Motivation alone cannot result in performance. There must be ability on the part of the worker, and the work structure must be conducive to motivation. The work structure can be considered to be comprised of systems where systems are collections of processes and resources and processes are defined as grouped activities that take an input, add value to it and provide an output.
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Accordingly, one of the prime functions of management is to design and improve the work system with the right activities and the right resources at the right times. To achieve the best performance from motivated employees, management must provide a stable and consistent system that allows them to perform at a high level.
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A work system, where the worker is provided with the right and pleasant work environment, is a great motivator for the workers. The right type of job, the right tools to work with, good interaction with peers and superiors, fair system of rewards and incentives are all tied to the desired work behaviour. Structure greatly influences behaviour.
For example, a person who casually throws away a chewing gum wrapper on the roadside in New York City would not dare to do so in Singapore.
Similarly a person who is used to bribing a police officer to get away with a crime in India would not behave in that manner in America where the system strictly punishes the bribe taker and the bribe giver. Accordingly, a well designed and enforceable system has great influence on motivation and positive behaviour.
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Deming, a well known quality oriented thinker, estimated that 94 percent of organizational problems are caused by faulty systems in one form or another. The relationship between performance and motivation with inputs from ability and system can be shown as follows:
