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ФЕДЕРАЛЬНОЕ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЕ БЮДЖЕТНОЕ ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЕ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЕ
ВЫСШЕГО ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ
«САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ»
Савченко Алеся Александровна
Savchenko Alesia Aleksandrovna
Мотивация как основной фактор коммуникационных и
управленческих процессов в молодежных организациях СанктПетербурга и Праги
Motivation as a key factor of communication and management
processes in youth organizations of St. Petersburg and Prague
Диссертация
на соискание степени магистра
по основной образовательной программе высшего образования
по направлению 040100 «Социология»,
профиль «Европейские общества» / MA «Studies in European Societies»
Научный руководитель / Scientific supervisor:
Доцент кафедры сравнительной социологии
Блок Мадлен/ PhD Block Madeleine
Рецензент / Reviewer:
Zezulkova Marketa
Assistant professor, PhD
Санкт-Петербург
2017
Table of contents
Generating Table of Contents for Word Import ...
Introduction
This multidisciplinary research has its aim to find the answer for the question about
turnover and fluctuation processes in youth organizations. The applied research is based on the
2
request of Presidium of Youth сouncil in Kirovsky district in order to reduce the fluctuation
problem with members of their organization. They are willing to change their organizational
system in order to maintain the level of motivation and satisfaction among present activists and
also attract more new people. This research provides information for general orientation in the
decision-making process among superiors of Youth council. Hence, the research problem can be
formulated as follows: the coordination and management of young people in voluntarily
organizations like Youth council are troublesome due to several reasons, which are weak
motivation, organizational conflicts, lack of time, and absence of experience. The privation of
worthwhile and convenient solutions for these problems leads to crucial outcome which restricts
the quality of work they do. This outcome implies the fluctuation of members in a sense of them
leaving this organization. Thus, the key research question of this paper is: how to reduce
fluctuation and turnover processes in Youth council in Kirovsky district and keep its members
motivated?
Therefore, specific research tasks of this study are:
1. To identify key motivational factors which keep young people motivated for
volunteering work.
2. To describe how work process is organized in youth organizations.
3. To examine types of organizational behavior which youth organizations have.
4. To explore what the main principles of qualitative work in youth organizations are.
5. To make an organizational proposal to Presidium of Youth council in accordance
with identified issues and researcher’s recommendations.
Comparability overview
The cases of this comparable research are Youth Council in Kirovsky district of St.
Petersburg and non-profit organization “Youth Included” based in Prague. Both these
organizations were established nearly at the same time: the first one in 2011 while the second
one in 2012. It is highly important to emphasize that these youth organization consider
themselves as open platforms for young people, for their integration into society, and for
enabling their personal experience. Both these organizations also have same goal which is to
encourage and provide participation of youth in social and cultural life of the city. Moreover, it
3
has to be noted that these organizations are voluntarily-based which means that they do not have
permanent financial support. Therefore, both Youth council and Youth Included have difficulties
with funding, and, consequently, use the system of barter for exchanging services. And, finally,
another important similar aspect of their work is the fact that they both solve local problems in
the society they work in.
Paper structure
The paper consists of three main parts which are theoretical chapter, empirical chapter, and
conclusion with several appendixes. This first chapter discloses key theoretical concepts and
assumptions which are necessary for this research. While the second chapter relates to the
empirical part of this paper, in particular, to case study research with data description and
analysis. The conclusion finalizes both data obtained and theoretical framework used.
Appendixes represent research design of the paper, organizational proposal with
recommendations, guide for the interview, questionnaire, and samples of interview and
observation notes.
Thus, the first chapter reveals theoretical framework which was used in this research.
Organizational development served as a central framework and complex approach which
consists of concepts and theories regarding organizational behavior and motivation of workers.
Then one of the important theories which was considered as a foundation for this study is an
organizational theoretical perspective developed by Douglas McGregor. He proposed the
assumptions of motivation theory X and theory Y, which are related to managerial behavior in
the organizations. These assumptions indicate that members of organization are motivated either
via direction and control (theory X) or integration and self-control (theory Y). The central
principle which derives from Theory Y is related to integration process: the creation of working
conditions such that members of organization can achieve their own goals best by directing their
efforts toward the success of organization.
Moreover, some other motivation theories are examined, such as Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs, job characteristics model developed by Hackman and Oldham, expectancy theory
proposed by Vroom Victor H, and two-factor model theory by Frederick. Maslow’s hierarchical
pyramid of needs was relevant in terms of its theoretical continuation in Douglas McGregor’s
work. The author proposed that there are five basic categories of human needs which we can
apply to everybody while investigating people’s behavior: physiological needs, safety, social,
4
esteem, and self-fulfillment. Job characteristic model was proposed by Hackman and Oldham.
The main focus of this theory is the job that workers perform while working. Expectancy theory
introduces the idea of certain expectations and beliefs which individuals keep in mind regarding
possible consequences and outcomes of their efforts. And, finally, two-factor model draws
attention to the concept of intrinsic (motivators) and extrinsic motivation (hygiene factors) in
employee participation and performance.
Also the learning organization theory by Peter Senge was examined in this research. The
author put forward an idea that learning organization is determined as a group of people working
together collectively to enhance their capacities in order to create results they really wish to
have. In these terms we can speak about youth organizations as samples of this study. Senge also
believed in the theory of system thinking, which focuses on how the individual that is being
studied interacts with the other members of the system. In other words it was considered that
youth organizations are whole complex systems.
The second chapter involves the data description and analysis. The methods which were
used for analysis are descriptive, cross-tabulation, correlation and regression. The empirical
chapter consists of several paragraphs: interviewing and observation conclusions, observation
interpretation quotes and analysis, and questionnaire results. For illustrative purposes
comparative tables and statistical charts are provided in this chapter as well. The empirical
chapter is followed by the conclusion.
The paper is terminated with key overall conclusions which are made in accordance with
both theoretical perspective and data collected. Moreover, limitations of research are provided in
order to investigate future research relying on the present one. Limitations were made so that to
demonstrate that the research provides only current picture of youth organizations’ structures,
cultures and inside relationships. The situation now looks quite stable. However, everything can
change for different reasons.
5
Chapter 1. Theorizing the framework for organizational development
Organizational development
In my research I decided to use an organizational development approach as a whole system
of concepts and theories regarding organizational behavior and motivation of workers. This
approach assists me in both analyzing the most significant aspects of the question under my
consideration and finding the proper answers for it. I bear in mind the fact that it is highly
important to develop and formulate recommendations in the end of my research. Therefore,
organizational development process is necessary to examine because it can provide me with a
full picture of studied issue.
“Organizational development is a system-wide process of applying behavioral-science
knowledge to the planned change and development of the strategies, design components, and
processes that enable organizations to be effective”1. Organizational development (OD) seeks to
apply scientific approach in behavioral knowledge and put it into practice in order to help
organizations in their change with a view to achieve greater effectiveness. Moreover, it assists
organizations in improvement of their internal functions and external environments with a view
to gain both better quality of work life and high performance. This change, which OD
emphasizes, is consciously planned and then implemented into practice.
It is highly important to mention that organizational development is primarily concerned
rather with the process than organizational system or structure. The core idea of OD is not that
what is done in the end but the way all the things are done. Basically it means that OD refers to
the processes in which people interact with each other with a specific objective to increase
effectiveness of organization they work in. Organization, in return, is considered as a total
system with its interactions and interrelationships among members.
Dynamics of organizational change and learning, Jaap J. Boonstra, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, England,
2004
1
6
Organizational development was also defined by Wendell L. French and Cecil H. Bell in
their book “Organizational Development: Behavior Science Interventions for Organizational
Improvement” as follows: “A planned systematic process in which applied behavioral science
principles and practices are introduced into an ongoing organization towards the goals of
effecting organizational improvement, greater organizational competence, and greater
organizational effectiveness”2. The main focus they emphasize is on organizations and their
improvement. The orientation which they underlined refers to action, which implies the
achievement of “desired results as a result of planned activities” 3.
OD is based on several assumptions4, which are significant in our research as well:
1.“Most individuals are driven by the need for personal growth and development as
long as their environment is both supportive and challenging”. Young people who are
engaged in the volunteering participation in youth organizations basically seek for their
personal growth as well. We will consider this point further in details.
2.“The work team, especially at the informal level, has great significance for
feelings of satisfaction and the dynamics of such teams have a powerful effect on the
behavior of their members”. The atmosphere in youth organizations depends on mostly
informal communication among members since they do not have specific divisional
organizational structure. One of the key factors which influence the behavior of young
people in these organizations is the fact that interpersonal relationships are considered to
be one of the retaining elements in their work.
3.“OD programs aimed to improve the quality of working life of all members of the
organization”. Inherently, the superiors (managers) of the organizations in both cases of
my research are willing either to change or to maintain working conditions for young
people. One of the principal challenges which they encounter is either absenteeism or
turnover of the organization members.
2
Organizational Development: Behavior Science Interventions for Organizational Improvement,
Wendell L. French, Cecil H. Bell, 6th edition, Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice-Hall, 1999
3
Same
A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, Michael Armstrong, 10th edition, Kogan Page
Limited, London and Philadelphia, 2006
4
7
4.“Organizations can be more effective if they learn to diagnose their own strengths
and weaknesses”. In fact not every person is able to consider their actions without fear or
favor. One of the significant points in doing any kind of work is to discern things which
can be done better and more effectively. In case of youth organizations it is highly
important to say that young people control organizational environment themselves. By
that I mean they have a huge challenge in objective evaluation of their job and
performance since they are themselves still in the process of human development. It is
too difficult for them to analyze their actions from outside since they only just start
learning how things should be done.
5.“Managers often do not know what is wrong and need special help in diagnosing
problems”. This assumption can be considered as a consequence from the previous one.
Since this research is based on the request of the Presidium of the Youth council in
Kirovsky district of Saint-Petersburg, it has to be mentioned that this is an applied
research with the aim of implementing researcher’s recommendations into practice.
Generally, all approaches which are connected with the changes of organizations in general
and of people in particular, include assumptions regarding human beings nature. It can be
expressed either explicitly or implicitly. In other words, we are talking about how people’s
behavior can be explained, then changed and then developed. Humanistic psychology (Maslow,
Rogers), for instance, “calls attention to people’s subjective experiences and the values,
intentions, and perceptions that guide their choices about how to behave and interact with the
environment”5. The main principle of this approach is that people are naturally self-determined,
creative, and have an extraordinary capacity for their psychological growth.
Same with young people who are traditionally considered to be well prepared to “adjust,
work hard, learn a lot and do their utmost if they have a feeling of being accepted, appreciated
and treated as equals with a specific individuality which is respected”6. Young generation
constitutes a tremendous challenge that demands comprehensive and innovative workplace
learning initiatives, which involve extensive range of possibilities for them. Furthermore, another
core principle of humanistic approach is that human beings are not only obsessed with the idea
Dynamics of organizational change and learning, Jaap J. Boonstra, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, England,
2004
5
The fundamentals of workplace learning: Understanding how people learn in working life, Knud Illeris,
Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, New York, 2011
6
8
of achieving things they do not have. They also are highly motivated to seize the opportunities in
experiencing something new along with getting to the top by achieving their full human
potential. However, as Douglas McGregor said, “A satisfied need is not a motivator for
behavior”7. Likewise not necessarily all the people whose lower-level needs are satisfied, are
willing to make the grade by satisfying higher level needs.
Therefore, the fundamental issue emerges: how to consolidate individuals’ and
organization’s interests and needs in the same direction? Basically, the answer for this question
lies in understanding of organizations that they need to enable their members acquire
psychological maturity. This is a necessary step in achievement of desired effective results for
the organization. OD believes that if organization provides its members with opportunity to
realize their human potential, it would lead to promotion of their psychological maturity.
Members of this organization might prefer to be self-controlling, to have long-term perspectives
regarding their activity and performance in this organization, to take responsibility in doing their
job. Therefore, we have to mention “Theory Y” which was developed by Douglas McGregor in
1960. It would seem that there has passed so much time and everything has already changed in
terms of organizational environment. However, I do believe that this theory captures the essence
of current cases in our point.
Organizational practices
Theory X and theory Y controversial styles of management
When Douglas McGregor firstly claimed that under proper conditions, boundless resources
of human creative energy could become real and accessible for mangers within particular
organizational setting, nobody believed that it could be possible. He was sure that this new
knowledge and theoretical conception will require years of both exploration and practical
implementation. Industrial management, in his opinion, was not aware of methodology for
applying this knowledge to the process of human efforts organization in different companies, no
matter what area of activity they have. Oxford leadership journal named book “The Human Side
of Enterprise” by Douglas McGregor as the most influential in management literature8 . With its
simple but powerful observation which McGregor has done this book expresses two deep and
competing theoretical assumptions about nature of human beings in terms of managerial world.
7
The Human Side of Enterprise, Douglas McGregor, McGraw-Hill book company, USA, 1960
Theories X and Y, Revisited, Matthew Stewart, Oxford leadership journal: Shifting the trajectory of
civilization, Volume 1, Issue 3, June 2010
8
9
Ha assured that “conventional organization structures, managerial policies, practices, and
programs reflect several assumptions”9, which he formulated as a set of propositions and called
“Theory X”:
1.Management is responsible for organizing the elements of productive enterprise –
money, materials, equipment, and people – in the interest of economic ends.
2.With respect to people, this is a process of directing their efforts, motivating
them, controlling their actions, modifying their behavior to fit the needs of the
organization.
3.Without this active intervention by management, people would be passive – even
resistant – to organizational needs. They must therefore be persuaded, rewarded,
punished, controlled – their activities must be directed 10.
Moreover, these theoretical assumptions require additional beliefs, in McGregor’s opinion.
He pointed out that these beliefs are not that explicit, but rather implicit and widespread:
4.The average man is by nature indolent – he works as little as possible.
5.He lacks ambition, dislikes responsibility, and prefers to be led.
6.He is inherently self-centered, indifferent to organizational needs.
7.He is by nature resistant to change.
8.He is gullible, not very bright, the ready dupe of the charlatan and the
demagogue11.
Theory X implies that mostly all the people are lazy and self-centered; they prefer to be
told what to do and how to do it, they are resistant to change and are not ambitious at all.
However, Douglas McGregor was sure that inappropriate and disrespectful behavior of workers
is not a consequence of their human nature, but rather consequence of organization’s nature. He
claimed that the most significant problem consists in management philosophy and policy. And
9
The human side of enterprise, Douglas McGregor, Leadership and motivation, Essays of Douglas
McGregor, Volume 2, Number 1, Reflections, MIT Press, 1966
10
Same
11
Same
10
coming back to motivation and satisfaction of people’s needs, we would like to emphasize again
that if lower level needs of employees are satisfied it does not necessarily mean that they are
motivated to put any effort in their further behavior and actions. “This is a fact of profound
significance. It is a fact which is unrecognized in Theory X and is, therefore, ignored in the
conventional approach to the management of people. The man whose lower-level needs are
satisfied is not motivated to satisfy higher level needs”12. Unless organization, in particular –
managers, provides their workers with the opportunities to satisfy their higher level needs,
people will be abeyant and deprived. Consequently, they will be not willing to change their
behavior because of this deprivation.
On the contrary, theory Y implicates that human beings are rather active than passive in
terms of formation of their lives and external environment; they are willing to assume
responsibility. Moreover, in McGregor’s opinion, people should be managed as little as possible.
Management by direction and control will definitely fail, because these methods are meaningless
in a sense of motivating people to put their efforts towards the objectives of organization.
Therefore, he proposed other assumptions, which sound more adequate and decent for describing
human nature:
1.The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest.
The average human being does not inherently dislike work. Depending upon controllable
conditions, work may be a source of satisfaction (and will be voluntarily performed) or a
source of punishment (and will be avoided if possible).
2.External control and the threat of punishment are not the only means for bringing
about effort toward organizational objectives. Man will exercise self-direction and selfcontrol in the service of objectives to which he is committed.
3.Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their
achievement. The most significant of such rewards, e.g., the satisfaction of ego and selfactualization needs, can be direct products of effort directed toward organizational
objectives.
12
The Human Side of Enterprise, Douglas McGregor, McGraw-Hill book company, USA, 1960
11
4.The average human being learns, under proper conditions, not only to accept but
to seek responsibility. Avoidance of responsibility, lack of ambition, and emphasis on
security are generally consequences of experience, not inherent human characteristics.
5.The capacity to exercise a relatively high degree of imagination, ingenuity, and
creativity in the solution of organizational problems is widely, not narrowly, distributed
in the population.
6.Under the conditions of modern industrial life, the intellectual potentialities of the
average human being are only partly utilized 13.
These assumptions indicate that organization should focus on the creation of opportunities
for its members, identification of human potential, facilitation and guidance. Managers should
follow the idea of eliminating obstacles along with strengthening growth. They also should
provide their workers with straightaway adaptation and development opportunities. And the most
important belief which McGregor formulated in accordance with this theory is the fact that “the
limits of human collaboration in the organizational setting are not limits of human nature but of
management’s ingenuity in discovering how to realize the potential represented by its human
resources” 14. In other words, in the situation when employees are unwilling to take responsibility
and prefer being lazy, unimaginative and uncooperative, the causes lie in the methods of
managerial organization and control.
Generally, management with following theory X assumptions implies external control over
workers’ behavior, while management with following theory Y assumptions implies self-control
and ability to direct own behavior without pressure. Many management gurus discovered these
ideas; Peter Drucker was one of them. He could be called a “Y-man” 15, since he was the one who
started to promote his own version of this theory even before McGregor gave its name.
Furthermore, he was the one who distinguished these two types of managerial behavior as
“management by objectives” (theory Y) versus “management by control” (theory X).
13
The Human Side of Enterprise, Douglas McGregor, McGraw-Hill book company, USA, 1960
14
Same
Theories X and Y, Revisited, Matthew Stewart, Oxford leadership journal: Shifting the trajectory of
civilization, Volume 1, Issue 3, June 2010
15
12
Management by objectives
Peter Drucker believed that each member of the organization contributes something
different. The core idea of this contribution process is that all efforts should be oriented towards
one common goal. So, basically, performance in the organization requires that each worker does
their job directed towards the objectives of whole organization. Drucker claimed that
“organization, by its very nature, contains four powerful factors of misdirection:
• the specialized work of most managers;
• the hierarchical structure of management;
• the differences in vision and work and the resultant insulation of various levels of
management;
• and, finally, the compensation structure of the management group”16 .
In order to prevent these obstacles, there should be structured and coordinated management
by objectives in the organization. In the best possible way workers should be involved in the
whole process of goal-setting. Then they might fulfill their responsibilities headlong since these
goals could be common for both superiors and subordinates of the organization. In that case
when people are directed, controlled and manipulated, they are willing to find satisfaction for
their social, ego and self-fulfillment needs somewhere away from their job. The main principle
of management by objectives is to facilitate and assist workers in this satisfaction of needs
process. The best way for achieving it is, as I mentioned above, to provide employees with the
opportunity to participate in the whole discussion of goals and objectives in organization
process.
Another core idea which Drucker followed as well was his assumption that organizations
work best when there is decentralization and simplification of organizational structure. He made
no reckoning of command and control style of management. He claimed “the hierarchical
structure of management aggravates the danger”17. He felt certain about consequences of
hierarchy in organizations which can lead to low productivity, poor performance, human proc,
and, finally, deprivation of confidence in the whole management system of organization.
16
Management – Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices, Peter F. Drucker, Truman Talley books, New York,
1986
17
Same
13
Organizational types and structures
Douglas McGregor was also sure that managers should give their workers a degree of
freedom in order to navigate and follow their own activities. This decentralization and
delegation, in his opinion,
might lead to employees’
own wish to take the
responsibilities, and, as a
consequence, to satisfy their
personal needs.
18
Pyramid of command-control structures is quite old-fashioned method for organizational
structure. It seeks to control members of the organization and to arrange hierarchical structure of
authorities. Furthermore, the prevailing features of such organizations are centralized decisionmaking processes, formal rules and systems, conventional and routine tasks for its members.
Even though it is considered to be effective to coordinate the members of organization through
usage of this type of structure, in my sincere opinion, it is not efficient for youth organizations to
be structured as a pyramid of command-control. Management in such organizations cannot
follow the ideas of direction and control; therefore, managers cannot treat their volunteers as
immature adults even though their workers are predominantly young people. Moreover, pyramid
structures include beliefs regarding human relationships, which are expected to concentrate on
18
Electronic resource – http://2bcreative.org/?page_id=507
14
the goals and objectives of the organization first. These relationships must be formal, logical and
deliberate. Apparently, it is not possible to have this kind of relationships among young people in
such volunteering organizations.
Remarkably, it is forbidden for workers to emote and have informal relations with other
members. According to Douglas McGregor, all these assumptions result in low level of
interpersonal competence 19. However, I do believe that this is considered to be the most
indispensable skill for young people in their age, and it is unfairly to deprive such opportunity
for acquiring this skill from them. Moreover, in McGregor’s opinion, “this reduces information
sharing, risk taking, and trust among members” 20. Consequently, it can lead to interpersonal
conflicts and inability to solve emerged problems in the organization. Knowledge and
information sharing are extremely important processes in any organization, especially in youth
organizations since their members are young, creative, and imaginative human beings.
