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No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit. ” – Andrew Carnegie Motivation The definition of motivation is to give reason, incentive, enthusiasm, or interest that causes a specific action or certain behavior. Motivation is present in every life function. Simple acts such as eating are motivated by hunger. Education is motivated by desire for knowledge. Motivators can be anything from reward to coercion. A common place that we see the need to apply motivation is in the work place.
In the work force, we can see motivation play a key role in leadership success. A person unable to grasp motivation and apply it will not become or stay a leader. It is critical that anyone seeking to lead or motivate understand “Hewlett’s Hierarchy of Work Motivators. ” Another place motivation plays a key role is in education. A teacher that implements motivational techniques will see an increased participation, effort, and higher grades. Part of the teacher’s job is to provide an environment that is motivationally charged.
This environment accounts for students who lack their own internal motivation. One of the first places people begin to set goals for themselves is in school. Ask any adult: “What is the main thing that motivates you. ” Their answer will most likely be goals. Even the simplest things in life are the result of goal setting. A person may say, “I want to save 300. 00 for a new T. V. ” Well, that is a goal. School is where we are most likely to learn the correlation between goals, and the definition of motivation. That correlation is what breeds success.
Salary, benefits, working conditions, supervision, policy, safety, security, affiliation, and relationships are all externally motivated needs. These are the first three levels of “Hewlett’s Hierarchy” When these needs are achieved, the person moves up to level four and then five. However, if levels one through three are not met, the person becomes dissatisfied with their job. When satisfaction is not found, the person becomes less productive and eventually quits or is fired. Achievement, advancement, recognition, growth, responsibility, and job nature are internal motivators.
These are the last two levels of “Hewlett’s Hierarchy. ” They occur when the person motivates themselves (after external motivation needs are met. ) An employer or leader that meets the needs on the “Hewlett’s Hierarchy” will see motivated employees and see productivity increase. Understanding the definition of motivation, and then applying it, is one of the most prevalent challenges facing employers and supervisors. Companies often spend thousands of dollars each year hiring outside firms just to give motivation seminars. So, as you can see, motivation is what propels life.
It plays a major role in nearly everything we do. Without motivation, we would simply not care about outcomes, means, accomplishment, education, success, failure, employment, etc. | | Types of motivation There are two main kinds of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is internal. It occurs when people are compelled to do something out of pleasure, importance, or desire. Extrinsic motivation occurs when external factors compel the person to do something. However, there are many theories and labels that serve as sub tittles to the definition of motivation.
For example: “I will give you a candy bar if you clean your room. ” This is an example of reward motivation. Extrinsic motivation Extrinsic motivation refers to motivation that comes from outside an individual. The motivating factors are external, or outside, rewards such as money or grades. These rewards provide satisfaction and pleasure that the task itself may not provide. An extrinsically motivated person will work on a task even when they have little interest in it because of the anticipated satisfaction they will get from some reward.
The rewards can be something as minor as a smiley face to something major like fame or fortune. For example, an extrinsically motivated person who dislikes math may work hard on a math equation because wants the reward for completing it. In the case of a student, the reward would be a good grade on an assignment or in the class. Extrinsic motivation does not mean, however, that a person will not get any pleasure from working on or completing a task. It just means that the pleasure they anticipate from some external reward will continue to be a motivator even when the task to be done holds little or no interest.
An extrinsically motivated student, for example, may dislike an assignment, may find it boring, or may have no interest in the subject, but the possibility of a good grade will be enough to keep the student motivated in order for him or her to put forth the effort to do well on a task. Intrinsic motivation Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that comes from inside an individual rather than from any external or outside rewards, such as money or grades. The motivation comes from the pleasure one gets from the task itself or from the sense of satisfaction in completing or even working on a task.
An intrinsically motivated person will work on a math equation, for example, because it is enjoyable. Or an intrinsically motivated person will work on a solution to a problem because the challenge of finding a solution is provides a sense of pleasure. In neither case does the person work on the task because there is some reward involved, such as a prize, a payment, or in the case of students, a grade. Intrinsic motivation does not mean, however, that a person will not seek rewards. It just means that such external rewards are not enough to keep a person motivated.
