Work Motivation and Life Stage

Work motivation and life stage

- Is there a connection?

Bachelorthesis in Business Administration Management, EKO 369, spring semester 2007

Authors: Emelie Borg Ramona Kraft Caroline Sjunnesson

Tutor/ Examinator: Pernilla Nilsson Co-reader: Magnus Forslund

SUMMARY

Bachelorthesis in Business Administration, Växjö University, School of Management and Economics, EKO 369 Management, spring semester 2007

Authors: Emelie Borg, Ramona Kraft and Caroline Sjunnesson Tutor/ Examinator: Pernilla Nilsson Co-reader: Magnus Forslund Title: Work motivation and life stage - Is there a connection?

Introduction: Motivation is a multifaceted area, due to the fact that the mind of every human being is unique. Despite that the topic of work motivation has been studied thoroughly by many scholars, there still is no universal description of how to motivate people. The reason to why this research area is “unsolved” is hard to say, but one explanation could be that motivational factors change over time and depend on individual factors such as age, life stage, and duration of employment.

Research question: Why are individuals motivated by different factors at work?

Purpose: The aim of this thesis is to study the reasons behind the differences in motivational factors between five individuals employed within business administration at three different companies.

Methodology: We have used a qualitative method based on five interviews and five observations of employees working within business and administration at three different companies situated in Växjö. The empirical findings have been analysed from a qualitative point of view.

Final discussion: Our conclusion drawn from the empirical findings is that some factors, such as security and salary, are related to life stage and change over time. Other factors stay the same during the whole working life, such as the desire for personal development. This conclusion can be drawn since motivation is not only a trait of character that someone either has or not has; motivation occurs in the interaction between an individual and the situation.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

During the process of writing our bachelor thesis, many people supported us and helped us along the way. We would like to express our gratitude to these people, who helped us to finish the thesis!

First of all, we would like to thank the five interviewees, who have helped us to make this thesis possible. Only their willingness to contribute made this research realisable. Each one of them took the time to answer our questions and provided us with the necessary information to conduct our study. We would also like to thank the companies, Balco AB, DHL and Länsförsäkringar, who let us interview employees.

We would like to express our appreciation to our tutor and examinator Pernilla Nilsson, who supported and encouraged us throughout the whole process of writing this thesis. When we had any questions, she answered them and gave us the necessary feedback. We are grateful for her feedback, help and support!

Furthermore, we would like to thank our seminar group who showed us ways to improve our thesis and provided us with useful information in several constructive discussions throughout the process. Marie, Kristina, Marie and Leonnie were always honest and gave us helpful advice. We appreciated this feedback much and it helped us along the way.

Last but not least, we would like to thank our families and friends for supporting us along the way.

Växjö, May 30 2007

Emelie Borg Ramona Kraft Caroline Sjunnesson

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION...... 6 1.1 BACKGROUND ...... 6 1.2 PROBLEM DISCUSSION ...... 7 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTION ...... 8 1.4 PURPOSE ...... 8 1.5 GOAL ...... 9 1.6 THE STRUCTURE OF THIS THESIS...... 9 2. THEORETICAL FINDINGS ...... 10 2.1 DEFINITIONS...... 10 2.2 WORK AND THE LIFE CYCLE ...... 10 2.2 WORK MOTIVATION ...... 11 2.2.2 The Basic Need Hierarchy...... 13 2.2.3 The Two-Factor Theory...... 14 2.2.4 The Theory of Needs...... 16 2.3 RELATIONS AT WORK ...... 16 2.4 FEEDBACK AND CRITICISM ...... 18 2.5 SALARY AND FINANCIAL REWARDS...... 19 2.6 SECURITY ...... 20 2.7 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT...... 21 3. METHODS OF EXAMINING DIFFERENCES WITHIN MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS...... 23 3.1 RESEARCH INTEREST ...... 23 3.1.1 Research interest within this thesis...... 24 3.2 HERMENEUTIC...... 24 3.2.1 Hermeneutic within this thesis...... 24 3.3 QUALITATIVE METHOD...... 25 3.3.1 Qualitative methods within this thesis ...... 25 3.4 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL DATA...... 26 3.4.1 Abduction within this thesis...... 27 3.5 DATA COLLECTION METHODS...... 27 3.5.1 Data collection within this thesis...... 27 3.6 SELECTION TECHNIQUE WITHIN THIS THESIS ...... 28 3.7 INTERVIEWING ...... 28 3.8 OBSERVATION...... 29 3.9 WORKING WITH THE COLLECTED MATERIAL ...... 30 3.10 ETHICS ...... 30 3.11 OUR THOUGHTS ON METHODS WITHIN THIS THESIS ...... 31 4. EMPIRICAL FINDINGS...... 32 4.1 PRESENTATION OF THE INTERVIEW PARTICIPANTS ...... 32 Person A: Anna...... 32 Person B: Bitte ...... 32 Person C: Carl ...... 33 Person D: Doris ...... 33 Person E: Eva...... 34 4.2 WORK MOTIVATION ...... 35 4.2.1 Negative influences on work motivation...... 36 4.3 RELATIONS AT WORK ...... 37 4.4 FEEDBACK AND CRITICISM ...... 39 4.5 SALARY – THE ECONOMIC ASPECT...... 40 4.6 SECURITY ...... 43 4.7 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT ...... 45

5. ANALYSIS ...... 47 5.1 WORK MOTIVATION ...... 47 5.1.1 Negative influences on work motivation...... 48 5.2 RELATIONS AT WORK ...... 49 5.3FEEDBACK AND CRITICISM ...... 52 5.4 SALARY AND FINANCIAL REWARDS...... 54 5.5 SECURITY ...... 57 5.6 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT...... 60 6. FINAL DISCUSSION...... 63 7. PROPOSAL TO FURTHER RESEARCH WITHIN THE AREA OF WORK MOTIVATION...... 66 8. REFERENCES...... 67 8.1 ARTICLES ...... 67 8.2 REPORTS ...... 67 8.3 STATISTIK ...... 67 8.4 BOOKS...... 67 8.5 INTERNET REFERENCES ...... 69 8.6 OTHER REFERENCES...... 69 8.7 INTERVIEWS ...... 69 9. APPENDIX...... 70 INTERVJUGUIDE (ORIGINAL)...... 70 INTERVIEWGUIDE (ENGLISH TRANSLATION)...... 72

INTRODUCTION

1. INTRODUCTION

An organisation can be defined as a structured social system consisting of groups and individuals working together to reach some agreed-upon objectives. The field of organisational behaviour deals with the human behaviour in organisations, and scholars within this field seek to improve organisational effectiveness and the quality of life at work.1

The employees of a company could be seen as its most valuable, and at the same time its most expensive resource. To have creative employees who perform at their maximum is a goal for every organisation, and to enable this it is important to motivate the employees at work.

Motivation is a multifaceted area, due to the fact that the mind of every human being is unique. Despite that the topic of work motivation has been studied thoroughly; there still is no universal description of how to motivate people. The reason to why this research area is “unsolved” is hard to say, but one explanation could be that motivational factors change over time and depend on individual factors such as age, life stage, and duration of employment.

1.1 BACKGROUND

The managers a century ago held a very negative view of employees and assumed that people basically were lazy and irresponsible, and should be treated based on that. This traditional view of management was the norm for several years and it was called the Theory X orientation, it argued that people dislike work and only perform well when pushed to it. Today the attitude towards the human nature is a lot more positive. Modern managers would probably say that people are capable of working hard under the right conditions, and that it is the job of the management to create the conditions that will lead to people performing as desired. This approach is known as the Theory Y orientation, and it assumes that people have a psychological need to work and seek achievement. The aim of researchers studying this area is to learn exactly what conditions will make work both productive for the organisations and enjoyable for the people working for them.2

1 Baron (2003) page 4 2 Baron (2003) page 5 f.

INTRODUCTION

The current strong economic situation in Sweden has had great effects on the labour market. As a result, employees now have a greater range of work opportunities since many companies expand and search for employees with various skills and experiences. From the individual’s point of view this is a pleasant scenario, but companies have to take into account that there is an increased risk of losing a lot of competence if employees choose to leave and work for other organisations. One way for the management to avoid this could be to focus on work motivation; companies need to be aware of the particular motivating factors that trigger their employees, both in the aspect of reaching peak performances and the wish to stay at the company.

1.2 PROBLEM DISCUSSION

Even though the topic of work motivation has been thoroughly researched by scholars such as Maslow and McClelland, there is still no universal concept for how to motivate people. Herzberg is one of the many scholars who has presented theories on motivation. He proposed the Two-Factor theory and the motivators in his theory are advancement, growth, achievement, responsibility, recognition and the work itself.3

Work motivational factors, such as the ones mentioned above can be perceived by an individual in several ways. Even though each factor could be motivating, it might be for different reasons. One perception is that the motivators seen as important differ between the older and the younger generation of the workforce. Some researchers claim that the older generation is motivated by materialism and security, while the younger generation finds meaningful and interesting work tasks more important.4

People work to be able to reach certain goals in life; some even see their work as the meaning of life. Other people might work only to earn money, although labour regulations in Sweden say that a job should be as enriching as possible for the individual, and it should be able to create a certain feeling of life quality.5 Since working life often involves stressful situations on a daily basis, it can be hard to experience this wanted life quality. Recent studies show that

3 Furnham (2005) page 333 4 Hansen, Orban (2002) page 458 5 Iseskog (2002) page 32

INTRODUCTION

54 percent of the Swedish workforce experiences their work as demanding and too stressful.6 People within the business life work close to the demands of increased profit and greater efficiency, which put them under high pressure and it has been shown that a majority of the people working within this sector feel a rapidly increasing stress level7. Working actively with motivation, could facilitate for an individual to be able to handle stress and other problems at work.

Motivation is complicated and in one situation people may have several different motives operating at once. Sometimes these motives conflict and pull the individual in different directions, which shows that motivation is a very complex concept in the field of organisational behaviour. Despite the fact that it is an ambivalent subject, it is important for organisations to consider the issues of work motivation in order to be successful competitors on the market. However it is very difficult to capture the differences in employee motivation because motivational factors are intangible. What a person finds important in life is likely to be connected to her or his current life situation and expectations of the future.8 Consequently, this thesis will deal with the work motivational concept from the angle of differences.

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTION

Why are individuals motivated by different factors at work?

1.4 PURPOSE

The aim of this thesis is to study the reasons behind the differences in motivational factors between five individuals employed within business administration at three different companies.

6 http://www.di.se 2007-05-22 7 http://www.cognos.com 2007-05-22 8 Hansen, Orban (2002) page 458

INTRODUCTION

1.5 GOAL

We want the outcome of this thesis to contribute to raise awareness among organisations concerning motivational factors within the workforce, and thereby facilitate the creation of workplaces where the working conditions are both productive for the organisations and enjoyable for the people working at the companies.

1.6 THE STRUCTURE OF THIS THESIS

We have chosen to look at different categories within the area of work motivation. The categories we have studied are work motivation, relations at work, feedback and criticism, salary and financial rewards, security, and personal development. These categories will be repeated in the same order throughout the theoretical findings, empirical findings and analysis in order to facilitate for the reader.

