DIRECTION, SUPERVISION

AND MOTIVATION
UNIT-5
Dr. Sucheta Agarwal
Associate Professor

DR SUCHETA AGARWAL
DIRECTION
◦ Direction is a function of management performed by top level management in order to achieve
organizational goals.
◦ It is very important and necessary function of management.
◦ Management has to undertake various activities like, guide people, inspire and lead them as well as
supervision of their activity is required in order to achieve desired results.
◦ Planning, organizing and staffing provide foundation to the organisation and direction initiates action
towards achievement of the goals.
◦ Thus, directing is ‘management in action’.

◦ Managers, thus, direct employees’ behaviour towards organisational and individual/group

goals.

DR SUCHETA AGARWAL
Directing is “a managerial function It is “getting all the members of
that involves the responsibility of the group to want and to strive to
managers for communicating to achieve objectives of the
others what their roles are in enterprise and of the members
achieving the company plan.” because the members want to
— Pearce and Robinson achieve these objectives.”
— Terry and Franklin

“Direction deals with the steps a manager

takes to get subordinates and others to
carry out plans.”- William Newman

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 They describe three important skills of managers that influence the behaviour of others:

1. Diagnose (must know the problem)

2. Adapt (understand it)
3. Communicate (communicate the change)

 Flows from top to bottom

 Managers use behavioural sciences
 To ascertain their needs and forces that drive them to work
 The motivational factors (monetary and non-monetary) are analysed while directing them to action.

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NATURE OF DIRECTION
 Process of action
 Directing is situational
 Behavioural science
 Understand group behavior
 Participative
 Unity of command
 Unity of direction

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TECHNIQUES OF DIRECTION
 Orders and Instructions
 Follow up orders and Instructions
 Standard Practices and Procedures
 Behavioral Pattern—autocratic, participative , free-rein

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FUNCTIONS/IMPORTANCE OF
DIRECTION
It guides and helps the subordinates to complete the given task properly and as per schedule.

 It provides the necessary motivation to subordinates to complete the work satisfactorily and strive to do them

best.

 It helps in maintaining discipline and rewarding those who do well.

 Directing involves supervision, which is essential to make sure that work is performed according to the orders

and instructions.

Improvement in performance

Facilitates change

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 ELEMENTS OF DIRECTING
 Supervision- implies overseeing the work of subordinates by their superiors. It is the act of watching &

directing work & workers.

 Motivation- means inspiring, stimulating or encouraging the sub-ordinates with passion to work. Positive,

negative, monetary, non-monetary incentives may be used for this purpose.

 Leadership- may be defined as a process by which manager guides and influences the work of subordinates

in desired direction.

 Communications- is the process of passing information, experience, opinion etc from one person to another.

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 SUPERVISION
 Super-above, Vision-see
 Overseeing or superintending the work of others
 Supervision is all about immediate and direct guidance and control of subordinates
while performing their work.
 It involves closely observing the subordinates at work and ensuring that they work
according to the policies and plans of the organization.
 George R. Terry and Stephen G. Franklin define it as follows:
‘Supervision is guiding and directing efforts of employees and other resources to
accomplish stated work outputs.‘

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 The term ‘supervision’ is used in two contexts:

1. Element of direction, and

2. Functions performed by supervisors
Supervisors
 They are the link between the top and middle management and the workers.
 Take, for example, the foreman of the factory or the office superintendent in the office
 They are the mouthpiece of management for communicating its ideas, plans and policies to the
workers and employees and vice-versa.
 Supervisors specialise in behavioural sciences.
 Deals with relationships between the superiors and subordinates. 

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OBJECTIVES OF SUPERVISION
 To see that a particular work or a task is being done in the expected manner.
 To promote continuing improvement.
 To motivate the employees to team work.
 To evaluate the quality of people.
 To guide the people.
 Help in solving the problem

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 METHODS OF SUPERVISION:
1. Personal contact (Direct)
2. Correspondence (instructions in writing and receive written replies)
3. Reports
Indirect
4. Telecommunication (telephone, electronic mail, voice mail, video conferencing etc)

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IMPORTANCE OF
SUPERVISION
 Provides a Link between Workers and Management
 Avoidance of Conflicts and Misunderstanding
 Motivating and training of Workers
 Leadership Qualities
 Controlling Performance

