MOTIVATIONAL TECHNIQUES USED IN ORGANIZATIONS
This research examines motivational techniques used in organizations. This examination considers motivational techniques from the perspectives of employees, managers below the executive committee level, and executive committee level officers and corporate directors. The preliminary research performed for this study identified six motivational techniques that are used extensively in American organizations. The findings of this research are presented through the discussion of each of these six approaches to motivation. The perspectives of employees, managers below the executive committee level, and executive committee level officers and corporate directors are considered in relation to each of the motivational techniques discussed.
The Development of Job Satisfaction At A General Level As A Motivational Technique
The promotion of job satisfaction at a general level among an organization's employees is a widelyused motivational technique among American organizations. Edwin Locke (1983, p. 1300) defined job satisfaction as "a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one's job or job experiences." Job satisfaction, however, is a complex factor, and the level of job satisfaction among a group of individuals is the product of the interaction of a variety of other factors (Maidani, 1991, pp. 441448). Job satisfaction has been linked to the degree of autonomy employees feel that they have in the performance of their duties, and in this context job satisfaction
has been defined as the extent to which one perceives that her or his organizational needs are satisfied by the job (Sisk, 1992, p. 322). Job satisfaction is also frequently defined within the context of the components of a job that affect perceptions of satisfaction, such as work, pay, promotion, coworkers, and supervision, as is done in the Job Descriptive Index (Smith, Kendall, and Hu...