For this reason it is more productive and beneficial to have a sphere paradigm in such
organizations. Organizational development has focus on assistance organizations in creating an
enabling environment and necessary conditions for encouragement of employees’ interpersonal
competence along with their psychological maturity. Therefore, it contributes to effectiveness of
organization, which is the primary objective of managers’ job. As Jaap J. Boonstra claims, “OD
strongly values human development, democratic principles, and open inquiry. It seeks to develop
organizations that encourage an open, problem-solving climate, trust, collaboration, and
teamwork among members, and opportunities for members’ self-control”21. Hence, the superiors
in youth organizations should bear in mind the idea of sphere paradigm structure as it provides
them with both distributed control over members and open platform for youngsters’ free minds.
There are many different types of organization, but all of them are willing to achieve their
objectives quickly and effectively. Youth organizations should be rather informal since they are
flexibly structured. They can be more spontaneous and creative in terms of problem solving
processes. Moreover, they should have less specified relationships. As for power, it should be
decentralized and all the core members of these organizations should firstly agree a policy before
19
The Human Side of Enterprise, Douglas McGregor, McGraw-Hill book company, USA, 1960
20
Same
Dynamics of organizational change and learning, Jaap J. Boonstra, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, England,
2004
21
15
it is accepted. If the superiors of youth organizations follow these ideas, it can result in
effectiveness and efficiency of organization performance.
Organizational development has several interventions which contribute to these ideas as
well22:
1.Human process – team building, encouragement of interpersonal competence,
and conflict resolution. It is highly important to pay attention to this social aspect of
organizational processes in youth organizations since all the members are firstly willing
to communicate and be actively engaged in the society development.
2.Techno-structural – employees’ self-control, job enrichment, involvement to
decision-making process. All decisions made in the organization should be rational and
logical; both advantages and disadvantages of the outcomes must be taken into account
while decision making processes. When a lot of members of the organization make a
decision together, the chances for objectivity and rationality are growing.
3.HR management – career and potential development. One of the key objectives
of the superiors of youth organizations is to provide its members with the opportunity to
achieve their potential, as I mentioned before. By encouraging youth development, social
integration, and personal growth, the superiors take a significant step in the development
of their organization itself.
4.Strategic – organizational learning, flexibility promotion, innovation,
organizational culture change. With a help of certain strategy which youth organizations
should develop they will be able to change themselves by introducing new managerial
values and advancing members’ psychological maturity along with interpersonal
competence.
Organizational development, in general, has its major aim to increase employees’
commitment and to encourage effective teamwork. In fact, this approach is used in any
organization which is concerned with the transformation of organizational structure. It has to be
mentioned that basic principle which underpins OD is the evolvement of organization. And it
also can include diverse activities which are related to organization’s advancement. With regard
22
Same
16
to question of structural change I have to say that with the usage of only this method for
improvement and achievement desired result, there is no guarantee that it will ensure
organization’s survival and prosperity. It is extremely important to emphasize that apart from this
method there are several other activities which seek to make the organization more effective. As
one of the handbooks for organizational studies asserts, there are such typical activities for
organizational development:
▪
Introducing new structures or processes;
▪
Working with teams to accelerate their development;
▪
Improving cross-department relationships;
▪
Embarking upon change management programs;
▪
Improving learning opportunities for individuals and teams23.
The principle of Integration
Returning to the core subject of theory Y it has to be noted that central principle which this
theory transpires, refers to integration process, which means “the creation of conditions such that
the members of the organization can achieve their own goals best by directing their efforts
toward the success of the enterprise”24. Generally, it implies that people working for the same
organization should recognize both individual’s and organization’s needs. And what is more
important – the fact that according to assumptions of theory Y, organization will perish unless
integration is achieved there.
As might be expected, integration implies that people are working together so that their
organization succeeds and they all have a possibility to share the resultant reward. However, it
seems incomprehensible that employees, while satisfying their own needs and aspiring their own
aims, would complete the organization’s goals. The principal idea which lies in this supposition
indicates management’s implicit assumption about adjusting of all workers to the requirements
of organization they work in. Moreover, in McGregor’s opinion, “this can lead to anarchy, chaos,
23
Understanding organizations: Part 1, Tony Greener, Tony Greener & Ventus Publishing ApS, 2010
24
The Human Side of Enterprise, Douglas McGregor, McGraw-Hill book company, USA, 1960
17
irreconcilable conflicts of self-interest, lack of responsibility, inability to make decisions, and
failure to carry out those that were made” 25.
In order to prevent all these consequences, organization’s managers should create such
conditions that all the members of this organization will conceive the fact that if they guide their
efforts in the direction of the success of their organization, they will be able to achieve their own
goals. This is the principal question which all managers or superiors of the organization should
find the solution to. In case of youth organizations this is especially important since the
achievement of organizational objectives depends on the commitment of young people to those
objectives. If the superiors of these organizations create such necessary conditions, their
volunteers will be able to exercise self-control while working and discharging their duties.
Thereby, Douglas McGregor emphasized the significance of workers’ higher-level needs
satisfaction since this can lead to the improvement of managerial capacity. In this motivationneed satisfaction assumption he referred to Maslow hierarchical pyramid of needs, which is
considered to be the most famous and influential in terms of applying it into practice. He
proposed that there are five basic categories of human needs which we can apply to everybody
while investigating people’s behavior. Basically, his assumptions regarding these categories are
formulated as follows:
1.The first level of hierarchical pyramid concerns physiological needs, which are
the needs for oxygen, water, food and sex.
2.The second level – safety needs, which are the needs for protection against
danger and the deprivation of physiological needs.
3.Next level – social needs, which are the needs for love, affection and acceptance
as belonging to a group.
4.The forth level – esteem needs: the need to have a stable, firmly based, high
evaluation of oneself (self-esteem) and to have the respect of others (prestige).
25
Same
18
5.And the last level – self-fulfillment need, which is the need to develop
potentialities and skills, to become the best one is capable of becoming 26.
In his need theory of
motivation, Maslow claims
that
when a need from lower level
i
satisfied, the turn comes to
s
higher level need, and
individual starts to pay
attention on this need. As I
mentioned before, in Maslow’s
opinion, an unsatisfied need
becomes dominant and can
m o t i v a t e h i s b e h a v i o r.
Likewise, young people who
are
working as volunteers for these
youth organizations are willing to satisfy their social, esteem and self-fulfillment needs.
Moreover, according to Abraham Maslow, these higher-level needs gain strength whenever they
are satisfied. However, he emphasizes the significance of job that people do: if tasks are routine
or deskilled, it does not necessarily mean that people will satisfy their needs while doing this job.
Robert Kreitner also highlights the importance of job characteristics as one of key elements
in explaining employee behavior. He feels certain about five aspects which underlie prevailing
theories of human motivation: instincts, needs, rewards, cognitions, and job characteristics.
Kreitner believes that “an instinct represents an inherited or innate predisposition to behavior in a
certain way” 27. In other words, theories which hang upon instincts explain human behavior with
regard to unconscious motives. Needs are quite intelligible aspect, they basically have reference
to goal-directed behavior. While rewards relate to consequences arising from their behavior,
26
A handbook of human resource management practice, Michael Armstrong, 10th edition, Kogan Page
Limited, USA, 2006
27
Organizational behavior, Robert J. Kreitner, Angelo J. Kinicki, Library of congress, USA, 1989
19
mental cognitions are considered to be a function for this behavior. Therefore, “human behavior
is viewed as the result of rational and conscious choices among alternative courses of action”28.
Moreover, Robert Kreitner depicted the subject of motivation as a puzzle. It illustrates
alternative interpretations (five key aspects of motivation theories) which are composed as a
psychological puzzle. Mangers/leaders in the organization can learn very significant lessons
about workers’ motivation from each inherent piece of puzzle. Their main objective here is to
choose such motivational techniques which will be best suited to workers of this organization
and situation which is happening.
29
Similarly youth organizations leaders have to acknowledge this psychological puzzle since
each piece of it is of great importance for their work. Thus, instincts are related to young people
aggression, which is uncontrolled and unconscious aspect of their behavior in such age. Needs
are highly relevant for these cases as well since being young people the individuals
predominantly have their main objective to direct their behavior in a certain way in order to
achieve beneficial results which can influence their future. Certainly, they are willing to have
worthwhile rewards which will result in favorable consequences which, in turn, will again have
28
Same
29
Same
20
an important impact on their future career or life perspectives. Mental cognitions are also
supposed to be a focus of youth organization leaders because the members of such organizations
are in the process of formation of their moral values, strongly-held beliefs, and life expectations.
And, finally, job characteristics are essential aspect to consider as well for the sale of challenging
tasks which are very indispensable for young people. The reason for that lies in the assumption
that “young members of our society cannot stand routine work: they hate slow and dull
processes”30. They do prefer being active and fulfilling daunting tasks along with resolving
tricky situations.
One of the most important aspects which we should pay attention to is the age of workers.
In our case these are young people who have special needs which are characteristic for their age.
We have to bear in mind the fact that needs change among people with time and age. As youth
grow older, the need for knowledge, understanding and self-actualization appears. It becomes a
more valid motivator for their behavior since they are willing to find themselves and their place
in the world. Therefore, all people are different, and it is highly important to remember that what
motivates one person may not work for another. In any case, each manager has to start his
managerial approach with relying on this framework, meanwhile developing individual plans
regarding workers in this organization.
Work motivation and satisfaction
Coming to the key research question of this paper, it has to be mentioned that all the
organizations regardless of its type, form and activities they do, are concerned with the
performance of their workers and what should be done in order to maintain or improve the level
of their performance. Basically it leads to the idea of motivating people through different factors
which are relevant for each individual in the organization. They can differ from person to person:
someone can be motivated through rewards or fair leadership, while another person can be
motivated only through work he does, in particular, the responsibilities he has or job
characteristics he performs. The fundamental objective of each manager or leader in the
organization is to develop convenient motivation processes and create a pleasant work
environment that will assist him in assurance that all the workers achieve desired results in
accordance with their expectations of organizational and personnel management.
The fundamentals of workplace learning: Understanding how people learn in working life, Knud
Illeris, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, New York, 2011
30
21
Fundamentally motivation theories imply the consideration of motivation processes. In
other words, these theories are able to explain why people in the organization behave in a certain
way. It means that motivation theories account for individuals’ behavior in accordance with
efforts they make and actions they perform. Moreover, they describe necessary steps for
organizations which they can take in order to encourage their workers to integrate their own
needs with the organization’s goals and objectives. And, finally, it is concerned with such a thing
as job satisfaction. It implies specifically driving forces which contribute to this state of job
satisfaction along with its impact on their performance in organization’s activities. All these
aspects are truly important for organizational effectiveness. If manager or leader of the
organization bears in mind these ideas and deals with all these questions, his organization will
succeed both in brilliant performance and internal environment.
The definition of work motivation
First of all, the principal question arises: what is motivation? Let’s start with the definition
of this concept. It is commonly known that a motive is considered to be the reason for doing
something. Therefore, motivation is associated with the influential factors which have an impact
on individuals’ behavior in a certain way. This is quite comprehensible definitions, which do not
require an academic verification. However, I decided to appeal to some dictionary explanations.
For instance, according to Encarta dictionary, to motivate means “give somebody incentive” or
“make somebody willing”31. So, basically, this is a leading objective of each manager. He is
supposed to aspire to achieve the best from each worker in the organization. More importantly,
he’s got to motivate different members in diverse ways, whereas motivating all of them as a
whole group. Youth organizations, in this regard, do not differ from any other organization. They
also require building of a pleasant and satisfying work environment which should be established
with a spirit of trust, mutual effort and cooperation between the core team (or chairpersons) and
other members of the organization (activists).
It is important to note that there are three components of motivation process which were
listed by Arnold and Robertson in their book “Work psychology”:
31
▪
Direction – what a person is trying to do;
▪
Effort – how hard a person is trying;
Management basics, Susan Quinn, 1st edition, free eBooks bookboon.com, 2010
22
▪
Persistence – how long a person keeps on trying 32.
In other words, motivation can be described as a process of making a sustained effort based
on individual’s goal-directed behavior. For the most part, people are highly motivated when they
expect something in return. In short it means that after a course of actions they do it is likely to
attain a goal or receive a valued reward – anything that can satisfy their needs. It is truly difficult
for managers to understand psychological processes which motivation represents. Terence R.
Mitchell, professor of management in Foster School of business (university of Washington),
defined motivation as “those psychological processes that cause the arousal, direction, and
persistence of voluntary actions that are goal directed”33. As soon as managers understand these
psychological processes of their workers, they will be able to successfully guide their employees
towards achieving organizational objectives.
The
of
emergence
motivation
It is also
necessary to
understand
how
motivation
i
s
initiated and
t
o
define key
stages in the
strengthening of the motivation process. Michael Armstrong is convinced that “motivation can
be initiated by conscious or unconscious recognition of unsatisfied needs”34 . These needs, in
turn, create wants and wishes, which are aimed to achieve some result. Then individual establish
a goal which he believes will satisfy these emerged needs. Thereafter he chooses a certain
behavior pathway which is supposed to assist him in reaching this goal. And, finally, if this goal
is reached, the need which was emerged at the first stage of this process will be satisfied.
32
Work Psychology, Arnold J, Robertson I T and Cooper C L, Pitman, London, 1991
Motivation: New Direction for Theory, Research, and Practice, Terence R. Mitchell, Academy of
management review, Vol. 7, 1982
33
A handbook of human resource management practice, Michael Armstrong, 10th edition, Kogan Page
Limited, USA, 2006
34
23
Michael Armstrong draws a plain scheme of a needs-related model, which shows these four key
stages of a motivation process:
35
Interestingly, that in the subsequent this person will repeat such behavior since it is likely
to satisfy similar need again next time. Clark Leonard Hull named this process of repeating
successful behavior as “reinforcement” or the law of effect36. He claimed that individuals’ habits
are associations between stimulus and response. His explanation of reinforcement system implies
that in learning processes the habits of person are originally formed by reinforcing certain
behavior. To put it another way, he argued that the satisfaction of emerged needs helps individual
to form habits from performed behavior.
Types of motivation
Motivation at workplace can occur in two ways: individuals can be motivated by
themselves or by management. In the first case they are motivated through carrying out their
work which further satisfies their needs or at least which can make an expectation about
achievement of their goals. In the second case people at work are motivated through such
managerial methods as payment, praise, acknowledgement, promotion, etc. Therefore, Frederick
Herzberg identified two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic:
• Intrinsic motivation – the self-generated factors that influence people to behave in
a particular way or to move in a particular direction. These factors include responsibility
(feeling that the work is important and having control over one’s own resources),
35
Same
36
Essentials of Behavior, Hull C, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 1951
24
autonomy (freedom to act), scope to use and develop skills and abilities, interesting and
challenging work and opportunities for advancement.
• Extrinsic motivation – what is done to or for people to motivate them. This
includes rewards, such as increased pay, praise, or promotion, and punishments, such as
disciplinary action, withholding pay, or criticism 37.
It is extremely important to understand that intrinsic motivation is the one which arises
from sources inside the individual, whereas extrinsic motivation comes from the outside
environment. Every manager/leader should be conscious of the notional assumptions regarding
subsequent effects of these types of motivation. These assumptions imply that extrinsic
motivators have an immediate and forceful effect, though it does not necessarily mean that it will
last long; while intrinsic motivators are likely to have a long-lasting effect since they are deeprooted inside the individual and are not dictated from the outside.
As one of management handbooks describes, “someone is being intrinsically motivated if
they derive their satisfaction from the knowledge of a job well done or from the challenge of a
job. An extrinsically motivated person is one who wants something given to them as a reward”38 .
The author emphasizes that it would not necessarily mean that individuals who have intrinsic
motivators would not also seek for a reward. It just means that in a situation when a reward is the
only one thing which they get as a result, they will not be motivated through this extrinsic
motivator since the major source for them still remains intrinsic. The principal objective of each
manager here is to realize which type of motivator keeps his worker being highly motivated.
Furthermore, he should be acknowledged of these employees’ needs while establishing
motivational methods. Likewise, youth organization managers should bear in mind these ideas
and predominantly follow the intrinsically motivational assumptions since their members cannot
receive a material reward in accordance with type of their organization. However, they should
also remember that extrinsic motivators can be not only tangible (money, e.g.), but also
psychological (praise e.g.). Therefore, another core objective of youth organization managers/
leaders is to pay close attention to appreciation and recognition of their members’ work.
37
The Motivation to Work, Herzberg Frederick with research colleagues Mausner Bernard and
Snyderman Barbara, Wiley, New York, 1959
38
Management basics, Susan Quinn, 1st edition, free eBooks bookboon.com, 2010
25
Work motivation continues to be a dominant topic in organizational behavior science since
it is considered to have an influence on individuals’ actions in the organization. Arndt Sorge
distinguishes two groups of factors for employees’ behavior: hard and soft factors39.
Hard
factors include hardware, costs and benefits, while soft factors imply exactly motivation and
satisfaction of workers. And the most challengeable aspect here is that these soft factors can
hardly be measured objectively. Therefore, it has to be noticed that motivation is considered to
be the most significant and complicated challenge for every manager. And organization as a
whole system is supposed to provide its members with high levels of their motivation by
incentives and rewards practices, satisfying work environment, and, more importantly,
opportunities for workers’ learning and growth. Furthermore, this challenge leads to manager’s
both frustration and determination, which has to be solved as quickly as possible since it has
influence on the effectiveness of all organization.
For one last important point regarding motivation as a process, it has to be mentioned that
it is considered to be only one factor in the performance equation of employee. Generally,
motivation and performance are believed to be same things. However, the researchers of
organizational behavior studies argue that this is a faulty assumption. John P. Campbell and
Robert D. Pritchard introduced a formula for proper perception and comprehension of
performance equation:
“Performance = f (aptitude level * skill level * understanding of the task * choice to
expend effort * choice of degree of effort to expend * choice to persist * facilitating and
inhibiting conditions not under the individual’s control”40.
In this way, it has to be mentioned that they expanded well-known formula which
expresses performance in industrial and organizational psychology as follows: performance = f
(ability * motivation). The authors stated that motivation should be taken as a summary label
which determines a group of independent/dependent variables relationships. In their opinion,
performance “is not synonymous with effort, ability, or combination of the two”41. Therefore,
39
The IEBM Handbook of Organizational behavior, Arndt Sorge & Malcolm Warner, Thomson Learning
Berkshire House, London, UK, 2001
40
Motivation Theory in Industrial and Organizational Psychology (chapter 3 in Handbook of Industrial
and Organizational psychology edited Marvin D. Dunnette), John P. Campbell, Robert D. Pritchard,
Rand McNally College Publishing company, Chicago, 1976
41
Same
26
they labeled a group of determinants as a motivation => motivation – choice to expend effort +
choice of degree of effort to expend + choice to persist. Hence, this set of independent/dependent
variables relationships labeled as a motivation can explain the direction and perseverance of
individual’s behavior. Consequently, a simplified form of performance equation can be
performed as follows:
Performance = f (aptitude level * skill level * understanding of the task * motivation *
facilitating and inhibiting conditions not under the individual’s control).
Work motivation theories
Work motivation theories were categorized into two groups, which are content and process
oriented types of theories 42. The first group of theories involves assumptions regarding human
needs and motives, primarily, extrinsic or intrinsic motivational factors which are responsible for
of work feedback. While second group of motivation theories deals with variables which
postulate that individuals’ actions are determined by their cognitive choices. This paper relies on
several motivation theories, which were taken from both groups in order to fully develop the
issue being studied.
Organizational development draws on three psychological theories which can help
organizations to improve its motivation aspects and workers’ contribution, performance and
satisfaction. These theories are43:
1.Motivation-need theory;
2.Job characteristic model;
3.Expectancy theory.
These theories explain motivation in the sense of peoples’ psychological states, values, and
expectations. Furthermore, they provide managers/leaders of organizations with the awareness of
employees’ differences as individuals and diverse organizational circumstances which
motivation or do not motivate workers’ behavior.
Motivation-need theory
The IEBM Handbook of Organizational behavior, Arndt Sorge & Malcolm Warner, Thomson Learning
Berkshire House, London, UK, 2001
42
Dynamics of organizational change and learning, Jaap J. Boonstra, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, England,
2004
43
27
I defined this theory earlier in this paper. Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy used widely in
organizational development. The principal explanation for that lies in its humanistic origins and
ease of understanding for organization managers and other members. The core idea which this
theory emphasizes provides managers with full range of needs which can motivate their workers.
As I mentioned before, the most significant needs in youth organizations are higher level needs,
such as social, esteem and self-actualization. With assistance of assumptions of this theory
manager is able to consider more alternatives for enhanced motivation since traditional
incentives such as money and security of job are not appropriate for this type of organizations.
Therefore, it has led to a huge variety of OD interventions which have its aim to satisfy workers’
higher-level needs “including job enrichment, self-managed teams, employee involvement, and
career development” 44.
