MOTIVATION

It is a internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be
continually interested in and committed to a job, role, or subject, and to exert persistent
effort in attaining a goal. Motivation is the energizer of behavior and mother of all action.
It results from the interactions among conscious and unconscious factors such as the
(1) intensity of desire or need,
(2) incentive or reward value of the goal, and
(3) expectations of the individual and of his or her significant others.
Motivation has been defined as: the psychological process that gives behavior purpose
and direction (Kreitner, 1995); a predisposition to behave in a purposive manner to
achieve specific, unmet needs (Buford, Bedeian, & Lindner, 1995); an internal drive to
satisfy an unsatisfied need (Higgins, 1994); and the will to achieve (Bedeian, 1993). For
this paper, motivation is operationally defined as the inner force that drives individuals to
accomplish personal and organizational goals.

The Role of Motivation

Why do we need motivated employees? The answer is survival . Motivated employees

are needed in our rapidly changing workplaces. Motivated employees help organizations
survive. Motivated employees are more productive. To be effective, managers need to
understand what motivates employees within the context of the roles they perform. Of all
the functions a manager performs, motivating employees is arguably the most complex.

Motivation Theories
At one time, employees were considered just another input into the production of goods
and services.Understanding what motivated employees and how they were motivated was
the focus of many researchers following the publication of the Hawthorne Study results
(Terpstra, 1979). Five major approaches that have led to our understanding of motivation
are Maslow's need-hierarchy theory, Herzberg's two- factor theory, Vroom's expectancy
theory, Adams' equity theory, and Skinner's reinforcement theory.
According to Maslow, employees have five levels of needs (Maslow, 1943):
physiological, safety, social, ego, and self- actualizing. Maslow argued that lower level
needs had to be satisfied before the next higher level need would motivate employees.
Herzberg's work categorized motivation into two factors: motivators and hygienes
(Herzberg, Mausner, & Snyderman, 1959). Motivator or intrinsic factors, such as
achievement and recognition, produce job satisfaction. Hygiene or extrinsic factors, such
as pay and job security, produce job dissatisfaction.
Vroom's theory is based on the belief that employee effort will lead to performance and
performance will lead to rewards (Vroom, 1964). Rewards may be either positive or
negative. The more positive the reward the more likely the employee will be highly
motivated. Conversely, the more negative the reward the less likely the employee will be
motivated.
Adams' theory states that employees strive for equity between themselves and other
workers. Equity is achieved when the ratio of employee outcomes over inputs is equal to
other employee outcomes over inputs (Adams, 1965).
Skinner's theory simply states those employees' behaviors that lead to positive outcomes
will be repeated and behaviors that lead to negative outcomes will not be repeated
(Skinner, 1953). Managers should positively reinforce employee behaviors that lead to
positive outcomes. Managers should negatively reinforce employee behavior that leads to
negative outcomes.

Understanding Employee Motivation

The employees who work for your company are naturally motivated. All you need to do
is to utilize their natural ability, which you can do without spending a dime. That's right.
No money. In fact, money can actually decrease an employee's motivation and
performance. The first step in utilizing your employees' natural abilities is to eliminate
your organization's negative practices that zap away their natural motivation. The second
step your organization can take is to develop true motivators, which can spark all your
employees into being motivated. By decreasing negative zapping demotivators and by
adding true motivators, you will tap into your employees' natural motivation. Your
employees' natural motivation relies on the fact that all people have human desires for
affiliaEmployees generally receive inadequate recognition and reward: About half of the
workers in our surveys report receiving little or no credit, and almost two-thirds say
management is much more likely to criticize them for poor performance than praise them
for good work.
Management inadvertently makes it difficult for employees to do their jobs. Excessive
levels of required approvals, endless paperwork, insufficient training, failure to
communicate, infrequent delegation of authority, and a lack of a credible vision
contribute to employees' frustration.tion, achievement, and for control and power over
their work. In addition, they have desires for ownership, competence, recognition, and
meaning in their work.
But there are several ways that management unwittingly demotivates employees and
diminishes, if not outright destroys, their enthusiasm.
Many companies treat employees as disposable. At the first sign of business difficulty,
employees-who are usually routinely referred to as "our greatest asset"-become
expendable.

