Motivation, Decision Making, and Personal Responsibility at Work
Imagine that you’re a manager who needs to fill an open position. What qualities would you look for in a job candidate? If you’re like many employers, you’d hunt for someone who can stay motivated, make good choices, and take responsibility for his or her actions — all characteristics you’ll develop by taking this course and applying what you learn in this textbook. So keep up the good work! If you do, you’ll be more likely to get a rewarding job, perform well in that job, and advance quickly in your career.
ACTIVITY: Put students into groups and ask them to put themselves in the position of an employer. Have them list attributes they would want to see in candidates; then ask them to put the attributes in rank order. What kind of attributes are in the top three? Are they similar to the characteristics listed here? Was it hard to agree on these as a group? Why or why not?
Apply Motivational Strategies on the Job
Staying motivated is just as important in your work life as it is in college. In fact, psychologists who focus on workplace success study the role of motivation closely.6 Look at Table 3.4 to see how workplace motivational strategies relate to staying motivated in school.
FOR DISCUSSION: Ask students to provide examples of how they’ve used the transferable skills discussed in this chapter in class. Then connect these examples to specific experiences you have had in the workplace in which these skills have been needed. Teach students how to make these types of connections when talking to employers during the interview process.
Make Good Choices at Work
On the job, you make choices every day that can impact your career and your organization. Sometimes choices are tough. If a salesperson on your team gives a friend an unauthorized discount, what do you do? If you own a restaurant and revenues decrease, do you lay off employees or raise prices? In such cases, the decision-making process in this chapter can help you make sensible choices.
Of course, not every decision will work out the way you had hoped. When that happens, stay positive and rethink strategies that aren’t working. Choose to own your successes and bounce back from your mistakes.
Take Responsibility to Boost Career Success
Taking responsibility on the job can enhance your career prospects. In fact, research shows that employees who have more independence — and therefore more responsibility — experience greater job satisfaction, better performance evaluations, and more success.7
| Staying motivated in school | Staying motivated at work |
|---|---|
| Take a variety of courses so that at least a few each term motivate you. | With your boss, design your job so that you can use a variety of skills. |
| Establish goals in each class that feel relevant to you. | Find aspects of your job that relate to your passions. |
| Develop active-learning strategies. | Take responsibility for your workplace choices. |
| Evaluate the results of your learning strategies, and if needed, adjust your strategies to get better results. | Reflect on the results of your work efforts, and if needed, change your strategies to get better results. |
| Identify your strengths and take advantage of them. Find ways to address your weaknesses. Graduate! | Seek out opportunities for growth and advancement at work. |
67
voices of experience: employee
MAKING DECISIONS ON THE JOB
| NAME: | Tiona Blyden |
| PROFESSION: | Entrepreneur |
| SCHOOL: | Morgan State University |
| DEGREE: | Bachelor of Science |
| MAJORS: | Communications and Broadcast Journalism |
“Knowing the facts and the options available can help you make the best decision.”
As an entrepreneur and small business owner, decision making is critical for my success as well as my family’s livelihood. While I make lots of small decisions every day, major decisions about my business can make a difference in success or failure. I recently had a critical decision to make regarding staffing in my business. I was spending a lot of time working and wasn’t seeing much income for all of my efforts. I knew it was time to make a decision about how to move the business forward.
I started with a self-evaluation. Through this process of introspection and gathering information about myself, I laid out the fact that I’ve always had lots of ideas and tons of passion to give back to the world. I also discovered that I’m sometimes short on execution, or seeing my ideas through to the end. I was also spending three to four hours a day conducting administrative tasks for the business — not a good use of my time and creative energy. Using this information, I evaluated my options and made the major decision to hire a personal assistant to free up time. This was a significant expense for my small business, but I believed that it was the best choice.
Looking back on the past few months, this has turned out to be a wonderful choice. I’m working fewer hours and my income has increased. To be an effective leader and catapult your business to success, you have to make tough decisions. Knowing the facts and the options available can help you make the best decision. Often the best option requires a leap of faith.
YOUR TURN: Have you had to make a tough decision in a work situation? If so, how did it turn out? What did you learn from the outcome of your decision?
Taking responsibility can also help you deal with work challenges. Psychologist Marla Gottschalk describes one common challenge: feeling as though you don’t have enough time to complete all the tasks facing you.8 Many people blame others for this problem: “My coworkers interrupt me” or “We have too many meetings.” Gottschalk suggests another response: acknowledging your role in the problem. Ask yourself, “Do I value my own time and communicate that to my coworkers?” or “What am I going to do to remedy this situation?” With this approach, you make yourself part of the solution to your problem. And that means you can control your own effectiveness at work.
68
my personal success plan
MOTIVATION, DECISION MAKING, AND PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
Are you inspired to set a new goal aimed at improving your motivation, decision-making skills, or ability to take personal responsibility? If so, the Personal Success Plan can walk you through the goal-setting process. Read the advice and examples; then sketch out your ideas in the space provided.
To access the Personal Success Plan online, go to the LaunchPad for Connections.
| 1 |
GATHER INFORMATION Think about your strengths and weaknesses related to motivation, decision making, and personal responsibility. What strategies have worked for you in the past? What could you do differently? Revisit your Motivation, Decision Making, and Personal Responsibility score on ACES and review the relevant sections of this chapter for ideas. |
| 2 |
SET A SMART GOAL Use the information you’ve gathered to create a SMART goal, making sure to use the SMART goal checklist. SAMPLE: I’m struggling to stay motivated in my sociology class. By the end of the week, I’ll figure out how to make the course content more relevant to my interests and goals. |
| 3 |
MAKE AN ACTION PLAN Outline the specific steps you’ll take to achieve your SMART goal, and note when you’ll complete each step. SAMPLE: Tomorrow, I’ll ask my instructor if I can write my term paper on a topic I’m passionate about: factors that cause economic inequality. |
| 4 |
LIST BARRIERS AND SOLUTIONS Think about possible barriers to your action steps; then brainstorm solutions for overcoming them. SAMPLE: My instructor might reject my term paper idea. If she does, I’ll explain my areas of interest to see if there’s another topic that I’m just as passionate about that would meet the course requirements. |
| 5 |
ACT AND EVALUATE OUTCOMES Now that your plan is in place, take action. Record each action step as you take it. Then evaluate whether you achieved your SMART goal, and make any adjustments needed to get better results in the future. SAMPLE: My instructor and I were able to identify several alternative topics that interest me and would meet the course requirements. |
| 6 |
CONNECT TO CAREER List the skills you’re building as you progress toward your SMART goal. How will you use these skills to land a job and succeed at work? SAMPLE: I’m learning more about my interests and how to incorporate them into my coursework. These skills could help me work with a supervisor to design job responsibilities that appeal to these interests. |
69
my personal success plan
| my information |
________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ |
| my SMART goal |
________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ □ SPECIFIC □ MEASURABLE □ ACHIEVABLE □ RELEVANT □ TIME-LIMITED |
| my action plan |
________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ |
| my barriers/ solutions |
________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ |
| my actions/ outcomes |
________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ |
| my career connection |
________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ |