Motivating Employees

Many people incorrectly view motivation as a personal trait, they think some
people are motivated and others arent. We cant label people that way because
individuals differ in motivational drive and their overall motivation varies among
situations. Employee Performance fundamentally depend on many factors like
performance
appraisals,
employee
motivation, Employee
satisfaction,
compensation, Training and development, job security, Organizational structure
and other, but the area to focus only is on employee motivation as this factor
highly influence the performance of employees.
Employee motivation is one of the policies of managers to increase effectual job
management amongst employees in organizations (Shadare et al, 2009). A
motivated employee is responsive of the definite goals and objectives he/she
must achieve, therefore he/she directs its efforts in that direction.
Motivation formulates an organization more successful because provoked
employees are constantly looking for improved practices to do a work, so it is
essential for organization to persuade motivation of their employees (Kalimullah
et al, 2010).

What is motivation?
Motivation refers to the process by which a persons efforts are energized,
directed, and sustained toward attaining a goal. This definition has three key
elements: energy, direction, and persistence.
The energy element is a measure of intensity, drive, and vigour. A motivated
person puts forth effort and works hard. However, the quality of the effort must
be considered as well as its intensity. High levels of effort dont necessarily lead
to favourable job performance unless the effort is channelled in a direction that
benefits the organization.
Motivation is a process that account for an individual's intensity, direction, and
persistence of effort toward goal. For example, when someone eats food to
satisfy the need of hunger, or when a student does his/her work in school
because he/she wants a good grade.

Motivation and individual needs

Each person develops certain drives and desires as a result of the experiences he
goes through. Thus you can hardly motivate two people using the same method
unless they have both passed through similar experiences. Based upon these
facts we can conclude that individual needs must be taken into consideration
when attempting to motivate someone.

Motivating people by understanding their needs

The perfect way to motivate a person is to understand his individual needs first
then offer him a reward that either:

Helps him maintain the favourable status he used to live in

Offer him a reward that would allow him to escape from the unfavourable
condition he used to live in
If you want to motivate more than one person then do your best to sit with
each person individuality to know more about his needs.

Ways to motivate
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6.
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8.

ENERGIZE your team

There's more to life than work
Put your people first
Act with integrity
communicate
listen
Be a problem solver
Lead through experience

Why is motivating employees important?

1.
2.
3.
4.

Motivation leads to higher productivity and satisfaction.

Salary will keep an employee working, but will not drive them to capitalize
on their full potential.
Evidence shows motivated employees will:
Look for better ways to do a job.
Be more quality oriented.
Be more productive.
Be happy.

In 1943 Abraham Maslow published his theory of a hierarchy of needs. Maslow

identified that as individuals we have five sets of needs as shown in the diagram.
The Motivation Process
Unsatisfied Need
Behaviour

Tension

Satisfied Need

Drives

Reduction of Tension

EARLY THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

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Abraham Maslows hierarchy of needs theory

McGregors Theories X and Y

Herzbergs motivation-hygiene theory

Abraham Maslows hierarchy of needs theory

1. Physiological needs
Food & drink
shelter
other physical requirements
sexual satisfaction
2. Safety needs
Security
Protection
assurance
Security and protection from physical and emotional harm, as well
as assurance that physical needs will continue to be met
3. Social needs
Affection
Belongingness
Acceptance
friendship
4. Esteem needs
internal esteem
- self-respect
achievement
external esterm
- status
- recognition
- attention
5. Self-actualization needs
Growth
achieving ones potential
self-fulfilment

McGregors Theories X and Y

Theories X presents an essentially negative view of people. It assumes that
workers have little ambition, dislike work, want to avoid responsibility, and need
to be closely controlled to work effectively.
Theories Y offers a positive a view. It assumes that workers can exercise selfdirection, accept and actually seek out responsibility, and consider work to be
natural activity.

Herzerbergs motivation-hygiene theory

Hygiene Factors- factors that eliminate job dissatisfaction, but do not motivate.
Motivators- factors that increase job satisfaction and motivation.
Theory proposes that intrinsic factors are related to job satisfaction and
motivation, whereas extrinsic factors are associated with job dissatisfaction.
Atmosphere:
Things shown to make people happier in the workplace..
Eg.

Plants and lots of sunlight in the workplace!

Install lots of florescent lights and put light fixtures on furniture.
Allow people to use creativity to personalize their own work space.
Make a comfortable atmosphere including:
Enough room(no cramming!)
Quality equipment
Air conditioning, clean air, and good scent
Comfortable chairs
On-site cafeteria with healthy
food options

Incentives:
Eg.

Allowed vacation time

Rewards for productivity
Family oriented activities
Flexible hours
Opportunities to seek further education and broaden knowledge and skill
sets.
Free snacks/meals

Meet Social Needs:

Eg.

Breaks during work

Outside of work activities
Work parties
Cafeteria in work place
Sports teams

Management Skills:
Eg.

1.

Be a "good employer" by having clear,

Expectations
Deadlines
Boundaries/Rules applicable for all
Published and accessible employee manual.

2.

Manager relations with employees

Help employees feel valued and praise them for their,
Good qualities
Quality work
Met Deadlines
Always recognize and acknowledge employees! A manager should never
take credit for his employees work.
Support/ Backup employees. If a manager backs up an employee in a
problematic situation the employee will remember it.
Show sincere interest in employees personal lives as well as their careers
and hopes for growth and achievements.

3.

Help employees to feel a sense of ownership in the company!

Ask employees for their ideas!
Ask them what they would like to see change in the workplace!
Invite them to regular meetings and help them to feel involved!

Employees with a sense of ownership in their company will develop a desire

to see their company prosper, and will see the importance of their job in
making that happen.

Conclusion
Organizations with the most sophisticated recognition practices are 12 times
more likely to a have strong business outcome. Bersin by Deloitte, The
State of Employee Recognition, 2012)
In 2007 Delta airlines reported a 564% return on investment from their
employee recognition program. An estimated 41% of customers are loyal to a
brand or company because they consistently notice a positive employee
attitude, while 68% of customers defect from a brand or company because of
negative employee attitude.