Industrial Employee Motivation: Conflicts Between Subjects and Supervisors

Kenneth A. Kovach

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DOI: 10.2190/HD16-CM6B-T2CH-9DNG

Abstract

One thousand employees in industrial jobs were asked to rank order ten rewards in terms of motivational value. Immediately thereafter the subjects' supervisors were asked to do the same, ranking the rewards as they thought the employees would. Results are compared between the two groups as well as between subgroups of employees differentiated by sex, age, income level, organization level, and job type. Cases where statistically significant differences were and were not found are discussed, possible explanations are offered, and implications for manipulation of reward systems are proposed.

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