THEORETICAL FINDINGS

2. THEORETICAL FINDINGS

2.1 DEFINITIONS

Two words are of great importance for the thesis and will be used repeatedly throughout the work. • Motivation can be defined as “the driving force behind someone’s actions”9, and “an inner desire to make an effort”. The concept of motivation can be associated with three general psychological processes; a need or desire for an object or state that is unfulfilled, a directional component leading the individual in a wanted direction, and the intensity dimension which is determined through some goals which are more difficult to attain than others. 10 • Work can be explained as activities made by an individual in order to earn explicit and implicit rewards. Work can be a source of income, but it is also stimulating, it leads to social contacts, it structures time and it can lead to a state and feeling of self- fulfilment. 11

2.2 WORK AND THE LIFE CYCLE

During life, there are a number of different social roles and contexts that people are expected to live up to, these vary depending on a person’s culture, gender, religion, age and other factors. Children, young people and adults are some of the terms defining which phase in life someone belongs to. Relating these phases to working life, it is clear that during the last decades young people have entered the labour market later and later in life. One explanation for this is the fact that a major part of the young people today continue with their studies after high school with university studies or the like.12

Older people in the Swedish workforce, meaning people aged 55 and above, have been a rather big part of the labour market but are now decreasing in number, especially among the

9 Nasenius (1991) page 33 10 Weiner (2003) page 226 11 Furnham (2005) page 280 12 Hansen & Orban (2002) page 442 ff

THEORETICAL FINDINGS individuals above 60 years. This is a result of downsizing and structural changes within organisations during the last decades, but also a consequence of the stressful working environments and the societal perception of older people as less capable of performing well. To get a new job after losing one is not easy if the person has reached a certain age and is considered “old”. Age discrimination is not uncommon on the labour market today, either regarding getting a new job, being given a promotion or a chance to go further within an organisation.13

What someone prefers and perceives as important in work life depends on the current situation and the person’s expectations of the future. The time perspective varies for people of different ages, which also influences their needs and wants. Generally there seem to be no differences based on age when it comes to employment commitment; younger people in Sweden are just as committed to their work as older people. A study was made to examine which the most important factors were to people when choosing work and workplace. Among younger people it was common to have a need for the work itself to be interesting as well as challenging, and that they have a possibility of future advancement. Older people mentioned factors such as the importance of the job being meaningful and valuable to others, and the desire to have a safe employment.14

From the above mentioned factors it can be seen that it does not matter if an employee is young or old, all individuals need motivation in one way or another, both in private and working life.

2.2 WORK MOTIVATION

To understand why people behave in certain ways in organisations it is necessary to know something about motivation. Motivation is an inner set of processes that is very complex, involving multiple procedures and behaviours. It is a personal, goal-directed phenomenon which differs between individuals. The level of challenge that an individual takes on to reach the set goals is what determines the level of motivational attention, action and intensity. In

13 Hansen & Orban (2002) page 450 ff 14 Hansen & Orban (2002) page 458 f

THEORETICAL FINDINGS fact, the desire to reach the goal is seen as the major psychological mechanism associated with motivation. 15

The topic of motivation is one of the oldest and most complex areas within psychology. It is based upon questions such as why people do some things or why they do not do them, how much effort they put into doing these things, and how eager they are to complete the tasks in the best possible way. Motivation is a hypothetical construct, built on various internal processes leading to a number of possible behaviours as a consequence. The motivational processes are determined both by individual factors and by job context that together affect a person’s effort, persistence, attention and task strategy. 16 These motivational processes are highly dynamic, and change over time. Things happen when people are engaged in a specific task, they can succeed and they can fail, and this affects the level of motivation and the will to continue working with the task or to move on to different activities. 17

A further way of explaining motivation is as the driving force behind someone’s actions. Many scholars claim that everyone has their particular needs and wants in life that people strive to fulfil and achieve. These needs are individual, and some of them are fulfilled through work while others are constrained by it. Someone might have a major need for the feeling of fellowship which he or she strongly feels at work, while others prefer to work alone and therefore feel uncomfortable when having to cooperate with others all the time. It can also be the outcome of the work, the product or service itself that affect the motivation of someone. If a person constantly has to deal with complaining customers because of the bad quality of the company’s products, this person probably will not feel motivated to perform well, since everyone still is going to complain about the lousy products. 18

Since work motivation is such a difficult area, there have been many scholars trying to find the solution for how to motivate people. Maslow, Herzberg and McClelland are some of the most well-known ones.

15 Weiner (2003) page 226 16 Furnham (2005) page 277 17 Weiner (2003) page 227 18 Nasenius (1991) page 33

THEORETICAL FINDINGS

2.2.2 The Basic Need Hierarchy

There is a large amount of research made within the work motivation area, and Abraham H. Maslow is one of the most famous and frequently discussed motivation theorists. One commonly used theory that he presented is called the Basic Need Hierarchy, and the idea behind it is that every human being has wants and desires that will affect this person’s behaviour. When the needs of one level are satisfied, other and higher needs will instead be in the focus of the individual.19 The Basic Need Hierarchy theory is therefore often graphically depicted as a pyramid, where the needs are sorted based on their level of importance.

The physiological needs at the bottom of the pyramid are general and basic urges such as hunger and thirst. One way for a company to satisfy these needs of their employees can be to pay appropriate salaries. The next step in the pyramid is safety needs, which includes things like security and stability. If a company can offer an employee a permanent job with tenure and security, this will contribute to the likeliness of this person feeling satisfied according to Maslow. The Social needs level, also called the level of belonging and love needs, is the third step of the hierarchy and it is about relations with people like family and friends. In a workplace these needs and a person’s level of motivation are affected by how people work together and what kind of relations the workplace can offer. The fourth step of the Basic Need

19 Maslow (1987) page 16 20 http://www.trumpuniversity.com (2007-04-16)

THEORETICAL FINDINGS

Hierarchy of needs is (self-) esteem needs, everyone has a desire for others to confirm their achievements and earn respect. These kinds of needs can be satisfied through feedback and criticism. The most individual level of needs is found at the top of the pyramid and it is called the self-actualisation needs. This level is only reached when someone is allowed to do exactly the things he or she is individually fitted to do and has a strong urge for. The fifth level is hard to reach and to retain.21

The Basic Need Hierarchy is based on progression, meaning that people move from the bottom of the hierarchy to the top. In order to go on to the next step it is important to fulfil one step at a time, and physiological needs must therefore be satisfied first, before the social needs. The theory is described by some as not having an end, since every human being constantly changes and can never fully attain total motivation.22

Even though Maslow’s Basic Need Hierarchy is a well established theory within motivation theories, there is criticism from for example Lennart Sjöberg, a Professor at the Stockholm School of Economics. He argues that one of the disadvantages of Maslow’s theory is that there are only little empirical findings that support the theory, and not much evidence saying that the steps in the hierarchy of needs always exist like that or that they always appear in the same order.23 But despite the fact that Maslow’s theory has been criticised, there still could be some truth in it. Even though the individual steps might not be followed in the same order by everyone, it seems that the steps themselves are relevant.24

2.2.3 The Two-Factor Theory

Frederick Herzberg is another researcher within the field of motivation theory, and his work has resulted in numerous respected and often mentioned theories. His most well known theory is the Two Factor Theory, which is also called the Hygiene Motivator Theory. The theory differentiates between two types of factors. Hygiene Factors do not necessarily motivate the employees only because these factors exist, but if they do not exist they will lead to work

21 Maslow (1987) page 15-22 22 Furnham (2005) page 288 23 Sjöberg (1999) 24 Sjöberg (1999)

THEORETICAL FINDINGS dissatisfaction. Motivators are there to satisfy employees in their work and lead to increased efficiency.25

The Hygiene Factors are according to Herzberg: • working conditions • salary • company policies • supervision • relations at work between colleagues

Motivators on the other hand are things that enhances ones job and certain factors that are particularly important for job satisfaction. The Motivators are according to Herzberg: • advancement • growth • achievement • responsibility • recognition • work itself

The Motivators have shown to relate to a positive long-term effect on work performance among employees, while the Hygiene Factors only result in short-term variances in performances at work. 26 Classical motivational theories often include the same basic motivators. Differences are however rather significant when it come to details. According to Maslow, salary is an important motivator, whereas Herzberg says that financial rewards cannot be an essential motivator.27

25 Furnham (2005) page 333 f 26 Furnham (2005) page 333 f 27 Furnham (2005) page 338

THEORETICAL FINDINGS

2.2.4 The Theory of Needs

David McClelland is yet another well known theorist who presented the Theory of Needs, which proposes that all human beings have specific needs. These needs are gained over a period of time and are the result of each and everyone’s own experiences. McClelland classified people into three categories depending on their needs; achievement, affiliation and power. Motivation and effectiveness at work are according to this theory influenced by one of these three needs. 28

Primarily, McClelland talks about achievers, who are people who tend to set high goals. For achievers feedback is wanted on a regular basis in order to know how they have developed, and according to McClelland, high achievers prefer to work alone or with other high achievers. The next category, affiliation, consists of people with a strong need for the feeling of acceptance. They usually follow the norms and guidelines of the working group and they want to be surrounded by people in order to interact. The third category, power, consists according to McClelland of the type of person who wants to lead others.29

Altogether for the management field this leads to the result that different people need to be motivated differently. In McClelland’s categorisation this means that people with a high need of achievement are much more motivated through feedback, whereas people who need a lot of affiliation are much fonder of working in a cooperative environment. Someone with a strong need for power will be satisfied with reaching a managing position.30

2.3 RELATIONS AT WORK

Depending on the personality of someone, the relation to others is perceived and valued differently. Relations can affect people in many different ways, none the less at work. The occupational choice is one of the most important individual choices in life since people spend a big part of their lives at work, and the effects of the occupational choice do not only concern the work situation.31

28 Armstrong (1996) page 304 29 Armstrong (1996) page 304 30 Armstrong (1996) page 304 31 Vroom (1995) page 59

THEORETICAL FINDINGS

At work, few people work alone. The tasks might be done individually, but there are often colleagues sitting close together, creating a working environment. It is neither unusual for people to actually work in groups and teams, handling the tasks together. 32 This social environment is a reason to why many people go to work every day. Another reason to why people are motivated at work is the will to please others and conform to social norms33. The personal economy and the salary are of course also central to motivation at some level, but other aspects are of major importance to why people work. One of them is, as mentioned above, satisfying social needs when being with people like co-workers or customers34. When not working, people can choose to spend time alone or with whom ever they want. Looking at relationships at work, a study made by SCB35 showed that approximately 11 percent of the Swedish population spends time with their colleagues in their spare time.36

Many big and small organisations consist of networks of small groups that have coordinated their efforts, which is crucial for business success. Most major decisions within companies are made by groups, and teambuilding is considered an essential part of work behaviour since groups open up a wider range of experiences and abilities.37 However, the mix of people belonging to a working team is very important, since existing groups often have a relatively stable set of norms, values, roles and shared system of knowledge which is prerequisites for the group to be able to perform well38. If the mix is right it will create effective, efficient and content groups, while a bad mix of people could lead to disastrous results39. A positive working environment will increase the level of performance, the satisfaction, the involvement level and the solidarity within working groups40.

Another advantage of working in groups was shown in one of the first psychological experiments ever published. It showed that people try harder when other people are around and that the presence of others influences the individual’s attitude, behaviour and emotions.41

32 Furnham (2005) page 477 33 Weiner (2003) page 245 34 Nasenius (1991) page 23 35 SCB: Statistiska Centralbyrån = the Swedish Bureau of Statistics 36 SCB (2005) 37 Furnham (2005) page 449 38 Weiner (2003) page 334 39 Furnham (2005) page 499 ff. 40 Angelöw (2002) page 73 41 Furnham (2005) page 505

THEORETICAL FINDINGS

Working in groups also contributes to the possibility of giving and receiving feedback and criticism. Consequently working in groups contributes to a better performance.

2.4 FEEDBACK AND CRITICISM

In the Swedish culture people often are critical; they have a tendency of focusing on problems and mistakes rather than on positive results or well done tasks42. The manager plays a great role in motivating and inspiring the employees at work. As a manager this is one of the most difficult tasks, especially when the objectives are far ahead in time and perceived as hard to influence and plan. 43 However, if the style of leadership is based upon supportive and encouraging methods, advantages can be gained such as higher confidence among the employees, an increased understanding of the consequences of every action, and a positive atmosphere in general. As a matter of fact, studies have been made showing that people who do not get feedback and comments upon the quality of his or her performance, perceive their workload as higher and are thereby more likely to feel stressed in a way that it will affect their health.44

Everyone goes through changes in life, both at work and on a personal level. Often those are changes that we can deal with ourselves, but sometimes it can be useful to have someone else helping us to handle certain situations. An individual is more likely to make progress and move forward if there is an attractive alternative ahead that is better and achievable.45 If the support and feedback given to the individual points in the wrong direction, towards something that does not appeal to him or her, this will only create frustration and disappointment46. Support and feedback must begin with the individual and the view this person has of him- or herself and the surrounding environment.47

42 Angelöw (2002) page 67 43 Carlsson (2005) page 147 44 Angelöw (2002) page 66 45 Carlsson (2005) page 134 46 Carlsson (2005) page 135 47 Carlsson (2005) page 138

THEORETICAL FINDINGS

2.5 SALARY AND FINANCIAL REWARDS

Feedback is one of the managerial tools used to affect the motivation among employees, but another and more evident tool is the salary. The power of money as a motivator has been debated for a very long time and is seen as very controversial. The opinions differ widely between perceiving money as a weak motivating factor and to look at it as a very powerful motivator that can drive people to peak performances. However, a few things have been generally agreed on, one example is the fact that money is a good motivator for those who need it or value it highly. Another conclusion is that money as a motivator works best when it can be clearly related to an actual performance.48

As mentioned earlier, some people believe that money is the most powerful motivator. However, repeated studies show that there is no clear connection between wealth and happiness; there are four reasons which can explain this. The first one is adaptation. People adapt quickly to the new situation of having more money. Immediately after getting a raise or winning in the lottery people feel happier, but this feeling wears off rapidly. Another factor is comparison, meaning that people compare themselves to others. There will always be people having more money than you, but on the other hand there will always be people with less money than you as well. The alternative wealth is the third factor. Having money leads to the consequence of having more and nicer things, but what really matters to most of us is the things that money cannot buy, such as friendship, love and freedom. The last and fourth reason to why money is not that important is the worrying factor. When having a lot of money the worries in life tend to change from concerning money issues to be about the more uncontrollable things in life, such as health or existential issues.49

The reason to why salary still can be perceived as a motivating factor is that money leads to the feeling of security that all individuals need.

