essay about motivation employees

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

By Elle Holder

12 min read

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.

Bring your people together

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.

Create a connected workplace

Find out how high-performing teams keep everyone connected, motivated and doing their best work

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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What keeps employees motivated

Psychologists are expanding their efforts to get research on what motivates people at work to employers at a time when the workplace is changing dramatically

Vol. 52 No. 7 Print version: page 52

• Personality
• Managing Human Capital

The upheaval of the working world since March 2020 has no precedent in living memory. Some people went home for what they thought would be weeks, only to still be working from home more than a year and a half later. Others were left to struggle through enormous stresses in front-line occupations. It was, in short, a tough year for workplace motivation.

Yet psychological research suggests that there are ways businesses can support their employees moving forward even as the pandemic slips into a new phase of uncertainty. Much of this work comes from decades of research on the impacts of stress in the workplace and how job pressures influence motivation, said James Diefendorff, PhD, an industrial and organizational (I/O) psychologist at the University of Akron.

“Those demands consume regulatory resources, lead to faster emotional exhaustion and depletion, and require more opportunities for replenishment,” Diefendorff said. “It’s just amped up in the context of working under the various additional stressors and demands that the pandemic has introduced.”

Motivation in a pandemic

One of the key findings from I/O psychology over the past several decades is that not all workplace stresses are created equal. Some stressors are hindrances, which are things outside of an employee’s control that feel like barriers to performance: red tape, lack of resources, conflicting goals. Others are challenges, which feel like tasks that a person can overcome while growing and improving. An example of a challenge stressor might be learning a new skill to take on a new job responsibility. A meta-analysis led by Jeffery LePine, PhD, a researcher in organizational behavior at Arizona State University, found that while hindrance stressors crush motivation, challenge stressors actually boost it ( Academy of Management Journal , Vol. 48, No. 5, 2005 ). Research further suggests that people find challenge stressors motivating because they expect that if they put the work in, they can achieve an outcome they value. Hindrance stressors, on the other hand, feel insurmountable—no matter how hard you work, a satisfactory result is out of reach.

Many of the stressors introduced by COVID-19 were hindrance stressors, said Thomas Britt, PhD, an I/O psychologist at Clemson University. This was particularly true in health care, where limited personal protective equipment early in the pandemic put workers at risk. Hindrance stressors also abounded in other professions, such as in education, where teachers had to try to teach in far-from-ideal remote-learning circumstances.

The impact of the pandemic on workers is also clear through the lens of self-determination theory , a framework for understanding motivation developed by psychologists Richard Ryan, PhD, a professor at Australian Catholic University, and Edward Deci, PhD, a professor emeritus at the University of Rochester. Research into self-determination theory finds that three main psychological needs support optimal motivation: autonomy, competence, and relatedness ( Annual Reviews of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior , Vol. 4, 2017 ). The pandemic has been a disaster for all three, said Susan Fowler, a San Diego–based motivation consultant who uses self-determination theory as the basis for her work. Suddenly, many workers were being told they had no choice but to stay home, Fowler said. They were being asked to do things that made them feel bumbling and helpless, such as interacting solely via Zoom. And the necessity of social distancing meant they were often isolated from their colleagues.

At the same time, working from home reduced hindrance stressors—such as commutes—for some workers. Researchers, clinicians, and coaches alike are now tapping into basic research to show people how to connect with their own motivation and goals, especially when external circumstances challenge them.

“Motivation researchers are active in workplaces, classrooms, sports . . . pretty much anywhere people would be engaged,” Ryan said. “We want to find out, what are the internal factors that facilitate that engagement?”

Building optimal motivation

Research has turned up several good answers to that question. One of the most motivating experiences employees can have is making progress on a meaningful task, said Teresa Amabile, PhD, a social and organizational psychologist at Harvard Business School. Amabile and her colleagues asked more than 200 employees at seven companies in the tech, chemical, and consumer products industries to write daily diary entries describing events at work and rate their own feelings of intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, creativity, and collegiality, among other measures. They also collected periodic ratings of the workers’ creativity from colleagues ( Administrative Science Quarterly , Vol. 50, No. 3, 2005 ).

“We could look at how the events that were occurring impacted their intrinsic motivation and their creativity,” Amabile said.

When people reported more intrinsic motivation, their creativity simultaneously rose, she said. So did other desirable states such as productivity, collegiality, and commitment to work. And what spurred intrinsic motivation? Amabile and her team found that the most powerful precursor was the feeling of making progress at meaningful work.

“Here’s what’s interesting: It doesn’t have to be a huge breakthrough,” Amabile said. “It can be small, almost trivial, steps forward.”

This finding fit with previous I/O psychology research. For example, job characteristics theory, developed in 1975 by Greg Oldham, PhD, an I/O psychologist now at Tulane University, and J. Richard Hackman, PhD, a social psychologist now at Harvard University, holds that meaningfulness is one of the three factors leading to motivation, along with responsibility and knowledge of results.

Anecdotal reports during the pandemic suggest that the winnowing effect of work-from-home policies actually boosted feelings of progress for many employees, Amabile said. With time freed from long commutes, random coworker interruptions, and morning makeup and hair-care routines, workers often felt they got more meaningful work done each day.

However, there are caveats to the benefits of meaningful work, said Britt. He and his colleagues surveyed U.S. working adults in multiple industries using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk website during the pandemic and found that mental health symptoms after hindrance stressors were more severe in those who felt a “calling” to their work ( Work & Stress , Vol. 35, No. 2, 2021 ). “Encountering these demands that you can’t control and that harm your performance is going to be particularly impactful for those who feel called to do the work and feel the work is highly important,” Britt said.

Furthermore, in a study of emergency department physicians, Britt and his colleagues found that a sense of meaning in work did not buffer doctors from mental health strain early in the pandemic ( Applied Psychology , online first publication, 2020 ). That was a surprise, Britt said, but it may indicate that when hindrance stressors become too overwhelming, a sense of purpose isn’t enough to rescue one’s sense of well-being at work.

Leading to motivate

One lesson from these findings is that workplaces need to make sure their employees have the basic resources they need to perform their job duties, Britt said. In times of crisis, workers also need extra time to rest and recover from stress. Listening to employee feedback and responding to their needs can help administrators and managers reduce hindrance stressors among their workers.

There are also strategies that workers themselves can use to boost their own motivation, Diefendorff said. These range from motivation-control strategies, such as setting subgoals and rewards for meeting them, to attention-control strategies to minimize disruptions and interruptions. Emotion-regulation strategies such as minimizing anxiety and worry can also be helpful for goal-setting, he said. But workers might also need to recognize when they’re too tapped out to use these strategies effectively. “You have to have self-compassion, which basically means cutting yourself some slack as a way to give yourself the time and space you need to try to recover your depleted resources,” Diefendorff said.

In general, Amabile said, managers can help by encouraging employees to see ways in which their work is meaningful and by providing clear goals and benchmarks for progress. Step back, micromanagers: The most motivationally beneficial leadership style is one that encourages employees to manage their own workflows and solve their own problems.

This style is called leader autonomy support, and it’s characterized by a manager who encourages their employees to self-initiate tasks, to share their own perspectives, and to make their own choices, while still stepping in to support them when needed.

A meta-analysis led by Ryan found that leader autonomy support fosters employees’ sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness within the workplace, which boosts autonomous work motivation. This self-derived motivation, in turn, is linked to feelings of well-being and engagement as well as declines in distress and improvements in positive behaviors at work ( Motivation and Emotion , Vol. 42, No. 5, 2018 ). The meta-analysis included studies from multiple countries, including Iran, the Philippines, Korea, Bulgaria, Holland, China, New Zealand, and South Africa. Ryan said that this beneficial effect of leader autonomy support seemed to hold in workplaces worldwide and that autonomy improved productivity, commitment, and satisfaction with work in both collectivist and individualistic societies.

“Regardless of culture, if you don’t have a sense of freedom and choice in your work activities, your well-being is undermined,” Ryan said.

Putting research in action

With the onset of the pandemic, motivational experts, like many other workers, moved online. Ryan and his colleagues at his consulting business, motivationWorks , found themselves coaching business leaders dealing with vastly different circumstances. Managers suddenly working with largely remote teams had to find ways to support their employees’ sense of competence to help them tackle the challenges that remote work created, Ryan said. Managers overseeing essential workers, on the other hand, faced a different set of issues.

“Especially in the health care industry, where we are doing extensive work, job stressors were manifold,” Ryan said. “Here, again, autonomy-supportive leaders were better able to hear and respond to the needs of their employees, which was crucial during this challenging period.”

Motivation research applies to a broad range of workplaces, far beyond the stereotypical white-collar office setting. Ryan and his colleagues found, for example, that autonomy, feelings of competence, and feelings of relatedness or connection within the workplace all positively influence job satisfaction and general mental health in a factory setting ( Journal of Applied Social Psychology , Vol. 23, No. 21, 1993 ). A case study led by Philip Cheng-Fei Tsai, PhD, of Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages in Taiwan, that analyzed a Taiwanese manufacturing company undergoing a downsizing found that while managers thought factory workers were most motivated by the company’s salary and benefit structure and the opportunity for education and training, the factory workers were actually most driven by relationships with their colleagues and the extent to which their jobs allowed them to cultivate their relationships with their families ( Journal of World Business , Vol. 42, No. 2, 2007 ).

“In context where people can feel a sense of autonomy, where they can feel a sense of competence, and where they can feel connected and related to the people around them, that’s where they have the highest-quality motivation,” Ryan said.

Fowler saw a particularly emotional example of this in her work with a large construction firm during the pandemic. A supervisor she was working with noticed that one of his employees was frequently late and struggling at work. The supervisor made a stab at connection and asked the employee if he was homeschooling his kids, pointing out that remote learning was a struggle in his own home. The employee broke down. His wife was an emergency room nurse, he said. They had two kids in early elementary school and no family help. He was working around the clock to try to juggle it all.