An intrinsically motivated student, for example, may want to get a good grade on an assignment, but if the assignment does not interest that student, the possibility of a good grade is not enough to maintain that student’s motivation to put any effort into the project. [pic] Requisites to motivation • We have to be Motivated to Motivate • Motivation requires a goal • Motivation once established, does not last if not repeated • Motivation requires Recognition • Participation has motivating effect • Seeing ourselves progressing Motivates us • Challenge only motivates if you can win Everybody has a motivational fuse i. e. everybody can be motivated • Group belonging motivates KEY ELEMENTS OF MOTIVATION Motivation has three key elements • Intensity • Direction • Persistence Intensity It determines how hard a person tries. This is the element most of us focus on when we talk about motivation Direction Intensity alone is nothing there must be proper direction where to go. Persistence It is the measure of how long a person can maintain his efforts. Motivated individuals stay with a task long enough to achieve their goals. Motivation in Workplace
Introduction Many business managers today are not aware of the effects that motivation can (and does) have on their business, and it is therefore important they learn and understand the factors that determine positive motivation in the workplace. The size of your business is irrelevant: whether you are trying to get the best out of fifty of your staff or just one, everyone needs some form of motivation. Motivation is something that is approached differently by different businesses and the responsibility of its integration lies with all immediate supervisors of staff.
However, it is the business owner who must initiate motivation as a strategy to attain corporate goals. “Motivation in the workplace is one of the greatest challenges for managers. High levels of motivations are directly connected to high levels of productivity. Increasing productivity is always a major goal of managers in any organization. A lack of motivation in the workplace is a major issue for managers and is associated with employees who see no value in the work that they do or see no reason to achieve the goals set out for them (“Incentives” ).
Therefore, understanding the role that motivation, both internal and external, can play in the workplace is crucial to creating a working environment in which all can succeed and thrive. Unfortunately, increasing motivation can be a tricky endeavor, one that has its pros and cons. ” What is Motivation? Motivation is the force that makes us do things: this is a result of our individual needs being satisfied (or met) so that we have inspiration to complete the task. These needs vary from person to person as everybody has their individual needs to motivate themselves.
Depending on how motivated we are, it may further determine the effort we put into our work and therefore increase the standard of the output. When we suggest factors (or needs) that determine the motivation of employees in the workplace, almost everyone would immediately think of a high salary. This answer is correct for the reason that some employees will be motivated by money, but mostly wrong for the reason that it does not satisfy others (to a lasting degree). This supports the statement that human motivation is a personal characteristic, and not a one fits all option.
Importance of Motivation in workplace Motivation can have an effect on the output of your business and concerns both quantity and quality. See it this way: your business relies heavily on the efficiency of your production staff to make sure that products are manufactured in numbers that meet demand for the week. If these employees lack the motivation to produce completed products to meet the demand, then you face a problem leading to disastrous consequences. The number of scenarios is extreme but you get the general picture.
Your employees are your greatest asset and no matter how efficient your technology and equipment may be, it is no match for the effectiveness and efficiency of your staff. Motivational Theory: Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory Motivation has been studied for many years stretching beyond the 19th century. As a result, a number of theorists have compiled their own conclusions and consequently a wide variety of motivational theory has been produced. Without going into the fine details and depth of all the motivational theory, we will use Fredrick Herzberg’s (1966) research to outline the main issues concerning motivation.
In 1966, Herzberg interviewed a number of people in different professions at different levels to find out two things: • Those factors that MOTIVATED them in the workplace These were identified as factors that gave employees an incentive to work resulting in job satisfaction. They are also referred to as ‘motivators’. These motivators increased the job satisfaction of the employee and further increased their efficiency. • Those factors that PREVENTED JOB DISSATISFACTION These were identified as factors that prevented job dissatisfaction.
These did not make the employees happy (or have job satisfaction): it just removed the unhappiness out of working. They are also referred to as ‘hygiene’ factors. Such hygiene factors, if not satisfied, had an effect of reduced employee efficiency. Herzberg believed that all factors fell into one of these categories and therefore had separate consequences. His research concluded that some factors fell into both categories although they held a stronger position in one of them. See the diagram below for examples of the factors that he determined for each category. pic] By looking at the diagram, it shows that a sense for achievement, recognition of their effort, the nature of the work itself, and the desire for responsibility are all strong factors for motivation. At the bottom of the diagram, the way the business is run, how they are supervised, the work conditions and their pay, are all factors that can lead to job dissatisfaction if not met to the standards of the employee. The size (or width) of the bars that represent each factor compensate for the level at which it is a concern.