Some common myths about employee motivation

 Myth Number One: "I can motivate people"
Not really -- they have to motivate themselves. You can't motivate people
anymore than you can empower them. Employees have to motivate and empower
themselves. However, you can set up an environment where they best motivate
and empower themselves. The key is knowing how to set up the environment for
each of your employees.
Myth Number Two: -- "Money is a good motivator"
Not really. Certain things like money, a nice office and job security can help
people from becoming less motivated, but they usually don't help people to
become more motivated. A key goal is to understand the motivations of each of
your employees.
Myth Number Three: "Fear is a damn good motivator"
Fear is a great motivator -- for a very short time. That's why a lot of yelling from
the boss won't seem to "light a spark under employees" for a very long time.
Myth Number Four: "I know what motivates me, so I know what motivates my
employees"
Not really. Different people are motivated by different things. I may be greatly
motivated by earning time away from my job to spend more time my family. You
might be motivated much more by recognition of a job well done. People are not
motivated by the same things. Again, a key goal is to understand what motivates
each of your employees.
Myth Number Five: "Increased job satisfaction means increased job
performance"
Research shows this isn't necessarily true at all. Increased job satisfaction does not
necessarily mean increased job performance. If the goals of the organization are
not aligned with the goals of employees, then employees aren't effectively
working toward the mission of the organization.
Myth Number Six: "I can't comprehend employee motivation -- it's a science"
Nah. Not true. There are some very basic steps you can take that will go a long
way toward supporting your employees to motivate themselves toward increased
performance in their jobs. (More about these steps is provided later on in this
article.)
Basic Principles to be kept in mind…while working on "Employee Motivation"
Motivating employees starts with motivating yourself: It's amazing how, if you
hate your job, it seems like everyone else does, too. If you are very stressed out, it
seems like everyone else is, too. Enthusiasm is contagious. If you're enthusiastic
about your job, it's much easier for others to be, too. Also, if you're doing a good
job of taking care of yourself and your own job, you'll have much clearer
perspective on how others are doing in theirs.
A great place to start learning about motivation is to start understanding your own
motivations. The key to helping to motivate your employees is to understand what
 motivates them. So what motivates you? Consider, for example, time with family,
recognition, a job well done, service, learning, etc. How is your job configured to
support your own motivations? What can you do to better motivate yourself?
Always work to align goals of the organization with goals of employees: As
mentioned above, employees can be all fired up about their work and be working
very hard. However, if the results of their work don't contribute to the goals of the
organization, then the organization is not any better off than if the employees
were sitting on their hands -- maybe worse off! Therefore, it's critical that
managers and supervisors know what they want from their employees. These
preferences should be worded in terms of goals for the organization. Identifying
the goals for the organization is usually done during strategic planning. Whatever
steps you take to support the motivation of your employees (various steps are
suggested below), ensure that employees have strong input to identifying their
goals and that these goals are aligned with goals of the organization. (Goals
should be worded to be "SMARTER". More about this later on below.)
Key to supporting the motivation of your employees is understanding what motivates
each of them: Different things motivate each person. Whatever steps you take to
support the motivation of your employees, they should first include finding out
what it is that really motivates each of your employees. You can find this out by
asking them, listening to them and observing them. (More about this later on
below.)
Recognize that supporting employee motivation is a process, not a task:
Organizations change all the time, as do people. Indeed, it is an ongoing process
to sustain an environment where employees can strongly motivate themselves. If
you look at sustaining employee motivation as an ongoing process, then you'll be
much more fulfilled and motivated yourself.
Support employee motivation by using organizational systems (for example, policies
and procedures) -- don't just count on good intentions: Don't just count on
cultivating strong interpersonal relationships with employees to help motivate
them. The nature of these relationships can change greatly, for example, during
times of stress. Instead, use reliable and comprehensive systems in the workplace
to help motivate employees. For example, establish compensation systems,
employee performance systems, organizational policies and procedures, etc., to
support employee motivation. Also, establishing various systems and structures
helps ensure clear understanding and equitable treatment of employees.

