The Lamar University Electronic Journal of Student Research

Summer 2007

National Implications: Examining

Motivational Factors among
Employees in Higher Education

Monica G. Williams
PhD Student in Educational Leadership
The Whitlowe R. Green College of Education
Prairie View A&M University
Member of the Texas A&M University System
Prairie View, Texas

William Allan Kritsonis, PhD

Professor and Faculty Mentor
PhD Program in Educational Leadership
Prairie View A&M University
Member of the Texas A&M University System
Visiting Lecturer (2005)
Oxford Round Table
University of Oxford, Oxford, England
Distinguished Alumnus (2004)
Central Washington University
College of Education and Professional Studies
Ellensburg, Washington
________________________________________________________________________
ABSTRACT

Optimal performance in the workplace is what employers seek from their

employees. As such, organizational leaders spend a considerable amount of time
focusing on how to get personnel to maximize their potential in the workplace, but
research shows spending time determining what will satisfy employees is not the
best methodology. Some researchers conclude that improving hygiene factors
among employees will result in employees being more motivated to exceed
expectations in job performance. This is evident in the system of higher education
through employees and students. The purpose of this article is to examine how
motivational factors improve employee and student performance in higher
education.
Special Note: Special thanks to Dr. Kimberly Grantham Griffith for her
assistance in getting this article published. See: www.nationalforum.com

Introduction

Understanding motivation is useful in gaining knowledge around behavior in

organizational structures, and it helps to predict the effects of any action in the workplace
(Nadler & Lawler, 1977). The focus of this article is to investigate how appropriate
motivation can enhance employee and student performance at institutions of higher
education.

Purpose of the Article

The purpose of this article is to investigate how appropriate motivation can

enhance employees and student performance at institutions of higher education

Organizational Motivation Influence Organizational Outcomes

Once an organization understands motivation, it can channel individual behavior

to positively influence organizational outcomes. As Daley and Dee (2006) noted,
“workplace stressors often have detrimental effects on faculty job satisfaction and may
lead to decisions to leave the institution or to leave higher education entirely.” According
to Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory, employees receive the greatest amount of
satisfaction when they are recognized for their achievement in the workplace. Satisfied
employees produce better work and often optimize personal growth and advancement at
work. This same rule applies to students.

Accredited colleges and universities employ this model consistently through

promotion review and tenure for faculty. “Administrators do well to acknowledge and
appreciate the strong perception of collegiality and its relationship to motivation to teach
well and to nurture symbolic elements of the organizational environment that have a
positive result on teaching performance” (Oldham, p. 2). One of the largest higher
education systems in the State of Texas uses promotion and tenure review to reward
faculty. Once a year, a committee represented by each institution’s best and brightest
scholars reviews the case for support of those faculty members seeking tenure. This
committee is charged with selecting the most distinguished educators to become tenured
faculty. Becoming tenured would indicate that an academician was motivated enough to
help the institution achieve its broader goal. Though satisfaction may ideally be internal
and self-determined, the reality is that faculty pay attention to rewards such as their
salary, their general standing among their peers, and they expect institutions to recognize
meritorious work (Oldham, p. 9).

In the World of Academia

In the world of academia, the granting of tenure is second only in prestige to the
appointment of an endowed chair or professorship position, and only under the most
unethical circumstances is tenure retracted or revoked. For example, a tenured faculty
member might face revocation of tenure for intentionally violating university policies or
procedures. Even still, a defense hearing before the Faculty Senate is granted. This is
important to mention as a counter-productive tendency to motivation. When in
opposition of motivation, negative consequences must exist. If there is no punishment
for violation of motives, morale among other members of the organization will be low
which could eventually result in failure of the organization.

