Bus305: Investigate Motivation

• Purpose: Compare what you think motivates people to what they say motivates them.
• Process:To complete this assignment, you will have to pick at least 3 people you know who are different from each other in at least 2 ways. The differences must be demographic such as; gender, race, age, marital status, education earned, job responsibility level, income level, or others. Ask and answer the following questions using a minimum of 300 words for each person.

Person 1:

1. Their demographic characteristics

2. How do you think they will answer the questions below

3. Then, interview them. This can be over the phone, in person, or through email. Ask these questions:

4. How would you describe your work? What are some of the things that you particularly like about your work?

5. We are currently studying the topic of motivation in one of my classes. What boosts your motivation at work? If you have ever experienced a period of low motivation, can you identify things that might have contributed to your losing steam in your work?

6. What kinds of rewards or incentives work best to motivate individuals and/or teams who do your type of work? What kinds of rewards or incentives don't work so well?"

7. Compare their responses to what you thought they would say.

Person 2:

1. Their demographic characteristics

2. How do you think they will answer the questions below

3. Then, interview them. This can be over the phone, in person, or through email. Ask these questions:

4. How would you describe your work? What are some of the things that you particularly like about your work?

5. We are currently studying the topic of motivation in one of my classes. What boosts your motivation at work? If you have ever experienced a period of low motivation, can you identify things that might have contributed to your losing steam in your work?

6. What kinds of rewards or incentives work best to motivate individuals and/or teams who do your type of work? What kinds of rewards or incentives don't work so well?"

7. Compare their responses to what you thought they would say.

Person 3:

1. Their demographic characteristics

2. How do you think they will answer the questions below

3. Then, interview them. This can be over the phone, in person, or through email. Ask these questions:

4. How would you describe your work? What are some of the things that you particularly like about your work?

5. We are currently studying the topic of motivation in one of my classes. What boosts your motivation at work? If you have ever experienced a period of low motivation, can you identify things that might have contributed to your losing steam in your work?

6. What kinds of rewards or incentives work best to motivate individuals and/or teams who do your type of work? What kinds of rewards or incentives don't work so well?"

7. Compare their responses to what you thought they would say.

• Reply to 2 of your classmates IN DEPTH using the following outline:

Hi,

I just finished reading your written discussion on investigating motivation and I acknowledge it to have been particularly (well worded, articulate, impressive, eloquent, clear, precise, detailed, meticulous, thorough, short, straightforward, concise, compendious)

A part that stood out to me was when you explained, " " because it

I was unaware that......

To add to your work _

Furthermore,

Overall, I think you did a good job analyzing the material. Keep it up for future discussions!

-Your Classmate,

Student 1:

• "#1 Tony Hernandez: Their demographic characteristics
  • Male, 54, Hispanic, Married, Associates Degree, Senior IT Developer, Upper Middle Class
• How you think they will answer the questions below
  • As someone who has been in the IT industry for over 20 years, I believe that he will give thorough descriptions of his day to day tasks and that is favorite part of his work would be the paycheck that he receives at the end of it. What boosts his motivation would be the idea of receiving a promotion and the challenges that come along with developing software for a casino. When losing steam some things that would boost motivation would be having others relying on you, and as senior developer, people looking up to you while in the younger days of starting their career. Of course the most rewarding of them all would be the paycheck that gets received in order to pay bills, and support your family. The incentives that work best to motivate individuals would be seeing the finished product used in a promotion on the machines and seeing the success for the casino that comes along with it. Although this can be different for every developer in this line of work is what keeps them going. the kinds of rewards and incentives that don't work as well would be the ones that are not physical, such as a "good job".
• Then, interview them. This can be over the phone, in person, or through email. Ask these questions:
• How would you describe your work? What are some of the things that you particularly like about your work?
  • "I would describe my work as data/numbers heavy, open minded, and creative. Some of the things I like about my work would be the people, the work space being an open creative space, and being able to see the behind the screen numbers of risk v reward of gambling.
• We are currently studying the topic of motivation in one of my classes. What boosts your motivation at work? If you have ever experienced a period of low motivation, can you identify things that might have contributed to your losing steam in your work?
  • "The thought of a paycheck boosts my motivation at work. During a period of low motivation, it can be contributed to a number of things such as: burnout, tiredness, creative burnout, and having too many projects working on to the point of being overwhelmed."
• What kinds of rewards or incentives work best to motivate individuals and/or teams who do your type of work? What kinds of rewards or incentives don't work so well?"
  • "For my line of work the best type of motivation is creating a competitive edge to keep things exciting in a mundane work day. The type of rewards that don't work as well would be the ones that don't have a long term success goal."
• Compare their responses to what you thought they would say.
  • I believe that my initial thoughts of what I thought they would say were very spot on. I knew that his replies wouldn't be as descriptive as some others but the essence of it was all the same.
• #2 Decee Arcamo: Their demographic characteristics
  • Female, 51, Hispanic, Married, HS Diploma, Unemployed, Middle Class
• How you think they will answer the questions below
  • As someone who is unemployed, I will have her answer the questions based on watching her grandchildren, as that is a task in itself. Some of the things that she will likes about this job is being able to spend time with her 7 grandchildren while their parents work, and being apart if their lives while they grow up. She would describe her work as tiring, rewarding, and exciting because of all the little feet running around. What boosts her motivation would be having the ability to watch her grandchildren over hiring someone else to do it. With watching children, there can be areas of burnout due to lack of energy, sickness, lack of time, and weather. For her specific line of work, watching kids Monday-Friday, the best type of rewards would be being able to put a smile on the children's face, and the idea of helping out the parents financially.
• Then, interview them. This can be over the phone, in person, or through email. Ask these questions:
• How would you describe your work? What are some of the things that you particularly like about your work?
  • "I would describe my work as energetic, on the go, and tiring. The things I like about the work would be getting to see my grandkids all the time and planning fun activities for them."
• We are currently studying the topic of motivation in one of my classes. What boosts your motivation at work? If you have ever experienced a period of low motivation, can you identify things that might have contributed to your losing steam in your work?
  • What boosts my motivation at work is having to do it cause the parents have to get to work. Low motivation could be from lack of personal time, lack of energy due to being around kids all the time."
• What kinds of rewards or incentives work best to motivate individuals and/or teams who do your type of work? What kinds of rewards or incentives don't work so well?"
  • "The reward that works best for my team would be snacks and tv time. The kinds of rewards that don't work as well is punishments and lack of prize in sight."
• Compare their responses to what you thought they would say.
  • I believe that my responses were spot on with her replies, and although it was unconventional it added more depth to what motivation can be for everyone.
• #3 Cambria East: Their demographic characteristics
  • Female, 22, White, Single, AA Degree, College Student
• How you think they will answer the questions below
  • She would describe her work as student as stressful, rewarding, studious. Some of the things that she likes about her work is the way of progression through the years, and the light at the end of the tunnel. What would boost her motivation is the idea of getting a degree which will lead to a better career than without one. Everyone student that experiences a a period of low motivation attributes it to stress, over stimulation, and lots of homework stacked on top of each other. The best type of incentives is that you are paying for your education so you want to do well, and the rewards that don't work se well is the threat of getting a 0 on an assignment.
• Then, interview them. This can be over the phone, in person, or through email. Ask these questions:
• How would you describe your work? What are some of the things that you particularly like about your work?
  • "I would describe being a student as motivating, stressful, and critical thinking oriented. Some of the things that I enjoy about being a student is being able to move to a new city just because I am studying at CSUMB. "
• We are currently studying the topic of motivation in one of my classes. What boosts your motivation at work? If you have ever experienced a period of low motivation, can you identify things that might have contributed to your losing steam in your work?
  • "Receiving good grades boosts my motivation, and moving into my final year has contributed because all the hard work has almost paid off. My low motivation could be from receiving a bad grade after studying, or having finals week burnout."
• What kinds of rewards or incentives work best to motivate individuals and/or teams who do your type of work? What kinds of rewards or incentives don't work so well?"
  • " Incentives that work best for students would be receiving back a grade from a paper of assignment, or doing well on an assignment knowing break is around the corner. The type of incentives that don't work as well would be not receiving a grade."
• Compare their responses to what you thought they would say.
  • As a student myself, I believe I had a bit of an edge on guessing the responses she was going to say. I think that my assumptions were very comparable to the ones that she gave."

Student 2:

"Interviewed:

• Nikki: 29, female, bartender at Olive Garden, married, upper-middle-class, Caucasian
• Sonia: 34, female, single, cashier at Nob Hill Foods, lower middle class, Hispanic
• Angel: 20, male, works in retail at H&M, single, Asian

How I think Nikki will answer the questions below:

• I think Nikki would describe her work as a side career because she is also a full-time student and a mom with 3 kids.How Nikki described her job:
• "Hmm...I would describe my job as a bartender as easy, but it can be overwhelming sometimes taking tables when it gets super busy while trying to make everyone's drinks at the same time."

What are some things you particularly like about your work?

• "Some things I like is training the new bartenders how to make drinks, what to show you guys (servers) what is made with the drinks, and how much tips we earn."

What boosts your motivation at work?

• "One of the things that motivate me at work are the tips we make, which helps me provide for my kids."

Initial Thoughts:

At first, my initial thoughts were pretty similar to what she had responded. As a full-time student myself, I understand what it's like to constantly work 20+ hours a week and it isn't easy.

Sonia's thoughts on describing her work:

- "I like my job. It's pretty easy. I've been here for over 20 years now. During the first few years of Covid, it would get super busy because everyone was buying toilet paper and other essentials, which we'd always run out of."

We are currently studying the topic of motivation in one of my classes. What boosts your motivation at work?

- "My motivation to work is my paycheck. Getting paid weekly is a bonus than biweekly like most other jobs."

Compare their responses to what you thought they would say.

• Honestly, I thought Sonia's responses were pretty simple to depict. I thought she mentioned interesting details.How would you describe your work? What are some of the things that you particularly like about your work?
• "I would describe my work as fun and easy. Retail is one of the easiest, chill jobs. I pretty much just fold clothes and stock inventory."

What boosts your motivation at work?

• "One thing that boosts my motivation at work is getting to work with my favorite coworkers."

Compare their responses to what you thought they would say.

-At first, I thought Angel's responses would be different because I heard so many bad things about retail, but I guess the experience is different for everyone."