48 Furnham (2005) page 280 49 Furnham (2005) page 280

THEORETICAL FINDINGS

2.6 SECURITY

In the Swedish society of today, the social security system is developed to financially support someone who has lost his/her job or is incapable of working due to physical or psychological disabilities. Since it is not necessary to have a job to be able to survive, the role of work itself has changed from being crucial to something needed to secure a certain standard in life.50

Employer and employees can be seen as bound together through a psychological contract, which has changed a lot during the last few decades. The old psychological contract was characterised by stability and predictability. A few generations ago people held an average of 3-4 jobs during their entire working life. The new psychological contract is instead built on factors like change and uncertainty, to have between 7-10 jobs during working life is no longer unusual. It is rather seen as an indication of someone being alert and having a will to develop. One reason to why people take certain jobs and give their best is because they are concerned about their CV, today people are more conscious of the need to maximise their employability. If the developmental situation proves not to be strong enough at the current workplace, some employees will not hesitate to move on to a new job.51

Another important factor influencing the new psychological contract is the massive downsizing of the workforce in many areas that has contributed to making job mobility a norm. Downsizing and restructuring have become unavoidable consequences of decreasing market shares and tougher competition. Today employees are less loyal to their companies and put their own interests above those of the employers. Studies have shown that people often are willing to trade off higher wages and benefits to flexibility and autonomy, job characteristics that allow people to balance their lives both at and outside their work. 52

Many factors affect the motivation to work which is discussed in the dissertation “Why Work?” 53 by Ingrid Esser. Her study implies that a social security system with high compensation does not result in lower work motivation, compared to nations that have a low standard on their social security system. Instead the opposite can be seen, the will to work is

50 Nasenius (1991) page 22 51 Woodruffe (2006) 52 Weiner (2003) page 403 53 Esser (2006) page 120

THEORETICAL FINDINGS greater where there are generous insurance systems and a regulated labour market. The results showed as well that the work motivation grows when the level of security is high, with functioning unions and labour laws.54

2.7 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

One of the things that drive humankind is the will and power to develop55. Different jobs give different options and possibilities to grow, but through increased responsibilities any job can be developing and give the employee a chance to reach a new personal level. However, what needs to be considered is the fact that development is strongly connected to changes, and changes can be perceived as something negative, leading to insecurity if it is forced upon someone who has not been given a chance to affect the upcoming situation.56

If someone should be able to feel content with his or her current situation, having balance in life is of great importance. This is not something easily attained; it takes a lot of effort from the individual to be able to reach this stage within the complicated society of today. It can clearly be seen that the current work and life situation of an individual in many ways affect the personal health.57

The time perspective is another important factor when discussing work motivation since obviously people and contexts change over time. Tasks become easier, activities become routine, groups become more solid, objectives are reached and rewards change.58 It becomes necessary to develop in order to keep the motivation. However, competence development is more than seminars and traditional education; it is something that has to be done based upon the understanding that every individual is unique and learns in different ways.59

The value of having a stimulating and developing work is treated in the first paragraph of the Swedish working environment regulation, which says that an important part of the individual stimulation and development is to have the possibility to gain additional knowledge through

54 Esser (2006) page 120 55 Iseskog (2002) page 34 56 Iseskog (2002) page 35 57 Iseskog (2002) page 37 58 Weiner (2003) page 245 59 Angelöw (2002) page 79

THEORETICAL FINDINGS continuous competence increasing programs at work60. When the “working self” progresses, this will lead to the development of the “personal self”, which has consequences such as increased joy and confidence in both private and working life61.

60 Gabinus Göransson, Nordlöf (2006) page 245 61 Angelöw (2002) page 84

METHODS OF EXAMINING

3. METHODS OF EXAMINING DIFFERENCES WITHIN MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS

This thesis focuses on the reasons to why work motivation differs between individuals. Since work motivation is perceived very individually, our group found that the best examining tools would be interviews and observations. Our thesis is therefore based on five interviews and observations with employees working within business and administration at three different companies in Växjö.

We chose to study employees within business and administration since we are studying management and therefore probably will work within this area in the future. Another reason to why we chose this category is as we mentioned earlier; people employed within business and administration are most likely to get confronted with high demands, and the working environment in this area is changeable and unstable. Consequently these individuals probably experience stress among other things, which makes work motivation an important issue.

3.1 RESEARCH INTEREST

There are three different research interests according to Rosengren and Arvidson, exploring, describing and explaining. A research interest can be connected to a specific question and this question leads to different types of research problems that require diverse approaches to the data collection.62

The connection between the research interest and the examination tool is by Rosengren and Arvidson called the Stairs of Knowledge. There are three steps connected to each other, in order to move on to the next step the below one needs to have been studied. It is important to point out that all three steps do not have to be taken by the same researcher. The researcher often concentrates on one of the steps, but in order to concentrate on the second or the third step there have to be enough research made upon the first steps to use as a base.63 The third and last step of the Stairs of Knowledge, answers where the phenomenon exists and what

62 Rosengren & Arvidson (2005) page 54 f 63 Rosengren & Arvidson (2005) page 58

METHODS OF EXAMINING consequences it brings. This step contains a why question and has an explanative approach to the study as it searches for causal connections. Usually the third step is examined through experiments.64

3.1.1 Research interest within this thesis

Our group is studying the third step of the Stairs of Knowledge, since we want to examine what the reasons are to why individuals are motivated by different factors. As examination tools we chose to interview and observe five individuals in their work environment.

3.2 HERMENEUTIC

Hermeneutic comes from the Greek language and can be translated as interpretation65. The hermeneutical researchers have a social science point of view when studying the reality. These researchers want to interpret the reality instead of generalising it. 66 Further, the hermeneutical point of view claims that interpretations and understandings are individual, and individuals describe and interpret the world in their own subjective way. Therefore the hermeneutical view problematizes the reality since they study it without using simplifying models.67

3.2.1 Hermeneutic within this thesis

Our group examines work motivation from a hermeneutic point of view, based on motivation being an individual phenomenon. The world is too complicated to be understood by simple models since every human being is unique. Given that work motivation is very personal we have decided to examine our research question through a qualitative study where interviews and observations are used as research methods. We want to understand why different factors motivate the employees, without generalising the results.

64 Rosengren & Arvidson (2005) page 56 f 65 definition “interpretation”: the particular way in which something is understood or explained (Hornby (2000) page 680) 66 Andersson (1979) page 10 67 Andersson (1979) page 48

METHODS OF EXAMINING

3.3 QUALITATIVE METHOD

The qualitative method can be applied when having a hermeneutic point of view.68 Within the qualitative method the important issue is how the interviewee experiences and understands the world. Researchers who have a qualitative approach focus on what the collected information says and how the examined phenomenon can be interpreted. The most important issue for the researcher is to strive towards perceiving the reality from the interviewee’s point of view. 69

Within qualitative method there are certain criteria used to secure the quality of the examination results. These criteria are reliability, trustworthiness, transmittability and objectivity. 70 Reliability can be achieved through a detailed report, treating the different phases within the examination process. This report makes it possible to decide if the theoretical and empirical sources are accurate.71 To have trustworthy information means that the researcher has secured that the examination has been carried out properly and that the results have been reported to the interviewees. The transmittability aspect is to which extent the results are useful in other contexts or situations, as well as in different time periods. And finally objectivity treats the possibility to strengthen and confirm the fact that the researcher has been acting in good faith and has made an effort not to let personal values or facts influence the result.72

3.3.1 Qualitative methods within this thesis

We have chosen a qualitative method in order to interpret our results when analysing the motivational phenomenon. The qualitative method makes it possible to collect data through interviews and observations, which suited our purpose. We did not want to force our interviewees into answering in a specific way by having questions with answer alternatives; therefore we chose to have open questions. Furthermore, our group believes that open questions will give us deeper information and understanding about the personality of the interviewees, and as a result this will lead to a deeper understanding of work motivation. We

68 Andersson (1979) page 53 69 Bryman (2002) page 249 70 Bryman (2002) page 249 71 Holme, Solvang (1997) page 94 72 Bryman (2002) page 249

METHODS OF EXAMINING are aware of the difficulty in comparing these answers to each other but we have chosen to prioritise the depth of the information since we are not striving to generalise the results.

3.4 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL DATA

There are different ways of approaching the reality when relating the empirical and theoretical findings to each other; deduction, induction and abduction.73

The abductive approach is a combination of the deductive and inductive data collecting methods. However, the researcher uses both the deductive and the inductive techniques in different phases of the data collection. Therefore abduction enables to study the phenomenon from different angles, both empirical and theoretical. 74 The abductive method starts with discussing the results within the theoretical area and then goes on discussing the rules, which are how we see and mean that the world is structured and functions. Lastly the abductive approach treats the empirical findings, were it examines if the results and rules are accurate compared to the “real” world.75

1. Result

3. Empirical findings

2. Rule

The abductive method 76

73 Patel, Davidsson (2003) page 23 74 Patel, Davidsson (2003) page 24 75 Hörte (1999) page 8 76Translated from: Hörte (1999) page 8

METHODS OF EXAMINING

3.4.1 Abduction within this thesis

As our group started our research, we primarily turned to our own experiences and thoughts around work motivation. We came to the conclusion that we wanted to examine why motivational factors vary between individuals. Before we collected the empirical data, we decided to get some theoretical knowledge and started to read literature and articles concerning work motivation. We started our research stating that people are motivated by different factors at work (the result). Then we turned to the rule and stated that one reason to individuals being motivated by different factors depends among other things on which stage in life the employees are at. The empirical findings were collected and compared to the theoretical findings to examine if the stated result from the beginning agreed with the empirical findings. Based on the above described way of collecting our data we argue that we used an abductive method in our thesis.

3.5 DATA COLLECTION METHODS

Generally there are two kinds of data, primary and secondary. Primary data is collected by the researcher using empirical tools, whereas secondary data is data that other researchers already have collected and that anyone can use and refer to.77

3.5.1 Data collection within this thesis

The primary data of our thesis consists of a small-N-study. It is a study where five to ten units are examined in order to enable the researcher to examine these units carefully. A small-N- study concentrates on one phenomenon by studying it from different angles.78 For our small- N-study we interviewed and observed five employees who gave us the opportunity to carefully research work motivation from different angles. We believe that these sources gave us enough significance to get an understanding of work motivation as a phenomenon to enable a trustworthy thesis.

The advantages with this study are that it deals with relevant data and many details which give depth to the thesis. In a specific study it is not possible to generalise the results and that

77 Andersen (1998) page 150 78 Jacobsen (2002) page 98

METHODS OF EXAMINING can be seen as a disadvantage.79 Our group chooses to overlook this matter, since our purpose is not to generalise, but to analyse the differences within work motivation.

