motivating employees essay

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How to motivate employees: Key factors, strategies, and examples

Learn how to motivate employees effectively by understanding key factors, strategies, and real-world examples.

By Elle Holder

Not everyone has a green thumb or even cares about plants and gardening. But I’d bet that everyone knows what happens to a plant that’s never watered — it doesn’t flourish. In fact, it will eventually die. 

So, if you’ve got any questions or doubts on how to motivate employees, remember the plants. Motivation is just like water — it will help your employees flourish by impacting their productivity, job satisfaction, and their overall performance.

Employees who are motivated are more likely to be engaged, committed, and even willing to go the extra mile for their managers and the organization as a whole. The contrast? Stop watering or motivating your employees and they’ll begin to wilt. Their morale decreases, the quality of their work will drop, and you’ll face higher turnover rates.

This article will introduce employee motivation in a bit more depth, discuss several factors that influence it, strategies on how to motivate your employees, case studies of real companies that have successfully motivated their employees, challenges you may face, and finally how to measure and evaluate employee motivation.

Let’s begin.

Table of contents

Understanding employee motivation Key factors influencing employee motivation Strategies for motivating employees Case studies of successful employee motivation Overcoming challenges in employee motivation Measure and evaluate employee motivation Conclusion

Understanding employee motivation

Employee motivation has been described as the internal drive and enthusiasm that employees bring to their work, and it encompasses several factors that drive them to optimal performance. At its core, it refers to the internal and external forces that influence an employee’s willingness, enthusiasm, and their level of persistence when it comes to pursuing organizational goals and objectives.

Definition of employee motivation

Employee motivation is a complex psychological process that drives an employee’s behavior towards achieving work-related goals. It includes both intrinsic (internal) and extrinsic (external) factors that encourage employee engagement, commitment, and satisfaction.

The role of motivation in employee performance

If you’re wondering how to motivate employees — or if you should even bother — consider this. Motivated employees are more likely to demonstrate higher levels of job satisfaction, engagement, and productivity. They’ll typically exhibit greater initiative, creativity, and problem-solving abilities, all things that will lead to improved performance outcomes and organizational effectiveness. On the flip side, motivated employees are less likely to be repeatedly absent and they’re less likely to quit.

Common misconceptions about employee motivation

Unfortunately, employee motivation is often understood or oversimplified. Instead of digging deep into the complexities of how to motivate employees, some employers believe that motivation depends solely on monetary rewards or incentives. And although extrinsic rewards can influence behavior in the short term, if you want sustainable motivation , it will require a deeper understanding of your employees’ intrinsic needs, values, and goals.

Another misconception is the assumption that all employees are motivated by the same thing. In reality, motivation is highly individual and is influenced by personal experiences, preferences, and perceptions. With that in mind, an effective motivation strategy should be tailored to address the diverse needs and motivations of individual employees within your organization.

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Key factors influencing employee motivation.

Employee motivation is influenced by several factors that shape an individual’s attitude, behavior, and ultimately their performance in the workplace. Understanding these factors will help create a motivating work environment that maximizes employee engagement and productivity. 

Here are six key factors that can significantly influence employee motivation:

Feeling that work matters : Employees are motivated when they understand the significance of their contributions to your organization’s goals and overall mission. When their work is meaningful and aligned with their own set of values, they feel a sense of purpose and fulfillment.

Recognition and rewards : Acknowledging an employee’s efforts and achievements through rewards, praise, or incentives will boost morale and reinforce positive behavior. Recognition can come in various forms, including verbal appreciation — sometimes a simple thank you is enough — monetary bonuses, or opportunities for advancement.

Opportunities for growth and development: Some employees will be motivated when they have opportunities to learn new skills, take on challenging projects, and or advance their careers within your organization. Investing in training, mentorship programs, and career advancement pathways can demonstrate a commitment to your employees’ professional development and foster a culture of continuous learning.

Work-life balance : Maintaining a healthy balance between work responsibilities and personal life is important for an employee’s well-being and motivation. If you can offer flexible work arrangements, such as remote work opportunities, flexible scheduling, or even generous time off policies, this helps to enable employees to manage their work commitments while giving them time to attend to personal priorities and obligations.

Effective communication and feedback : Clear, transparent communication and regular feedback are essential if you want to develop trust, collaboration, and engagement among your employees. Providing constructive feedback helps employees understand your expectations and identifies areas for improvement. Additionally, your employees will feel valued and supported in their roles.

Positive work environment : A positive work environment is characterized by trust, respect, and camaraderie, all of which enhances employee morale and motivation. Cultivating a culture of inclusivity, teamwork, and open communication leads to a sense of belonging and commitment among your employees, driving higher levels of engagement and performance .

Strategies for motivating employees

If you want a high-performing and engaged workforce, you need to motivate your employees. Fortunately, employers can implement various strategies to inspire and incentivize employees to perform at their best.

Let’s address five effective strategies on how to motivate employees:

Set clear expectations and goals : Clearly defining roles, responsibilities, and performance expectations will help your employees understand what’s expected of them and provides a roadmap to their success. Clear goals give an employee a sense of direction and purpose, motivating them to strive for achievement.

Provide regular feedback and coaching : Regular feedback and coaching sessions create an opportunity for managers to recognize an employee’s strengths, address areas for improvement, and provide guidance on how to excel in their roles. Constructive feedback will help employees track their progress, stay motivated, and continuously improve their performance.

Encourage employee autonomy and empowerment : Empowering employees to make decisions and take initiative leads to a sense of ownership and accountability. When you give employees autonomy over their work processes and projects it enables them to leverage their skills and creativity, leading to increased motivation and engagement.

Create a culture of appreciation and recognition : If you want to boost morale and motivation , you need to recognize and appreciate their efforts and contributions. Simple gestures such as verbal praise, handwritten notes, or employee recognition programs can go a long way in showing your employees that their work is valued and appreciated.

Offer opportunities for skill advancement and career advancement : Provide employees with opportunities for learning, skill development, and career advancement, as this demonstrates a commitment to their professional growth and success. Offer training programs, mentorship opportunities, and career development paths — this encourages them to invest in their development and stay motivated.

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Case studies of successful employee motivation

Wondering how other companies motivate their employees? Here are three examples:

Example 1: Google’s employee recognition program

Google is known for its innovative and comprehensive employee recognition programs . Most recently, one notable initiative is their peer-to-peer recognition program called Googler-to-Googler (g2g).

Employees are encouraged to nominate their colleagues for demonstrating outstanding work or for embodying Google’s values. Recognized employees receive rewards, such as monetary bonuses or personalized gifts, and their achievements are celebrated publicly within the organization. This program leads to a culture of appreciation and collaboration, motivating employees to strive for excellence and recognize each other’s contributions.

Example 2: Microsoft’s employee development initiatives

Microsoft invests heavily in employee development through a variety of initiatives, including extensive training programs, mentorship opportunities, and career development resources. The company offers access to online learning platforms, internal training sessions, and professional certification programs to help employees enhance their skills in advance their careers.

Additionally, Microsoft encourages employees to participate in cross-functional projects and rotational assignments to gain diverse experiences and expand their expertise. These development opportunities empower employees to take ownership of their career growth and build a culture of motivation and engagement.

Example 3: HubSpot’s flexible work arrangements

HubSpot, a leading provider of inbound marketing and sales software, prioritizes flexibility and work-life balance for its employees. They’ve built a hybrid company that allows for three flexible work options — at home, at the office, or flexible.

Employees have the freedom to manage their work schedules and locations based on their personal preferences and responsibilities. HubSpot also promotes a results-oriented culture, with a focus on outcomes rather than hours worked. This approach empowers employees to achieve work-life integration, leading to higher job satisfaction, lower stress levels, and increased productivity.

Overcoming challenges in employee motivation

A discussion on how to motivate employees wouldn’t be complete without also addressing its challenges. Employee motivation can face several challenges, ranging from individual issues to more systemic obstacles. However, if you want to maintain a motivated and engaged work force, these challenges must be overcome.

Here are four key challenges to employee motivation and strategies on how to address them: 

• Deal with demotivated employees:
• Identify the root causes of their motivation, such as a lack of recognition, unclear expectations, or limited opportunities for growth
• Provide individualized support and coaching to help employees rediscover their sense of purpose and reignite their passion for their work
• Create a supportive work environment where your employees feel valued, heard, and empowered to voice their concerns and seek solutions
• Address burnout and stress:
• Promote a work-life balance by encouraging your employees to take regular breaks, set boundaries, and prioritize self-care
• Implement stress management programs and resources, such as mindfulness sessions, wellness workshops, and provide access to mental health support services where needed
• Review workload distribution and make sure that tasks are allocated appropriately, as this will prevent burnout and overload
• Create a culture of open communication and psychological safety that allows employees to feel comfortable when they discuss what’s stressing them or look for help when needed
• Manage conflicts and foster teamwork:
• Be proactive when it comes to addressing conflicts in interpersonal issues by means of constructive dialogue, mediation, and conflict resolution techniques
• Facilitate teambuilding activities, workshops, and training sessions to help strengthen communication, collaboration, and trust among team members
• Clarify roles, responsibilities, and expectations to minimize misunderstandings and promote accountability within your team
• Encourage a culture of mutual respect, empathy, and appreciation for your team’s diverse perspectives as this will create a cohesive and inclusive team dynamic
• Sustain motivation in remote or virtual teams:
• Establish clear communication channels and guidelines to help facilitate collaboration and interaction among your remote team members
• Provide virtual team building activities, social events, and online forums to help promote engagement and camaraderie
• Make full use of technology and digital tools to help streamline remote work processes

Measure and evaluate employee motivation

If you want to understand the effectiveness of your motivation strategies and identify areas for improvement within your organization, then it is important to assess their motivation. 

Here are three methods you can use to measure and evaluate employee motivation:

Key metrics for assessing employee motivation:

• Employee engagement scores : Measure the level of emotional commitment and enthusiasm your employees have toward their work and your organization. You can do this through regular surveys or pulse checks.
• Turnover rates : Monitor the rate at which your employees leave the organization, as high turnover rates may indicate underlying issues with employee motivation, job satisfaction , or organizational culture.
• Performance metrics : Track individual and team performance indicators, such as productivity, quality of work, and achievement of goals.
• Absenteeism in attendance records : Keep track of how often your employees are absent. Attendance patterns often engage employee motivation and job satisfaction levels.

Conduct employee surveys and feedback sessions:

• Employee satisfaction surveys : Conduct periodic surveys to gather feedback from your employees on various aspects of their work experience, including their job satisfaction, motivation levels and their perception of your organizational culture.
• One-on-one check-ins : Schedule regular check-in meetings between managers and employees to discuss individual goals, challenges, and any areas for improvement. You can use the sessions to provide feedback, offer support, and/or address any concerns that are related to motivation and engagement.
• Focus groups : Organize focus group discussions with cross-functional teams or departments to dig deeper into any specific issues that may be affecting employee motivation, and then brainstorm potential solutions.
• Anonymous feedback mechanisms : Set up anonymous feedback channels, such as suggestion boxes or online surveys. This will encourage candid feedback from any employees who may be hesitant to voice their concerns openly.

Analyze performance and engagement data:

• Performance reviews : Regularly review employee performance data to assess the impact of motivation on individual and team performance. Identify any trends, patterns, and areas for improvement based on the outcomes of your performance reviews.
• Engagement surveys : Analyze data from employee engagement surveys to identify trends, areas of strength, and any areas that require attention.
• Use technology : Implement HR analytics tools and software platforms to help gather, analyze, and visualize employee data that’s related to motivation, engagement, and performance. Then use these insights to inform your decision-making and as a driver in your continuous improvement initiatives.

Conclusion 

So what can you learn from our discussion on how to motivate employees? We’ve explored various aspects of employee motivation, including what it is, how it’s influenced, how to foster it, how to overcome challenges, and even several methods for measuring and evaluating it.

In a bit more detail, this included:

• Make sure your employees are motivated through rewards and recognition, opportunities for growth and development, work-life balance, and more.
• There are several strategies you can use to motivate your employees, including setting clear goals, providing regular feedback and coaching, encouraging autonomy and empowerment, and creating a culture of appreciation.
• Some challenges to expect include demotivated employees, burnout and stress, and conflict.
• Measure and evaluate motivation with key metrics such as employee engagement scores, turnover rates, performance metrics, and even absenteeism and attendance records.

Why should you invest in employee motivation? It’s essential for the success of your organization and for employee well-being, since motivated employees are more productive, engaged, and committed to achieving organizational goals. Ultimately, organizations that prioritize employee motivation are better positioned to thrive in today’s competitive business landscape.

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The Science of Improving Motivation at Work

The topic of employee motivation can be quite daunting for managers, leaders, and human resources professionals.

Organizations that provide their members with meaningful, engaging work not only contribute to the growth of their bottom line, but also create a sense of vitality and fulfillment that echoes across their organizational cultures and their employees’ personal lives.

“An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.”

In the context of work, an understanding of motivation can be applied to improve employee productivity and satisfaction; help set individual and organizational goals; put stress in perspective; and structure jobs so that they offer optimal levels of challenge, control, variety, and collaboration.

This article demystifies motivation in the workplace and presents recent findings in organizational behavior that have been found to contribute positively to practices of improving motivation and work life.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Goal Achievement Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients create actionable goals and master techniques to create lasting behavior change.

This Article Contains:

Motivation in the workplace, motivation theories in organizational behavior, employee motivation strategies, motivation and job performance, leadership and motivation, motivation and good business, a take-home message.

Motivation in the workplace has been traditionally understood in terms of extrinsic rewards in the form of compensation, benefits, perks, awards, or career progression.

With today’s rapidly evolving knowledge economy, motivation requires more than a stick-and-carrot approach. Research shows that innovation and creativity, crucial to generating new ideas and greater productivity, are often stifled when extrinsic rewards are introduced.

Daniel Pink (2011) explains the tricky aspect of external rewards and argues that they are like drugs, where more frequent doses are needed more often. Rewards can often signal that an activity is undesirable.

Interesting and challenging activities are often rewarding in themselves. Rewards tend to focus and narrow attention and work well only if they enhance the ability to do something intrinsically valuable. Extrinsic motivation is best when used to motivate employees to perform routine and repetitive activities but can be detrimental for creative endeavors.

Anticipating rewards can also impair judgment and cause risk-seeking behavior because it activates dopamine. We don’t notice peripheral and long-term solutions when immediate rewards are offered. Studies have shown that people will often choose the low road when chasing after rewards because addictive behavior is short-term focused, and some may opt for a quick win.

Pink (2011) warns that greatness and nearsightedness are incompatible, and seven deadly flaws of rewards are soon to follow. He found that anticipating rewards often has undesirable consequences and tends to:

• Extinguish intrinsic motivation
• Decrease performance
• Encourage cheating
• Decrease creativity
• Crowd out good behavior
• Become addictive
• Foster short-term thinking

Pink (2011) suggests that we should reward only routine tasks to boost motivation and provide rationale, acknowledge that some activities are boring, and allow people to complete the task their way. When we increase variety and mastery opportunities at work, we increase motivation.

Rewards should be given only after the task is completed, preferably as a surprise, varied in frequency, and alternated between tangible rewards and praise. Providing information and meaningful, specific feedback about the effort (not the person) has also been found to be more effective than material rewards for increasing motivation (Pink, 2011).

They have shaped the landscape of our understanding of organizational behavior and our approaches to employee motivation. We discuss a few of the most frequently applied theories of motivation in organizational behavior.

Herzberg’s two-factor theory

Frederick Herzberg’s (1959) two-factor theory of motivation, also known as dual-factor theory or motivation-hygiene theory, was a result of a study that analyzed responses of 200 accountants and engineers who were asked about their positive and negative feelings about their work. Herzberg (1959) concluded that two major factors influence employee motivation and satisfaction with their jobs:

• Motivator factors, which can motivate employees to work harder and lead to on-the-job satisfaction, including experiences of greater engagement in and enjoyment of the work, feelings of recognition, and a sense of career progression
• Hygiene factors, which can potentially lead to dissatisfaction and a lack of motivation if they are absent, such as adequate compensation, effective company policies, comprehensive benefits, or good relationships with managers and coworkers

Herzberg (1959) maintained that while motivator and hygiene factors both influence motivation, they appeared to work entirely independently of each other. He found that motivator factors increased employee satisfaction and motivation, but the absence of these factors didn’t necessarily cause dissatisfaction.

Likewise, the presence of hygiene factors didn’t appear to increase satisfaction and motivation, but their absence caused an increase in dissatisfaction. It is debatable whether his theory would hold true today outside of blue-collar industries, particularly among younger generations, who may be looking for meaningful work and growth.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory proposed that employees become motivated along a continuum of needs from basic physiological needs to higher level psychological needs for growth and self-actualization . The hierarchy was originally conceptualized into five levels:

• Physiological needs that must be met for a person to survive, such as food, water, and shelter
• Safety needs that include personal and financial security, health, and wellbeing
• Belonging needs for friendships, relationships, and family
• Esteem needs that include feelings of confidence in the self and respect from others
• Self-actualization needs that define the desire to achieve everything we possibly can and realize our full potential

According to the hierarchy of needs, we must be in good health, safe, and secure with meaningful relationships and confidence before we can reach for the realization of our full potential.

For a full discussion of other theories of psychological needs and the importance of need satisfaction, see our article on How to Motivate .

Hawthorne effect

The Hawthorne effect, named after a series of social experiments on the influence of physical conditions on productivity at Western Electric’s factory in Hawthorne, Chicago, in the 1920s and 30s, was first described by Henry Landsberger in 1958 after he noticed some people tended to work harder and perform better when researchers were observing them.

Although the researchers changed many physical conditions throughout the experiments, including lighting, working hours, and breaks, increases in employee productivity were more significant in response to the attention being paid to them, rather than the physical changes themselves.

Today the Hawthorne effect is best understood as a justification for the value of providing employees with specific and meaningful feedback and recognition. It is contradicted by the existence of results-only workplace environments that allow complete autonomy and are focused on performance and deliverables rather than managing employees.

Expectancy theory

Expectancy theory proposes that we are motivated by our expectations of the outcomes as a result of our behavior and make a decision based on the likelihood of being rewarded for that behavior in a way that we perceive as valuable.

For example, an employee may be more likely to work harder if they have been promised a raise than if they only assumed they might get one.

Expectancy theory posits that three elements affect our behavioral choices:

• Expectancy is the belief that our effort will result in our desired goal and is based on our past experience and influenced by our self-confidence and anticipation of how difficult the goal is to achieve.
• Instrumentality is the belief that we will receive a reward if we meet performance expectations.
• Valence is the value we place on the reward.

Expectancy theory tells us that we are most motivated when we believe that we will receive the desired reward if we hit an achievable and valued target, and least motivated if we do not care for the reward or do not believe that our efforts will result in the reward.

Three-dimensional theory of attribution

Attribution theory explains how we attach meaning to our own and other people’s behavior and how the characteristics of these attributions can affect future motivation.

Bernard Weiner’s three-dimensional theory of attribution proposes that the nature of the specific attribution, such as bad luck or not working hard enough, is less important than the characteristics of that attribution as perceived and experienced by the individual. According to Weiner, there are three main characteristics of attributions that can influence how we behave in the future:

Stability is related to pervasiveness and permanence; an example of a stable factor is an employee believing that they failed to meet the expectation because of a lack of support or competence. An unstable factor might be not performing well due to illness or a temporary shortage of resources.

“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”

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According to Weiner, stable attributions for successful achievements can be informed by previous positive experiences, such as completing the project on time, and can lead to positive expectations and higher motivation for success in the future. Adverse situations, such as repeated failures to meet the deadline, can lead to stable attributions characterized by a sense of futility and lower expectations in the future.

Locus of control describes a perspective about the event as caused by either an internal or an external factor. For example, if the employee believes it was their fault the project failed, because of an innate quality such as a lack of skills or ability to meet the challenge, they may be less motivated in the future.

If they believe an external factor was to blame, such as an unrealistic deadline or shortage of staff, they may not experience such a drop in motivation.

Controllability defines how controllable or avoidable the situation was. If an employee believes they could have performed better, they may be less motivated to try again in the future than someone who believes that factors outside of their control caused the circumstances surrounding the setback.

Theory X and theory Y

Douglas McGregor proposed two theories to describe managerial views on employee motivation: theory X and theory Y. These views of employee motivation have drastically different implications for management.

He divided leaders into those who believe most employees avoid work and dislike responsibility (theory X managers) and those who say that most employees enjoy work and exert effort when they have control in the workplace (theory Y managers).

To motivate theory X employees, the company needs to push and control their staff through enforcing rules and implementing punishments.

Theory Y employees, on the other hand, are perceived as consciously choosing to be involved in their work. They are self-motivated and can exert self-management, and leaders’ responsibility is to create a supportive environment and develop opportunities for employees to take on responsibility and show creativity.

Theory X is heavily informed by what we know about intrinsic motivation and the role that the satisfaction of basic psychological needs plays in effective employee motivation.

Taking theory X and theory Y as a starting point, theory Z was developed by Dr. William Ouchi. The theory combines American and Japanese management philosophies and focuses on long-term job security, consensual decision making, slow evaluation and promotion procedures, and individual responsibility within a group context.

Its noble goals include increasing employee loyalty to the company by providing a job for life, focusing on the employee’s wellbeing, and encouraging group work and social interaction to motivate employees in the workplace.

There are several implications of these numerous theories on ways to motivate employees. They vary with whatever perspectives leadership ascribes to motivation and how that is cascaded down and incorporated into practices, policies, and culture.

The effectiveness of these approaches is further determined by whether individual preferences for motivation are considered. Nevertheless, various motivational theories can guide our focus on aspects of organizational behavior that may require intervening.

Herzberg’s two-factor theory , for example, implies that for the happiest and most productive workforce, companies need to work on improving both motivator and hygiene factors.

The theory suggests that to help motivate employees, the organization must ensure that everyone feels appreciated and supported, is given plenty of specific and meaningful feedback, and has an understanding of and confidence in how they can grow and progress professionally.

To prevent job dissatisfaction, companies must make sure to address hygiene factors by offering employees the best possible working conditions, fair pay, and supportive relationships.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs , on the other hand, can be used to transform a business where managers struggle with the abstract concept of self-actualization and tend to focus too much on lower level needs. Chip Conley, the founder of the Joie de Vivre hotel chain and head of hospitality at Airbnb, found one way to address this dilemma by helping his employees understand the meaning of their roles during a staff retreat.

In one exercise, he asked groups of housekeepers to describe themselves and their job responsibilities by giving their group a name that reflects the nature and the purpose of what they were doing. They came up with names such as “The Serenity Sisters,” “The Clutter Busters,” and “The Peace of Mind Police.”

These designations provided a meaningful rationale and gave them a sense that they were doing more than just cleaning, instead “creating a space for a traveler who was far away from home to feel safe and protected” (Pattison, 2010). By showing them the value of their roles, Conley enabled his employees to feel respected and motivated to work harder.

The Hawthorne effect studies and Weiner’s three-dimensional theory of attribution have implications for providing and soliciting regular feedback and praise. Recognizing employees’ efforts and providing specific and constructive feedback in the areas where they can improve can help prevent them from attributing their failures to an innate lack of skills.

Praising employees for improvement or using the correct methodology, even if the ultimate results were not achieved, can encourage them to reframe setbacks as learning opportunities. This can foster an environment of psychological safety that can further contribute to the view that success is controllable by using different strategies and setting achievable goals .

Theories X, Y, and Z show that one of the most impactful ways to build a thriving organization is to craft organizational practices that build autonomy, competence, and belonging. These practices include providing decision-making discretion, sharing information broadly, minimizing incidents of incivility, and offering performance feedback.

Being told what to do is not an effective way to negotiate. Having a sense of autonomy at work fuels vitality and growth and creates environments where employees are more likely to thrive when empowered to make decisions that affect their work.

Feedback satisfies the psychological need for competence. When others value our work, we tend to appreciate it more and work harder. Particularly two-way, open, frequent, and guided feedback creates opportunities for learning.

Frequent and specific feedback helps people know where they stand in terms of their skills, competencies, and performance, and builds feelings of competence and thriving. Immediate, specific, and public praise focusing on effort and behavior and not traits is most effective. Positive feedback energizes employees to seek their full potential.

Lack of appreciation is psychologically exhausting, and studies show that recognition improves health because people experience less stress. In addition to being acknowledged by their manager, peer-to-peer recognition was shown to have a positive impact on the employee experience (Anderson, 2018). Rewarding the team around the person who did well and giving more responsibility to top performers rather than time off also had a positive impact.

Stop trying to motivate your employees – Kerry Goyette

Other approaches to motivation at work include those that focus on meaning and those that stress the importance of creating positive work environments.

Meaningful work is increasingly considered to be a cornerstone of motivation. In some cases, burnout is not caused by too much work, but by too little meaning. For many years, researchers have recognized the motivating potential of task significance and doing work that affects the wellbeing of others.

All too often, employees do work that makes a difference but never have the chance to see or to meet the people affected. Research by Adam Grant (2013) speaks to the power of long-term goals that benefit others and shows how the use of meaning to motivate those who are not likely to climb the ladder can make the job meaningful by broadening perspectives.

Creating an upbeat, positive work environment can also play an essential role in increasing employee motivation and can be accomplished through the following:

• Encouraging teamwork and sharing ideas
• Providing tools and knowledge to perform well
• Eliminating conflict as it arises
• Giving employees the freedom to work independently when appropriate
• Helping employees establish professional goals and objectives and aligning these goals with the individual’s self-esteem
• Making the cause and effect relationship clear by establishing a goal and its reward
• Offering encouragement when workers hit notable milestones
• Celebrating employee achievements and team accomplishments while avoiding comparing one worker’s achievements to those of others
• Offering the incentive of a profit-sharing program and collective goal setting and teamwork
• Soliciting employee input through regular surveys of employee satisfaction
• Providing professional enrichment through providing tuition reimbursement and encouraging employees to pursue additional education and participate in industry organizations, skills workshops, and seminars
• Motivating through curiosity and creating an environment that stimulates employee interest to learn more
• Using cooperation and competition as a form of motivation based on individual preferences

Sometimes, inexperienced leaders will assume that the same factors that motivate one employee, or the leaders themselves, will motivate others too. Some will make the mistake of introducing de-motivating factors into the workplace, such as punishment for mistakes or frequent criticism, but negative reinforcement rarely works and often backfires.

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There are several positive psychology interventions that can be used in the workplace to improve important outcomes, such as reduced job stress and increased motivation, work engagement, and job performance. Numerous empirical studies have been conducted in recent years to verify the effects of these interventions.

Psychological capital interventions

Psychological capital interventions are associated with a variety of work outcomes that include improved job performance, engagement, and organizational citizenship behaviors (Avey, 2014; Luthans & Youssef-Morgan 2017). Psychological capital refers to a psychological state that is malleable and open to development and consists of four major components:

• Self-efficacy and confidence in our ability to succeed at challenging work tasks
• Optimism and positive attributions about the future of our career or company
• Hope and redirecting paths to work goals in the face of obstacles
• Resilience in the workplace and bouncing back from adverse situations (Luthans & Youssef-Morgan, 2017)

Job crafting interventions

Job crafting interventions – where employees design and have control over the characteristics of their work to create an optimal fit between work demands and their personal strengths – can lead to improved performance and greater work engagement (Bakker, Tims, & Derks, 2012; van Wingerden, Bakker, & Derks, 2016).

The concept of job crafting is rooted in the jobs demands–resources theory and suggests that employee motivation, engagement, and performance can be influenced by practices such as (Bakker et al., 2012):

• Attempts to alter social job resources, such as feedback and coaching
• Structural job resources, such as opportunities to develop at work
• Challenging job demands, such as reducing workload and creating new projects

Job crafting is a self-initiated, proactive process by which employees change elements of their jobs to optimize the fit between their job demands and personal needs, abilities, and strengths (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001).

Today’s motivation research shows that participation is likely to lead to several positive behaviors as long as managers encourage greater engagement, motivation, and productivity while recognizing the importance of rest and work recovery.

One key factor for increasing work engagement is psychological safety (Kahn, 1990). Psychological safety allows an employee or team member to engage in interpersonal risk taking and refers to being able to bring our authentic self to work without fear of negative consequences to self-image, status, or career (Edmondson, 1999).

When employees perceive psychological safety, they are less likely to be distracted by negative emotions such as fear, which stems from worrying about controlling perceptions of managers and colleagues.

Dealing with fear also requires intense emotional regulation (Barsade, Brief, & Spataro, 2003), which takes away from the ability to fully immerse ourselves in our work tasks. The presence of psychological safety in the workplace decreases such distractions and allows employees to expend their energy toward being absorbed and attentive to work tasks.

Effective structural features, such as coaching leadership and context support, are some ways managers can initiate psychological safety in the workplace (Hackman, 1987). Leaders’ behavior can significantly influence how employees behave and lead to greater trust (Tyler & Lind, 1992).

Supportive, coaching-oriented, and non-defensive responses to employee concerns and questions can lead to heightened feelings of safety and ensure the presence of vital psychological capital.

Another essential factor for increasing work engagement and motivation is the balance between employees’ job demands and resources.

