This is the lastest story one of my coaches' companions was sharing in a conversation. She was experiencing this situation in her context. And discussing what can be done?
Douglas McGregor, a management professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during the 1950s and 1960s.
In his 1960 book, The Human Side of Enterprise, McGregor proposed two theories by which managers recognize and address employee motivation. He attributed to these opposing motivational methods as Theory X and Theory Y management.
Each considers that the manager’s role is to coordinate resources, consisting of individuals, to best benefit the enterprise. However, beyond this commonality, the attitudes and assumptions they embrace are altogether distinctive.
According to McGregor, Theory X management considers the following:
Work is naturally distasteful to most individuals, and they will seek to avert responsibility whenever feasible.
Most individuals are not enthusiastic, have little ambition for responsibility, and choose to be directed.
Most individuals have a limited aptitude for creativity in dealing with organizational problems.
Motivation occurs entirely at the physiological and security levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Most individuals are self-centered. As a result, they must be strictly controlled and often coerced to achieve organizational objectives.
Most individuals resist change.
Most individuals are gullible and unintelligent.
Most individuals gravitate toward prejudice and racism because of their attachment to ancient and conventional assumptions about individuals in general.
Most Individuals can still be heard saying things like “there will always be chiefs and Indians,” even though that kind of dialogue is becoming less familiar.
Essentially, Theory X assumes that the fundamental origin of employee motivation is financial, with security as a powerful second.
Under Theory X Manager, one can take a hard or soft approach to obtain results.
Theory X managers tend to be autocratic and controlling and feel it is up to them to ride people and drive them to perform their work (boss as a “Commander”). Once you acquire a powerful position it is much easy to exercise the power!
You might have noticed such X management style, powerful organizations may discover that following it is inevitable owing to the volume of individuals that they operate and the rigid deadlines that they have to meet.
Have you come across such occasions? as a Coach what you have been investigating?
Theory X Leaders’ approach culminates in aggression, deliberately low productivity, and intense employee attrition.
X Leaders believe Team members are rare to find reward or gratification in their work, so a “carrot and stick “ technique will contribute to be more fruitful in persuading them.
McGregor’s name for this kind of management is “management by control.”
Theory X management hinders the fulfillment of higher-level needs of Maslow’s Hierarchy chart because it doesn’t acknowledge that those needs are significant in the workplace.
As a result, the particular way that employees can seek to find higher-level needs at work is to seek further compensation, so, predictably, they focus on financial benefits.
While money may not be the most efficient way to self-fulfillment, it may be the only way feasible.
The Theory X-oriented principal reduces the channels for innovations in work strategies and weakens the amount of group experience established.
Theory X Manager will design rigid organizational arrangements and controls based on established authority. He will employ careful control, give specific instructions, demand complete conformity, and will use threats of firings or economic sabotage to provoke the work done.
In a study reported in the Social Behavior And Psychology journal, researchers found employees’ motivation starts with encouragement from managers. If employees are led by Theory X managers in the work then team members will not be capable to engage properly!
What are some of the coaching aspects we can explore?
a) Let us talk with the leader X about the Situation Leadership style, as everything is situationally specific, those traits can be explained and practice.
b) Let us explain the Complex system and traits of complexity and why Leaders have to behave differently in a complex system.
c) Let us talk about the Agile Cultural context and model. How people's aspects have been considered.
d) Let us explain Extrinsic motivation factors and how leaders can explain those?
Let us talk about the outcome and Impact not only meeting the deadline.
All these have to be practiced and see what new outcome appears in Team.
