus system only appeals to lower-level physiological needs. Maslow’s theory identifies physiological needs as the need to sustain one’s basic life needs, such as housing, food, and clothing. (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn, 2008). It is reasonable to assume that the employees’ base salaries are enough to meet these physiological needs. There is clearly a missing link between the additional compensation and the expectation of higher performance levels in the minds of the employees.
Furthermore, Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory identifies that organizational policies, status, security, base wages or salaries, and work relationships have a direct effect on job dissatisfaction. Factors such as achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement and growth affect job satisfaction (Schermerhorn et al., 2008). The major weak points in the Scanlon system are the way bonuses are calculated and the fact that the system does not appeal to intrinsic sources of motivation. As it stands, the bonus system for higher performance is complicated and it only accounts for hard numbers. The system ignores qualitative factors and does not enrich the employees’

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