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FUNCTIONS OF SUPERVISORS

 Planning the work

 Issuing orders and instructions to workers
 Providing guidance and leadership to workers
 Motivation of workers
 Preserving records of production, materials, etc
 Controlling output of workers
 Liaison between management and workers
 Handling of workers grievances
 Industrial safety

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QUALITIES OF A GOOD SUPERVISOR
A supervisor to be effective in his job should possess the following attributes:
1. Technical Competence
2. Managerial Qualities
3. Leadership Skills
4. Skill in Instructing
5. Human Orientation
6.Decision-making Skills
7.Knowledge of Rules and Regulations
8. He should have patience and should not lose temper.
9. A person of positive mind.
10. Maintain good personal contact with subordinates.
11. He has to develop teamwork.
12. He has to make use of group dynamics positively.

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DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DIRECTION AND SUPERVISION
Direction (Wide) Supervision (Narrow)
 It include motivation, communication, supervision, training
& leadership.  It is only one of the elements of direction.

 Direction is generally at top level.  It is restricted to the lower level management.

 Generally, direction is related to supervision which is the  He has to deal, guide and lead workers directly under his
intermediate link between the workers and management commands.

 Direction being at the top level, formulates polices and takes  Supervision at lower level only for implementation.
important decision.

 Financial & non financial incentives.  It cannot provide incentives but if can only recommend rewards
in special case.

 Leads the efforts of medium and lower Level executives.  Efforts of employee under his commands.

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 MOTIVATION
 Motivation is the word derived from the word ’motive’ which means needs, desires, wants or drives
within the individuals.
 It is the process of stimulating people to actions to accomplish the goals.
 In the work goal context the certain factors stimulating the people’s behaviour can be -
 desire for money
 success The processes that account for an
individual’s intensity, direction,
 recognition
and persistence of effort toward
 job-satisfaction attaining a goal.
 team work, etc

Intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation

Monetary motivation and non monetary motivation
Motivation by positive incentives and Motivation by negative incentives

DR SUCHETA AGARWAL
 Motivation can be defined as a Motivation is the term employed
willingness to expand energy, to generally for the phenomena involved
achieve a goal or a reward. —Dai a in the operation of incentives or drives.
Breachus —James Draver

 Motivation refers to the way in which

urges, drives, desires, aspirations,
strivings, needs, directs or control or
explain the behaviour of human beings.
—D.E. McFarland

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 MOTIVE, MOTIVATING,
MOTIVATION
 A motive is an inner state that energies, activates, or moves (hence motivation) and that directs
behavior towards goals.

 Motivating is a term which implies that one person(in the organization context, a manager) induces
another, (say employee) to engage in action (work behavior) by ensuring that a channel to satisfy the
motive becomes available and accessible to the individual.

 Motivation is something that moves the person to action, and continue him in the course of action
already initiated

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FIG: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOTIVE, MOTIVATING AND
MOTIVATION

Motive Motivating Motivation

Activating needs and Engagement in work

Needs in individuals
providing need behaviour
satisfaction
environment

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 NATURE OF MOTIVATION
 Based on the definition of motivation ,we can drive its nature relevant for human behavior in
organization.
Following characteristics of motivation clarify its nature:
 1.Based on motives
 2.Affected by motivating
 3.Goal Directed Behavior
 4.Related to Satisfaction
 5. Person Motivated in Totality
 6. Complex Process.

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MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR

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 SIGNIFICANCE OF MOTIVATION
(ROLE OF MOTIVATION
 Motivation is important in any field on account of the following reasons:-

1. Higher performance level

2. Low absenteeism and turnover
3. Facilitates change
4. Human relations
5. Creativity and innovation
 Thus, Motivation helps to utilize and development of the talent of employees

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 MOTIVATIONAL STRATEGIES
 Starbucks, for instance, partners (employees) receive stock options

 Full health care benefits

 Extensive training

 Other factors that are essential to improving employee motivation is the

working environment or relationship between employees and managers.
 It considers that the tip of success in Starbucks is not coffee but employees

 Starbucks core value is its employees because they are the most important
asset.
 A culture of respect to employees and well-developed environment have
lead Starbucks to produce the best working quality for customers and an
increase in profits

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 THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
 From the very beginning, when human organizations were established, people had tried to find
out the answer of ‘what motivates people in the organization most’.

