improving worker motivation: the counseling approach

Improving worker motivation: the counseling approach

VICTOR J. DRAPELA*

THE BASIC ISSUE

How closely related are need satisfaction and motivation of workers? This essay addresses itself to the question and recommends a fresh approach to improving work motivation. The process is based on current theory of human behavior and can be summarized as follows:

WORKER MOTIVATION AND PRODUCTIVITY WILL SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE THROUGH THE INTERVENTION OF PROFESSIONAL COUN- SELORS WHO SERVE AS HUMAN RELATIONS SPECIALISTS WITHIN A CORPORATE UNIT. ANY TYPE OF INDUSTRY OR SERVICE ORGANIZA- TION WHICH INTENDS TO TAP THE CREATIVE POTENTIAL OF ITS WORKERS WILL BENEFIT THROUGH SUCH A PROGRAM.

To view the issue in perspective, three premises need to be explored

1. to improve work motivation through professional counseling, the plant management has to create an appropriate climate by its commitment to organizational democracy;

2. workers' motivation and effectiveness will increase to the degree their physiological, psychological, and social needs are satisfied;

3. high motivational levels tend to the linked with a new set of personnel problems that need to be handled by professionals trained in psychology

and social sciences.

ORGANIZATIONAL DEMOCRACY

Totalitarian systems perceive human nature with profound pessimism. People are seen as untrustworthy, unpredictable, unable or unwilling to assume responsibility and become self-directive. Their motivation is considered warped, their needs are viewed as selfish whims. In labor management, coercion, threats, and rigid controls are applied.

This approach is, obviously, self-defeating. The system of controls has to be constantly tightened to generate the envisioned pressure. Eventually, the

* University of South Florida, Tampa, U.S.A. Int J Adv Couns 2 (1979) 125-131. All rights reserved. Copyright © 1979 Marlinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague/Boston/London.

126 VICTOR J. DRAPELA

entire labor force becomes paralyzed and even selfmotivated and imaginative workers lapse into apathy.

In contrast to such negativist philosophy, democracy views human nature with a high degree of confidence. All people possess and inherent dignity and their needs are legitimate. In the area of labor management, external controls and punitive measures are not the primary means for promoting work output. Emphasis is placed on helping workers understand organizational objectives which stimulates a sense of commitment, self-direction, and self-control. (McGregor, 1960)

This management model has, of course, its critics - even in our society professing political democracy. Cynics label it noble but quite impractical. In their view, democratic principles should be relegated to cermonial occasions but ignored in the day-to-day operation. Bennis and Slater (1968) challenge the validity of this 'nice-but-inefficient' label. They argue that, given the present conditions of ongiong change, democracy is not only the most prac- tical form of management but a functional necessity, if our civilization is to survive. Based on open communication, it generates inner stability by its search for consensus.

NEED FULFILLMENT AND MOTIVATION

Current psychological research has proven beyond doubt that work motivation is closely related to the fulfillment of workers' needs. The quality and intensity of motivation vary according to the level of needs which, at a given time, organize the individual's behavior. Maslow (1954) has shown that work motivation parallels the stages of need fulfillment in a hierarchical fashion.

Most basic are the Physiological Needs - the first level in every individual's personality development. The next step involves the Safety Needs which are not satisfied with mere survival and search for security, protection, and orderliness. Next, the Belonging and Love Needs emerge. The person desires acceptance within a group and affectionate relationships with people. This leads to the formation o f Esteem Needs involving both self-respect and respect of others. Anything that will heighten the level of esteem or render it more deserved becomes of major importance. The highest level of the need hierarchy is attained through the Need for Self-Actualization - the inherent striving of a person to become all one is capable of becoming. This frame of mind is typical of highly creative people and generates personal commitment and self-transcendence.

Motivationhl levels follow the pattern of sequential need-fulfillment. For instance, people who are habitually hungry or live in substandard housing

IMPROVING WORKER MOTIVATION: THE COUNSELING APPROACH 127

facilities concentrate all their attention on getting food and a decent place to live. They view their job from that perspective alone. They want a paycheck but are not interested in the quality of their performance. At the levels of Safety and Belonging Needs workers become interested in effective organizational structures and team work. Productivity and pride in one's work are added at the level of Esteem Needs and they culminate through Self-Actuali- zation processes. Maslow (1965) point out that, at this level, the worker finds self-fulfillment through selflessness and becomes capable of the highest degree of commitment.

