What is Employee Motivation?
Employee motivation can be defined as the intrinsic or the internal drive which is important for the employees to make the necessary efforts and the actions for the work-related activities. It can be defined as the psychological force which determines the direction of the behavior of the employee, level of the efforts and the employee persistence (Bruce, 2012). It is the willingness of the employees to achieve goals or rewards in lieu of the work completed. There are a number of motivational techniques such as job design, rewards, employee participation and work-life balance. The organizations use these employee motivation methods to encourage the employees to achieve their targets (Podmoroff, 2016).
Employee motivation is significant in the productivity of the employees. Most of the employers consider that the employees are required to perform in the organization in exchange of the remuneration they are getting from the organization. They assume that the employees work in lieu of monetary benefits; therefore, they will work accordingly. However, motivation is required to improve the performance of the employees.
The attitude and the enthusiasm of the employees are important in enhancing the performance of the employees. The managers cannot force the employees to excel their performance in their jobs; however, they can motivate the employees with fair treatment, compensation and motivational techniques. The managers can lead by example and motivate the employees to perform their best. It can be analyzed that the motivation is significant in the performance outcomes of the employees. When the employees are motivated they tend to perform better in their job roles and take high leaps in their career which is essential for the career growth of the employees. It is equally beneficial for the organization as it grows the talent internally within the organization (Daft and Marcic, 2010).
The managers who assume that the employees are basic human resources to achieve the organization’s goals are unable to optimize the potential of their workforce. In the autocratic business organizations, the managers do not provide any flexibility or freedom to the employees and control their operations. In such a work environment, the employees are unable to perform according to their skills and suffer from mental stress and anxiety. In such a business organization, the employee attrition is quite high and the organization suffers from poor performance (Weinstein, 2014). Moreover, in such companies the efforts of the managers to improve the performance of the employees comes in the category of bullying which can adversely impact the mental health of the employees. At the stage, when the mangers opt for bullying the employees to achieve their targets, the employee emotional and the psychological health can be adversely affected. It can also be deduced from the discussion, that when the employees are motivated they work harder in their current profile and get promoted quickly (Wilton, 2016).
Motivational Techniques for Employees
In the recent years, several business organizations have started realizing the importance of the employee motivation and its correlation with the performance of the organization. The employee motivation is an essential strategy to enhance the performance of the employees. With the employee motivation, the business organizations provide intent to the employees to achieve the organizations targets.
The motivation can be considered as an emotion or commitment of the employees towards their work. The managers can simulate the motivation of the employees by offering shared vision and creating positive and transparent environment in the organization. Several business managers have recognized the importance of the employee motivation an adopted strategies to enhance the employee motivation at the workplace (DEcenzo, 2009). The primary aspect in the employee motivation is providing the employees with an intent or goal which they have to achieve in a specific time period. The employees can be motivated by providing flexibility and freedom to achieve their occupational targets. When the managers try to motivate their employees to achieve their targets, it not only improves the performance of the employees, but create a positive perception of the employees towards their organization (Meyer, 2016). When the employees have the concern for their organization, they are willing to outperform their targets and become ready to compromise their regular targets in order to achieve the targets of the organization. Therefore, the employee motivation is important in improving the performance of the employees. When the employees are motivated they also hold the gratitude towards their managers and employees and consider the benefit of the organization during their tenure or even after when they have left the organization (O’Sullivan, 2007).
Psychology also plays a crucial part in the employee motivation. In certain instances, when the employees are not motivated properly, it diminishes the performance of the employees. When the leaders do not implement motivational strategy and constantly pinpoint the weaknesses of the employees, it creates a negative work culture in the organization and the employees remain demotivated and demoralized. It undermines the performance of the individual employees and reduces the performance of the entire team. Therefore, when the managers do not implement the employee motivation methods, it adversely impacts the performance of the organization. The business firm cannot achieve the targets which they could have previously achieved (Grenway, 2008).
Every employee requires motivation to perform better in job role.There are specific motivational needs of each employee. In the early stage of the career, the employees are motivated by the financial gains; however, in the later stage of their career, the employees are motivated by the recognition and prestige. The companies should develop their motivational strategies accordingly.
