Motivation of Employees at Work - Essay Example

Motivation of employees Paper name: Name: Institution: Introduction Motivation refers to the force that drives employees in an organization to increase their effort to do their duties in a perfect way without being disrupted by any obstacles as they work to satisfy customer needs (Herzberg, Mausner & Snyderman 1959). It can also be defined as how an employee works hard and in a passionate way to accomplish their duties persistently. Most companies works towards motivating their employees so as to increase the companies’ profits through increased output and productivity (Lauby 2005). There are many researchers who have laid down strategies on how employees can be motivated to perform their duties and satisfy customer needs. Motivation is any activity that the company owners and management take for the benefit of their employees with an aim of raising their productivity and output. This is done to bring out the best from the employees giving them the most favourable working environment. There are different ways and methods of motivation as they will be explained in the course of this paper (Kehoe 2007). Role of motivation in organisations Employee motivation in organisations or companies is the most important task and role that is undertaken by the Human Resources Managers, as this determines how the employees do their work, and how whether the organisation achieves its goals (Sempane 2002). Motivating employees does not entirely depend on the money incentives that they get, but other factors like communication in the organisation and interpersonal relationships between the employees and the employers also play a major role in motivation. When employees are motivated, they in most cases achieve job satisfaction, and they end up giving their best to their work in the bid to achieve the organisation’s goal (Christopher 2005). How employees perform their duties is wholly and largely influenced by the work environment, ability, and by far, motivation. Even when some deficiencies in the employees can be solved by inducing some factors like training and changing the working environment, motivation issues cannot be addressed easily. This therefore shows the enormous role played by motivation in influencing the employee performance, hence becoming the major task undertaken by managers in organisations. The role and importance of motivation in an organisation theoretically is straightforward, whereas empirically it is difficult to measure (Tietjen & Myers 1998). Measuring the exact levels in which higher productivity is as a result of motivation is difficult to pinpoint since it is hard to measure individual’ s drive by using metrics. Despite all this, it is largely believed and accepted that employees who are motivated produce more levels of achievement as well as of higher value. Managing motivation hence becomes a critical factor for any organisation’s success, and this allows the human resources input to be maximised so as to achieve the expected output (Bruggemann 1976). In most cases, salaries may be enough to keep the employees for an organisation working and performing, but not always enough for capitalising on the full potential of the employees. Salary helps in keeping employees from job dissatisfaction, but not enough to increase the employees’ levels of performance and production. Research shows that motivation for employees helps them to invent new and better ways of doing their jobs. Motivated employees tend to be quality oriented, and they are also more efficient and productive. Difficulties faced by managers in keeping staff motivated The most challenging job that a manager is faced with is, figuring out and learning how to effectively motivate the workers and employees under his or her care, and to keep them motivated always. When asked how an employee can be kept motivated, each person will of course pinpoint what makes him or her motivated. Human beings are different ad diverse, and what motivates one employee may end up disgusting another. This only succeeds in making the work of managers hard and difficult because it calls for different methods of motivating each individual employee (Tietjen & Myers 1998). The managers not only have to devise ways to ensure that their employees are motivated always, but they also have to make sure that they themselves are motivated as well, so as to undertake their duties and responsibilities effectively. This means that managers should see to it that motivation is both at the personal and the organisational level, and this is balanced without favouring any side (Bruggemann 1976). The more employees there are in an organisation, the harder the work of the managers is made in motivating and keeping all employees motivated. Some employees end up being fully motivated, others partially, while others are not motivated at all since the managers cannot be able to weave a cloth tailored for each employees needs and motivating factors. Some employees do not require much motivation unlike others who can never be motivated. Some people hate work and view it as a punishment and something that should be done to pass time and earn a living. Motivating such employees is difficult for the managers since no amount of motivation can make them improve their performance and productivity (Tietjen & Myers 1998). Even by employing all methods of motivation, such employees can never be motivated leave alone being made to appreciate their work. They always find something negative about work and what they do, and not even the living they earn from it can be able to motivate them (Rosentiel 2001). Such workers are not only a liability to an organisation, but they also make the work and task of managers difficult. The type of job a person is doing also matters a lot on whether a person gets motivated or not. Some jobs are viewed as less prestigious than others, and hence most people do them just because they do not have another alternative. In this situation, there is no job satisfaction for the employees, and motivation plays a minimal role in increasing performance and productivity (Lauby, 2005). Without job satisfaction, employees cannot be motivated in their work. This in turn frustrates the efforts of the managers to ensure that all employees are motivated and that they remain motivated (Ramlall 2004). Unless the managers provide motivation in the form of job satisfaction, which is not possible as long as the employee disregards and has a low opinion of his or her work, external motivation employed by the managers cannot work (Sempane 2002). Something interesting may happen in the course of the employee’s work that can motivate him or her, but this can only last for a very short time. This is a major challenge faced by managers in the course of their work of motivating employees and ensuring that