Job demands can stem from time pressures, physical demands, high priority, and shift work and are not necessarily detrimental. High job demands and high resources can both increase engagement, but it is important that employees perceive that they are in balance, with sufficient resources to deal with their work demands (Crawford, LePine, & Rich, 2010).

Challenging demands can be very motivating, energizing employees to achieve their goals and stimulating their personal growth. Still, they also require that employees be more attentive and absorbed and direct more energy toward their work (Bakker & Demerouti, 2014).

Unfortunately, when employees perceive that they do not have enough control to tackle these challenging demands, the same high demands will be experienced as very depleting (Karasek, 1979).

This sense of perceived control can be increased with sufficient resources like managerial and peer support and, like the effects of psychological safety, can ensure that employees are not hindered by distraction that can limit their attention, absorption, and energy.

The job demands–resources occupational stress model suggests that job demands that force employees to be attentive and absorbed can be depleting if not coupled with adequate resources, and shows how sufficient resources allow employees to sustain a positive level of engagement that does not eventually lead to discouragement or burnout (Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001).

And last but not least, another set of factors that are critical for increasing work engagement involves core self-evaluations and self-concept (Judge & Bono, 2001). Efficacy, self-esteem, locus of control, identity, and perceived social impact may be critical drivers of an individual’s psychological availability, as evident in the attention, absorption, and energy directed toward their work.

Self-esteem and efficacy are enhanced by increasing employees’ general confidence in their abilities, which in turn assists in making them feel secure about themselves and, therefore, more motivated and engaged in their work (Crawford et al., 2010).

Social impact, in particular, has become increasingly important in the growing tendency for employees to seek out meaningful work. One such example is the MBA Oath created by 25 graduating Harvard business students pledging to lead professional careers marked with integrity and ethics:

The MBA oath

“As a business leader, I recognize my role in society.

My purpose is to lead people and manage resources to create value that no single individual can create alone.

My decisions affect the well-being of individuals inside and outside my enterprise, today and tomorrow. Therefore, I promise that:

• I will manage my enterprise with loyalty and care, and will not advance my personal interests at the expense of my enterprise or society.
• I will understand and uphold, in letter and spirit, the laws and contracts governing my conduct and that of my enterprise.
• I will refrain from corruption, unfair competition, or business practices harmful to society.
• I will protect the human rights and dignity of all people affected by my enterprise, and I will oppose discrimination and exploitation.
• I will protect the right of future generations to advance their standard of living and enjoy a healthy planet.
• I will report the performance and risks of my enterprise accurately and honestly.
• I will invest in developing myself and others, helping the management profession continue to advance and create sustainable and inclusive prosperity.

In exercising my professional duties according to these principles, I recognize that my behavior must set an example of integrity, eliciting trust, and esteem from those I serve. I will remain accountable to my peers and to society for my actions and for upholding these standards. This oath, I make freely, and upon my honor.”

Job crafting is the process of personalizing work to better align with one’s strengths, values, and interests (Tims & Bakker, 2010).

Any job, at any level can be ‘crafted,’ and a well-crafted job offers more autonomy, deeper engagement and improved overall wellbeing.

There are three types of job crafting:

• Task crafting involves adding or removing tasks, spending more or less time on certain tasks, or redesigning tasks so that they better align with your core strengths (Berg et al., 2013).
• Relational crafting includes building, reframing, and adapting relationships to foster meaningfulness (Berg et al., 2013).
• Cognitive crafting defines how we think about our jobs, including how we perceive tasks and the meaning behind them.

If you would like to guide others through their own unique job crafting journey, our set of Job Crafting Manuals (PDF) offer a ready-made 7-session coaching trajectory.

Prosocial motivation is an important driver behind many individual and collective accomplishments at work.

It is a strong predictor of persistence, performance, and productivity when accompanied by intrinsic motivation. Prosocial motivation was also indicative of more affiliative citizenship behaviors when it was accompanied by motivation toward impression management motivation and was a stronger predictor of job performance when managers were perceived as trustworthy (Ciulla, 2000).

On a day-to-day basis most jobs can’t fill the tall order of making the world better, but particular incidents at work have meaning because you make a valuable contribution or you are able to genuinely help someone in need.

J. B. Ciulla

Prosocial motivation was shown to enhance the creativity of intrinsically motivated employees, the performance of employees with high core self-evaluations, and the performance evaluations of proactive employees. The psychological mechanisms that enable this are the importance placed on task significance, encouraging perspective taking, and fostering social emotions of anticipated guilt and gratitude (Ciulla, 2000).

Some argue that organizations whose products and services contribute to positive human growth are examples of what constitutes good business (Csíkszentmihályi, 2004). Businesses with a soul are those enterprises where employees experience deep engagement and develop greater complexity.

In these unique environments, employees are provided opportunities to do what they do best. In return, their organizations reap the benefits of higher productivity and lower turnover, as well as greater profit, customer satisfaction, and workplace safety. Most importantly, however, the level of engagement, involvement, or degree to which employees are positively stretched contributes to the experience of wellbeing at work (Csíkszentmihályi, 2004).

17 Tools To Increase Motivation and Goal Achievement

These 17 Motivation & Goal Achievement Exercises [PDF] contain all you need to help others set meaningful goals, increase self-drive, and experience greater accomplishment and life satisfaction.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

Daniel Pink (2011) argues that when it comes to motivation, management is the problem, not the solution, as it represents antiquated notions of what motivates people. He claims that even the most sophisticated forms of empowering employees and providing flexibility are no more than civilized forms of control.

He gives an example of companies that fall under the umbrella of what is known as results-only work environments (ROWEs), which allow all their employees to work whenever and wherever they want as long their work gets done.

Valuing results rather than face time can change the cultural definition of a successful worker by challenging the notion that long hours and constant availability signal commitment (Kelly, Moen, & Tranby, 2011).

Studies show that ROWEs can increase employees’ control over their work schedule; improve work–life fit; positively affect employees’ sleep duration, energy levels, self-reported health, and exercise; and decrease tobacco and alcohol use (Moen, Kelly, & Lam, 2013; Moen, Kelly, Tranby, & Huang, 2011).

Perhaps this type of solution sounds overly ambitious, and many traditional working environments are not ready for such drastic changes. Nevertheless, it is hard to ignore the quickly amassing evidence that work environments that offer autonomy, opportunities for growth, and pursuit of meaning are good for our health, our souls, and our society.

Leave us your thoughts on this topic.

Related reading: Motivation in Education: What It Takes to Motivate Our Kids

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Goal Achievement Exercises for free .

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• Avey, J. B. (2014). The left side of psychological capital: New evidence on the antecedents of PsyCap. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 21( 2), 141–149.
• Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2014). Job demands–resources theory. In P. Y. Chen & C. L. Cooper (Eds.),  Wellbeing: A complete reference guide  (vol. 3). John Wiley and Sons.
• Bakker, A. B., Tims, M., & Derks, D. (2012). Proactive personality and job performance: The role of job crafting and work engagement.  Human Relations ,  65 (10), 1359–1378
• Barsade, S. G., Brief, A. P., & Spataro, S. E. (2003). The affective revolution in organizational behavior: The emergence of a paradigm. In J. Greenberg (Ed.), Organizational behavior: The state of the science (pp. 3–52). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Berg, J. M., Dutton, J. E., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2013). Job crafting and meaningful work. In B. J. Dik, Z. S. Byrne, & M. F. Steger (Eds.), Purpose and meaning in the workplace (pp. 81-104) . American Psychological Association.
• Ciulla, J. B. (2000).  The working life: The promise and betrayal of modern work.  Three Rivers Press.
• Crawford, E. R., LePine, J. A., & Rich, B. L. (2010). Linking job demands and resources to employee engagement and burnout: A theoretical extension and meta-analytic test. Journal of Applied Psychology , 95 (5), 834–848.
• Csíkszentmihályi, M. (2004). Good business: Leadership, flow, and the making of meaning. Penguin Books.
• Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Nachreiner, F., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2001). The job demands–resources model of burnout.  Journal of Applied Psychology ,  863) , 499–512.
• Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams.  Administrative Science Quarterly ,  44 (2), 350–383.
• Grant, A. M. (2013). Give and take: A revolutionary approach to success. Penguin.
• Hackman, J. R. (1987). The design of work teams. In J. Lorsch (Ed.),  Handbook of organizational behavior  (pp. 315–342). Prentice-Hall.
• Herzberg, F. (1959).  The motivation to work.  Wiley.
• Judge, T. A., & Bono, J. E. (2001). Relationship of core self-evaluations traits – self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability – with job satisfaction and job performance: A meta-analysis.  Journal of Applied Psychology ,  86 (1), 80–92.
• Kahn, W. A. (1990). Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work.  Academy of Management Journal , 33 (4), 692–724.
• Karasek, R. A., Jr. (1979). Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain: Implications for job redesign.  Administrative Science Quarterly, 24 (2), 285–308.
• Kelly, E. L., Moen, P., & Tranby, E. (2011). Changing workplaces to reduce work-family conflict: Schedule control in a white-collar organization.  American Sociological Review ,  76 (2), 265–290.
• Landsberger, H. A. (1958). Hawthorne revisited: Management and the worker, its critics, and developments in human relations in industry. Cornell University.
• Luthans, F., & Youssef-Morgan, C. M. (2017). Psychological capital: An evidence-based positive approach. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 4 , 339-366.
• Moen, P., Kelly, E. L., & Lam, J. (2013). Healthy work revisited: Do changes in time strain predict well-being?  Journal of occupational health psychology, 18 (2), 157.
• Moen, P., Kelly, E., Tranby, E., & Huang, Q. (2011). Changing work, changing health: Can real work-time flexibility promote health behaviors and well-being?  Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 52(4), 404–429.
• Pattison, K. (2010, August 26). Chip Conley took the Maslow pyramid, made it an employee pyramid and saved his company. Fast Company. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/1685009/chip-conley-took-maslow-pyramid-made-it-employee-pyramid-and-saved-his-company
• Pink, D. H. (2011). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. Penguin.
• Tims, M., & Bakker, A. B. (2010). Job crafting: Towards a new model of individual job redesign. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 36(2) , 1-9.
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• von Wingerden, J., Bakker, A. B., & Derks, D. (2016). A test of a job demands–resources intervention.  Journal of Managerial Psychology ,  31 (3), 686–701.
• Wrzesniewski, A., & Dutton, J. E. (2001). Crafting a job: Revisioning employees as active crafters of their work. Academy of Management Review, 26 (2), 179–201.

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Good and helpful study thank you. It will help achieving goals for my clients. Thank you for this information

A lot of data is really given. Validation is correct. The next step is the exchange of knowledge in order to create an optimal model of motivation.

A good article, thank you for sharing. The views and work by the likes of Daniel Pink, Dan Ariely, Barry Schwartz etc have really got me questioning and reflecting on my own views on workplace motivation. There are far too many organisations and leaders who continue to rely on hedonic principles for motivation (until recently, myself included!!). An excellent book which shares these modern views is ‘Primed to Perform’ by Doshi and McGregor (2015). Based on the earlier work of Deci and Ryan’s self determination theory the book explores the principle of ‘why people work, determines how well they work’. A easy to read and enjoyable book that offers a very practical way of applying in the workplace.

Thanks for mentioning that. Sounds like a good read.

All the best, Annelé

Motivation – a piece of art every manager should obtain and remember by heart and continue to embrace.

Exceptionally good write-up on the subject applicable for personal and professional betterment. Simplified theorem appeals to think and learn at least one thing that means an inspiration to the reader. I appreciate your efforts through this contributive work.

Excelente artículo sobre motivación. Me inspira. Gracias

Very helpful for everyone studying motivation right now! It’s brilliant the way it’s witten and also brought to the reader. Thank you.

Such a brilliant piece! A super coverage of existing theories clearly written. It serves as an excellent overview (or reminder for those of us who once knew the older stuff by heart!) Thank you!

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--> Employee Motivation Essay

Employee motivation can be defined as the level of commitment, creativity, and energy that the workers of a given organization bring to their occupations. An organization’s management team must be concerned into motivating her employees irrespective of whether the organization’s economy is deteriorating or growing. Sometimes it becomes a big problem for small business to motivate employees. The owner of the small business has spent a number of years building his own organization and sometimes finds it hard to assign meaningful duties to others. Entrepreneurs should be very mindful of the unexpected difficulties which come about as a result of low employee motivation on their small business. They should bear in mind that without motivating employees their organizations will collapse completely even if they have invested a lot of money in building these organization. These problems which may result due to lowly motivated employees include disinterest, complacency, and sometimes widespread discouragement. Different types of employee motivation strategies are to be discussed into detail (Bruce, 2006).

It is possible that small business and organizations can give a favorable environment which allows for employee motivation. For example, an organization which allows her employees to observe the outcomes of their hard work directly and where there is a visible and swift feedback. A smoothly motivated and working work force gives the owner of the organization free time which he needs for daily chores to think about the organization’s long-term development. Emotional and tangible rewards can consequently bring about retention of suitable employees. Most individuals prosper in the environments of creative work with the intention of trying to make a positive difference. Usually the work outcome itself will bring about a feeling of achievement only if well-integrated motives and realization programs can underscore this great and positive consequence (Griffin, 2007).    

There are many approaches that are used to ensure motivated employees one of which being the add-ins usually accompanying an individual’s job and these have been found to be the primary factors towards improving performance in many organizations. The continuous mixes of employee’s welfares, for example life insurance, healthcare, profit sharing, exercise facilities, employee stock ownership plans, availability of childcare, plans for meal being subsidized, and employees allowed to use the organization’s cars as the means to commute to and from workplace – have been employed by organizations in their attempts to ensure that the employees are happy, since happy employees are believed to be motivated (Bruce, 2006).

Most of the modern theorists argue that employees are not so much motivated due to material rewards but are motivated by the design of the specific jobs they do. It has been seen that highly simplified and segmented jobs bring about diminished morale and output of employees. Employee high turnover and absenteeism constitute other negative consequences due to low motivation of employees which become very costly for an organization. Because of the costs that organizations incur, initiatives of job enlargement began pop up in major organizations. It is true that the terminology concerning employee motivation changes but the tenets of the motivation remain constant. The buzzwords today consist of quality circles, empowerment, and teamwork. Empowerment encourages autonomy and enables an employee to be the owner of ideas and achievements, whether acting in teams or alone. Quality circles as well as teamwork in the work environments enable the employees to reinforce the significance of the work achieved by members and at the same time receive feedback concerning the efficaciousness of the particular job (Griffin, 2007).

