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Motivation theories in the workplace
Motivation theories in the workplace
Literature review on employee engagement
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Recent research has shown that employees are increasingly dissatisfied with their jobs. According to an article on USA Today, just about 30% of employees are engaged and draw inspiration from their jobs, which is a rise from the 28% it was in 2010. Employees are simply not just into their jobs. Research however shows that motivated employees are happier with their jobs. According to an article on the Times 100 , motivated employees get “ more satisfaction from their work, are absent less often, tend to be more loyal and work with more enthusiasm.” The overall satisfaction with their jobs is a key element in how much they are encouraged to contribute more to the development of an organization
Because motivation is a key variable in employee productivity, mangers and business leader agree that it is constantly a challenge to keep employees motivated (Broder, 2013) Broder further argues that this situation is especially difficult because the idea of motivation is diverse. People are motivated differently therefore, it becomes imperative to understand individually, what motivates each person. “By understanding what drives each unique member of your team, you can effectively tailor the approach you use to get the most out of each person you'd like to motivate.” (Broder, 2013)
There are five major theoretical approaches to a better understanding of motivation. They are the Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, Herzberg's two- factor theory, Vroom's expectancy theory, Adams' equity theory, and Skinner's reinforcement theory (Lindner, 1998). These theories help us understand people and how they can be motivated. Nevertheless, there is still no exact science to motivation. While some people can be externally motivated by pay, assurance o...
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...: http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/kelloggs/building-a-better-workplace-through-motivation/#axzz2x5AcLTen
Grant, K. (2013, June 30). Americans hate their jobs, even with perks. Retrieved March 26, 2014, from USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/06/30/americans-hate-jobs-office-perks/2457089/
Hezberg, F. (2003, January). One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees? Retrieved March 26, 2014, from Harvard Business Review: http://hbr.org/2003/01/one-more-time-how-do-you-motivate-employees/ar/1
Lindner, J. (1998). Understanding Employee Motivation . Journal of Externsion.
Michael, B. S. (2013, February 5). Motivation in the Workplace for Optimal Results Is Not a 'One Size Fits All' Implementation . Retrieved March 26, 2014, from Huff Post Business: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-s-broder-phd/employee-motivation-productivity-_b_2615208.html
While motivational and job satisfaction theories can help employers or leaders to gauge what motivates their employees, it is impossible for them to be used to explain all motivating factors. By analyzing these theories, it is possible to understand their basic concepts, and see how they can be an advantage in motivating their employees to the best possible outcome for the
“It is therefore imperative for a company to understand the attitude of its workers and measure the job satisfaction of its employees, as job satisfaction is essential for productivity” (L. Bradshaw para. Therefore, the individual can still attain high job productivity without having the satisfaction in their field of work. This happens when money is just their motivation, or if they’re trying to receive a promotion. Others try to increase their productivity due to just the satisfaction they obtain from their work.
Employee motivation seems to be a constant problem in the working world. It is true, not everyone is going to absolutely love their job and want to do it five out of seven days a week. Everyone has their bad days where all they want to do is just go home and get away from the office, which is okay. The problem with those people that dislike their job every single day, is that their dislike makes them completely unmotivated to work. This lack of motivation can then rub off on other employees in the office and it can be very hard to get people motivated unless they have the desire to be. I have noticed a few employees at my workplace that seem to be having trouble motivating themselves to do their job. This can be caused by many different things, such as: their perception of their
“Motivation is the will and desire that a person has to engage in a particular behaviour or perform a particular task” (Lawley & King, P269). In life motivation will be needed to enhance the workforce in various ways, many organisations will use motivation to increase the percentage yield of an individual or to make an individual feel a part of the business or organisation. Incentives have a huge influence on behaviourist & extrinsic approach. In addition other aspects; humanist theorist, intrinsic approach, Taylorism and Fordism have a part in perception of motivation.
Nitin N., Boris G. and Linda-Eling L. (2008, July 01). Employee Motivation: A Powerful New Model. Harvard Business Review.
