In 1960, Douglas McGregor formulated Theory X and Theory Y suggesting two aspects of human behaviour at work, or in other words, two different views of individuals (employees): one of which is negative, called as Theory X and the other is positive, so called as Theory Y. According to McGregor, the perception of managers on the nature of individuals is based on various assumptions. Assumptions of Theory X • An average employee intrinsically does not like work and tries to escape it whenever possible. • Since the employee does not want to work, he must be persuaded, compelled, or warned with punishment so as to achieve organizational goals. A close supervision is required on part of managers. The managers adopt a more dictatorial style. • Many employees rank job security on top, and they have little or no aspiration/ ambition.

• Employees generally dislike responsibilities. • Employees resist change. • An average employee needs formal direction. Assumptions of Theory Y • Employees can perceive their job as relaxing and normal. They exercise their physical and mental efforts in an inherent manner in their jobs. • Employees may not require only threat, external control and coercion to work, but they can use self-direction and self-control if they are dedicated and sincere to achieve the organizational objectives. • If the job is rewarding and satisfying, then it will result in employees’ loyalty and commitment to organization.

Theory X and Theory Y, put forward by Douglas McGregor. Many theories of motivation is Douglas McGregor’s concept of. Processes to create alignment and.

• An average employee can learn to admit and recognize the responsibility. In fact, he can even learn to obtain responsibility. • The employees have skills and capabilities.

Their logical capabilities should be fully utilized. In other words, the creativity, resourcefulness and innovative potentiality of the employees can be utilized to solve organizational problems. Thus, we can say that Theory X presents a pessimistic view of employees’ nature and behaviour at work, while Theory Y presents an optimistic view of the employees’ nature and behaviour at work. If correlate it with Maslow’s theory, we can say that Theory X is based on the assumption that the employees emphasize on the physiological needs and the safety needs; while Theory X is based on the assumption that the social needs, esteem needs and the self-actualization needs dominate the employees. McGregor views Theory Y to be more valid and reasonable than Theory X. Thus, he encouraged cordial team relations, responsible and stimulating jobs, and participation of all in decision-making process.

Implications of Theory X and Theory Y Quite a few organizations use Theory X today. Theory X encourages use of tight control and supervision. It implies that employees are reluctant to organizational changes. Thus, it does not encourage innovation. Many organizations are using Theory Y techniques.

Theory Y implies that the managers should create and encourage a work environment which provides opportunities to employees to take initiative and self-direction. Employees should be given opportunities to contribute to organizational well-being. Theory Y encourages decentralization of authority, teamwork and participative decision making in an organization. Theory Y searches and discovers the ways in which an employee can make significant contributions in an organization.

It harmonizes and matches employees’ needs and aspirations with organizational needs and aspirations. Photoimpact 6 Italiano Download Adobe.

Theory X and Theory Y pertain to employee motivation and have been used in human resource management, organizational behavior analysis, and organizational development. Empxtrack – an is based on such theories and helps organizations to transform their human resource practices. Theory X and Theory Y: Theories of Employee Motivation Theory X and Theory Y was created and developed by Douglas McGregor at the MIT Sloan School of Management in the 1960s. It describes two very different attitudes towards workforce motivation.

McGregor felt that companies followed either one of these approaches. Description of Theory X In this theory, management assumes that employees are inherently lazy and will avoid work if they can.

Because of this, workers need to be closely supervised and comprehensive systems of control put in place. A hierarchical structure is needed, with narrow span of control at each level, for effective employee management. According to this theory employees will show little ambition without an enticing incentive program and will avoid responsibility whenever they can. The managers influenced by Theory X believe that everything must end in blaming someone. They think most employees are only out for themselves and their sole interest in the job is to earn money. They tend to blame employees in most situations, without questioning the systems, policy, or lack of training which could be the real cause of failures.

Managers that subscribe to Theory X tend to take a rather pessimistic view of their employees. Theory X manager believes that it is the manager’s job to structure the work and energize employees. The result of this line of thought is that Theory X managers naturally adopt a controlling style based on the threat of punishment. Critics believe that a Theory X manager could be an impediment to employee morale & productivity.

Description of Theory Y Management influenced by this theory assumes that employees are ambitious, self-motivated and anxious to accept greater responsibility and exercise self-control, self-direction, autonomy and empowerment. Management believes that employees enjoy their work. They also believe that employees have the desire to be creative at their work place and become forward looking. There is a chance for greater productivity by giving employees the freedom to perform to the best of their abilities, without being bogged down by rules.

Theory Y manager believes that, given the right conditions, most people will want to do well at work and that there is a pool of unused creativity in the workforce. They believe that the satisfaction of doing a good job is a strong motivation in itself.

Theory Y manager will try to remove the barriers that prevent workers from fully actualizing themselves. Many people interpret Theory Y as a positive set of assumptions about workers. A close reading of The Human Side of Enterprise reveals that McGregor simply argues for managers to be open to a more positive view of workers and the possibilities that create enthusiasm. Conclusion Though these theories are very basic in nature, they provide a platform for future generations of management theorists and practitioners to understand the changing dynamics of human behavior.

Taken too literally, Theories X and Y seem to represent unrealistic extremes. Most employees (including managers) fall somewhere in between these poles. Recent studies have questioned the rigidity of the model, yet McGregor’s X-Y Theories remain guiding principles to the management to evolve processes which help in organizational development.

A mix of practices which ensure a healthy blend of systems and the freedom to perform at the work place is likely to motivate the employees more. This mix of practices calls for induction of technology into HR.

How we can practice Talent Management in all types of organizations will indicate how well we have understood & deployed these theories X and Y in our real time environment. Solutions Empxtrack offer solutions for talent management.. Recommended readings White Paper: by Gen B K Bhatia Courtesy Empxtrack – Human Capital and Talent Management Suite. It helps organizations to transform their human resource management practices to enhance employee motivation and achieve business objectives.