Workplace motivation

Motivation is a single driving factor in an individuals’ work performance. Employers take this matter very seriously as it would be a waste of time, energy and expense to develop ones skills if not properly motivated. Contrary, when one is highly motivated they tend to have high productivity. Many leaders believe to succeed in business you need to be able to motivate employees as it is a good way to exert high levels of efforts toward organizational goals. Unfortunately it’s easier said than done!

Needs Theories, Goal-Setting Theory, Equity Theory/Organizational Justice, and Expectancy Theory are the four specific theories that were developed for motivational practice touching on several different disciplines. Thus, this paper will first examine how various motivational strategies affected productivity in my workplace. In addition, it will include an explanation of the organization’s efforts to improve performance, employees’ resistance to increasing productivity, and the management’s philosophy of motivation and its practices.

Lastly, the paper will identify and analyze the implications of applying any two motivational theories not currently in practice in my selected workplace and how these motivational theories would have impacted both management and employees. As companies are always looking for ways to boost earnings in a growing competitive environment, they inescapably turn their focus towards employee productivity. Inevitably when employees are unsatisfied with their current work situation, productivity decreases, tension builds in the work environment, and morale becomes very low.

Companies with longevity know historically that morale affects productivity, yet management has struggled to come to terms with the factors that can create positive morale and an environment that attracts and retains workers and encourages them to produce. Programs such as motivational ones provided to employees tend to prove very useful tools to increase motivation from the employees, reduce employee turnover and helps retain skilled and talented personnel.

Strategies used to influence employee loyalty can be intrinsic motivation or extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is explained as one’s personal incentive to engage in an activity for a feeling of personal satisfaction and accomplishment without expectation of external rewards or recognition. Whereas, extrinsic motivation is defined as using external incentives such as prizes, money or rewards to motivate an individual to complete a task or engage in an activity.

I work for an organization whose primary purpose is consulting; as a value-added reseller for one of the world’s largest consultancies the company also provides first-class commercial services, consulting advice, program management, project management and cost management services. As an employee, I am a member of the construction services department. The other departments consisted of clerical and office workers, administration, payroll, technical support, and quality control.

The company had various motivational strategies in place for the employees. For instance, the company’s compensation was very competitive and included a procedure for yearly performance evaluations and salary adjustments. Each year the department managers and employees meet to do a performance appraisal on each other’s performance and discuss their observations. This is beneficial as your free to critic and not be penalized for it.

In such down times, co-workers are being downsized and employees are shouldering more and more responsibilities each time which can make an employee feel like they have five times as much work. This evaluation helps employees vent their frustrations as well as time to work out a better situation. This also is a good time to make the employee feel appreciated and recognize them. When you reward employees, they are happier, stay longer and are more productive.

When employees come in early to get a head-start, reach out to other co-workers, smiles frequently, and is always there for the customer. They have fun at work! This is a sign of what an engaged employee does. In contrast, a disengaged employee is late or absent, doesn’t want to be bothered, goes to lunch by himself, is indifferent to customers and shoots out the door right at 5: 00. A successful company must only have one type of employee, engaged.

It has to incorporate a system and processes to reward, recognize, and sustain those important behaviors that nurture engaged employees. If you don’t reward and recognize good behaviors, you won’t get them. People don’t just work for money. Companies fail because they assumed that money was the biggest motivator. Pay people more and they’ll do more…or so they think. Depending on where you work, the biggest perceived per wasn’t the highest salary or biggest bonus—it could be parking spaces.

If an employee had to walk blocks away to park, then to them nearby spots would be highly valued and could be interpreted as a sign of status within the company. It is often assumed that all people are motivated by the same things. Actually we are motivated by a whole range of factors. Companies should do a survey to elicit what really motivates employees, including learning about their values. Are they motivated by financial rewards, status, praise and acknowledgment, competition, job security, public recognition, fear, perfectionism?

Peer recognition is one of the easiest and most effective ways to turn your team around. Staffs enjoy being appreciated and rewarded when they do a good job. It’s highly effective because employees know who works hard and deserves recognition so supervisors should make it a point to catch people doing right things and rewarding them. Even such employees value each other’s influence sometimes more than their supervisors which is cost effective, because management can’t be everywhere in the workplace at once.