"B-12, G-47, I-24, O-51, I-5, N-36.............'BINGO'!!!!!!" A simple game of bingo, if analysed closely, can be shown to be a tedious task consisting of a repetitive action that occurs after being prompted by a repetitive stimulus. The skill level needed to make that action is low, and the variability in the rules of the game rarely changes. This game is not unlike many of the jobs that can be classified as having low motivational performance. So why do people not only enjoy playing games like bingo, but actually pay money to have the pleasure? The answer directly points to the motivating factors of monetary rewards, which is the stimulus for the individual's performance. In this essay I will discuss the theory behind "Motivation" and "Performance" in relation to New Zealand Post and the theoretical ideals that their management should adopt with employees.

There are many theories regarding motivation with the most prevalent being the theories of Abraham Maslow and Frederick Herzberg. It is important to understand these theories and their implications to accurately comment on reinforcement theories of motivation. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the

In conclusion I have outlines both Maslow's and Herzberg's theories in relation to motivation and McGregor's theories in relation to performance. I also have suggested ways in which NZ Post could apply these theories to enable them to better fulfil their corporate profile statement. I suggested that perhaps Herzberg's theory would not be best suited to NZ Post due to the many flaws in the application of his theory and that Maslow's theory in practice would enable a better fufilment of the corperate profile statement.

In the application of McGregor's theories an obvious pitfall is that obviously given the choice management will opt for Theory Y, however the application can result in a very different outcome. Theory Y places an unrealistic amount of burden on the management, and thus they have to sometimes resort to Theory X as no matter how much nurturing or inspiration managers give to employees, there will always be some who just have no desire to work, and show little or no initiative. So NZ Post may run many seminars to attempt to increase performance, or empower those who management feel need a performance boost, yet inevitably those who have no desire to perform better will just not respond to any of these performance motivators and hence management will have to resort to Theory X management to get these employees to work as they should be. Another problem may be with those employees who have been part of the organisation for a number of years, and a new fresh inspirational manager comes along who has been to all the courses and seminars and has used all the theories, and yet these employees are so used to old school Theory X management, they will just simply not be able to conform to this new Theory Y management style, as suggested in Hall et al. (1999)

Herzberg used this theory as a base to build his motivation-hygiene theory, which ties Maslow's needs to on the job achievement. The hygiene elements relate to low needs (physiological, safety, and social)(Harlos 2000). For an individual, hygiene conditions include company policy and administration, supervision, relationships with peers and supervisors, work conditions, salary, status, and security. These, according to Herzberg account for 69% of the factors that cause employee dissatisfaction or lack of motivation. The motivation conditions, which include achievement, the job itself, recognition, responsibilities, and personal growth, accounted for 81% of the factors that contributed to job satisfaction. The hygiene conditions are extrinsic factors (behaviour that is performed for material or social rewards as defined by Harlos 2000) while the motivation conditions are intrinsic factors (behaviour that is performed for its own sake not for material or social rewards as defined by Harlos 2000), and the only way to s

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Approximate Word count = 1887
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)