For example, from the diagram, the way the business is run is a higher dissatisfaction cause (if it is run badly) then the concern of bad working conditions. You may look at ‘pay’ and think that this bar should be a lot wider on the job dissatisfaction side, but most people would not take the job in the first place if they considered the pay as ‘totally unacceptable’. Take another example: the employee does not see the lack of personal responsibility as major job dissatisfaction, but when people do seek responsibility, it is a huge motivational factor for them: hence the long extension of the bar more on the motivation side of the diagram.
You will further notice that those factors encouraging motivation (job satisfaction) have little connection with money and are more associated with personal development and achievement. Hygiene factors concern more the employee’s personal attitudes towards the context of their job and involve money in most cases to provide a solution to the issue. You may also have noticed that two bars on the diagram (achievement and pay) are shaped differently. This is to illustrate that, for Achievement, it is something that is only acquired for a short term and is therefore an ongoing need that is searched for over and over again.
In other words: one week you may achieve, say, a good personal sales figure, and the following week your standard drops to a disappointing level in which you seek to achieve this figure yet again. The Pay factor (salary) also has a similar concern: you may increase an employee’s salary that removes job dissatisfaction at first, but in time (can be as low as days) the employee will increase their personal spending to what they are earning and will eventually, again, become dissatisfied.
In such a case, it may be for your benefit that you offer an additional incentive to keep the employee further satisfied to prevent this on-going cycle from occurring. How Can You Increase Employee Motivation Popular Motivational Strategies • Empowerment: – The process of enabling workers to set their own work goals, make decisions, and solve problems within their sphere of responsibility and authority. • Participation: – The process of giving employees a voice in making decisions about their own work. New Forms of Working Arrangements • Flexible work schedules. • Job sharing. • Compressed work schedules. • Telecommuting.
Reward Systems • Reward system: – The formal and informal mechanism by which employee performance is defined, evaluated, and rewarded. • Merit system: – A reward system whereby people get different pay raises at the end of the year depending on their overall job performance. • Incentive system: – A reward system whereby people get different pay amounts at each pay period in proportion to what they do. Managerial Actions for Increased Motivation Motivation is achieved through different factors with different people. It is therefore important that you find out these factors for each employee which can be put into action once identified.
The best way of identifying these factors is to issue an Employee Appraisal. If your business has a small number of employees that you can supervise and control easily, then you will probably have an idea what motivates each person and therefore not have to use the appraisal process to determine such factors (although you should use one for other reasons that concern the performance of your employees). If your business does have a large number of employees that you cannot control at any one time, then you may decide to delegate the task of identifying motivational issues to assistant mangers or immediate supervisors of the employees, etc.
For you to motivate your employees, you have to identify which approach to take: do you offer a financial or non-financial incentive? This will depend on what factors motivate the staff member but it may also be restricted by your company budget which cannot compensate for any wage increases or bonuses and therefore non-financial incentives have to be introduced. Poor pay may lead to staff being dissatisfied at work and therefore any non-financial incentives will not be effective for motivation. It is therefore important that you find the right balance between the two. ) Financial Incentives b) Non financial Incentives Financial Incentives Increasing motivation through financial rewards is a method that is most common when businesses rely on the quantity of the output of employees. For those employees involved in production, you could issue a piece rate system where they are paid for each individual product they produce. In which case, they would be motivated to produce as much as possible in order to achieve a high pay: but ensure your quality control is effective to ensure customer focused areas are not traded-off for quantity.
You could also introduce a commission payment scheme if your business relies on selling your product or services through the means of personal sales (telephone, door-to-door, etc). You may even introduce fringe benefits instead of increasing wages or salaries such as company cars, private health, or interest-free loans from the business. These benefits are often valued higher than wage increases and can be less expensive for the business to provide. Another financial incentive is the offer of a share of the company profits, say, 5%, which is split between your employees.
This incentive can influence team working in the business but you may find that people benefit from other people’s work if they do not pull their own weight to help increase efficiency. It can therefore be said that profit sharing does not encourage motivation in all employees although it is highly effective in businesses with few employees. This is because they know that their performance will make a difference and will be evidenced by an increase in the business profits. Sometimes staff may only have motivation to get a task done quickly without care to the quality of the outcome.