Benefits of Employee Motivation
Figure: Maslow’s Heirarichal Needs
(Source: McLeod, 2016)
The employee motivation methods are grounded in the employee motivation theories. There are a number of employee motivation theories such as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg’s two-factor theory. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs states that the motivation can be considered to be correlated to the hierarchy o needs wherein the people are motivated by different stages of the pyramids. Moreover, the people cannot move to the higher level of the pyramid unless they have satisfied the needs of the lower level (Burke and Cooper, 2005). According to this theory, the basic needs of the employees are the air, water and food. The employees with the minimum wage meet this category. According to this pyramid, the next level of needs is safety and security (Maslow, 2013). When the people have satisfied their basic needs, they look for a place which is secure and safe. The employers make efforts to create a work environment which is free from physical and emotional hazard with the sense of job security. The next level of employee motivation is social belonging and affiliation. Every person has needs to be social, have friends, to be loved and have a sense of belongingness (Maslow, 2013). The employer can implement employee participation program to fulfill this need. Moreover, the companies can also introduce the employee reward system and acknowledge their contribution to fulfill this need. The higher levels of Maslow’s hierarchal pyramid comprises of esteem needs and the self-actuation needs. At the higher levels, the employee wants that their efforts to be recognized and want to do some meaningful work which is beneficial for the society and the organization. The company can adapt the job design of the employees to address the higher level needs (Gagne, 2014).
Theories of Employee Motivation
Another theory which is commonly used in the employee motivation is Herzberg’s two-factor theory wherein it is stated that the employee motivation is based on hygiene factors and the motivation needs. The hygiene factors are the extrinsic motivators which are based on the work environment, hygiene, maintenance, working conditions and the overall compensation. These factors are not responsible for the motivation of the employees; however, the absence of these qualities can result in the employee dissatisfaction. The motivation needs of the employees are satisfied by the achievement, responsibility, and recognition and job advancement of the employees. The companies can implement the work-life programs to increase the satisfaction of the employees which can increase the employee motivation (Rech, Myers and Scott, 2015).
The attitude of the employees is also significant in the employee productivity. The employee motivation techniques should be targeted to change the attitude of the employees towards their work. The employee attitude encompasses optimism, expectations and the enthusiasm of the employees towards their work. It is important to understand that it is very difficult to extrinsically motivate the employees towards their work; therefore, the managers should focus on the intrinsic employee motivation, which can be created by changing the employee attitude. The attitude of the employees does not occur due to the occurrence of the event but due to the interpretation of the events or the employee perception. Precisely, it is the perception or the outlook of the people with which they perceive the world. If the employees are motivated, they will consider the job difficulties in the job as challenges and will be motivated to overcome them. The business managers can motivate the employees by redefining the meaning of the exterior events (Ehnert, 2009).
Conclusion
It can be concluded that the employee motivation is essential in the productivity and the performance of the employees. It is the responsibility of the management to implement strategies which can contribute to the employee motivation. The employee motivation can be defined as the intrinsic drive or enthusiasm of the employees towards their work. The business managers have the responsibility to motivate the employees for their work. The managers who motivate the employees increase the performance of the employees and assist them in achieving new heights in their job role. There are a number of motivational techniques such as job design, remuneration package and the recognition which can be used to increase the employee motivation. These motivational strategies are based on the motivation theories such as Maslow’s hierarchal pyramid of needs and Herzberg’s two factor theory.
References
Bruce, A. 2012. Manager’s Guide to Motivating Employees 2/E. McGraw Hill Professional.
Burke, R.J. and Cooper, C.L. 2005. Reinventing Human Resource Management: Challenges and New Directions. Psychology Press.
Daft, R.L. and Marcic, D. 2010. Understanding Management. Cengage Learning.
DeCenzo, D.A., Robbins, S.P. and Verhulst, S.L. 2016. Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, Binder Ready Version. John Wiley & Sons.
DEcenzo. 2009. Fundamentals Of Human Resource Management, 8Th Ed. John Wiley & Sons.
Ehnert, I. 2009. Sustainable Human Resource Management: A conceptual and exploratory analysis from a paradox perspective. Springer Science & Business Media.
Gagne, M. 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Work Engagement, Motivation, and Self-determination Theory. Oxford University Press.
Meyer, J.P. 2016. Handbook of Employee Commitment. Edward Elgar Publishing.
O’Sullivan, K. 2007. Strategic Knowledge Management in Multinational Organizations. IGI Global.
Podmoroff, D. 2016. 365 Ways to Motivate and Reward Your Employees Every Day: With Little Or No Money. Atlantic Publishing Company.
Wilton, N. 2016. An Introduction to Human Resource Management. SAGE.
McLeod, S. 2016. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Simply Psychology. [Online.] Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html [Accessed on: 22 March 2017].
Maslow, A.H. 2013. A Theory of Human Motivation. Simon and Schuster.
Rech, R., Myers, T. and Scott, T. 2015. 100% Employee Engagement–Guaranteed!: A Three Step Formula for Getting More Done and Generating Way More Profit. BookBaby.
Grenway, B. 2008. The Relationship Between Employee Motivation and Job Satisfaction of African-American Human Service Employees. ProQuest.
Weinstein, N. 2014. Human Motivation and Interpersonal Relationships: Theory, Research, and Applications. Springer Science & Business Media.
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