Big Bison Resort

What Employees Value

Assignment 4

1. What kinds of behavior would an Employee of the Month program, as described here, reinforce at Big Bison Resorts?

I feel that the employees of the month program at Big Bison Resort would result in a positive reinforcement, as this will continue to increase the likelihood that employers are doing their very best for the company and giving great customer service as they know they will reap the positive reinforcers that will follow their positive behavior. (pg. 473)

This will also result in negative reinforcement by removing undesirable consequence. (pg.473) Sometimes an employee may feel like the work they are doing is not being recognized, and they may tend to get lazy and lose motivation. This can sometimes slow production and if you're poor work ethic is being recognized by management. You may get penalized for unsatisfactory performance. Every employee wants to get recognized for the work and eventually earn benefits, so if the employee of the month program is set in place, this will improve unsatisfactory progress which in return will improve performance and productivity as a whole.

How might the company apply the principles of reinforcement more effectively?

The company can apply the principles of reinforcement more effectively by managing rewards and punishment. Sometimes organizations and managers enforce the wrong behaviors. To use reinforcement effectively, managers must identify which kind of behaviors they reinforce, and which they discourage. The reward system has to support the firm's strategy, defining people's performance in ways that pursue strategic objectives. "The things that get rewarded get done." Examples of things that should be rewarded, but are not limited to: solid solutions instead of quick fixes, smart work instead of busywork, quality work instead of fast work, and the greatest of them all, working together instead of working against. pg475. Other keys to applying the principles of reinforcement more effectively would be to manage mistakes, and to provide feedback. Feedback can be offered in many ways, from managers, from customers directly, and even requesting customer feedback and giving it to the employee. (pg 476)

2. How might Big Bison Resorts get input from employees to make the company's jobs more motivating?

I would have to say by receiving feedback directly from the employee can go along way if the manager listens. But, for the jobs to be more motivated; expectancy, instrumentalities, and total valence of all outcomes must all be high. The expectancy theory helps the manager zero in on key leverage points for influencing motivation: (1) Increase expectancies (2) Identify positively valent outcomes, and (3) Make performance instrumental