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MOTIVATION
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Frederick Herzberg and his colleagues (Herzberg, Mausner, & Snyder-
man, 1968) developed the dual-factor theory, illustrated in Figure 2.4,
which
suggests
that satisfaction and dissatisfaction are not related—but
rather, they are affected by different needs and motives.
Herzberg contended that hygiene or preventive factors do not pro-
duce motivation, but can prevent motivation from occurring. Preventive
factors, such as money, status, security, working conditions, work policies,
supervision, and interpersonal relations are sometimes viewed as environ-
mental influences. If a manager attends to these items, he or she helps keep
employees from being highly dissatisfied. However, job-related motivators
such as achievement, challenging work, increased responsibility, recogni-
tion, advancement, and personal growth provide true motivation when
combined with hygiene factors. Herzberg's theory has not always been
supported (Griffin & Moorhead, 1986), so media managers should note
the important exceptions and nuances within the satisfaction concept.
For example, a major, national, 2002 study (Weaver, Beam, Brown-
lee, Voakes, & Wilhoit, 2007) found that journalists differ by medium
and by individual characteristics as to how satisfied they were. Journalists
at news magazines were below the average, while those at radio stations
and news services reported above-average satisfaction; men reported
more satisfaction than women, while—in terms of age—those 25 to 34
reported less satisfaction than their older and younger peers. Also, higher
job autonomy and perceived newsroom influence were more likely to
increase journalists' job satisfaction (Weaver et al., pp. 108–109) Finally,
recall from Figure 2.3 that goals also factor; the same survey showed
that of the key goals that the journalists perceived important to upper
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Motivators
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Dissatisfaction
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Satisfaction
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Hygiene Factors
(Salary, Security, Interaction)
Two-factor relationship between satisfaction & dissatisfaction
Traditional assumption about satisfaction & dissatisfaction
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Figure 2.4 The Two-Factor Theory of Motivation
MOTIVATION
ntive
31
Behavior
Performance
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Goal
Value of goal
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Probability
behavior will
result in
performance
Probability
performance
will result in
goal attainment
Figure 2.3 Expectancy Theory
iva-
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raise, or if she's unsure that the extra work will result in the raise, or if
she places little or no value on getting a raise.
Meanwhile, goal-setting theory says that employees behave the
way
they do because it helps them reach their goals (Locke, 1968), with goals’
difficulty and specific nature particularly important. For example, plan-
ning to win an Emmy Award sufficiently motivates many TV writers to
achieve excellence in writing. But if a new writer sets such a goal in her first
year of work, the goal can be too difficult and lead to frustration. If the
writer modifies and specifies the goal (e.g., winning an Emmy in 5 years or
attempting to have a certain number of ideas or scripts produced in one
year), then she enhances the chance for honest evaluation of the goal and
proper assessment of her writing. It is important for her manager to know
what goals she has set and how that affects her behavior.
In the case of our new recruit, the recruit needs to know the edi-
tor's goals, assess their difficulty, and identify their realistic qualities. This
helps the recruit know whether and how to help the editor meet those
goals and develop strategies to do so. If the recruit believes the goals are
set too high, he or she should discuss them with the editor to help adjust
the editor's expectations.
Managers, meanwhile, also may look at job-employee interaction
through the lens of job satisfaction. For example, most managers assume
that a satisfied employee is a productive one. Yet sometimes satisfaction
does not cause performance it may be the reverse. An employee who
performs his or her job is a satisfied employee (Greene, 1972). So know-
ing how employee satisfaction works will help managers more completely
understand motivation.
Alderfer (1972) stressed the role of frustration in terms of unmet
needs. Recognizing the frustration factor implies that a manager can
react to the frustrating item and help satisfy the employee.
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MOTIVATION
29
With operant conditioning (Skinner, 1971), depicted in Figure 2.2,
reinforced behavior is repeated voluntarily and behavior not reinforced
is less likely to be repeated. Reinforcement can be positive (as when the
news director rewards the anchor for the desired behavior of producing
high ratings by giving him or her a raise), negative (as when the news
director rewards a quiet producer who keeps legitimate complaints about
the newsroom's functioning to himself by increasing his pay), punishing
(as when the news director rewards the assignment editor's undesired
complaining with the negative consequence of firing him), or extinc-
tive (as when the news director eliminates the unwanted complaining
by not rewarding it). Regardless of how the news director attempts to
condition the employee, or she should be aware of options and their
consequences.
A modern-day, managerial twist on Skinner's thesis (Haidt, 2006)
suggests that-in rapidly changing environments-obtaining the desired
behavior on the employee's part also requires a series of steps. Using the
metaphor of an elephant and its rider, this concept views the rider as
controlling the reins and in control-except when the elephant disagrees!
The key to getting somewhere or having the elephant doing what
want-or, organizationally speaking, accomplishing a task-is knowing
what drives the elephant toward that task. In the case of change-or
resistance to it—the rider must understand that the elephant is the one
that has the energy and drive to make the change effort succeed. Also, the
rider must know which direction in which to point the elephant; so rider
and elephant are both key to the attempt to change (Heath & Heath,
2010).
So, obviously, motivation often relies on employees' beliefs rather
than on what is observable or true. While the previous theories mainly
focus on how managers (and other factors) manipulate motives, suggest-
ing an element of control, people can influence their own drives via their
beliefs of personal efficacy (Bandura, 1997, p. 2): Unless people believe
you
-
Consequences
Stimulus
Response
Positive Consequence = Reinforcement
Negative Consequence = Nonreinforcement
Fiori
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MOTIVATION
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tia
or
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weakness, either. How can she motivate others to improve, she wonders,
without seeming as if she's trying to manipulate someone into doing what
she wants them to do and without a budget that allows raises or travel
for training? Also, she doesn't want to be seen as taking advantage of the
specter of looming, additional budget cuts.