DR SUCHETA AGARWAL
THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
1. Maslow’s need hierarchy
2. Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory
3. McGregor’s theory X and theory Y
4. Theory Z

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FIG: MASLOW'S HIERARCHY
OF NEEDS

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MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF
NEEDS
 1 Self Actualization Needs
(full potential)
 
  2 Esteem Needs
(self respect, personal worth, autonomy)
 
  3 Love and Belongingness Needs
(love, friendship, comradeship)
 
 4 Safety Needs
(security; protection from harm)
 
 5 Physiological Needs
(food, sleep, stimulation, activity)
DR SUCHETA AGARWAL
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 Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human
needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid. From the bottom of the hierarchy upwards,
the needs are: physiological (food and clothing), safety (job security), love and belonging needs
(friendship), esteem, and self-actualization.
 Human beings are motivated by a hierarchy of needs.
 This hierarchy suggests that people are motivated to fulfill basic needs before moving on to other, more
advanced needs.

 Maslow suggests that various levels are interdependent and overlapping. Each higher level emerging
before the lower level need has been completely satisfied. Even though a need is satisfied it will influence
behaviour because of interdependent and overlapping characteristic of needs

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CRITICISMS OF MASLOW’S THEORY
OF MOTIVATION
 Researchers have proved that there is lack of hierarchical structure of needs as suggested by Maslow,
though every individual has some ordering for his need satisfaction.
 Another problem is that there is a lack of direct cause and effect relationship between need and behaviour
 Need and satisfaction of needs is a psychological feeling.
  Another problem with Maslow’s theory of motivation is the operationalisation of some of his concepts
which makes it difficult for the researchers to test his theory. For instance, how does one measure self
actualisation?

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 “What do people want from their jobs?
 A theory that relates intrinsic factors to job satisfaction and associates extrinsic factors with
dissatisfaction. Also called motivation-hygiene theory or two-factor theory.

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Hygiene Factors (Dissatisfiers) Motivational factors (Satisfiers)
Company policy and administration Achievement

Technical supervision Recognition

Interpersonal relationship with supervisors Advancement

Interpersonal relationship with peers Work itself

Interpersonal relationship with subordinates Possibility of growth

Job security Responsibility

Personal life
Working conditions
Status
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Salary
DR SUCHETA AGARWAL
SOME COMMON CRITICISMS OF HERZBERG’S MOTIVATION THEORY INCLUDE:

 The theory only applies to white collar workers.

 It doesn’t take an individuals situation or perception into consideration.

 The theory focuses on improving employee satisfaction. That doesn’t necessarily translate into increased
productivity.

 There is no objective way to measure employee satisfaction within the theory.

 Two Factor Theory is subject to bias. For example, when an employee is satisfied they will give themselves
credit for that satisfaction. Conversely, when they are dissatisfied they will blame external factors

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 MCGREGOR'S THEORY X AND
THEORY Y

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 Theory X and Theory Y were first explained by social psychologist Douglas McGregor in his book, "The
Human Side of Enterprise," and they refer to two styles of management – authoritarian (Theory X) and
participative (Theory Y).

 If you believe that your team members dislike their work and have little motivation, then, according to
McGregor, you'll likely use an authoritarian style of management. This approach is very "hands-on" and
usually involves micromanaging people's work to ensure that it gets done properly. McGregor called this
Theory X.

 On the other hand, if you believe that your people take pride in their work and see it as a challenge , then
you'll more likely adopt a participative management style. Managers who use this approach trust their people
to take ownership of their work and do it effectively by themselves. McGregor called this Theory Y

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 There are serious limitations to McGregor’s assumptions about human behaviour; some of which are
stated below:
 Attuning management practices according to Theory X assumptions makes for a hard approach to
managing; Likewise, attuning management practices according to Theory Y assumptions makes for a soft
approach.
 Theory ‘X’ and Theory ‘Y’ assumptions are two extreme sets of assumptions about human behaviour. In
fact, there are very few persons who exactly correspond with Theory ‘X’ or Theory ‘Y’ assumptions. Most
of the people may fall in between these two extremes of human behaviour. McGregor has ignored this
aspect of human behaviour.
 Since human behaviour is quite variable; same person may, at times, behave according to Theory ‘X’
assumptions; and at times, according to Theory ‘Y’ assumptions. This phenomenon of variable human
behaviour is overlooked by McGregor.
 Every enterprise has a mix of Theory X and Theory Y people. There is a problem for management to evolve
universal management techniques towards effective management throughout the enterprise, as a whole.

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