Generally, most of the small businesses or organizations experience shortage of resources such that they might not be able to enact formal motivation programs for employees. However, irrespective of this shortage of resources, managers can be able to achieve the same fundamental principles and ensure that employees are equally motivated. So that the employees are encouraged to realize that their jobs are important and that their participation is of value to the organization, the owners for the small business are supposes to communicate the purpose and aim of the organization to employees. The type of communication used in this case should comprise form of words and actions. It is advisable for the owner of a small business to set high standards of performance for employees and continue being their support incase the goals cannot attained. It is also of great importance to allow employees enough flexibility and autonomy in performing their specific tasks. With small business, creativity should be encouraged provided honest mistakes are rectified but not punished. The vision of the employees to a given organization should be incorporated with the vision of the small business owner as this will encourage employees contribute to the goals of the small business and at the same time assist in the prevention of stagnancy in its purpose and direction (Bruce, 2006). 

Employers use varied methods of motivating their employees. Some strategies for motivation seem to be preferred over others within different organization in the world business environment. The best efforts for employee motivation will centre on what is deemed to be significant by the employees. There is a possibility that within a particular department of an organization, different employees will require different motivators. Today, most of the organizations have realized that flexibility in a job design as well as reward systems has brought about increased longevity of employees with the organization, increased employee morale, and improved productivity (Bruce, 2006).

Monetary incentive is one of the strategies used in encouraging employees to better work within an organization. For the varied and best motivators, money incentive still takes a good place within the mix of motivators. Employees are motivated by sharing a company’s profits, and this encourages employees to produce high quality product, ameliorate the production process in the company, and enable the employees to carry out a quality service. It has been seen that, those factors which benefit the, directly benefit employees. Employees are given the monetary incentives to encourage the generation of process-improving or cost-saving ideas, reduce and do away with absenteeism, and to promote productivity. It is true that money is very effective if it is tied directly to an employee’s achievements or ideas. However, the money incentive should be coupled with other motivators which are non-monetary since its effects of motivation last for a short time. Monetary incentives have been proven counterproductive incase they are not availed to each and every member of the particular organization (Church & Heumann, 1992).  

Studies have shown that, the most efficacious motivators of employees are the non-monetary motivators. The monetary motivators are seen insufficient since the expectations are outweighing the results and as well the difference in the distribution of the incentives to the employees can bring about disunity within the employees. The best non-monetary incentives that have been proved promote team spirit and comprise responsibility, advancement, and recognition. Those managers, who realize employees’ small wins, encourage participatory environment, and handle employees with respect and fairness, always have their employees highly motivated to perform tasks effectively and efficiently. Rewards such as time off from the job, self-respect, increased personal fulfillment, and letters of recommendation have been found to be the most efficacious rewards (Griffin, 2007).

Allowing employees acquire more knowledge by further studies regarding their current positions, motivates them towards performing effectively and efficiently. If employees are provided with the opportunities and tools to achieve more, most of them will indubitably accept the challenge. Organizations motivate employees to accomplish more by devoting a continual improvement of employee skills. Employee programs such as licensing and accreditation are becoming very popular and very effective in encouraging the growth in employee motivation and knowledge. It has also been found that, the programs enable employees to develop positive attitudes toward the organization and its clients, and at the same time strengthens employees’ self-confidence. All the knowledge and skills gained can now be applied to the specific task that is to be accomplished and therefore it’s of great significance to acquire more knowledge concerning the position one is currently occupying in an organization (Bruce, 2006).

Empowerment is another motivation strategy that in employed by organizations to bring about encouraged employees. Empowerment of employees can be brought about by giving employees a decision-making authority and responsibility to take control over the tasks in a particular organization and get equipped to carry out the tasks effectively. This results into diminished feelings of frustration that come about due to one being held accountable for what he or she does not have the suitable tools to carry out. In this way, energy gets directed toward improved task achievement.

Encouragement of innovation and creativity also motivates employees to perform well in their tasks. In many companies, it has been found that employees with creative and innovative ideas do not show them to the management fearing that they will be ridiculed or ignored. Incase the power to create within an organization is downed from the top until the line personnel, those employees who understand the job, service, or product best, are allowed the opportunity to employ their ideas to ameliorate it. This power to create gives a lot of encouragement to the employees, and it benefits the organization because of more flexible personnel by using the experience and knowledge of its employees. This brings about increased exchange of information and ideas among the organizations’ departments and employees. The improvements can enable the organization to realize and respond faster to potential market changes and therefore it will be at a better position in the marketplace (Griffin, 2007).  

It is very important for employers to ensure quality lives of their employees if they are aiming at increased and quality production in their firms. This can be observed from the perspective of the number of hours the employees are going to spend in a daily basis to carry out the specific tasks effectively. For example in America the number of hours spent at work is tending to increase and most of the families have both parents working these long hours. In this case, most workers get discouraged since they cannot satisfy the needs of their lives outside the workplace. Indubitably, the productivity and morale of employees considerably reduce hence reducing the organization’s daily profits. Most companies have instituted alternative work arrangements and therefore have motivated their employees whose productivity has greatly improved.

Griffin (2007) defines alternative work arrangements as the employment arrangements particularly arranged by a given employment intermediary especially, at the place of work where time, quantity of work, and place are potentially not predictable. These arrangements enable the employees have a work schedule that is more variable as compared to the 8-hour workday that is considered to be standard. Men and women can be allowed to balance their work as well as their personal commitments for example community, family, professional development, education, religion, and other wide-ranging interests.

Employees benefit from the alternative work arrangements as they experience flexible work schedules, telecommuting, compressed work weeks, and job sharing. Employees are allowed to freely select the suitable hours they will work; they experience reduced travelling costs as one can choose the appropriate time of reporting to work as well as when to get out of work place, for instance the time when there is no traffic jam, and this is important for employees who are entrepreneurs since they can be able to monitor their own businesses usually when they condense the working hours at the work place. Telecommuting is another benefit to employers as they can carry some of the duties from their places of residence by using communication equipment such as computers and telephones. This reduces the travelling costs and as well allows the employees to monitor their own businesses back at home.  Employees are allowed more time for their family responsibilities and they are also given opportunities that they need for their own professional development. Employees also experience some problems due to alternative work arrangements such as feeling of alienation and isolation from co-workers; the supervisor can easily abuse the workers; there is lack of pensions, benefits, and advancement opportunities (Reich et.al 1995).

Employers also benefit from the alternative work arrangements as their firms will have increased employee retention; their firms will experience higher and efficient productivity; employee tardiness will decrease; recruitment of highly dependable employees will get improved; staff turnover is reduced; there is maximum use of equipment and facilities, employees’ loyalty and morale is encouraged; and reduced absenteeism due to personal appointments, illness, or vacation is experienced. Employers can also experience problems with alternative work arrangements, for instance, they experience increased administration and training costs to train employees; some managers’ attitudes concerning traditional working arrangements, may be difficult to change hence they end up being uncomfortable; it may be difficulty to supervise the staff members; and the responsibilities of employees may reduce (Bruce, 2006).

There are a number of factors that influence organizations to take the option of alternative work arrangements. These factors include the desires, expectations, and needs of employees for increased work flexibility; fuel consumption and increased fuel costs due to commuting, and the associated carbon footprint wallop; and the restrictive wallop of the 2008-2009 economic depression concerning job opportunities. Work flexibility can be met by flextime arrangements as the employees are given a chance to choose their appropriate working hours. Telecommuting address the problems with fuel consumption since the employers will be operating from their homes using communication equipments such as computers and phones. This reduces the consumption of fuel and hence less cost will be incurred. Less fuel consumed results into reduced carbon emission hence reduced carbon footprint impact (Reich et.al 1995).

It is very important for availability of alternative work arrangements to employees within United States be mandated by law since it has been found that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Their will be increased productivity since the employees’ morale and loyalty will be encouraged. Employees will experience reduced fuel consumption and hence less costs as they will be operating from their homes using the communication devices for example telephones and computers. 

An organization’s management team must be concerned into motivating her employees irrespective of whether the organization’s economy is deteriorating or growing. Most of the small businesses or organizations experience shortage of resources such that they might not be able to enact formal motivation programs for employees. However, irrespective of this shortage of resources, managers can be able to achieve the same fundamental principles and ensure that employees are equally motivated. So that the employees are encouraged to realize that their jobs are important and that their participation is of value to the organization, the owners for the small business are supposes to communicate the purpose and aim of the organization to employees. The type of communication used in this case should comprise form of words and actions.

Studies have shown that, the most efficacious motivators of employees are the non-monetary motivators. The monetary motivators are seen insufficient since the expectations are outweighing the results and as well the difference in the distribution of the incentives to the employees can bring about disunity within themselves. The best non-monetary incentives that have been discovered are seen to promote team spirit and comprise responsibility, advancement, and recognition.  

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Motivating Employees Essay

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Workplace , Employee , Employees , Management , Motivation , Employment , Organization , Working

Words: 2750

Published: 03/30/2023

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The primary objective of any business organization is to make a profit be developing sustainable competitive advantage. The employees play a major role in achieving this objective, but their motivation to achieve the organizational goals may decline due to several factors. However, managers can implement different approaches to keep the employees highly motivated to achieve better outcomes. Some of the strategies that the management can utilize to improve employee motivation include giving the rewards, engaging them in the decision-making process, effective communication, and providing career development opportunities. In addition, the management can ensure their job security, provide a comfortable working environment, set high expectations, avoid dwelling on negative reviews, and ensuring work life balance. Employee motivation plays an imperative role in enhancing their productivity, which is essential for an organization. Additionally, it is essential in enhancing job stability and satisfaction, which reduces employee turnover, which is essential for the stability of the company. The objective of any business organization is to remain profitable in a highly competitive environment by developing a sustainable competitive advantage. To achieve this, the workforce must be well motivated to inspire them to work hard to achieve better outcomes. Several studies have investigated this issue and suggested numerous approaches that the management can use to motivate the employees. The present study explores some of the approaches that have been tested in the real world. They range from improving the working environment to providing employees with career development opportunities.

Ways to Motivate Employees

Provide Rewards It is natural for human beings to desire recognition for completing a specific task as required. This also applies to employees who are the driving force responsible for achieving the organizational goals and objectives. As such, the management can ensure that the employees are highly motivated to complete their tasks by promising them generous rewards if they successfully complete their duties (Osa, 2014). The promise of a reward other than the normal salary will motivate the employees to work hard to achieve the requirements of the task allocated to them. In their quest to complete their tasks successfully, they end up surpassing the requirements set by the management. This in turn improves the organization’s performance and profitability. However, the reward program should be open to all management levels to ensure that the entire workforce is highly motivated to achieve the set organizational goals. The rewards provided should also be relative to the complexity of the tasks to help the employees understand the importance of their contribution to the organization (Osa, 2014). By providing reasonable rewards, the employees develop a sense of belonging because they know the management values their contribution to the business.

Actively Engage the Employees

Different management styles achieve different results, but the democratic or a participative style of management is the best to motivate the employees. Essentially, it helps to build trust between the employees and the senior management. Therefore, the management should actively engage the employees in the decision-making process (Dobre, 2013). This is because the employees are responsible for executing the decisions made by the senior management and if they do not feel included, then they are likely to neglect their responsibilities. Nevertheless, adopting a democratic management style helps to eliminate communication barriers between different management levels within the organization. The employees at all management levels can share ideas freely because the communication is two way. They can also provide valuable feedback that can help the senior management to align the organization’s processes and systems to achieve the set goals and objectives (Dobre, 2013). It also helps the senior management to understand the needs of the employees, which is essential in creating a comfortable working environment for them.

Communicate with the Employees

Employees play a major role in helping an organization satisfy the needs of its customers. The least the management can do is ensure that the employees are well informed about the activities of the business. As such, it is essential to provide the employees with relevant information about upcoming products and change management strategies. Furthermore, the employees also need to know how the firm makes and loses money as well as how their skills fit into its overall organizational plan (Ganta, 2014). However, communication must be two ways to ensure that the management and the employees can share valuable insights on how they can best achieve the organizational goals. That is, the management provides information about new organizational strategies and the employees provide feedback about the effectiveness of the strategies (Ganta, 2014). Finally, establishing two-way communication helps to eliminate the aloof nature of the senior management to improve interpersonal interactions with the employees.

Provide Opportunities for Career Development

The objective of most employees when they join an organization is to develop their careers to achieve their full potential. To that end, the management should provide career growth opportunities that will allow the employees to develop their skills and upgrade their knowledge. One of the ways this can be achieved is by offering training to help the employees improve their skills and knowledge (Singh, 2013). However, training should not be provided to only a few select members of the workforce that the management considers more valuable as compared to others. Every employee should have an equal opportunity to undergo further training to enhance his or her competencies. Selective training can generate tension that may result into conflicts. Furthermore, the training provided should be relevant to the employees’ duties and responsibilities within the organization. However, training alone cannot enhance the employees’ motivation if there are no opportunities to practice the skills acquired. Therefore, promotions are essential to help the employees utilize the knowledge acquired through various training programs (Singh, 2013). Southwest Airlines is one of the few airline companies that have successfully managed to motivate and retain over 80% of the workforce through training and internal promotion. Apparently, all its middle-level managers are recruited from within the firm’s vast workforce.

Provide Job Security

Another factor that affects the employees’ motivation is job security. The fear of being laid off in case the organization decides to downsize its workforce can cause the employees to perform poorly. This is because they do not feel as valued stakeholders of the organization. As such, they see no need to work hard to achieve the objectives of an organization that does not value their contribution (Ngima & Kyongo, 2013). There are numerous ways to make an employee feel safe and secure with job security. One of the ways is to provide pay benefits that are equivalent to their duties and responsibilities with the organization. This includes providing appropriate pay for their position and other additional benefits such as health insurance. Furthermore, the employee’s salary should be subject to review to ensure their contribution to the organization is properly remunerated. The management should also focus beyond the professional duties and responsibilities of the employees to develop interpersonal relationships. This could involve celebrating the employee’s birthday or giving them time off to attend to personal needs. Finally, it is essential to remind the employees of their value to the organization, especially during tough economic times.

Create a Comfortable Working Environment

Another factor that influences the performance of the employee is the nature of the working environment. Employees spend several hours daily within an environment that can significantly affect their overall performance. Therefore, the management should ensure that the working environment is conducive to all the employees. This means catering for the welfare of the employees to keep them happy and motivated (Ali, Ali, & Adan, 2013). This can be achieved by providing the resources the employees need to fulfil their duties and responsibilities. It is also essential to create a working environment where no form of discrimination is tolerated. This will help to avoid racial and gender segregation, which are common issues that plague the working environment. Furthermore, it is important to ensure that each employee has enough space and resources to complete their tasks. The management should provide recreation areas that allow the employees to take a break and relieve stress related to work (Ali, Ali, & Adan, 2013). For example, Google allows its employees to take a break from their workstations to smoke or relax on the rooftop of its office. This technique has yielded great results with regard to employee motivation forcing other technology companies to emulate Google’s strategy.

