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The importance of motivation in the workplace
The importance of motivation in the workplace
Problems of motivation
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Motivation to work is closely related to the reasons why people work. And for that matter, there are a number of reasons why people work which include to earn monetary rewards, gain satisfaction from accomplishment, maintain social status, keep oneself engaged in a worthwhile activity instead of idling around or to gain association to something. While every person's reason to work might be slightly different from others, it usually consists of a few, if not all, among the ones discussed above. This therefore means that remuneration is not the only source of motivation in today’s workplace. As a matter of fact, motivation factors have increased and it is becoming increasingly difficult to point out the motivating factors and more complex to …show more content…
Today's employers are more aware about the need to treat and handle their employees with due respect to their individuality and their individual needs. Moreover, in modern work places, there is the Human Resource Department that is specifically tasked to look into and address factors that motivate employees with the sole purpose of improving performance in the workplace. The motivation factors are then classified as either intrinsic or extrinsic and are recognized and rewarded accordingly (Frey & Osterloh, …show more content…
These are however not the only factors that affect motivation. There are other factors that influence people's attitude towards work. For example, the personal relationships and family conditions often affect the workplace performance. Ways in which employees can be motivated in such instances are some of the concerns of today's human resource managers. In such scenarios, counselling sessions need to be availed and the employee helped to get over their personal issues so that their performance at work is not affected and that their motivation is back. Similarly, things that motivate individuals vary with age and or the stage of career in that one could find compensation and initial socialization sessions to be highly motivating during the early stages of their career but this could change with
Intrinsic and extrinsic types of motivation have been widely studied and the understanding of each has led to great changes in how organizations run their businesses. It is clear that hourly employees have many great extrinsic motivators but lack intrinsic motivation in their job assignments which is a characteristic of our work culture. Changing the culture is one of the keys to improving motivation at that level of the organization because the best motivation occurs when employees perform because they want to and not because they are being made to do so.
Employee Motivation: A Powerful New Model? Harvard Business Review. Latham G.P. and Pinder C.C. (2005). The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary'. Work Motivation Theory and Research at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century.
Motivation is defined as, “the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior.” Motivation is key in personal life as well as the career world. Motivation in the work place is highly dependent on employers being able to understand the needs and wants of their employees. When employers can understand and satisfy an employee’s needs, the employee is more inclined to perform well in his position. “The ranked order of motivating factors were: (a) interesting work, (b) good wages, (c) full appreciation of work done, (d) job security, (e) good working conditions, (f) promotions and growth in the organization, (g) feeling of being in on things, (h) personal loyalty to employees, (i) tactful discipline, and (j) sympathetic help with personal problems.” (Accel-Team) In order to achieve all or some of these key motivating factors in the work place, an employee generally will want interesting work, good wages, and recognition from superiors and peers.
It is firstly important to understand what motivation is? It’s the force that makes us do things: this is a result of our individual needs being met so we have inspiration to achieve a task. These needs change from each individual as everybody has their separate requirements’ to motivate themselves. “Every individual is unique and will respond differently to attempts to motivate him or her” (Bratton 2010 pg 210). When we suggest factors that determine the motivation of employees, the majority would instantly think of extrinsic motivation (higher salary). This is correct for the reason that some workers will be driven by money, but mostly wrong for the reason that it does not satisfy others as some people favour the intrinsic route were personal achievement or praise might be enough. This reinforces the statement that motivation is a personal characteristic, and not a one...
Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, “Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.” Studies have found that high employee motivation goes hand in hand with strong organizational performance and profits. Therefore, managers are given the responsibility of finding the right combination of motivational techniques and rewards to satisfy employees’ needs and encourage great work performance. This becomes a bit more challenging as employees’ needs change from one generation to another. Three of the biggest challenges a manager faces in motivating employees today are the economy and threats to job security, technological advances, and company cultures that primarily focus on the bottom line.
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).