3.6 SELECTION TECHNIQUE WITHIN THIS THESIS

The selected companies were chosen non-randomly on a number of criteria. The companies had to be situated in Växjö since a short geographical distance would make it more convenient for us to visit them and save our group both time and money. The next criterion was the benignity of the companies to participate. Furthermore we chose the employees on the duration of their working life, since that would be interesting to our study. We wanted to have different durations of working life represented, due to this we chose employees that had been working for 2, 3, 18, 32 and 39 years. To choose non-randomly was necessary in order to reflect on the research question and therefore we did not pick haphazardly.

3.7 INTERVIEWING

We decided to do five interviews to gain a detailed description of the work motivation phenomenon from the perspective of the interviewees. Our group created an interview guide which we followed throughout the interviews to make sure that we asked the same questions in the same order (standardised interview). This was done to enable the creation of a similar situation for all our interviewees. All three of us attended the interviews to interpret and analyse the empirical data from as many different angles as possible.80

In order to keep a structure, we decided to have different roles during the interviews. One of us had the role of the interviewer in order to facilitate the situation for the interviewees. The other two members of the group followed the interview, observed, took notes and handled the technical devices. The three of us had the same roles throughout all of the interviews, to keep a similar situation and style for all the interviewees. We decided to keep the interviewees anonymous to increase the chance of the interviewees talking freely and to avoid answers given only because they coincide with the management thinking of the company. For this

79 Jacobsen (2002) page 98 80 Holme, Solvang (1991) page 99

METHODS OF EXAMINING reason we have given the interviewees invented names in the empirical findings and the analysis.

We chose face-to-face interviews because we believe that individuals have a greater confidence when they meet the interviewer in person and are consequently more prepared to answer openly. The more personal a question gets, the more important it is that the interviewee feels comfortable answering is. Another reason for choosing face-to-face interviews was that we wanted to observe the interviewees while talking to them and this was only possible with face-to-face interviews. These kinds of interviews create a relationship between the researcher and the interviewee that might affect the interpretation of the answers. We were aware of this and have therefore tried to keep a distance to the interviewed persons.

The five interviews were recorded since the interviewees gave us the permission to do so. We chose to record the interviews because it gave us an opportunity to reflect on everything that was said, we did not want to risk missing out on some information. We are aware of that recording the interviews could make the interviewees feel uncomfortable but we still found that it was necessary.

All of the interviews took place in the conference room at the companies. In this way it was possible for us to interview the interviewees without getting disturbed. The interviews varied in time depending on the extent of the answers and lasted in average around 45 minutes.

3.8 OBSERVATION

An observation is what is seen through the eyes of the researcher as he or she studies a selected part of the population without being a member of the studied group. This allows the researcher to observe the selection without any abnormal changes for the involved population.81 An observation has different features or observation techniques. One of the techniques is the closed observation, meaning that the interviewees do not know that they are being observed.82

81 Ritchie, Lewis (2003) page 35 82 Andersen (1998) page 154

METHODS OF EXAMINING

We decided to perform closed observations while interviewing and therefore took notes throughout the interviews. The reason behind this decision was that we wanted to have additional material to the answers given. Our group believes that this makes the empirical findings more solid and contributes to a more interesting and deeper analysis. Further we believe that the collected material enables the reader to have a feeling of participation in this thesis.

The question while observing is if the observed individuals are behaving as they usually do. Due to this we decided not to tell the interviewees that we were observing them. We came to the conclusion that informing the interviewees might have affected their behaviour even more on top of the unusual situation that occurs while interviewing.

3.9 WORKING WITH THE COLLECTED MATERIAL

After collecting our empirical material we decided to divide it between the three of us. We wrote everything from each interview down and then met to compile and analyse the material. We believe that this strategy is the best one since it enables separate thoughts concerning the analysis which contributes to receiving thoughts which are not influenced by the others of the group. This gives the analysis different angles which enables a wider and deeper analysis.

3.10 ETHICS

Within science there is an ethical perspective involving principles, laws and rules. Ethic is an area that has no clear frames when it comes to right and wrong, it is a personal perception that is shaped within both the society and the culture. Even so, it is not less important to consider ethical questions while researching.83

We have chosen to inform the interviewed persons about our study in general. We explained to them that we are examining work motivation within different stages of the career and life. We did this since we wanted to make sure that it was alright for the interviewees to take part

83 Jacobsen (2002) page 482

METHODS OF EXAMINING in such a study. Our group decided that the interviewees should remain anonymous to prevent that the answers given resulted in an awkward situation for them and the company.

As we mentioned before, the interviewees did not know that they were being observed but we do not see any ethical problems in this because the interviewees took part of the interview on a voluntarily basis and they could come to the conclusion that we were observing them as well due to the possibility given with a face- to-face interview.

3.11 OUR THOUGHTS ON METHODS WITHIN THIS THESIS

Bryman84 discusses four criteria within the qualitative analysis that are there to achieve a reliable study, those being reliability, trustworthiness, transmittability and objectivity. When it comes to reliability we have done our best in giving the reader the information about where and how we collected our data material. We believe that this will contribute to the credibility of our empirical and theoretical findings. From informing the interviewees about the results, we will attain trustworthiness in this thesis. Our group believes that the answers and results of this thesis can be used another time and within another context. Our results are not there to show which the general differences are that exists between work motivational factors, but to point out possible motivational differences in the workforce. Since we have done our thesis from a qualitative approach we have not been entirely objective but we do not see this as a problem since interpretation relies on earlier experiences in life and therefore is individual.

Overall we believe that our data collection methods have contributed to reliability of this thesis.

84 Bryman (2002) page 249

EMPIRICAL FINDINGS

4. EMPIRICAL FINDINGS

4.1 PRESENTATION OF THE INTERVIEW PARTICIPANTS

Person A: Anna

Anna is 25 years old and she describes herself as thorough, happy and positive. She studied business at high school and then continued studying business and accounting at the college in Kalmar. Anna is now living in Växjö with her boyfriend. She has been in the workforce for almost two years and has been working for the same company during this time. At first she had a temporary position for one month, and this got extended as Anna has transferred to different departments. Anna has now been in a fulltime permanent employment for four months. She is working with customer administration and has an average working week of 40 hours. Anna does not have any special spare time hobbies apart from working-out and spending time with her friends.

During the interview Anna seemed relaxed and she tried to answer our questions correctly. When she spoke about the company where she works she seemed focused and used many gestures. We felt that she still is getting used to being an employee and has not yet found her spot in the workforce. Even though she gave the impression of finding it very easy to adapt to new things, she sometimes seemed a bit anxious.

Person B: Bitte

Bitte is 27 years old and describes herself as positive, energetic and stubborn. Her educational background is a master in business, with a specialisation in marketing. She is single and has been working for approximately three years. Bitte has been working for the same company during her three years in the workforce and the current work position is her third in this company. She now has a fulltime permanent employment at the company, and an average working week for Bitte normally consists of 42 hours. Her employment is about coordinating different warehouses in Sweden. In her spare time Bitte sings and she is very much into music. She also spends a lot of time with her friends and likes to work out.

EMPIRICAL FINDINGS

Throughout the interview Bitte gave the impression of being a very positive and outgoing person. She was laughing a lot and her eyes were sparkling when she was talking about her passion in life, starting her own business. Sometimes though, her laugh indicated insecurity, especially when she crossed her arms which gave an impression of not wanting to open up.

Person C: Carl

Carl is 43 years old and he describes himself as nice and ambitious. His educational background is a four year university education in technical chemistry, followed by a degree in business. He is married and has two children. Carl has been working for 18 years, whereas he has been working 6.5 years at the current workplace. Before this employment he had two other jobs. Carl’s current work position is a fulltime permanent employment as the financial manager of the company. Carl currently works approximately 60 hours per week. The few hours of spare time that he has are spent together with his family, and when he has the possibility he likes to work out.

During the interview Carl seemed easygoing but he always considered his answers before saying them. He sat relaxed in his chair, had open arms and gave an overall calm impression. It was clear that his family is very important to him, since he often mentioned them. When he talked about the company he used a lot of gestures and raised his voice, which gave us the impression of him wanting to be clear about what he said.

Person D: Doris

Doris is 52 years old and she describes herself as loyal, positive and thorough. Her educational background is a high school degree in business. After high school she attended some courses in business at Växjö University. Doris is married but does not have any children. She has been in the workforce for approximately 32 years; however she has only been at the current workplace for 1.5 years. Prior to this current workplace she has been working at six other companies during different periods of time. The current position of Doris is a fulltime permanent employment where she works as an economic assistant. Doris is working an average of 40 hours a week. In her spare time she likes to meditate, which she

EMPIRICAL FINDINGS does two times a day. She also participates in painting classes and sometimes she joins her husband when he travels with the choir that he is a member of.

Doris gave an impression of being calm and careful during the interview. She was very open and down to earth and she seemed to know herself very well. She was very focused on the questions and liked to explain thoroughly.

Person E: Eva

Eva is 58 years old and she describes herself as positive, dutiful and helpful. Her educational background is a high school degree in business and economics. She is divorced and has two grownup children. Eva has had eight different jobs and has been in the workforce for approximately 39 years. The last 20 years she has spent at the current workplace, where she has a 90 percent permanent employment as a middle manager, although she sometimes works overtime. In her spare time she likes to go to the theatre and concerts, and she reads a lot. Eva has tried many different sport activities but never found something that she likes in particular.

Eva seemed a little nervous when she first entered the room, but relaxed after a while. She was very thoughtful and took a lot more time thinking about her answers than any of the others. She laughed sometimes during the interview and at some points that seemed as a way for her to hide her insecurity and nervousness.

EMPIRICAL FINDINGS

4.2 WORK MOTIVATION

When asking about work motivation it seemed as if most of the interviewees thought that this was a rather difficult thing to look at. It is nothing that people reflect over on a daily basis. Every one of the interviewees has mentioned the overall well-being in one way or another and it was oftentimes the first answer when they were asked about what motivates them to go to work every day. None of the interviewees say that they valued the salary as being the most important work motivator, even though it was mentioned. Despite the fact that some of the interviewees have a salary based on commission, it did not seem that important to them. Eva said:

“commission based salary is nothing I think about in my daily work”.

Bitte also argued that money is not the most important thing; she claimed that money is important in order to survive, but when it comes to performance at work other things affect more.

The colleagues seem to be another motivating factor for some of the interviewees. The interviewees that have been working for a long time seem to value the social contacts and the atmosphere at work. Doris said that the social contacts with colleagues and other people are very important to her.

To have challenges in their work is something that seemed important to both Bitte and Carl. They said that they feel that it is a rather big motivator for them in their work, to get a task that seems unsolvable and then manage to solve it. However, it is important that the task does not give the impression of being unsolvable, as Bitte says:

“I would not commit to any work if I feel that it is impossible to solve”.

Anna emphasises the value of education and further development as high motivational factors, she is often extra motivated when coming back after being at a course. Anna also said that she gets motivated by customers who show thankfulness.

EMPIRICAL FINDINGS

Both interviewees Doris and Eva said that they want to please others, Eva wants happy customers and Doris said the most important thing to her is that her employer is pleased with her.

Carl said that to him it is the work itself that motivates. Another very important motivating factor that he mentioned is that at the company where he works, he and many of his colleagues are part owners, which increase the feeling of responsibility and makes them feel part of the company.

4.2.1 Negative influences on work motivation

When we were talking about non-motivational factors, Doris argued that the feeling of not getting the attention she deserves is non motivational to her. Carl said that it affects his motivation negatively when he feels that he has a good idea and the management above him does not agree.

Further Bitte argued that getting the right information is important to be motivated:

“the lack of information can be negative, when the information does not reach out”

Another argument that Bitte pointed out was:

“having work colleagues around me who are very negative all the time, who do not look forward, but just see that there are no opportunities, one gets affected by hearing that all the time”.

EMPIRICAL FINDINGS

4.3 RELATIONS AT WORK

One of the first questions we asked within the work motivational area was whether the interviewees work a lot in groups or by themselves. All five interviewees answered that their work consists of both group work and individual work. Group work seems to be important for all of them in one way or another.

Carl argues when talking about relations at work:

“if one does not feel good at a job, I would not function at all anyways, which is why the spirit is very important”.

Anna says that group work is very giving to her; working together with others is fulfilling as a new employee, since it gives Anna a great opportunity to learn from her more experienced colleagues. Bitte says that even though she likes to work by her self, she misses having colleagues with the same tasks as her, or as she says:

“I miss to have someone to brainstorm ideas with”.

