Introduction
Theory X and Theory Y are theories of human motivation created and developed by Douglas McGregor at the MIT Sloan School of Management in the 1960s that have been used in human resource management, organizational behavior, organizational communication and organizational development. They describe two contrasting models of workforce motivation.
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.
So, it basically deals with the mind-set of different kinds of managers with regard to their employees and does not state anything about the actual behavior of the employees themselves.
Theory X
This theory can at best be termed as a pessimistic outlook of the managers towards their employees and makes an assumption that it is a basic nature of the workers/employees to avoid work whenever given a chance to do so. It assumes that employees are inherently lazy and dislike work and complete their work only out of compulsion or threat. According to this theory, employees will show little ambition without an enticing incentive program and will avoid responsibility whenever they can. Employees think of only themselves and just come to the workplace to pass their time and get the salary at the end of the day/month. They don't have set goals for themselves aligned in terms of the betterment of the organisation on the whole. Usually these managers feel the sole purpose of the employee's interest in the job is money. 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. This kind of management practice may work in the small businesses but when it comes to the case of large organisations this kind of management style is rather unlikely to produce satisfactory results. The reason being that when we are dealing with large businesses then the only way the business would succeed would be through aligning the goals of the employees with the organisation's goals. The employees need to be self motivated.
Theory Y
Theory Y says that the managers are optimistic of their employees and think that they are self-motivated and have their personal goals aligned with the organisation's goals. In this theory, management assumes employees may be ambitious and self motivated and exercise self control. It is believed that employees enjoy their mental and physical work duties. Theory Y managers repose faith in their employees and believe that if given proper chance they can excel and can achieve terrific results. The employees don't need monetary motivation to complete their task. This theory would include managers communicating openly with subordinates, minimizing the difference between superior-subordinate relationships, creating a comfortable environment in which subordinates can develop and use their abilities. Employees have equal say in the process and proper feedback process is followed in order to achieve the results.
The two theories can be explained with the help of the following diagram which is very self-explanatory :
Now there can be two situations which can happen in a workplace and the likely consequences are as follows :
1) Employee is Lazy :
In this case the theory X manager is likely to work better than the theory Y manager because he would be able to interpret the employee in a better way and may be able to motivate his employee through compulsion or through incentives whereas the theory Y manager might fail to get the work done by the employee.
2) Employee is self motivated :
In this case theory Y manager would be able to best utilize the productivity of the employee and may be able to set goals which are commensurate with the ability of the employee and even stretch a bit.
Where as the theory X manager might temper the morale of the employee and lead to dis satisfactions all around.
As can be inferred that we should try to bring theory Y in our workplaces as it works under most circumstances.
Theory X managers can cause long term harm to the company culture and in turn can be a road-block to the success of the company.
Ankit Tyagi
IM-19
Section A
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