Leadership Lesson 4 - Creating a Productive Workplace

Goals:

• Understand why companies create work rules
• Describe how managers use extrinsic and intrinsic motivation
• Describe how workers' desire for autonomy, purpose and mastery create job satisfaction

 
Work Rules

Work rules are not created just for the sake of having rules. Companies create work rules to stop behavior that hinders an effective working environment. Rules often include when employees must be at work, what they must do, and how they must perform tasks. The goal of the rules is not to make life more difficult for the employees, but to foster a more productive working environment.

Rules are often created out of necessity. Watch this clip from the movie Cool Hand Luke. Make a list of the rules then write a rationale for why you think the rule was created.

Motivating Employees

Stopping bad behavior isn't enough. Employees need motivation. We typically think that employees are motivated by money. As a consequence, managers have a tendency to create financial incentives for workplace performance. Watch the following video by Daniel Pink.

Discuss the following questions:
What types of work are encouraged by financial incentives?
What types of work are hindered by financial incentives?
What is the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation?
How do autonomy, purpose and mastery fulfill workers' desires and managers needs?

Assignment: You are the new manager of a Footlocker in a mall in Memphis. Your job is to create a set of work rules and incentives to maximize sales and customer satisfaction in your store. To do this you'll need to complete the following tasks:

1. Write a set of work rules for your store. Keep the rules simple and understandable. Describe how these rules lead to a productive and successful store.

2. Describe how you will use extrinsic and intrinsic motivation to encourage employees to do their best work.

3. Describe how you will use autonomy, purpose and mastery to maximize employee productivity and job satisfaction.


Vocabulary - Study the following terms on Quizlet before the next class meeting:

• Work Rules
• Extrinsic Motivation
• Intrinsic Motivation
• Autonomy
• Purpose
• Mastery 

Standards: 
11.1 Analyze the needs of employees.
11.2 Discuss leadership skills integral to groups.
11.3 Evaluate strong leadership skills.