Carl says that at his company they work in groups to some extent and continues saying that it is of great importance that the group functions well as a team. He feels that it is better to work in a group, when looking at the result of the performance. On the other hand, Carl said that he likes to do some tasks independently and that it saves him time to do things individually since he does not have to explain his thinking to anyone.

Occasionally Doris works in groups and likes that to some extent. She would not want to work too much in a group however, because she claims that she might not perform at her best. All of the interviewees pointed out that even though they like group work, they all want to work individually as well.

EMPIRICAL FINDINGS

When the interviewees were asked whether their motivation is influenced by their work colleagues, all of them said that their colleagues have an important role in how motivated they are. Anna said very quietly:

“I have been at a department where I did not feel comfortable at all” and explains that this affected her performance at work.

Doris agreed on this matter and claimed:

“if I would not feel good, I would probably not perform as good”.

Bitte described a situation in the beginning of her working career, where older colleagues did not take her seriously because of her young age and lack of experience. The solution however was for her to work hard and show them that she was qualified for the job.

When asking Eva about the relations at work she say that she feels like “being one of the group” and thinks that her performance is affected by her work colleagues. She can consult her employees and they can consult her.

When it comes to spending time with colleagues outside of work, the interviewees had different views about this. Anna said that she does not spend any time with her colleagues in private life. To have friends in the spare time and colleagues at work is a good combination according to Anna.

Bitte does not spend much time with anyone from work and says:

“ the reason is partly because of myself and that I already have so many friends from my university time and there is only a certain amount of time available after work”.

Carl said that he does not spend much time with colleagues, but he perceived it as being age related since he spent more time with his colleagues out of work when he was younger.

EMPIRICAL FINDINGS

Doris said that she does not really spend time with fellow colleagues. They spend so much time together at work anyways and most of the colleagues have children, who require a lot of time.

Eva was the only one who spent time with her colleagues in her spare time.

4.4 FEEDBACK AND CRITICISM

In this section the interviewees were asked about whether feedback and criticism in their work are important and how much they value it in their daily work. All of the interviewees said that it is of importance to get feedback and criticism.

When it comes to support from the management, all interviewees answered that it is important for them. Anna and Carl added that response, feedback and support are important to get from anyone that they work with. Anna said that it is important to her that the things she does are being considered and appreciated. Bitte argues that when not getting support from the management, work feels mainly meaningless. After being asked whether support from especially the management is important to her, she answered yes since their support can push her further in her career.

Carl replied more detailed to this question and said:

”when getting praise for my work, I feel motivated the day after, but when being picked on, one can be down for several days”.

He also added:

“one gets happy no matter who it is [giving feedback] but of course in some way it is more important if the manager comes and “taps you on the shoulder”, than if someone inferior to me comes”

EMPIRICAL FINDINGS

Eva pointed out that it is important with support from the management. Anna said that she really appreciates feedback when:

”voluntarily doing things, that might not even belong to my work tasks”.

Carl agrees on this matter and adds that appreciation is good, but when receiving positive feedback for something that was not done well, it could have a negative affect on the motivational level. For Anna it does not matter from whom she gets feedback, she thinks it is equally important. Bitte said that it is motivating to have support and that it motivates to achieve a good result. Feedback is important to Bitte, both in private- and working-life, in order to be confirmed as a person.

Doris said that it is very important to her to feel that her work is needed, and Eva said that she values feedback and criticism and gives as an example that receiving sales results in a meeting is often welcomed positive feedback.

4.5 SALARY – THE ECONOMIC ASPECT

Salary and other economic aspects is the next category that the interviewees have been asked about during the interviews. All interviewees say that the salary has an important role as a motivational factor, but none of them values the salary as the highest among motivational factors, which their answers show.

Anna says that the salary absolutely influences the work motivation and mentions that the employees have the chance of receiving a bonus every year. However, after a quiet moment she adds that the salary is not the most important thing to her.

Bitte on the other hand does not feel that the salary affects her work motivation all that much, but if she would have a very low salary it might feel unfair. Bitte also said that when working hard and knowing that one should have a much better salary this of course pull the motivation down, but when the salary is ok it does not matter that much.

EMPIRICAL FINDINGS

When successfully negotiating a raise of the salary Bitte says that she might feel quite pleased, but that she later on probably is going to want another raise:

“People are weird sometimes; one always wants to have more”.

She also said that she does not believe that a raise is going to have a negative affect on anyone.

Carl argued that salary plays a role as a motivational factor and said:

“the lower salary one has, the more important it is. When one just finished university the salary was always gone before the 25th. Of course then it has a greater importance. And then maybe one was willing to work a bit harder”.

Carl would feel a greater satisfaction if receiving a raise. He also mentioned that if someone never receives a raise, this person could feel that his or her skills are not appreciated. On the other hand Carl continues quietly:

“when having a too good salary, one could easily get a bad conscience and feel more pressured to live up to the expectations”.

Doris always wants to do her best and does not think that a raise would make any difference. Doris said however, that not receiving a raise if her colleagues did would make her feel that the management would be unsatisfied with her performances at work. Doris way of handling this problem, if it would occur, would be to try to perform even better. Eva does not reflect that much on the salary, according to her it does probably not influence the work performance. Getting a raise would not make big of a difference for Eva.

EMPIRICAL FINDINGS

Furthermore the interviewees were asked whether they could imagine working fewer hours and as a result have a lower salary. None of the interviewees said that they would want that. Anna said very clearly that she sees no need in working fewer hours and feels that it would make too much of a difference on the salary. First if becoming financially independent, Anna could imagine working fewer hours, but she would definitely continue to work:

“in order to not go crazy” she said that with a laugh and added that it is the social factors as well, that make her go to work.

Social contacts with other colleagues and customers are very important to Anna. Bitte could imagine to work fewer hours for less money if it would fit into her current life situation. Today however, Bitte feels content with her life and does not want to work less. Bitte continued and stated, with a lot of emphasis, that if becoming financially independent, she would also continue to work since:

” it is not that much fun, only to do laundry, clean or wash the dishes, and the friends are working anyways”.

Carl could imagine receiving a lower payment in order to get a day off every week. According to Carl, working 40 hours would be great, but he says that he would probably end up working just as much as now, even if he became financially independent. Carl goes on saying:

“those who retire early...They walk the dog and that is the only thing they do, then they go to the golf course and that is it. That is not much of a life”.

Doris said that reducing the working hours and the salary to some extent would be realistic, but reducing the hours too much would result in a too low salary which would not be worth it. If becoming financially independent, Doris said that she could imagine to continue working, but she would then reduce her working hours to six hours a day or so. Continue working would be important to her in order to have stimulation and the contact to people.

EMPIRICAL FINDINGS

Eva cannot imagine to work less for a lower salary. She does not have any children at home anymore and has started to think about her retirement, so there is no reason to work less. If becoming financially independent, Eva could definitely imagine working fewer hours, but she could not imagine to quit working, as she said:

“I do not feel that I am done working”.

4.6 SECURITY

In this section the interviewees were asked about security, if and how it is influencing their daily work motivation. The interviewees also had to reflect upon the importance in having a permanent employment.

Doris finds security very important in order to perform well. She used to work at a company earlier that decided to move their production elsewhere. According to Doris this made the employees very insecure. As a consequence most of the working day was spent on discussing the situation; it was very difficult to focus on the work tasks which made the employees very unproductive, as she expressed it:

“there are many thoughts going around in your head”.

Eva feels that security is important, especially when it comes to sick leaves. She points out the importance of having the company back you up when employees get sick or due to other reasons have to stay at home.

Anna argues that she through experience has learned that it is easier to concentrate on the work tasks if feeling secure. Anna claims that it is tiring not to know what will happen tomorrow, it makes it difficult to plan for the future. Anna continues and explains the difficulty of getting to know the work colleagues while being a substitute. It feels like they are treating you differently, since it is the one that is temporarily gone that is included in the group not you. When the company arranges something, you might not be welcomed to participate because you are only a substitute. Anna thinks that it can annoy the substitute and as an effect the employee loses focus on the work tasks. Anna feels that the salary is the most

EMPIRICAL FINDINGS important thing when having a permanent employment. The risk of loosing the job and having to live from the social security system is something that Anna is worried about.

Bitte also experienced the insecurity in being a substitute and felt that not knowing if she would have a salary the coming month was a very pressuring situation. Bitte goes on saying that security in private life also affects the security in working life. She continues and stretches the importance of having a permanent employment because of today’s labour market:

“if you have a permanent employment it is for some strange reason easier to get another job”.

Anna and Bitte argue that it is important that the company is financially secured for more than one reason, Anna said:

“I would be the first one having to go if the company would show bad results, and as an employee in a profitable company you have many benefits”.

For Eva, the importance of having a permanent employment is tremendous. Eva claims that the companies’ wellbeing is important, especially for the employees since it is hard when colleagues have to leave as a result of the company having financial problems:

“it splits the group and you feel sorry for them”.

Carl points out that work security means a lot, but he has not much to relate to since he has never been working for a company with financial problems, and he has always had a permanent employment.

EMPIRICAL FINDINGS

4.7 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

In this section the interviewees were asked about the importance of having the opportunity to develop and which the factors are that trigger personal development.

Bitte said that the most important thing at a job is to develop:

“if I stay the same then it is not fun anymore”.

She also talks about her dream of starting her own business, if anything would contribute to her personal development that would be it.

Carl agrees with Bitte, development is the reason behind Carl changing work place a couple of times, he needed to move on when he felt that he was at the top of his competence. Carl feels that he develops over time within his work and to him personal development has little to do with education.

Bitte agrees with Carl and says that a person develops by trying new things, if having a work that includes different assignments, then the person develops automatically since he or she has to challenge him- or herself. For Bitte it is important to move on when you feel that you know your work, and then even change employer not only your position within the company

“not to change company, it does not exist in my world”.

Doris thinks that it is necessary to attend courses to develop within the work, and also to change work tasks once in a while. However, being a manager is nothing that Doris is interested in:

“I am so happy that others want to be that”.

To change employer in order to be able to develop, is not an alternative for Doris. According to her it is better to develop within the company.

EMPIRICAL FINDINGS

Anna claims that attending educational courses is a very good method to develop personally. Anna feels that career is not a priority; to develop it is just something she does for her own sake.

Eva says that the employees of the company have attended a couple of courses due to changes, but she does not like this tension that changes brings within the work:

“ it can be hard sometimes”.

ANALYSIS

5. ANALYSIS

5.1 WORK MOTIVATION

Anna is the youngest of the interviewees and she belongs to the younger generation within which education is seen as something good and important. Anna said that she feels especially motivated when she has had the opportunity to participate in courses arranged by the company. This can be related to the fact that the younger generation of employees is more comfortable in learning environments. Anna is used to constantly gain new information, she knows how to learn and handle all the new knowledge. Furthermore, education within work seems to be rather important for younger employees since it is good to have in the CV. Today it has become more and more common to change workplaces more frequently. To have an updated and varied CV is very important and education provided by a company is a good thing to add to it.

Bitte says that she is motivated by the challenges of her work; young people in the beginning of their work life often value meaningful and interesting tasks very highly. For many of these young individuals it is important to have the possibility to develop further and to reach new levels within a company. When comparing Bitte’s answers to the theory by McClelland it is clear to us that Bitte is a high achiever, she claims to be motivated by “unsolvable” tasks for instance.

Carl can also be described as a high achiever; he and Bitte seem to have rather similar personalities when it comes to work. Carl says that the work itself is what motivates him to go to work everyday, and it is important to him to have challenging tasks to commit to. He also talks about the specific situation at his work where many of the employees own shares of the company. To be a part owner increases the feeling of responsibility and it also leads to economic benefits when the company is doing well, which Carl sees as a motivator.

Doris mentions the salary and the vacation as important factors to her. It is common that older employees value having a secure job and working environment, and Doris clearly feels safe knowing that the pay will come every month. She also talks about the importance of work being meaningful in order for her to feel motivated.