Job characteristics model
It was developed by Hackman and Oldham. The main focus of this theory is the job that
workers perform while working. I have already mentioned briefly what it means, though I have
to add more specific information regarding this theory and its relevance to the cases of this study.
The core idea of this theory lies in the assumption that jobs that people do affect their motivation
through three psychological states, which are meaningfulness of their work, responsibility for
their woks, and knowledge about results of their activities. Hackman and Oldham claimed that
“the more jobs are designed to enhance three states, the more motivating they will be, especially
for people with strong growth needs”45. They drew a pretty simple and comprehensible scheme,
which shows the connection between specific job characteristics, then these three psychological
states, and then possible job outcomes:
44
Same
Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory, Hackman J. R., Oldham G. R.,
Organizational behavior and human performance, 1976
45
28
46
The task itself, as I emphasized before, is considered to be the key to workers’ motivation.
Thus, a boring and routine job prevents worker’s motivation and worker himself to perform well,
while a challenging and entertaining job conversely enhances motivation. Thereby, as one of
organizational behavior books states, there are three significant ingredients of a more challenging
job: “variety, autonomy, and decision authority”. 47 Moreover, the author of this book claims that
“two popular ways of adding variety and challenge to routine jobs are job enrichment (or job
redesign) and job rotation”48 . Consequently, if manager of the organization follows these ideas
while motivating employees, he probably can expect high quality of their work performance.
Therefore, core job dimensions have to be explained more precisely. I will start with first
three dimensions, which are skill variety, task identity, and task significance. Skill variety
basically implies the range of tasks performed by individual. It is highly important to say that
there should be an appropriate variety of personal skills and talents used – it does not have to be
overwhelming but at the same time it shouldn’t be insufficient. Young people working as
volunteers for youth organizations develop their personal skills and find a use for their hidden
talents. As for task identity, it generally means that person should be able to complete the task
from the beginning up to the end. Hence the outcome of this accomplished work will enable
more pride for the person. This is a truly important thing for young people since having learned
this competence they will be able to enter the labor market as competitive persons. Task
significance expresses an ability to determine task as the one which is leading to something
46
Same
47
Organizational behavior, Robert J. Kreitner, Angelo J. Kinicki, Library of congress, USA, 1989
48
Same
29
wider and beyond oneself. In other words, it is about recognition of the impact on other people.
In youth organizations work it is also very important aspect to learn because these organizations
deal with public outreach and vulnerable people. So, we can say that this is the very foundation
of these types of organizations. Together these three dimensions contribute to individual’s
meaningfulness of the work. Consequently, there is a direct relationship which means that the
higher all these three dimensions are the more meaningful and valuable work will be for
individual.
The fourth dimension is autonomy which is related to a degree of employee’s freedom and
his ability to be independent worker. While having this autonomy employee can schedule his
work to some extent and choose necessary procedures which are suitable for his style of work. It
has to be noted that the higher this dimension is the more responsible employee will feel for the
result of his work. I sincerely believe that autonomy dimension is extremely valuable for young
people since they work in voluntary organizations which have flexible work time. Being engaged
in many other activities (education – school/university, side jobs, etc.), young people are not
supposed to work under pressure from their core team/chairpersons. Therefore, they value
freedom and opportunity for being responsible for what they are doing. And the fifth dimension
is feedback, which leads to knowledge of results. This dimension expresses the amount of
information which is provided to employee regarding effectiveness of his work performance.
Thus, employee will be able to recognize and appreciate efforts which he made. It is also very
important for the members of youth organizations due to the fact that they do not have any other
rewards except for words of esteem and appreciation. They cannot receive money for their active
participation in organization’s work, though they can be thanked and praised properly.
Hackman and Oldham argued that as a result of giving to employees the opportunity to feel
these positive psychological states, managers/leaders of the organization can expect effective
outcomes which will be satisfying for both individual and organization: “high internal work
motivation, high quality work performance, high satisfaction with work, low absenteeism and
turnover”49. The core idea which this model performs is to determine motivational potential of
specific jobs and then redesign ones which have to be renovated.
Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory, Hackman J. R., Oldham G. R.,
Organizational behavior and human performance, 1976
49
30
Job enrichment represents an organizational intervention which can be created for the
purpose of jobs reconstruction with the intention of having challenging, motivating and more
satisfying work for the individuals. The principal idea of job enrichment is to enhance both
worker’s performance and satisfaction of doing his job. Hackman and Oldham believed that it
could be done by providing employees with the opportunity for their achievement, growth and
recognition. These theoretical assumptions resemble the core idea of Douglas McGregor’s
principle of Integration. This principle means that if managers follow these ideas of individuals’
growth and satisfaction of their own needs, the organization will succeed and have effective
results of this cooperative work.
Job redesign
It should be mentioned that job enrichment is considered to be one of motivation strategies
regarding redesigning job processes. Human resource management handbook suggests several
redesign attempts which can be done in the organization in order to enhance motivation of
employees50:
•
Job enlargement which means an increase of task diversity for employee;
•
Job rotation which indicates practice of assignment diverse tasks to different
people. Therefore, it can lead to reemergence of individual’s interest and eagerness
to contribute more in his work.
•
Job enrichment which implies almost the same as previous ones but with the
presence of responsibility and autonomy for employee.
Redesigning jobs, in its turn, is believed to be one of motivation procedures for the
effectiveness of management practices in the organization. In addition to job redesign, there are
some other specific strategies for employees’ motivation development: empowerment, reward
system, and flexibility. “Empowerment occurs when individuals in an organization are given
autonomy, authority, trust, and encouragement to accomplish a task”51. As a matter of principle,
that is what job enrichment theoretical assumptions constitute. The main objective of
empowerment is also to give worker responsibility for his job. As for reward system, it should be
implemented in the organization as well since it is considered to demonstrate all workers that
50
Human Resource Management, Manmohan Joshi, 1st edition, free eBooks boookboon.com, 2013
51
Same
31
their organizational behavior is appropriate and, what’s more, it can be repeated on an ongoing
basis. It is highly important to enforce this system in youth organizations as well because its
elementary principle is that if a young volunteer feels that his work is valued and core team/
chairpersons appreciate his efforts, then his motivation would definitely increase. It also should
be mentioned that youth organizations managers/leaders cannot provide their members with pay
bonuses or some career promotions. However, they are able to do special assignments or say
verbal praise, for example. Flexibility does not suit youth organizations as a particular
motivation strategy since that type of organization has already flexible timetable for their
members. Nevertheless, it has to be mentioned that it is incredibly important to respect
volunteers’ time; and leaders of these organizations should not forget about their members’ other
needs and obligations, like family, school, and other activities.
Expectancy theory
This theory was developed by Victor H. Vroom. Generally, it defines motivation in the way
that people make their choices regarding how much effort they will spend on both
accomplishment of organizational functions and tasks and performance of their administrative
duties. This theory introduces the idea of certain expectations and beliefs which individuals bear
in mind concerning possible consequences and outcomes of their efforts. Therefore, the decisions
which people in the organization make about their work and operational efforts and intentions
are directly related to these expectations and beliefs. People, in Vroom’s opinion, “are likely to
exert high levels of effort when they believe that it will result in good performance, that good
performance will be rewarded, and that those rewards are personally valued”52. It is essential to
note that relations between these variables are multiplicative, which means that if one is low,
then the level of motivation will be low as well. Edward E. Lawler, the professor of management
organization in the University of Southern California, named these relations as a ‘line of sight’53 ,
which means that individuals must recognize the actual importance and opportunity to obtain
this reward. To put it another way it I have to point out that workers in the organization should
have a clear line of sight between what they do and what they will subsequently receive for it.
‘Line of sight’ concept was adapted from Lawler into comprehensible model by Michael
Armstrong as follows:
52
Work and motivation, Vroom Victor H., New York: Wiley, 1964
53
Pay for performance: making it work, Lawler Edward E, from Personnel Journal, October 1988
32
54
Expectancy theory falls under the category of process theories. The key emphasis is on
processes or forces which influence individual’s motivation. Process theories are considered to
be cognitive since they basically relate to employees’ perceptions of organizational and working
environment. Process theories, in general, explain how worker’s behavior is given a direction or
purpose through his interaction with environment. In comparison to content theories (Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs, Herzberg’s two-factor model, etc.), process theories are more complex and
dynamic55. Moreover, they provide managers with more realistic counseling regarding
motivation techniques.
Being interested in the fields of industrial and organizational psychology, Victor Vroom
was willing to find a particular theoretical structure which would be helpful for both researchers
and practitioners in these fields. Thus, he called this structure as expectance theory or VIE
(valence, instrumentality, expectancy) theory. As he emphasized, it helped him “to organize the
evidence on such problems as occupational choice, job satisfaction, and motivation for effective
work performance”56. This theory is based on the assumption that all human beings are rational,
purposeful and resolved to do something. You could say that people are certainly aware of their
goals, objectives and behavior.
Thereby, Vroom and his followers assume that people’s behavior emanates from conscious
and intentional choices from miscellaneous alternatives. The purpose of these choices is to
maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Vroom recognized the basis of employee’s performance,
which is, in his opinion, such individual factors as personality, abilities, skills, knowledge and
experience. He used several variables to explain it: expectancy, instrumentality and valence. It is
important to highlight the implications of these variables. So, valence means values;
instrumentality implies the belief about consequence of one thing after another; and expectancy
implies feasibility of result and outcomes derived from efforts which were made.
54
A handbook of human resource management practice, Michael Armstrong, 10th edition, Kogan Page
Limited, USA, 2006
55
Organizational behavior, Robert J. Kreitner, Angelo J. Kinicki, Library of congress, USA, 1989
56
Work and motivation, Vroom Victor H., New York: Wiley, 1964
33
The concept of expectancy with regard to organizational behavior was characterized by
Vroom as follows: “expectancy is defined as a momentary belief concerning the likelihood that a
particular act will be followed by a particular outcome”57. Furthermore, he described expectancy
in terms of its strength. He claimed that it can be represented by any number between 0 (which
means no chance) and 1 (which means certainty). The subjective certainty that individual act will
be followed by specific outcome indicates a maximal strength, while the subjective certainty that
this act will not be followed by specific outcome indicates a minimal (zero) strength. Moreover,
the strength of expectations might be established in accordance with past individual’s
experience, which is reinforcement (it was explained above in the paragraph “the emergence of
motivation”).
With regard to the case of my research it has to be noticed that expectancy means a lot for
young people since the only thing they have in their mind is that “if I work harder, this will be
definitely better”. They are focused on the achievement of better results, good future, and selfconfidence. It is crucial for them to have necessary supervisor support and accurate information
regarding job tasks. Instrumentality signifies a valued outcome which they expect to have as a
result of their voluntary work. In other words, you could say that they are convinced that if they
perform a good job, then something will be waiting for them in this job. The leaders of youth
organizations have to imbue their workers that there is a reward system which has, in turn, a
transparency of outcomes decision-making processes. Young people are supposed to understand
and believe that there actually is the relationship between their performance and possible
outcomes and paybacks. And, finally, valence stands for the significance of a valued outcome
for a certain person in the organization. For example, when a young person is primarily
motivated by his communication and contacts with other members of the organization, he might
not value such rewards as career perspective or more flexible participation. In other words, the
reward which he expects to have should be worthwhile for him, only then there will be a link
between directional effort and this reward.
In such a way, it has to be generalized that Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation is
rather about individuals’ associations towards expected work outcomes than about their selfinterest and focus on rewards for personal gain. Therefore, as ‘YourCoach’ team founders state,
employees in an organization will be motivated when they believe that:
57
Same
34
•
Putting in more effort will yield better job performance;
•
Better job performance will lead to organizational rewards, such as an increase in salary
or benefits;
•
These predicted organizational rewards are valued by the employee in question 58.
Thus, in order to improve performance-outcome relationships, youth organizations leaders
should apply such rewarding systems that best connect work outcomes of young people with
their active performance and participation in organization’s activities. Key features of these
systems should be honored and followed: young members of organizations have to firstly want
these rewards and, what’s also important, deserve them.
Work (job) satisfaction
Work satisfaction is considered to be the most outstanding result and outcome of work
motivation. This term refers to the attitudes, perceptions and feelings which people have
regarding their work. Hence, researchers distinguish two opposite concepts: job satisfaction,
which is a favorable attitude towards work performed, and job dissatisfaction which is an
unfavorable attitude towards work performed. Edwin A. Locke, an American psychologist, was
the one whose definition of ‘job satisfaction’ has been commonly and widely used in
organizational research. He claimed that “job satisfaction is a pleasurable or positive emotional
state resulting from the appraisal of one's job or job experiences”59. Moreover, he connected this
emotional state (job satisfaction) with the achievement of personal job values in work situation.
For the most part definitions of work (job) satisfaction are quite similar. However, there might be
difference in terms of conceptualization of what people perceive as ‘achievement of one’s job
values’.
Electronic resource – http://www.yourcoach.be/en/employee-motivation-theories/vroomexpectancy-motivation-theory.php (Belgian company which focuses on organizational trainings,
marketing and communication)
58
The nature and causes of job satisfaction in Dunnette, M. D. Handbook of Industrial and
Organizational Psychology, 1st edition, Locke Edwin A., Chicago, IL: Rand McNally, 1976
59
35
Job satisfaction was also defined as “an effective or emotional response toward various
facets of one’s job”60 in the organizational behavior handbook by Robert Kreitner. The author
also highlights that person while working in the organization can be relatively satisfied with one
aspect of his work and at the same time dissatisfied with one or more other aspects. Moreover, he
specified four prevailing models of job satisfaction:
1. Needs fulfillment which is concerned with the extent to which job characteristics allow
worker to fulfill his own needs.
2. Discrepancies which identify job satisfaction as a result of met expectations (what
worker expects to receive as an outcome of his job and what he actually receives).
3. Value attainment which affects individual’s perception regarding fulfillment of his
significant work values.
4. Equity which is about fairness treatment at work61.
It has to be noted that work satisfaction can be interpreted as a product or result of an
immediate interaction between individual and his work situation. A person can develop a certain
degree of his job satisfaction or dissatisfaction in accordance with the match between: his
expectations, needs and motives, on the one hand, and his work situation, on the other.
However, it is highly important to notice that organizational research has not established
any strongly positive connection between work satisfaction and worker’s performance. Many
researchers have expressed their views regarding these relationships. However, the nature of job
satisfaction and work performance relationships is not clear. From the textbook about
management and organizational behavior I discovered that “the level of job satisfaction may well
affect the strength of motivation but this is not always the case. The relationship between job
satisfaction and performance is an issue of continuing debate and controversy”62. The author of
this book assumes that satisfaction is not the same as motivation. And what’s more appealing is
the fact that same as motivation, work satisfaction can mean different things for different people
in the organization.
60
Organizational behavior, Robert J. Kreitner, Angelo J. Kinicki, Library of congress, USA, 1989
61
Same
Management and Organizational behavior, 9th edition, Laurie J. Mullins, Prentice Hall Financial
Times, England, 2010
62
36
Nevertheless, I would like to emphasize the significance of Frederick Herzberg’s theory
with regard to work satisfaction and work performance relationships. Although his two-factor
model has been criticized by academics a lot, it still remains to be influential and valuable for
organizational studies. An apparent reason for that is the fact that this theory is considered to be
based on real life evidence, and what’s more important, it corresponds with the well-respected
ideas of Abraham Maslow and Douglas McGregor in terms of its focus on the importance of
intrinsic motivators.
Two-factor model: motivators versus hygiene
Frederick Herzberg was an American organizational psychologist. His name has been one
of the most famous and powerful in business management and organizational studies up to now.
He proposed that there are certain factors in the organizational workplace which generate an
individual’s job satisfaction; he named them motivators. Meanwhile there are another sort of
factors which, on the contrary, generate an individual’s job dissatisfaction; he named them
hygiene factors. For the record, he used this medical terminology with meaning of “preventive
and environmental”63 sense. It is highly important to emphasize that he did not separate these
conditions of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Conversely, he assumed that they can exist and
act independently of one another. He developed a fundamental hypothesis which claimed that
satisfaction and dissatisfaction could not be measured on the same continuum 64.
As for motivation, Herzberg believed that it is a direct product of job satisfaction.
Therefore, the two-factor theory was proposed in order to realize what the main principles of
people’s attitudes towards their work are. Herzberg conducted a study in collaboration with his
colleagues Mausner and Snyderman. They interviewed in total 203 accountants and engineers.
The main objective of this interviewing was to define key factors which could be responsible for
workers’ job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. During interviews the researchers asked their
respondents to think and describe in details the situation in which they felt incredibly good
regarding their work. The next round of interviewing was developed further and during these
interviews respondents had to do the same but in the other way around – when they felt
especially bad.
A handbook of human resource management practice, Michael Armstrong, 10th edition, Kogan Page
Limited, USA, 2006
63
The Motivation to Work, Frederick Herzberg, Bernard Mausner, Barbara B. Snyderman, John Wiley &
Sons, New York, 1959
64
37
As a result, it was found that job satisfaction and ‘good conditions’ in the workplace are
associated mostly with personal achievement, responsibility, advancement, and recognition. It is
worth noting that these factors are related to the content of organizational tasks and work itself.
Frederick Herzberg named these factors as motivators since they are relevant primarily to
workers’ supreme efforts and also to their great performance. These motivators lead person to
change a state of no satisfaction to satisfaction. On the other hand, job dissatisfaction and ‘bad
conditions’ are frequently concerned with administration, company policy, and working
conditions. Consequently, they were labeled as hygiene factors which were related to the context
of the job, in other words, work environment. Further he assumed that these factors are not
motivational. Herzberg argued that in the best cases workers experience the state of no
satisfaction if they do not have any complaints regarding hygiene factors.
Thereby, for illustrative purposes Motivation-Hygiene attitude model was established by
David A. Whitsett and Erik K. Winslow and can be presented as follows65:
motivators
No Satisfaction ----------------------------------------------------! Satisfaction
hygiene
Dissatisfaction -----------------------------------------------------! No dissatisfaction
Repeatedly, it has to be emphasized that dissatisfaction and factors which contribute to
dissatisfaction are separate and distinct from factors which contribute to satisfaction. According
to the model presented above, the opposite of satisfaction is no satisfaction, while the opposite of
dissatisfaction is no dissatisfaction. It is noteworthy to say that the traditional perception of
satisfaction and dissatisfaction represents these states as simple opposites. These academic
researchers also highlighted that this theory was the first to account for analysis of the ‘good and
bad conditions’ through the individual’s need structure explanation66.
Frederick Herzberg also believed that there is a zero midpoint between the states of
dissatisfaction and satisfaction. He attributed this ambivalent condition to the situation in the
workplace when an individual has, for instance, good pay and working conditions, but at the
same time an unchallenging task. In such a way, this organizational member would have no
65
An Analysis of Studies Critical of the Motivator-Hygiene Theory, David A. Whitsett, Erik K. Winslow,
Personnel Psychology journal, 1967
66
Same
38
dissatisfaction (since there are good hygiene factors) and no satisfaction (since he lacks
motivation). It is extremely important to say that Herzberg, in that way, informed managers and
leaders of organizations that good payment and working conditions are not sufficient factors for
strong workers’ motivation. It takes “an enriched job that offers the individual opportunity for
achievement and recognition, stimulation, responsibility, and advancement”67.
In order to gain a better understanding of this zero midpoint condition Robert Kreitner
adapted Motivator-Hygiene attitude model and illustrated it with a full description of motivators
and hygiene factors as follows:
68
The very
67
The Motivation to Work, Frederick Herzberg, Bernard Mausner, Barbara B. Snyderman, John Wiley &
Sons, New York, 1959
68
Organizational behavior, Robert J. Kreitner, Angelo J. Kinicki, Library of congress, USA, 1989
39
significant conclusions of Herzberg’s research were formulated as follows: “the wants of
employees divide into two groups. One group revolves around the need to develop in one’s
occupation as a source of personal growth. The second group operates as an essential base to the
first and is associated with fair treatment in compensation, supervision, working conditions and
administrative practices”69 . He also claimed that since the second group of employees’ wants
does not motivate them to make an additional effort and perform extraordinarily, all that
managers can expect after satisfying this group of needs is the avoidance of their job
dissatisfaction. Eventually, it can be deduced that Herzberg’s two factor theory makes statements
about human nature: a man takes different actions in accordance with two important needs,
which are the need for growth and the need to avoid pain. Thus, this theory is indeed an
extension of Maslow’s ideas regarding people’s needs and its impact on their motivational
behavior.
Knowledge management and organizational learning
Knowledge nowadays becomes a very important resource of human growth and
development. It is not a strict secret that by knowing how we can use properly our knowledge we
will be stronger and more competitive even despite the changing environment. In this connection
I would like to talk about knowledge management, which is itself the process of capturing,
developing, sharing, and effectively using organizational knowledge. It has to be noted that a lot
of companies are interested in becoming learning organizations by implementing the practices of
organizational learning since they believe that this is an extremely valuable source of
competitive advantage. Academic researchers, in turn, have this interest in organizational
learning for the reason of verification theoretical basis of this aspect of organizational studies. As
Moingeon and Edmondson claimed: “in recent popular management literature, learning is
presented as a source of competitive advantage, but definitions and mechanisms involved in
achieving this advantage are not specified”70. In my sincere opinion, it is extremely important to
examine this aspect of organizational studies as well since it will help managers of youth
organizations to develop necessary steps which are required in terms of achievement of
organization’s effectiveness.
