Money as a motivator at work essay

Table of contents:
1. Introduction
2. Money and motivation
1. Motivation of the personnel
2. Money, stimuli and employers
3. The true picture
3. Conclusion
Does If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys principle still work?
Introduction. The word motivation in this essay will be used in order to indicate the interests, desires
and internal readiness of a worker to apply certain efforts, take necessary steps to satisfy the career
needs that are significant for him. If there had been an opportunity to ask the company leaders,
owners of different companies, HR-managers or specialists what kind of employees they want to have
in their companies, the answer would have been unambiguous. All of them would be unanimous about
such qualities as the ability to think and act independently, the ability to show personal initiative, take
reasonable risks and ability to take responsibility for actions, professionalism, be picky to the quality of
personal work and many other qualities. The question how motivated an employee should be to
correspond to this list of qualities-demands and is money an effective motivator at work to make each
of them to become an outstanding employee. How does a company find itself in a situation when a
worker that has been chosen exactly by the company authorities starts being lazy and his work turns
into a satisfactory one? Any malfunctions during the process of employee-selection? Could be. But
what about the skill that the majority of the company leaders are proud of the skill to chose only
those with an eyes blazing? It goes without saying that money is an engine of everything but
sometimes it may not be enough to keep this blaze in the eyes of an employee.
2. Money and motivation
Managers apply a lot of effort to make the working places of their companies look attractive for
professional and skillful employees. It is not enough just to pay the salary now! Money nowadays is not
a factor that can make the employee work at his full both at work and even continue working at home.
It is simple as that if a person works in a company only because of money, or is other words is
money-motivated, he can be easily purchased by a rival. No existing company is interested in letting
a valuable employee to work for another company, because it can inflict a considerable damage to the
companies. So this is the primary reason why employers should understand that a only moneymotivated employee is a potential vermin of the company. Money by itself is obviously not a
sufficient motivator at work. An employee working for money only will leave work at the very minute of
its end and never do anything above his duty regulations. He will never work with the company but
always for it. And therefore will not see the difference between working for this or that company
because it will be only the matter of the salary-issue. This is the point when the authorities of any
company think with tension about the motivation of their personnel. As the matter of fact the majority
of contemporary employees search other benefits from work, except their wages.
2.a. Motivation of the personnel
It is possible to identify four main motivational-factors. In the first place it is the compensational plan
which is the collection of material goods, which are given by the company to the employee. The word
compensation is the most appropriate because in exchange for these material goods, the employer
expects honest labor, time and many other things from the worker. The mentioned above material
goods provided by the employer includes salaries, bonuses, extra-pays and other financial
encouragements. So as it may be understood from the very beginning money is only one the four
major motivational factors and therefore has a impact on the motivation of the employee. The next
factor that keeps the personnel motivated is the condition of their labor. To make a long story short, it
goes about making the working place comfortable for the worker and making the atmosphere well
disposed. The third factor influencing motivation is the possibility to achieve self-actualization, to go in
for a favorite occupation, the possibility to grow personally and professionally. These possibilities
ordinarily result from the investments that the company makes into its personnel, or in other words the
material and other embeddings into the development of the competency and loyalty of the employees.
And the fourth factor is the literal behavior of the companys management of all levels, promoting
professional inspiration, conscious and productive work of the personnel. All these factors are