The supervisor called together his team and explained the situation. Working together, the rest of the team shuffled their own schedules to make life easier for the struggling father. The result, the supervisor told Fowler, was that the entire staff felt like they were doing something good. Given choice and autonomy, they could support the family of a health care worker and feel a sense of connectedness rather than inconvenience.

“[The supervisor] said, ‘I learned that being empathetic and just having a casual conversation with someone may be one of the greatest gifts I can give my people as a leader,’” Fowler said.

Emotional connection can be powerful. In his work with business leaders, clinical and organizational psychologist and consultant George Kohlrieser, PhD, focuses on bonding. This can be a hard sell in some business cultures—he counts among his success stories a ­heavy-machinery dealership in South Carolina where he helped change the culture from one of aloof detachment to one where employees felt bonded to one another. Such connections foster employees’ sense of psychological safety, or the feeling that the workplace is a safe environment to take risks and be vulnerable.

With vaccination widely available in the United States, employers are increasingly calling workers back into offices. They’ll need to feel safe there—not only from new outbreaks of COVID-19 but also from the new uncertainties introduced by a year or more of remote work. Many industries are turning to hybrid solutions for employees who can work from home and who have realized that they don’t want to go back to cubicles and commutes, Ryan said.

“People have been able to experience firsthand that they can self-regulate their work efforts and also balance work demands with the things that matter most outside of work,” Ryan said. “Their horizons have been expanded, and I think we will see increasing demands for empowering work conditions.”

The key detail to making this work, Fowler said, is ensuring that every employee gets equal consideration, even if the ultimate workplace arrangement isn’t the same across the entire company. Some jobs require face time more than others, she said, but those employees should still have their needs considered and be offered as much autonomy as possible. Certain types of job training or mentoring, for example, might need to be done in person, but employees could still get opportunities to autonomously decide when or how they fulfill these responsibilities.

“Not everyone is going to get the same deal, but everyone should have the same consideration and conversation,” Fowler said.

Life span motivation

Not all workplace­relevant research starts out in studies of employees. Carol S. Dweck, PhD, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, did much of her early research on how the types of goals people have influence their levels of motivation in school. She found that when students were motivated by the desire to learn and become better at something, they bounced back from failure much more readily than when they were motivated by external carrots and sticks, such as the desire to get outside approval or avoid negative judgment ( Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , Vol. 54, No. 1, 1988 ). Out of this research, Dweck and her colleagues coined the well-known notion of a “growth mindset,” which views intelligence as malleable and failure as an opportunity to learn.

Expanding out of the educational system, Dweck and her colleagues have discovered that their growth mindset framework applies in workplaces. For example, they’ve found that the more that employees view their company leadership as cultivating a growth mindset—rather than a fixed mindset in which ability and intelligence are immutable—the greater trust and commitment they have in their organization ( Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings , 2018 ).

Researchers who study motivation in schools also provide perspective on how to teach motivation habits early, as well as how to avoid squelching kids’ intrinsic motivation before they even get their first job interview. These lessons may be particularly important as children return to the classroom after a year of disruptions and remote learning.

“There is pretty strong research that shows that the motivation in academic subjects during adolescence is an extremely strong predictor of people’s career trajectories later in life,” said Eric Anderman, PhD, a professor of educational psychology at The Ohio State University. Unfortunately, the traditional incentives of education don’t do much to kindle that motivation.

“As kids move up through the grades, the focus of school—the purpose of school—becomes more about getting grades and doing well and less about learning,” Anderman said.

Paralleling Dweck’s findings, Anderman and his colleagues have found that taking a mastery-based approach to education rather than a reward-based approach can improve motivation-related outcomes like task efficacy, knowledge, and behavioral intentions ( Journal of Educational Psychology , Vol. 112, No. 5, 2020 ). The hope is that instilling these habits early can immunize people against the motivation-killing norms they might face in the work world.

“In terms of preparing people for the real world, we do have to acknowledge that workplaces are competitive and there are going to be extrinsic outcomes,” Anderman said. “But it’s how we train people to cope with it. We don’t want to send them out of school with the message that they have to be number one at everything.” 

Further reading

Mindfulness and its association with varied types of motivation: A systematic review and meta-analysis using self-determination theory Donald, J. N., et al., Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 2020

Toward a new curriculum of leadership competencies: Advances in motivation science call for rethinking leadership development Fowler, S., Advances in Developing Human Resources , 2018

Student motivation and associated outcomes: A meta-analysis from self-determination theory Howard, J. L., et al., Perspectives on Psychological Science , 2021

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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

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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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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123 Employee Motivation Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best employee motivation topic ideas & essay examples, 👍 good essay topics on employee motivation, 📌 most interesting employee motivation topics to write about, ❓ questions about employee motivation.