69
Same
Organizational Learning and Competitive Advantage, Moingeon B. and Edmondson A., SAGE, London,
1996
70
40
Certainly, there are no universal definitions for knowledge management and organizational
learning. From my point of view, one of the most comprehensible and proverbial definition of
organizational learning was developed by Fiol and Lyles: “organizational learning means the
process of improving actions through better knowledge and understanding”71. Organizational
learning is the process of creating, retaining, and transferring knowledge within an organization.
Organizational learning is the distinctive organizational behavior that is practiced in a learning
organization. As Denton John defined a learning organization, “an organization which has any
claim to be a learning organization must be able to generate new ideas, to propose new, untried
solutions to its problems and, in general, to be ‘creative’”72. In other words, organizational
learning is a process, a set of actions: organizational learning is something the organization does;
a learning organization is something the organization is. An organization learns successfully
when it is able to retain this knowledge and transfer it to, or spread it throughout, the various
divisions within an organization.
As for knowledge management, it basically refers to a multidisciplinary approach which
implies the achievement of organizational objectives best by benefiting from knowledge. By
organizational objectives people typically involve the improvement of organizational
performance, strengthening of competitive advantage, integration and innovation. In this regard,
it is important to highlight that knowledge management efforts which have its aim to achieve
organizational objectives described above, are overlapping with organizational learning. Ron
Sanchez claimed in his book ‘Strategic learning and knowledge management’ that knowledge
management is believed to be an enabler of organizational learning73.
It is extremely important to note that there are two main aspects of knowledge
management: information management and people management. It is clear enough with the
second term, but the first term should be defined more precisely. Information management is
mainly associated with the management of knowledge which is concerned with the objects under
control of information systems. Both these aspects of knowledge management represent two
critical concerns: “to make organizational knowledge more productive; and to produce benefits
71
Organizational learning, Fiol C. M. and Lyles M. A., Academy of Management Review 10(4), 1985
72
Organizational Learning and Effectiveness, Denton John, Routledge, New York, 1998
73
Strategic Learning and Knowledge Management, Sanchez R., Chichester: Wiley, 1996
41
that are significantly greater than those envisioned”74. Fundamentally, knowledge management
involves the recognition and outlining of intellectual resources within an organization. In short, it
implies the identification of who knows what in the organization.
One more valuable definition of knowledge management was formulated as follows:
“knowledge management is the conversion of tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge and
sharing it within the organization”75. Obviously, it has to be started with the explanation of what
tacit and explicit knowledge mean. First and foremost, I have to note that that process of
knowledge creation consists of these two types of knowledge, which are interconnected with
each other. The first one is ‘explicit knowledge’, which refers, as Michael Polanyi said, to
knowledge that is transmittable in formal, systematic language 76. While “‘tacitness’ is something
personal, an ability or skill to do something or to resolve a problem that is based, in part, on one's
own experiences and learning”77. In knowledge management studies academics refer the concept
of tacit knowledge to the one which cannot be completely codified. Thus, people can acquire it
without language. But they can do it through experience. It is well-known that without certain
form of mutual experience, people would face with difficulties in the exchange of each other’s
thinking processes.
Ikujiro Nonaka, a Japanese organizational theorist, is incredibly famous for his studies in
knowledge management. He took Polanyi’s work about ‘personal knowledge’ and extended it to
now known field of organizational knowledge. Thereby, he presented a new description of
knowledge in an organizational context. Thus, in his opinion, ‘tacit knowledge’ has a personal
quality, which makes it hard to formulize and communicate. “Tacit knowledge is deeply rooted
in action, commitment, and involvement in a specific context”78. Nonaka also claimed that
successful innovation derives from mobilization and conversion of tacit knowledge. Altogether,
knowledge management for him is about knowledge transfers between explicit and tacit,
between individual and collective.
74
Introduction to knowledge management, Filemon A. Uriarte Jr., ASEAN Foundation, Jakarta,
Indonesia, 2008
75
Introduction to knowledge management, Filemon A. Uriarte Jr., ASEAN Foundation, Jakarta,
Indonesia, 2008
76
Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy, Polanyi M., University of Chicago Press, 1958
77
Same
78
A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation, Ikujiro Nonaka, Organization science, 1994
42
In his work ‘The knowledge creating company’ he proposed a ‘SECI’ model which
describes four modes of knowledge conversion: socialization, externalization, combination, and
internalization: 79
Tacit knowledge is created from tacit knowledge when one person shares his own
knowledge with another person (socialization). The creation of explicit knowledge from explicit
knowledge happens when a person or an organization reconcile current explicit fragments of
information together and creates a new completed one (combination). The conversion of tacit
knowledge into explicit occurs through the articulation process when an individual is able to
effectively communicate and explicate his skills, this knowledge becomes explicit
(externalization). And, finally, the conversion of explicit knowledge into tacit occurs with a help
of individuals (internalization). By that I mean that people in the organization internalize some
fragment of explicit knowledge and share it among other members. Interestingly, that this
knowledge becomes a part of background information which is necessary for the job and, what’s
more appealing, it is usually taken for granted.
Six main antecedents of organizational learning
Organizational learning happens frequently within an organization and allows the
organization to stay
competitive in an everchanging environment. It is
a process of improvement
that can increase efficiency
and accuracy. Peter Senge
argued that organizations
must learn if they are
79
The Knowledge Creating Company, Nonaka I., Harvard Business Review, 1991
43
willing to succeed since he seemed to think that “old, bureaucratic command-and-control model
will not be good enough for the challenges ahead:
•
It will not be fast enough to meet the new product development time of foreign
competitors or to spot new market opportunities.
•
It will not be wise enough to deliver the high levels of service customers will
increasingly demand.
•
It will not be smart enough to manage a diverse workforce or to motivate its
smartest employees.” 80
It has to be mentioned that these three challenges correspond to six main antecedents
which were formulated by Denton John. He defined them as driving forces, which constitute an
organizational learning context where this process must be placed and further can be explored
effectively. It is highly important to say that these antecedents do not create learning
organizations; they just create a proper environment and contribute organizations to become
learning ones. Therefore, six main antecedents of organizational learning have been formulated
as follows:
1) The shift in the relative importance of the factors of production away from capital
towards labor, particularly intellectual labor.
2) The increasing acceptance of knowledge as a prime source of competitive advantage.
3) The increasingly rapid pace of change in the business environment.
4) Increasing dissatisfaction among managers and employees with the traditional commandand-control management paradigm.
5) The increasingly competitive nature of the global business environment.
6) The greater demands being placed on all businesses by their customers81.
These antecedents are the main factors which have raised to prominence the notion of
organizational learning. They have been identified as a result of both an extensive literature
The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization, Senge Peter, Doubleday, New
York, 1990
80
81
Organizational Learning and Effectiveness, Denton John, Routledge, New York, 1998
44
survey and discussions with managers from the case companies in Denton John’s research.
Briefly key features of these antecedents are provided below.
The shifting importance of factors of production
There are three main factors production: land, labor, and capital. Further entrepreneurship
was indicated as the fourth one. Although since the Second World War the role of land and
capital has been diminished, labor (particularly intellectual labor) has become a much more
influential in terms of production. Therefore, the increasing importance of people and their
intellectual assets compelled companies and organizations to decrease bureaucracy and, what’s
more important, create organizational culture which would be able to provide organization’s
workers with greater freedom. Thus, as Denton John said “organizational learning is clearly a
people-oriented philosophy”82. In this way, the leaders of organizations should manage their
workers not focusing on mechanisms, as earlier, but rather on people, as it is stated in this
antecedent. In youth organizations managers/leaders should take this antecedent for granted
since young people represent untraditional and creative workplace learning initiatives. Moreover,
they are believed to have inspirational and dynamic forces which can be simply implemented in
the organization for its innovation and organizational learning.
Knowledge as a source of competitive advantage
Knowledge became an incredibly important source of competitive advantage. There is
general agreement that organizations which are able to create and gain knowledge, are likely to
have a clear source of power. As Peter Drucker claimed, “knowledge is the primary resource for
individuals and the economy overall”83. Knowledge indeed is considered to be new strategic
imperative of organizations. One of the most significant features of organizational learning is the
fact that knowledge has to be shared within the organization in order for it to grow. If
organization’s managers and other workers share knowledge, it is believed that this organization
will grow stronger and more competitive. Thereby, knowledge sharing is highly important in any
organization which is willing to become the learning one. Youth organizations are not the
exception, they also can benefit from knowledge exchange among their members. More
82
Organizational Learning and Effectiveness, Denton John, Routledge, New York, 1998
The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization, Senge Peter, Doubleday, New
York, 1990
83
45
importantly, young people themselves can take advantage of this sharing because they are in the
process of learning; this is their life condition for now.
The increasingly rapid pace of change in the business environment
Change is indeed very interesting issue for many managers in a lot of organizations.
However, it is not that simple to initiate change, manage it, and further benefit from it.
Unconditionally, it is important to distinguish between short-term and long-term changes. Shortterm changes are cyclical, for instance, fluctuating exchange; while long-term – are fundamental,
for example, technological (advances in information technology) or social (increasing concern
for environment)84. Obviously, youth organizations are also in an urgent need of change, though
it has to be considered which sort of problems they encountered in order to define whether shortterm or long-term changes should be implemented.
Dissatisfaction with the existing paradigm
The academics believe that this dissatisfaction is a key driver of the learning organization
development. The classic bureaucratic command-and-control system is increasingly felt to be
obsolescent, and many people believe that it is time for a significant change. Peter Senge
explained the importance of organizational learning by incapacity of command-and-contol
systems to motivate ‘smart’ employees85 . By trying to adjust talented people into organization’s
profile, managers may fail to keep those people in the organization. On the contrary, effective
learning organizations are able to recognize and value these brilliant workers. They do it through
encouragement processes by allowing employees to take risks under their responsibility and
thereafter rewarding their achievement and success. The leaders of youth organizations should
trust their activists despite the fact that they are quite young. The activities youth organizations
organize are not that intimidating, so young people will be able to feel free while carrying out
their duties and fulfilling their responsibilities.
The increasingly competitive nature of the business environment
The key reason for that is the increasing globalization of business. Seemingly, this would
lead to frustration of organizations, though there are some aspects which can be considered as
84
Organizational Learning and Effectiveness, Denton John, Routledge, New York, 1998
The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization, Senge Peter, Doubleday, New
York, 1990
85
46
advantages. As Denton John argued, “there are two key aspects of organizational learning:
learning from competitors and learning from the environment”86. Thus this competitive
organizational environment can be viewed as powerful driving force which stands behind the
growth of the learning organization. Youth organizations are also required to react quickly to
become more aware of competitors’ actions. It would help them to remain in the social and
political systems under the review of any other organizations which could be a source of youth
organizations’ strength. This is especially important for them since they are self-governing and
have many funding and other difficulties with the organizations of theirs activities and events.
Increasingly demanding consumers
The sixth antecedent implies the process of learning of customers’ needs and wants. Only
by knowing it from customers themselves organization can have a reasonable and practical
chance of providing an exceptional service. As for youth organizations, they should be aware of
their potential social target groups and their needs. Being comprehensible of such facts as what
kind of activities people really want, where and when they would like to participate in the events,
and what else should be done in order to earn people’s respect. This is crucial for them to
develop effective participatory work which involves young and elderly people, children and their
parents in the whole process because it can promote a mutual understanding in the society and
bring substantial positive outcomes.
The feasibility of organizational learning
Organizational learning literature tells us a lot about organizational settings which are
characterized by at least some of the following factors: a high level of environmental uncertainty,
costly potential errors, a high level of professionalism, and strong leadership commitment to
learning. And consequently, it has to be mentioned that there is a theory about feasibility of
organizational learning which emphasizes that unless some of these factors are present, efforts to
institutionalize organizational learning are most likely to fail87. In other words it is crucial to
keep in mind these four factors in order to have an efficient organizational learning system.
1. A high level of environmental uncertainty. The basic rationale is simple enough:
dynamism (rate of change), a basic component of uncertainty, requires adaptation, and
86
Organizational Learning and Effectiveness, Denton John, Routledge, New York, 1998
Organizational learning: mechanisms, culture and feasibility, Popper M. and Lipshitz R., Journal
of Management Learning, vol. 31, 2000
87
47
successful adaptation is contingent on effective learning. Hence, organizations that do not
learn will not survive, particularly if the environment is competitive – another basic
component of environmental uncertainty 88.
2. Costly potential errors. A high perceived likelihood of potentially costly but avoidable
errors facilitates learning. This proposition is based on research showing that failure
stimulates risk seeking89 and diagnostic behavior. Consistent with this proposition, some
examples of organizational learning come from organizations under crisis.
3. High level of members’ professionalism. Professionals are evaluated by the extent to
which they master and keep abreast of the knowledge (both ‘knowing that’ and ‘knowing
how’) pertinent to their field90. Accordingly, it was proposed that organizational learning
is facilitated by a norm, or mindset, of professionalism.
4. Strong leadership commitment to learning. Managers are central figures on a stage
watched by all and the creators of images that influence organization members’ feelings
and behavior91. It is thus not surprising that management’s commitment and support has
been found to be crucial for successful change programs in general and for the success of
programs that involve cultural change in particular.
Learning organization components (the five disciplines)
If we talk about ideal learning organization, I should definitely mention a theory by Peter
Senge about five main components of learning organization. He put forward an idea that
organization has five components (disciplines) which are interconnected with each other: 92
➢ “Personal mastery is a discipline of continually clarifying and deepening our personal
vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality
objectively”. This is a process of competences and skills proficiency which is developed
by an individual in a lifelong perspective. It is believed that this process is never
88
Organization Theory and Design, 3rd ed., Daft R. L., St Paul, MN: West, 1989
89Prospect
1979
Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk, Kahneman D. and Tversky A., Econometrica 47,
90
The Politics of Knowledge, Hoffman L.M., Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989
91
Managers and Leaders: Are they Different?, Zaleznik A., Harvard Business Review 72, 1992
The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization, Senge Peter, Doubleday, New
York, 1990
92
48
completely finished. Senge claimed that it embodies two important ideas: clarification of
truly important things and clear perspective of current reality.
➢ “Mental models are deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even pictures of
images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action”. These are
the driving and fundamental values and principles of an organization. It basically means
how people see the world, understand their position and form their actions. Managers and
leaders of the organization have to be conscious of all members’ mental models in order
to ensure shared understanding of organization’s vision.
➢ “Building shared vision – a practice of unearthing shared pictures of the future that foster
genuine commitment and enrollment rather than compliance”. Intrinsically, it highlights
the importance of co-operation and a shared vision by team members. Shared vision is a
compulsory element for learning organization since it provides focus, direction and
energy for learning.
➢ “Team learning starts with dialogue, the capacity of members of a team to suspend
assumptions and enter into genuine thinking together”. It is about dialogue and
discussion among members of the organization, which ensures employees to think
together. Moreover, it helps organization’s managers to discover insight.
➢ “Systems thinking – The Fifth Discipline that integrates the other four”. This fifth
component emphasizes recognition that things are interconnected and organization is a
complex system. According to Peter Senge, systems thinking is the umbrella concept
which comprises all four disciplines with the aim of enabling a learning organization.
Senge was convinced that systems thinking shows people that “there is no outside, that
we and the cause of our problems are part of a single system”93.
The systems perspective allows people to look beyond their mistakes and themselves. This
discipline provides people with the vision of structures which underlie complex situations. “All
are concerned with a shift of mind from seeing parts to seeing wholes, from seeing people as
helpless reactors to seeing them as active participants in shaping their reality, from reacting to
The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization, Senge Peter, Doubleday, New
York, 1990
93
49
the present to creating the future”94. As the fifth discipline, systems thinking is considered to be
the cornerstone and foundation of the learning organizations’ vision. Thereby, learning
organization model can be illustrated as follows:
95
For youth organizations it is also highly important to make tremendous efforts in order to
become learning organizations. They can lack either team learning or mental models, for
example. Therefore, the key objective of the leaders of these organizations is to create conditions
for the establishment of learning organization. It should be done systematically and efficiently.
Moreover, they must not rely on fortunate coincidence of circumstances. For the purpose of
creation of learning organization there must be people capable of seeing the world as system
thinkers. In other words, the leaders of youth organizations must work on their selves, the
enhancement of their personalities. Furthermore, there should be collaborative effort of both
leaders and activists of the organization. This effort should seek to recognize and reconstruct
intellectual models of youth organizations.
94
Same
Adapted from “The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization”, Senge Peter,
Doubleday, New York, 1990
95
50
Chapter 2. Youth organizations’ practices: empirical research results
Interviewing and observation conclusions
Since key research question refers to motivation, the researcher identified several features
of this process, which were mentioned by superior representatives of both organizations during
the interview. In their opinion, motivation has been kept due to these principles of their work:
1.Non-formal communication and support
Youth Included case
o
“We support them.
And also we sometimes wanna
meet in a non-formal way just to
know how they are doing. If the
person is studying, but sometime
feels alone or reached out, we
talk to him. And I think all these
things are keeping them
motivated”
o
“У нас
организация молодежная, все
такие активные, добродушные
и доброжелательные, поэтому
просто иногда весело”
o
“Ну, раз в неделю
мы стараемся видеться именно
в неформальной обстановке, не
на собраниях”
Youth council case
o
“Еще следует
часто помогать советом и не
относиться с нисхождением к
любой инициативе ребят.
Следует их наставлять, им
помогать и давать
возможность”
o
“Все мои друзья и
знакомые состоят в
Молодежном совете. Мы очень
часто вместе отдыхаем,
проводим досуг и т.д.”
o
“Есть ведь люди,
которым вообще не интересна
общественная деятельность,
политика, они просто
приходят пару раз в неделю
пообщаться со своими
друзьями и приятно провести
время”
51
Communication is a tool which all people use in their everyday lives. The core idea is that
people were born with capacities, but they have to develop them in order to improve their
communication skills. These organizations involve participation of young people in their work. It
is a special case of enabling youngsters in the development of their learning process of
communication abilities. Informal communication in the organization has a characteristic feature
– relatively high speed of information dissemination. This positively affects the effectiveness of
the entire organization. By using non-formal communication in their work, superiors of these
organizations assist its members in their active assimilation of social experience along with
dynamic exchange of values and standards of behavior. Together with acquiring personal skills it
also has positive effect on both socialization process of young people and strengthening of group
cohesion. Consequently, as I mentioned earlier, it can lead to better effectiveness of the
organization. In terms of motivation this type of communication can lead to satisfaction of young
people social needs, such as friendship, companionship, acceptance and belonging.
2.Opportunity to become friends with other members of the organization
Youth Included case
o
“And as for
motivation, I would say that after
one year we all are becoming
friends, even though there is an
age difference”
o
“Because mostly
young people would prefer to
meet in non-formal way and to
feel that “well, maybe at some
point this one can become my
friend”
Youth council case
o
“Прежде всего, им
интересен круг лиц, с которыми
они потенциально могут
взаимодействовать. Они могут
найти себе друзей”
o
“Первая и самая
важная мотивация – это
социальная зависимость.
Просто если там состоят все
твои друзья, ты приходишь и
тоже этим занимаешься.
Очень много я своих друзей
привел”
There are several factors shaping the lifestyle of modern youth, who are willing to organize
their own lives. One of key factors is their communication environment. Sphere of leisure and
recreation, in its turn, is one of the most important areas of young people everyday life. They
prefer to associate with people of their own kind, and consequently, they are willing to find those
52
people in these organizations. It is highly important to say that these young people are still in the
process of socialization and formation of their communication circle. Therefore, one of the main
objectives of organization superiors is to guide its members in their affiliation with the
appropriate group of people. As for the motivation, young people are coming to these
organizations to satisfy their social needs as well. These social needs are assigned to have a third
role since they follow the physiological and safety needs. However, they are more significant for
the human personality, especially in case of young people who are in the process of formation
their personality. Young people tend to be active in the society, to perform socially useful work,
to establish positive interpersonal relations. They want to be recognized and successful in the
social environment. The leaders of these organizations realize that it is necessary to satisfy these
desires of youth for their successful coexistence with other people in society.