First lets start with motivation, what is motivation? It is a process that drives people towards a goal. In the business industry, motivation is the driving force for employees to accomplish the organization’s goals. I...
Ever since the beginning of Organizational Psychology, work motivation has been a big topic of discussion and research. Based off of what I learned in class lectures, motivation is a complex force that drives people to behave in certain ways. Motivation is an effort expenditure that energizes, directs, and sustains, however, it is not the same thing as performance or ability. Over the course of this discussion, I have formed a variety of ideas about workplace motivation and have better equipped myself to define what I believe creates a motivated, productive, and engaged workforce. Looking at all of the different motivational theories, I believe Herzberg’s two-factor theory, job characteristics theory, the equity theory, the equity theory,
Employee motivation has always been a central problem in the workplace, and, as an individual in a supervisory position, it becomes one’s duty to understand and institute systems that ensure the proper motivation of your subordinates. Proper motivation of employees can ensure high productivity and successful workflow, while low worker motivation can result in absenteeism, decreased productivity rates, and turnover. A large body of research has been produced regarding motivation, and much of this research is applicable to the workplace. Due to the nature of man, motivation varies from individual to individual, and, because of this, there is no one system that is the best for ensuring worker motivation in every organizational situation, and, as a product, many theories have been created to outline what drives people to satisfactorily complete their work tasks. Throughout the course of this document, the three main types of these motivational theories will be outlined and examples of each, as well as how these theories can be used to further strengthen and sustain worker motivation....
Research has shown that motivation in an employee is an important factor which determines his performance. Motivation is the “driving force within individuals” (Mullins, 2007, p. 285). It is the concerned with finding out the reasons which shape and direct the behaviour of the individuals. The people act to achieve something so that they can satisfy some needs (Gitman and Daniel, 2008). It is important for the manager to understand this motivation of individual employees in order to inspire them and devise an appropriate set of incentives and rewards which would satisfy the needs that they have individually (Kerr, 2003). Once these needs are expected to be met in return for some specific behaviour or action, they would work more diligently to have that behaviour in them and to achieve that objective (Meyer and Hersovitch, 2001). Since it would lead to early and fuller achievement of the company objectives as the individual would work more diligently, it would lead to better organizational performance (Wiley, 1997).
The key to understanding what employees’ motivations are, and how managers can support them in their aims and objectives, is to understand that different people are motivated by different things. Managers should make a conscience effort to stay in touch with the interest, skills and abilities that their employees possess. Given the opportunity, it is possible that employees can provide valuable information about how to motivate each other to do a better job.
The job of a manager in the workplace is to get things done through employees. To do this the manager should be able to motivate employees. But that’s easier said than done! Motivation practice and theory are difficult subject, touching on several disciplines.
Kovach KA (1987). What motivates employees? Workers and supervisors give different answers. Business Horizons, 30. 58-65. Print. 8 Feb. 2014.
Motivation is the force that transforms and uplifts people to be productive and perform in their jobs. Maximizing employee’s motivation is a necessary and vital to successfully accomplish the organization’s targets and objectives. However, this is a considerable challenge to any organizations managers, due to the complexity of motivation and the fact that, there is no ready made solution or an answer to what motivates people to work well (Mullins,2002).
Today businesses believe that the sustaining of performance and competitive advantage to becoming a great organization. As an organization’s success depends on their employees’ performance, the value of specific individual employee has played an important role within an organization to be competitive. At that time, the value of each and individual employee and their satisfaction with their jobs are one of the key factors for an organization and organizations need to find ways to improve employee job satisfaction to achieve organizational goals.
Motivation, as defined in class, is the energy and commitment a person is prepared to dedicate to a task. In most of organisations, motivation is one of the most troublesome problems. Motivation is about the intensity, direction and persistence of reaching a goal. During the class, we have learned a substantial theories of motivation and many theories of motivations are used in real business. Each theory seems to have different basic values. But, they all have been analysed for one reason, recognising what motivates and increases the performance of employees. Ident...