WEEK THREE DISCUSSION ONE REPLIES
1. Respond to at least TWO peers with EACH question. Peer posts must be thoughtful, insightful and rich in content.
2. 150 word minimum.
3. You are not required to use references.
Rebekah Moses
Which motivation theory do you think would be the most difficult to implement in an HCO and why?
In my opinion, the most difficult motivation theory to implement in a healthcare organization (HCO) would be Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory is a human motivation that comes from the five basic human needs that have a hierarchical order (Olden, 2019). This theory is harder to implement with an HCO organization because it is focusing on the most basic needs a person has and when it comes to an HCO the employees are above a basic need. The first is Physiological survival, so food, water, and air; examples like clean air, and money to buy food. In HCOs the people working there do not struggle, to have access to clean air, and buy food. The same goes for safety and security, individuals who work in HCOs have job security, and health insurance, and it usually is a safe place to work. Belongingness can be a motivator is in HCO’s but, usually, when a new person enters an HCO most of the time the staff is welcoming so not a very strong motivator. Esteem is recognition from a boss, performance awards, and recognition. When I worked in occupational health we would give out patient surveys, in Occ Health we dealt with a lot of paperwork and it didn’t always involve service members, about 50% of the time it involved contract workers; this paperwork was vital for their jobs so they were always very appreciative for the assistance with their paperwork. At the end of the appointment to fill out their paperwork I’d always offer them a customer satisfaction survey to fill out and they would 90% of the time take the opportunity to fill out the survey. I got so many good customer comments that the Commanding Officer of the Hospital came to our morning meeting once to give me a command coin (a big deal). This recognition was appreciated but it didn’t motivate me to do better, I was already doing a good job so far as motivation goes not ideal; perhaps it provided motivation to others. Lastly, self-actualization, accomplishing professional goals and fulfilling one’s career. In a study published in the
International
Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, they found that by utilizing Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs they were able to identify that providers were motivated by self-actualization when deciding whether to move on from a medical practice; it was found that career opportunities, career options, and more training opportunities, to name a few were major motivators (Dohlman et. al, 2019). Out of the 5 basic human needs, 1 showed to be a motivator; for these reasons, I believe Maslow’s motivation theory would be difficult to implement in an HCO.
References:
Dohlman, L., DiMeglio, M., Hajj, J., & Laudanski, K. (2019). Global Brain Drain: How Can the
Maslow Theory of Motivation Improve Our Understanding of Physician Migration?
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(7), 1182.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16071182
Olden, P. D. P. (2019).
Management of healthcare organizations, an introduction, Third edition (3rd ed.). Health Administration Press.
Noelle Richards
The motivation theory that would be the most difficult to implement is the Herzberg Two-Factor theory. As stated in the text, the Herzberg Two-Factor theory designates that satisfaction and motivation relies on hygiene (factors external to the workplace) and motivators (benefits to the work itself) and the relationship between the two factors (Olden, 2019). This is the most difficult motivation theory to itself because those external factors, such as company policies, pay scales, coworkers, and patients are harder to take control of when working in a larger healthcare organization. If you work in a large health system, it is likely that you have little say in the policies that govern the day-to-day work, and even Directors and Vice Presidents who may be able to provide input may be affected by decisions made at a corporate level. Furthermore, if the pay isn’t great, coworkers experiencing familial issues present with a negative attitude, and difficult patients make several complaints, dissatisfaction is likely to be high. Recent studies have looked at generational differences as they relate to the Herzberg Two-Factor theory and have determined that even age gaps between coworkers in the workplace can create such a large culture difference that dissatisfaction can run rampant if not maintained by management (Hasan et al., 2023). The benefits to the work itself, such as bonuses, social incentives, etc. may be throttled at any time by corporate policies and prevent growth of workplace culture.
References:
Hassan, M. M., Alam, M. N., Campbell, N., Bowyer, D., & Reaz, M. (2022). Human Resource Management in Health Care Industries for Generation Y: Challenges of the 21st Century.
Australasian Business, Accounting and Finance Journal,
16(1), 21–40. https://doi.org/10.14453/aabfj.v16i1.3
Olden, P. (2019).
Management of Healthcare Organizations: An Introduction (3rd ed.). Health Administration Press.