Process of Employee Motivation

Personalized Motivation. The need to identify employees' critical motivators is
important because simply put most managers are terrible at motivating their
employees. When managers don't know what motivates an individual, they
mistakenly assume that all workers want the same thing, or they make random
guesses about what motivates an individual. Both are serious errors.
 If we expect managers to successfully motivate their individual employees,
human resources professionals must accept the responsibility of providing
managers with a list of what motivates and frustrates a new or recently transferred
employees.
Admit to yourself (and to an appropriate someone else) if you don't like an
employee
Managers and supervisors are people. It's not unusual to just not like someone
who works for you. That someone could, for example, look like an uncle you
don't like. In this case, admit to yourself that you don't like the employee. Then
talk to someone else who is appropriate to hear about your distaste for the
employee, for example, a peer, your boss, your spouse, etc. Indicate to the
appropriate person that you want to explore what it is that you don't like about the
employee and would like to come to a clearer perception of how you can
accomplish a positive working relationship with the employee. It often helps a
great deal just to talk out loud about how you feel and get someone else's opinion
about the situation. As noted above, if you continue to focus on what you see
about employee performance, you'll go a long way toward ensuring that your
treatment of employees remains fair and equitable
Have one-on-one meetings with each employee
Employees are motivated more by your care and concern for them than by your
attention to them. Get to know your employees, their families, their favorite
foods, names of their children, etc. This can sound manipulative -- and it will be if
not done sincerely. However, even if you sincerely want to get to know each of
your employees, it may not happen unless you intentionally set aside time to be
with each of them.
Instill an inspiring purpose.
A critical condition for employee enthusiasm is a clear, credible, and inspiring
organizational purpose: in effect, a "reason for being" that translates for workers
into a "reason for being there" that goes above and beyond money.
Every manager should be able to expressly state a strong purpose for his unit.
What follows is one purpose statement we especially admire. It was developed by
a three-person benefits group in a midsize firm.
Benefits are about people. It's not whether you have the forms filled in or whether
the checks are written. It's whether the people are cared for when they're sick,
helped when they're in trouble.
Stating a mission is a powerful tool. But equally important is the manager's ability
to explain and communicate to subordinates the reason behind the mission. Can
the manager of stockroom workers do better than telling her staff that their
mission is to keep the room stocked? Can she communicate the importance of the
job, the people who are relying on the stockroom being properly maintained, both
inside and outside the company? The importance for even goods that might be
considered prosaic to be where they need to be when they need to be there? That
 manager will go a long way toward providing a sense of purpose.
Reward it when you see it
A critical lesson for new managers and supervisors is to learn to focus on
employee behaviors, not on employee personalities. Performance in the
workplace should be based on behaviors toward goals, not on popularity of
employees. You can get in a great deal of trouble (legally, morally and
interpersonally) for focusing only on how you feel about your employees rather
than on what you're seeing with your eyeballs.
Reward it soon after you see it
This helps to reinforce the notion that you highly prefer the behaviors that you're
currently seeing from your employees. Often, the shorter the time between an
employee's action and your reward for the action, the clearer it is to the employee
that you highly prefer that action.
Cultivate strong skills in delegation
Delegation includes conveying responsibility and authority to your employees so
they can carry out certain tasks. However, you leave it up to your employees to
decide how they will carry out the tasks. Skills in delegation can free up a great
deal of time for managers and supervisors. It also allows employees to take a
stronger role in their jobs, which usually means more fulfillment and motivation
in their jobs, as well.
Celebrate achievements
This critical step is often forgotten. New managers and supervisors are often
focused on a getting "a lot done". This usually means identifying and solving
problems. Experienced managers come to understand that acknowledging and
celebrating a solution to a problem can be every bit as important as the solution
itself. Without ongoing acknowledgement of success, employees become
frustrated, skeptical and even cynical about efforts in the organization.
Promote teamwork.
Most work requires a team effort in order to be done effectively. Research shows
repeatedly that the quality of a group's efforts in areas such as problem solving is
usually superior to that of individuals working on their own. In addition, most
workers get a motivation boost from working in teams.
Whenever possible, managers should organize employees into self-managed
teams, with the teams having authority over matters such as quality control,
scheduling, and many work methods. Such teams require less management and
normally result in a healthy reduction in management layers and costs.
Creating teams has as much to do with camaraderie as core competences. A
manager needs to carefully assess who works best with whom. At the same time,
it is important to create the opportunity for cross-learning and diversity of ideas,
methods, and approaches. Be clear with the new team about its role, how it will
operate, and your expectations for its output.
 Let employees hear from their customers (internal or external)
Let employees hear customers proclaim the benefits of the efforts of the
employee. For example, if the employee is working to keep internal computer
systems running for other employees (internal customers) in the organization,
then have other employees express their gratitude to the employee. If an employee
is providing a product or service to external customers, then bring in a customer
to express their appreciation to the employee.
Implement at least the basic principles of performance management
Good performance management includes identifying goals, measures to indicate if
the goals are being met or not, ongoing attention and feedback about measures
toward the goals, and corrective actions to redirect activities back toward
achieving the goals when necessary. Performance management can focus on
organizations, groups, processes in the organization and employees.
Be an expediter for your employees.
Incorporating a command-and-control style is a sure-fire path to demotivation.
Instead, redefine your primary role as serving as your employees' expediter: It is
your job to facilitate getting their jobs done. Your reports are, in this sense, your
"customers." Your role as an expediter involves a range of activities, including
serving as a linchpin to other business units and managerial levels to represent
their best interests and ensure your people get what they need to succeed.
How do you know, beyond what's obvious, what is most important to your employees
for getting their jobs done? Ask them! "Lunch and schmooze" sessions with
employees are particularly helpful for doing this. And if, for whatever reason, you
can't immediately address a particular need or request, be open about it and then
let your workers know how you're progressing at resolving their problems. This is
a great way to build trust.
Coach your employees for improvement.
A major reason so many managers do not assist subordinates in improving their
performance is, simply, that they don't know how to do this without irritating or
discouraging them. A few basic principles will improve this substantially. First
and foremost, employees whose overall performance is satisfactory should be
made aware of that. It is easier for employees to accept, and welcome, feedback
for improvement if they know management is basically pleased with what they do
and is helping them do it even better.
Space limitations prevent a full treatment of the subject of giving meaningful feedback,
of which recognition is a central part, but these key points should be the basis of any
feedback plan:
Performance feedback is not the same as an annual appraisal. Give actual
performance feedback as close in time to the occurrence as possible. Use the
formal annual appraisal to summarize the year, not surprise the worker with past
wrongs.
 Recognize that workers want to know when they have done poorly. Don't succumb to
the fear of giving appropriate criticism; your workers need to know when they are
not performing well. At the same time, don't forget to give positive feedback. It is,
after all, your goal to create a team that warrants praise.
Comments concerning desired improvements should be specific, factual,
unemotional, and directed at performance rather than at employees personally.
Avoid making overall evaluative remarks (such as, "That work was shoddy") or
comments about employees' personalities or motives (such as, "You've been
careless"). Instead, provide specific, concrete details about what you feel needs to
be improved and how.
Keep the feedback relevant to the employee's role. Don't let your comments wander
to anything not directly tied to the tasks at hand.
Listen to employees for their views of problems. Employees' experience and
observations often are helpful in determining how performance issues can be best
dealt with, including how you can be most helpful.
Remember the reason you're giving feedback-you want to improve performance, not
prove your superiority. So keep it real, and focus on what is actually doable
without demanding the impossible.
Follow up and reinforce. Praise improvement or engage in course correction-while
praising the effort-as quickly as possible.
Don't offer feedback about something you know nothing about. Get someone who knows
the situation to look at it.

