Theories of Motivation - Town Museum Case Study
In this case study, covering the launch and initial period of operation of a successful town museum, staff demonstrated several different theories of motivation. When the initial team was created, this group had high intrinsic motivation, as all three administrators were returning to work after time off raising children, all had similar work experience prior to being stay-at-home parents, and all therefore had a lot in common.
As such, motivation to work together and be part of a team was initially high. The administrators obviously found their work at the museum quite rewarding. Applying humanistic theory to the situation, all three original employees found their work at the museum a fulfilling experience where they could fulfill an area of their personal potential, vocational competence, that they had not been able to address for the past several years when they had been home with small children.
This is further evidenced by their willingness to take on extra work without pay, and to value highly experiences where their work was publicly acknowledged, such as being featured on television at the launch and welcoming the town mayor. The three administrators demonstrated they wanted to be someone different than they had been as only parents, and by being dedicated to their work, they were able to establish and maintain positive selves. As they were successful, the self-efficacy component of cognitive theory came into play, with the administrators spurred on by their own success to work towards even higher standards and achievements. The director therefore did not have to employ great management skills to motivate these original employees, as their motivation was primarily intrinsic and self-derived.
When the museum was unexpectedly popular and two new administrators were brought on, it is significant that they were less experienced and not coming from a similar background as the original team. However, they were hired at the same rate of pay, even though they had not put in the effort of the original administrators and lack some of their credentials. As such, the original administrators’ sense of value in their positions was undermined. Whilst they had been previously encouraged and motivated by their success to even greater performance, it is likely that this event left them feeling devalued and easily replaced, and self-efficacy generated by their previous experiences such at the museam launch was reduced. The director, who now had to attempt to manage less-motivated employees, was unsure how to proceed and brought in an office manager, which further diluted the reinforcing homogenity of the original team.
This new office manager only further devalued the original staff, when he incorrectly blamed the reduced performance of the original administrators on their family responsiblities. As the new staff was young and had not taken time off to raise children, their family responsiblities were probably not the issue. This likely made the original team feel even less appreciated or valued. By trying to encourage them to higher performance through the extrinsic reward of additional holiday time, the office manager was employing behaviourist theory. He felt that the museum staff would be motivated to achieve the reward of increased leave and therefore improve their attendance, punctuality, and performance. The initial success of the programme indicates that at least some of the staff were motivated by it, but when one administrator went out on sick leave, the programme was withdrawn, removing the reward and therefore the motivation. This is a fundamental problem of attempting to motivate through reward systems. Circumstances often make it difficult tocontinue with a reward scheme, and employees become dependent on such extrinsic motivation.
Interestingly, it was the two new employees who complained at time of appraisal that their jobs were not sufficiently challenging or rewarding, rather than any of the original staff. The director responsed in a similar manner to the office manager, offering these employees the reward of job enrichment and variety in their duties. The employees obviously felt secure in their efficacy at their tour guide duties, only to realise when actually beginning to give tours that they did not like and were not particularly competent at this new task.
The current situation, which finds the original administrators seeking other jobs, demonstrates that they are primarily motivated from an intrinsic, humanistic perspective. No longer able to find fulfilment in their jobs at the museum, where they are no longer achieving success or being valued, they now seek fulfilling experiences in other positions where they can fulfil their full potential.
To preserve the current staff and return them to a highly motivated team, the director should addres the self-efficacy needs of the original three administrators. First, they should receive an increase in grade comiserate with their higher level of experience as opposed to the more recent hires. They shoud be additionally recognised in some way for their dedication to the museum. They should additionally be given special projects or opportunities to demonstrate their competence and value to the museum, and be appropriately recognised if they are successful in these additional duties.
The director could then employ goal-setting theory with the two new employees, giving them specific goals by which they could gradually increase their pay to that of the more experienced staff. This provides the extrinsic, behaviourist rewards which they have demonstrated motivates them. Hopefully, some of the intrinsic reward experienced by the original team will rub off on the new hires, increasing their motivation. Should the new staff decide to leave, personnel similar to the original administrators should be hired rather than younger, less expereinced staff. The director needs to become once again responsible for the team, with training provided in management if she is unable to deal with her staff. Both the director and the office manager, should he be retained, should focus on providing opportunities for intrinsic reward amongst staff. Such actions would return the museum to a motivated, dedicated staff who feel fulfiled in their work and perform at a high level.
Tags: behaviourist theory, case study, motivation, museum, museum staff