• Apex Computers: Problems of Motivation Among Subordinates In the process of using intangible incentives, it is necessary to use, first of all, recognition of the merits of employees.
• Employee Motivation and Reward at Google One of the factors that make most of the employees wish to work with Google Company is that the company offers an environment that promotes employee growth and development.
• Employee Motivation: Theories in Practice Accepting the importance of this approach, one can also admit the reconsideration of the approaches to leadership and motivation as two basic elements needed to create a positive working atmosphere and ensure that all individuals […]
• Employee Motivation as a Component of Performance Management Therefore, one of the areas that are given a lot of attention in strategic human resource management is the management of the expectations and demands of employees in organizations. Of critical relevance in employee motivation […]
• Employee Motivation and Job Satisfaction, Attitude, and Productivity Training and development of employees According to the results of the survey, a great percentage of those interviewed agreed to the fact that companies highly encourage and support education and training of workers.
• Employee Motivation: Expectancy and Equity Theories With regard to the equity theory, it is recognizable that employees will observe the aspects of impartiality, fairness, and justice practiced by the management. Equity should be exercised within the entire organization and to all […]
• Managing Employee Motivation Through System Thinking The principles of system thinking mainly caution against finding solutions in isolated parts of a system because the problem is transferred to other areas of the same system.
• Employee Legal Benefits as Per the UAE Labor Laws It will also discuss the differences between the benefits that the nationals of the UAE are entitled to and those that their foreign counterparts receive. Generally, the benefits are provided to improve employees’ standard of […]
• Leadership Style and Employee Motivation: Burj Al Arab Hotel How effective and sustainable is the current leadership approach within the Burj Al Arab in the management of the level of employee motivation? How effective is the function of the current leadership styles in improving […]
• Employee Motivation: Daniel Pink’s Views According to Pink, businesses and organizations should understand the different effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on creativity, productivity, performance, and turnover.
• Management Practices and Employee Motivational Policies Such power to create leads to employee motivation and ultimately benefits organization, assisting in the creation of more flexible work force and at the same time increases exchange of ideas and information amongst employees within […]
• Employee Motivation and Management at the Nucor Corp. To Nucor, the top managers are required to trust the lower staff with the running of the business and delegate duties to them depending on their contribution to the businesses’ success.
• Employee Motivation at Wal-Mart in China That is, the company’s mission is to meet the expectations of its clients and not employees. In other words, if the factors that motivate employees are fully provided, they are likely to become motivated and […]
• Motivating Employees: USAA’s Strategies and Impacts For maximum productivity, employees need motivation. USAA’s significant success is a consequence of proper management and employees motivation.
• Employee Motivation Methods and Their Effectiveness As a result, my staff would be more determined to achieve higher standards because they would take part in setting them in the first place.
• The Significance of Strategic Compensation for Employee Motivation and Retention In response to some of the events in the companies that changed them, motivation systems were developed as a counter to the demoralization of employees.
• Communication Failure, Lack of Motivation, and Conflicts as Common Workplace Issues Poor communication can lead to a lack of understanding and awareness, resulting in a breakdown of the relationship between employees, managers, and colleagues.
• The Employee Benefits Provided by the Bank of America In the process of applying for a job or assessing a certain company, it is crucial to learn about their advantages and unique features. In conclusion, Bank of America features various benefits that provide employees […]
• Employee Motivation and Personal Hierarchy of Needs Esteem Needs: A decent salary, respectful attitude on the part of colleagues and management, and confidence in compliance with the position occupied. Security Needs: The availability of security measures in the personal, family, and workspace […]
• How Flexibility Affects Job Satisfaction in Working Families: Research Design For its implementation in the system of study of the issue related to the topic of this work, it is important to consider the fact that the data that it requires can be obtained immediately […]
• The Google Company’s Employee Motivation Over the years, the organization has grown to be the best in data collection and technological advantages in artificial intelligence. As a result, Google is one of the greatest businesses to use as a benchmark […]
• Discussion Board Assignment: Employee Benefits The opportunity to use vacation time would discourage me from leaving an organization due to enabling me to take care of my health and recover from stress.
• An Employee Motivation Email’s Analysis Part of the manager’s job is to keep the staff motivated; to do so, the manager can apply theoretical frameworks concerning workforce motivation, such as expectancy theory.
• Employee Benefits Program for Supreme Court Justice They are also a guarantee of the independence of the Supreme Court Justice representative in the performance of his duties. In case of the death of a representative of the Supreme Court Justice related to […]
• Employee Benefits Program: Analysis and Comparison In the case of the analysis, several independent studies of the work culture and the interaction of employees with employers are a priority.
• Increasing Employee Motivation for Small Businesses Given the effects of the pandemic on business operations and human resource practices, employee safety and wellbeing has been thrust to the forefront of leadership concerns because it has become increasingly poignant for leaders to […]
• Managers’ Concern Over Employee Motivation Issues Thus, the responsibility of management is to monitor and direct workers in a company. Even though most people have to work for a livelihood and a job is an essential part of everyone’s lives, administrators […]
• Benefits of Employees Motivation Motivated employees are happy and satisfied with their job. They are always committed towards the realization of the organization goals and objectives.
• Hillcrest Memorial Hospital: Employee Motivation and Empowerment In addition, poor perception and understanding of the cause of high turnover usually lead the employer to raise the wages of other employees.
• “Employee Motivation: A Malaysian Perspective” by Ismail These factors include interesting work, appreciation of the work done, working conditions, job security, feeling of involvement in organization, good wages, career growth and promotion while in the organization, organization loyalty to employees, and sympathetic […]
• Effective Incentives in Motivating Workers The incentives offered by employers in order to motivate their workers and cause them to be productive are very important for the flouring of any business as in case they are well-thought-of that will, by […]
• Tesla and Amazon: Company’s Web Information and Employee Benefits This issue could be seen on many websites, and it creates obstacles for the employee in the process of evaluating the position information, despite the idea of the company’s interest involved.
• Employee Motivation Importance Review The ultimate desire of achieving personal aspirations in life is the results of motivation on behavior known as achievement motivation. Most motivational researchers subscribe to the belief that achievement behavior is composed of situational variables […]
• Employee Benefits: Three Major Plans For instance, Hyatt and Pesando state that there are at least a few of the risks in the performance of investment fund that members of defined benefit plan bear which is through concessions in other […]
• A Problem of Leadership Style and Employee Motivation Clearly, the overall problem as presented in the case is that of leadership style, empowerment, and job satisfaction of employees. In order to evaluate these problems as presented in the case we discuss the issue […]
• Employee Motivation in Public Organizations The core of literature on motivation tries to define the concept of motivation and singles out the man in principles of motivation.
• Employee Motivation and Individual Differences This change made the transfer to a new job more stressful since the atmosphere did not satisfy Rohit’s expectations, built upon the idea of a leader as a motivational factor within the workflow process.
• The Administrator’s Role in Employee Motivation Skemp-Arlt and Toupence of the Exercise and Sport Science Department within the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse examined the role of the administrator in motivating employees.
• Career Development & Employee Motivation Initiatives: Chipotle Introduction Motivation and Organizational Behavior Problem Evaluation Goal of Analysis Hypothesis Recommendations and Solutions Conclusion
• Employee Motivation: Creating a Comfortable Workplace Therefore, the purpose of this assignment is to understand the influence of different aspects of employees’ motivation and its importance as well as find application for such factors as recognition, trust, and involvement of employees.
• Employee Motivation Program: Cost-Benefit Analysis I should also determine the costs of monthly bonuses that are paid in the case of the implementation of the plan or the initiative of the employee.
• Employee Motivation Through Holistic Fitness By promoting the emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical fitness of the staff, I will be able to increase their productivity and dedication.
• Multiple Perspectives on Employee Motivation The authors choose a qualitative design, using semi-structured interviews to review the attitudes of managers from different levels and organizations toward the impact of Islam on workers’ motivation.
• Career Development and Employee Motivation Initiatives at Chipotle However, as revealed in this paper, Chipotle’s vast expansion has resulted in challenges pertaining to the sustainability of its operations and the control of the prevailing business culture. Chipotle’s culture of sustainability, reverence, and growth […]
• Employee Motivation and Cross-Cultural Communication Understanding the value of motivation in cross-cultural communication, and identifying for whom it carries more advantage, the employer or the employee, is possible through delineating the various reasons behind employees’ motivations.
• Cultural Dimensions Model and Employee Motivation Some culture’s score on the masculinity-femininity scale can also impact the choice of factors to rely on in motivation. The model of cultural dimensions can act as a tool helping to choose the best motivational […]
• Cultural Influence on Employee Motivation Employees’ motivation is a significant driver for a company’s success, which means that it is necessary to study that factors that lead to its enhancement.
• Leadership & Employee Motivation in the UK Restaurant Sector The research paper reviewed the impacts of these leadership styles on employee motivation within the UK restaurant sector. How effective are the leadership traits towards a sustainable level of employee motivation within the UK restaurant […]
• Carmina Campus Company: Employee Motivation From the research survey of two hundred respondents, mainly managers, supervisors, and other employees of the Carmina Campus, the research will analyze the results to identify the current practices on fashion sustainability and their effectiveness.
• Employee Motivation, Termination, and Work Stress During this period, the employee is paid a constant amount every month as they are oriented in the job. The employee is paid depending on how many customers they bring to the organization to get […]
• Employee Motivation for Professional Development The study of increasing the motivation of employees in the workplace to enhance productivity is an essential topic. The search for optimal initiatives to increase the motivation of workers can be considered in the context […]
• Employee Motivation and Support Approaches The manager can utilize this model to meet Patrick’s demands by focusing on the belonging and self-esteem levels. The leader can provide rewards to Melanie and Tom to boost performance.
• Chinese Luxury Hotels’ Employee Motivation Based on the focus of the research, the study objectives include the necessity to explore on such terms as motivation, satisfaction, and loyalty, to evaluate the link between the concepts of employee motivation, satisfaction and […]
• Kaluyu Memorial Hospital’s Employee Motivation In these terms, the workplace hygiene of the hospital is very low and needs to be improved; moreover, the case study indicates that there are insufficient motivation factors for several employees, especially nurses and young […]
• Employee Motivation and Key Performance Indicators However, to serve as motivators, KPIs need to be used in combination with a system of incentives and rewards for the employees who meet the standards.
• Employee Motivation: Fred Maiorino’s Case After Reed was made the general sales manager in Fred District, his first order of business was to institute a new performance appraisal system quota system previously used.
• The Regency Grand Hotel’s Employee Motivation In this way, the workers would have achieved the goals that Becker had, motivating the workers, achieving excellent customer care services and increasing the performance of the hotel.
• Starbucks Company: Responsibility and Employee Benefits Another reason that is worth noting is that the company attempts to increase the involvement of the community because it helps to increase the profit, and preserve the environment at the same time.
• Employees Benefits: Opportunities and Productivity The advantage of these benefits is that the employee gets satisfaction, less likely to quit, and at the same time, can be more committed to their work.
• Employee Motivation, Conflict and Personnel Management The other managerial issue in the case is that of conflict management and resolution. The two were not only long serving members of the organization but had also advanced in age, thus making their conflict […]
• Impact of Employee Motivation in Organizational Performance The research topic on the impact of employee motivation in performance of an organization was chosen to establish the link between motivation and performance in an organization.
• Employee Compensation and Benefits. Senior Secretary at Capital Nursing Home Limited The proposal demonstrates that the value of the employee’s benefits augmented with the annual salary and provides the total compensation. The total compensation package for the position of Senior Secretary includes the base pay and […]
• Employee Motivation Theories and Benefits Besides the financial loss, the organization also loses the expertise and knowledge the employees may have, which comprises one of the valuable assets of any employee.
• Employee Motivation in Spanish Hotel Chains To investigate the impact of different leadership feedback styles on the quality of employee motivation strategies in the Spanish hotel industry.
• Mental Health Benefits in the Employee Benefits Package Continued research in the areas of personnel health and productivity levels of firms has demonstrated that a considerable number of employers are aware of the critical responsibilities in ensuring that workers achieve better health outcomes.
• Employee Compensation and Benefits Rather, the focus is on the construction industry, with the particular organization that is utilized for discussions of the paper being Turner Construction Company.
• Employee Motivation vs. Work and Family Issues In most situations, the neglect is mainly in the family roles of the employees hence leading to the strain by the members of the family. Most of employees were of the view that the company […]
• Types of Employee Incentive Plans The employees purchase part of the business stock, which acts as a motivator to work hard to make the company or business more productive, than when they are not part of the business.
• Measuring Employee Motivation Self-report instruments These require the cooperation of a respondent in order to get responses that may be worthy of examination in the study.
• Corporate Culture, Employee Motivation and Workforce Diversity Referring to this outcome, Ackroyd & Crowdy said, “This subculture helped the employees to work hard and fast, to ignore the very considerable demands and dangers of doing the job, to be indifferent to the […]
• Classical Theories of the Employee Motivation David recognizes that the main need of the technical team is freedom in their mode of work and therefore decides to ensure they have it.
• Employee Motivation in Radisson Hotel It is to this response that this study aims to review the literature and suggest the ways in which Radisson Hotel can respond to employee motivation and also recommend on the best strategies to increase […]
• Compensation Systems and Employee Benefits While job evaluation, is a systematic method of determining the walk to the organization of a job in relation to the walk of other jobs. Merit payment is according to the standards of performance and […]
• Georgia State University Employee Benefits It is important that the employee goes through the benefits to understand the rules and regulations set for the qualifications of the benefits.
• Employee Benefits: Health Care Costs It is however important to reinstate that the reason for the elimination of retirees benefits is the amount of contribution drawn over time that is higher than that of current employees thus a need for […]
• Employee Benefit and Service Impact on Performances and Satisfaction As a result of job satisfaction and contentment, employees usually put in more effort to their work hence meeting the goals and objectives of the organizations that they are working for.
• Financial Incentives in Employee Motivation The theory that ‘pay generates motivation in employees’ originated from the belief that workers go to work so as to earn money.
• Employee Benefits, Unemployment Insurance and Workers Compensation Employee benefits are not counted as part of salary or wages earned by the employees and are provided to the employees in exchange for their contribution towards the organization.
• Employee Motivation Factors in Banking On a survey on the major reason for finding a job being the salary as the motivating factor, most male were indifferent on the issue while most of the women were of the opinion that […]
• Employee Motivation: Strengths and Weaknesses Despite its effort in ensuring that its employees’ welfare is well catered for, the company still needs to make some adjustments concerning employees’ motivating factors to emerge the leading organization in addressing the needs of […]
• The History of the Employee Benefits Plans in the U.S. The plans contribute to the fortification of financial situation in the country through enhancing wage and wellbeing of citizens thus enhancing service availability through the taxation process.
• How Did Work Stress Can Impact Employee Motivation?
• What Are the Strategies for Employee Motivation?
• How to Motivate Coffee Shop Employees?
• What Is the Relationship Between Employee Motivation and Productivity?
• Is Employee Motivation Part of the Company Culture?
• Can Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Be a Way to Understand Employee Motivation in Modern Chinese Business?
• How Do Leaders Promote Employee Motivation and Engagement Within the Organization?
• How to Increase Employee Motivation?
• What Are the Concepts of Employee Motivation?
• How Does Adidas Increase the Motivation of Its Employees?
• What Are the Examples of a Report on Employee Motivation and Group Cohesion?
• What Is the Motivation of the Employees of the Public/Non-profit Organization?
• Can You Call Employee Motivation Manipulation?
• How Do Organizational Innovations Affect Employee Motivation?
• How Can Restructuring Motivate Employees?
• Does Employee Motivation Depend on Rewards?
• What Are the Features of Intercultural Motivation and Reward of Employees?
• Does Employee Motivation Contribute to Team Building?
• What Is the Role of Training in Employee Motivation?
• Can Insufficient Employee Motivation Contribute to Staff Turnover?
• What Are the Theories of Employee Motivation?
• Employee Motivation: How to Create and Maintain Synergistic Teams?
• How Does Employee Motivation Help Boost Morale?
• Employee Motivation: How to Implement McClelland’s Three Needs Theories?
• What Is Bad Motivation for Employees?
• What Is McGregor’s Theory Y in Terms of Employee Behavior and Motivation?
• What Is the Main Purpose of Motivation?
• Is It True That Money Is the Best Motivation for Employees?
• Who Prepares the Motivational Report of Employees in the Company?
• How to Use the Heckman and Oldham Model to Motivate Employees?
• Motivation Research Ideas
• Work Environment Research Topics
• Cross-Cultural Management Research Topics
• Work-Life Balance Essay Titles
• Procrastination Research Topics
• Organizational Theory Topics
• Professionalism Research Ideas
• Insurance Ideas
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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6 ways to promote your employees' intrinsic motivation.

