Philip Shucet had a history of success as a manager and his successful work history showed his ability to stay motivated and to keep moving forward. This is a strong characteristic of someone who lives his or her life by the progression principal, which describes how motivation builds on itself. The process of succeeding, growing, and moving to new ground, is what the progression principal is all about and that seems to be true with Shucet (Oke, 2011). The theory of acquired needs can also be applied to Shucet’s decision to work for VDOT because a person with his caliber of success is generally driven by a need for achievement, a need for power, and a need for affiliation (Oke, 2011). He stepped out of the private sector box and took on a task that not many would want to do but he did it because he wants to achieve great things.
Many of VDOT’s issues came to face when a large number of their most experienced employees took their buyouts, which severely impacted the current employees motivation. The basic needs of the employees were not being met and the people that were hired to replace some of the veterans weren’t experienced enough, which led to less than stellar work. The lack of experience began to make VDOT seem like they didn’t know what they were doing because budgets were blown, finish dates were missed, and the roads were still in bad shape (Claweson & Yemen, 2005).
The negative image of the company, which can also be attributed to the government’s inability to prove to the citizens that a slight tax increase could help fix their problems, was a large shadow over the employees and their motivation suffered because of it (Claweson & Yemen, 2005). Shucet quickly noticed that the business model needed an overhaul and the lack of employee drive was directly related to the overall shape of the company. Shucet quickly began to satisfy his employees lower and higher order needs by allowing people to participate in the reorganization, giving people responsibility that they didn’t have before, and by acting as a leader (Claweson & Yemen, 2005). Shucet confronted employees valence by shedding some light on the 6 year plan, which made people realize he knew what he was doing and gave people the confidence to know that there were some positive outcomes that could result if you became more motivated (Claweson & Yemen, 2005).
The lack of motivation that Shucet recognized among his employees could have also been remedied by using reinforcement theories. E.L. Thordndikes law of effect could have helped Shucet use positive reinforcement to help show his employees that although he weeding out all the issues, he still was recognizing what was being done well (Oke, 2011). Simple acknowledgments or a written thank you could have been done to help boost his employee’s moral. Negative reinforcement could have been used to provide a bit of pressure on his upper management team but not as an only source of management because he wouldn’t want to scare his team away.
Lastly, Shucet’s overhaul of VDOT could have also used job enrichment techniques to help his team turn the corner and shed the negative image that was looming over them. Giving employees more responsibilities by broadening their scope of work could give them more avenues for fulfillment (Oke, 2011). Giving more responsibility to an employee can empower them and make them ultimately do more than is asked of them. Rewarding them with positive reinforcement will make them feel like their job content and context is worth their time and effort.
Oke, R. (Ed.). Management and organizational behavior (2011). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Custom Learning Solutions. Custom text ISBN 13: 9780470942710
Virginia Department of Transportation: Trying to Keep Virginia Moving, Multimedia. Claweson, James G.: Yemen, Gerry. Case No. UVA-OB-0846M. Published 06/10/2005, Darden Business Publishing.