guarantors of the protections of the companys interests, represented through the employees of the
company. So the main question remains the same how much an employee should be paid in order to
make him reveal his whole professional potential? In order to analyze the capability of money as a
motivator at work it is very important to understand the existing general system of payments or in
other words the existing way of the compensation plan.
2.b. Money, stimuli and employers
The longing for finding a compromise between the interest of the company and the interests of the
employees should imply the principle of simplicity and transparency. This means, that the personal of
the company has to have a clear picture of the system of payment of the company, in other words to
know what actions and result should be financially encouraged and what not. So, basically saying
money can be a good motivator if this system is clearly set and understandable to the employee. If the
model of payment is too complicated, in this case it confuses both the employer and the employee,
and becomes the reason of misunderstandings between them. Complicated schemes do not stimulate,
but truly confuse the personnel. Each employee should feel that he is very important for the company,
even if his work belong to the undermost category. These are the conditions that do make money a
good motivator, but it is important to remember that it is not the only necessary motivator that will
bring results at work.
If the leaders of the company fail to combine all the listed above factors, they turn to the easiest and
quickest, but the most unproductive way of motivation money motivation. It may be in some way
compared to negative reinforcement brings results immediately, but in the long run causes a lot of
trouble. According to Jim Clemmer, only weak leaders use money as a motivator [3]1. Basically saying
is an employer does not want to invest into the employees in the long run and is interested in the
instant, short-live result than he may be called a weak leader focused on money as a motivator.
When it comes to the motivation of the employees it is very important to understand the difference
between a stimulus and a motive. Everything is rather easy. A stimulus is an external impetus to any
activity and a motive- is an internal one. So for instance, the salary is a stimulus, but the desire to
achieve a certain level of professionalism is a motive. The level of motivation strongly depends on the
managers of the company. The level of motivation for every company is the statistical feature, defining
in what degree the given motive is capable of influencing the respondents choice either to do or not to
do the given work. But the big problem is that managers have consistently listed money as the
number one factor that they think motivates people. So they keep fiddling with pay, bonus, and
financial incentives in a futile attempt to find the elusive combination that will motivate people to
higher performance the words of the Clemmers article completely reveal the true situation
concerning to question money as a motivator.
2.c. The true picture
Maslows hierarchy of needs has already become legendary. The Journal of Extension has applied this
hierarchy to the sphere of employment2. According to Maslows theory and the possible critical
analysis what can be made on its basis of the problem of money as a motivator leads to the
understanding that a worker will never reveal his full potential only because of the monetary
motivation. There is a time in the life of every employee when motivation through money plays an
extremely important part in his or her lives. The maximum level of the money-motivation is the age of
24-27 years and at the very end of the professional career or in other words the pre-retirement time.
This happen due to the fact that in the beginning of the career a person strives to become
independent financially. And during the pre-retirement age a person wants to provide a financially
independent retirement. The most vital part of the information given above is that these two ages are
the most sensitive periods, when money can be a sufficient motivator. So money as a motivator is
productive only for a short period of time and the money-motive cannot move the person onward
constantly. It should be never forgotten, that thought money are vital in the contemporary world they
are no the only thing that matters to people, especially when it comes to their career and such things
as recognition are much valuable for each given employee in particular.
Conclusion. Money is definitely now a good and certainly not the only motivator that should be used at
work. A number of misunderstandings occur when it is considered as the only motivator, because the
individual peculiarities of each employee are not taken into account. In order to take into account the
individual peculiarities of the personnel, add flexibility and controllability to the system of moneybased motivation it is necessary to constantly provide additions to the salaries, but these additions
should be clear and for certain reasons that the employee need to know. So the most important is that
the system of motivation needs to be absolutely transparent and understandable for the employees
and it has to react at the changes in the external and the internal situation of the company.

Sometimes the authorities of the company need to think first before paying an employee because may
be it is the time for a thank your o for your outstanding work letter. Money is not an effective
motivator, because it cannot make the employee works at his full. There different types of employees.
Some of them need power, some need authority, others prefer money, and another type will choose
stability and many other preferences. And what is really important to remember that no money will
change this needs and money by itself is not sufficient to make the person successful in his career.
1 Money always shows up as fourth or fifth on any list of motivational factors. Pay gets people to
show up for work. But pay doesn't get many to excel. More important is interesting, challenging, or
meaningful work, recognition and appreciation, a sense of accomplishment, growth opportunities
Jim Clemmer, leader of the Clemmer Group.
2 There five levels of needs: physiological, safety, social, ego, and self- actualizing

INTRODUCTION
Motivation is the process of initiating and directing behaviour based on the persistence of
effort to satisfy an individual goal or need (Petri, 1991; Robbins et al, 2000 and Robbins et
al, 2001). There are two approaches to understanding motivation, each of which has
theories expanding to support the nature of motivation. Content theories focuses on what
motivates an individual. In contrast to process theories of motivation which focus on how
individual behaviour is motivated. This essay will focus on motivation in an educational
context and the importance to provide opportunities and motivation for students. The
purpose of this essay is to present a theoretical overview of the key differences between
content theories and process theories of motivation. Then a programme developed from a
theory to be applied to an undergraduate business course at Monash University. The
motivational programme will focus on improving the assessment technique used by lecturers
and tutors (teachers) that will motivate and improve undergraduate students learning
ability. The aim will be to encourage students to gain a better understanding of the core
concepts of business. Assessment in universities needs to be reshaped in order to motivate
students.

Use Simple, Powerful Words to Motivate Employees

Sometimes in my work, I get gifts. I recently interviewed an experienced supervisor for a position
open at a client company. She indicated that she was popular with the people at her former company
as evidenced by employees wanting to work on her shift.
Responding to my question, she said that part of her success was that she liked and appreciated
people. She sent the right message. She also uses simple, powerful, motivational words to
demonstrate she values people. She says please, thank you, and you're doing a good job. How
often do you take the time to use these simple, powerful words, and others like them, in your
interaction with staff? You can make their day.
For Employee Motivation, Make Sure People Know What You Expect

In the best book I've read on the subject, Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed to Do and
What to Do about ItCompare Prices, by Ferdinand Fournies, setting clear expectations is often a
supervisor's first failure. Supervisors think they have clearly stated work objectives, numbers needed,
report deadlines and requirements, but the employee received a different message.
Or, the requirements change in the middle of the day, job, or project. While the new expectations are
communicated - usually poorly - the reason for the change or the context for the change is rarely
discussed. This causes staff members to think that the company leaders don't know what they are
doing. This is hardly a confidence, morale-building feeling.
This is bad news for employee motivation and morale. Make sure you get feedback from the employee
so you know he understands what you need. Share the goals and reasons for doing the task or
project. In a manufacturing environment, don't emphasize just numbers if you want a quality product
finished quickly. If you must make a change midway through a task or a project, tell the staff why the
change is needed; tell them everything you know. You can make their day.
Provide Regular Feedback for Employee Motivation
When I poll supervisors, the motivation and morale builder they identify first is knowing how they are
doing at work. Your staff members need the same information. They want to know when they have
done a project well and when you are disappointed in their results. They need this information as
soon as possible following the event.
They need to work with you to make sure they produce a positive outcome the next time. Set up a
daily or weekly schedule and make sure feedback happens. You'll be surprised how effective this tool
can be in building employee motivation and morale. You can make their day.