they are always motivated. There are organisations which do not believe in, or even advocate for employee motivation, and this frustrates any manager who tries to motivate the employees (Kehoe 2007). Some organisations lack the culture of external motivation of employees, and they expect the employees to motivate themselves from within, as long as the organisation or the company is making profits (Rosentiel 2001). There are various ways of motivation that can be employed by managers like rewarding hardworking employees, encouraging communication in the organisation, enhancing and encouraging interpersonal relationships among employees and the employers and employees as well as involving employees in major decision making that involve the employees and giving the employees room for innovation and invention (Christopher 2005). A Human Resources Manager may suggest the above factors as ways of motivating the employees in an organisation, and if not given the support required or permission to implement them, this frustrates their work, hence making it difficult. Theories and models of motivating employees to perform It is evident that all human beings are different and require various methods and ways of motivating them in order to perform effectively (Ramlall 2004). Therefore, this call for any Human Resources Manager to employ different theories and models of motivation, in order to ensure that these models cut across all the needs and the diversity of human nature (Islam and Ismael 2008). As a manager, I would employ the different models and theories of motivation, in order to motivate my employees to perform and improve productivity (Lauby 2005). This is because, the diversity of human nature and needs call for the different models in order to satisfy most if not all motivation needs of the employees. These models are; the scientific model of management, human relations model, approach Theory X and Theory Y and the equity theory. As a Human Resources manager, Elton Mayo’s human relations theory is what I would majorly focus on, as a way of motivating the employees in my organisation. The human relations theory focuses largely on the human factors instead of focusing on the use of machines. It focuses on the relationship between the employees and the employers, as well as among the employees, hence advocating for good interpersonal relations in an organisation (Tietjen & Myers 1998). Without good interpersonal relationships in an organisation, there is always a breakdown of communication, and without this, motivation is absent in an organisation and the full potential of the employees is not utilised (Rosentiel 2001). As a manager, Mayo’s human relations approach would come in handy, as I would ensure that the relationship between the employees themselves and the employees with the employers is conducive, as this encourages them to work together and communicate effectively (Christopher 2005). Opening communication channels goes a long way in ensuring that information is passed on effectively and this boost motivation, which in turn, encourages the effective performance of the employees. McGregor’s theory X and theory Y would also apply in my approach of motivating the employees in order to increase performance. There are some employees who are naturally lazy and avoid responsibility, and to these, I would apply theory X by controlling and coercing them to work. This would be through rewarding them only when they have performed effectively, for example promotions gifts and rewards when they have attained a goal. For those employees who like working and accept responsibility, according to theory Y, motivation to them would be to give them space to get imaginative and innovative (Islam and Ismael 2008). This would also involve giving them more challenging assignment as a way of motivating them. In this way, I would cover the motivation aspects of employees who are lazy and those who are hard working. Stacy Adams Equity theory plays a vital role in providing equity and balance between the employees and the employers. As a Human Resources Manager, using the Equity theory approach as a way of motivating employees to perform effectively brings in fairness in an organisation (Rosentiel 2001). This is because; as suggested by the Equity theory, each party, be it the employees or the employers, deserve and expect to get a reward or treatment which is equal to what they give or input (Sempane 2002). As a manger, I would make sure that the employees are equitably rewarded always, so as to keep them motivated. Over rewarded and under rewarded employees always act in a way so as to reduce the inequity, and this in most cases, affect their performance and productivity. For example offering rewards like promotions, pay rise and recognition for the employees who perform effectively will always make them strive more in order to make sure that their input will equal the rewards they receive (Kehoe 2007). Conclusion Since research shows that the most important factor that can make employees perform effectively and increase their productivity is employee motivation, it should always be the core and most important task for the managers to employ all means that can motivate and keep the employees motivated always. Motivation of employees is always the first step towards the realisation of an organisation’s goals, as well as to its success (Islam and Ismael 2008). Employing different theories and models of motivation is very important for the managers, so as to cut across the diverse nature of the employees’ needs, which cannot be satisfied by using only one model of motivation (Tietjen & Myers 1998). References Bruggemann, R., 1976. As an empirical study of various forms of job satisfaction. Journal of Industrial Engineering, 30: 71-74. Herzberg, F. Mausner, K. & Snyderman, A., 1959. The motivation to work. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Kehoe, D., 2007. Motivating Employees. London: McGraw-Hills Education. Lauby, J. S., 2005. Employees Motivation. New York: American Society for Training and Development. Rosenstiel, T., 2001. Motivation in the operation: with case studies from practice. 10th Ed. Leonberg: Rosenberger Fachverlag. Tietjen, M., & Myers, R., 1998. Motivation and job satisfaction. Management Decision, 36: 226– 232. Sempane, M. E., 2002. Job satisfaction in relation to organizational culture. Journal of Industrial Psychology, 28: 23–30. Ramlall, S., 2004. A review of employee motivation theories and their implications for employee retention within organizations. American Academy of Business, 5: 52–63. Islam, R., & Ismail, A., 2008. Employee motivation: a Malaysian perspective. International Journal of Commerce and Management, 18: 344–362 Christopher, M., 2005. Meaningful motivation for work motivation theory. Journal of Management Review, 2: 235–238. Read More