Set High Expectations

Another approach that the management can use to motivate the employees is by setting high expectations to encourage them to work harder. Working on the same tasks for a long period can at times become boring, hence low motivation (Muogbo, 2013). Providing new challenges by setting high standards can help to keep the employees motivated. Therefore, the management can practice job rotation to ensure that the employees do not get used to routines that often lead to boredom. Another way is to change the modalities of working to ensure employees participate in group assignments to break the boredom of working alone. By setting high expectations, the management encourages the employees to challenge themselves to improve their competencies. New challenges provide learning opportunities that can help the employees to test their abilities within a working environment (Muogbo, 2013). Working on challenging tasks also gauges an employee’s strengths in performing their duties under stressful conditions.

Personally Thank the Employees

Employees expect to receive remuneration for their contribution, but rarely do they expect to be thanked for their achievements. They know it is their duty to fulfil their responsibilities and are accustomed to transactional relationships with the senior management (Cong & Van, 2013). However, by personally thanking the employees for their contribution, the managers make the employees know their contribution to the organization is valued. A great way to implement this strategy is by sending congratulatory messages and thank you notes to employees every time they surpass the requirements of their tasks. However, face-to-face interaction is the best way to thank the employees for their achievement. It is more effective than a simple note that may not achieve the same impact as personal interaction. Face-to-face complements mean more to an employee because they value the effort and time that the manager sacrificed to deliver the message.

Avoiding Dwelling on Negative Reviews

Employees have a tendency to fear employers who constantly remind them of their failures. Although it is essential to inform the employees of mistakes that they have committed, it is not advisable to dwell on it. Instead, the employer or manager should provide encouraging reviews that inform the employees of ways they can improve their performance. This is because the employees are likely to listen and respond to constructive criticism that challenges them to improve on their weaknesses. It is advisable to avoid negative criticism because it dampens the morale of the employees (Nakhate, 2016). They begin to doubt their abilities in performing their tasks, which causes them to contemplate quitting their job. An employee that has lost faith in their capabilities is unlikely to perform their duties as required. They are in constant denial, which can trigger depression. Other than dwelling on negative reviews, it is also important for the manager to avoid being cold, distant, or rude to the employees. Employers or managers that are always rude instil fear in their employees, which forces them to avoid any form of interaction within the organization. The employees are afraid to provide useful suggestions or share ideas for fear of being scorned or ridiculed by their manager or employer. As a result, they prefer to remain silent even when they are aware of problems that they can offer solutions.

Encourage Employees to Maintain a Healthy Work-Life Balance

Another critical issue that affects the employee motivation and performance is work-life balance. It involves proper prioritizing between work and personal needs. The manager should ensure that the employees have sufficient time to meet both personal and organizational needs. This can be achieved by developing work schedules that allow the employees opportunities to spend time with their friends and families as a means to recharge their energy. Working long shifts or hours is not only detrimental to the employee’s health, but also their overall performance (Dobre, 2013). Naturally, the human body needs time to rest and regain the energy spent working. In addition, emergencies may occur forcing the employee to leave work to attend personal issues. If employees are given time to take care of their personal issues, they are likely to work harder to ensure they do not cancel their appointments with family and friends. In conclusion, employers and managers alike can use numerous ways or management approaches to motivate the employees. However, each approach should be implemented after considering the immediate needs of the employees. For instance, rewards help to motivate the employees if the task to be completed is more demanding than their normal duties. Rewards act as an incentive to encourage the employees to challenge themselves to achieve better outcomes. Training on the other hand is key to retaining the most competent employees in the organization. This is because training provides career development opportunities that the majority of the employees need to achieve their full potential. Setting high expectations encourages the employees to be creative in their work to come up with efficient means of surpassing their previous achievements. It is also essential not to dwell on negative reviews as they discourage the employees to try new things for fear of being scorned or ridiculed by their manager or employer. They lose faith in their abilities to fulfil the requirements of the tasks assigned to them by the senior management. It is also essential to communicate with the employees to ensure they are well informed about the organization’s activities and practices. By helping the employees understand their role within the organization, the management is poised to receive valuable input that can be utilized to improve organizational efficacy. Another important issue that affects employees’ motivation is job security. Essentially, the employees need assurance from the management that their job within the organization is guaranteed even during tough economic times. This can be achieved by providing proper remuneration for their contribution in addition to providing pay benefits such as bonuses.

Ali, A. Y., Ali, A. A., & Adan, A. A. (2013). Working conditions and employees' productivity in Manufacturing Companies in Sub-Saharan African Context: Case of Somalia. Educational Research International, 2(2), 67-77. Cong, N. N., & Van, D. N. (2013). Effects of Motivation and Job satisfaction on Employees’ Performance at Petrovietnam Nghe an Construction Joints Stock Corporation (PVNC). International Journal of Business and Social Science, 4(6), 212-217. Dobre, O.-I. (2013). Employee motivation and organizational performance. Review of Applied Socio- Economic Research, 5(1), 53-60. Ganta, V. C. (2014). Motivation in the Workplace to Improve the Employee Performance. International Journal of Engineering Technology, Management and Applied Sciences, 2(6), 221-230. Muogbo, U. (2013). The Impact of Employee Motivation On Organisational Performance (A Study Of Some Selected Firms In Anambra State Nigeria). The International Journal Of Engineering And Science, 2(7), 70-80. Nakhate, V. (2016). Critical Assessment of Fredrick Herzberg’s Theory of Motivation with Reference to Changing Perception of Indian Pharma Field Force in Pune Region. The International Journal Of Business & Management, 4(1), 182-190. Ngima, W. M., & Kyongo, J. (2013). Contribution of Motivational Management to Employee Performance. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 3(14), 219-239. Osa, I. G. (2014). Monetary Incentives Motivates Employee's on Organizational Performance. Global Journal of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(7), 61-69. Singh, P. (2013). Increasing Productivity With Motivation in the Workplace. National Monthly Refereed Journal of Research in Commerce and Management, 2(6), 27-32.

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Sample essay on motivating employees.

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If you are writing an essay on motivating employees for your psychology class, you came to the right place. The following essay examines how to motivate them across different organizational contexts. Various third party scholars are cited using academic and peer reviewed journals. This sample is provided free of charge by Ultius , the trusted provider of content solutions for consumers around the world.

Motivating Employees: Organizational Justice, Workforce Unity and Employee Development

In any workplace, employees are no doubt the fundamental backbone that holds any workplace, business, or corporation together. Employees perform the essential tasks that make sure that the company’s long term vision and goals are successfully and efficiently implemented. While no business will run successfully without proper management, it is important that those employed enjoy coming to work and maintain a positive attitude while in the work place, while being productive and completing tasks with efficiency. Keeping this in mind, it is vital to ensure that employees are satisfied with the position that they hold, and most importantly, strive for more.

Motivation is what gives people a reason to perform or behave in a certain way with the desire or willingness to gain something. It is an absolute necessity to keep employees motivated in the workplace and encourage them to perform above expectations . In addressing what elements of employment result in both motivation and efficiency, we have to look at concepts and frameworks that are both universal across different cultural contexts and applicable to a wide variety of industries. Implementing strategies that utilize organizational justice, workforce unity and employee development were all highly influential ways to motivate workers in diverse settings.

Dressler (1999) - Communication and Company Culture

In Gary Dressler’s 1999 article, How to Earn Your Employees’ Commitment, the author stressed the main themes of communication, company values, community, organizational justice and employee development. Dressler’s main premise reflects that “while whole commitment and motivation are not required, they contribute to an effective workforce” through higher attendance and longer job tenure (Dressler, 1999, p. 58). Motivating employees goes hand in hand with ensuring their full commitment to both management and their personal tasks. The first critical aspect is committing to values that address the employees’ needs. This means placing important company values in writing , having a fair management team and following through with promises. Secondly, it is vital to have a clear and widely communicated mission.

It is thus important to “ create a shared mission and an ideology that lays out a basic way of thinking and doing things; create institutional charisma by linking their missions and values to a higher calling and promoting the commitment of employees to the mission” (Dressler, p. 59). Next, creating a sense of community through cross-utilization, teamwork and sharing is vital in having people truly invest their commitment to any organization. Finally, committing to employee success, empowering them and providing developmental exercises are critical in endorsing strong employee development (Dressler, p. 65). Together, these factors contribute to the overall motivation of employees within any workforce. 

In utilizing these outlined practices, employees perceive a much higher level of interest in their jobs. In communicating a clear message to employees, the job is no longer just a means towards the end of a paycheck; instead, the end result is a higher calling (Dressler, p. 29). This psychological approach not only stresses the importance of working within the organization, but also encourages them to buy into the ideologies that the company supports. Once the job becomes a higher calling based on company tradition, the employee has much more personal interest invested into its overall success and efficiency. Organizational justice was also critical because it emphasized the company’s initiative in not only words, but through action. Dressler remarked that “considerable evidence supports a link between procedural justice associated with organization policies and the affective commitment of employees” (Dressler, p. 60). This means that as employees saw fairness being implemented company-wide for all employees, they were more likely to uphold moral and ethical standards of conduct and job performance.

Finally, the emphasis on group interaction was also very important. Companies tended to have more committed and motivated employees if there was habitual group contact through activities regulated by the company (Dressler, p.  61). This means that as employees interacted with one another more in regular group contact, they developed stronger relationships with one another. Consequently, they were more committed. Therefore, the major elements of company values, organizational justice and group interaction were critical in making employees more committed and motivated to the whole organization. This was only possible if the company took a proactive role in regulating and ensuring that policies were upheld in both written and actionable contexts.

Spicer (1985) - The Public Choice Approach

Michael Spicer, in A Public Choice Approach to Motivating People in Bureaucratic Organizations, argued that cooperation and the use of small, consistent workgroups (like ones used in SCRUM ) was the key to a successful motivational strategy. Conditional cooperation, according to Public Choice Theory, suggests that managers are able to achieve cooperation and motivation from employees if there is a mutual understanding of benefits for both parties where reward systems are present (Spicer, 1985, p. 521).  This can be accomplished by assigning employees to smaller groups. As Spicer remarked, “Successful cooperation among a group of subordinates leads to higher levels of effort when rewards are based on group effort” (Spicer, p. 522). Since cooperation is easily managed in smaller groups through direct interaction, it is an exceptional managerial practice in motivating employees.

Moreover, ‘jointness’ of production is also important because it makes small groups of employees interdependent on one another. This is effective with a group reward system because “rewards based on group effort would seem more likely to raise effort levels than rewards based on relative individual effort” (Spicer, p. 521). Thus, a smaller group size where employees rely on one another raises motivation to perform well and reap the rewards as opposed to individual rewards. Finally, the extent to which group interaction is with the same people is also influential in determining employee motivation. Individuals that work together regularly have a higher incentive to cooperate because they know that future interaction will happen. This engages employees to build stronger lasting relationships with one another and further motivates them.  

The key elements of motivating employees based on this article are interdependent interaction within groups and mutual benefits of cooperation. When reward systems are used in group settings, there is more personal accountability for each individual person to contribute to the unit. While an individual’s efforts can be diluted within large groups, smaller groups offer much more transparency into who is contributing and to what extent. Consequently, employees are much more motivated to reap the rewards of group benefits by interacting with each other in cooperation. This conditional cooperation must exist among managers and subordinates or simply among subordinates (Spicer, p. 521). In addition to cooperation, interdependent interaction among small groups is also a highly influential aspect. Within small groups, detecting, isolating and overcoming uncooperative and problematic behavior is much easier (Spicer, p. 522). As employees rely on each other and work together, they are more motivated to work efficiently and in unison. Couple this with strong leaders that exhibit good leadership , and the effectiveness can be unimaginable. Consequently, by implementing small groups and joint work efforts, employees are not merely driven by a monetary reward system; instead, future civil and efficient interaction becomes a meaningful motivating factor that accomplishes company and individual goals.

D’Iribarne (2002) - The Cross-Cultural Context

Finally, Philippe d’Iribarne’s (2002) article, Motivating Workers in Emerging Countries: Universal Tools and Local Adaptations, offered a cross cultural context in identifying the value of both local and universal strategies of employee motivation. This comprehensive study of both manager and subordinate workers in Morocco and Mexico found that in order to achieve Total Quality Management (TQM) as well as a motivated workforce, “one must treat them well, respect them, give them responsibility, listen to and inform them, justly compensate their efforts and promote the feeling that they belong to a remarkable team” (d’Iribarne, 2002, p. 254). Even when multinational corporations conduct business in different cultural settings, universal strategies like team unity and mutual respect were important. For instance, in his study the author remarked that “everyone gave their support when a leader provided a model that the local community could embrace” (d’Iribarne, p. 248).

Treating all employees with respect and diminishing the role of authority and hierarchy was extremely important. Employees reported more satisfaction and motivation when managers set good examples, motivated others and celebrated high performance. Moreover, catering to local cultural traditions also held probative value in motivating employees. In complying with family-centric values of Mexico, managers were successful in winning employee approval when local cultural values were exerted: “speaking informally, using first names, living together, an open door policy, and allowing each person to raise concerns no matter what they hierarchical rank” (d’Iribarne, p. 251). As managers utilized motivational strategies that catered to local customs and universal principles, employees reported higher levels of motivation, satisfaction and overall job performance.

On a broader scope, these findings illuminate the themes of equality, being able to lead by example and the endorsement of employment being a higher calling rather than just an occupation for a given wage. By default, giving other people mutual respect is a very basic principle that goes very far in the business world. As employees are treated fairly and they see this being implemented across the whole organization, they are highly motivated to participate in a culture of respect and reciprocity. This is especially effective when every level of authority follows through via leading by example. It represented a much broader “shift to relationships based on mutual trust among, across and within hierarchical levels” (d’Iribarne, p. 252). Furthermore, using company values to create a sense of identity within the organization was also effective. Again, the relationship between the employee and employer had a much more symbolic purpose than merely working for pay. Consequently, being part of a broader identity and being treated like a unit was an especially useful cultural adaptation that contributed to a highly motivated and efficient workforce.

Concluding Remarks

Implementing strategies that utilize organizational justice, workforce unity and employee development were all highly influential strategies to motivate workers. Implementing fair systems that endorsed company values of justice were highly effective because it epitomized the company’s enthusiasm and validity of a culture of respect and equality. This successfully nullified any negative aspects of hierarchy such as authority and preferential treatment towards specific individuals and not others. Employees were highly motivated to see that managers respected subordinates and supported cooperative interaction. Workforce unity was especially important because it encouraged employees to work together to accomplish similar goals, especially among women ( who are generally subject to gender discrimination ).

