Organisational Psychology: Career Dynamics and Motivation in Organisations

Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject Psychology - Work, Business, Organisational and Economic Psychology, ( Atlantic International University ), language: English, abstract: The world of work is complex and the nature of a chosen career is dynamic. This paper seeks to outline the decisions necessary and the responsibilities of the role-players in making for a smooth transition into the workplace. The nature of a career is clarified and its complexity is highlighted with the mentor's role being paramount to the induction of the new staff member into the organisation. The management team plays a critical role in ensuring opportunities for social interaction and the establishment of challenging job functions for the subordinates. In addition, in my mind the motivation of the staff is crucial in ensuring continued success in the workplace. I have outlined what constitutes motivation of a staff member and have utilised reference to Maslow's hierarchy and Alderfer's ERG theory to explain the levels of need that each staff member seeks to have met in order to remain motivated in the working environment. While the meeting of the employees' needs are crucial, setting goals for the individual and the organisation is a key function of the management team in ensuring continued motivation among its staff members. When the staff member feels that they are part of the decision making process and their voice is being heard, they are intrinsically more motivated towards achieving the goal(s) set forth. Motivation is not always high among staff and it is often necessary to do some introspection and assess whether fairness within the organisation is a reality. Perceived inequity among employees can erode motivation. As such, fairness with regards salary, responsibility and rewards needs to be assessed on a regular basis. It may also be necessary to restructure the work that an individual or group of individuals is responsible for completing, in this way the work can become more rewarding, more challenging or simply less mundane for the employee and hence improve their motivation in the organisation. Having worked with high school children for some twenty years now and having been in a management position for over twelve years, this paper is as much for the reader and is it is for me. I find that I have refreshed my think while reminding myself of the responsibility that I have towards my students and my colleagues in preparing my students for their tertiary studies and careers and enhancing the motivation of the staff...