The ways in which work can have an influence on an individual's motivation - Essay Example

Motivation at the Workplace Employees are the most important part of an organizational structure since they shape the performance levels of an organization. In order to perform to their level best employees need to be properly motivated towards achieving the goals and vision of an organization. Employees are motivated by different factors at the workplace that may drive them to work more and push for their different motivation aspects at the workplace that is understandable through understanding the psychological factors that influence an employee. Motivation is psychological as it is an aspect of an employee that is not tangible and therefore cannot be quantified and as a result it is important to come up with proper motivation structures at the workplace that may help the employees. The first psychological aspect of motivation at the workplace is intensity which is the amount of effort that an employee puts to push for their goals. Desire is also an aspect that is psychologically motivated since it is the amount of conviction and dedication that an employee has towards a specific goal. In addition, there is arousal that is usually the initial instinct or the trigger that is critical to individual performance and motivation at the workplace. Workplace motivators are important for the employee since they are able to focus on achieving their specific goals and as a result they do not deviate from the set structures and behaviors that help them to achieve their goals. This paper looks at the work and the workplace environment as the motivator for employee actions and behavior. Work can help employees realize their inherent, individual strengths and weaknesses. Hence, many of the employees would devise ways and approaches to improve or remedy their weaknesses at work (Fargus, 2010, pg71). For instance, an employee may realize that he has problems with mood, temper, and pace. Bad temper and repulsive frame of mind may hinder an employee’s interaction with other people at the workplace, consequently compromising his or her ability to perform duties effectively (Whiteley, 2010, pg94). Moreover, many employees may find the desire to comprehend their work making meaningful contribution to the wider attempt to step up motivation. Contrary to conventional belief and understanding of employee motivation, a few employees feel motivated by extremely taxing jobs. Others are motivated to achieve long-term ambitions and desires by jobs that help them grow and learn (Whiteley, 2010, pg94). Monotonous jobs and tasks that lead to a dead end often demoralize employees. On the other hand, employees who feel trapped or forced to work for a given entity should endeavor to find new dilemmas elsewhere. There are different parameters that are used to measure the level of motivation of individual employees within the organization. The engagement, commitment, intention and satisfaction are some of the components that are examined in order to determine the level of motivation that an individual employee has towards a specific goal within the organization. It is important therefore for the employees to bring their level best and maximize on their potential in order to gain from the different incentives within their organizations (Mcreynolds, 2012, pg103). The employees may derive motivation from their work due to the different incentives such as the promotions and work-related benefits that the employees may get from their given work and performance. The achievements and efforts of the employees are recognizable and the organizations need to engage the employees and ensure that they have ensured that they have rewarded the effort and dedication. On the other hand, if the employees are not rewarded for their efforts or the mechanism used appears to be unfair or not transparent this acts as a strong demotivation and as a result the organization ends up losing some of its employees (Thomas, 2010, pg95). The workers have different ambitions that they pursue before ever coming to work for the different organizations. Although it may seem as a formality to ask in an interview what the ambition of the employee is in the job it is important to ensure that the organization has the capacity to fulfill the ambitions in order to motivate the employees for them to reach their potential best. The pay package is not the only motivator and organizations need to assess the ambitions of the employees in order to understand and know whether they can help them achieve their set targets. Work is also important in helping an individual improve and maximize on their strengths and look for ways to curb their weaknesses. Through working people are able to get and environment where the engagement and proper criticism helps one to grow their careers. It is important for the workplace to create an environment where the employees can express themselves and ensure that they are pursuing not only their ambitions but also perfecting their skills. Positive criticism is also encouraged at the workplace so that the employees can maximize on the different pointers that they get and ensure that they grow themselves. A conducive workplace environment is essential for the employees’ growth and ensures that they are well appraised on their careers and can also advance their careers further as they go forward. There are different needs that ought to be satisfied for an individual to improve their performance and give their potential best (Paul and Robertson, 2010, pg90). According to Maslow hierarchy of needs, there are needs that need to be satisfied first before engaging starting with the basic needs of the individual going to the level Maslow termed as self-actualization that is at the peak of the needs hierarchy (Whiteley, 2010, pg94). According to Maslow’s theory the ability to work to satisfy various needs of an employee is important in ensuring that the employees continue to work in the organization of their order of hierarchy of needs is met by the work that they engage in. In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs esteem is one of the most important needs that an employee needs to satisfy in orders to feel motivated at their workplace. If an individual does not feel wanted and regard themselves highly at their jobs there is a problem in their esteem making it difficult for one to make it at their job and can therefore only look for a job elsewhere. Herzberg also developed a motivational theory that was referred to as the two factor model in trying to explain the motivation as a functional concept that improves the employees’ performance through satisfaction of their needs. According to Herzberg, there are two factors that are essential in influencing the workers and their performance levels (Sanzotta, 2007, pg49). One of the factors is the motivation factor that causes psychological growth and satisfaction within the workplace. It is important to ensure that the company has properly set up to ensure that performance levels are well maintained within the organization and especially the motivational factors. According to Herzberg the workplace environment and features encourage the employee to either work in the organization or move on to another organization their needs are not properly met. The hygiene factors in particular are essential to an employee and should therefore be properly met to attract more employees within the organization. The achievement motivation theory asserts that the personality traits and the background of an individual may influence the need for achievement. According to the theory, the need for achievement is a psychological concept and it’s intrinsic in nature. The employees have the need for achieving higher goals and crediting themselves according to the achievements within the company and how well they have done and managed to achieve in the company’s hierarchy (Cameron and Pierce, 2008, pg73). It’s important for the organization therefore to ensure that they have a progressive culture where people are credited for their efforts and the structure or process of crediting the employees is properly formulated and stated (Chung, 2007, pg41). These aspects of work act as motivators for the employees who see the achievement process as the main platform to push for their ideas and goals. If the employees see their achievements being recognized in a fair and transparent manner they are only motivated to perform better and achieve their goals within the organization. Motivation is a critical concept in any given organization where the performance levels are driven by the level of satisfaction that the employees attain while working at the organization. Ensuring that one has all the conceptual knowledge and understanding of the factors that affect their employees is essential for a manager to ensure that they have properly motivated the employees and have ensured that the performance of the employees is at the desired level. As aforementioned, looking to satisfy the intrinsic needs of the employees is more important than the extrinsic needs within an organization in order to ensure that there are happy and satisfied employees that improve performance. This is mainly because the employees have to have the level of satisfaction to strive to be better at their organizational performance and look to ensure that they get the best out of their employees potential. References Cameron, J., & Pierce, W, 2008. Rewards and Intrinsic Motivation: Resolving the Controversy. Westport: Bergin & Garvey. Chung, K, 2007. Motivational Theories and Practices. Columbus: Grid. Employee Motivation, 2009. New York: Research Institute of America. Fargus, P, 2010. Measuring and Improving Employee Motivation. London: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Mcreynolds, J, 2012. Motivational Theories & Psychology. Delhi: English Press. Paul, W., & Robertson, K, 2010. Job Enrichment and Employee Motivation. London: Gower P. Sanzotta, D, 2007. Motivational Theories & Applications for Managers. New York: AMACOM. Thomas, K, 2010. Intrinsic Motivation at Work: Building Energy & Commitment. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Whiteley, P, 2012. Motivation. Oxford: Capstone Pub. Read More