Task: Choose a company and identify all motivational (employee-centered) programs that
the company has in place. Then ascertain the significance and objectives of these
programs. Next provide a critique of these programs. Finally, recommend changes that will
improve on the programs and/or new programs that will better meet the objectives
articulated above. Overview: The company that I have chosen as the subject of my
research is the AAA Travel Agency. More specifically, I have interviewed several travel
agents from the Reno, Pennsylvania location, which serves patrons from Western
Pennsylvania as well as West Virginia. The bulk of the information for my analysis has
come directly from the in-office interviews with Ms. Tiffany Pacior, the senior travel agent
for the Reno office. She has provided me with information directly out of the AAA
employee handbook as well as personal information covering the positive and negative
effects she has experienced from the programs I will be discussing. There can be little
doubt that the backbone of every successful business or company is its staff of employees.
Employees are the vital parts of the business machine that can aid in its success or
contribute to its failure. It is for this reason that it is imperative to possess the ability to
acquire and maintain effective employees. The chief method by which a business or
company can accomplish this task is through employee-centered motivational programs.
The goal of these programs is to encourage employees to maximize their performance by
targeting three specific motivational stimuli. These include morale, satisfaction, and
rewards. After researching their policies and interviewing employees, I have came to the
conclusion that AAA of Reno, Pennsylvania has adopted Fredrick Taylor approach to
motivating their employees. In this paper I will demonstrate how AAA applies Taylor
scientific management approach to target the three motivational stimuli stated above. I will
also provide some insight from the employee perspective as to how effective the programs
are at what they are designed to achieve. The scientific management approach to
motivation evolved from the work of Frederick Taylor. He believed that when highly
productive people discover they are being compensated basically the same as less
productive people, then the output of highly productive people will decrease.
Consequently, the scientific management approach to motivation is based on the
assumption that money is the primary motivator. This seems to be the ideology that AAA
has adopted to produce high morale, achieve satisfaction, and reward their employees.