3.Feeling of belonging and being valuable
Youth Included case
Youth council case
53
o
“It doesn’t make
them less valuable for us. So, yes
there are more active people, but
all the rest also have this feeling
that they are belonging to this
group”
o
“Природа нашей
организации в любом случае
нацелена на людей. И мы все
объединились именно с такой
целью, нам всем хочется
сделать что-то стоящее, чтото, что будет полезно людям”
o
“Держит то, что
мы единомышленники. То, что
люди с определенным похожим
мышлением имею тенденцию
быть в таких вот группках”
o
“Ты занимаешься
действительно чем-то
полезным, не просто
переводишь кислород”
o
“С другой стороны
есть важность всего того,
что мы делаем”
o
“Им
действительно становится
интересно, и они понимают,
что это делается для благих
целей, а не для личной выгоды и
коммерции”
o
“Они могут в
дальнейшем найти себе
реальную возможность быть
полезным и найти себе работу
в этой сфере”
o
“А частью
коллектива все равно все
ощущать себя хотят”
o
“Это неплохое
времяпрепровождение, которое
направлено на какой-то
приятный социальный
результат”
o
“Это невероятные
чувства того, что ты
помогаешь людям, что они
нуждаются в тебе”
Everyday communication, broad social contacts, leisure preferences, which are forming the
type of social life of various groups of modern youth, are the most important characteristics of
the chosen lifestyle, one of the main criteria for the self-identification of a young person with a
certain group or environment. It has to be mentioned that young people are willing to feel their
significance that somebody needs them. In order to have more productive activities, organization
superiors should maintain this feeling among their members by appreciation and recognition of
their contribution. Moreover, it is always better to delegate and assign some people responsible
for the event organization in order them to have a feeling of self-esteem. They need to evaluate
their own worth towards themselves and other people. They should have a belief that they are
competent and worthy in these activities. And following these core principles, their work
participation might be more productive and they will have the will to give brilliant performance.
54
This is mostly about self-esteem needs, such as sense of achievement, confidence, and worth.
Young people need to be appreciated in order to recognize their merits, their uniqueness and
irreplaceability. But recognition by others is not enough. It is important to respect yourself, to
have a sense of self-worth, to believe in your high destiny, to be busy with the right and useful
things, to occupy a worthy place in life. Therefore, one of the key objectives of superiors of
youth organizations is to provide their members with all these feelings by enabling them to
experience responsibility and maturity while doing their job.
4.Perspective opportunities and future feedback
Youth Included case
o
“So, at some point,
it will pay back”
o
“Это хороший
такой point для резюме. Очень
часто это играет даже
большую роль, чем нежели ты
работал в какой-то
коммерческой организации”
o
“Но это тоже
определенная отдача, после
которой ты получаешь то,
чего не сможешь получить,
работая на обычной работе”
Youth council case
o
“Еще это
возможные связи, что тоже
немало важно, возможные
перспективы работы”
o
“Потом это
возможность зарекомендовать
себя, чтобы в дальнейшем
стать депутатом или
устроиться в ту же самую
администрацию в отдел по
молодежной политике
специалистом первой
категории”
o
“Кто-то считает,
что это какие-то перспективы
для него, а для кого-то
действительно эти
перспективы работают”
o
“Для амбициозных
людей это перспектива”
o
“Сейчас у меня
тоже цель одна – завести как
можно больше полезных
знакомств, проявить себя,
чтобы в дальнейшем
рассчитывать на эту
поддержку”
55
In this age people usually start to muse about their future and have long-term perspectives
regarding their self-fulfillment. Nowadays young generation is considered to be the one with the
perspective of lifelong learning. They reckon that experienced learning is a meaning of life and
necessity for future work. They acknowledge the fact that even qualifying education is not
enough for becoming a high achiever in any activity. Furthermore, their active participation can
lead to lasting positive changes not only in their lives but also in the society life. The activity of
youth in the present has become a condition for the survival and development of society in the
future. After all, the development of modern society depends more on political, economic and
cultural elections of young people. Therefore, the key objective of organization superiors is to
provide youngsters with the space for their development and learning. Here it is important to
note that by implementing knowledge management practices, for instance, both organization and
individuals will benefit. In the first case, organization will be able to become more competitive at
the city or even regional level. Despite the fact that these organizations do not have permanent
financing, they still will be able to compete with other organizations by usage of efficient and
impressive organizational learning practices. In the second case, the awareness of young people
about opportunity to satisfy their self-actualization needs might enable them for more active
participation, stimulate them to work hard even without payment. They will keep going for the
benefit of their future.
5.Voluntary work as an intrinsic interest and part of life
Youth Included case
Youth council case
56
o
“And as for us who
are working, I think it became a
part of our lives”
o
“Это говорит о
том, что ты человек идейный,
предприимчивый, у тебя есть
свои какие-то beliefs, что ты
работал не тупо ради
финансового вознаграждения, а
работал за что-то не
материальное. Это
показывает, что человек can be
motivated through intrinsic
interests”
o
“Я верю в
предназначение человека. Если
он чувствует, что он в том
месте, в котором он должен
быть, его внутренняя энергия
будет бесконечна. Люди,
которые готовы больше
отдавать, чем получать, это
счастливые люди, полные сил и
энергии на долгие долгие годы”
o
“У них есть
неподдельный интерес к
общественной деятельности”
o
“Действительно
есть пара человек, которые
искренне пытаются улучшить
этот мир. Я иногда
поражаюсь таким моментам,
когда они абсолютно
бескорыстно, на добровольной
основе ходят в детские дома,
организовывают эти
мероприятия чисто от души,
по зову сердца”
Intrinsic motivation arises in a person under the influence of one’s own aspirations and
needs. There are self-generated factors that influence people to behave in a particular way or to
move in a particular direction. In this way, it has to be noted that the primary driver for
participation in voluntary work is self-serving, which means that all people require a purpose and
a notion that they are making contribution to humanity in some way. Intrinsically, there are
people who are volunteering for the benefit of others. They believe that they make a difference in
this world; that every person counts. They reckon that volunteerism and participation in society
life are an investment in the community they live in. They are convinced that activities which
they organize can have a real and valuable positive affect on people they work with. This is
about intrinsic energy and predestination of people. There are few people like that, but they do
exist. As for satisfaction of their needs, it is called self-transcendence, which implies altruism
and communal consciousness. Even though for the most part young people do not have these
57
altruistic motives, they still can consider volunteering as a part of their life for any other reason.
The participation in these organizations can also serve as a process of mixing young members of
the society with aim of providing them with the place for learning how to behave and become
mature.
6.Life and event organization experience
Youth Included case
o
“с одной стороны,
ты получаешь прекрасный
опыт”
o
“Для меня Youth
Included это неоценимый
подарок на пути этапа, когда
человек чему-то учится, это
дает ему определенный опыт”
Youth council case
o
“Прежде всего,
как бы парадоксально это ни
звучало, это опыт. Когда ты
можешь делать мероприятия
из воздуха, без денег, без всего,
опыт ты получаешь
различный”
o
“Я наращиваю
сейчас опыт в организации
мероприятий, например. Да,
конечно, бывает, что я косячу
и совершаю много ошибок, но
это опыт, потому что умение
качественно и в больших
масштабах организовывать
мероприятие пригодится в
дальнейшем, куда бы ты ни
пошел”
o
“И вот когда он
выпускается из университета,
весь этот наработанный опыт
за эти годы возвращается ему.
То есть он наработал вот
этот опыт, эту практику,
стажировку (называй, как
хочешь), и потом может смело
пробовать себя в этой сфере,
если он в этом заинтересован”
Experience in event management is an important step in young people lives. It assists them
not only in the development of their own personal skills but also in social impact which these
58
events can have. Generally, it is worth noting that volunteering is rather widespread phenomenon
in event sector. Young people are convinced that this is an invaluable experience to organize
events having only great enthusiasm and voluntary energies. The organization superiors should
monitor volunteers’ satisfaction with their involvement in the whole process of event
organization. They should encourage their members for sustained effort they make in order to
maintain volunteer support and count on them in the future. As one of prevailing models of job
satisfaction claimed, there should be equity in the organization. It basically means fairness
treatment of all members of organizations. For young people it is highly important to be treated
well and equally because it can lead to the feeling of being satisfied with and proud of
themselves. And this, in turn, is likely to lead to their better performance as well.
7.Social activity and opportunity for achievement their potential
Youth Included case
o
“Люди часто
приходят к нам от знакомых и
друзей знакомых. Приходят они
всегда с новыми идеями и
инициативами, кстати говоря.
От части, потому что мне
кажется, им просто некуда
податься”
o
“И это дает
платформу и возможность
реализовать себя в разных
ролях, получается”
o
“То есть у
молодежи (кто бы это ни был:
школьники или студенты) есть
возможность что-то
придумывать и в чем-то
участвовать, реализовывать
что-то свое. Направленность –
в основном социальная”
o
“Есть еще люди,
которые хотят быть
активными в социуме”
Youth council case
o
“Подняться как
можно выше – вот главная
цель”
o
“В первую очередь,
это работа с молодежью. То
есть это помощь самим членам
Молодежного совета как-то
себя реализовать, посмотреть
мир и что-то сделать
полезное. Плюс организовать
свой досуг, свою карьеру
будущую, и при всем при этом
сделать какие-то важные
полезные дела. Совет это
площадка для начинания какойто взрослой жизни, поисков
себя”
59
Organizational development interventions imply the career and potential development of
the members of organization. It is believed that by encouraging youth development and their
personal growth, the superiors of organizations take a significant step in the development of their
organization itself. As long as organizational environment is supportive and challenging, young
people are willing to improve themselves and are driven by the need for personal growth and
achievement. Therefore, it has to be mentioned that the main goal of both organizations is to
provide young people with a perfect place to socialize. Everybody knows that socialization is
truly a lifelong process as well as learning. Socialization is the means by which human infants
begin to acquire the skills necessary to perform as a functioning member of their society and is
the most influential learning process one can experience. These organizations are willing to
create the conditions for youth self-realization, to educate them necessary skills for the
adulthood. Consequently, in pursuit of effective organization of events and performance of the
organization it is rather more important to analyze that their members are in the beginning of
their socialization. That is why the leaders of youth organizations are trying to create an
appropriate place and atmosphere for it.
60
Observation interpretation quotes and analysis
61
Points of issue
Atmosphere
Organizational
behavior
Youth Included case
Youth council case
➢
I suppose
that she is doing it in
order them to feel like
at home, so that
everybody can
experience their
friendship atmosphere
in the organization;
➢
Katya is a
professional manager
and mediator in terms
of being thoughtful to
all the members of the
organization.
➢
There is no
spirit of unity and
solidarity in this team. It
is divided into several
groups of like-minded
people who consider
each other as friends.
Others are considered to
be strangers for these
groups;
➢
This
conflict includes
disagreement over some
issue, and, consequently,
it results in debate. Plus
it involves personal
antipathy which results
in dislike.
➢
No
pressure;
➢
Everybod
y can feel the support
and concern;
➢
Even that
they don’t know each
other, they are so
friendly, which can
mean that they are
seeking for affiliation
with the existing team.
➢
He is
frustrated with
disrespectful behavior of
these girls. Other
people’s reaction split
into two groups: ones
who support those girls,
others who support the
chairperson;
➢
They strive
for finding points of
contact with inactive
members of Youth
council.
62
Appreciation and
treatment
➢
She
recognizes contribution
to work of everybody.
Every time she has a
chance to show them
that it is teamwork, she
catches these moments;
➢
She
provides them with the
feelings of belonging
and being valuable
constantly.
➢
I suppose
that the chairperson
deputy said it (“This
merit is all your”) only
in order to leave a
positive impression
among members of
Youth council. I don’t
think that he means it.
Certainly, human communication and interpersonal relationships include both concord and
conflict. The researcher had the impression of presence of these two forms of human contact
during my observations. According to the basics of communication, concord in the organization
consists of two elements, which are agreement over some common issue and personal attraction
towards other members. The researcher was observing this form of interpersonal communication
between the members of the organization “Youth Included”. The atmosphere during their
meetings was comfortable and friendly. The director of this organization always was nice and
charming to her volunteers. She is guided in her behavior by principles of cooperative work and
equality. Mutual interaction and complementary influence strengthens the feelings of personal
attraction among members of this organization.
Youth council, in its turn, had not so pleasant atmosphere during their meetings and events.
At one meeting the researcher even noticed a form of interpersonal conflict during her
observation. It was a debate, form of conflict which involves disagreement over common issue in
the organization. It was an organizational problem, which they were discussing. It is hard to say
if there was personal antipathy during this conversation. However, unconditionally, this
communication did not lead to problem solving. The researcher did not feel the spirit of unity
and solidarity in this team. I had an impression that this organization is divided into several
groups of like-minded people who consider each other as a friend, and others – as strangers.
Certainly, controversy is healthy in any organization, and this one is not an exception. However,
both sides of this interpersonal organizational conflict did not come to a consensus, which tells
63
us about incapability of the chairperson of this organization. He was not able to manage the
situation and achieve the desired result.
Observations assisted the researcher mostly in analyzing organizational behavior and
atmosphere during meetings of organization members and events which they organized.
However, I was able to observe some key points in the maintenance of motivation as well:
✓
Recognition and appreciation of volunteers’ contribution to work;
✓
Positive interpersonal relations with superiors and peers;
✓
Division of responsibilities process;
✓
Advancement and development processes.
Questionnaire results
Youth council case
The survey has received responses from 50 members of Youth council. Data were collected
quicker than expected: during less than a week. The questionnaire has revealed that mostly
people who are engaged in the activities of Youth council are members of this organization less
than a year (26 respondents). However, the second option is also predominated among the
respondents – they are members of Youth council for already 1 year-3 years (24 respondents). As
the chairperson said in his interview that members of Youth council are usually staying for
maximum 2 years, and only a few people have a long-term interest in these activities: “У них
есть неподдельный интерес к общественной деятельности. У многих он краткосрочный
(год-максимум два), а у редкого количества он долгосрочный”/ “They have a genuine
interest in social activities. For many, it is a short-term (a year or two) interest, and for a rare
amount it is a long-term interest”.
24
26
Меньше года
1-3 года
Более 3 лет
64
However, interestingly that on the question regarding their future plans for participation
and membership in this organization they mostly answered that they would like stay as long as it
is possible (40 respondents). We suppose that this can be explained by the enthusiasm and
passion in the beggining of activists’ work in this organization. The members of Presidium of
Youth council are aware of this phenomenon that young people firstly are so inspired by
everything what they are doing, but then after some time and with a lack of feedback they are
burning out: “Просто когда люди на протяжении года-двух лет не получают никакой
отдачи, то сама понимаешь, желание как-то угасает, мотивация падает”/ “It’s just that when
people do not receive any feedback for over a year or two then, you understand, the desire
somehow fades and motivation falls”.
7
1
1
Я
Я
Я
Я
Я
1
хочу остаться как можно дольше
хочу остаться на еще один год
хочу остаться на еще пару месяцев
думаю о том, чтобы уйти из Молодежного совета
еще не определился
40
Overall level of satisfaction with organizational culture in Youth council is 4 (3.94) on a
scale from 5, which tells us that more than a half of the members of this organization are rather
satisfied with the working conditions, climate and atmosphere in the organization (four on a
scale – 24 respondents, 5 on a scale – 13 respondents). Though according to researcher’s
observation (behavior and comments of activists during meetings), there are cases of
dissatisfaction with the chairperson’s treatment: “Да потому что меня это бесит, мы и так
много делаем. Я не хочу мероприятие “для галочки”/ “Because it makes me mad, we do so
much. I do not want an event “for a tick”. Moreover, several activists during an organizational
meeting said that they are not satisfied with the existent working conditions: “Я не успеваю
ничего, у меня еще экзамены впереди и учебы много, а вы требуете присутствия на
большом количестве мероприятий”/ “I do not have time for anything, I still have exams ahead
and a lot of studies, but you demand a presence on a large number of events”; “Я не могу
столько работать, пусть делает кто-то другой. У меня много дополнительных занятий”/ “I
65
cannot work so much, let someone else do it. I have many additional classes”. Interestingly that
one of the members of Youth council also emphasized on the question “What do you like least
about your work in this organization?” that he/she doesn’t like one aspect of working atmosphere
as well. He/she answered: “Другое: отсутствие понимания того, что за месяц до экзамена
важнее подготовиться к нему, чем сходить на досуг”/ “Other: lack of understanding that it is
more important to prepare for the exam than to go on a leisure event one month before the
session time”. However, there is a possibility that these were only isolated incidents since the
questionnaire results indicated that the majority of the activists are enough satisfied with the
working conditions and overall atmosphere in the organization.
Nevertheless, on average respondents consider that the chairperson of Youth council
recognizes and acknowledges their work. That is, overall average scale number on the question
“Please rate the below statements with the following rating: the Youth council chairperson
recognizes and acknowledges my work” is 3.76. Moreover, one of the chairpersons during his
interview also emphasized the significance of this aspect as he said “Важно давать им понять,
что работа проделана не зря, что она может понести за собой какое-то поощрение. Не
всегда, конечно, есть возможность уделить внимание каждому”/ “It is important to let them
know that the work has not been done in vain, that it can result in some kind of encouragement.
Of course, there is not always an opportunity to pay attention to everyone”. According to this
overall scale number, not every member of this organization feels that his work is being
recognized.
Likewise, nearly the same result is obtained regarding the question about performance
evaluation system in Youth council. For the most part, respondents answered that their
organization has effective performance evaluation system (five on a scale – 15 respondents, four
on a scale – 20 respondents). Thus, overall average scale number is 3.72. However, I would like
to notice again that there is a slight discrepancy with my observation notes where I observed
dissatisfaction among several activists regarding evaluation and feedback systems. For example,
one of the members during an event said to his friend that the chairperson does not “even said
thank you words” after organization of previous event: “Мне ведь много не надо, просто хотя
бы благодарность услышать, я о большем не прошу”/ “I do not need much, just at least
gratitude to hear, I'm not asking for more”. The most provocative moment here is the fact that he
did no say it out loud or at least to the chairperson himself. The other way around, he concealed
his dissatisfaction from the Presidium.
66
As for division of responsibilities, young representatives of this organization do not feel
that they are assigned for being responsible for event organization quite often. The answers of
respondents are evenly distributed, as we can see from the scale. The explanation for that might
sound as follows: the organization superiors (Presidium) assign usually same people for being
responsible in doing something. Since less than a half of respondents answered that they are
assigned for being responsible too often and often (five on a scale – 5 respondents, four on a
scale – 17 respondents), it could mean that they quite often assist the Presidium in organizing
events and complying with their instructions. The other part of respondents is almost never
assigned for being responsible for the same tasks (two on a scale – 10, one on a scale – 12).
Therefore, overall average scale number is only 2.86, which means that prevailing majority of
respondents answered less than three (included) on a provided scale. Interestingly that one of the
respondents answered that she likes the most about her work in this organization the feeling of
responsibility. Thus on the question “What do you like most about your work in this
organization?” she answered: “Другое: быть ответственной”/ “Other: to be responsible”.
The most important question in the questionnaire was about motivation factors which
stimulate young people for working without payment in Youth council. Interestingly, that more
than a half of respondents emphasized these factors as the most influential in their motivation
(five on a scale): open communication and feeling of being involved in the whole working
process (31 respondents), incredibly friendly team (29 respondents), and interesting work (27
respondents). As can be seen, these factors are associated with social and communication aspects
of this work. That is to say, we can conclude that there is a convergence between factors which
were highlighted by superiors during interview and these most valuable factors which other
members of Youth council mentioned. It means that social needs indeed are prevailing in young
people’s requirement system and their life organization. Overall average scale number for open
communication factor is 4.46, for interesting work – 4.36, and for friendly team – 4.3.
Motivation factors
Av e r a g e s c a l e
number
Open communication and feeling of being involved in the
4.46
whole working process
Interesting work
4.36
Incredibly friendly team (I have a lot of friends here)
4.3
67
Gained experience and professional skills
4.26
Career perspectives and establishment of valuable contacts
4.14
Recognition from the core team/president
3.72
Appreciation letters, certificates of honor
3.66
Incentive awards (tickets to the concert, theatre or others)
3.42
In that way gained experience and professional skills combined with career perspectives
and establishment of valuable contacts are considered to be less influential but in the meantime
substantial in terms of young people motivation. By that I mean that perspective opportunities
and future feedback which were mentioned by chairpersons also have implications for the
activists of Youth council. Unconditionally, the idea of the future importance does not leave their
bright heads since they do believe it will contribute to positive outcomes after they will graduate
schools and universities. Incentive awards were placed on the last position in this table of
motivational factors since overall average scale number for it was 3.42. That means young
people overlook this factor during their work for this organization.
Even so, on the question “Do you think that incentives and other benefits might influence
your performance?” most of the respondents answered “yes, absolutely” or “yes” (five on a scale
– 22 respondents, four on a scale – 11 respondents). The most interesting thing is that they did
not choose this option in the question of motivation factors as most influential, as I mentioned
above. Consequently, it can be explained by the fact that they are mostly motivated through their
intrinsic motivators rather than through extrinsic one. Undoubtedly, they do believe that good
working conditions and rewards from the chairperson will influence their performance.
However, to this very day it has not been the most powerful and authoritative aspect of their
work. In this regard, their work satisfaction might depend on the motivators rather than on
hygiene factors such as organization policy, working conditions, and rewarding system.
On the question about things which they like least about their work in Youth council 17
respondents answered that they do not like the fact that they do not have salary, 11 respondents
wrote their own option, equally 10 respondents marked that there are no career perspectives and
10 young people indicated that it is time-consuming work, and only 2 indicated that it demands a
lot of effort. Among “other” options of respondents were: “Отсутствие понимая того, что за
месяц до экзамена важнее подготовиться к нему, чем сходить на досуг”/ “Lack of
understanding that it is more important to prepare for the exam than to go on a leisure event one
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month before the session time”,
“Часто случаются провалы в организации мероприятий”/
“Often there are failures in the organization of events”, “Другие менее активные люди”/ “Other
less active people”, “Отсутствие мотивации”/ “Lack of motivation”.
While on the question regarding things which they like most about their work in this
organization almost half of the respondents answered that they enjoy entertaining leisure and
pastime (19 respondents). Then 1/3 of the respondents chose the option “New acquaintances” –
16 respondents. At the same time 9 of them chose “Friendship atmosphere”, 5 of them wrote
their own option, and only 1 person answered about “Treatment as equals”. Among “other”
options of respondents were: “Саморазвитие, обучение чему то новому”/ “Self-development,
learning something new”, “Приобретение нового опыта и навыков”/ “Acquiring new
experience and skills”, “Быть ответственной”/ “Be responsible”.
The most interesting thing, which, in my opinion, deserves a special attention is the fact
that only one respondent said about treatment as equals as the most pleasing thing in their work
for Youth council. We suppose that it is mostly connected with the hierarchical management
system which this organization has. This is a well-known fact that organization should have
board members for signing the papers or negotiating with other authorities, for instance. Yet this
shouldn’t affect the relationships among all the members of the organization. In the best possible
way, organization like this should have a division of responsibilities, but all members must be
treated as equals. Since this is an organization, where young people can join voluntarily, there
should be no pressure and “superior-subordinate” relationships. Even one of the members of
Presidium mentioned it in his interview: “без иерархии внутри совета не обойтись. Звание
ничего, по сути, не дает, ну заместитель ты, и что? Председателя выбирают единогласно,
потому что это видно, кто лидирует и больше всего делает. А вот заместителя
председатель назначает сам. И ты понимаешь, может, к чему я веду? Начинается какая-то
ревность, зависть может даже, борьба или недопонимание. Но это субъективное мнение
председателя о том, с кем ему проще работать и кому проще доверить какие-то дела. Но
люди этого не понимают, ты же не станешь объяснять каждому”/ “It is indispensable to
work within council without hierarchy. The position does not give you anything. Well, you are
the deputy and what? The chairperson is chosen unanimously, because it is clear who is in the
lead and who does for the organization the most. But the chairperson deputy is designated by the
chairperson himself. And maybe you understand what I’m getting at? Some jealousy, even envy,
struggle or misunderstanding occur. But this is a subjective opinion of the chairperson about who
69
it is easier for him to work with and who is easier to entrust some business. However, people do
not understand this, and you will not explain to everyone”. In the situation when people do not
want to offend others and be offended themselves, it is better not to focus on the hierarchy as a
command-control system, but rather to establish a new organizational structure with a division of
labor in accordance with the preferences of organization members. That is why a decentralization
and simplification of organizational structure should be implemented in this organization.
As for respondents’ age and sex, the prevailing majority is young ladies aged less than 18
years old. There are no young people elder than 22 years old. It basically can be explained by the
fact that youngsters after graduation are no longer interested in this voluntary since they start
finding a permanent job at this age. And it is most likely that they cease their activities in Youth
council for this reason.
15
Мужской
Женский
35
15
До 18 лет
18-22 лет
22-25 лет
25-30 лет
Больше 30 лет
35
The cross-tabulation analysis has revealed that young people who are working for Youth
council less than a year are more satisfied with overall organizational culture than people who
are working for already 1-3 years. Thus, 22 respondents who are working less than a year
answered that they are highly satisfied and satisfied with existent working conditions, climate
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and atmosphere (five on a scale – 8 respondents, four on a scale – 14 respondents). That is to say
that the majority of responses were highest level of satisfaction. On the contrary, 17 respondents
who are working for 1-3 years noted that they are rather satisfied and middle of a scale (four on a
scale – 10 respondents, three on a scale – 7 respondents). It means that we can assume that the
level of satisfaction depends on the duration of young people participation in this work: the
longer they work, the lower the level of satisfaction. The chairperson also noticed this tendency
during Youth council organizational meeting: “Вы ведь были такие активные и
инициативные, когда только пришли в совет. Что случилось сейчас?”/ “You were so active
and enterprising when you just came in the council. What happened now?” During my
observation I noted that there is a discontent on the part from the chairperson regarding this issue
of Youth council – inactivity of members of organization.
As for future plans of young people regarding their continuation of Youth council activities
and the level of satisfaction, the respondent’ answers were distributed in this way: 31
respondents who are planning to stay as long as it is possible are rather satisfied or highly
satisfied with overall organizational culture (five on a scale – 12 respondents, four on a scale –
19 respondents). It makes perfect sense that young people who are satisfied with the existent
working conditions are willing to stay for a long and indefinite period.
The correlation and regression analysis has showed the relationships between several
variables. Thus, questionnaire results indicate that the level of satisfaction of young people
depends on the recognition and acknowledgement from the chairperson of the organization. The
correlation coefficient is 0.6, which means that there is a relationship that appears to exist
between these two variables. Although these variables are moderately correlated, they do move
in the same direction together, so when the recognition of the chairperson increases, so does the
level of overall satisfaction. Moreover, the relationship between performance evaluation system
and level of satisfaction also appears to exist. Thus, the correlation coefficient is 0.6, which
means that there is same moderate correlation as with the previous variables. However, the
results of the questionnaire have indicated a relatively low correlation between level of
satisfaction and ‘good relationships and support from other volunteers’ variable. This correlation
coefficient is only 0.4, which implies that there is almost no dependence of satisfaction on
personal relationships with other members.
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Youth Included case
The survey has received responses from 31 members of Youth Included organization. Data
were collected much slower than expected: almost two weeks. The questionnaire results showed
that young people who work for this organization for the most part are engaged in these activities
for less than a year (21 respondents). The rest of the respondents work as volunteers in Youth
Included for 1-3 years (10 respondents). Same way that Youth council respondents, there are no
members of this organization who work for more than 3 years. As the President of this
organization mentioned during the organizational meeting: “I know how initiative you are right
now. It’s because you’ve just joined our team. Further after a couple of months your enthusiasm
will go down. I know it for sure”. She said it to the newcomers while my observation. Likewise,
Youth Included has the challenge of people leaving their organization after a certain period of
time. Same tendency can be observed in the Youth council case.
Less than a year
1-3 years
More than 3 years
However, the same situation with the future plans can be examined in Youth Included
organization as it was with the Youth council case: long-term perspectives regarding their
voluntary work in the organization. Thus on the question “What are your future plans for
working as a volunteer in this organization?” more than a half of respondents answered that they
would like to stay in the organization as long as it is possible (22 respondents). At the same time
5 respondents chose the option “I want to stay for one more year” and 4 respondents do not
know yet about their plans regarding this aspect. Moreover, one the core team members said in
his interview that this is a typical thing for the organization of this type: “Это совершенно
обычное явление, что ребята уходят после нескольких лет. Но на моей памяти никто не
уходит просто так, обычно на то есть весомая причина: будь то переезда в другую страну
или свадьба, например”/ “It's quite common that guys leave organization after a few years. But
in my memory no one leaves just like that, usually there is a good reason: whether it's moving to
another country or a wedding, for example”. Therefore, it means that young people do not leave
this organization without any reason or with a lack of motivation.
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I
I
I
I
I
want to stay as long as it is possible
want to stay for one more year
want to stay for a couple of months
think about leaving the organization
don’t know yet
Overall level of satisfaction with organizational culture is almost 5 (4.58). It is considered
to be the most impressing fact that nobody in this organization chose the options less than four
on a scale. Thus, 18 respondents chose five on a scale and 13 respondents chose four on a scale.
Such a level of satisfaction can be confirmed and illustrated by observation notes which were
made during organizational meetings: “I can feel a friendship atmosphere in this organization. I
think that these new guys feel a bit uncomfortable to speak aloud about themselves. However,
those experienced people were trying to support them by starting the conversation”. Accordingly,
no pressure, no angry, no dislike exists in this organization. The core team is always trying to be
polite and supportive towards all other members of the organization. It may also be confirmed by
the answers of respondents on the question “What do you like most about your work in this
organization?” Impressively, that the answers were divided almost equally: 14 respondents noted
treatment as equals and 13 mentioned that they like best friendship atmosphere in the
organization. Only 4 respondents chose an option “New acquaintances”. Communication as
equals is believed to be the basic feature of Youth Included work since it is a voluntary based
organization. Thus, in the interview with the President of Youth Included she said: “We have
people from 16 to 30-35 years old. But within the organization we never say “I’m older, you’re
younger, so you do a dirty job”. So we all are equal”. Equality is the thing from which they
benefit since new people keep joining the organization. I counted 6 newcomers who came for the
first time on one of the meetings which I observed. They do not have a real hierarchy in the
organization since they believe that it will not lead to positive outcomes in members’
performance. The President of Youth Included mentioned in her interview: “We don’t have
hierarchy, which brings us to the side that there is no usual division of labor and also leads to the
situation when you don’t know who would do the dirty job and so on. But when you work with
volunteers, this is just not possible, because if at the moment you treat volunteer like that, next
day you won’t have this volunteer. If the person is smart, he will leave”. She considers this
aspect of their work as both challenge and strength at the same time. Another core team member
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also emphasized this aspect of their work and structure: “Да, у нас нет какой-то иерархии,
позиций директора или его заместителей. Просто те люди, которые стоят у нас в органе
как руководящие, на них просто больше административной ответственности падает. Вот и
все”/ “ Yes, we do not have any hierarchy, positions of the director or his deputies. Simply, those
people who stand in our body as leading, they have more administrative responsibility. That’s it”.
Although they do have almost the same position regarding hierarchy as Youth council, they
indeed do not prefer to build their work and communication on the hierarchical structure. They
just have it rather for administrative work duties than for the construction of communication
processes and organizational atmosphere.
Furthermore, the respondents mentioned that good relationships and support from other
members of the organization assists them in being highly motivated. Thus, the average scale
number for this statement is 4.1 which mean that they do believe in the significance on
interpersonal relationships during their work for this organization. More than a half of
respondents agree with the statement “Good relationships and support from other volunteers is
helpful to get motivated” (five “strongly agree” on a scale – 9 respondents, four “agree” on a
scale – 16 respondents). It is confirmed by identified factors during interviewing with the core
team members: ‘non-formal communication and support’, and ‘opportunity to become friends
with other members of the organization’.
Meanwhile, Youth included members believe that the President of their organization is
interested in motivating other volunteers. Thus, the average scale number for the question “How
do you evaluate the statement “The core team/president of the organization is interested in
motivating other volunteers”?” is 4.52 which means that they consider the behavior of the leader
of their organization as motivating and inspiring to do their job. The Youth Included members
admit efforts which are made in order to motivate them. Hence, almost all respondents agree
with this statement (five “strongly agree” on a scale – 18 respondents, four “agree” on a scale –
11 respondents). This survey result can be confirmed by my observation notes as well. During
one of organizational meetings I noticed that Katya (the leader of organization) is trying to keep
all members excited and passionate during the conversation and discussion. That is a note from
my observation diary regarding my feelings about what was happening: “Katya is only
suggesting the idea concerning different topics. Her main objective is to navigate other team
members so that they can participate in the whole discussion. They look passionate while
expressing their opinions”.
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As for recognition and acknowledgement of the core team, on average, respondents do
agree with the statement “The organization (core team/president) recognizes and acknowledges
my work” (4.58 on a scale from five). Likewise, the President of Youth Included highlighted that
they do appreciate each member’s contribution: “but it doesn’t make them less valuable for us.
So, yes there are more active people, but all the rest also have this feeling that they are belonging
to this group”. So, we can assume that the core team of this organization also uses extrinsic
motivators such as words of gratitude and appreciation. She (the President) mentioned in the
organizational meeting that “this is a merit of all members of organization”. The core team never
holds the stage, the do prefer to emphasize the significance of all participants of the organization.
However, the respondents do not agree fully that Youth Included has an effective performance
evaluation system for its members. The average scale number for this statement is 3.81 which
mean that there are still people in this organization who do not believe in the effectiveness of
current performance evaluation system (three on a scale – 6 respondents, two on a scale – 1
respondent, one on a scale – 1 respondent).
As for division of responsibilities, on average, the members of this organization do feel
that they are assigned for being responsible from time to time. Thus, 8 respondents mentioned
that they have responsibilities too often, 11 respondents – often and 9 are in the middle. Only
three members of Youth Included noted that they are responsible for some task or organization of
event not often enough. There are no people who are assigned for being responsible not at all.
The evidence of that was also observed during organizational meetings. The fundamental
question of ‘how work should be organized’ has its solution in the group discussion and matrix
of responsibilities which is being posted in their Facebook group. This discussion starts with the
ideas offer and then with the identification of people who are going to be responsible for the
parts of the events organization. I observed it, for instance, on several meetings. Moreover, the
President of the organization emphasized this aspect of their work in her interview: “So,
generally, when we organize something, we first of all, ask who wants to be responsible for
what, and then we (the core team), we just helping out. So basically we just facilitate, and young
people themselves organize things. And they always have the possibility of mistake, so it’s not a
problem, we will be there for them. And also it’s a good experience”.
Again one of the most important questions in the questionnaire was about motivation
factors which stimulate young people for working in this voluntary organization. Interestingly,
that the most motivational factor for them is ‘Gained experience and professional skills’ (overall
75
average scale number is 4.71). Almost the same average scale number is for ‘interesting work’
and ‘incredibly friendly team’ factors (in the first case it is 4.68, while in the second – 4.65). It
turns out that improvement of their skills is slightly more important than socializing with other
members. Hence, life experience is of great importance for them.
Motivation factors
Av e r a g e s c a l e
number
Gained experience and professional skills
4.71
Interesting work
4.68
Incredibly friendly team (I have a lot of friends here)
4.65
Recognition from the core team/president
4.52
Open communication and feeling of being involved in the
4.13
whole working process
Career perspectives and establishment of valuable contacts
3.32
Incentive awards (tickets to the concert, theatre or others)
2.74
Appreciation letters, certificates of honor
2.03
The most intriguing result for this question is the fact that incentive awards and
appreciation letters almost do not matter for young people working in this organization in terms
of their motivation. Such a small average scale number indicates that extrinsic motivators do not
play a huge role for these young people. Likewise, on the question “Do you think that incentives
and other benefits might influence your performance?” 9 respondents chose four on a scale (yes,
it will), 12 respondents – three on a scale, 6 respondents – two on a scale, and four respondents –
one on a scale.
As for respondents’ age and sex, the prevailing majority is also young ladies (22
respondents) but aged more than 18 (9 respondents – between 18-22 years old, 9 respondents –
between 22-25 years old, and 13 respondents – between 25-30 years old).
76
Male
Female
Under 18 years
Between 18-22 years
Between 22-25 years
Between 25-30 years
Over 30 years
As cross-tabulation analysis has revealed there is a ratio between several variables.
Likewise, it became clear that young people who are working for Youth Included less than a year
are almost same satisfied with overall organizational culture as people who are working for
already 1-3 years. Hence, 12 respondents who are working less than a year answered that they
are highly satisfied with the overall organizational culture and 9 respondents working for the
same period of time answered that they are rather satisfied with existent working atmosphere and
conditions. In the same way, there are 6 people working for already 1-3 years who answered that
they are highly satisfied with organizational culture and 4 respondents working for the same
period of time said that they are rather satisfied. We can assume that in this organization the level
of satisfaction might not depend on the duration of young people participation in this work:
despite the duration of volunteering activism young people in this organization are same level of
satisfaction regarding existent working culture. Furthermore, it has to be noted that there is no
answers lower than four on a scale. It is one of the most appealing results in this case. Everybody
in this organization chose the answers either five on a scale or four. Consequently, it means that
every person in Youth Included is rather satisfied with the existing atmosphere and working
conditions. It was also noticeable during my observation since there was no discontent from the
activists or confrontation between them and the core team.
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As for future plans of young people regarding their continuation of Youth council activities
and the level of satisfaction, the respondent’ answers were distributed in this way: 14
respondents who are willing to stay in this organization as long as it is possible are highly
satisfied with organizational culture (five on a scale from five) and 8 respondents who are
willing to stay same as long as it is possible are rather satisfied (four on a scale from five). This
result is quite logical again since if young people are satisfied with the existent situation in their
organization they will keep working whenever it is possible.
The correlation and regression analysis has showed the relationships between several
variables as well. Hence, there is a moderate correlation between level of satisfaction and
recognition from the core team: correlation coefficient between these two variables is 0.6 which
mean that there is a slight dependence of level of young people’s satisfaction on whether they are
being recognized by their superiors or not. Moreover, the relationship between the presence of
good relationships and level of satisfaction occurs as a result of the survey. Thus, young people
who believe that good relationships and support from other volunteers are helpful factors for
motivation maintenance are more satisfied with working culture in Youth Included. The
correlation coefficient in this case is 0.6 as well. In relation to performance evaluation system it
was discovered there is low correlation between this variable and level of satisfaction.
Correlation coefficient is only 0.3. It would mean that young people’s attitude towards existent
evaluation system in the organization does not influence their level of satisfaction.
Conclusion
In the final chapter of this paper it has to be concluded that this multidisciplinary research
has revealed several important features of work in youth organizations. These features have
implications for motivation aspect, work satisfaction, management styles, and organizational
learning. First of all, key overall conclusions will be deduced and the connections between first
78
and second chapters will be provided. Thereafter, the limitations of this research will be specified
and discussed.
Motivation aspect
Considering that motivation is the key aspect of this research, I will start overall
conclusion with it. Thus, since the process of motivation depicts the subject of motivation as a
puzzle, I explored this indispensable element of organizational behavior from several
perspectives: job characteristics, instincts, needs, cognitions, and rewards, as such a mental
image of this concept was developed by Robert Kreitner in his book “Organizational
behavior” (1989). The most important thing is that leaders of youth organizations learn
significant lessons regarding activists’ behavior and motivation from each piece of this puzzle.
These five pieces of puzzle provide them with different explanation of young people behavior in
accordance with either internal factors (instincts and needs) or person-environment interaction
(job characteristics, cognitions, and rewards).
I grounded this research on both content and
process theories since I wanted to disclose the full picture of the management effectiveness in
youth organizations in terms of proper motivational approach. Content theories of this research
have its focus on the actions to satisfy young people needs that influence their behavior. In other
words, needs which make contribution for energizing purposeful behavior of young people.
Process theories focused on young people’s perceptions regarding their working environment
and their interpretations and understandings of this issue.
In this manner, young people in both organizations were driven by mostly social, esteem
and self-fulfillment needs. It was revealed that in both parts of the research
(interviewing+observation and questionnaire) young people follow the ideas of communication
circles establishment, feeling of acceptance and belonging, and long-term perspectives regarding
their future. All motivational factors which were identified in both cases of this research clearly
demonstrate the presence of these driven forces inherent to young people working for these
organizations. Motivation is indeed an intrinsic force operating inside youngsters, persuading
them to choose one action over another. As one of the assumptions of theory Y claims that
commitment to objectives is a function of the individuals’ rewards associated with their
achievement (The Human Side of Enterprise, Douglas McGregor, 1960). That is, the most
significant of such rewards for young people are the satisfaction of their ego and selfactualization needs. This can be direct products of effort aimed at the organizational objectives.
79
However, I have to emphasize that the dominant factor in Youth council case was ‘Open
communication and feeling of being involved in the whole working process’. It may be
connected to the absence of such feature in the working processes in this organization: not all
young people are involved in the whole discussion of organizational tasks, objectives or even
goals. It was observed as a result of both interviewing and observation data collection. On the
contrary, Youth Included leaders consider an open discussion as one of their fundamental
features: they always firstly put forward either the issue of discussion or the task ahead and
reckon it with all members of the organization. As techno-structural organizational development
intervention highlights that all decisions made in the organization should be rational and logical;
both advantages and disadvantages of the outcomes must be taken into account while decision
making processes (Dynamics of organizational change and learning, Jaap J. Boonstra, 2004).
When a lot of members of the organization make a decision together, the chances for objectivity
and rationality are growing. And thereby, the key motivational factor for the members of this
organization is turned out to be ‘Gained experience and professional skills’.
As for job characteristics, it has to be mentioned that one of the key objectives of superiors
of youth organizations is to provide their members with the feelings of acceptance and
recognition by enabling them to experience responsibility and maturity while doing their job. In
Youth Included organization the division of responsibilities comes at the expense of open
discussion as well. By delegating and assigning every time different people to be responsible for
the event organization, the leaders of Youth Included provide their members with a feeling of
self-esteem. While young people in Youth council do not feel that they are assigned for being
responsible for event organization quite often, according to questionnaire results. As job redesign
assumptions recommend, job rotation can lead to reemergence of individual’s interest and
eagerness to contribute more in his work (Human Resource Management, Manmohan Joshi,
2013). In this respect job rotation indicates practice of assignment diverse tasks to different
people, which Youth Included superiors apply into practice unlike Youth council leaders. In this
way, task identity and task significance play an important and influential role in the
meaningfulness of young people’s work, as it was argued by Hackman and Oldham in their job
characteristics model (Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory, Hackman J. R.,
Oldham G. R., 1976). It generally means that members of Youth Included feel that they are able
to complete the task from the beginning up to the end and to determine task as the one which is
leading to something wider and beyond oneself. Hence, the outcome of this accomplished work
80
will enable more pride for young people. Moreover, the core team members of Youth Included
do believe in the importance of autonomy as a degree of volunteers’ freedom and their ability to
be independent workers. And therefore, they contribute to satisfaction of members of this
organization since they value freedom and opportunity for being responsible for what they are
doing.