Despite being especially effective in smaller groups, workforce unity on a symbolic level was effective in motivating employees because the job in itself became a much higher calling that individuals were enthusiastic to be a part of and participate accordingly. Strategies like sharing tasks, regulating communication and upholding strong company values all worked coherently to motivate employees in a broader scope. Finally, employee development through fair and mutually beneficial relationships was vital. In giving employees opportunities to excel, rewarding their efforts and helping them along the way, companies can further motivate their workforce to go above and beyond their expectations. Together, these common strategies motivate the workforce across different profession types, cultural contexts and group settings. 

Dressler, G. (1999). How to Earn Your Employees' Commitment. The Academy of Management Executives, 13(2), 58-67. Retrieved May 3, 2011, from www.jstor.org. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/4165540>

Spicer, M. (1985). A Public Choice Approach to Motivating People in Bureaucratic Organizations. The Academy of Management Review, 10(3), 518-526. Retrieved May 4, 2011, from www.jstor.org. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/258133>

d'Iribarne, P. (2002). Motivating Workers in Emerging Countries: Universal Tools and Local Adaptations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23(3), 243-256. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/4093802>

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Employee Motivation and Rewards

Executive summary.

Employees are key drivers of the organization and should be motivated to help meet the set goals and objectives. Encouraging and rewarding them seem to be challenging for many managers. This paper aims to explain why some workers remain unresponsive to this approach and how to use applied research methodology to address unmet needs. Maslow, McClelland, and Hertzberg conceptualized that individual demands of participants should be addressed, but their ideas failed to suggest how managers can identify and deal with them accordingly. It was established that motivation and rewards reenergize employees only to a certain extent while neglecting some people.

The study established that attempts to motivate everyone using contemporary theories were unsatisfactory. Therefore, applied research is necessary since it uses many methodologies to conduct an in-depth analysis of the problem faced by employers and offer a simple answer. Other methods that are seen as effective include ethnography and case study examination, allowing the investigator to interact with disengaged workers and understand their respective needs for meeting them. In a nutshell, it becomes challenging to apply the motivation theories to address individuals unwilling to contribute. Design thinking overlooks the existing theoretical underpinnings when handling a complex issue. This approach is an applied methodology that goes beyond the existing theoretical grounds to offer simple solutions to what is perceived as a complex problem. Managers must do several things in their attempt to motivate their employees. First, leaders should consider the individual characteristics of workers to reveal their needs. Second, they should effectively communicate with them in order to find the root cause of the issues. Lastly, the personnel at higher levels should adopt design thinking when seeking solutions to employees’ problems.

Introduction

The present-day business environment is a rapidly evolving sphere, which requires people to timely readjust to the emerging circumstances in order not to lose profits. From this perspective, the nature of the organization and the methods managers use to motivate workers are the two critical considerations, allowing to realize the set goals and aspirations. The failure to meet the objectives of a company can be frequently attributed to the participants’ unwillingness to achieve actual results by using the old schemes. Therefore, the complexity of employee motivation positively correlates with applied research methodology that provides simple answers to increasing their flexibility as per the business world requirements by using an individualized approach. In other words, this method of examination of problems corresponds to the necessity to consider the human factor when developing organization’s vision, mission and stakeholders’ aspirations.

A responsive and engaged workforce tends to be more productive than a group of employees whose members are unmotivated and apathetic, and this outcome explains the need for providing a scientific basis for a shift. For example, the reduction in stakeholders’ dividends or low company’s marginal revenues are indicators of low staff morale, whereas the link between them is not explicit. De Vito et al. (2018) argued that if employees feel motivated or satisfied, they are likely to exert more effort hence helping the company realize objectives since their contribution to the companies’ success becomes apparent. From this standpoint, it is evident that motivating and rewarding employees in the workplace are vital for enabling the organization’s progress while retaining its competitive advantage. Studies point out shows that motivated workers are more productive and usually produce better-quality results, which in turn leads to reduced turnover rates (Vito et al., 2018). Therefore, they will be more aware of the environment’s conditions and the possibility of a change and readjust timely, as per the provisions of applied research.

In the contemporary world, the impossibility of ensuring a positive attitude of employees towards the performed work explains the emergence of other problems, which are seemingly disconnected from the business. As Rybnicek, Bergner, & Gutschelhofer (2019) noted, unmotivated workers would thereby adversely affect the company’s ability to remain competitive in the industry. Economists argue that the costs of disengaged individuals are likely to run into a substantial amount of dollars, hence necessitating the need for managers to have the problem fixed as early as possible (Rybnicek et al., 2019). In this case, an optimal solution is to develop talent within the organization and effectively promote workers as per their achievements for preparing for the unpredictability of the market conditions.

My vision as a manager has always been to see all my employees well-motivated to work diligently to realize the organizational goals. However, the issue of motivation is complex because regardless of how hard companies try to reward employees based on performance, some do not respond to rewards. There must be different ways employees can get satisfied and thereby improve organizational output by paying attention to the business circumstances (Fischer, Malycha, & Schafmann, 2019). In this case, applied research of the markets of operation can be used for determining the ability of motivated staff to cope with challenges as opposed to their colleagues unwilling to improve results. In this case, creativity, passion, and deep connection to an organization serve as the main criteria correlating with the outside factors and reflecting the potential of combining the internal and external circumstances for better profits.

I have also realized that the detrimental effects of workers’ disengagement are more critical when people have opposing views on different matters. In such a case, the stanpoint of the majority when not accepted by others results in the latter’s tendency to lose hope, which slows down the overall productivity. This situation might lead to the desire of qualified and exprienced specialists, who can potentially contribute to the business’ capability to remain competitive in a rapidly changing environment, to seek other employment. Hence, as a manager, my role is to identify disengaged employees and address the reasons for their resentment by paying attention to individual needs and opinions. Also, those who do not want to cooperate in any case should be removed as they can negatively affect others’ motivation and make it impossible to rely on applied research serving as the evidence of markets’ shifts.

In addition, the coordination of actions of all participants should be done with respect to the role of rewards and responses alongside the potential failure to benefit from these provisions. I aim to use a personalized approach to this area in order to find an optimal way for people to comply with the requirements of the business. Motivational theorists, including Maslow, Hertzberg, and McClelland, claim that this method is more advantageous for better outcomes than generalizations (Paais & Pattiruhu, 2020). Therefore, varying levels of energy and enthusiasm are to be taken into account when increasing engagement and improving the systems in alignment with the external circumstances as per applied research.

Intrinsic motivation tends to positively impact employee job satisfaction; hence, employing a reward management approach that emphasizes this method is critical. As it was mentioned earlier, active participation is a force that propels people towards a given direction. In the workplace, employees are usually driven or guided by different factors. As a manager, my vision is to ensure everyone is encouraged by the benefits selected with regard to individual needs. Psychologists, particularly behavioralists, were more concerned with human behavior, studied habits, and later hypothesized theoretical frameworks or theories which, if incorporated in the workplace settings, effectively address needs. Thus, their approaches can be used for analyzing people’s conduct to provide them with necessary advantages.

Psychological approaches had various claims regarding how managers could motivate their workers. Maslow’s need theory maintained that a person is reenergized when all his needs are addressed (Paais & Pattiruhu, 2020). The keyword here is “when all,” which means when motivating, it is advisable to start from the basic needs of every worker instead of subjecting all of them to the same type of remuneration. Maslow also postulated that individuals usually work for security and money, but the manager must engage them in various activities to utilize their skills (Paais & Pattiruhu, 2020). Therefore, one cannot ascend to the next level unless their lower needs are addressed. As such, an employee cannot realize his full potential in terms of performance when they have other issues outside the workplace that are yet to be resolved. The discussed provisions allow concluding that firms’ capability to survive in the continuously evolving market conditions, presenting the main macro trends, is conditional upon the employees’ flexibility, which depends on their motivation to readjust efforts.

Research Aims-Problem Solving

Workers in any organization must be motivated to improve job performance and satisfaction. Many studies have been done regarding different ways to reward employees for working hard and helping the companies accomplish the set goals. Managers have been employing various motivation theories to reenergize the disengaged employees to join others and work as a team. Sometimes, they succeed, but not all workers respond to rewards. McClelland’s motivational theory stressed the need to address individual differences to motivate every employee since they respond to rewards differently (Paais & Pattiruhu, 2020). In turn, Maslow claimed that human desires should be satisfied based on urgency, though in the workplace setting, employees tend to have varying needs because they come from different backgrounds (Paais & Pattiruhu, 2020). Addressing individual needs is key for the realization of employees’ job satisfaction problems; however, identifying the issues of every worker in a complex environment remains a big challenge for many leaders. As a manager, I would have to understand what level team members are currently at and attempt to address the specific needs that could help fulfill those aspirations. In doing so, I would help every employee move forward and cooperate to guarantee the organization’s progress.

However, addressing the individual needs alone based on Maslow’s approach might not work since it is difficult to understand or identify individual psychological needs. Research shows that psychological needs can be addressed using Hertzberg’s two-factor theory. Improving working conditions can be the best way to motivate or address these aspects of the employees’ activity in the workplace. Such needs, according to Hertzberg, can be solved by improving motivator factors that enhance job satisfaction (Paais & Pattiruhu, 2020). Promotions and recognition of individual contributions can solve the described problem. Other approaches to meet unique needs include using McClelland’s theory by addressing three motivators: achievement needs, affiliation needs, and power (Paais & Pattiruhu, 2020). From this standpoint, it is evident that there is no individual theory a manager can employ to satisfy all disengaged employees.

As a manager, I have established that employee motivation requires applied research for improvements because it appears to be one of the complex issues. Money and rewards cannot motivate all people in the workplace. Therefore, this study explores why workers respond differently to motivation and rewarding systems in the organization. Further, we shall ascertain if addressing individual needs could be a remedy to reenergize the disengaged employees. It is also evident that motivation and rewards cannot help all employees because every worker has unique individual needs. Therefore, it can be hypothesized as follows:

• Motivation and rewards have the potential to reenergize the disengaged employees at the workplace to a certain extent;
• Motivation and incentives improve worker’s job satisfaction to a certain extent;
• Addressing individual needs is the best way to motivate employees;
• No single motivation theory can be applied in the workplace place to reenergize all disengaged workers;
• It is challenging to identify the individual needs of every worker and address them accordingly.

For performing a global change in employees’ motivation, one should pay attention to proxy indicators, which should be adequately evaluated and affected. At the level of self, the number of successfully conducted initiatives will serve as evidence of productiveness. At the personnel’s level, employees’ job satisfaction, when remained unchanged as per regular surveys, alongside the amounts of strikes would be alarming factors. For stakeholders, the continuity of improvements, expressed in the duration of projects in months, is the indicator allowing for reflecting on the reduced morale stemming from the dubious effectiveness of operations. For the whole organization, the staff turnover rates, resulting from the lack of motivation, will be viewed as the conditions reflecting the insufficiency of efforts. Meanwhile, the mentioned problems as per the indicators can be addressed by adopting design thinking, allowing to precisely state the reasons for negative outcomes. As a result, the engagement will be improved by applying motivators corresponding to each of the specified areas.

The impact of unmotivated employees on the organization includes low turnover, increasing overhead costs, and losing hardworking employees due to job satisfaction. In their attempt to fix the problem, organizational managers usually resort to underpaying their workers, worsening the situation. The organizational managers can lay off the disengaged employees and hire new ones where an attempt to reenergize the disengaged ones has failed. Firing the unmotivated workers is critical to the recovery process because the recruits are likely to corporate with the hardworking and salvage the organization from shutting down. The indictors of the disengaged employees could be the withdrawal of junior managers having failed to reenergize the unmotivated workers. Many managers find it necessary to quit when they realize that their efforts to help organizations to remain afloat are insufficient for making a global shift. This issue occurs when they understand that their workers cannot effectively cooperate with one another. In this case, they should provide everyone with an opportunity to express their concerns instead of keeping them hidden from others.

Lastly, the dissatisfaction of stakeholders can be caused by the ineffective performance of workers and, consequently, result in their confidence in the organization’s failure to achieve long-term progress. In this case, the problem could include poor coordination or leadership of either junior managers or the entire management. If the whole administration is the one that has failed to motivate the employee, they can overhaul it and appoint a new one. However, overhauling can only be done after a thorough investigation into the matter. Holding a general meeting can provide insights into the challenge and help the stakeholders take the best option of salvaging the organization from shutting down. The above mentioned are key indicators of the unmotivated employees in an organization that need to reenergize as one way of helping them build teamwork and continue working towards the organizational goals.

Literature Review

Several researchers have tried to dig deeper into the issues of employee motivation in their attempt to establish the role of motivators in reenergizing workers. Every company usually wants to reward its workers for reenergizing disengaged employees to work harder and enable an organization to realize its set goals. Many studies have been conducted to ascertain the effects of motivation on workers’ morale and performance. Moreover, motivation aims at intrinsically reenergizing disengaged workers to put in more efforts and achieve the set goals. According to Fischer et al. (2017), people tend to be motivated by other factors besides intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. The study established that managers could foster creativity and innovation among their employees but use intrinsic motivators (Malycha et al., 2017). They further demonstrated that inherent motivation had a more significant impact on workers’ performance and creativity.

Workers’ job satisfaction tends to be influenced by organizational culture, motivation, and leadership. Paais and Pattiruhu (2020) argue that motivation, good leadership, and corporate culture positively improve workers’ activity when used collectively but have no effects on job satisfaction. Therefore, the manager who uses the three parameters to motivate employees might fail to achieve the organization’s target; the approach cannot be viewed as suitable. Good leadership was cited as the best motivator since it significantly increased employees’ job satisfaction (Paais & Pattiruhu, 2020). A democratic and friendly manager in a company motivates his workers because they would feel loved, work hard, and obey all the commands, improving job output. The study also noted that both motivation and organizational culture had no impact on employees’ perceptions (Paais & Pattiruhu, 2020). Good leadership has little effect on job performance, so managers must understand how to blend the three criteria to ensure that both workers’ satisfaction and positive outcomes are achieved simultaneously. It is not always easy to motivate employees to get satisfied with the job and increase the organization’s performance. Therefore, the tasks at hand should be addressed by relying on evidence, incorporating the discussed areas for modifying the overall environment.

In an organization, workers’ needs influence how they respond to motivation. As mentioned above, good leadership increases employees’ job satisfaction, but organizational output, meaning both motivation and rewards, partially affects the companies’ performance. Hence, there is something beyond inspiration that can make many disengaged employees happier, which is yet to be established. Rybnicek et al. (2019) described how individual needs affect employees in the workplace to give a clue on how people respond to rewards in varying ways. They investigated the impact of rewards on workers’ satisfaction and job performance using McClellent motivation theory (Rybnicek et al., 2019). The research cited the advancement of technology in the last decades, which might have rendered some views ineffective, particularly those used in the early 60s and 70s. In most cases, individual needs determine how people respond to rewards. Rybnicek et al. (2019) also argued that heterogeneous incentives tend to have overlapping neural activation in employees’ brain’s motivation circuitry. So, if a bonus fails to activate these specific brain regions, the manager has to offer a different reward. The findings correlated with Herzberg’s statements discussed above, including his two-factor theory when he argued that employees respond differently to rewards.

