Article review: Inside the mind of a motivated employee - Research Paper Example

Positive moods peaked from 6-10am gradually dropped and hit bottom in mid afternoon but soon picked up in late afternoon and in was at its peak in the evening. The immediate conclusion that can be drawn from this is that work negatively affects the moods of people. But the fact that cycle holds good even on off days mean that the phenomenon is a lot more complicated. For managers and supervisors this has huge implications. Managers also need to understand that positive affect (feelings/moods) and negative affect are not interrelated and are completely independent of each other.

With respect to work it is discussed in terms of motivation, engagement and commitment. So “engaged” or “unengaged” and “motivated” or “unmotivated” are different from each other and definitely not interrelated. This can be best understood by taking the example of health. When you are ill, you tend to be depressed and when you recover you are energised because of your good health. But this change is temporary and with passage of time you get back to normal (the energy levels drop back to normal).

Therefore, poor health can depress you but this does not mean that good health always motivates you. It is very important for managers to understand the above. If you want motivated employees who put in that extra effort to achieve extraordinary results, then you not only have to remove objections or restraints but have to replace them with motivation drivers. A manager must take both kinds of actions if he wants to extract the best out of his employees. Most managers only focus on factors that lead to low motivation and try to address them.

Some of the causes that most managers address are poor relationships at workplace, poor compensation and benefits, obstructive or demanding rules and policies, lousy working conditions, etc. It is important to address these issues but addressing only these issues mean removing factors that inhibit motivation. This is not enough if a manager is looking for above average results from his team. There are other factors that need to be considered and addressed if employees have to commit wholeheartedly and put in extra efforts.

Managers must take actions that motivate the employees to give their best performance. Following are some of the factors that need to be considered: Compelling Purpose: Employees need to feel that they are part of something important. There must be clear purpose to what they do and why they do. It is the manger who has to communicate this purpose effectively to the employees. This makes them feel important. Challenging Goals and Plans: Next would be to give challenging goals and plans. More than being a part of something important, people wants to strive towards achieving it.

Clear Roles and Responsibilities: To have clear and specified roles and responsibilities is very important. This establishes a link for what employees do and how it affects the overall outcome. It is also important to have the clarity of what their role is and what is expected out of them. This makes them feel valuable and valued. Therefore, for superior performance both obstructions to motivation must be removed and at the same time motivation drivers need to be placed. Reaction I agree with Hill and Lineback when they say that Mangers need to do more than just eliminate the causes of low motivation if they have to extract the full