Differentiation of Rewards

Faculty and staff are rewarded differently in this organization. Staff members
within the A&B System are given a different incentive to perform at their peak. At the
administrative staff level, performance bonuses are common. This perk is often
negotiated in the Contract for Hire, and the amount of the awarded bonus is tied directly
to performance goals. As a system-wide policy, university recruiters’ performance is
measured by the number of students they convince to attend an institution. Their ability
to sell a particular program or the school in general to prospective students is how they
retain employment. If the recruiter is able to achieve or exceed the recruitment goal, he
receives additional compensation as part of an incentive pay plan. If the recruiter does
not maintain an average level of recruitment during the 12-month performance period,
loss of employment is possible. Recruiters are made aware of this practice prior to being
hired. Unfortunately, employment in the area of student recruitment is difficult to
maintain in higher education. There is a considerable amount of turnover, and an
enormous expense to train new staff.
 Motivating Students to Be Successful

The A&B University System also motivates students and helps them to be
successful. All incoming freshmen spend their first year in a residential learning
community that provides an academically focused, student-centered, supportive,
structured environment focused on improving matriculation and retention and graduation
rates. This program is designed to help students be successful in their transition from
high school to college. Students are required to attend a seven-week residential,
academic enhancement camp designed as an academic enhancement experience for the
motivated student. Students are given skills-based instruction daily and spend five nights
a week in structured workshops and study halls. Ultimately, upon successful completion
of this program, first-year academic performance is improved.
Some students do not adapt well to the residential learning community. It is
usually determined during the seven week “boot camp” if a student will adjust to the
model. As stated by the program director, this program requires much discipline, and
students must “understand and accept the condition that any act of misconduct or
violation of program guidelines is grounds for immediate dismissal.”
Upperclassmen need motivation, too, and recently, one of the system’s flagship
institutions embarked upon a capital improvement initiative to provide adequate
resources and new facilities on campus. Administrators believe that seeking external
resources for endowed scholarships, student support services, endowed chairs,
technology enhancement, and campus beautification will give students the financial and
emotional encouragement to succeed academically. The overall goal is to foster student
success at every level. By doing so means that the institution is cultivating relationships
with future donors. A happy student translates into satisfied alumni, and satisfied alums
mean future gifts to the university.

Motivational Tactics for Faculty, Staff, and Students

The A& B System is to be commended for encouraging its campus administrators

to use motivational tactics for faculty, staff, and students. While motivators for each of
these individuals have helped to improve morale, there are some challenges. Individuals
have unique sets of needs and expectations about how they will be regarded in the
workplace, which impact how they respond. Responses are not always predictable, so
there must be room for variation. “Organizational behavior provides structures that act as
the environmental stimulus, and different environments generate different behavior in
different people” (Oldham, p. 172). It is an interesting concept that presupposes that
people are motivated from within.

Concluding Remarks

In conclusion, motivators have the ability to create motivation within others.

They provide the maximum set of conditions to get other people to do what they want
them to do. If faculty, staff, and students were not self-motivated, they would not be
inclined to absorb the motivational encouragement given by motivators. As one A&B
System president says, “People have to want to do their jobs in order to be successful. It
is imperative that they first adhere to the basic polices and procedures of the institution
(i.e. show up to work on time). I am always amazed when employees come to work late
and leave early, yet they question receiving a poor performance evaluation.” In theory
this president is absolutely right. The examples that educators set, whether they are
faculty or staff, influence the lives of our future leaders – our students.

References

Daley, C.J. & Dee, J.R. (2006). Greener pastures: Faculty turnover intent in
urban public universities. The Journal of Higher Education v. 77 no. 5 p. 776-803).

Nadler, D. & Lawler, E. (1979). Managing Organizational Behavior. Boston,

MA: Little, Brown & Company.

Oldham, B. E. (December, 2005). Organizational behavior and faculty

motivation in higher education. Retrieved May 12, 2006, from ProQuest Information
and Learning Company http://www.lib.umi.com/dissertations/search.

Prairie View A&M University Fact Book 2001 – 2004.

See: www.nationalforum.com