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Jason Hennessey is an entrepreneur, internationally recognized SEO expert, author, podcast host, business coach and CEO of Hennessey Digital

In today’s dynamic work environment, motivating teams has become an increasingly complex challenge for business leaders. It’s one of the hardest parts of leadership, and many of the traditional methods that business leaders use can actually be counterproductive. Whether we’re trying to motivate ourselves, our children or our teams, we tend to reach for the simplest solution—offering extrinsic motivators in the form of rewards and punishments.

But while extrinsic motivators may appear to be effective on some levels because they can get people to perform the desired task, extrinsic motivation is ultimately not as effective as intrinsic motivation. In fact, multiple studies show that rewards tend to diminish motivation. Why is that?

Associating a task with a reward causes you to focus on the reward rather than on the task, and the reason you’re undertaking the task changes. The task no longer becomes worthy of completing for its own sake—instead, it is an obstacle you have to overcome on your way to the reward.

The best motivation is a sense of purpose and fulfillment from your work—intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation allows you to fully engage with the task because you’re motivated by the act of working on the task itself.

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Of course, intrinsic motivation is difficult to control and especially to cultivate in others. But there are some strategies you can use as a business leader to encourage intrinsic motivation in your team members, and when you do, you’ll have a workforce that’s more engaged and satisfied with their work. As a result, they’ll produce better results, and work more collaboratively together.

1. Avoid Performance-Based Rewards

Offering rewards for performance ties your employees’ motivation to something external, making the job less worth doing for its own sake. It can undermine the value of their work, distract them from doing their job to the best of their ability and hinder creativity. Performance-based awards also often drive competition among team members, which can interfere with collaboration and build resentment.

2. Ensure Employee Needs Are Met

The reality is that most employees are already working for an extrinsic motivator: their livelihoods. When their financial security is tied to their performance, it can lead to anxiety and depression , which of course can reduce productivity . No one can focus on doing their job well when they’re worried about whether they’ll be able to pay their medical bills. It’s therefore absolutely essential to ensure your employees’ needs are met in terms of pay and benefits so they can show up to work fully present and focus on the value they’re providing rather than what they’re going to earn as a result.

3. Hire Well

Some people are more inherently motivated than others. If you create a team full of people who are eager to learn, develop their skill sets, innovate and challenge themselves, you’ll have to do much less work to motivate them because they’ll already want to do their best. This starts with hiring. Hire people with the right kind of personalities and attitudes rather than hiring based on skills or experience—you can always train them in the skills you need if they’re willing to learn.

4. Make Every Employee A Leader

One of the most important leadership lessons to learn is that every person on a team is a leader in their own right. Everyone leads themselves and sometimes those around them daily, even if it’s in very small ways. Empower your team members to take on leadership and responsibility within their roles. Give them the freedom to try new ideas, solve problems and pivot when things don’t work out. This type of leadership can foster intrinsic motivation by allowing team members to pursue their ideas and own their work.

5. Provide Growth Opportunities

People need to feel they’re making progress in life, and in my experience, there’s nothing more motivating than the knowledge that you’re growing in your skills and the ability to learn and take on new challenges. Especially if you’ve hired well, this will be an inherent desire of your team members, and if you provide opportunities for them to continue developing, not only will they be more likely to stay with your company longer , but it’ll help give them a sense of intrinsic motivation.

6. Create A Sense Of Purpose

Nobody wants to do a job that’s meaningless, where their work doesn’t make a difference or they’re doing something they don’t care about. A lack of purpose in your work can lead to a lack of motivation and eventually burnout. While you can’t necessarily instill a sense of purpose in your employees, you can make sure that they have jobs worth doing. Communicate with them regularly about the impact of their work and listen to what they care about.

If you can understand and encourage your team members’ intrinsic motivation, you’ll have a powerful tool for productivity and innovation that will help your business grow while creating a happier workforce. Empowering employees with leadership opportunities and providing avenues for personal and professional growth are key strategies for promoting intrinsic motivation within teams. Your employees will appreciate working in an environment where individuals feel a sense of purpose and fulfillment. And as we all know as business leaders, taking care of our employees is the best way to take care of our clients.

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Essay on Motivation of Employees

Read this essay to learn about the Motivation of Employees. After reading this essay you will learn about:- 1. Meaning of Motivation 2. Model of Motivation 3. Nature 4. Importance 5. Factors 6. Approaches 7. Theories.

Essay Contents:

• Essay on the Theories of Motivation

1. Essay on the Meaning of Motivation:

The term motivation is derived from the Latin word ‘mover’ which means “to move”. Motivation is the forces acting on or within a person that causes the arrival, direction and persistence of goal directed, voluntary effort.

Motivation process explains why and how human behaviour is activated. Motivation is the ability to change the behaviour of a person. It is a drive that compels a person to act because human behaviour is directed towards some goal.

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Motivation is intrinsic (internal), it comes from within based on personal interests and desire for need fulfillment. However, extrinsic (external) factors such as rewards and promotions also influence motivation. As defined by Daft (1997), motivation refers to the forces interior or external to a person that arouse enthusiasm and persistence to pursue a certain course of action.

People committed to organisational objectives generally outperform those who are not committed. Those who are intrinsically rewarded by accomplishments in the work place are satisfied with their jobs. Therefore, an important part of management is to keep work satisfying and reward employees and keep employee motivation consistent with organisational objectives within the diversity of contemporary workplaces.

This is, however, a complex task as many factors including the influences of different cultures, differently affect what people value and what is rewarding to them. From the managers’ perspective, it is important to understand what prompts people, what influences them and why they perform particular actions.

Quick (1985) presented four underlying principles important to understand motivation:

1. People have reasons for everything they do.

2. Whatever people choose as a goal is something, they believe is good for them.

3. The goal people choose must be attainable.

4. The conditions under which the work is done can affect its value to the employee.

When management was first studied in a scientific way during the twentieth century, Frederick Wins low Taylor worked to improve productivity of labour. He developed efficiency measures and incentive system where workers were paid more for meeting a standard higher than normal production. This increased productivity dramatically. Therefore, workers seemed to be economically motivated.

During the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, Elton Mayo and other researchers from Harvard University conducted studies at Western Electric Plant in Hawthorne to measure productivity. They studied the effects of fatigue, layout, heating and lighting on productivity. As management expected, when studying the impact of these factors on employee productivity, it increased because of increase in social factors.

Work force is primarily responsible for achieving the targets. The work force is required to be self starters, highly ambitious, result-oriented and go-getters. All work situations cannot be predicted and planned in view of the dynamic and changing market situations.

Effective working requires creative skills. Thus, the work force has to be kept highly motivated and committed, both externally and internally. Motivation is a complex force because the factors that motivate people are complex and complicated. Financial incentives may be important for some and non-financial incentives may be important for others. The manager must, therefore, determine what motivates the human behaviour.

An individual performs business tasks, in the first instance, not because he wants the organisational goals to be achieved but because that work will give him financial rewards through which he can satisfy his personal needs and desires. The need is, therefore, the driving force that motivates human behaviour.

“Motivation may be defined as the state of individual’s perspective which represents the strength of his or her propensity to exert effort toward some particular behaviour”.

“Motivation refers to expenditure of efforts towards a goal”. — Dubrin

“Motivation is the force that energizes behaviour, gives direction to behaviour and underlies the tendency to persist.” — Steers and Porter

“Motivation is a general term applying to the entire class of drives, desires, needs, wishes and similar forces. To say that managers motivate their subordinates is to say that they do those things which they hope will satisfy these drives and desires and induce the subordinates to act in a desired manner.” — Weihrich and Koontz

Thus, the process of motivation begins when a person has needs to satisfy. He performs actions (behaviour) to fulfill his need.

2. Essay on the Model of Motivation :

A model of motivation helps managers enforce the right motivators to prompt workers to action; suitable for the organisation to achieve its broader goals. According to the model, every individual has some need (primary or secondary) which he wants to satisfy and, therefore, engages in some behaviour. This behaviour is goal-directed as it aims to fulfill some goal, that is, the need of the individual.

If employees’ behaviour is acceptable to managers (it contributes to goals of the organisation), it is followed by rewards. Rewards satisfy their needs, but the behaviour does not come to an end because satisfaction of one need is followed by emergence of other needs. This reinforces their behaviour towards organisational activities and perpetuates further needs in them. The goal-directed behaviour, thus, becomes a continuous process.