In which case, you can introduce quality related bonus pay which determines their salary. This salary will be up for review twice a year and reflects their value in the business with respect to, for example, the standard they complete tasks as well as personal sales records, achievements, and so on. This will give the employee the motivation to complete tasks to a high standard and a desire to further excel in the future in order to gain a higher salary: and of course, the feeling of achievement (priceless). Non-financial Incentives
You may feel that money is not an effective motivator in your business although it may have some effect in the short term: your employees may also see factors aside from money as prime motivators. For whatever reason you decide that non-financial incentives are more effective in your business, there are many forms in which they can be given. You can increase motivation by giving employees more responsibility so that they feel their contribution is more valuable to the business and that their role is of higher importance. Further, you can promise the chance of promotion if they reach a certain standard or target.
The process of appraisal which is a huge motivator to employees. This is because they will be recognized for the value they add (or do not add! ) to the business by reviewing their progress and achievements over a certain period. The following are also motivators that can be introduced in your business. To some degree they can also be seen as processes that reduce job dissatisfaction: • Job Enlargement This involves expanding the job of an employee that has them doing more work of a similar nature to what they already do. This may be allowing them to complete the whole task instead of just part of it.
For example, packaging the products as well as manufacturing them. This process ideally removes the boredom out of the job by eliminating the repetitiveness out of tasks and allowing them to complete the whole process, further increasing their responsibility. • Job Rotation This involves allowing employees to change the nature of their job periodically. For example, you may give the employee administration duties one week, marketing the week after, and then back to their original job of sales the following week. This cycle will then be on going.
The purpose of this is that the employee, again, is satisfied by reduced boredom and also motivated by the achievement of increased skills. The business owner gains from cross-training and the potential for feed-back and improvement ideas. • Job Enrichment Similar to job enlargement, you can enrich an employee’s job by expanding their tasks to give a higher level of responsibility in the nature of work they do. For example, they can be given the responsibility of ordering materials and making delivery arrangements instead of just manufacturing the products.
This will not only expand their skills, but also give them an increased challenge (responsibility). • Job Redesign Designing a better fit between workers and their jobs – Combining tasks – Forming natural work groups – Establishing client relationships • Modified Work Schedules – Work share programs – Flextime programs and alternative workplace strategies – Telecommuting and virtual offices Others include: • Positive reinforcement / high expectations • Effective discipline and punishment • Treating people fairly • Satisfying employees needs • Setting work related goals • Restructuring jobs • Base rewards on job performance
The 10 Commandments of Workplace Motivation Contrary to popular belief, if you want to lose weight, all you need to do is exercise more and eat fewer calories. Those struggling with weight issues will often insist they eat very little, but just sit across the table from them at a buffet and you’ll realize they are “breaking the rules” of successful dieting. The same applies to workplace motivation. When the rules are followed, morale improves. When we break the rules, motivation deteriorates. Managers spend too much time in denial by insisting that they are building a motivating workplace when, in fact, they are often sabotaging it.
A motivating work environment is the responsibility of everyone. Gone are the days when we look solely to managers to motivate. Below are 10 Commandments that must be adhered to by everyone in your organization if you want to build the kind of workplace where everyone thrives. I. Build Self-respect Positive reinforcement allows people to understand that their performance adds value to the organization. Receiving positive strokes gives employees a sense of satisfaction that creates the initiative to try new ideas and take bigger risks.
We can never have enough self-respect. Ever notice that the office “egomaniac” is usually the person who actually has the lowest level of self-respect? The more obnoxious and toxic they become in their bragging, the less we feel like feeding their egos with strokes. No matter how confident or comfortable we are with who we are, we all have moments of insecurity where our performance drops. Everyone needs strokes. II. Don’t Be Neurotic (or at least disguise it well) Employees deserve to have a clear understanding of what behaviors and outcomes are expected of them.
Many managers are so unclear that they create the perception that they’re intentionally hiding the target. Management teams seclude themselves for strategic planning sessions—an archaic and bankrupt management practice—only to place the resulting notebook on the office shelf, and maybe giving a brief verbal report of the session to their employees. If everyone in the organization isn’t involved in “the plan” at some level, they’re not committed, period. III. Show Respect Managers often treat employees like the child in a parent-child relationship. An adult-adult transaction requires that we allow employees the latitude to solve problems.