As job characteristics model states, if the worker experience self-direction and self-control,
it can lead to such positive outcomes as high internal work motivation, high quality work
performance, high satisfaction with work, low absenteeism and turnover (Motivation through the
design of work: Test of a theory, Hackman J. R., Oldham G. R., 1976). By applying job
enrichment practice into Youth Included work, the leaders of this organization follow the ideas of
young peoples’ growth and satisfaction of their own needs. That is precisely why this
organization succeeds and has effective results of cooperative work between superiors and other
members of the organization.
The failure to comply with these important features of effective work in the organization,
Youth council encountered a problem with the lack of integration among all members of the
organization and organizational objectives. As theory Y assumptions propose, organization will
perish unless integration is achieved there (The Human Side of Enterprise, Douglas McGregor,
1960). And this is where this principle does not work very well and thus, it is obvious that young
people working for this organization do not recognize both their own and organizational needs.
Therefore, since the achievement of organizational objectives depends on the commitment of
young people to those objectives, there must be some strategy developed in terms of adjusting of
all young people to the requirements of organization they work in.
Young people who are engaged in the volunteering participation in youth organizations
basically seek for their personal growth. Thus, questionnaire results have revealed that this factor
is also rather influential with regard to motivation. The leaders of youth organizations also
emphasized the significance of future perspectives and achievement of young people’s potential
opportunities during interviewing. However, as it is was stated in the organizational development
assumptions, most individuals are driven by the need for personal growth and development as
long as their environment is both supportive and challenging (A Handbook of Human Resource
Management Practice, Michael Armstrong, 2006). Then again, a boring and routine job prevents
young people’s motivation and thus, volunteers are not willing to perform well. While a
81
challenging and entertaining job conversely enhances motivation. Intrinsic motivation implies
interesting and challenging work and opportunities for advancement as well.
However, the expectancy perspective has been also considered in this paper. The
expectancy theory was developed by Victor H. Vroom. Generally, it defines motivation in the
way that people make their choices regarding how much effort they will spend on both
accomplishment of organizational functions and tasks and performance of their administrative
duties (Work and motivation, Vroom Victor H., 1964). Therefore, it can be concluded that young
people who are working for youth organizations have certain expectations and beliefs. These
expectations are believed to result in possible consequences and outcomes of efforts which were
made by young people. And consequently, the decisions which youngsters make about their
work and operational efforts and intentions are directly related to these expectations and beliefs.
The questionnaire results have demonstrated that incentives play a significant role for young
people’s motivation working in Youth council. However, Youth Included did not have such
confidence that incentives and other benefits will influence their performance. Nevertheless, it
has to be mentioned that perspective opportunities and future feedback as one of the factors
influencing young people’s motivation are considered to be certain expectations as well. Like
that, they do believe that their good performance will be in some way rewarded. Consequently,
they expect particular payout, even though it could take from different benefits depending on
individuals.
Work satisfaction
The correlation analysis between several variables and level of young people’s satisfaction
with overall organizational culture has demonstrated that indeed there are certain factors in the
organizational workplace which generate an individual’s job satisfaction (motivators) and
another sort of factors which, on the contrary, generate an individual’s job dissatisfaction
(hygiene factors), as it was stated by Frederick Herzberg in his ‘Two-factor model’ (The
Motivation to Work, Herzberg Frederick with research colleagues Mausner Bernard and
Snyderman Barbara, 1959). Therefore, as a result of this research it was disclosed that the level
of young peoples’ satisfaction depends on the recognition from the leaders of organization,
performance evaluation system, and interpersonal relationships with other members of the
organization.
As I drew a parallel between work attitude and work performance of young people, I based
this research on the concept of motivation as a direct descendant of work satisfaction. Therefore,
82
it should be noted that work situation in youth organizations contains elements with separate and
distinct clusters of factors which are associated with either satisfaction or dissatisfaction:
Intrinsic motivators (satisfiers)
Extrinsic motivators (hygiene
factors)
Achievement, recognition,
Company policy and
characteristics of work (stimulating
administration, technical supervision,
and challenging), responsibility,
salary interpersonal relations with
advancement
supervisors, working conditions
In this way, it has to be concluded that Youth Included organization’s members experience
no job dissatisfaction and job satisfaction at the same time, which means that they do have
motivators/satisfiers while working and discharging their duties. At the same time they do not
have frustration with working conditions, interpersonal relationships with superiors, and
organization’s culture. As a maximum, it might give rise to better and greater performance of
young people in this organization if the future.
In the situation of Youth council I have to mention that members of this organization are in
the ‘zero midpoint’, as it was proposed by Frederick Herzberg that such situation can be the case
(The Motivation to Work, Herzberg Frederick with research colleagues Mausner Bernard and
Snyderman Barbara, 1959). That means, according to this two-factor theory, they have no
satisfaction and no dissatisfaction at the same time. In general, they are satisfied with overall
organizational culture and working conditions, but are not satisfied with the division of
responsibilities among all the members. Hierarchical structure also prevents activists’ work
satisfaction. Moreover, stimulating and challenging work, achievement and advancement
components are not really presented in Youth council workplace. All of this leads to no
satisfaction point, according to one of the important theories which this paper is based on – ‘twofactor model’. As it was proposed in this theory, good working conditions are not sufficient
factors for strong workers’ motivation. It takes rather an enriched job that can offer young people
the opportunity for achievement and recognition, stimulation, challenge, responsibility, and
83
advancement (The Motivation to Work, Herzberg Frederick with research colleagues Mausner
Bernard and Snyderman Barbara, 1959).
Management styles
As research results have demonstrated, these youth organizations follow opposing
managerial styles, which are management by objectives – Youth Included (Management – Tasks,
Responsibilities, Practices, Peter F. Drucker, 1986) and management by control – Youth council
(The human side of enterprise, Douglas McGregor, 1966). In the first case, it is a question of
self-control and ability to direct young people own behavior without pressure from the outside.
While in the second case, organization follows the assumptions which imply external control
over members’ behavior. It might be confirmed by the usage of command-control type of
structure in the Youth council. This organization seeks to control members of the organization
and to arrange hierarchical structure of authorities. Furthermore, there are prevailing features
such as centralized decision-making processes, formal rules and systems, conventional and
routine tasks for its members. All these features are relevant to Youth council organizational
structure, since it was revealed as a result of empirical research. Management in youth
organizations cannot follow the ideas of direction and control; therefore, the leaders of Youth
council cannot treat their activists as immature adults even though their workers are
predominantly young people.
On the contrary, the superiors of Youth Included organization bear in mind the idea of
sphere paradigm structure as it provides them with both distributed control over members and
open platform for youngsters’ free minds. Since organizational development has focus on
assistance organizations in creating an enabling environment and necessary conditions for
encouragement of young peoples’ interpersonal competence along with their psychological
maturity, it contributes to the effectiveness of this organization, which is considered to be the
primary objective of their job. Hence, the core team of Youth Included organization realizes that
each member of the organization contributes something different. The core idea of this
contribution process is that all efforts should be oriented towards one common goal. That is what
happens in this organization.
This theoretical framework which was used in this research proposed the idea that there
should be structured and coordinated management by objectives in the organization. In the best
possible way workers should be involved in the whole process of goal-setting (Management –
Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices, Peter F. Drucker, 1986). That is what the leaders of Youth
84
Included keep in mind while organizing and structuring their work. Then young people might
fulfill their responsibilities headlong since these goals could be common for both superiors and
young people themselves. In that case when people are directed, controlled and manipulated,
they are willing to find satisfaction for their social, ego and self-fulfillment needs somewhere
away from their job. It is a good thing that it still does not happen to Youth council. Their
members are still willing to satisfy their social and self-fulfillment needs while working in this
organization. The main principle of management by objectives is to facilitate and assist workers
in this satisfaction of needs process. The best way for achieving it, as I mentioned above while
analyzing the work of Youth Included, is to provide workers with the opportunity to participate
in the whole discussion of goals and objectives during organizational meetings.
There is a need to reiterate another important result which was observed during the
research. It concerns the decentralization and simplification of organizational structure. There
are certain negative consequences of hierarchy in organizations which can lead to low
productivity, poor performance, absence of respect for the managers and superiors, and, finally,
deprivation of confidence in the whole management system of organization (Management –
Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices, Peter F. Drucker, 1986).). Thereby, one of the most appealing
results was obtained after questionnaire: only one respondent said about treatment as equals as
the most pleasing thing in their work for Youth council. While analysis of data collected I made
an assumption that it is mostly connected with the hierarchical management system which this
organization has. This is a well-known fact that organization should have board members for
signing the papers or negotiating with other authorities, for instance. Yet this shouldn’t affect the
relationships among all the members of the organization. In the best possible way, organization
like this should have a division of responsibilities, but all members must be treated as equals.
Since this is an organization, where young people can join voluntarily, there should be no
pressure and “superior-subordinate” relationships. Moreover, while observation it was noted that
there was not so pleasant atmosphere during their meetings and events. I also observed that there
were sometimes debates, interpersonal conflicts, or disagreements during organizational
meetings.
However, it has to be mentioned that work team plays a remarkable and decisive role in the
satisfaction of young people as well. The atmosphere in youth organizations depends on mostly
informal communication among members since they are required not to have specific divisional
organizational structure. One of the key factors which influence the behavior of young people in
85
these organizations is the fact that interpersonal relationships are considered to be one of the
retaining elements in their work. That is, the questionnaire results have demonstrated a strong
agreement of the respondents with the statement regarding good relationships and support as key
factors for the maintenance or increasing of motivation. Human processes such as team building,
encouragement of interpersonal competence, and conflict resolution are highly important in the
work of youth organizations (Dynamics of organizational change and learning, Jaap J. Boonstra,
2004). The apparent reason for that is the fact that all members of youth organizations are firstly
willing to communicate and be actively engaged in the society development. So, this
organizational development intervention is also of great importance for the leaders of youth
organization in terms of their choice of managerial style.
Organizational learning
Since organizational learning is the process of creating, retaining, and transferring
knowledge within an organization, I decided to focus on this theoretical framework as well
(Organizational Learning and Effectiveness, Denton John, 1998). Knowledge should be
transferred in the organization between explicit and tacit, between individual and collective. In
other words, young people are likely to exchange their ideas explicitly and internalize some
fragments of this shared explicit knowledge into tacit one. Then this knowledge can become a
part of background information which is necessary for their job and, what’s more appealing, it
can be usually taken for granted, that will expedite the work of the whole organization (A
dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation, Ikujiro Nonaka, 1994). It is highly
important for young people to maintain four components of learning organization on the same
level in order to achieve a system thinking perspective.
As a result of my research, I figured out that not all the components of learning
organization attended by youth organizations which have been taken as subjects of this research
(The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization, Senge Peter, 1990). As
for personal mastery, it is obvious to mention that this is an essential part of young people
lifestyle. This process of competences and skills proficiency is developed by youngsters in a
lifelong perspective. They are considered to have the perspective of lifelong learning as a matter
of fact. They do reckon that experienced learning is a meaning of life and necessity for their
future work. They acknowledge the fact that even qualifying education is not enough for
becoming a high achiever in any activity. With respect to mental models, it has to be noticed that
they are relevant to both organizations since these are considered to be driving and fundamental
86
values and principles of an organization. However, the leaders of Youth council are more likely
not to be conscious of all members’ mental models. Nevertheless, they have to understand it
since they are willing to ensure shared understanding of organization’s vision. Building shared
vision is resulted from the previous component of learning organization. Intrinsically, it
highlights the importance of co-operation and a shared vision by team members. That is to say
that Youth Included does have this shared vision since they prefer team work, equal division of
responsibilities, and open discussion. Youth council, in its turn, does not have this component.
Shared vision is a compulsory element for learning organization because it provides focus,
direction and energy for learning. And, finally, team learning which is present in these
organizations to the same extent: Youth Included members are able to think together as they have
dialogue and discussion as a feature of open communication. Youth council does not have this
component.
The systems perspective allows youth organizations to look beyond their mistakes and
themselves (The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization, Senge Peter,
1990). And here it has to be mentioned that Youth Included core team members are able to
diagnose their own strengths and weaknesses. During the interviews I revealed that they are
aware of all problems they encounter but they do not call it ‘issues’, they prefer to use the term
‘challenges’. They do control organizational environment themselves. By that I mean they have a
huge challenge in objective evaluation of their job and performance since they are themselves
still in the process of human development. But they do analyze their actions from outside so
much objectively as it is possible. However, I would like to mention that Youth council
chairpersons make an effort in this question as well. They must not rely on fortunate coincidence
of circumstances. For the purpose of creation of learning organization there must be people
capable of seeing the world as system thinkers. In other words, the chairpersons of Youth council
organizations must work on their selves, the enhancement of their personalities. Furthermore,
there should be collaborative effort of both leaders and activists of this organization. Hence, this
effort will seek to recognize and reconstruct intellectual models of youth organizations.
Limitations of research
The very significant limitation of this research is considered to be the examination of
cultural differences. According to, Geert Hofstede theory, an intercultural cooperation plays a
crucial role in the organization. Since culture is believed to be a collective programming, it has
obvious impact on motivation. Culture influences not only human behavior but also some certain
87
explanations which individuals give for their behavior. Considering that members of Youth
Included organization have different cultural backgrounds, this limitation should be eliminated in
further research.
It has to be noted that another limitation is the access to research field in the Prague.
Apparently, many youth organizations either believe that they do not require any research or
simply do not want to cooperate with a person ‘from the outside’. Consequently, I encountered a
substantial challenge in finding a proper organization which can agree to give me an access for
data collection. Despite the official types of organizations are quite different, I have to emphasize
that this research had its focus on the internal organizational structure and atmosphere.
Therefore, the external environment and existent surrounding context did not play a significant
role in this research.
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91
Appendixes
Appendix 1. Research design
Motivation as a key factor of communication and management processes in youth organizations
of St. Petersburg and Prague
Topicality: the applied research is based on the request of Presidium of Youth сouncil in
Kirovsky district in order to reduce the fluctuation problem with members of their organization.
They are willing to change their organizational system in order to maintain the level of
motivation and satisfaction among present activists and also attract more new people.
Research problem: the coordination and management of young people in voluntarily
organizations like Youth council are troublesome due to several reasons, which are weak
motivation, organizational conflicts, lack of time, and absence of experience. The privation of
worthwhile and convenient solutions for these problems leads to crucial outcome which restricts
the quality of work they do. This outcome implies the fluctuation of members in a sense of them
leaving this organization.
Key research question: how to reduce fluctuation and turnover processes in Youth council in
Kirovsky district and keep its members motivated.
Specific research questions (tasks):
1. To identify key motivation factors which keep young people motivated for volunteering
work.
2. To describe how work process is organized in youth organizations.
92
3. To examine types of organizational behavior which youth organizations have.
4. To explore what the main principles of qualitative work in youth organizations are.
5. To make an organizational proposal to Presidium of Youth council in accordance with
identified issues and researcher’s recommendations.
Subjects of inquiry:
⇨ Youth Council in Kirovsky district of St. Petersburg
⇨ Non-profit organization “Youth Included” in Prague
Comparability
Both these organizations:
1) are open platforms for young people, for their integration into society, for enabling their
personal experience;
2) have same goal which is to encourage and provide participation of youth in social and
cultural life of the city;
3) have difficulties with funding, and, consequently, use the system of barter for exchanging
services;
4) solve local problems in the society they work in.
Access to the field:
The access to the field in the first case was easy to arrange since the researcher also works for
this organization as a volunteer. In the second case access was arranged in a different way by
negotiating with the director of the organization via Facebook and e-mail.
Data collection:
1. First step: semi-structured interview (7 people: 4 – Youth council chairpersons, 3 – Youth
Included core team members), observation (6 times: 4 – Youth council, 2 – Youth
Included);
2. Second step: online questionnaire (81 respondents: 50 – Youth council members, 31 –
Youth Included members).
93
The usage of semi-structured interview as a tool for data collection allows the researcher to get
reliable and comparable qualitative data by interviewing the superiors/managers of these youth
organizations. Moreover, the researcher appeared competent during the interview because of
being prepared in advance, while the informants had a chance to express their views on the
research problem. Interviewing assisted the researcher in completing several research tasks, such
as identification of common issues and motivation factors.
Observation helped the researcher to be included in the studied society and examine
organizational behavior and communication processes within organization meetings and events.
In the first case the researcher was a complete participant as she is completely integrated in
studied organization. While in the second case the researcher was a moderate participant as she
maintained a balance between “insider” and “outsider” roles while observation. This method of
data collection helped the researcher to have tacit intra organizational knowledge by being
involved in the day-to-day or routine activities of youth organizations.
Online questionnaire served as the second step in this research. Only subordinate members of
youth organizations were asked to fill in the questionnaire forms since it was oriented towards
motivation aspect only.
Data analysis methods: a comparative analysis is necessary to use in these two cases. In
particular a narrative analysis was useful while analyzing observation notes and semi-structured
interviews.
Theoretical framework: one of the important theories which was used in this research is an
organizational theoretical perspective developed by Douglas McGregor. He proposed the
assumptions of motivation theory X and theory Y, which are related to managerial behavior in
the organizations. These assumptions indicate that members of organization are motivated either
via direction and control (theory X) or integration and self-control (theory Y). The central
principle which derives from Theory Y is related to integration process: the creation of working
conditions such that members of organization can achieve their own goals best by directing their
efforts toward the success of organization. Also the learning organization theory by Peter Senge
was examined in this research. The author put forward an idea that learning organization is
determined as a group of people working together collectively to enhance their capacities in
order to create results they really wish to have. In these terms we can speak about youth
organizations as samples of this study. Senge also believed in the theory of system thinking,
94
which focuses on how the individual that is being studied interacts with the other members of the
system. In other words it was considered that youth organizations are whole complex systems.
Moreover, some other motivation theories were examined, such as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs,
job characteristics model developed by Hackman and Oldham, expectancy theory proposed by
Vroom Victor H, and two-factor model theory by Frederick. Maslow’s hierarchical pyramid of
needs was relevant in terms of its theoretical continuation in Douglas McGregor’s work. The
author proposed that there are five basic categories of human needs which we can apply to
everybody while investigating people’s behavior: physiological needs, safety, social, esteem, and
self-fulfillment. Job characteristic model was proposed by Hackman and Oldham. The main
focus of this theory is the job that workers perform while working. Expectancy theory introduces
the idea of certain expectations and beliefs which individuals keep in mind regarding possible
consequences and outcomes of their efforts. And, finally, two-factor model draws attention to the
concept of intrinsic (motivators) and extrinsic motivation (hygiene factors) in employee
participation and performance.
Appendix 2. Organizational proposal
Youth council chairpersons should follow several ideas which were developed by researcher in
order to reduce fluctuation and turnover processes in Youth council in Kirovsky district and keep
its members motivated:
⇨ They should firstly introduce the role of HR manager, who will be responsible for
establishment of contacts with school and universities in Kirovskiy district (since
they need to attract new people), also for organizational conflicts solving and for
maintenance of motivation level.
⇨ They should create sections and departments for better transferring of tacit and
explicit knowledge among absolutely all members of the organization. The
principle idea is to show all activists how work is organized so that all of them
will be involved in decision-making process and will direct their efforts towards
the success of organization.
⇨ They should implement rotation of responsibilities in the working process so that
there will be variety of activities and challengeable tasks for everyone. In this
95
way, it will lead to reemergence of young people’s interest and eagerness to
contribute more in their work.
Some motivation strategies are also compulsory for consideration:
Motivation factors which influence young
Chairpersons’ contribution
people’s work
Young people will be more likely motivated if
⇨ Develop such managerial processes
the organizational environment enables them
that will provide young people with
to feel valuable for what they are doing day by
the opportunity to agree their
day. This basically means that there should be
expectations and receive positive
recognition and acknowledgement from the
feedback and outcome.
chairpersons.
⇨ Develop such rewarding system that
will provide young people with the
opportunities for receiving nonfinancial rewards such as vouchers for
attractions, gift cards and posters, etc.
Principal needs should be satisfied, thus it will
⇨ Develop a redesign of jobs which will
provide young people with the techniques for
take into account job enlargement, job
achieving their goals, becoming autonomous,
rotation, and job enrichment.
using variety of skills and competencies.
Moreover, young people have to be
given responsibilities and as much
self-control as possible.
Yo u n g p e o p l e a r e a l s o s e e k i n g f o r
opportunities for their personal growth.
⇨ Provide young people with learning
opportunities and personal
development through planning
working processes in the way that all
their abilities will be involved.