On the contrary, if the behaviour is not suitably rewarded, and employee’s needs remain unsatisfied; he will not reinforce his behaviour towards the organisational activities and may change his action, change his need or look for other job opportunities.

If he continues on the same job, he may lose interest in work and become indifferent towards it. Though physically he may be present at work, mentally he may not be fulfilling the requirements of the job. Sometimes, non-satisfaction of needs leads to aggression also. The employee may act against a person or a thing. He may speak unparliamentarily language in the office or belittle his superiors. Aggression can be internal or external.

In internal aggression, the person finds fault with himself but in external aggression, he finds fault with others. There may also be displaced aggression where the employee vents out his anger on others since he cannot do the same at his superior. He may take up a fight with a colleague or an argument with spouse at home or may just slam the door or kick the objects at floor.

Different motivational theories ascertain the needs and desires of individuals that prompt them to action and satisfy them through various motivators. The needs are, thus, not always the cause of human behaviour they may even be a result of it.

3. Essay on the Nature of Motivation :

(i) internal force:.

The degree of motivation cannot be measured in quantitative terms. It can only be observed through actions and performance of employees. Motivation is an internal force or feeling of a person.

(ii) Effect of environmental factors:

Internal organisational factors play important role in motivating the employees. Poor working conditions, labour management conflict, autocratic style of management can affect initiative to work however able or willing the employee is to perform the task. Conversely, clean and quiet environment, healthy and cordial relationships encourage workers to contribute to organisational output.

(iii) Ongoing process:

The process of motivation; observing human needs, behaviour and action is continuously followed by managers. Since human needs are multiple and importance of needs keeps changing, managers constantly watch their needs-behaviour-action.

(iv) Pervasive function:

Motivation is required at all levels of management. Both managers and non-managers need to be motivated to accomplish the organisational goals and through them, their personal goals.

(v) Complicated process:

Since understanding, human needs is a difficult task, motivation itself is a complicated or complex task.

(vi) Skilled managers:

Different people satisfy different needs from same work. Same person also has different needs at different points of time.

a. Needs are ever-changing. Sometime, the individual himself is not clear of his need priority. The means for satisfying the needs, thus, becomes all the more complicated.

b. People may look to different motivators to satisfy the same need. For some, money may be a suitable motivator for ego satisfaction while for others it may be non-financial motivators like status or power.

c. Same motivator can satisfy different needs of a person. Financial rewards is a strong motivator to satisfy lower-order needs. However, it can also be desired to partly satisfy the higher-order needs.

Managers have to be skilled in motivating their employees. Unless they understand human needs, right motivators cannot be adopted. Of all the skills that managers have, the skill of motivating employees was greatly emphasised upon in a study conducted on motivation.

(vii) Positive and negative motivation:

Motivation normally means rewarding a person for contributing to organisational output. Negative motivation, that is, punishments and penalties, though not often used, can also be effective in influencing the human behaviour.

(viii) Goal-directed:

Motivation aims at directing behaviour towards organisational goals. Managers have to adopt motivators that direct human behaviour towards personal and organisational need satisfaction.

4. Essay on the Importance of Motivation:

(i) keep employees happy:.

Usual remuneration given in the form of salary or commission or any other kind is not sufficient, as it is common to all employees. Man is not a machine. He must be satisfied, happy and cheerful. It is normally found that a man is able to do his best when there is encouragement, stimulation, upliftment in the form of money, recognition, promotions, transfers, etc.

If the employees are satisfied, it gives more than what the company wants. Disgruntled, unsatisfied employees are likely to do more harm than good to the business organisation.

(ii) The nature of work:

The nature of job performed by employees also warrants the need for stimulation. Employees face a chain of incidents everyday, both happy and unhappy. The clients they meet are happy or unhappy, nice and courteous; some are rude, indifferent and curt. Some bring in orders; some only complaint and argue. Employees are regularly under mental tension, caused by the resistance of clientele and the competitors’ efforts.

They are not independent where there is bossing over them. These frequent ups and downs exhaust their stamina, vigour and, thus, they get bored, weary, and their level of performance drops down. Stimulation or motivation needs to be given to keep up their level of performance and ability.

(iii) To instill human treatment:

Man is not a machine where one can press the button to start and stop the work. He has feelings, sentiments, instincts-physical, psychological, spiritual, intellectual and social. The usual payment schemes or compensation plans satisfy his normal physical needs. The relationship between employers and employees should not be monetary or pecuniary for exchange of service or money. Money is not the only thing in life.

The performance of an employee is conditioned by the condition of his family. He cannot be expected to contribute his best, if his wife or mother is ill; even the disturbance caused by external factors can make the employee nervous, and he may not be able to work well. The incentives should account for non-financial aspects of his life where sympathy, recognition etc. have deeper effect than only fulfilling his physical needs.

(iv) Increase in efficiency:

When workers are motivated to satisfy their needs, they work to satisfy the organisational needs also. This increases the efficiency of organisational activities resulting in optimum utilisation of resources.

(v) Communication:

Motivation promotes communication between managers and workers. Both try to understand each other’s needs and satisfy them to the maximum possible extent.

(vi) Need-based motivation:

Managers find prime needs of the employees, physiological or psychological and try to fulfill those needs through motivation. Motivation, thus, satisfies personal needs of workers.

(vii) Combines ability with willingness:

Workers are sometimes able but not willing to perform organisational tasks, for lack of motivation. Effective motivation combines ability with willingness and maximises their potential to work.

(viii) Reduces labour absenteeism and turnover:

If workers are satisfied with their work and work environment, they contribute positively towards organisational goals and objectives. The rate of absenteeism and turnover gets reduced. This also provides job satisfaction and promotes self-discipline in the organisation.

(ix) Develops leaders:

Managers find the needs of employees and lead their behaviour in the right direction. Efficient leaders, thus, develop as a result of effective motivation.

(x) Overcomes resistance to change:

Motivated employees are less resistant to change as they understand the benefits of change. Change is the essence of management. Success is, thus, facilitated through a motivated work force.

(xi) Good industrial relations:

Low rate of absenteeism and turnover improves relations amongst the employer and employees. There is peace and discipline in the organisation. This promotes goodwill of the company and strengthens it ability to recruit qualified employees.

5. Essay on the Factors to Make Motivation Effective :

To create and sustain self or inner-motivation (or to make the motivation process effective), managers consider the following factors:

(i) Development of self:

Before trying to develop others, managers develop themselves in the art and skill of motivation. A manager must analyse how well his behaviour can assist him in modifying the behaviour of others. Motivating employees, thus, helps in the development of managers.

(ii) Participation:

Self-motivation is a greater force than external motivation. If workers have ability, experience and willingness to take part in managerial decision-making, they should be allowed to do so to promote self-motivation.

(iii) Job enrichment and job rotation:

Making the jobs challenging and varied motivates the employees to accept those jobs.

(iv) Management by results:

Motivation enables employees to set objectives and compare their performance with the standards. Subordinates become result-oriented and feel motivated to achieve the targets.

(v) Realise human behaviour – Their motives and abilities:

Managers keep organisational objectives in mind while directing human behaviour. In creating an effective motivational environment, managers also keep in mind the abilities, motives and willingness of the subordinates to work and mould their behaviour to achieve the organisational goals. Subordinates realise that contribution to organisational goals will help them to achieve their personal goals also.

(vi) Create a suitable work environment:

A suitable environment or work culture should be created where workers feel motivated to achieve the goals. Congenial working conditions, harmonious superior-subordinate relationships, flexible working hours, neat and tidy work place motivate the workers.

(vii) Healthy criticism:

No human being is perfect. One learns through mistakes. If an employee commits mistakes, managers should not criticize him. Rather, they should sit with him, discuss the issues, solve them and explain how to manage that situation efficiently so that mistakes do not occur in future. If managers consult employees’ behaviour with them, it motivates them to work harder.

6. Essay on the Approaches to Motivation :

Starting from the traditional approach of motivating by financial incentives to those who see work and job characteristics as more important factors than mere financial rewards.

Different approaches to motivation can be as follows:

1. Traditional approach,

2. Human relations approach,

3. Human resources approach, and 

4. Systems approach.

(i) Traditional approach:

This approach is based on Frederick Taylor’s scientific management school of thought. It is of the opinion that workers, by nature, are lethargic and non-innovative and are, therefore, interested in their jobs only to the extent of earning wages and salaries. Extra efforts are put only for financial rewards. Money is, thus, the motivator that makes people work.

If managers want workers to put extra efforts, they should provide them financial rewards. To maximise their income, workers would also be ready to put extra working hours. The proponents of this approach over-emphasise the role of monetary compensation and ignore the non-monetary factors that make people perform different jobs.

(ii) Human relations approach:

While strengthening their financial positions on working at formal positions, workers become part of the informal groups and get bounded by the norms and values of these groups. While carrying out the intentions of management (to maximise production), they also want their social needs and needs of being recognised by the peer group and superiors to be satisfied.

The human relations approach recognises this fact and attempts that workers make their own decisions and enjoy doing their jobs by creating an effective job environment. It makes the workers feel important and allows them to self-direct and control their activities.

The objective of the approach remains the same—makes the workers contribute towards organisational output; not by offering financial rewards alone but also by recognising their needs of social contacts and recognition. The human relations approach is based on Elton Mayo’s work at Western Electric Company.

It makes the workers feel they are important part of the organisation. They should participate in decision-making processes while decisions are more or less determined by the managers. Participation may be just symbolic gestures (real participation does not take place) but it motivates employees to perform better.

(iii) Human resources approach:

McGregor, Maslow, Likert and Argyris view that money and job satisfaction are not the prime motivators that promote organisational activities. According to them, satisfaction succeeds rather than precedes performance.

The human relations approach asserts that workers perform well because they are satisfied with their job content. The human resources approach, on the other hand, asserts when workers join a job, they do so with the intention of doing well, and their performance on the job gives them satisfaction.