ANALYSIS

According to McClelland’s theory of needs, Doris fits into the affiliation category since she needs the feeling of acceptance and appreciation from other people; she even says that she wants everyone to be pleased with her work. Doris also mentioned that meditation is a way for her to relax and get a balance in her life and as we have mentioned in the theory chapter, balance in life is very important for someone to be able to feel motivated. Since the society today is changing fast it is even more important for the older generation to find some kind of balance, they are most likely not used to this tempo and might have difficulties to adapt to the changes. Doris has found her niche in meditation and says that she feels better since she started doing this.

Eva and Doris are somehow similar in their attitude to work and we believe that Eva also fits into the affiliation group. She pointed out during the interview that an important thing for her is that the customers are happy, and she wants to spend the necessary time with the clients who call in order to make them feel that they have received the help and the advice they called for.

Something that appeared in all the five interviews is that there is a connection between motivation and overall well-being. Every one of the interviewees mentioned this and it seems as if the feeling of motivation is impossible to gain if an individual does not feel good.

5.1.1 Negative influences on work motivation

There are many things that can have a direct negative effect on someone’s work motivation and Anna specifically mentions complaining and unreasonable customers as something that lowers her motivation. She explains that it is disappointing when trying to do your best and still get a lot of criticism from the customers. This can be connected to the theory by McClelland, since Anna fit into the affiliation group she has strong needs of being appreciated by people around her.

Another thing that is perceived as very non-motivating is when a task really is unsolvable. Bitte who finds challenging tasks very important says that she would not want to commit to impossible tasks. Even though the desire to reach a set goal is a major psychological mechanism, the level of the challenge can not be perceived as too high in order for the

ANALYSIS employee to remain motivated. Bitte also mentions lack of information as a factor that lowers her motivation. When she receives the wrong information or no information at all she feels like she is neglected and not important.

Carl finds it non-motivating when he has an idea which he believes in and then his managers turn it down due to some reason. This can be connected to his high-achiever personality; sometimes his ideas are probably too ambitious and demand a lot of work and resources.

Non-motivating for Doris is when she feels that she does not get attention for things that she achieves at work. She has a strong need for affiliation and if she cannot feel noticed and appreciated by the people around her she gets insecure and her work motivation is affected.

When it comes to Eva it seems like it is major changes that might negatively influence her work motivation. We refer this to her age and her experiences in the working life. She has been at this current workplace for 20 years, which is probably a reason to why she is very used to certain things and changes disturb the normal workday.

5.2 RELATIONS AT WORK

An inspiring workplace is something that all of the interviewee’s value, and to have relations at work are of great importance. Having good relations to the colleagues makes everyone perform better and increase the motivation to go to work every day. However, studies that we refer to in the theoretical findings show that only 11% of the Swedish population spend time with their colleagues outside of work. This seems to be the reality among our interviewees as well, as only one of them says that she spends time with her colleagues in her spare time.

Anna is the newest employee at her department and she says that she learns a lot from working in groups since the others are more experienced than her. Anna seems very adaptable; she is young and still tries to find her place in the workforce. She mentioned that she used to work in a department where she did not fit in with her work colleagues. During the interview she lowered her voice when talking about this situation; we felt very clearly that this was an unpleasant memory and thinking about it made her feel uncomfortable. The social environment has proven to be an important motivator at work, and many people have a desire

ANALYSIS to conform to social norms. When having the feeling of not being accepted by the colleagues, this made Anna feel inadequate.

Bitte seems to us as someone who finds group work very important and giving, but in her current work situation she mainly works independently. She says that she misses to have someone to exchange ideas with sometimes, and gives the impression that she would be very motivated by that. When Bitte began to work at her current workplace, the older people working there did not respect her, they perceived her as a young woman who just had finished her studies and probably did not know what she was doing. She had to work hard and perform well in order to be accepted by the group, but since she is a persistent high achiever she was actually motivated by being in this situation and determined to show her colleagues that she is good at what she is doing. Bitte explains that it is important to her that the work place has a positive spirit in order to enable good results and good relations at work. It shows that a positive workplace satisfies employees and this will also be reflected in an employee’s work involvement.

Carl argues like Bitte and says that a good spirit at the workplace is very important and without that it is almost impossible to work and perform well. When a company is not doing well this affects the spirit of the organisation, beginning at the top management level and is then sensed all the way down. Since Carl is a manager he sees this clearly and probably has experienced this in some way, both through higher demands from his managers and through being forced to put a higher pressure on the people working at his division.

When discussing the differences in working individually and in groups, Carl says that when looking at the result of group work, it is often better than what someone has done alone and therefore to prefer, but on the other hand it is often faster to work individually. He says that he likes to work in groups but would not want to work together with others all the time. This is probably because he is a high achiever with high demands and a strong desire to perform. He says that he does not have the time to do everything in the finance department himself, but he actually gives the impression of thinking that if he could he would.

Relations to colleagues outside of work depend according to Carl on which age and life stage a person belongs to. He claims that he was socialising a lot more with his colleagues when he

ANALYSIS was younger, which he related to him having more spare time back then. Now when having a family and a career he does not seem to have the same amount of time and he also prioritises differently.

Doris said that she performs better when working alone, she feels that she would not be able to make her voice heard and participate effectively in a group. Despite that, she says that she enjoys working in groups sometimes, probably based upon her affiliation character and her desire to be noticed and accepted by others. She always tries to do her best at work, but she feels that she cannot entirely do that in a group. She is not someone who strongly speaks up for her opinions but she is aware of this and does not see it as a problem. Some people always want to be in focus of everyone’s attention, but Doris is not like that and would never try to be so. In that way she is confident, she has reached a level where she does not have to try to adapt and be someone she is not. The fact that she feels good about her current work situation and is accepted and appreciated probably contributes to her confidence. In order for a group to function and perform well it is important that the mix of people is right. Doris likes to work on her own and seldom feels right within a group.

When Doris was younger she was socialising with especially one colleague, and she claims that there is a connection between the period of life and the extent to which a person socialises with colleagues outside of work. When having a family there might not be that much time to spend with colleagues and other friends, but before that stage in life it is more probable for this to happen.

Eva is not too fond of group tasks and says that she does not work that much in groups at her workplace. We believe that her wish to please everyone might be an obstacle when working in groups; it creates a lot of pressure on her. Since Eva is someone who avoids conflicts she therefore works best on her own.

Eva is the one who socialises the most with her colleagues among our interviewees. She is divorced and her children are grown up, which we believe can very well be a reason to why she wants to spend time with friends and colleagues from work.

ANALYSIS

Social needs and relations are hygiene factors according to Herzberg, and Maslow has these needs in the third level of his Basic Need Hierarchy. We believe that having a good social environment at the workplace is a prerequisite for people to be able to work and perform well, although nothing really indicates that the work results and efficiency are improved from good relations at work. If the friendship among colleagues is very tight, this could decrease their focus on the work.

5.3FEEDBACK AND CRITICISM

Feedback and criticism are of great importance to all the interviewees, but in different ways and for different reasons.

Anna says that feedback is important to her; she wants to feel that her work is being noticed and appreciated. She especially mentions those occasions when she feels that she has done something above her usual work, something that is not expected from her and that she did not have to do. On those occasions it is very important to her that someone shows appreciation in order for her to feel satisfied. When feedback is given on those occasions this indicates that the management of the company really knows what she is doing and appreciates her work.

Anna values feedback and criticism from anyone at her workplace; it does not matter if it is from her manager or a colleague. This can be seen as a sign of Anna not being very interested in having a career, at least not at the moment, since she then probably would have valued the feedback from her managers higher.

Bitte agrees with Anna and says that feedback is very important. Bitte mentions both feedback at work and at home as necessary to her, obviously it is important to Bitte what her friends and family think. She admits however that she needs to feel that her managers support her, especially since they are the ones who can bring her forward in her career. She feels motivated and rewarded from positive critique but at the same time she mentions that she also works for her own sake and not only to please others. This clearly indicates that she is a high achiever with a strong, individual drive. When looking at Maslow’s Basic Need Hierarchy Bitte is at the fourth step according to us. She has fulfilled the needs at the three lower steps

ANALYSIS and is now working with the self esteem needs, since she is at the beginning of her working life and she is trying to gain respect and recognition.

Carl, who is a manager, says that he values feedback and criticism given from a superior manager higher compared to if an employee would comment on something. Carl is, just like Bitte, a high achiever who likes challenges and constant development. Even though Carl has worked for several years compared to Bitte, we see them both at the self esteem level, the fourth level in Maslow’s Basic Need Hierarchy. It is possible that Carl never will reach the fifth level, to be able to do that he probably would need a lot of freedom at work, since he performs best while nothing is constraining him. A possible way to get the desired freedom and that way reaching the fifth level could be for him to start his own business, but Carl did not indicate that he had any interests in doing that.

Carl discusses the same thing as Anna did; the increased need and want of appreciation when having done something extraordinary. On the other hand he does not like when people praise his work when he feels that he has not done a very good job, and then the feedback can have the opposite effect. This shows that feedback is not always motivating, only when it is justified. It is not appreciated when it is obvious that management only gives feedback because they have learned that it is important and not because they know what the employee does and achieves on a daily basis. The self esteem level in the hierarchy of needs cannot be fulfilled based on false appreciation.

Doris is someone who values feedback highly, and it does not matter from who she receives it. When comparing her answers to the theory of McClelland it is easy to place Doris in the affiliation group since people within this group have a strong need for belongingness and to fit in. Doris is perceived as someone who does not have advancement and career as a goal, she is happy with her work and does not want to have a leading position. It is probably because of this that she does not care more about feedback and criticism given by a manager than if it is given by a colleague.

Eva has a different view on what feedback could be, she keeps track of the revenue and the sales figures and sees this as a kind of feedback. This is probably important to her because of her position; she is responsible for a department and might feel that good results speak for

ANALYSIS themselves. If the figures are good, the management will know that she has done a good job. She talks about the weekly meetings at work where the results are shown and discussed, and she told us that if her division has done a good job then those meetings are rewarding to her. Eva enjoys getting positive criticism in public and this probably makes her feel secure at work.

Eva has reached an age where it might be hard to find a new job if she would loose the present position, so to her feedback is an indication that the company is satisfied with her work and consequently she does not have to worry. To someone younger, like Bitte, the meaning of feedback is different and if Bitte would not get any response from her managers she would probably feel that she could be more appreciated at another company and start searching for a new job. We argue this way because as we said earlier in the theory age discrimination is a common problem on the labour market of today. Since Eva is considered as “old” it decreases her chances of a new employment. We believe that companies see employees as investments and many of them would probably not want to invest in someone who has only approximately six years left in the workforce.

The theory by McClelland showed to be very applicable on the interviewees when talking about feedback and criticism, some of them clearly fit into the affiliation category and others to the high achiever category. None of our interviewees belonged to the power category according to us, although two of them have management positions.

From the answers given it could be seen that feedback and criticism can be perceived in many different ways, depending on who receives it, gives it and what it is given for.

5.4 SALARY AND FINANCIAL REWARDS

Financial rewards are seen as an important aspect of working. Often the first question asked when talking about employment is something concerning the salary. However, when starting to work there could be other attributes that are seen as important.

Anna values the bonus that the employees at her company get once a year, which is based on the profit of the company. This could be because such a reward can be related to the level of

ANALYSIS performance; it is extra pay for extra work, although it is based on the work of a whole year. She says that it is a motivator to her and continues explaining that to her the salary and the financial rewards are more important than having a lot of leisure time. Anna is young and has recently gotten this permanent employment which could be the reason to why she finds money that important, it is the first time in her life that she really earns money. When she is asked what she would do if she became financially independent she says that she would work a little less hours but not quit working, the social network is far too important to her.

Bitte is the first to say that salary is not important to her work motivation. However, she claims that if her salary would be too low in comparison to what she performs and what the people at her level earn this would feel unfair and be negative for her motivation. The way Bitte describes this it is clear that the salary is a hygiene factor that fits well into the theory of Herzberg. When salary is at a reasonable level it is not perceived as something that increases the motivation, but when the pay is too low it will affect the motivation negatively. Furthermore, Bitte mentions that it is pleasant to get a raise, but the satisfaction only lasts for a short while. Here she is talking about adaptation, which is one of the reasons to why money can never be a long lasting motivator. People adapt to the new situation of having more money, and soon the same desires and wants as before will appear but now for things from more expensive brands or of better quality.

