Theories Of Motivation, Job Satisfaction And Work Performance

Motivation, Job Satisfaction and Work Performance All managers are faced with the dilemma of how to effectively motivate employees to perform at their best in order to accomplish the goals and objectives of the organization. It is important for managers to understand and appreciate an employee’s needs because these are the basis for understanding what is motivating that employee at any particular time. For example, if an otherwise good employee is excluded from the informal social network at work and begins to act isolated and their productivity begins to slip, it may be because their belonging needs are not being met. As a manger you have the ability and obligation to help satisfy an employee’s needs in order to keep them satisfied and

By studying these different theories, managers can enhance their understanding of the relationship between motivation and why employees may have performance issues on the job. According to Baack (2012), motivation is what starts, maintains and stops behavior and the different motivational theories can be broken down into three main categories: Content, operant process and cognitive process theories. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Alderfer’s ERG, McClelland’s Need and Herzberg’s Two-Factor theories are all part of the content category. Content theories of motivation examine factors within individuals, notably needs, that lead to behaviors and describe the essence or content of motives, which are often viewed as unsatisfied or unfulfilled needs (Baack, 2012, Section 4.1, para. 1). One of the best known researchers on the subject of motivation was psychologist Abraham Maslow. In his article, The Theory of Human Motivation (1943), Maslow says there are five levels of needs; survival, safety, social, esteem and self-actualization and that each level must be satisfied, in that order, before moving to the next. Once an individual’s survival, safety and security needs are met, they move on to the social needs of love and esteem. Humans in general have a need for a stable, firmly based, high evaluation of themselves, for

Some of the actions a manager can take in this situation, short of moving John back to day shift, is to try and help him gain a new social network and group of friends on the night shift. The manager could set-up informal get-togethers and team building exercises so everyone can get to know each other better and interact in a social setting. The manager could also provide awards such as Employee of the Month, provide more frequent performance feedbacks and publicly praise him for a job well done. Each of these actions can generate esteem from others and address the motivators of recognition and achievement. Another tactic could be to design his current job to give him more responsibility and authority in decision-making and explain the reasons he was moved to night shift and how his new position fits in with the overall success of the organization. The manager should also sell the idea that he can gain new skills, broaden his understanding of the overall business which will make him more attractive for promotion when the opportunity arises. These strategies will relate directly to John’s job satisfaction, needs fulfillment and