Motivation Across Generations - Literature review Example

Mоtivаtiоn асrоss gеnеrаtiоns Name Institution Mоtivаtiоn асrоss gеnеrаtiоns Introduction Ageing is inevitable and populations in the western world and other places in the world are ageing, an aspect that results to a shortage in skills. Nonetheless, there are also young people in the workforce with their expectations. Different generations are characterized by varying traits, which largely influence their source of motivation and workplace expectations. Motivation is an essential aspect for individuals and teams in an organization. This is more so since it enhances their performance and productivity, translating to increased productivity and profitability for the organization. Motivation is vital in setting and achieving goals and objectives on a personal as well as organizational level. Motivation could also be understood in terms of internal and external factors that in one way or the other stimulate energy and desire in individuals, to be constantly engrossed and committed to a job or to make efforts directed towards the attainment of some goals. Different factors could results in motivation for different individuals and groups. However, there are general tips that could be applied to motivate employees across generations and yield desirable results. This paper will give a critical discussion of the concept of motivation of employees in the workplaces and different aspects associated with it. Much emphasis will however be placed on different workforce generations in the populations and the motivation issues involved for each generation. Mоtivаtiоn асrоss gеnеrаtiоns According to Coulter and Faulkner (2014), employees should always be motivated to enhance their performance and productivity. Motivation comes from the interaction of conscious as well as unconscious elements such as incentive or reward value of the objective, intensity of need or desire and expectations of a person and their peers. The factors work as motivation and reason for enhanced performance. For instance, if a sales agent is promised some reward upon reaching a given target, they will work hard to reach the target and get the reward. Smith, Farmer, and Yellowley (2013) argue that generally, four needs are known to contribute to an individual’s motivation. They include the drive to acquire, the drive to bond, the drive to comprehend as well as the drive to defend. Every individual is driven to acquire physical and psychological goods and the ability or inability to acquire the goods affects their emotional state and actions. An organization’s reward system works towards satisfying the drive to acquire. Different rewards as per various generations of workers should be identified and implemented as a form of motivation. The drive to bond entails the desire of a worker to have a sense of belonging to the organization, an aspect that creates positive emotions for the employee. In turn, this results in desirable behaviour and enhanced motivation. The drive to comprehend comes as a result of a challenging job. Job design that presents an opportunity to grow and learn satisfies this drive. Ultimately, the drive to defend can be satisfied when workers are part of a company that is just, has well stipulated goals and promotes open communication. The satisfaction enhances security and confidence in the workplace and hence motivation (Zhang & Bartol, 2010). To maximize employee productivity, it is essential for an organization to come up with strategies that satisfy the drives. Different generations make up the workforce population today. Each generation has varying judgements about the others and working in general. The difference in age-based perspectives could have negative effects on an organization and should therefore be handled effectively to avoid the negativity, which could lower the organization’s productivity and performance. To ensure that the different generations work together, it is advisable for the management to know what motivates them and tap it. Generational tension is a real problem in organizations and should never be ignored. It entails lack of respect for people who are of a different generation within the workforce, an aspect that is capable of negatively influencing performance. Leaders and managers in organizations should always strive at assisting the employees to realize that they all have unique set of skills and various things to bring to the table and that they can never be equal (Rowe, 2010). However, their importance and input to the company should be appreciated equally. Most populations in the western world and across the globe are made up of four generations of employees namely; the traditionalists, the baby boomers, generation Xers and the millennial. The traditionalists are however being faced out slowly due to retirement. According to Parry and Urwin (2011), each generation was raised differently and hence their different beliefs and viewpoints. The generations also possess varying sets of traits and value, which dictate various life aspects, including their source of motivation. Some of the values that are associated with the baby boomers include community involvement, integrity, political correctness and marking their mark among others. With regard to traits, the baby boomers are generally polite, loyal, and patriotic and have great faith in organizations. On the other hand, the traits of generation Xers include being adaptable, innovative, and independent and resourceful. Their values include team work, advancement opportunity and entrepreneurial spirit among others. Some of the traits associated with the