Methods of Motivations for Minimum Wage Employees - Term Paper Example

Methods of motivations are ways used to increase the performance of the workers at the work place. There many ways to increases the performance of the employees. Different firms have their different ways to improve the performance of their workers. Human resource is one of the important resources of a given organization. High performance can be measured by comparing the results of the work carried out and the set goals. High performance in the work place can result in successful business (Gregory .244). It can be achieved through management practices. There are various ways in which the high performance can be achieved in the work place. Fair wages and salaries One of the most effect methods of motivation is use fair salaries and wages. The employees will always be motivated when they are paid high wages and salaries. The employer can increase the morale of the employees by paying them more than the other firms are paying their employees. The advantage of this method is that it very effective in increasing the morale of the employees. The disadvantage is that it increases the cost of production for the firm. Give bonuses The other monetary incentive is the pay of bonus. The employees will be motivated if the employers give bonus for the work done. In most cases, the higher the quality of work did the higher the bonus. Employees will always work hard to get bigger bonuses. The advantage is that the firm that gives bonus workers will always work extra hard to earn bonus. Payment of overtime The other monetary incentive that is very effective is the overtime payment. Overtime payment is the payment made for workers who work extra hours besides the normal working hours. Monetary incentives will increase the morale of the workers. The advantage of this method is that workers will work extra hard to earn overtime payment. The disadvantage is that it increases the cost of production for the firm. Giving of benefits Some of the benefits that firms can give to motivate its workers are the retirement plan-pension plan. Each worker would want to have this plan to get their money after they retire. Many employees will be motivated to works hard because the company offers those benefits like pension plan benefits. Giving medical allowances Allowances are very effective in motivation of employees. Firms give different allowances depending on the financial status of the firm. Some of the allowances include the medical allowances. Many employees will be motivated to works hard because the company offers those allowances like medical allowances. The medical allowance is the money that the firm is willing to pay for the employee hospital bill when the employees get sick. House allowances Firms give different allowances depending on the financial status of the firm. Some of the allowances include the house allowances. The firm may offer to give houses to each employee. In most cases, the employees can stay in the houses that are built to accommodate the employees. The firm can also choose to give some money to the employees to help them pay for their rent. The disadvantage of this method is that for a company to give this allowance it must be enjoying economics of scale. Travel allowances. Allowances are very effective in motivation of employees. Firms give different allowances depending on the financial status of the firm. Some of the allowances include the travel allowances. The company can use the company vehicle to for the employees to travel to and from work. Some companies can give private cars to workers. Fuel allowance Some companies give fuel allowance to employees who own vehicles. The disadvantage of this method is that for a company to give this allowance it must be enjoying economics of scale. Promotion at the work place This is a very effective method of motivating the workers. The workers will work very hard in order to be promoted at the work place (Yukl.89). The disadvantage of the method is that it may be bring rival between the workers as they try to compete for the chance to be promoted. Good working environment The employees can also be motivated by providing them with good working environment. The working environment of the workers should have the good ventilation, enough space and not congested. A congested environment may result to poor performance at the work place. There should be enough working tools and equipment to ensure that there is limited sharing. A lot of time ma is wasted while waiting for another employee to finish using the tool. As a result, poor performance at the workplace is experienced. The workers will have the morale to work regarding that they are comfortable in their working environment. Good working environment will increase the performance at the work place. Rewards and awards The performance can be improved at the workplace by offering awards and rewards. Awards can be given to the best employee. This motivates the employee to continue working hard and make the other employees want to work hard in order to get the award next time. Rewards are given to employees who work extra hard and achieve the set goals. The rewards may not be necessarily in monetary value. Organizations may have awards like the best employee of the month. Awards motivate the employees in the organization. Motivated employees results to best performance at work. As a result, high performance is achieved at the work place. Training of workers The employees may be very committed to work and motivated to work very hard but their performance can be poor if they lack the necessary skills. The high performance at the work place can be achieved through training of the employees to ensure that the workers have the necessary skills suited for the specific tasks at the work place. Training of the newly recruited employees may improve the working performance in the workplace (Gregory .244). Technical skills can be achieved through training of the workers. Promote creativity and innovation High performance can be achieved through encouraging the employees who are quite creative and can make great innovations by allowing them to apply their ideas in the organization. Innovation can help make the company improve the existing services and products. Innovation can also make production easier and even cheaper. Many organizations only allow the worker to follow instructions as given by their managers. The employees should be given the chance to give their ideas on how to improve the performance at the work place. The managers should put into consideration the ideas of