At first glance, however, the latest recruit isn't thinking motivation
so much as wanting to blend in. And yet peer pressure and success them-
selves are motivating forces. The young journalist doesn't realize that
motivation involves more than something you want to do. In fact, moti-
vation may at times seem to constitute who you are.
Media managing (and understanding media managing) requires
knowing, comprehending, and appropriately analyzing complex human
behavior. Motivation is complicated, and managers must understand it in
context (Fink, 1993), if they are to successfully deal with employees. The
media workplace with its rapid, cyclical nature of change and production
often presents unusual, demanding, and sometimes chaotic circumstances
for managing. The media manager needs a strategic framework for view-
ing motivation and motivational opportunities.
This chapter emphasizes motivation in terms of how a typical edi-
tor or news director regards it, with many of the media-specific circum-
stances. The chapter examines media employees' motivation from two
perspectives: as individuals and as groups, while exploring the applica-
tion of various theories. A discussion of common motivational concerns
and current trends in the media workplace follows.
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MOTIVATING INDIVIDUALS
Common Needs and Influences
Mass media require many tasks of their employees. A TV newsroom
requires anchors to write and report, think critically, be skeptical (even
cynical), aggressive, curious, know how to manage time, coordinate and
collaborate, and develop a sense of community and civic duty
. In the
online world, the work is faster, requires more with less, and mandates
no sacrifice of quality while under endless pressure to publish 24/7. In
doing so, employees experience emotions that may range from humor or
compassion to outright apathy. Therefore, goals are imposed
by the mere fact of being hired.
Often managers can simply look at motivation as a basic process
needs (in this example, job requirements) producing drives or motivos
that then lead to goals being achieved. Abraham Maslow (1954) classified
needs into a five-tier hierarchy: (a) physiological (food and water, sleep,
values and
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30
MOTIVATION
gaug-
efficacy
they can produce desired effects by their actions, they have little incentive
to produce a desired effect (not to be confused with self-esteem, which
involves judgments of self-worth). Managers might use caution in
ing such efficacy, however, since editors show higher levels of
than their subordinates (Reinardy, 2011b).
Reporters can believe in their abilities and still dislike themselves,
although reporters usually develop abilities or perform tasks that make
them feel good about themselves. Self-efficacy beliefs regulate motiva
.
tion by determining goals and the results a person expects for his or her
efforts. For example, a reporter with fairly high self-efficacy probably
would be more willing to try to meet a challenge to improve his or her
skills. Such performance concerns will be discussed in the next section.
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Differences and Job Performance
Aside from job requirements and the needs they generate, manag-
ers also should note the interaction between job and employee. Doing
so will broaden the manager's perspective and thus provide another
decision-making tool. First, managers should know the motivation pro-
cess. Three theories—equity theory, expectancy theory, and goal-setting
theory-address this idea. In equity theory (Adams, 1963), the key
assumption is that inequity is a motivator. When employees feel they
have been unfairly treated, they will attempt to achieve a sense of equity.
If a reporter's unhappiness stems from inequity (let's say she sees com-
parable reporters earning more), she could become happier by changing
how much she works, attempting to increase her pay (or asking for a
raise), reassessing how she compares herself, distorting the comparisons
to make herself compare more favorably, or quitting.
Expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964) asserts that people will act in a
way that will produce the desired outcome if given the freedom to do
so. Figure 2.3 depicts how motivation is the product of the interaction
among expectancy (a person's belief that working hard will enable vari-
ous work goals to be achieved), instrumentality (a person's belief that
various work-related outcomes will occur as a result of doing the job),
and valence (the value the person assigns to those work-related out
tically reduced whenever expectancy, instrumentality,
comes). The motivational appeal of a reward (e.g., higher salary) is dras-
or alone nears zero. For example
, a reporter's motivation to earn a phe
raise will be low if she feels she cannot do the work needed to earn the
go
set
the
thr
tha
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per
ing
und
need
or valence together
Posi
say to the new
In the newsroom? How much should
the veteran mention the friend that the new recruit replaced?
CASE 2.3 MOTIVATING CONVERGENCE I
“Convergence” is coming to your newspaper newsroom. You are
a city editor and you've been asked to prepare yourself and your
staff. These are the issues you face:
1. As part of the convergence process, your newsroom will
be partnered with KRUM, a local TV station. You have
always felt the station had an objectivity problem, and
you've made it no secret among your reporting staff.
2. Another component of convergence will mean integrating
the station's online staff with the paper's online crew.
Broadcasting's bread and butter is immediacy, breaking
news, delivering content as it happens, but you've got to
figure how to make the merger work and whether to keep
the two staffs in separate buildings.
CASE 2.2 OLD KID IN TOWN
Put yourself in the shoes of a friend of the person that the new
recruit (mentioned at the beginning of this chapter) replaced.
Assume you have been in the newsroom for 20 years, working your
way up from cop-beat reporter to the same level of job occupied by
your now-departed friend. The only difference between you is that
you weren't afraid to shoot video and create podcasts.
Deona Laurent, the manager who's been eyeing the new
recruit from behind the glass wall, has been working in the news-
room 5 years. She is the go-between for you and the metro editor.
She was a local government reporter prior to her current position,
which she has held for 9 months and in which-unfortunately,
she often has been argumentative when it comes to the stories you
file. Often she'll make you go back and ask additional questions or
order you to write a blog item on top of everything else. The metro
editor doesn't know any of this.
You were an editor at your college paper, so you think you
know a little bit of how she feels, but you have your own worries
concerning this place.