Motivation and Teamwork
Motivation and Teamwork
D. Everett Murray
2/13/11
In this paper I will be analyzing the climate in two of my work environments and discuss how the motivation within those environments was affected by internal and external influences and barriers. Additionally, I will discuss how those barriers were controllable or not and the choices I made based on my position, influences, and own motivation to succeed. I will begin with my employment with Pleasant Hills CDC, Inc. This is a family business. My mother and sister started out in 1982 as an in-home daycare caring for 6 children. In 6 months they had grown to 50 children and were operating at a local church. Within 2 years they had opened a second center and were collective caring for approximately 200 children. While in college I decided to change my major to education and enter into the family business. Upon graduation I began teaching Kindergarten. The climate in the workplace was nice. According to Maslow, I was on the Esteem level of my triangle. I was focused on the lower level of esteem, that of the respect of others and not of the higher, the need for self-respect. According to Maslow, these “two hierarchies are interrelated rather than sharply separated,” but I lacked the experiences and inner competence to feel as successful as people saw me. Over time, I was promoted to Assistant Director, Director, and then Assistant General Manager. This followed Herzberg’s standards of intrinsic motivation, by demonstrating increasing levels of ability, an employee should be given increasing levels of responsibility. Then abruptly, my sister left the company to pursue a teaching career and I was named General Manager of the company. It had been a rapid progression, just 5 years from graduation to the head of company that now had 2 centers, 50 employees and serviced 250 families. I was highly motivated to be successful, yet ill prepared to be so. The climate certainly changed.
D. Everett Murray
2/13/11
In this paper I will be analyzing the climate in two of my work environments and discuss how the motivation within those environments was affected by internal and external influences and barriers. Additionally, I will discuss how those barriers were controllable or not and the choices I made based on my position, influences, and own motivation to succeed. I will begin with my employment with Pleasant Hills CDC, Inc. This is a family business. My mother and sister started out in 1982 as an in-home daycare caring for 6 children. In 6 months they had grown to 50 children and were operating at a local church. Within 2 years they had opened a second center and were collective caring for approximately 200 children. While in college I decided to change my major to education and enter into the family business. Upon graduation I began teaching Kindergarten. The climate in the workplace was nice. According to Maslow, I was on the Esteem level of my triangle. I was focused on the lower level of esteem, that of the respect of others and not of the higher, the need for self-respect. According to Maslow, these “two hierarchies are interrelated rather than sharply separated,” but I lacked the experiences and inner competence to feel as successful as people saw me. Over time, I was promoted to Assistant Director, Director, and then Assistant General Manager. This followed Herzberg’s standards of intrinsic motivation, by demonstrating increasing levels of ability, an employee should be given increasing levels of responsibility. Then abruptly, my sister left the company to pursue a teaching career and I was named General Manager of the company. It had been a rapid progression, just 5 years from graduation to the head of company that now had 2 centers, 50 employees and serviced 250 families. I was highly motivated to be successful, yet ill prepared to be so. The climate certainly changed.
References: B., Amy. (2009, May 20). An exploration of abraham maslow 's herarchy of needs [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1763034/an_exploration _of_abraham_maslows_hierarchy_pg2.html?cat=72 Cherry, K. (2011). Erikson 's psychosocial stages summary chart. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/ library/bl_psychosocial_summary.htm Connors, R, Smith, T, & Hickman, C. (2010). The oz principle: getting results through individual and organizational accountability. New York, NY: Penguin Books. NetMBA.com, . (2010). Erg theory. Retrieved from http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/erg/ NetMBA.com, Initials. (2010). Theory x and y. Retrieved from http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/mcgregor/ Watermolen, E. (2010, June 4). Smile, it’s contagious – glow, it’s infectious [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.edenjournal.com/870/smile-it%E2%80%99s- contagious-%E2%80%93-glow-it%E2%80%99s-infectious/