This approach goes a step further in knowing the motivators and human needs that can be satisfied through them. It believes that human beings actually want to participate in the decision-making processes rather than seemingly being allowed to do so. It assumes that people want and are able to contribute towards organisational goals.

Managers and workers together discuss individual and organisational goals of the enterprise; both individuals and organisation should maximise each others’ interests and make optimum use of the human resource. The approach, thus, emphasises on the human being as a motivator to achieve goals of the organisation.

(iv) Systems approach to motivation:

Lyman Porter and Raymond Miles propagate the systems approach to motivation. According to them, “the entire set, or system, of forces operating on the employee must be considered before the employee’s motivation and behaviour can be adequately understood.”

A system, according to them, consists of three variables:

(a) Individual characteristics:

People join the same enterprise with different motives. Some may be interested in money while others in prestige and status. Depending on their needs and attitude towards work, suitable system of motivation should be adopted by managers.

(b) Job characteristics:

It presumes that workers are motivated to perform jobs which are challenging and enterprising while a job which is routine and repetitive with no growth opportunities is not motivating for them. This may not hold true for workers who work for financial benefits irrespective of the nature of job.

(c) Work situation characteristics:

It is important that organisation culture or work environment is healthy, harmonious and congenial. A work situation is motivating where people help each other, where promotions do not follow seniority but also merit, where good performance is appreciated and bad performance is not criticised but is improved upon, where workers are motivated through positive means of motivation.

7. Essay on the Theories of Motivation:

Human behaviour, being complex in terms of needs-behaviour-action process, different motivational theories emphasise on these elements in a different perspective. People have different needs and perceptions about how they will satisfy those needs. All theories of motivation focus on these relationships (individual needs and perception about how to satisfy them) but in a different way.

Some of the important theories of motivation are:

1. Need Theories:

Need theories identify the needs that motivate a person to perform organisational activities. Need theories answer a simple question: “What motivates people to act?” They believe that individuals have various needs and they work to fulfill those needs.

Two of the popular need theories are discussed below:

I. Need Hierarchy Theory :

The need hierarchy theory is formulated by Abraham Maslow. He advocates a hierarchy of needs present in all individuals. At a point of time, his behaviour reflects his desire to satisfy the strongest need present in him. Once that need is satisfied, the next strongest need arises and he strives to satisfy that need.

Managers determine that need and adopt motivators to satisfy it. Though normally people satisfy their needs in the order of hierarchy, starting from lower-level to higher-level needs, they may not always follow this order. The potency or strength of a need depends upon each individual’s set of priorities.

Need hierarchy consists of five types of needs. These needs, in the order of priority are:

(a) Physiological needs

(b) Safety needs

(c) Social needs

(d) Ego needs

(e) Self-actualisation needs.

The first three needs (physiological, safety and social) are lower-order needs and next two needs (ego and self-actualisation) are higher-order needs.

(a) Physiological needs:

These are the basic needs that people want to satisfy. They are the need for food, clothing, shelter and other necessities of life. They are also known as survival needs. The strongest motivator that can satisfy these needs is money and a healthy work environment.

(b) Safety needs:

Full or part satisfaction of physiological needs arouses safety needs in an individual. These are the needs to remain free from external dangers of war, destruction, accidents etc. and internal dangers of losing the job and maintaining the standard of physiological needs.

Safety is an important consideration in selecting a job as people want their jobs to satisfy their safety needs. The motivators that satisfy these needs are the benefits of life insurance, provident fund, health insurance and other retirement benefits.

(c) Social needs:

Man is a ‘social animal’. He cannot live alone. While working in the formal structure of authority-responsibility relationships, he develops affection and respect for his superiors and fellow workers. He becomes part of informal groups in the organisation. In fact, the very formation of informal groups is based upon peoples’ desire to satisfy their social needs.

Man wants to share his thoughts and feelings with others and, therefore, interacts with them. He wants to love and respect others and be loved and respected by them. He develops the need for acceptance and belongingness with others. Motivators like harmonious relationships, good natured fellow workers and healthy work environment satisfy his social needs.

(d) Ego needs:

This is a higher-order need concerned with self-respect, self-worth, power and prestige and arises after satisfaction of the lower-order needs.

These needs are of two types:

(i) Self-ego:

It is the desire of a person to develop competence, power and independence. It is the need to be satisfied with one’s own performance. At the organisational level, managers can satisfy these needs by providing a good office layout and job titles.

(ii) Public ego:

Along with job-satisfaction and self-confidence, a person also wants others to recognise him. The desire for prestige is a dominant form of ego needs. Prestige is “a sort of unwritten definition of the kinds of conduct that other people are expected to show in one’s presence; what degree of respect or disrespect, formality or informality, reserve or frankness.” The non-financial motivators satisfy ego needs of employees, such as important and challenging jobs (requiring varied skills), prestigious job locations and autonomy to take decisions.

(e) Self-actualisation needs:

These needs inspire a person to develop to his maximum potential. They are placed at the top of the need hierarchy. There is strong desire for achievement and competence in every person which arises after other needs are satisfied. These are the needs of becoming what one wants to become. People with strong self-actualisation needs do not wait for things to happen; they make things happen.

The inner desire to become a doctor or engineer or professor or social reformer and actually becoming one is the satisfaction of self-actualisation need. Personal and professional growth and achievement are the motives that promote self-actualisation needs of a person. The motivators that satisfy self-actualisation needs are challenging jobs, opportunities for innovation and growth and participative decision-making.

The need hierarchy and motivators that satisfy the needs is shown in the following figure:

Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Features of Need-Hierarchy Theory:

The theory highlights the following features:

(a) People have a variety of needs. The motivation to work arises when they want to satisfy these needs. Unsatisfied needs are the motivation to work.

(b) Need satisfaction is a continuous process. On satisfaction of one need, other needs emerge.

(c) Satisfaction of lower-level needs is the foundation of the need hierarchy. Higher-level needs emerge on full or part satisfaction of these needs. A challenging and innovative job offer to an employee whose physiological needs are not fully satisfied may not get the desired output from him.

(d) Most individuals progress in the order of need hierarchy but this is not always true. The freedom fighters and social reformers, for example, have a strong desire to satisfy their self-actualisation needs even though their lower-order needs are not fully satisfied.

(e) Even if the hierarchy is followed, it is only part satisfaction of one need that arouses next need as important. The next need in order can have strong influence on human behaviour even before the lower need is fully satisfied.

The desire for money, for example, is always present in people. In fact the more one has, the more one wants. Money to a part extent can satisfy not only physiological needs but also safety, social and ego needs. It is, therefore, always on part satisfaction of one need that a person strives to satisfy the need next in order.

Critical Analysis:

The theory provides a background for managers to communicate with and understand the needs of the employees. It helps in devising a motivational plan to satisfy the needs and promote their performance. It explains why some people behave differently at different points of time and why same people behave differently at same point of time.

The cause of motivation; satisfaction of needs, seems to be quite logical, but the theory suffers from the following limitations:

(a) Managers cannot easily ascertain the needs that influence individual behaviour since needs keep changing from one to the other.

(b) There can be people whose higher order needs are stronger even though their lower level needs are not fully satisfied. For example, social reformers like Gandhiji or Mother Teresa and creative people like singers, artists, painters etc. have high desire for higher-order needs even though their lower-order needs are not substantially satisfied. The hierarchy does not, therefore, always hold good in practice. Maslow himself accepts this fact.

(c) It is not always true that at a point of time only one need influences the human behaviour. When a person joins a job, he wants to satisfy a combination of needs. Safety and physiological needs are normally wanted to be satisfied together as any job requirement.

(d) Part satisfaction is complex to understand. Workers of electricity company, for example, may find climbing the electricity poles, part of their routine while others may find it as threat to security. The level of satisfaction of a need is, therefore, difficult to understand. What is physiological need for one may be security need for another.

(e) Even on part or full satisfaction, any need does not cease to be a motivating factor. The need-behaviour-action is a continuous process and lower order needs, having been satisfied once, can be strong motivational forces again. Different needs, at a point of time, constantly interact and even overlap each other.

The needs are independent and overlapping at various points of time. Before one need fully disappears, the next higher-order need emerges. Thus, at a point of time, a person has many needs present in him, though in varying degrees.

While some needs are dominant, others are not. Therefore, when the intensity of a need decreases, it ceases to be a strong motivating factor for action. However, the need continues to influence human behaviour because of its overlapping nature.

The figure indicates that physiological, safety, social and ego needs in part (achieved through family status and not personal development) can be satisfied through hygiene factors. Managers need to provide salary, bonus and good working conditions to avoid dissatisfaction on the job. The part of ego needs (which a person achieves not through family status but through competence and skills) and self-actualisation needs of achievement and growth can be satisfied through motivators on the job.

If managers identify the needs at a point of time, they determine the factors that will motivate people to fulfill those needs. If, on the other hand, they can identify the factors which motivate them to work, the needs to which these factors are related can be identified. If workers are more interested in salary than recognition, their physiological or safety needs are stronger than the higher-order needs.

According to W. Clay Hamner, the following guidelines reinforce behaviour through positive reinforcement:

(a) Do not reward all employees equally:

Reward must be according to performance. Those who perform better should be rewarded more than those whose performance is average or sub-average.

(b) Do not respond to certain behaviour:

If managers do not want a behaviour to be repeated, they should simply ignore it.

(c) Tell employees what they can do to get positive reinforcement:

Managers should frame standards and guide employees’ behaviour to avoid poor performance.

(d) Tell employees why they have not been rewarded:

Rather than just not rewarding the employees, they should be explained about what went wrong and where and why the rewards have been withheld.

(e) Do not punish in front of others:

Even if managers want to punish the employees, they should not do so in front of others as this can cause frustration and resentment amongst them.

(f) Be fair to all:

Rewards must be given to those who deserve them. Giving rewards to non-deserving employees and not the deserving ones will fail to reinforce the behaviour.