96
Appendix 3. Guide for the interview
Hello, my name is Alesia and I am currently studying communication and management systems
in Youth organizations. I would like to ask you several questions concerning this matter. It will
take approximately for 30-40 minutes.
1. Could you please tell me what position you take? How long do you take it? How long
have you been working for Youth council (for this organization)? What is your major
activity (school, university, job)?
2. Do you know what objectives Youth council has? Do these objectives coincide with
yours? What for you are the main principles (goals) of working in Youth council?
3. How is work in Youth council constructed? What are the areas of this work? Do all
members of Youth council participate in it? What kind of activities (events) does Youth
97
council organize? Who initiates it? How does the organization process of events pass?
Have you ever been responsible for the events organization? Did you like it? Did you do
it alone or with a help of somebody?
4. Do you think Youth council nowadays has some problems to deal with? What kind of
problems? Who should be responsible for these solutions? Do you feel some pressure
under the superiors of Youth Council?
5. How often do you communicate with your colleagues except for the working questions?
Do you prefer to communicate with somebody more than with the others? What principle
of selection do you have? Would you like to spend more free time with your colleagues?
Do you have some people you are not interested to communicate with?
6. What in your opinion is the motivation for Youth council members to work here? What
could you advice to improve it?
Thank you very much for the answers. Good luck with your work!
Appendix 4. Questionnaire for motivation in youth organizations
Dear respondent, I am a master student from Saint-Petersburg State University, Faculty of
Sociology. Currently I am writing my master thesis about motivation as a key factor of
communication and management processes in youth organizations. I kindly ask you to fill in this
questionnaire as part of my research. Thank you in advance!
1. How many years have you been working as a volunteer in this organization?
a. Less than a year
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2.
3.
4.
5.
b. 1-3 years
c. More than 3 years
What are your future plans for working as a volunteer in this organization?
a. I want to stay as long as it is possible
b. I want to stay for one more year
c. I want to stay for a couple of months
d. I think about leaving the organization
e. I don’t know yet
Rate your level of satisfaction with overall organizational culture (working conditions,
values and norms it has, working climate and atmosphere, etc.)?
(highly dissatisfied) 1
2
3
4
5 (highly satisfied)
How do you evaluate the statement “The core team/president of the organization is
interested in motivating other volunteers”?
(strongly disagree) 1
2
3
4
5 (strongly agree)
How strong is your motivation as a volunteer for this organization? (Rate your options in
accordance with provided scale, where 1 – not important for your motivation; 5 – highly
important for your motivation)
Options
1
2
3
4
5
a. Interesting work
b. Career perspectives and establishment of valuable contacts
c. Incentive awards (tickets to the concert, theatre or others)
d. Appreciation letters, certificates of honor
e. Recognition from the core team/president
f. Incredibly friendly team (I have a lot of friends here)
g. Gained experience and professional skills
h. Open communication and feeling of being involved in the
whole working process
6. Please rate the below statements with the following rating
a. The organization (core team/president) recognizes and acknowledges my work
(strongly disagree) 1
2
3
4
5 (strongly agree)
b. Good relationships and support from other volunteers is helpful to get motivated
(strongly disagree) 1
2
3
4
5 (strongly agree)
c. The organization has effective performance evaluation system for its members
(strongly disagree) 1
2
3
4
5 (strongly agree)
7. How often are you assigned for being responsible for some task or event organization?
(not at all) 1
2
3
4
5 (too often)
8. What do you like least about your work in this organization?
a. No salary
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b. Expenditure of time
c. Effort
d. No career perspectives
e. Other_______________________________________________________________
9. What do you like most about your work in this organization?
a. New acquaintances
b. Treatment as equals
c. Friendship atmosphere
d. Entertaining leisure and pastime
e. Other_______________________________________________________________
10. Do you think that incentives and other benefits might influence your performance?
(definitely, not) 1
2
3
4
5 (yes, absolutely)
11. Your sex
a. Male
b. Female
12. Your age
a. Under 18 years
b. Between 18 – 22 years
c. Between 22 – 25 years
d. Between 25 – 30 years
e. Over 30 years
13. Please write your current main activity (eg. student of faculty of social sciences, high
school pupil, employee in NGO company etc.)
_______________________________________________________________________
Thank you for your participation in my research!
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Appendix 5. Interview transcript
Interviewer: Student who is doing the research
Interviewee: the President of the organization “Youth Included”
(Start of the interview)
Interviewer: First of all, thank you very much, because I was trying to reach any other
organizations here, and like some of them completely ignored me, and some of them just didn’t
help me. So, firstly, can you please tell me where you’re working, what kind of employees you
have (volunteers, as I got), whim who you’re working and what event you organize.
Interviewee: Well, I guess, it is better to split the questions a bit, because I already don’t
remember all of them.
Interviewer: Yeah, of course. I’m sorry. So, first of all, what kind of organization you are.
Interviewee: So basically, Youth Included is an open platform for youngsters who are coming
from different backgrounds. We are not deliberately saying via our status, for example, that we
are migrants’ organization, but we are actually. We were established in 2012 by group of young
enthusiasts who were working basically in Academia and who were somehow connected with
non-formal education or intercultural education and so on. At the moment it was established, two
of us were working in migrants’ organizations. And we understood that there is a gap, because
migrants’ organizations here in the Czech Republic mainly work with social cases, so with poor
migrants. And they basically are giving the possibilities of legal counseling or social services.
And they also work either with kids or with people who already have problems in terms of their
rights or seniors. But there was nobody who worked with usual youngsters who are studying at
the universities. A lot of students actually are studying here from all over the world but there was
no place where they could come and they had to integrate into society on their own. So we were
thinking that there is a gap and we wanted to fulfill this gap. We were also working at different
organizations, which mean that we had some part-time employment, so that’s why we decided
we will leave it on a voluntary base. So again we are working for already 4 years and we started
with international projects. So, with the funding from European Union on the line Erasmus+. It’s
trainings, seminars, round tables, conferences, because we were academic related. Afterwards in
2015 we were thinking that it’s time to give back to communities to organize local things. And
we started with the project “Hungry for change”. And within this project we are doing the
activities for Prague. Now it’s already the second year of doing local work. For sure, I can tell
that local wok takes more time than international one, because it is quite difficult to coordinate
and organize something, because we all are working or studying. As for funding, some of the
activities are funded, some are not.
Interviewer: By government?
Interviewee: For these two years we have cooperation with City Council Prague 14. Last year
they invited us to their neighborhood to organize activities for migrants. Both on the social level
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and creativity level. We organized a community cooking, so migrants from different parts of the
world were sharing their cuisines. And also some creativity workshops. So now we finished after
two years. And we are planning to open up again in Prague 14 a round spring. Because this
funding works like that: you’re applying in January and wait for all the money till April. And last
year we had a co-funding, so we could start in January. This year we don’t have, because we start
with new initiatives. So we will just start when the money is on the account. This is one, and on
the local level we also have new initiative which is called “Czech friendly”. This is a set of tools
which will enable a social solidarity in the city. Because we know what are the sentiments
against foreigners now here in Prague. So this is basically a platform for enabling personal
experience with foreigners. There is a web page with an interactive map with ethnic food places.
It also collects the stories of the owners of these food places in order to people to understand and
know the whole story for the “Borsh” from Russian café, for example. The whole story, why this
person opened this place and what is his life here. So we would like to collect around 50 place in
Prague. And through these life stories which we are planning to do like videos and also in the
written form we will be able to start think more what is behind these food places. Because we
were thinking what is the easiest way for people to know each other. It’s music, but there are
already someones who are doing it. As for food, there is no such project. We were inspired by
similar project in Bulgaria, it’s already working. Afterwards there will be also recipes from
specific restaurants. So people will be able to try to do it and bring to their home. And also there
will be a printed map with which you can go around the city. And there will be a mobile
application. We want to do it like an educational game. But the aim is again to know that there
are not only Czech food places here. So this is our new initiative which is supported by
Vodafone. And we are starting in January. We applied, passed through three selections and will
start in January again. Then we are doing on the local level the coordination of volunteers on
“Refufest”. It’s an intercultural festival. And we already third year helping them out with
volunteers, because they don’t have capacities for it. And it was supported by Ministry for 10
years, but now it’s not. So it means we have more freedom, but at the same time it’s also funny,
Because earlier we did per one day, this festival. And now we do it for 3 days, and I think we
actually are doing really good, since young migrants are able to join it and they are really active,
they want to give back to a community. This year was started already in September. So we
organize in collaboration with Czech team fundraise, charity concert, collection of things (we
collected three cars of clothes and so on). And in January we start again with fundraise and
community cooking. And also some dancing workshops. So this is like the big part of what we
are doing. These events are every month. As for international, from 2015 we started doing long
term initiatives. The big one was – “social inclusion out of the box”. It’s again the platform of
tools, which you can use while working with different target groups (single mother or migrants
or whatever). We also did one year project for young people competencies. And I would also
really like to mention that we want to put this “Czech friendly” project on the international level.
Interviewer: This sounds really interesting, and a lot of things to do. And do you have time for
it? I mean you said that you all are working or studying or whatever, but how do you find time
for it? So I guess this is basically the question of motivation, I would say.
102
Interviewee: Well, first of all, after 4 year one thing is clear – we do not commit young people to
do it, it’s all like they can join on whatever thing they want. And on the other hand, it’s
like….let’s say it’s a charity concert. I’m working with a group of volunteers for 40-50 people.
So when we meet, we give them different possibilities and then go with the majority. And then
we organize the meeting on specific day, when only 20, for example will come. And then on this
meeting, let’s say, 10 people will be the core team, which are always there. But what we were
really surprised at, that people who we thought wouldn’t have time for it, they always have. And
vice versa. So we have a one girl, who is always asking about the time through our Facebook
group. And she would talk with everybody like how are you, what are you doing now, are you
planning to stay in this group.
Interviewer: So she is kind of human resource manager?
Interviewee: Yes. We actually didn’t do it last year, because they themselves (youngsters)
introduce that they wanted to do this and that, but then in the end for 5 people not to do all the
job we just need to understand if these 40 people are still here with us, or if it’s less than 40. And
this is why we need it, we need to address to them, to talk to them. Because, for example, now
it’s an exam period from December till the end of January, and a lot of guys ask to stay in the
group though they don’t have time now to do anything. And as for motivation, I would say that
after one year we all are becoming friends, even though there is an age difference. We have
people from 16 to 30-35 years old. But within the organization we never say “I’m older, you’re
younger, so you do a dirty job”. So we all are equals. If there is a charity concert, let’s say last
year, simply one of the volunteers was 16 and another 22. They just decided they would be
responsible for it together. And we just trusted them; I asked them “what do they need”. Even
though, of course, I can do it all by myself. But there is no point in doing this. And they actually
did perfect job, because the girl is a professional singer. And the guy is just really passionate
about music and photography and so on. They were the main who coordinated everything. And
last year we also did a Syrian dinner for 180 people. So again we had a group of volunteers, who
said they would like to fundraise it this way because the main guy is Syrian and he is really
passionate about cooking, but he is also only 22 years old. At that moment he finished university.
So he organized the group of people within our volunteers who helped him with cooking. And
then he also organized a café in his university, which gave this space for free. So we had people
who were serving, helping with the tickets, collecting money and so on. So, generally, when we
organize something, we first of all, ask who wants to be responsible for what, and then we (the
core team), we just helping out. So basically we just facilitate, and young people themselves
organize things. And they always have the possibility of mistake, so it’s not a problem, we will
be there for them. And also it’s a good experience. For example, on the 8th of December we had
a really big event – French musician Zaz was coming to Prague, and her producer was contacting
us and asking to speak from the podium. There were 3000 people, and it was a good possibility
to talk. And first, when I agreed on this, I didn’t know she is so popular. And we were 10 people,
10 volunteers. And we decided who did what, but in the place everything has changed, and we
just wanted to be sure that everyone is okay. So this is one thing. We support them. And also we
sometimes wanna meet in a non-formal way just to know how they are doing. If the person is
103
studying, but sometime feels alone or reached out, we talk to him. And I think all these things are
keeping them motivated.
Interviewer: I thing yeah, the main point that you mentioned is about responsibilities. I would
say that if you give some responsibility to person, he is motivated more than enough; because
this is how he thinks that he is needed, like people need him. And this really supports his
motivation. Well, yeah, than I also wanted to ask you about cooperation with local government.
You said about Prague 14, right?
Interviewee: Basically because we don’t have an official office, because we don’t need it at this
point. And Prague 14 was among those local governments, who really invited us to come in. and
even though for us it’s not super comfortable because it’s 20 minutes by metro from the center.
On the other hand, we have total freedom in what we are doing.
Interviewer: So they are providing you with some budget? No rooms for meeting?
Interviewee: Yeah, just budget. Because again we don’t need these rooms for meetings. When
we organize creativity shops, it’s the place for this shops, like atelier or some others.
Interviewer: Yeah, but for regular meeting with volunteers?
Interviewee: Aah, yeah. We meet in the basic community center, for whom we did “Refufest
coordination of volunteers. So yes, the space for meeting is there. And when we do other
meeting, like for “Czech friendly”, we meet at café. It’s much easier, because mostly young
people would prefer to meet in non-formal way and to feel that “well, maybe at some point this
one can become my friend”. Oh, and I remember you asked about the time. So, in this case, the
core essence is that you help as much as you want, and every help counts. So there is no
obligation to help, like 2 hours per week, 3 hours per month and so on. And also from our
experience I can say that there are people who can honestly come every time and they are
working on a regular basis. But there are also people who come once per six months and
something big or just come and spend 48 hours at the festival, but it doesn’t make them less
valuable for us. So, yes there are more active people, but all the rest also have this feeling that
they are belonging to this group. So, at some point, it will pay back. And as for us who are
working, I think it became a part of our lives. But I’m not doing it at home, to be honest.
Interviewer: And what is your major job?
Interviewee: My major job is…at this point I am a project coordinator for the integration course
“Welcome to the Czech Republic”. So I’m working for an NGO. But from 1st of January I will
manage the student department at the international office of University of New York. And I think
I will still have time for that. I mean it seems like there are a lot of things, but in reality, as I said,
we just facilitate, we are just helping out other volunteers. So we involve young people, and then
a lot of time they are doing alone, we don’t need to be there. We just give them the chance to be
involved.
104
Interviewer: So it seems like you and your core team, you all are coordinators for the work of
your organization? Like management superiors?
Interviewee: You can say that. But we don’t have any hierarchy. Officially we have board
members, simple because we need it for the papers. But in reality we don’t have.
Interviewer: But who is the one who is always asking what is going to be done? You, right?
Interviewee: Me, yes. And in reality, I’m also the one who is doing dirty job. And they would do
the good one. So, for example, on Sunday I was the one who had to spend half of the day sorting
out the staff for the refugees together with another board member. And on Tuesday I had to
collect all of the things and bring them to the work house and give it to the drivers. And nobody
would say “how’s that? President is doing this dirty job?” Because we don’t have this
management system. Officially, again, I have some responsibilities, for example, finances plus
signing some things. But as for doing different kind of jobs, no.
Interviewer: Okay. That’s great, I think, because one of main problems youth organizations
could encounter, is that it originates from the hierarchy system they pretend to have. Some
subordinates can think that “okay there are superiors who want us to do the dirty job” or
whatever. Every time, I think, all the organizational conflicts originate from this, from hierarchy
perspective in the organization.
Interviewee: Yeah, I completely agree. Because it’s a human nature. However, in our cases, if
you want to people be engaged, there should be no hierarchy. There can be levels of
responsibilities. So we know, who would take the responsibility at some point, and in the
situation of emergency he will come and do it.
Interviewer: Okay, yeah, I got you. Well, I think the last question can be…if you’re not in a
hurry, what would you say about some problems you have (if you have ones), some maybe
organizational conflicts, and communication barriers? Could you point out them?
Interviewee: Well, I would say not problems, but challenges. Okay, again about the structure.
Yes, we don’t have hierarchy, which brings us to the side that there is no usual division of labor
and also leads to the situation when you don’t know who would do the dirty job and so on. But
when you work with volunteers, this is just not possible, because if at the moment you treat
volunteer like that, next day you won’t have this volunteer. If the person is smart, he will leave.
So on the one hand, it’s a challenge again, because sometimes you have to take the responsibility
and do it when somebody else cannot. But on the other hand, it’s strength, because another time
other people will cover for you. Well, second one is finances. So yes, we don’t have stable
salary or something. But I would say…well, I’m working in the NGO sector from 2010 and I can
say that it also gives us freedom. And due to the fact that we work with young people, freedom is
needed. If you see NGOs who are working with funding, they’re really limited by funding lines.
They have to work with the priorities which are funded at the specific year. And afterwards they
have to write projects all the time. Because if they don’t, they don’t have salaries to pay the rent,
for example. We are totally free of it. So, it gives us possibility to keep creativity up. For
105
example, one girl came to us and she said “I want to organize these salsa classes for
fundraising”. She is working full-time, like every day, but she has this idea which she wants to
fundraise this way. And we, of course, say “yeah, let’s do it”. And if you come to any other
organization, this is simply not possible, because they don’t have capacities to do something like
that; they don’t want to work extra time for things which don’t have money involved. I
understand it, but we saw that with young people it doesn’t work like that. This is second. Next
is about rotation of people, yes. The core team needs to be changed more or less every two years.
Because simply people change their life priorities or move somewhere. Actually in the majority
of cases, when people leave our organization, it’s basically because they move to other country.
So they don’t leave just because they want to leave. And again, on the one hand, it’s a challenge,
because every two years you have new people with new ideas and new ways, so we take it just as
life circles. This period is over, but the next one is starting. So when we started, we had an
academic view, we dealt with conferences and research, cultural education. But at that point we
would never think we will do some local work as well. And as for the presence, not everybody
has to be physically at the meetings, because he simply can read the report afterwards.
Interviewer: And who is actually writing these reports?
Interviewee: Every time it’s a different person. And then everyone can see what was discussed
and what he wants to do, for example. And what I also wanted to say that sometimes people start
working with us as interns for 3-6 months. For example, there is a high school girl, who had to
find an internship, so we provided her with this placement. And there is a guy, who had to do a
project with accordance to his master thesis, and he came to us and together we developed this
project “Czech friendly”, so now he is one member from this core team of this project, You will
talk to him, he is also 22 or 23 years old, just finished his masters. So he did a research with us
from summer, and he actually was the best in his class, because it was really something valuable
done.
Interviewer: Okay, yeah I see. Well, I really don’t want to bother you anymore, so again thank
you so much for your time and I will text you and then you can contact me with other guys.
Thank you and have a nice day!
Interviewee: No problem! It was a pleasure. Have a nice day you too.
106
Appendix 6. Observation diary
Location: InBaze community center
Date and time: 15.01.2017 11.00-12.50
What I see
How I feel about it
How I interpret it
107
The first thing which
I feel that she as a Director of
happened when we came into this organization is trying to
the room was the fact that
be nice and polite.
Katya offered tea for
everyone. A couple of girls
said that they can help her out.
I suppose that she is doing it
in order them to feel like at
home, so that everybody can
experience their friendship
atmosphere in the
organization.
When they went to the kitchen
space, other guys started to
talk to each other. There were
several new guys, who began
to introduce themselves while
telling their own stories how
they came here and why.
I think that these new guys
feel a bit uncomfortable to
speak aloud about themselves.
However, those experienced
people were trying to support
them by starting the
conversation.
One of the objectives of core
team in this organization is to
attract new people to work
with them. They need to
interest newcomers not only
with the exciting work they do
but also with the pleasant
atmosphere where everybody
can feel the support and
concern.
A couple of guys were late,
Katya said “no problem, come
on in, just take a chair from
the outside”. Others are
smiling to them and saying
“hi” and are moving so that
there will be space in the
circle for everybody.
It’s not a big deal to be late
for this meeting. The Director
is not trying to put any
pressure on the members of
the organization.
I think it’s nice of them to
provide these latecomers with
the space for their chairs.
Since the organization is
volunteer oriented, they
literally cannot press their
members for being on time,
because everyone can have its
own plans and other things to
do.
Even that they don’t know
each other, they are so
friendly, which can mean that
they are seeking for affiliation
with the existing team.
Katya is telling the story why
and what for this organization
exists. She is turning to
everybody and trying to look
in their eyes with each her
word. Other people pay
attention to her words,
especially ones that came for
the first time. Plus every other
minute she is asking others
(the old ones) “did I miss
something? What else?” She
said “We're working for
coordination of young people
volunteers”, another guy
reacted and said that it’s great.
He continued talking and
mentioned that his main
She is definitely proud of the
things which her organization
is doing. However, she
doesn’t hold the stage. While
talking she pointed out several
times that it’s a merit of all
team members. When she
asked to continue this guy, she
is really nice to him and I
think that they’re good
friends.
Katya is a professional
manager and mediator in
terms of being thoughtful to
all the members of the
organization. She recognizes
contribution to work of
everybody. Every time she has
a chance to show them that it
is teamwork, she catches these
moments.
The objectives of this guy are
rather social and value
oriented than truly egoistic.
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