Motivating

The ability to utilise the abilities of subordinates to the full and bring out the best in them is what managerial leadership is all about. The yardstick of managerial leadership is not how good the manager is, but how good his or her subordinates are.

According to Ivancevich and Matteson, job performance may be viewed as a function of the capacity to perform, the opportunity to perform and the willingness to perform (see figure below).

The degree to which an individual possesses the necessary skills, knowledge, abilities and experience in relation to the task at hand, relates to the employee’s capacity to perform.

The opportunity to perform relates to the employee for instance being provided with the necessary equipment to perform the job. According to Ivancevich et al, poor decisions and outdated attitudes could also deprive an employee of an opportunity to perform.

An employee’s willingness to perform relates to the degree to which an employee desires and is willing to exert effort toward attaining the desired job performance. The latter refers to motivation, which will be the focus of this course. High performance in any shape or form will not be attained without some level of motivation or willingness to perform on the side of an employee.