Though this theory has produced desirable outcomes in many organisations, it has been criticised on the following grounds:

(a) It is believed to ignore social interaction amongst employees.

(b) It over emphasises external rewards and overlooks internal (intrinsic) factors that provide job satisfaction to employees.

4. Behavioural Theories :

The nature of individuals and how they behave in different situations forms the basis for motivation in the behavioural theory.

Two important theories that deal with human behaviour are discussed below:

I. Theory X and Theory Y :

This theory is formulated by Douglas McGregor. McGregor, in his work ‘The Human side of Enterprise’ wrote: “The theoretical assumptions management holds about controlling its human resources determine the whole character of the enterprise. They determine also the quality of its successive generations of management.” His theory is based on assumptions relating to human behaviour.

These assumptions differ depending upon the factors that affect human behaviour and help managers in adopting suitable motivators to satisfy their behavioural requirements. His theory is based on two sets of assumptions about human behaviour which help in adopting motivators for them. One set of assumptions is called Theory X and the other set of assumptions Theory Y.

Theory X assumes that people by nature are lazy, dislike work, do not want to assume responsibility, work only if directed and are very little or not ambitious about achieving their higher-order needs. They only want to fulfill their primary needs of food, clothing, shelter and security. Motivators like money and fringe benefits (insurance etc.) make them contribute to organisational goals.

The assumptions of Theory X are:

(a) Managers organise and integrate various human and physical resources to achieve economic goals of the enterprise.

(b) Workers are, by nature, lazy and like to work as little as possible.

(c) They lack ambition, avoid responsibility and work only if directed to work.

(d) They want to satisfy individual goals and are indifferent towards organisational goals.

(e) Managers direct, motivate, control and modify human behaviour to meet the organisational goals.

(f) People are resistant to change and want to work in stable conditions.

(g) Their lower-order needs are stronger than higher-order needs.

(h) Workers work through rewards, punishments and coercion. If managers do not persuade them to work, organisational goals will not be achieved.

This is a pessimistic approach of human behaviour. It provides rigid control, close supervision, one way communication and autocratic style of leadership for motivating human beings. The theory defines management as the art of getting things done by following the carrot and stick approach.

The other view held by managers about the nature of people is opposite to that of Theory X. McGregor felt that as people work in the organisation, their lower-order needs get satisfied over a period of time and they look forward to satisfy their higher-order needs of ego satisfaction and self-actualisation. They want to take part in decision-making processes, accept challenging jobs and work on lucrative and innovative job conditions.

They are, therefore, self-directed to contribute towards organisational goals. They aim to maximise both personal and organisational goals. They integrate individual goals with organisational goals. They do not only accept responsibility, they seek it from superiors to satisfy their needs of acknowledgement, creativity and innovation.

Basic assumptions underlying Theory Y are:

(a) Managers organise various organisational resources to achieve economic ends of the enterprise. (This assumption is similar to that of Theory X)

(b) Workers are not lazy. They have the potential to develop and readiness to work. Managers recognise these abilities and exploit them for the benefit of individuals and organisations.

(c) People are ambitious. Not only do they accept responsibility, they seek it from managers.

(d) Motivation does not come from outside. People are self-directed and self-motivated to work towards organisational goals.

(e) Managers create an environment where individuals integrate personal goals with organisational goals.

(f) People are not resistant to change. They are imaginative and creatively solve organisational problems in the turbulent, dynamic environment.

(g) Workers strive to satisfy their higher-order needs through self-direction, self-control and participative styles of leadership.

(h) Rewards are non-financial in nature. They promote recognition and achievement.

Theory Y, thus, holds optimistic view about human nature where people integrate their goals with corporate goals. Motivators like recognition, praise, admiration, participative style of leadership, two way communication and challenging job opportunities motivate people to work.

People have characteristics of both the theories with varying emphasis at different points of time.

(e) These theories are based on assumptions and not actual research findings. The assumptions may not always hold good.

Though McGregor’s assumptions are criticised, the following points help to understand the theory and avoid its misinterpretation:

(a) Theory X and Theory Y are only two sets of assumptions about human nature not based on empirical findings. Rather than following these assumptions blindfold, managers should test them against reality and formulate the management strategies.

(b) Theory X does not mean ‘strict management’ and Theory Y does not mean ‘soft management’. Soft management can be effective in Theory X assumptions as in case of Theory Y assumptions. Managers should recognise the abilities of subordinates and adopt the appropriate management style. The two theories are, therefore, situational in nature.

(c) The theories should not be seen as lying on two ends of the same continuum (as asserted by critics). There are two sets of assumptions about human nature which should be followed independently.

(d) Adopting Theory X or Theory Y is only a matter of fitting task requirements to people and the situation. Strict use of authority and structure may be effective for certain tasks and ineffective for others. Managers should, therefore, look beyond the assumptions of two theories and adopt a managerial style that best fits the situation.

II. Theory Z :

This theory is developed by William Ouchi He studied the Japanese management style because of the rising success of Japanese companies and focused on Japanese managerial practices that could be adopted by companies in the United States. He made comparative analysis of Japanese and the US-based companies, analysed the way the Japanese and the US managers managed their companies and concluded that most of the successful companies in America had integrated the Japanese style of management with the American style of management.

Theory Z is, thus, not an independent theory but a hybrid theory of management which incorporates the features of both Japanese and American managerial styles. This theory is “a concept that combines positive aspects of American and Japanese management into a modified approach aimed at increasing US managerial effectiveness while remaining compatible with the norms and values of American society and culture.”

Ouchi studied the following features relevant to the Japanese and American companies:

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Employee Happiness Survey: 20 essential questions you need to ask

A staff happiness survey is only as good as the questions. here are 20 essential employee well-being questions to ask your employees..

Conventional wisdom holds that happy employees are engaged employees . And engaged employees play a significant role in any company’s financial performance. So having satisfied employees and keeping them happy is key to business success.

That’s why it’s so important to keep a pulse on employee happiness. One of the best ways to do this is via an employee happiness survey or an employee satisfaction survey. For a deeper understanding of why these surveys are beneficial, you can read more about it here.

This year the work happiness survey will potentially be more important than any in the last few years. It’s your opportunity to measure employee satisfaction and let your team members be frank about how they’re going.

It’s important to remember that every employee survey question you ask implies that you’re going to take action based on the answers you get. To get the most out of these surveys, check out this guide on getting the most out of Employment Hero surveys and happiness scores.

What are employee happiness surveys?

An employee happiness survey is a series of questions that you ask your team members about their job satisfaction. Also known as employee satisfaction surveys, the answers to these surveys can help you identify any areas in your workplace culture where employees are unhappy and make changes accordingly.

They give you a chance to find out how employees feel and gauge employee happiness. If you can identify the source of low job satisfaction levels, you can take steps to fix the problem and improve employee morale .

For more in-depth questions to include in your surveys, consider these 22 in-depth employee engagement survey questions.

Why is employee engagement important?

Engaged employees really care about your company and what they’re working on. They don’t have to be pushed, and they happily go the extra mile. They believe in you and your company vision.

Employees tend to be happier if they are in jobs or roles that match both their interests and their skills and feel that they are making a meaningful contribution to their employer and even society as a whole.

More importantly, engaged employees are appropriately recognised and rewarded for their contribution.

Understanding employee satisfaction in Australia

A DCA national representative survey of Australian employees focused on employment conditions and other key information, such as diversity demographics , employee engagement, well-being, productivity, business effectiveness and more.

The outcome revealed that companies that fail to keep up with expectations around issues like work-life balance and inclusive workplaces run a risk of lower productivity and higher turnover.

Some key findings of the study include:

• Employees with caregiving managers reported greater work-life balance, greater access to flexibility, and positive work-life culture
• 83% of employees surveyed agreed their manager has unrealistic expectations of their performance
• 81% claimed they had a supportive manager when faced with a work problem
• 51% said they often have to choose between advancing in their career or giving time to personal life
• Work-life balance was revealed as one of the top employment drivers
• Parents claimed flexibility was the most important employment factor
• One in five employees (18%) said they had considered resigning in the last six months as the result of a lack of flexibility

How To Create a Standout Employee Experience

20 Employee satisfaction survey questions

As mentioned in our previous post on employee surveys , you have no hope of influencing employee engagement if you do not act on the results. Of course, a staff happiness survey is only as good as the questions.

Here are 20 essential employee well-being questions to ask employees.

Business goals and career growth questions

1. How well do you understand the strategic goals of the business?

A well-run company will align an individual’s goals with its overarching business goals . This ensures your entire team is moving together in the same direction.

2. Can you see a clear link between your work and the company’s goals and objectives?

Happy employees can clearly understand how their work impacts a company’s overarching goals and objectives. We all like to feel needed and appreciated , and this translates in the workplace.

3. Do you feel like you have opportunities for growth and advancement?

One of the top reasons employees leave their jobs is a lack of professional growth opportunities. Even if your employees are happy with their current job, they will be pushing to advance at some point.

And if you have a team of Millennials , this will be sooner rather than later. If there are no opportunities for development and growth, don’t expect your employees to stick around for the long haul.

Team happiness and employee motivation questions

4. How well does your team work together?

Teamwork and collaboration are vital in most workplaces. So you need to make sure your employees are happy with the dynamic of their team .

5. Are you proud to be a member of your team?

Is your employee happy to be associated with their co-workers?

6. Does your team inspire you to do your best work?

A great team is a team that inspires one another. This is an important question to ask because a smooth-running team within your company will be a team of individuals who help one another do their best work.

7. Does your team help you to complete your work?

If results from the happiness at work questionnaire show signs of employee dissatisfaction, make sure you prioritise team-building efforts so your people can see that you’re following through.

Management satisfaction questions

8. How does your manager motivate your team?

There’s a fair amount of truth in the old saying, “You don’t quit your job, you quit your boss.” So it’s important to gauge the degree of satisfaction with direct supervisors .