millennial generation include being globally concerned and environmentally conscious, tech savvy, integrated and realistic. On the part of values, this generation desire innovation, work-life balance, diversity and education (Ng, Schweitzer & Lyons, 2010). Being valued and appreciated is a major motivation for the baby boomers. This translates to the fact that this generation values rewards such as training and opportunities of career advancement. They also prefer that their career path is laid out clearly and options are not a necessity. As opposed to generation Xers, baby boomers may have a great desire for promotion even without a salary rise. The drive to defend is quite crucial for the baby boomers. They take advantage of growth and advancement chances to defend their right in the workplace. On the other hand, generation Xers are more into the drive to acquire compared to other drives of motivation as discussed earlier in the paper. This generation value monetary rewards, an aspect that can partly be associated with the struggle they saw their parents go through during their childhood as a result of economic downturns of their times. Being presented with options in their career is also a desire for this generation. They also value flexible work plans as family is extremely significant to them. A work-life balance is a great concern for these employees (Tang, Cunningham, Frauman, Ivy, & Perry, 2012). When it comes to the millennial generation, some of their sources of motivation include favourable work environment, desirable company cultures and interesting work among others. This generation looks for personal fulfilment in the workplace and as such, they could prefer having meaningful work as opposed to a salary increase or a promotion (Kowske, Rasch & Wiley, 2010). This translates to the fact that the generation attaches more value on their drives to comprehend and bond. The drives that compel different generations are influenced by the situations they grew up in. For an organization to be successful when working with a multi-generational workforce, it is advisable to consider their differences and work towards fulfilling the drives. This will keep the employees motivated and cultivate loyalty as they feel valued and appreciated. Different upbringing and experiences of the different generations influence their values and needs, including those that pertain to motivation. The difference in age and generations has a great influence on needs and motivation approaches. A good way is to understand the life paths of the different employees. For example, younger individuals usually do not have many extra responsibilities and with regard to work, they are mostly motivated by new opportunities and experiences. On the other hand, middle-aged workers (30s and 40s) often have families, children and mortgages (Kooij, De Lange, Jansen, Kanfer & Dikkers, 2011). For this reason, they need a high level of flexibility in their workplaces as well as money and advancement in their career as a way of helping them cater for their need. Older workers who are at the end of their careers could not consider training as a form of motivation but rather things that would make their lives easier and strike a work-life balance (Thompson & Gregory, 2012). All these are predictable characteristics of life paths and could guide in figuring out the best way to assign duties as well as manage and motivate individuals and teams. Kapoor and Solomon (2011) assert that despite the fact that there exist some differences in needs when it comes to motivation across generations, effective leadership skills could be utilized as a way of motivating a multi-generational workforce without much difficulty. This is more so since in as much as the different generations have unique needs and expectations, there tend to be more similarities than differences. Having this in mind may make the management of the different-generations workforce easier. For instance, everybody responds to respect. Irrespective of the generation an employee belongs, it is essential that they are treated with respect, trust as well as appreciation. Everyone should be given a chance to voice their concerns and be assured that their opinions are appreciated and valued. This feeling can go a long way in motivating workers across generations. According to Twenge (2010), there is no need to dwell so much on the differences. Most generational stereotypes are also mostly overrated and not true. Instead of dwelling on the differences based on age or generation, it is better to understand the employees individually and work around their different potentials. To get the best from a multi-generational workforce, the management should come up with incentive plans that reflect the point at which the employees are in their lives and carry out regular human resources surveys with an aim of getting a pulse on the needs and demographics of the employees. Another positive move is experimenting with teams of individuals of different ages as well as reverse mentoring programs that allow the older and experienced employees to interact and learn from the younger workers, without a feeling of intimidation (Zhang & Bartol, 2010). Good relationships between the leaders and their subordinates are also a crucial aspect in motivating employees of different generations. Great leadership should be relational and the leaders should strive to work with the people they lead in an appropriate manner irrespective of the generation differences. This way, the employees stay motivated. Collaborative relationships yield good results in terms of motivation of employees. Opportunities