Motivation In An Organization

An employee is one of the most important stakeholders within an organization. Without employees labor can not be accomplished. One of the attributes of a quality manager includes being able to motivate their subordinates. Our text describes motivation as “The psychological forces that determine the direction of a person’s behavior in an organization, a person’s level of effort, and a person’s level of persistence” (Jones, George 201 1). Motivation explains what persuades an individual’s actions.

When speaking of motivation, one must take into account the type of motivation an individual is motivated by. There are three types of motivation Intrinsic, Extrinsic, and Prosocially. Intrinsic motivation involves motivation from ones own accomplishments.

This process is also known as “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”. Maslow concluded that in order for motivation to be achieved there has to be a sense of satisfaction met. The five Hierarchy of Needs includes Physiolgical needs such as food, water, and shelter. Physiological needs can be obtained by an employer providing substantial income to an employee that enables them to provide these basic items. The second basic need consist of safety needs, such as feeling safe in an organization. Safety needs can be provided by an employee knowing they have job security, 401k, and safe working conditions. Belongingness is the third basic need; employees need to feel like they belong to the group of people they spend most of their day with. All employees need to feel like they are appreciated this builds Esteem. Making employees feel appreciated could come by giving a gift card, or announcing employee of the month, or giving merit increases, or movie tickets with a dinner. The most important need for an employee is the need to be able to think for themselves. All employees have a need for Self-Actualization, this provides and employee the opportunity to think, and utilize the skills they have acquired from their experiences with previous employers, and use those skills to the best of their