A NEW SET OF PERSONAL CONCERNS

Since a high degree of need satisfaction stimulates high levels of work motivation and productivity, it is evident that a humanistic attitude of the management is not only good ethics but also good business. But another implication emerges: Higher need levels that are being satisfied produce a new and more complex set of concerns which markedly differ from typical personnel issues of earlier generations of workers. People operating at the physiological survival level were mainly interested in getting a job, getting paid, securing medical benefits, and working in a reasonably safe place. Such concerns were routinely handled by the plant management. The contact person for the worker was the 'boss' - the supervisor or the employer - and the solution was technical-managerial in nature.

In our age, handling all workers' concerns at the technical managerial level is unrealistic. Many American executives admit that good wages alone no longer assure good performance. More important is the workers' conviction that they are partners in the enterprise rather than merely 's taff or 'labor force'. The right emotional climate of the work environment is an important factor.

NEED FOR PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS

To facilitate personal development of individual workers, to help establish a growth-promoting climate in the plant, to facilitate interpersonal communication - these are some of the tasks for which specialists in the field of applied psychology and social sciences are needed. Their role should be primarily defined as service to healthy workers, men and women with normal life problems, rather than in clinical terms, as therapy for the emo- tionally ill. Although mental health professionals are well aware of the wide


range that extends between normalcy and mental illness, many lay people still consider the two constructs dichotomous and attach a stigma to psychological problems.

The professional counselors should be involved both with managers and workers. However, it must be Clear that the counseling program is func- tionally independent of the management. Managers structure and evaluate work performance. Counselors are facilitators of work performance. As employees of the company that engaged their services they have to keep the corporate interests in mind. However, they can perform their work best if they function as channels of communication between various levels of personnel and avoid taking sides. Thus they can stimulate consensus and help each side understand the position of the other.

The success of the program, at least in the initial stage, depends on the way it is presented to the workers. Management has to indicate its support but the detailed explanation of the new service should be done by the counselors. A series of meetings with about twenty workers each is a useful method for getting accurate information across to the entire employee population. Counselors explain their professional responsibilities, e.g., the confidentiality of topics discussed by the entire group. The services of the counselor are available to everyone but nobody is to be pressured to seek help. Appropriate referral methods are an important topic that should be aired.

THE COUNSELING PROCESS

In general terms, counseling is a dynamic process by which the professional counselor helps clients better understand themselves and their environment, improve their ability to deal with people, and cope with life situations more effectively. As people gain insight and become more comfortable with themselves, they develop a better understanding of others. New experiences or tasks are no longer perceived as threats but rather as challenges.

It would serve no useful purpose to enumerate the various theoretical approaches to counseling, each of them having its merits. (Cf., Shertzer and Stone, 1976) I will merely spell out a few basic principles:

1. the climate of the counseling interview must be one of emotional safety generated by the counselor who understands and accepts the client;

2. the Rogerian construct of 'uncondit ional positive regard' for the client as a person does not imply that the client's behavior must be unconditionally accepted - a distinction well understood by a professional counselor;

3. a release of feelings by the client should be encouraged, even if the client assumes a 'tough guy' posture;


4. the sex and the age of the counselor are seen as less significant for counseling effectiveness, except that blue collar workers, as a rule, relate better to masculine counselor types.

In addition to counseling individuals, the program should include group counseling. As workers express their concerns individually, some common problem areas emerge, such as marriage problems or alcohol-related problems. Whenever this occurs, group counseling should be recommended. The group approach is more efficient, since the counselor can relate to several people at one time. It is also more effective, since individual workers come to realize that others have problems similar to their own. The group's support is of marked therapeutic value for all members. (Cf., Gazda, 1971)

TYPICAL PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED

In the life cycle of every individual there are distinct phases, each of them presenting specific obstacles to need fulfillment and work motivation. Prob- lems typical of a teenager differ from those of a middleaged worker or of someone getting ready for retirement. It is beyond the scope of this essay to analyze these problem areas in depth. Only a few of the more common problems are mentioned here. Some are directly related to the work environment while others have originated outside of the plant but, nevertheless, impede work performance.