for cross-generational mentoring should be created whereby any individual with something positive to share is given the chance irrespective of age or generation. For instance, the younger generation could be well versed on matters technology and social media while the older generation that is more experienced could share institutional knowledge (Elias, Smith & Barney, 2012). Work teams of mixed ages enhance cross-generational mentoring and could be a form of motivation as people learn different things from each other and come to value each other. Feedback is another crucial element when it comes to leadership and employees motivation. The leaders and managers should encourage and value feedback. Through feedback, the needs of the employees can be identified and handled effectively. It is possible for individuals who are within the same generation to have quite different needs. For this reason, understanding individual needs and having strategies to manage them effectively is crucial regardless of the generation in which an employee belongs. Understanding their needs goes a long way in knowing what motivates them. It is therefore essential to cultivate an environment where a person’s unique talents are endorsed. Korn (2010) asserts that appreciating great work aids in boosting employee engagement regardless of their generation. It fuels the individuals to exceptional performance as they feel part of the organization especially if they are respected and their efforts valued. These factors could dictate that motivation can be somehow universal irrespective of the generation involved and as such, theories of motivation could be seen to be reasonably stable. Nonetheless, the differences in the characteristics and values of these generations show that individuals are motivated by different things at different stages of their lives. Some of the motivation theories that are worth mentioning especially as they relate to motivation across different generations include the Maslow hierarchy of needs theory and McGregor’s theory X and Y. The hierarchy of needs theory asserts that needs are usually satisfied based on their importance. For instance, out of necessity, the most basic needs are first to be satisfied, after which other needs can be considered. According to the theory, the order of needs from the most basic includes physiological need, safety need, social need, esteem and self-actualization need. Maslow recognizes the fact that individuals are different and hence, the order of importance of needs could vary from one individual to another (Dobre, 2013). The fact that the theory has the factor of differences across people shows that it could go along with the theory of generational gap and help in the understanding of the workforce in terms of their differences in values and expectations. Another theory that is worth noting is McGregor’s theory X and Y. According to theory X, workers are naturally lazy and as such, the management must coerce them to work. Conversely, theory Y argues that individuals have the desire to work and will therefore seek out responsibility. While theory X requires authoritarian leadership, theory Y entails a more participative style of leadership where coercion through aspects such as rewards is not a necessity. The above information translates to the fact that with this theory, motivation is viewed from the perspective of the management. The theory is in a position to influence employee motivation and development as a result of the manner in which it claims management views workers (Dobre, 2013). For example, in the event that the point of view of theory X is considered, the employees may suffer since their morale and motivation may not be addressed accordingly. Conclusion From the above discussion, it is apparent that motivation is a fundamental element especially on an organizational level. Employees need motivation to keep them focused and with the desire to carry on. Lack of motivation is likely to result in high employee turnover as the workers are in the run to search for greener pastures. It is also noteworthy that different generations perceive motivation differently and hence the need to identify their expectations and fulfil them. Multi-generational workplace is associated with a challenge for managers who are involved in leading teams that are age-diverse. This is more so since the generational differences with respect to values and job expectations could lead to conflict thus negatively affecting productivity in the workplace. The managers should identify the generational differences and make individualized approaches with respect to aspects of recruitment, motivation as well as retention. It is worth noting that effective leadership is also required when it comes to motivating employees. An effective leader is in a position to strike a balance in motivating employees across generations. This is more so since in as much as there are differences in needs and expectations across generations, there are also many similarities and thus, some proper universal leadership tips could be applied. Establishing and maintaining good and healthy relationships, encouraging feedback and treating everybody with respect are some of the ways through which employees in different generations can be motivated. References Coulter, J. S., & Faulkner, D. C. (2014). The multigenerational workforce. Professional case management, 19(1), 46-51. Dobre, O. I. (2013). Employee motivation and organizational performance. Journal of Management and Socio-Economic, (1). Elias, S. M., Smith, W. L., & Barney, C. E. (2012). 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