Whenever I tell someone I am in the business of happiness at work, I usually hear the same response: “pay people more.” Others assume it’s that easy. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. If it was, I wouldn’t have the career that I do! Do you think that people only work for money? Or do you think that some people actually enjoy their work? Across the world, there are people making extreme amounts of money but they are still unhappy at work and people making little to no money and love their work (I’m one of them).
Did you know there are two different types of motivation? Specifically, people are motivated by different things, especially at work. Do you know what motivates you and your employees?
In the 1960s, social psychologist Douglas McGregor explained two contrasting theories in his book, “The Human Side of Enterprise.” The two theories, Theory X and Theory Y, explain how manager’s beliefs about what motivates their employees affects their managerial style.
The belief you follow regarding Theory X and Theory Y at work has a significant impact on how you manage them. In this article, we will explore McGregor’s theory further and talk about how it applies at work.
The Difference Between Theory X and Theory Y
When we look at these as two types of management styles, Theory X is a more authoritarian style. While Theory Y has a more participative style. In the book, McGregor discusses the implications of Theory X and Theory Y at work and how these beliefs about your team ultimately shape your approach to managing them.
The main difference between Theory X and Theory is that Theory X believes people dislike their work, lack drive, need micromanaging, and require extrinsic motivation. On the contrary, Theory Y is more humanistic. It believes people like their work, take pride in what they do, need autonomy, and have intrinsic motivation.
Now that we understand the difference between Theory X and Theory Y, let’s take a closer look at the two theories individually.
What is Theory X?
Theory X follows the “carrot and the stick” approach to motivation, which is considered to be a type of extrinsic motivation. In this scenario, the carrot acts as reinforcement to encourages actions like working harder and the stick discourages actions like taking a break.
This is how Theory X essentially defines its management style. They believe that people dislike their work, don’t want to work, and are naturally unmotivated. Therefore, they believe employees require extrinsic motivation in order to “get going”. A mule rider gets a mule to move by rewarding it with a carrot or punishing it with a stick. Similarly, managers use extrinsic motivation to reward or punish their employees.
Believing in Theory X also makes managers assume a very hands-on approach. Otherwise known as micromanagement. This happens when managers believe they have to constantly monitor their workers in order to keep them going. Organizations that follow a Theory X approach have multiple levels of managers and supervisors. You have high-level managers micromanaging low-level managers who micromanage workers. (Sound productive?)
Theory X assumes that employees:
- Do not like to work and find it boring
- Need to be forced or coerced in some way in order to work
- Must be directed at all times as they will avoid responsibility otherwise
- Are motivated by the need for money and/or fear of losing their job
- Lack creativity, except when finding ways to avoid work
Theory X is rarely used in modern management as it’s been proven unsustainable. With that being said, it does still hold relevance in certain areas. For example, it can be useful when tight deadlines need to be met. Also, since intrinsic motivation takes longer to build, managers may use Theory X to get their employees started on taking action and then slowly gravitate to Theory Y.
What is Theory Y?
While Theory X generally takes a pessimistic view, dehumanizes workers, and focuses on extrinsic motivation, Theory Y is the opposite. Theory Y takes an optimistic view, accounts for the human component and focuses on intrinsic motivation.
Since they believe that people like their work, want to do good work, and are naturally motivated, Theory Y believe employees have the intrinsic motivation they need to get going. It’s the job of Theory Y to give challenging tasks that fit their employees’ values.
Managers that have a Theory Y approach will let people take ownership of their work. They let their employees work independently while giving them true autonomy at work. This trust ultimately helps both the manager and the team grow while enhancing happiness and increasing productivity.
With this type of management style, workers have greater responsibilities and managers encourage them to continue to develop their skills. Open communication is always encouraged without intimidation or control.
Theory Y assumes that employees:
- Enjoy work and want to take an interest in it
- Are able to self-manage and direct themselves toward their appropriate goals
- Enjoy and thrive on responsibility while needing little direction
- Are self-motivated for success, further self-development, and offering their contribution to their company
- Are very creative and passionate when given the opportunity and offered recognition
Theory Y has become more and more popular at work. This is because the newer generations of workers prioritize intrinsic goals such as meaning and purpose. The intrinsic goal pursuing is further emphasized in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, once people have external physiological and safety needs met, they go for internal needs.
Theory Y is also sustainable long-term. Intrinsic motivation has a much more powerful engine and a wider reach. Think about owning a small, studio apartment versus a large, 4-bedroom home. Extrinsic motivation is like a studio apartment. It’s practical and it works but only for so long. Eventually, you’ll run out of room, things will become crowded, and you’ll become tired of living in such a small space. Intrinsic motivation is like owning a 4-bedroom house. It is bigger and therefore requires more work. However, everyone will be much happier having their own area and space.
Theory X and Theory Y Relating to the BAMBA Framework
Theory X is centered around people only working to meet their basic needs in life. This perspective makes people less happy at work.
On the other hand, Theory Y states people work for:
- Mastery: Growing skills and facing challenges
- Belonging: Developing relationships
- Autonomy: Having control over their own life
That’s right! In order to be motivated at work, you need to get an MBA (Ba Dum Tss).
Following Theory Y and these three determinants of the BAMBA Framework proves to be effective at not only motivating employees but also enhancing Happiness at Work and increasing productivity more than the scarcity minded Theory X.
Theory X and Theory Y Examples
There are numerous Theory X and Theory Y examples, all proving Theory Y is sustainable and Theory X is not. While there have been multiple experiments to prove this, we’re going to focus on one by Edward L. Deci, the author of, “Why We Do What We Do”.
In his book, Deci did a controlled experiment using puzzles. He offers the first group a monetary reward for completing the task, he does not offer the second group any reward (control group). When he leaves the room, the group offered money frequently stops to take a break, while the control group surprisingly keeps working and actually enjoys it. This study emphasizes that the control group was intrinsically motivated and that the internal motivation was more powerful than external carrots of money.
Think of communist countries as another example. In these countries, people can leave work at any time and do other activities. However, they do not have any choice as to what jobs they do. They are not intrinsically motivated because they lack autonomy of choice.
Compare this to a capitalist society where people are motivated by the carrot of working many hours to buy what they want or the stick of losing their job if they do not work hard enough. These people are just as trapped as those in a communist system and have the same low intrinsic motivation. Neither way of working is desirable or sustainable.
Finally, Dan Pink, the author of “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”, shares a fascinating example in his TED Talk, “The Puzzle of Motivation”. In this talk, he discusses what is known as “the candle problem”. In this experiment, two groups of people are given a candle, a box of thumbtacks, and a box of matches. It is explained to them that the goal is to attach the candle to the wall so the wax doesn’t drip onto the table. For the experiment, one group is only told they are being timed (control group). The second group is told they are being timed and that the top 25% fastest people will win a monetary prize.
This test has been repeated multiple times and it shows that the group offered a monetary reward is consistently 3 minutes slower than the other group. The group that found a solution for the intrinsic challenge was faster than the group offered the extrinsic reward.
Implications of Theory X and Theory Y at Work
Theory X and Theory Y cover two very different types of management styles rooted in different perspectives about work. As mentioned before, the perspective you have in regards to your team has a significant impact on how you manage them. If you believe people dislike their work or are unmotivated to work, you will use Theory X and extrinsic motivation. If you believe people do like their work and can be self-motivated to work, you will use Theory Y and intrinsic motivation. Ultimately, Theory Y is the most sustainable, enhances happiness at work and leads to greater productivity.
What are your management styles? What are the beliefs you have about your employees that could be helping you or holding you back?
