Motivation for Work

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"Work" is a positive thing for many people. To some people, it may be described as a place to escape from the kids, or even a time consumption thing for a single or retired person, but most importantly it is what we do in order to provide for our families and ourselves. Work is something that we all will experience at one time or another during our lives.

There are several reasons why a person goes to work. These reasons can be better explained as "work motivation". Work motivation can be defined as the inner forces that make us work and want to work harder to achieve personal or organizational goals (George & Jones, 2005). There are two different types of motivation; intrinsic and extrinsic.

When personal goals motivate us, it is considered to be intrinsic (George & Jones, 2005). For example; when I stay over 3 extra hours to help my department set up the new computer system because I know it's going to save us all time once we get it going, and because I enjoy doing that kind of work, it is for intrinsic reasons.

Extrinsic motivation can be better described as working towards a reward or to keep from getting punished (George & Jones, 2005). For example: when I decide to work twice as fast so that I can clock out early to go shopping, it is considered to be extrinsic because there was a reward in the end.

Motivation is definitely something that an employer wants to see from their employees. Not only are motivated employees more productive but also they are also easier to work with as well as help to provide a better work environment for everyone.

When analyzing Aberdeen and Green River I found that the Green River's employees are motivated mainly by personal rewards such as higher rates o...

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...er is much different; they teach the employee how to do one job and leave them to do just that. This not only gives them little to no opportunity of advancement, but it makes for a very monotonous career, and does not give the employees any motivational push or incentives.

I think that if Green River would break down and re-design the jobs, incorporate performance appraisals with a merit pay plan, and possibly multi-train their employees for future career placement, then they would get greater performance in the long run.

References

Clawson, J.G (2005). Custom Business Resources. FMC Aberdeen from Practical Problems in Organizations: Cases in Leadership, Organizational Behavior and Human Resources. Boston MA. Pearson Custom Publishing.

George, J. & Jones, G. (2005). Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey

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