When talking to Bitte about how she values her leisure time she says that she would love to have one day off every week, but in her current situation the salary is more important than the leisure time. This can be connected to the life stage of Bitte, she is young and single with no children and this is a time in life when she has time to work and focus on her career. Her friends are at the same stage, meaning that even if she would only work four days a week she would have no one to spend that extra spare time with since everyone would be working. She refers to this as well while speaking about what she would do if she was financially independent, she would be glad to work less but all her friends would still work, consequently she would not have anyone to spend her spare time with.

Carl, who has the highest position of the interviewees and thereby probably has the highest salary, begins with discussing how the situation could be if having a too low or a too high salary. If the salary is too low, he would not feel appreciated and as a consequence he might

ANALYSIS not feel motivated. However it could also be the opposite, the lower salary someone has the more important it is to get a raise and the harder this person will work. Bitte claimed in her interview that a raise can never be negative for someone’s motivation. Carl has another view; he argues that when the salary is too high the employee might get a bad conscience which could affect the work motivation negatively. We believe that one reason to why Bitte feels like she does can be that she, compared to Carl, not yet has reached such a high level of salary where this becomes an issue.

As mentioned earlier, rewards and appreciation are perceived as best when there is something to relate them to, like when having done something really well. In the case of Carl, this can be a problem since he is already performing at a high level, working sixty hours a week. If he would get a raise he might feel the pressure to perform even better in the future and this could affect his motivation negatively. For Carl the feeling right now is almost the opposite, higher salary is not as tempting as to be able to work only 40 hours per week. He would be prepared to earn less money in order to work fewer hours, and it is clear to us that he has not a very good balance in life between work and leisure time, but since he is a high achiever he tends to end up working a lot even though he did not really plan to. When talking about being financially independent he says that he would probably work just as much as today anyway, simply because he likes the challenges that work provides him with and to take on these challenges, many hours are needed.

Doris does not really see the salary as a motivating factor but she feels that a raise would be a visible way for the management to show her that her work is appreciated which is what really motivates her. Again we can see that Doris fits into the affiliation group, where the need of being accepted and liked is very strong. Doris also says that she could imagine working a few hours less every week and as a consequence also earn a little less. The spare time is important to Doris and she needs to have a balance between leisure and work. She is also at a stage in her life where money is not as important as it may used have been, she has got her life built up and since she does not have any children, she does not have to provide for anyone.

Eva claims that financial rewards do not motivate her, neither the salary nor any form of bonus. But she can not, despite this attitude, imagine working less for a lower salary. Today Eva is working 90 percent of a full time employment and maybe that gives her enough leisure

ANALYSIS time to have a good balance in life. Eva is in the later part of her working life with retirement coming closer which can be an important factor to why she would not consider working less. In a few years she will not be working at all and this might be stressful to her, especially since the social environment at work means a lot to her. Her financial situation is another issue, Eva is divorced which could mean that she has a weaker economic situation than when she was married. She also has children, and even though they are grown up it probably feels good to be able to give them what they need and ask for.

Money and financial rewards are factors that all the interviewees claim to be motivated by. However, after a few minutes of thinking, all of them come to the conclusion that it is an important, basic factor, but not something that really affects their performance. Consequently, salary and financial rewards fit into the Two Factor Theory as hygiene factors.

5.5 SECURITY

When discussing security within the workforce all the interviewees agreed on that it is an important work attribute.

Anna points out that having a substitute employment is not only very insecure, it also gives a feeling of not being one of the group since the one missing is coming back. Another thing that disturbed her when being in that particular situation was that she was treated differently by the company; she did not get the same benefits as the other employees. The above factors can, according to Anna, annoy the substitute to an extent where this person looses focus and motivation since the whole situation feels unfair. It is overall easier to concentrate on the work tasks when having a secure work environment. According to Herzberg, working conditions belong to the hygiene factors and without them the employees are not able to be motivated, which is clearly seen in this situation.

Security being such a high priority for Anna is probably the result of her having experienced the situation of being a substitute; she knows what it is like not having a secure workplace. Anna feels that it was hard to plan the future without a permanent employment. It is clear that it is important to her not having to get unemployment benefit from the government. The underlying reason to this could be that she fits into the affiliation category. A person who

ANALYSIS belongs to the affiliation group wants to fit in and follow the norms of society and since it is seen as something negative to live from governmental money this would probably be embarrassing to her. Between Anna’s argument and the theory of this thesis it is possible to see a clear connection between a functional social system and work motivation. A functional social system triggers employees to perform well, since the system feels secure and fair. Having security gives the individual a possibility to focus on other, more important tasks this can improve the performance at work as there are no distracting issues that need to be considered.

Salary is the most important attribute of having a permanent fulltime employment, according to Anna. To feel secure is also connected to the profit of the company; Anna feels that this has a lot to do with a secure working environment. We believe that she reasons like this since being recently employed, she would be the first one having to leave if the company would get financial problems. This indicates that she is a person that might not want to change workplace even though she is young and has great opportunities. She is a happy person with a boyfriend and she does not want any changes because her life is good as it is, changes would only result in insecurity.

Bitte feels that it is important with a permanent employment because of today’s labour market. She agrees with Anna and also stretches her concern in having to leave the company since she is a recently hired employee. However, the reason to why Bitte agrees with Anna might have a different underlying cause. Bitte claims that it is easier to get a new job when already having a permanent employment; this answer shows that the decreasing loyalty towards workplaces among employees is connected to the employee’s constant search for new developing jobs. Anna’s wish to stay with the company is based on that she likes her current situation and does not want it to change.

It is important to point out that even though both Anna and Bitte are at the same age they have very different thoughts on the importance of security. In difference to Anna, Bitte does not rank security that high, she needs challenges and could not imagine staying at the same company for a longer period of time. Bitte is single and used to taking care of herself, whereas Anna lives with her boyfriend. Just comparing their own descriptions of themselves make

ANALYSIS their differences visible, Bitte sees herself as energetic and stubborn which are more standout qualities than happy and positive as Anna described herself.

Carl believes that security is important but admits that he has nothing to relate to; he has always had a job and never worked for a company with financial problems. We argue that his background is the reason for him not valuing security that high. He and Bitte are very alike; they do not worry too much because they are secure with themselves and therefore do not see changes as a problem.

Doris says that security is necessary in order for her to perform well. She has experienced the situation of loosing her job and argues that during the last insecure months at that workplace, she had difficulties in concentrating on her work tasks. The security is probably important since she is afraid of being in the same situation again. We argue that she is afraid of losing her current job as she only has been working there a short period of time. It is one of the reasons to her finding it very important to please the company. If she looses her position at her age, it might be hard to find a new job and she seems to be aware of this. One more time we can refer this to the age discrimination within the workforce.

Another issue is her personality; Doris is a person that does not like to be in focus of everyone’s attention. She describes herself as loyal and it is clear that her wish is to stay at the company, and if she would not have gotten a notice from her former employer, she would probably still work there. It is obviously not her wish to experience changes, which mean insecure situations to her.

Eva agrees with Doris that the security has a lot to do with the well-being of the company. Even though she probably would not personally be the first to loose her job since she has worked at her company for a long time, she feels that it affects the working environment negatively if colleagues loose their job. It could be argued that she feels this way because of her position as a manager, she is more responsible for her colleagues than other employees and it may be that she feels guilty if employees have to leave. Furthermore Eva argues that it is important to her that the company supports people with long time sick leaves. She was the only one of the interviewees who mentioned this, which again could be connected to her having a managerial position. It could also be that she, or someone close to her, has been in a

ANALYSIS situation where a sick leave was necessary and support from the company became even more important.

We argue that Eva’s need for security can be related to her being afraid of changes. The underlying reason to her feeling like this probably comes from her having a private life that has been very insecure; it was noticeable that the divorce was hard on her. Eva may feel that she has less to do at home now that the children are grownup, it can be difficult not to feel needed anymore. Everyone has a certain need for security; some individuals find security in their private life while others, like Eva, finds it through their work. Another reason to why Eva experiences a high need of security could be her age; the security needs tend to increase when getting older.

All of our interviewees have a lot to add concerning their needs for security. They all claim to be motivated by security, but in different ways. We perceive their needs for security as essential for them to be able to focus upon their work tasks, but having a safe work situation is not something that makes them work harder and perform better results.

5.6 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

When asking the interviewees regarding personal development, the answers were divided. This part showed more disagreement among the interviewees than any other category discussed in this thesis.

Anna claims that individuals shall develop. We believe that her answer is affected by the norms of the society; development is connected to having a successful life. Even though Anna claims that development is important to her, she does not have a desire to reach a managerial position. When looking at her personality and her need for security, which has a strong connection to money, the only reason for her to have a career would be to get a higher salary. Since there is a clear connection between changes and personal development, it can be seen that a person like Anna, who has a high need for security, will not push herself to personal development.

ANALYSIS

Anna feels that education and courses are the best way to learn and develop. She is young and has recently finished her studies at college, being in a learning environment is still natural to her. We believe that these courses are appreciated not because she likes to learn and develop, but because she enjoys the social part that it involves.

Bitte is the total opposite to Anna, she finds personal development very important and the challenges in her work are the reason for her to go to work everyday. She argues that a person develops through his or her own work and drive, meaning that it is important to challenge yourself in doing what seem to be impossible tasks. Bitte has a dream of one day starting her own business. This could be one way for her to reach the highest level of Maslow’s Basic Need Hierarchy, self-actualization, since she then would be able to do exactly what she is fitted to do.

Another issue that Bitte raises is that an employee has to change both position and employer during his or her working life to enable further personal development. We argue that this answer is very modern, the whole society of today is about fast changes and since Bitte is young she has been influenced by this thinking. Of course it is important to add that this has to do with the personality as well, otherwise Bitte and Anna would be more similar since they are both in the same age. Here we can once more see the different reasons that these two people have behind going to work; one needs the money to feel secure and the other one needs development to be happy in her life.

Carl agrees with what Bitte said, and furthermore he claims that a person develops through the work itself and the challenges it brings. Carl has voluntarily changed employer a couple of times when he felt that he was at the top of his competence in that particular work situation. This behaviour shows that Carl puts personal development before being loyal to the company. Therefore it could be said that he is a typical example of the new generation of the workforce who are looking to maximize their competence.

Doris appreciates courses but adds that new work tasks are developing as well. For Doris it is not an alternative to change employer to enable further development, she wants to stay and then change position within the company. However, she points out that she does not have any intentions of having a career, which is not at all appealing to her. We perceive Doris as having

ANALYSIS a vulnerable personality, and being a manager would lead to her having to face a lot of criticism. When discussing the issues of development it is clear that Doris is sure of who she is and what she wants. This could be a result of her prioritising her spare time, which enables a balanced life.

Eva on the other hand seems to avoid development because of the fact that development comes with changes, which make her feel insecure. When having reached a certain age it is common that changes are less appreciated since it might be harder to adapt to new situations. At first Eva praises development and then throughout the discussion she switches opinion and gives the impression of being more against it. This can be seen as an internal conflict of interests between her personality and her position as a manager.

When looking at the theory that deals with development issues it is clear that there is a connection between development and changes. Changes can be experienced as negative if they are forced on someone without this person having an opportunity to affect the situation. To have balance in life is another important part that is needed to enable further development. If a person feels secure in his or her situation and is happy, then this person will find it easier to adapt to changes. Personal development is as the term says; individual. Depending on someone’s situation and personality, personal development can be both motivating and non motivating.

FINAL DISCUSSION

6. FINAL DISCUSSION

The purpose of this thesis was to study the reasons behind the differences in motivational factors between individuals employed within business administration. All of the factors that this study was based on, relations at work, feedback and criticism, salary and financial rewards, security, and personal development, showed to be of importance to the work motivation according to the interviewees. However, it was noticeable that some of the factors influenced the work motivation of all the interviewees in a positive way, while other factors affected their work motivation differently.

We discovered some connections between the different motivational factors mentioned above. It could be seen that the individuals who highly valued security also saw the salary and financial rewards as very important to their work motivation. Another pattern that was discovered was that none of the individuals who appreciated having a secure working environment felt motivated by factors that would lead to personal development, such as new, challenging work tasks. We believe that this can be explained by the fact that changes are unavoidable in order to gain personal development, and changes can lead to a feeling of insecurity.