One of the most prevalent on-the-job problems is the lack of communication. Two people on the same shift can't get along no matter how hard they try. A group of workers feels cut off from another level of plant hierarchy. A supervisor unwittingly antagonizes a few of the workers he/she is responsible for. All these people mean well, but are constantly frustrated and need to 'let off steam.' They should feel free to do so in the 'safe' climate of the counselor's office. Verbalizing one's anger and bitterness is half of the cure. And an empathetic, yet objective, professional will help uncover alternatives which the person involved never thought of. At times, the counselor, with the client's permission, can let management know of the frustrations 'down the line' which may have been overlooked. In this sense, the counselor can play the role of an ombudsman.

Another on-the-job problem, particularly in large plants, is the feeling of depersonalization experienced by may people. Group counseling is usually the best approach to help such workers discover a comfortable role within the system and establish adequate personal ties. The need for re-training of workers in mid-stream of their career is another traumatic experience that


requires counseling. And finally, the inevitable adjustment to retirement should be initiated well ahead of the termination date. The sudden vacuum in the life of a worker who enters his/her 'golden years' without adequate planning of substitute activities is being identified as one of the most dev- astating traumas in American society.

Counseling is frequently indicated for members of the executive to help them cope with the enormous pressures caused by constant technological advances and economic readjustments. Being able to talk about one's stress- ful situation is a significant emotional release which helps create new, hope- fully more positive, perspectives on the work at hand.

The second group of problems dealt with by counselors have originated outside of the employment area. Most of them are related to family living, e.g., poor husband-wife relationships, clashes between parents and children, guilt feelings of working women who feel they are neglecting their children, abuse of chemical substances, especially, alcohol - these are some of the concerns which recurrently emerge as debilitating factors among American

workers.

CONCLUSION

The counseling services briefly sketched in this essay have proven their worth in American industry. The demand for mental-health professionals by large corporations is well documented. For instance, a Chicago-based counseling firm reported that the number of its corporate clients doubled in the past ten years and rose to over six hundred. (Mayer and Simons, 1977)

To assure success for such counseling services, three factors have to be carefully considered:

1. The management must create a climate that is conducive to the project. It must be honestly interested in its workers and make an effort to humanize the corporate structure.

2. The second factor is the level of skills of counselors selected for the program. Maturity and common sense alone do not compensate for the lack of proper training. Paraprofessionals may, undoubtedly, prove useful but their effectiveness is limited, if they work without professional supervision.

3. The third element is the time required for the implementation of the program. Personality dynamics cannot be manipulated at will, if meaning- ful outcomes are expected. This is true of individuals and even more so, when we deal with group behavior.


It should be added that the counseling service described here is not an 'all-or-nothing' proposition. A partial implementation of the program is better than nothing at all. Some corporations need time to generate appropriate conditions for such an endeavor. They are not quite ready to hire professional counselors but they wish to increase the sensitivity of their supervisory personnel with regard to workers ' needs. Even limited learning experiences and workshops for that purpose are valid steps that will help attain, to some degree, the goals of the counseling approach.

REFERENCES

Bennis, W. G. and Slater, P. E. The temporary society. New York: Harper & Row, 1968.

Gazda, G. M. Group counseling: A developmental approach. Boston: Allyn, 1971.

Maslow, A. Eupsychian mangement: A journal. Homewood, IL: Irwin, 1965.

Maslow, A. Motivation and personality. New York: Harper & Row, 1954.

Mayer, A. J. and Simons, P. E. Company shrinks. Newsweek, October 24, 1977, p. 96.

McGregor, D. The human side of enterprise. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1960.

Shertzer, B. and Stone, S. C. Fundamentals of guidance. (3rd Ed.) Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1976.

improving worker motivation: the counseling approach

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