Role of Incentives
It is said that incentives play a major role in motivating your employees and encouraging
them to achieve higher goals. In any organization, incentives work because employees
are then goal-driven and push themselves to achieve their targets.
Each organization has a reward system in place to motivate their employees. This reward
system is based on incentives like an increase in the salary, cash, gift or a holiday.
Compensation is offered to each employee based on his or her performance on the job.
Incentives are usually seen as short term motivators for employees. Hence, incentives are
used a lot to motivate sales employees so that they achieve their targets.
The role of incentives is not to overload the employees with excess work but to realize
their accomplishments and make them feel an important part of the business. Incentives
allow the employees to take on responsibilities and in turn increase their job satisfaction.
However, along with incentives, appreciation, positive feedback and praises are also
important to motivate employees.
Most organizations give incentives to employees annually or on a target basis. It is
important to give incentives on a timely basis so that employees can see the immediate
benefit of accomplishing their goal.
One must understand that each employee has his own characteristics and each employee
has different motivational needs. Your business can actually be taken to a new level if
you develop a sense of understanding about how you should motivate your employees.
Incentives, by far, motivate most types of employees to a certain extent. Incentives also
play an important role to retain employees. A proper reward system should be enforced
for people who have been in the organization for long years.
While rewarding employees, some of the key elements that are taken into account are day
to day performance, enthusiasm, punctuality, willingness to accomplish a task, ability to
innovate and ideate and overall fulfillment of goals.
One should also take care that employees don’t just work for financial incentives. One
should create an environment where employees love to come to work because they enjoy
their jobs. HR managers and bosses should use incentives to motivate employees but
should do so judiciously. Incentives also motivate the employees when you want them to
go that extra mile to achieve your targets