the employees and allow some to implement their ideas. Team building activities Arranges for some social gatherings is another method of motivation. Events like arranged vacations enhance bonding between the workers which in turn helps to improve team work, team work and cooperation between the workers leads to high performance at the work place. For example, organizing an inter department games, will help the workers to bond and create good working relations among them. The advantage of this method is that it improves the work relations at the work place. The disadvantage is that it may cost the company a lot to plan for the vacations. Give Recognition to hardworking employees This is a motivation method where the hardworking workers are recognized in front of the other When the employees accomplish something they should be recognized. The recognition is appreciation for the achievement made by the employee. The recognition can be by telling the worker that that was a good work and that he or she should keep up. The advantage of this method is that it is free. Additional Responsibility to employees High performance in the work place can be achieved through giving the employees the chance to contribute to the success of the business (Yukl .89). An organization can give projects to the employees to carry out. The employees will get a feeling of pride for the successful project that contributes to the success of the organization. As a result, this will contribute to the high performance of the organization. The employee will feel motivate when he realizes that his effort contribute to the success of the organization. Time Off This is a good motivational method, because it gives the employees the time to relax. Human being cannot be allowed to work like machines. They should be given time to relax. Time off will give them time to be with the people they love and they will feel that they are not overworked. The time off can is a day off from work once in a week or a month. Time off can also be a break between the working hours. The advantage of this method is that it is free. The disadvantage is that too much time off may cause less productivity in the company. Applause This is a form of applause but it is a more physical form of recognition. This is given for certain achievements done an employee. This will motivate the employee to continue working very hard because he or she has been identified as a hardworking worker. This can be done in front of other workers like during the meetings. The advantage of this method is that it is free. The disadvantage is that the other workers can be jealous or create rivals in the work place. One-on-One Coaching through supervisors Coaching is employee development technique that will ensure that the workers do what they are supposed to do at the work place (Peters and Stelter 2011, p 22). This method will motivate the workers because they know what to do when they start working. The advantage of this method is that the workers will be motivated to work because they will have the idea of what is expected of them. The only disadvantage is the money used in the hiring of supervisors. There is also the cost of time where the time used telling the workers what they are supposed to do. Job Titles Some of the job titles increase the self-esteem of the workers. This influence the way people are perceived in the workforce. This is a critical component to the overall attitude and morale of the workers. The employers should give titles to the jobs so that the workers can know their roles in the work place. The advantage of this method is that job titles like managers can motivate the workers. The disadvantage of this method is that some of the job titles can lower the self-esteem of the workers. Leadership Roles Giving leadership roles to workers can be a very effective method of motivation (Mullins .48). For example, when visitors come to the workplace, an employee can be given the role of visitors guide. This will increase the morale of the employee in the work place. Another example is to have your employees help in leading a project team to improve internal processes. The advantage of this method is that it is cost effective. The disadvantage of this method is that some workers may view it as favourism. Executive Recognition In this method we have an executive person will personally call to congratulate a worker or a team. The executive person can show up in person to shake hands to express his or her appreciation for the achievements that the team has made. The advantages are that it is free. The disadvantage is that it works only on the recognized people. Seminars Seminars give breaks to the workers. They also provide chances to learn more about their work. The workers are motivated through the education they get during the seminar. The disadvantage of this method is that it may be expensive. It will benefit only those who attend the seminar. Theme Contests Themes make work interesting. This will motivate the workers. The themes may range from sports or cultures. The advantage is that it creates fun at the same time the workers are working. The disadvantage is that the workers may be carried away by the theme and forget to work. Stress Management This is a very important method to motivate the workers. The work place can be a very stressful environment. The advantage is that stress free workers will always be very productive (Armstrong .78). The use of stress management strategies will encourage the workers to work even more. The disadvantage is that it may be expensive.: Conclusion Methods of motivations are ways used to increase the performance of the workers at the work place. Different firms have their different ways to improve the performance of their workers. It can be achieved through management practices. There are various ways in which the high performance can be achieved in the work place which include through allowances, subsides, benefits, monetary incentives, promotion, stress management, seminars and time off. Reference Armstrong, M. How to manage people. Kogan Page Ltd. (2008) Gregory Murray. work and employment relations in the high performance workplace. Routledge publisher (2002) Mullins, L. J.,. Management and organisational behaviour. 8th ed. Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education Limited. (2005) Peters, J. W. and Stelter, B. The Murdoch style, under pressure. The New York Times (7 July),( 2011) Yukl, G. leadership in organizations. 6th edition, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 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