Diagnose Workplace Negativity

Negativity is an increasing problem in the workplace, according to Gary S. Topchik, the author of
Managing Workplace Negativity. He states, in a Management Review article, that negativity is often
the result of a loss of confidence, control, or community. Knowing what people are negative about is
the first step in solving the problem.
In my experience, when rumblings and negativity are beginning in your organization, talking with
employees will help you understand the exact problems and the degree to which the problems are
impacting your workplace. You will want to identify the exact employee groups who are experiencing
the negativity, and the nature of the issues that sparked their unhappiness.
Perhaps the organization made a decision that adversely affected staff. Perhaps the executive
manager held a staff meeting and was perceived to threaten or ignore people asking legitimate
questions. Maybe staff members feel insecure because concern exists over losing a product line.
Perhaps underground rumors are circulating about an impending layoff. People may feel that they give
the organization more than they receive in return. They may feel that a coworker was mistreated or
denied a deserved promotion.

Whatever the cause of the workplace negativity, you must address the issues. Or like a seemingly
dormant volcano, they will boil beneath the surface, and periodically bubble up and overflow to cause
fresh damage.
Read on for Seven Tips to Minimize Workplace Negativity
The best way to combat workplace negativity is to keep it from occurring in the first place. These
seven tips will help you minimize workplace negativity.

Provide opportunities for people to make decisions about and control and/or influence their
own job. The single most frequent cause of workplace negativity I encounter is traceable to a
manager or the organization making a decision about a persons work without her input. Almost
any decision that excludes the input of the person doing the work is perceived as negative.

Make opportunities available for people to express their opinion about workplace policies and
procedures. Recognize the impact of changes in such areas as work hours, pay, benefits,
assignment of overtime hours, comp pay, dress codes, office location, job requirements, and
working conditions.
These factors are closest to the mind, heart and physical presence of each individual. Changes
to these can cause serious negative responses. Provide timely, proactive responses to
questions and concerns.

Treat people as adults with fairness and consistency. Develop and publicize workplace policies
and procedures that organize work effectively. Apply them consistently. As an example, each
employee has the opportunity to apply for leave time. In granting his request, apply the same
factors to his application as you would to any other individuals.

Do not create rules for all employees, when just a few people are violating the norms. You
want to minimize the number of rules directing the behavior

of adult people at work. Treat people as adults; they will usually live up to your expectations,
and their own expectations.

Help people feel like members of the in-crowd; each person wants to have the same
information as quickly as everyone else. Provide the context for decisions, and communicate
effectively and constantly.
If several avenues or directions are under consideration, communicate all that you know, as
soon as you know it. Reserve the right to change your mind later, without consequence, when
additional factors affect the direction of ultimate decisions.

Afford people the opportunity to grow and develop. Training, perceived opportunities for
promotions, lateral moves for development, and cross-training are visible signs of an
organizations commitment to staff.

Provide appropriate leadership and a strategic framework, including mission, vision, values,
and goals. People want to feel as if they are part of something bigger than themselves. If they
understand the direction, and their part in making the desired outcomes happen, they can
effectively contribute more.

Provide appropriate rewards and recognition so people feel their contribution is valued. The
power of appropriate rewards and recognition for a positive workplace is remarkable. Suffice
to say, reward and recognition is one of the most powerful tools an organization can use to
buoy staff morale

of adult people at work. Treat people as adults; they will usually live up to your expectations,
and their own expectations.

Help people feel like members of the in-crowd; each person wants to have the same
information as quickly as everyone else. Provide the context for decisions, and communicate
effectively and constantly.
If several avenues or directions are under consideration, communicate all that you know, as
soon as you know it. Reserve the right to change your mind later, without consequence, when
additional factors affect the direction of ultimate decisions.

Afford people the opportunity to grow and develop. Training, perceived opportunities for
promotions, lateral moves for development, and cross-training are visible signs of an
organizations commitment to staff.

Provide appropriate leadership and a strategic framework, including mission, vision, values,
and goals. People want to feel as if they are part of something bigger than themselves. If they
understand the direction, and their part in making the desired outcomes happen, they can
effectively contribute more.

Provide appropriate rewards and recognition so people feel their contribution is valued. The
power of appropriate rewards and recognition for a positive workplace is remarkable. Suffice
to say, reward and recognition is one of the most powerful tools an organization can use to
buoy staff morale

motivational quotes

"We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created
them." (Albert Einstein)
"A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline." (Harvey
Mackay - thanks Brad Hanson)