Human Motivation Theories of X and Y

Dear Friends,

Today I will discuss motivation of human resources which is an integral part of every organization. For this I will take up the McGregor’s theory of X and Y. Theory X and Theory Y have to do with the perceptions managers hold on their employees, not the way they generally behave. It is attitude not attributes. In this post I will first explain the two theories and then discuss the benefits and drawbacks.

                                 Theory X

1.       In this theory, which has been proven counter effective in most modern practice, management assumes employees are inherently lazy and will avoid work if they can and that they inherently dislike work.

2.       As a result of this, management believes that workers need to be closely supervised and comprehensive systems of controls developed.

3.       Theory X managers rely heavily on threat and coercion to gain their employees' compliance.

4.       They will blame the person first in most situations, without questioning whether it may be the system, policy, or lack of training that deserves the blame.

                       Results of applying theory X

1.       Beliefs of this theory lead to mistrust, highly restrictive supervision, and a punitive atmosphere.

2.       Employees lose their self-confidence and are not able to use their self-potential to the fullest.

3.       This theory is an efficient tool in the hands of managers to transfer blame to their subordinates.

4.       It also results in high attrition rate since employees tend to go to companies with good work culture.

               Advantages of this theory

The only advantage seems to be in case of motivation by coercive tactic, in which a person is poised to perform well when he is threatened. The best example is in case of Hitler’s reign when many scientific and military innovations were done under his dictatorship.

                        Theory Y

1.       In this theory, management assumes employees may be ambitious and self-motivated and exercise self-control.

2.       Given the proper conditions, theory Y managers believe that employees will learn to seek out and accept responsibility and to exercise self-control and self-direction in accomplishing objectives to which they are committed.

3.       It is believe that the satisfaction of doing a good job is a strong motivation.

4.       Employees in this theory are given ample freedom to perform and create value according to their talents.

     Results of applying this theory

1.       Managers communicate openly with subordinates, minimizing the difference between superior-subordinate relationships.

2.       A comfortable environment is created in which subordinates can develop and use their abilities. This climate would be sharing of decision making so that subordinates have say in decisions that influence them.

3.       This theory results in overall happiness of employees which also has salient effects on society.

4.       Attrition rate of a company is reduced and increased profits are realised.

  Disadvantage of this theory

It is seen that talented people become careless in their jobs and assignments when there is no hierarchy or supervision in an organization. A simple example is introduction of regulations in some states that students cannot be failed till 8^th std. The result is a large number of students who come in class 9^th cannot even write a single sentence in their mother tongue..

                                   Now let us take few statements.
 1. Theory X Manager assumes LAZY  workers as LAZY  and make them work.

In this case manager identifies the lazy workers and instead of discussing with them about the problems they might be facing, the manager reprimands and threatens  them to work hard.

2. Theory X Manager assumes NOT LAZY  workers as NOT LAZY  and make them work.

Now there are employees who are hardworking. Theory X manager tries to exploit their hard working nature by bombarding them with more amount of work, this leads to overworked employees and affects their performance.


3. Theory Y Manager assumes LAZY  workers as LAZY  and make them work.

In this case Theory Y manager identifies LAZY worker  and discusses one on one with him over the problems he might be facing. He tell him that sincerity is good for his own benefit and that he would be ready to help in his training and development.

4. Theory Y Manager assumes NOT LAZY  workers as NOT LAZY  and make them work.

In this case Theory Y manager identifies talented people and instead of increasing the workload gives them a new role of responsibility and learning.

What are the implications of the above FOUR statements for the organizations?
 Implication of the above statement in organization is about how do we handle the  employees with different talents and work ethics. No two employees are same and so their method of handling should be different. Theory Y ensures that a manager can get the best out of their talent by motivating and addressing their problems.

In my company I came across both Manager X and Manager Y. Manager X was only concerned with getting the task finished on time regardless of the learning and the motivation of the employees. He used to give deadlines and reprimand the employees if the task was not completed.
   Then there was a senior manager who used to help employees by sitting next to their seat and addressing their problems. He was very motivating and encouraging and would tell them to learn new technologies which would help them advance their career.