In daily life, we need motivation to improve our performance in our job or in studies. Motivation is an internal force, dependent on the needs that drive a person to achieve. In the other words, motivation is a consequence of expectations of the future while satisfaction is a consequence of past events (Carr, 2005). We need to give reward to our self when we did correctly or we has achieve our target. Reward is something that we are given because we have behaved well, worked hard, or provided a service to the community. Theories of motivation can be used to explain the behavior and attitude of employees (Rowley, 1996; Weaver, 1998). The theories include content theories, based on assumptions that people have individual needs, which motivate their action. Meanwhile according to Robbins (2001), motivation is a needs-satisfying process, which means that when a person's needs are satisfied by certain factors, the person will exert superior effort toward attaining organizational goals. Schulze and Steyn (2003) affirmed that in order to understand people’s behavior at work, managers or supervisors must be aware of the concept of needs or motives which will help “move” their employees to act.Theories such as Maslow (1954), McClelland (1961), Herzberg (1966) and Alderfer (1969) are renowned for their works in this field. The intrinsic reward or also be known as motivators factors is the part of Herzberg motivation theory. Motivators are involve factors built into the job or the studies itself such as achievement, recognition, responsibility and advancement. Hygiene factors are extrinsic to the job such as interpersonal relationship, salary, supervision and company policy (Herzberg, 1966. There have two factors that are called hygiene fac...
One of the most important theories of HRM (Human Resource Management is that of ‘Motivation’. The purpose of this theory is to explain the role of an organisation in order to encourage its people to put in the best of their efforts and abilities in a way that will help further in achieving better outcomes for the business and organisation’s goals(Armstrong, 2001). There are various techniques that can be adopted to motivate people for instance, rewards, punishments, actions to satisfy needs, psychological processes etc. This world is developing at a rapid pace and due to this development and quick changes; new ways of working and managing organisations have emerged. These
In any organization, the desire to earn a salary will automatically push employees to show up for work (Barry et al., 2016). However, the theory of organizational behavior asserts that employees need to be motivated in order to perform to the best of their knowledge and ability. It is highly likely that employees today will be motivated in the event that they are able to see a clear link between the effort they put forth and the reward that the employee will receive afterwards. Such rewards must be seen as fair, and above all equitable. This is the only sure way to ensure that employees are inspired to work diligently. In order to achieve this goal, managers within the organization can motivate employees by setting realistic, achievable goals and measuring attainment. Achievement of these particular goals, can be set between the manager and employee. Once the goal is achieved, they employee should be appropriately awarded. This can be done either through recognition from the manager or financially. In this way, employees are motivated and efficient.
Motivation is the process of getting someone to act on a particular situation. According to (Adelhardt, S, K. 2015, December 2) lack of motivation in the workplace is the most problematic subject for all managers, because it leads to decreasing productivity, performance and yet it increases the chances of employee resignation. Many employers suppose that managers these days are struggling to motivate their employees due to lack of significantly vital experience as well as knowledge in the employee engagement developing process. One of the successful strategies that managers can use to increase employee inspiration is by offering an attractive remuneration and benefits to their employees. Remuneration and benefits such as an extrinsic bonus
Motivation in the workplace has a great effect on productivity. By motivating employees, a business can increase its productivity. According to Michaelson (2005), ”factors that individual workers regard as valuable need to be channeled or redirected to augment organizational productivity” (p. 235). There are several forms of motivation that can be used to increase productivity. Some motivational methods that could affect productivity are job engagement, goal-setting, and reinforcement. Knowing the connection between motivation and productivity can be crucial for employees to increase productivity levels. When employees are motivated they will work more efficiently and raise overall productivity. The first step for employers is choosing how to motivate their employees.
An important part of the retention of staff, reducing staff turnover and minimising absenteeism at work is ensuring that staff are properly motivated. This is not as easy as it sounds. At first glance, you might be tempted to think that merely increasing wages is the way to motivate! Not so. Most thinkers on the subject would argue that motivation is a far more complex issue than merely 'money'.
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).
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...