Another approach to improving the situation regarding employees’ attitudes is based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory for motivating workers. Thus, De Vito et al. (2018) confirmed that this approach is critical for understanding how individuals respond to rewards. It was also cited as a critical determinant of employees’ job satisfaction and performance (De Vito et al., 2018). This theoretical method is grounded in one tenet, according to which needs should be satisfied based on their urgency level. Maslow also noted that providing a conducive working environment is a way of meeting workers’ needs (De Vito et al., 2018). The research established that a good working environment increases workers’ compensation levels, which is reflected in improved output and job satisfaction (De Vito et al., 2018). Managers must, therefore, ensure the reasonability of rewarding systems and promotion opportunities for all employees besides demonstrating good leadership skills. In other words, having proper reward management goes beyond good leadership since it does not affect output. In this way, both Maslow’s needs theory and McClelland’s motivation theory confirmed that a kind of environment shapes how managers improve job satisfaction and organizational performance.

Considering the above, it is evident that all researchers agree that regardless of the motivational approach used, they do not tend to have absolute power to impact all employees’ job satisfaction. Martono, Khoiruddin, and Wulansari (2018) argue that a reward management system improves employees’ welfare and positive perceptions. Managers in charge of this mechanism are responsible for analyzing individual needs and rewarding them accordingly to increase productivity and employees’ satisfaction (Martono et al., 2018). Meanwhile, motivation and reward methods affect the workers in different ways. For example, a good manager is likely to be loved by all people, which reflects increased job satisfaction. In this sense, good managers are seen as humane motivators who are ready to resonate with their employees when they have pressing issues.

The research implicitly shows that the concept of employee motivation is not easy as managers have always perceived it. Theoretically, it might appear easy; in reality, motivation and rewarding workers is a bit complicated. As a manager, I have to understand all issues involving employee attitudes to successfully reenergize all disengaged persons to work as a team with other hardworking colleagues in their pursuit to realize organizational goals. It is essential to understand what can motivate each worker before developing the best method to address their issues. In this regard, it is wrong to assume that all people have similar individual needs and, if they are subjected to similar rewards, reenergizing is a logical outcome. Identifying every desire of involved participants in the workplace is the key to ensuring that all of them get motivated (Stoyanova & Iliev, 2017). However, due to the intricate nature of the organizational setting, it is challenging for managers to identify personal obstacles to productivity.

Methodology and Methods

Motivating and rewarding employees using contemporary theories have been proved ineffective in addressing all disengaged workers. Even though Maslow’s need theory and McClelland’s motivation theory attempt to offer a better way of addressing individuals, they failed to show how managers can identify the needs in an intricate workplace setting (Sangaramoorthy & Kroeger, 2020). It becomes evident that employee motivation is a complex problem because no psychological theory has offered an optimal approach to have the issue fixed. Moreover, the case of unresponsiveness to rewards is due to the brain responsible for motivation failing to be stimulated by incentives. From this standpoint, there is a need to use design thinking overlooking the contemporary motivational theory’s approach. Design thinking, which is sometimes referred to as “thinking out the box,” offers unscientific answers to a complex problem.

Considering the above analysis, the research question can be formulated with regard to the revealed gaps in applied research. Hence, the focus is: How can managers ensure the flexibility of operations as per the market needs by developing effective reward and motivation systems, addressing the problems of all employees on a case-by-case basis? It incorporates the considerations of the harm caused by disengaged workers and the necessity to avoid the feeling of dissatisfaction, which is to be addressed by innovative methods. These aspects are linked to the general atmosphere in the workplace and the possible distractions as common phenomena stemming from this challenge. In this case, design thinking is viewed as more effective than previously used theories, and it is applicable to the described multi-faceted problem by adopting a corresponding methodology.

First, it is critical to conduct a survey among the disengaged employees. It should be noted that some workers do not express their opinions openly. Thus, managers must politely invite them to explain the challenge to avoid exclusion from teamwork. Leaders should ask them if there are significant obstacles and timely resolve them if any. They can be related to overworking and the feeling of not being involved. As a manager, I can solve the problem through delegation or hiring more staff to reduce time spent at the workplace.

Second, taking a genuine interest in workers can boost their confidence. This approach will promote positive attitudes towards managers and make others appreciate the exerted efforts. Hence, leaders must always be careful when communicating with disengaged employees. This method can encourage the teams to work even harder to produce the best possible results. On the contrary, the neglect of this area might lead to gradually deteriorating conditions for workers and their growing resentment.

The way to address disengaged workers’ issues is to set clear goals that they know and fully what they are supposed to work towards. Once they know the goals, they can manage and plan how they would work towards achieving them. Where the goals are complex and confusing, the workers disengage because they feel the task is confusing and time-wasting. Goals not only make employees focused but also, they can easily measure their success. Also, it is good to give workers something to strive for. A comprehensive reward system would enable the disengaged employees to work hard toward achieving the organization’s goals. The manager can create a sense of health competing in the workplace setting, and if it proves effective, it can be replicated to other departments.

Another approach offers flexibility such that a manager can also adapt to workers’ needs and reenergize them. For example, employees who want to work remotely and remain productive can be given a chance to feel valued and work hard to realize the organization’s objectives. Lastly, as a manager, it is good to build trust as those employees respect you. A leader who is not trusted by his juniors can find it challenging to motivate them. Gaining trust sometimes is not easy since it requires integrity, honesty, openness, and transparency. Once disengaged workers learn that their employers can be trusted, it becomes easy to disclose what is ailing them or making them feel unmotivated.

Ethnography

Ethnography can be the best way of understanding disengaged worker individual needs because it provides an in-depth study of people, their habits, mutual differences, and culture. Factors influencing peoples’ behavior at the workplace can emanate from where they stay. Since it is not always allowed to bring issues from home in the workplace, the affected workers remain stressed, thus making it difficult to address their sources of disengagement. Ethnography emphasizes the role of in-depth observation of the issues at hand before suggesting the best way to address the problem. The manager can study how the disengaged work interacts with co-workers and closely monitor whether the root of the problem is from how the organization is treating them or the issue if from home. The benefit of ethnography is that it allows the manager to consider the broad scope of workers’ environment in establishing what could be ailing them. It makes it challenging to respond to rewards.

Case studies stress in-depth analysis of one worker through interviewing to dig deeper into the problem they might be going through, which makes them perform poorly and appear dissatisfied with their work. Just the ethnography, case studies seem to be more informative because it is an interview, the manager can ask other pertinent issues of management which the disengaged employees would have otherwise not easy to disclose during the meetings Merits of mixed methods allow an investigator to view the issues at hand from different angles before deciding on the best way to solve them. People come from different environments, which affect the way they respond to rewards and leadership styles. The disengaged employees might be having varying issues. If the managers fail to understand them well, there is no way they would be reenergized and work hard to help an organization achieve its set goals and objective. The mixed methodology offers the best course of addressing the individual needs when it allows the manager to analyze the root causes of the problem employees are facing before rewarding or motivating them.

Management Research Perspective

In business management, sometimes it becomes challenging to apply a single method to solve a complex problem. It has been established that applied research offers managers a wide range of approaches to solve employees’ challenging issues. From the reading, applied research was defined as a kind of research design to offer solutions to specific management issues affecting society, organization, group, or individual. In essence, applied research is more or less the same as contractual research or scientific method of inquiry because it encompasses practical applications of scientific techniques to issues facing businesses.

I have noted that the journey of applied research methodology in problem-solving entails identifying the issues or complex problems, developing a hypothesis, and then testing the suggested answers through an experiment. This study points out that applied research always employs empirical approaches to find solutions to practical problems in business or management. What has been come out clear regarding applied research is that it resembles non-systematic inquiry due to its direct way of seeking a solution to business or management problems. In other words, applied research can be conceptualized as a typical follow-up research design with the potential to investigate the finding of basic or pure research, either refute or validate the findings and use them to create an innovative solution to a complex problem.

What is interesting about applied research is that it is not confined by theoretical underpinning, which most cases influence how professionals solve the problem. For instance, in this research regarding motivation and rewarding employees, it was established that managers always think motivation is as simple as it may sound, something which is not the case. Motivation is a complex problem, which even the psychological theory such as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and McClelland’s motivation theory cannot be used to a final lasting solution to all disengaged workers. Applied research can use design thinking, which is always referred to as “thinking outside the box,” to quickly find answers or solutions to the problems.

Some key insights from this assignment are that complex issues research multiple methods when seeking answers or solutions. Managers should also analyze the problems at hand and think beyond theoretical knowledge to find the best solution. The study also demonstrated how design thinking as an approach to problem-solving is best applied to the workplace. In the study, I learn that there is no single motivation they a manager can use to address the individual needs of the employees. However, thinking outside the box is deemed the quickest way of identifying individual needs that must be addressed to reenergize the disengaged employees. Disengaged employees were seen as detrimental to the organization’s success (Kuswati, 2020). For instance, if the managers cannot address their individual, they can negatively influence hardworking employees affecting teamwork.

The readings show the need to carry out comprehensive research before concluding that the problem at hand can be solved with ease or not. For example, it was established that good leadership in an organization positively affects job satisfaction but not performance. Therefore, to get to the bottom of an issue, no matter how simple it might seem, one must test several tentative solutions by conducting research using different methodologies. In such much as the motivation theory failed to give a good approach on how individual needs of employees can be identified, they are informative as far as motivating, and rewarding employee is concerned. The findings from this would always inform my decision as a manager. I will also suggest complex problems to several research methodologies to get to the bottom of the issue before suggesting tentative solutions. Where it is difficult to get a solution would apply design thinking. The best thing about design thinking (thinking outside the box) is that one has to overlook the existing facts when seeking answers to what appears to be a complex problem.

In an organization, it has been established that employees are critical drivers because they determine if the set goals would be achieved or not. Motivation is one way of propelling all the employees to get reenergized. However, finding the best ways to motivate disengaged employees has always been a problem for managers. Many leaders think motivating and rewarding employees is an easy task, which is not the case since the whole concept is complex. The motivation theories that have been in existence for a long time do not offer a comprehensive approach managers can use to address the individual needs of the employees in the workplace setting. Applied research seems to provide the best way of addressing the complex issue of employee motivation. The approach emphasizes using several methods to analyze the issues at hand and identify the simple way to solve them.

There are several things that managers must do when addressing individual needs. First, managers must always use different methods when analyzing reasons why employees get disengaged for addressing them accordingly. Second, there is a need for managers to directly ask disengaged employees the root cause of what is ailing them before rewarding them based on the identified unmet needs. Lastly, using design thinking in the workplace is better because it offers the best solution to the complex problem whereby saving on time and resources that would have been used to motivate disengaged employees.

De Vito, L., Brown, A., Bannister, B., Cianci, M., & Mujtaba, B. G. (2018). Employee motivation is based on the hierarchy of needs, expectancy, and the two-factor theories applied with higher education employees . Web.

Fischer, C., Malycha, C. P., & Schafmann, E. (2019). The influence of intrinsic motivation and synergistic extrinsic motivators on creativity and innovation. Frontiers in Psychology , 10 , 137.

Kuswati, Y. (2020). The effect of motivation on employee performance . Budapest International Research and Critics Institute (BIRCI-Journal): Humanities and Social Sciences , 3 (2), 995-1002.

Martono, S., Khoiruddin, M., & Wulansari, N. A. (2018). Remuneration reward management system as a driven factor of employee performance . International Journal of Business & Society , 19 .

Paais, M., & Pattiruhu, J. R. (2020). Effect of motivation, leadership, and organizational culture on satisfaction and employee performance . The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics, and Business , 7 (8), 577-588.

Rybnicek, R., Bergner, S., & Gutschelhofer, A. (2019). How individual needs influence motivation effects: A neuroscientific study on McClelland’s need theory . Review of Managerial Science , 13 (2), 443-482.

Sangaramoorthy, T., & Kroeger, K. A. (2020). Rapid ethnographic assessments: A practical approach and toolkit for collaborative community research . Maryland: Routledge.

Stoyanova, T., & Iliev, I. (2017). Employee engagement factor for organizational excellence . International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR) , 10 (1), 23-29.

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Employee Motivation Essay Example

Every business is expected to yield profit. However, raising profits can only be possible if the managers and workers perform their duties with their best efforts towards achieving a common goal. A workplace where the employers and employees are dedicated to their work and meet their deadlines without being supervised can score better proceeds. In the competitive business world, each organization yearns to succeed and improve the quality of its services and raise performance levels. Employee motivation is what makes an employee willing to improve personal performance and effectiveness, resulting in the provision of the high-quality outcome at the workplace (Berrin & Bauler 182). It is divided into intrinsic motivation (internal factors), such as a feeling of enjoyment brought by the work, and extrinsic motivation (external factors), such as rewards. This paper will research on employee motivation types, factors affecting it, its importance, and techniques applied in motivating employees.

Types of Employee Motivation

Intrinsic motivation is a feeling that comes from within a person. It is self-driven and comes from the inner feeling of an individual rather than being imposed by someone or being triggered by a particular reward (Kovach 59). When a worker feels motivated by the work, it is referred to as intrinsic motivation. It is the job itself that motivates a person, especially when it is enjoyable and includes an understanding of the reasonable goals. One can be intrinsically motivated by the work environment. For example, if the environment is favorable, an employee is more likely to feel at peace with the work thus driving him/her to work even more. On the contrary, if the environment is unfriendly, the employee is more likely to be discouraged to work. In fact, he/she will not like the idea of going to work. Intrinsic motivation may be generated through job satisfaction. Most employees feel gratified with their job when they are permitted to have control and liberation and to contribute to innovations on their job. Intrinsic inspiration can also be prompted by an environment that emboldens the exploration and learning. Intrinsic motivational factors can be accomplished by job design that encompasses job simplification, job rotation, job enlargement, and job enrichment.

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Extrinsic motivation is a type of motivation that is affected by the external factors to self-motivate an employee (Kovach 62). These factors usually drive an employee to reach a particular goal either willingly or unwillingly. They originate from the management, and the employees can either react to them positively or negatively. Thus, employers should use external motivators that generate a positive response from the workers. The examples of these factors are punishments and rewards system. When a punishment is set for not achieving a particular target, employees tend to do their best to hit the target. Likewise, when a reward is given to those workers who meet an objective, they will be motivated to work harder to reach the target and get the award. However, in some cases, a punishment produces a negative result; for example, some employees may cheat in their results when they are given a precise target to achieve, making the organization calculate its performance rate on false information. This information will include data that supports the improvement but no financial proceeds to support it.