Relations at work proved to be a necessary attribute for all the interviewees. This factor is important no matter what stage in life an individual is at. However, we have seen that relations at work are not in themselves motivating, they cannot be directly linked to a higher performance, but we believe that having them is a prerequisite to be motivated by other factors.

Feedback is according to us the single most important motivational factor; all individuals need it and are motivated by it no matter what stage in life they are at.

FINAL DISCUSSION

Salary is only motivating to a certain level. However, when this level has been reached other factors are more important. It is important to point out that when receiving a too low salary this could be seen as non-motivational, to enable motivation it is a prerequisite to have a decent salary. We believe that the importance of salary changes throughout life, younger employees seem to value it higher than older.

Security gives the employee a possibility to concentrate on the work tasks and consequently perform better. Furthermore we believe that the need for security increases when getting older since older people tend to worry more.

Personal development showed to be a factor of varying importance, depending on the personality of the individual and not on the current life stage. Consequently, the desire to develop stays the same throughout life, some people strive towards it and others resist. Since the view of personal development is very individual this factor is not motivational to everyone.

The reason to why there never can be a universally applicable description of how to achieve work motivation is based on the fact that it is difficult to identify the underlying processes of an individual, as shown in this final discussion. Work motivation is a multifaceted area, the personalities of people are hard to see and change, if not impossible. Consequently, companies have to work actively with work motivation as an everyday attribute in order to achieve a work atmosphere where the employees become and stay motivated. There are motivational factors that seem to be applicable on all individuals, such as feedback. Other factors have shown to only motivate some people, such as personal development. Therefore an organisation can choose different ways of working with motivation. Focus can either be on the motivational factors that everyone is motivated by, or on the certain needs of each individual. In many situations there could also be a combination of them in order to reach a high level of motivation.

The empirical findings of this thesis showed that one reason behind individuals being motivated by different factors at work was the society. It is changeable and therefore the values and norms will change over time and affect the attitudes to work motivation in general. These environmental changes make it even more important for the individual to have a life

FINAL DISCUSSION with balance between work and leisure time, in order to feel good and be able to handle stress and other straining factors. Further it was clear, that the aspects affecting someone’s current stage of life, such as for instance age and family situation, above all contribute to the fact that people are motivated by different factors.

Our conclusion drawn from the empirical findings is that some factors, such as security and salary, are related to life stage and change over time. Other factors stay the same during the whole working life, such as the desire for personal development. This conclusion can be drawn since motivation is not only a trait of character that someone either has or not has; motivation occurs in the interaction between an individual and the situation.

PROPOSAL TO FURTHER RESEARCH

7. PROPOSAL TO FURTHER RESEARCH WITHIN THE AREA OF WORK

MOTIVATION

The work motivational area has been truly interesting to study. Despite the fact that a huge amount of research has been done within this area, there are still many question marks and theory gaps to fill. We believe and hope that this thesis has contributed to further understanding of the multifaceted area, work motivation. However, since we have not touched the subject implementation, our proposal to further research is to perform a study on how the organisations could implement work motivation in their daily work. The study could concentrate on those motivational factors that are motivating to all individuals, as well as looking closer at those who affect individuals differently. This study could result in practical ideas on how companies could work with these motivational factors and consequently gain a more productive work environment with satisfied employees. Another proposal would be to study the same factors that we used, but on people with other professions since we believe that the results could differ between different work categories.

REFERENCES

8. REFERENCES

8.1 ARTICLES

Sjöberg, Lennart (1999). Folkvett, Maslowmyten. Vetenskap och Folkbildning 2/1999.

Woodruffe, Charles (2006). Human Resource Management International Digest. The crucial importance of employee engagement. VOL. 14 NO. 1 2006, pp. 3-5, ISSN 0967-0734.

8.2 REPORTS

SCB, Statistiska Centralbyrån (2003). Tid för vardagsliv/ Time for everyday life- women’s and men’s time use 1990/91 and 2000/01. Living conditions report no 99. SCB-Tryck, Örebro.

8.3 STATISTIK

SCB,Statistiska Centralbyrån (1980- 2005). Tabell SR5. Umgänge med arbetskamrater varje vecka. Personer 16-64 år. Undersökningarna av levnadsförhållanden (ULF).

8.4 BOOKS

Andersen, Ib (1998). Den uppenbara verkligheten. Studentlitteratur, Lund.

Andersson, Sten (1979). Positivism kontra hermeneutik. Graphic systems AB, Göteborg.

Angelöw, Bosse (2002). Friskare arbetsplatse- att utveckla en attraktiv, hälsosam och välfungerande arbetsplats. Studentlitteratur, Lund.

Armstrong, Michael (1996). A handbook of personnel management practice. Kogan Page, London.

Bryman, Alan (2002). Samhällsvetenskapliga metoder. Liber, Malmö.

Byars, Lloyd L. & Rue, Leslie W. (2003). Human Resource Management. McGraw Hill, New York.

Carlsson, Torild (2005). Äntligen måndag- myter och möjligheter i arbetslivet. Langenskiöld, Skien.

Esser, Ingrid (2005). Why work? Comparative studies on welfare regimes and individuals’ work orientations. Swedish Institute for Social Research. Valdemarsvik.

Furnham, Adrian (2005). The psychology of behaviour at work: The individual in the organization. Psychology Press, New York.

REFERENCES

Gilje, Nils & Grimen, Harald (1992). Samhällsvetenskapernas förutsättningar. Daidalos, Göteborg.

Gabinus Göransson, Håkan & Nordlöf, Claes (2006). Arbetslagstiftning : lagar och andra författningar som de lyder 1 juli 2006. Norstedts Juridik AB, Stockholm.

Hansen, Lars H. & Orban, Pal (2002). Arbetslivet. Studentlitteratur, Lund.

Holme, Idar & Solvang, Bernt (1991). Forskningsmetodik. Studentlitteratur, Lund.

Hornby, Albert Sydney (2000). Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary of current English. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Iseskog, Tommy (2002). Liv och Arbete, Utgångspunkter för ett människovärdigt arbetsliv. Nordstedts Juridik AB, Stockholm.

Jacobsen, Dag Ingvar (2002). Vad, hur och Varför? Om metodval i företagsekonomi och andra samhällsvetenskapliga ämnen. Studentlitteratur, Lund.

Maslow, Abraham H (1987). Motivation and Personality. Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc., New York.

Nasenius, Catharina (1991). Vardagens dramatik. Utbildningsförlaget Brevskolan, Stockholm.

Patel, Runa & Davidsson, Bo (2003). Forskningsmetodikens grunder: att planera, genomföra och rapportera en undersökning. Studentlitteratur, Lund.

Ritchie, Jane & Lewis, Jane (2003). Qualitative research practice: a guide for social science students and researchers. SAGE Publications, London.

Rosengren, Karl Erik & Arvidson, Peter (2005). Sociologisk metodik. Grafiska AB, Malmö.

Thurén, Torsten (1994). Vetenskapsteori för nybörjare. Liber AB, Malmö.

Vroom, Victor Harold (1995). Work and Motivation, Jossey-Bass Inc. San Francisco.

Weiner, Irving B (red.) (2003). Handbook of Psychology- volume 12, industrial and organizational psychology. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, New Jersey

Westlander, Gunnela (red.) (1995). På väg mot det goda arbetet – om akademikers arbetsvillkor. Arbetslivsinstitutet.

REFERENCES

8.5 INTERNET REFERENCES http://www.trumpuniversity.com/learn/images/maslow_hierarchy.gif. Accessed: 2007-04-16 http://www.di.se/Avdelningar/Artikel.aspx?ArticleID=2007\03\27. Accessed: 2007-05-22 http://www.cognos.com/se/news/2001/swedishpr_57.html. Accessed: 2007-05-22

8.6 OTHER REFERENCES

Hörte, Sven Åke (1999). Hur kan man ge struktur åt rapporter och uppsatser. Luleå Tekniska Universitet.

8.7 INTERVIEWS

Balco AB 2007-04-24

DHL 2007-04-25

Länsförsäkringar 2007-04-26

69 APPENDIX 1

9. APPENDIX

INTERVJUGUIDE (ORIGINAL)

Personlig bakgrund Namn Ålder/familjesituation Utbildningsbakgrund Antal år i förvärvsarbete Byte av arbete/ arbetsplats antal gånger Vad är dina fritidsintressen? Tre egenskaper som beskriver dig

Arbetssituation idag Yrke/tjänst/position/titel Anställningsform Sysselsättningsgrad Antal år på arbetsplatsen Hur kommer det sig att du arbetar där du är? ( Slump/ Tryggt arbete/ Det fanns inget annat/ Medvetet val) Hur ser en vanlig arbetsdag ut för dig? Bra igångsättare om ni vill veta vad personen säger att den gör. Balans, arbete/fritid?

Arbetsmotivation Vad är det som gör att du går till jobbet? (att vara där) Har du något exempel på ett tillfälle eller period då du varit extra motiverad? Vad motiverar dig till att prestera ditt bästa? Vad är en belöning för dig? Ex: pengar, semester, beröm, gemensamma eller individuella Vad är negativt för arbetsmotivation? (erfarenhet/spekulation) beskriv din drömarbetsplats ( Hur ser den ut?) Hur viktigt är det att kunna stå för vad företaget representera?

Relationer på arbetsplatsen Arbetar du mycket enskilt eller i grupp tillsammans med andra? Vilket föredrar du? När presterar du som bäst i grupp el enskilt? Tror du att din prestation påverkas av dina arbetskamrater? Umgås du med dina arbetskamrater även utanför jobbet?

Feedback och kritik Hur stor betydelse har det för dig att du får feedback på ditt arbete? Från vilka är feedback viktigt?

Lönen – den ekonomiska aspekten Påverkar lönen din vilja att prestera? På vilket sätt tror du en löneförhöjning skulle påverka din arbetsmotivation? Skulle du kunna tänka dig att jobba färre timmar om det var ekonomiskt möjligt? (färre timmar = lägre tot lön)

70 APPENDIX 1

Skulle du fortsätta arbeta om du blev ekonomiskt oberoende? Om inte, vad skulle du göra om du inte gick till jobbet? Om du skulle fortsätta arbeta, varför?

Trygghet Hur upplever du att trygghet på arbetsplatsen påverkar din dagliga arbetsmotivation? Hur värderar du en fast anställning? (anställningstrygghet)

Utveckling Vilken betydelse har det för dig att du får utvecklas i ditt arbete? Vilka utvecklingsmöjligheter skulle kunna motivera dig på din arbetsplats? (Vidareutbildning, Karriär)

71 APPENDIX 2

INTERVIEWGUIDE (ENGLISH TRANSLATION)

Personal background Name Age/family situation Educational background Number of years working Change of work/ workplace, number of times What are your free time interests? Three attributes which describe you

Work situation today profession/ employment/ position/ title type of employment capacity utilization rate Amount of years at the workplace How come you work at this workplace? (Chance/ Secure work/ Nothing else available/ conscious choice How does a normal day at work look like for you? Balance between work and free time?

Work motivation What is it that makes you go to work every day? (to be there) Do you have any example of an occasion or a period where you have been especially motivated to go to work? What motivates you to perform your best? What is a reward for you? Examples: money, vacation, praise, common or individual What is negative for work motivation? (experience/ speculation) Describe your dream workplace? (What does it look like?) How important is it to be able to represent what the company stands for?

Relations at work Do you work a lot individually or in groups together with others? Which do you prefer? When do you perform best, in a group or individually? Do you think that your performance affects by your work colleagues? Do you spend time with your work colleagues even outside of work?

Feedback or criticism How important is it for you that you get feedback for your work? From who is feedback important?

Salary – the economic aspect Does the salary influence your willingness to perform? In which way do you think a raise could effect your work motivation? Could you imagine working fewer hours if it was financially possible? (fewer hours = less total salary) Would you continue working if you would become financially independent? If not, what would you do if you did not go to work? If you would continue working, why?

72 APPENDIX 2

Security How do you experience security at your workplace influencing your daily work motivation? How do you value a permanent employment? (employment security)

Personal Development Which significance does it have that you get to develop personally in your work? Which personal development possibilities could motivate you at your workplace? (supplementary training, career)