Question: Motivating in Lean Economic Times

Objective: Your objective is to gain experience in confronting the challenges of

(1) maintaining high levels of motivation when resources are shrinking and

(2) developing an effective motivation program.

Procedure The class divides into groups of three to five people, and each group appoints one member as spokesperson to present the group's recommendations to the whole class. Here is the scenario. Each group plays the role of a team of top managers in a magazine publishing company that has recently downsized and consolidated its businesses. Now that the layoff is complete, top management is trying to devise a program to motivate the remaining editorial and production employees, who range from rank-and-file employees who operate printing presses to upper-level employees such as magazine editors. As a result of the downsizing, the workloads of most employees have been increased by about 30 percent. In addition, resources are tight. A very limited amount of money is available for things such as pay raises, bonuses, and benefits. Nevertheless, top management thinks the company has real potential and that its fortunes could turn around if employees could be motivated to perform at a high level, be innovative, and work together to regain the company's competitive advantage. Your group, acting as the top-management team, answers the following questions:

1. What specific steps will you take to develop a motivation program based on the knowledge of motivation you have gained from this chapter?

2. What key features will your motivation program include?

3. What will you do if the program you develop and implement does not seem to be working-if motivation not only fails to increase but also sinks to an all-time low? When your group has completed those activities, the spokesperson will present the group's plans and proposed actions to the whole class.