Provide guidance with a clear picture of expected outcomes and allow people to think. IV. Live Integrity In the Dr. Seuss book, Horton Hatches the Egg, Horton the elephant gives his word to a lazy bird named Mayzie that he will sit on her egg until she comes back. Mayzie doesn’t come back and Horton perseveres through ice storms, safari hunters, even a trip to the zoo. Through challenges, he continues to repeat, “I meant what I said and I said what I meant… An elephant’s faithful, one hundred percent! ” It is unquestionably true that most people would say that they keep their word.
In any day, however, those same people will break their word repeatedly in small ways. Employees spot all the ways that managers miss obligations by small things like not sending out reports that were promised, delaying meetings, etc. Employees are quick to spot slips in integrity in peers and managers. Instead of confronting the problem directly, they too often fall out of integrity by blaming, gossiping, and whining. Living in integrity means keeping our word and speaking a deeper truth. V. Be Fair In a world where there isn’t much that is fair, we need to find ways be as fair as possible.
Fair doesn’t mean equal. Paying for performance isn’t fair if you cap the incentives that a star performer can receive. If you reward employees for cost savings or an increase in revenue, the additional money is always there to share because that extra money wouldn’t have been there without help from that employee. VI. Value and Reinforce Ideas According to an Employee Involvement Association study, the average employee in Japan submits 32 ideas for improvement per year, compared to the average employee in the United States, who submits 0. 17. This is a ratio of 188:1.
The root of this problem stems from the fact that only 33 percent of U. S. employees’ ideas are adopted, compared to 87 percent from Japanese workers. If we expect people to give us their ideas for improving the organization, we need to have a serious system for evaluating and implementing those ideas. People who submit ideas are entitled to a quick decision and an explanation of why their idea was or was not accepted. VII. Give Them What They Want My mother loves crafts. I love books. Every year for Christmas, my mother has given me crafts. I give my mother books. What’s wrong with this picture?
We love to give what we actually love to receive. But sometimes we forget whom we are giving to. Each of your employees has a different idea of how they prefer to be rewarded. Money, trips, educational opportunities, promotions, verbal recognition—everyone prefers to be rewarded in a way that’s meaningful. If you don’t know what they want, ask them. VIII. Give Immediate Feedback Who created the annual performance review anyway? By itself there is really nothing wrong with it, but somewhere along the path, we assumed that all feedback gets stuck in a file and delivered yearly.
The problem with this approach is that inappropriate behavior becomes habit by the time the employee hears about it. Worse yet, you lose the benefit of re-energizing your people with the substantial immediate impact of positive reinforcement for a project well done. IX. Reinforce the Right Things One of the companies I’ve worked with for believed that good employees come to work early and stay late. Not surprisingly, the CEO came to work early and stayed late. When a new CEO took over, he emphasized performance—and productivity went up miraculously. Those same employees did more work in less time.
Watch what you reinforce because you will undoubtedly get more of it. X. Serve Others We’ve all seen it in our mission statements. “To be a leading provider of blah, blah services in our service area providing quality service and a good return to our stakeholders. ” Gag me with a shovel! To say we are in business to profit is like saying we are breathing to remain alive. Every thriving organization is passionate about serving their customers. When we focus on our customers’ success, we enroll our hearts, minds, and souls as opposed to simply working from our job descriptions.
So, it’s easy. If you want to lose weight, eat less and exercise more. If you want to improve the motivation at your workplace, use these 10 Commandments. Conclusion Without motivation in the workplace, your business will suffer from the lack of efficiency that your employees may fail to apply. This is because they have no incentive to perform tasks to a high standard or complete them on time. It is therefore important that you give them something to work for as a reward for their high level of performance, all being essential to the success of your business.
Everyone is motivated by different things and a majority of these factors are not money orientated: instead they react more effectively to incentives that offer personal recognition and achievement. In which case, you should determine what motivates individual people and further determine whether a financial or non-financial incentive is the solution. There is a fine line between factors that motivate people and factors that prevent job dissatisfaction. In other words, some things do increase the level of efficiency in employees by reducing job dissatisfaction but are not motivators themselves.
This is because your staff need to eliminate unhappiness in their job before they can begin to be motivated and this usually, and some say must, begin with an *acceptable* wage that they can live on. Organizational Behavior Motivation in WorkPlace [pic] “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. ” Winston Churchill Presented By Nazish Sohail (862) BBA Hons Shahbaz Chaudhry (857) BBA Hons Shellvy Chiragh (832) BBA Hons Resource Person: Sir Sajjad Mohsin HAJVERY UNIVERSITY LAHORE