9. How would you describe the level of support offered by your manager?

Effective management should mean an employee feels supported by their manager. If you consistently see low scores for this question, it’s time to start making changes.

10. On a scale of 1 to 10, how comfortable are you in giving feedback to your manager?

Guess what? Managers don’t always know best. Receiving employee feedback is super important to the effective growth of a company and a strong work culture . Employees should feel confident providing feedback to their manager . For best practices on how to get honest feedback from your employees, check out this guide.

11. To what degree is the management team transparent?

Transparency is an incredibly important factor that contributes to workplace happiness. When it comes to leadership, transparency equates to honesty and openness. You need to find out whether your staff trust your candour.

12. Describe our culture in fewer than 20 words.

Because leadership and culture are intertwined, make sure you find out what your employees think about your culture and whether they believe in your company and vision.

13. On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely would you be to recommend our company’s products or services to a friend?

You want to make sure your employees believe in the product you are selling. If you see low scores for this question, don’t panic.

Think about your internal messaging and staff education. Not all divisions in your company will work directly with your product. Could it be they simply don’t know enough about it?

Employee recognition questions

14. How strongly do you feel valued at work?

Feeling valued at work is a huge motivator, so this is an important question to gauge how valued your workers feel.

15. How frequently do you receive recognition from your manager?

If employees tell you it’s been weeks since they received any recognition , there’s good chance morale is slipping. And that’s the fast track to zoning out, low productivity and ultimately turnover.

16. What recognition did you receive the last time you completed a big project?

You should also find out how satisfied your employees are with their compensation.

17. Are you satisfied with your compensation and benefits?

While you may not be able to afford to give your employees a pay rise, you may be able to offer them a more generous employee benefits package . Something that doesn’t cost your company directly but all adds up to big value for your employees.

Working from home productivity questions

18. Do you have what you need (i.e. space, set-up, internet) to continue being effective while working remotely?

Find out how your employees are set up while working from home, you need to know what’s going on in their workspace if you want to be able to supply them with what they need.

19. Are you able to work productively in your remote-work environment?

It’s not only about their set-up working from home might mean extra pressures from the home environment like navigating home duties while you work or other disruptions by family members. Do we all remember the case of Professor Robert Kelly? 

20. What is something our company can do to better support you while working remotely?

Sometimes it’s best to just ask directly: “What is something that we can do as a company to support our employees at homes?”. Giving your employees the chance to tell you directly how you can support them should be what the employee satisfaction surveys are about.

5 Tips for conducting employee happiness surveys

While the employee happiness survey is a critical component in benchmarking the level of employee satisfaction from year to year. It, in itself, is not the end game.

An employee survey has no hope of influencing employee engagement if you do not act on the results.

Here are our five tips to help make your employee happiness surveys really count.

1. Ask the right questions

As a rule, a short survey is a good survey. How many questions you ask depends on your company and what you do.

But you should focus your employee happiness survey questions around key areas such as:

• Management and leadership
• Manager-employee-co-worker interaction
• Alignment of individual goals with business goals
• Recognition

You need to ask enough questions to get a good handle on employee sentiment and morale, but you don’t want the survey to be too onerous for employees to complete.

2. Ask a number of open-ended questions

It’s important to encourage your employees to express their true feelings and opinions without repercussions . So, anonymity is crucial.

Asking open-ended questions in your employee happiness survey allows you to draw out golden nuggets of information that you just can’t elicit with a standard rating question.

3. Communicate the value for employees

Your employees may think completing the survey is a chore and a waste of time if they see no perceived value. For your employees to see the value, they need to believe that you’ll action the responses and bring about positive change where necessary .

4. Report the survey results and your plan of action

Announce the results of your employee happiness survey to your employee and be sure to let them know how you plan to respond to that feedback and what changes are going to be made.

More importantly, make sure to follow through on it and regularly communicate the progress.

5. Conduct surveys frequently

There is no doctrine that stipulates you can only run employee surveys once a year. In fact, you really should measure company culture at least once a quarter.

As long as you’re only asking a few questions, you publish the results, you act on the feedback, and there’s clear value to your employees, you can conduct surveys more frequently.

Act on the responses to your employee surveys

Naturally, to get the most out of your employee work happiness surveys, make sure they’re easy to complete, publish them on a regular basis and only ever ask the right questions. Using some or all of the happiness survey questions we’ve provided is sure to help you do that.

But, for employee surveys to be effective, you have to take action.

Far too many businesses simply focus on measuring engagement without acting on the responses.

Remember, the worst thing you can do with your employee happiness survey is to ask for feedback and then do nothing with it.

To foster a positive work environment and enhance employee satisfaction, explore these 11 ways to foster happiness in the workplace.

Ready to get started with your happiness survey? Employment Hero’s custom survey feature can help. Try out our system today by reaching out to one of our business specialists .

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UK Employee Motivation Lags Behind Global Average

New Korn Ferry Survey Examines Employee Sentiment in the UK

LOS ANGELES, August 22, 2024 – Global organisational consulting firm Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY) today released new data on employees in the United Kingdom that reveals a workforce lagging behind other countries when it comes to motivation. The insights are part of the firm’s Workforce 2024 Global Insights Report, which examines attitudes impacting employee sentiment globally.

The survey of 10,000 global employees indicates that motivation for professionals in the UK is far behind the global average, with only 60% of UK employees indicating that they are motivated to work above and beyond their roles, compared to 71% of employees globally.

Motivation levels in the UK also represent the lowest levels of any geography surveyed. In contrast, the survey shows that three in four U.S. employees (75%) are motivated, whilst India has the most motivated workforce in 2024 overall (84%).

“Employment is no longer a simple equation and quite possibly, it will stay this way for many years to come. Nothing is assured other than uncertainty and with that, trust and confidence is even harder to build as business leaders grapple with their future visions,” said Daren Kemp, Country Chair, UK & Ireland, Financial Services Lead, EMEA at Korn Ferry.

“Flexibility in working patterns, early adoption of new technologies that aid productivity, delivering a higher sense of purpose and fulfilment are some of the new tools being used by employers to bridge this gap, but more needs to be done if the UK is to remain competitive for top talent moving forward.”

The report examines attitudes affecting employee sentiment in all stages and levels of employment, from what makes a job attractive to what makes an employee engaged and motivated to succeed in a role.

Key data points include:

-        Lack of Investment in Skills Drives Lack of Motivation: Only 59% of UK respondents felt they had good opportunities for learning and development at their company compared with 71% globally. Additionally, just 66% in the UK agreed their job made good use of skills and abilities compared with 76% globally.

-        Employees are Wary of Leaders’ Vision for the Future: UK employees’ trust and confidence (59%) in senior leadership is substantially lower than the global average (71%). This may be due to a lack of confidence in the current UK business climate, with only 58% of UK employees agreeing their company is responding effectively to changes in the business environment, compared with 70% globally. Only about half (53%) of UK employees also agree that their companies value people over profits.

-        Scepticism Overshadows AI’s Potential: In general, UK employees are more sceptical about the potential impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the workforce. Only two in five (43%) of UK employees believe that using AI will bolster their effectiveness at work, compared to 58% of global employees. UK employees are also more likely to have a negative outlook on AI with just 47% excited about how emerging technologies like AI will change how they work (vs. 64% globally).

-        UK Professionals Prioritise Work-life Balance, but Salary Remains Key: Compensation remains the top driver for the UK workforce. However, flexibility was also highlighted as a top priority with more than two-thirds of UK respondents (68%) saying that the ability to work flexibly and from wherever they want is critical to work-life balance.

The full Workforce 2024 Global Insights Report can be viewed here .

Methodology

Korn Ferry surveyed 10,000 professionals at all levels during March and April 2024, from entry-level to CEO, in six key markets: USA, UK, Brazil, Middle East, Australia, and India.

About Korn Ferry

Korn Ferry is a global organisational consulting firm. We work with our clients to design optimal organisation structures, roles, and responsibilities. We help them hire the right people and advise them on how to reward and motivate their workforce while developing professionals as they navigate and advance their careers.

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[email protected]

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The NEWSMakers Podcast: Incentivize HVAC Employees

HVAC contractors all around the country have trouble finding enough quality employees. When they get these employees to be a part of their business, HVAC contractors certainly want to retain them .

How do they do that? One option is to incentive their staying at the company. Chris Buttenham of Reins has come up with a solution to do just that. His company has a program that allows HVAC company employees to share in the profits.

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Guest Essay

In a Union Triumph, the Seeds of Future Failure

By Matt Bruenig

Mr. Bruenig is a labor lawyer and the publisher of the NLRB Edge newsletter.

Starting with one small shop in Buffalo, Starbucks workers have unionized 481 stores with more than 11,000 employees in less than three years. It’s a staggering demonstration of what can be accomplished when an aggressive union, an eager work force and a labor-friendly Democratic administration wind up in alignment.

But this best-case scenario also shows how American labor laws, and the bureaucracy they require, make mass unionization impossible unless rules for certifying unions and negotiating contracts are simplified and streamlined.

To certify these 11,000 new union members, the National Labor Relations Board, the agency primarily responsible for administering federal labor law and protecting workers from employer retaliation, has had to take on an enormous workload. With an overall budget of $299 million and a staff of around 1,200, the N.L.R.B. has conducted over 550 union elections, processed more than 1,000 unfair labor practice charges and issued roughly 300 decisions in cases involving the company.

N.L.R.B. lawyers have also filed for 12 preliminary injunctions against Starbucks, the company accounting for more than 40 percent of all the injunctions the agency sought last year.

The agency’s legal documents in Starbucks cases comprised at least 2.7 million words, according to a database I compiled, not counting hearing transcripts, complaints, motions and briefs that I suspect would at least double that figure.

Much of this activity occurred after workers organized, with the union filing refusal-to-bargain charges against the company, which has so far resisted coming to a collective bargaining agreement. (Starbucks recently returned to bargaining after nearly a year without talks.) Starbucks has also helped efforts to decertify the union at various stores.

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