Employee motivation is important because it facilitates the sustainability of the business organization by enhancing its improvement. Without motivation, whether intrinsic or extrinsic, it will be challenging for a business to succeed and prosper in the future. Thus, a key to the development of any company is motivation. People cannot be forced to work well but rather be motivated to perform better than before.

Employee Motivation Techniques

The following are techniques used to create and increase motivation of employees: fashioning a positive work environment, celebrating achievements made by employees, offering job security, providing incentives, training, surveys on employees, and promotions to best performers, and, lastly, sharing profits with the workers. A positive work environment motivates the employees because they feel free, comfortable and welcomed at the workplace. Promoting teamwork and sharing of ideas between employers and employees result in enhanced job performance (Berrin & Bauler 223). Bonding is necessary at the workplace because employees will learn to work together to achieve a common goal and promote healthy competition among workers. A manager should be a good mediator when a conflict arises at the workplace and eradicate conflicts as soon as they arise. As much as teamwork creates a positive work environment, employees should be reminded to work independently to perform their assigned task.

Recognizing and celebrating achievements made by the workers motivate them to perform better than before (Berrin & Bauler 228). Naturally, people like to be recognized for their achievements; the same regards a workplace setting. Awarding workers with the certificates of accomplishment, vacation days, and employee of the month or year titles, giving trophies and gift vouchers are ways of recognizing and celebrating the efforts of the employees. When an employee is honored and known for an excellent work done, he/she will be motivated to do their best. However, if his/her achievements are not recognized, they will be discouraged because their efforts have not been celebrated. There is no need to make a success if you are not going to be known for it.

Setting goals to be achieved by the end of a specified time gives an employee a reason to strive to attain a particular target (Berrin & Bauler 237). Professional goals encourage competition between workers thus motivating them to reach a particular objective. However, the goals should be reasonable that is an employee can achieve that. When goals are not set, it is difficult for employees to know what is expected of them; thus, they will feel relaxed at their job. On the contrary, when a goal is set, they are made aware of what is expected of them. Setting specific goals and time limits will motivate the employees.

Incentives boost employee motivation because when an incentive is put in place, it lures the employees to work harder and smarter (Berrin & Bauler 255). Those include cash prizes, gift cards, parking spot and office space. Employees are more likely to be motivated if their efforts are rewarded.

Conducting surveys to get feedbacks on how employees feel about the management if they face any problems will provide possible solutions to the problems. This technique can determine if there is a barrier in the workplace and allows the managers to solve the problem. If there are no barriers in the workplace, employees will be motivated to work because there is a peaceful co-existence (Berrin & Bauler 228). A survey can be facilitated with questionnaires. These questionnaires should be filled by employees anonymously for the protection of their identification and making them feel free to share their feelings and ideas.

A promotion granted on performance motivates employees to perform better. When an employee sees a reward or promotion for good job performance, they will be motivated to work their best. When one worker sees his/her co-worker being promoted because of performing well in his/her duties, he/she will be motivated to do the same to get a promotion (Berrin & Bauler 250). Promotions come with a monetary increase in the salary, bigger office and better rank in the office. Acquiring a status through the promotion motivates the promoted employee to work at his/her best not wanting junior workers to think that their senior employee cannot handle the assigned new tasks. It also encourages other employees to copy the behavior of the promoted employee to achieve the same success.

The managers should motivate their employees by encouraging them to get more knowledge by sending them to seminars and workshops. This technique enables the employees to acquire new knowledge that helps them advance in their job. Training is very important because it ensures that employees are knowledgeable about new technology or any new way of performing a job. New work is made easier after undergoing a well-constructed training; the training also works as a refresher course for the profession (Berrin & Bauler 262).

Providing job security also motivates the workers to work better. A worker who is at a company that offers job security is calmer, relaxed and has trust in the business, unlike an employee who is working in an organization with no job security. An employee has faith in an organization where job security has been offered hence will do what is expected of him/her by the employers (Kovach 64). Unlike an employee who has no job security, whose managers may dismiss him/her any time they wish too, he/she will always be anxious and tensed because of being unsure at which point the employment will be terminated whether he/she works at his best or not.

Sharing of the company’s profits is also another way of motivating the employees (Berrin & Bauler 259). When the profits of a corporation are reflected in the employee’s salary, it will make him/her want to get more profit for the company to earn more. The more profits they make, the more money they get. That is salary plus profits made by the company. Financial gains mostly motivate employees. When they release an input, they expect an output to them by the management.

Theories of Employee Motivation

These theories support the techniques of motivating the employees and are divided into process and content theories. Motivation content theories concentrate on the exact thing that motivates an employee (for example, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, McClelland’s Achievement Motivation, Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory, and Alderfer’s Modified Need Hierarchy) while process theories look at how behavior is instigated and sustained; they include Vroom Expectancy Theory and Adam’s Equity Theory.

Herzberg’s Theory is also referred to as Hygiene Theory. It is a two-factor approach that states that two different factors influence satisfaction and dissatisfaction (Herzberg, Mausner, & Snyderman 288). Herzberg ’names the factors that influence dissatisfaction as dissatisfiers (maintenance and hygiene factors) while factors that influence satisfaction are called satisfiers or motivators. Dissatisfiers include working conditions, policies, job security, and status while satisfiers include recognition of achievements, responsibilities, and growth. Dissatisfiers do not have the same impact on job satisfaction but rather influence job dissatisfaction. These factors will not motivate an employee, but their absence in a workplace will influence job dissatisfaction (Berrin & Bauler 188). To motivate workers effectively, the management should work on providing good hygiene factors that ensure the staff’s job satisfaction thus motivation.

Maslow’s Hierarchy Theory of Needs arranges the interdependent needs of a human being from the basic need to the highest level of requirements (Berrin & Bauler 184). The author concludes that once a person has satisfied the lower level of need, the next level of requirements motivates him/her to work harder to attain it. The most fundamental needs are physiological, for example, shelter, food, air, and clothing (Maslow 372). They are the key needs to sustain life, and when they are not met, it affects a person physically. Once a person can sustain his/her life, he/she can be motivated to achieve the next step; but if he /she cannot afford these basic needs, it will be difficult to move to the next level. Employees should be able to afford these necessary basic needs with their salaries to be motivated to get to the next level. Safety needs are the next level, where employees feel a sense of having security, feeling peaceful and orderly at the workplace (Maslow 380). Social needs comprise of friendship, a sense of belonging to a certain group, love and acceptance in a certain environment. Employees usually want to fit in a particular group at a workplace or feel accepted and loved by the others. To satisfy these needs, they tend to work harder to reach a target that will allow them to be identified and accepted by others. A person will strive to reach that rank. Esteem needs generate motivations only when the lower needs are satisfied. They include self-esteem, freedom, and self-confidence. When an employee satisfies these needs, he/she feels capable, in power and worthy to be in that place. However, if the needs are not met, an employee will lack esteem and will feel inferior to the others. What is more, he/she might not be able to tend even to the duties. The highest need is self-actualization that includes creativeness, self-realization, and self-fulfillment (Berrin & Bauler 185). When an employee realizes his/her potential, he/she feels the satisfaction of oneself. This process serves as a continuous motivational fact because when an individual completes one need another need arises.

Alderfer’s Modified Hierarchy of Needs is a modified Maslow’s Hierarchy Theory (Berrin & Bauler 187). Alderfer agrees with Maslow that human needs can be arranged in levels but instead of categorizing them in five, he reduces them to three levels of existence, growth and relatedness. According to Alderfer, two levels can be achieved at the same time. It is not necessary to move from one stage to another (Berrin & Bauler 187). A person can attain the highest level of need without fulfilling the lower needs. Thus, in these two propositions, he is not in agreement with Maslow’s theory. When an employee satisfies growth needs, he/she will have the desire to meet relatedness needs. The fewer existence needs are met, the more desire a person will feel to fulfill them.

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In McGregor X-Y Theory, X stands for autocratic management while Y is participative management. X theory assumes that external motivation is achieved through punishment or threat while Y theory believes that an employee is internally motivated with a good environment. X Theory assumes that people dislike work and, therefore, have to be pressured to contribute to a company’s goals. Y implies that although punishment can motivate a worker to work, it is not the only way because employees are self-motivated. Employees can get motivation from within themselves because of good environmental factors surrounding them at a workplace.

According to McClelland’s Need-Based Motivation Theory, human beings have three needs: achievement, power, and affiliation (Berrin & Bauler 190). In his research, McClelland found out that businessmen have a desire for achievement motivation. According to him, motivation achievement can be taught through training by teaching an employee to act in terms of achieving a motive (Berrin & Bauler 190).

Locke’s Goal Theory illustrates how setting specific goals to induce high performance and setting more challenging goal increase performance efforts. Through employees’ participation in making goals, they will set higher goals and be motivated to achieve even more to gain superior performance. Workers will set reasonable and attainable goals since they are the ones expected to reach the objective unlike when employers set unreasonable goals. In this theory, for a goal to be achieved, there has to be an effort to achieve it. When the goals set are unreasonable, there will be no motivation to attain them. Thus, it is important to involve the staff in setting the goals.

Skinner’s motivation through positive reinforcement suggests that stimuli trigger behavior. Thus, in a business set up, any factor that results in behavior change is a motivational change (Berrin & Bauler 205). The change can either be positive or negative. Skinner advises managers to use positive reinforcers such as promotion and salary increment to promote motivation in the workplace. Managers should also solve problems in the workplace to create a peaceful environment that will motivate employees. The staff can only be motivated if there is a positive reinforcer.

Vroom’s Model Theory asserts that effort leads to performance and performance leads to either positive or negative rewards. Positive rewards motivate employees while negative rewards do not motivate them. Employees’ work effort is based on what they are expecting to gain at the end of it thus the expectancy theory (Berrin & Bauler 203). Ensuring the staff expects a pay rise and promotion will motivate them to work harder on achieving the set goals. When there are no reward expectations, a minimum effort will be put since there is no potential gain at the end of it. No one wants to work for free unless it is charity. Work is believed to have some payment after its completion; thus, an extra work of achieving a goal should have an extra bonus to the salary. If the management considers bonuses, its staff is more likely to be motivated.

Adam’s Equity Theory illustrates how employees seek fair treatment at the workplace in cases of rewards and the rate of their efforts (Berrin & Bauler 195). Employees base their judgments on comparing themselves with people around them or with persons of the same profession. They will feel undermined if they realize that they are contributing more than the other employees and are not being rewarded the same way. The level of motivation is based on the percentage of fairness that has been found out by the employees. When employees believe they are treated equally, they will be motivated; but when they believe there is unfairness; they will be discouraged. Unfairness can cause the staff to be hostile, disruptive and silent.

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This paper has critically explained the concept of employee motivation and the various advocated theories used to motivate employees towards helping the organization to accomplish its goals. Theories of employee motivation suggest that there are many variables influencing how employees perceive their work and are motivated to achieve a high level of performance. Concepts of fairness, hierarchy, motivational effects and external motivational factors all give tools to help to analyze motivational influences and come up with strategies to increase levels of motivation at a workplace. Although most theories seem to conflict, they do shed light on those areas of motivation. Motivation is a vital area in the study of organizations and management, and it cannot be ignored even with the presence of many unanswered questions and conflicting theories.

Employees are the most important resource in an organization and, for this reason, they should be treated well and should always be motivated. Well-motivated employees are always ready to work hard towards achieving the set goals of the organization. Employees individually and collectively contribute to the attainment of the set goals for sustainable competitive advantage. It can be achieved through various ways including providing safe working conditions for employees, rewarding the employees well according to the work they do, and providing training programs to sharpen the employees’ skills.

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Financial Incentives in Employee Motivation Analytical Essay

There are many ways to motivate employees to perform highly. Amongst the common approaches used to motivate employees perform well is financial incentive. It is the common belief of employers that high salaries and commissions motivate employees to perform highly.

This theory has worked in some cases since pay increases have generated desirable outcomes such as high performance, low turnover rates and high demand in the labor market. When employees perceive that they will be well remunerated for performing in a certain manner, they strive to achieve the targets set by their employers.

The theory that ‘pay generates motivation in employees’ originated from the belief that workers go to work so as to earn money. This means that the primary drive for laborers is money since that is the reason why they go to work. What has been established so far from past studies is that pay indeed motivates employees to perform highly (Cameron, 2006).

Pay does not however guarantee that there will be high performance from all employees since people react differently to stimuli. Whereas some respond favourably to pay packages, others want job security, recognition or improved working conditions. Pay therefore without a doubt motivates employees to perform highly but it does not work a hundred percent on all workers. It cannot be used as the only motivational factor that is applied so as to bring about high performance in the workplace.

Pay does not successfully bring about desired outcomes because it shifts focus from the job to money. If employers make it a rule that high performance is rewarded with increased pay, employees perceive that the only reason why they work hard is to receive high income.

Hence those employees who are contented with their pay get no reason to put in additional effort in their jobs. Pay as opposed to other sources of motivation is money centered and not job centered. Even though pay increases performance in the short term, it cannot be relied upon for long term sustenance of performance.

Eisenberger, Rhoades and Cameron (1999) brought out that if performance reward expectancy is to be relied upon, there must also be high levels of job satisfaction amongst employees. If employees do not show interest in their day to day routines, then only those who desire to remain controlled will respond to pay incentives. This is not desirable for companies that try to instigate employees to practice self leadership.

The motivating effects of the organization’s compensation programs can be measured through a three stage action plan that includes: setting standards, measuring employee performance and giving feedback (Neely, 2001). Measuring the effect of a motivational program starts with the setting of objectives and standards against which performance can be compared. Comparing performance vis-a-vis standards should be done regularly and accurately so that the results can be reliable when used for rewarding employees.

Giving of feedback is also particularly important during appraisals. Regular feedback ought to be given to employees so that they can be aware of their progress or weaknesses throughout their performance record. When measuring the motivating effects of the organization’s compensation programs, it is important to set challenging standards which are realistic, achievable and related to the company vision.

In summary, the role of compensation plans in the motivation of employees is dependent on the nature of job, employees and effectiveness of their implementation. Pay motivates employees if it is used strategically to boost performance related employee appraisals. The motivating effects of the organization’s compensation programs can be measured through setting standards, measuring employee performance and giving regular feedback.

Cameron, J. (2006). Rewards and intrinsic motivation: resolving the controversy. Charlotte: Information Age Pub Inc

Eisenberger, R., Rhoades, L. & Cameron, J. (1999). Does pay for performance increase or decrease perceived self-determination and intrinsic motivation? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(5): 1026-1040

Neely, A. (2001). Business performance measurement: theory and practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

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Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Financial Incentives in Employee Motivation." March 26, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/pay-motivating-employees/.

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