How motivation can affect employees' commitment and performance at work - Essay Example

?Using relevant theories and examples, explain how motivation can affect employees’ commitment and performance at work Motivation is a weapon – if used correctly. It is a fact within the domains of an organization that motivation brings out the best within the employees and offers the organization a host of incentives and longstanding results. On the flip side, lack of motivation means that the organization would lose out on this count and the work processes would get delayed as a result of the same. There is a good amount of evidence available which suggests that motivation must come out in the open and bring out the best time and time again so that the employees are on their toes all the time, and that success must be achieved when it is most desired, i.e., always. Researchers have long studied and analyzed upon the fact as to how motivation has been the key in finding out the unique points within the working ideologies of the organizations, and how these have been the basis of incentives and benefits for the sake of the business processes in the very end. This paper identifies how motivation can be used to full extent within an organization and how employees must put their foot down and achieve the very best on a proactive basis. The encouragement is indeed the motivation that one has, which is either derived from his own self (self-motivation) or by embedding the same through his co-workers or top management realms. Here an effort has been made to incorporate as many real life examples as possible to bring the best results in the open. Motivation is central to the premise of employee performance within a management scenario. This is because motivation can be the cornerstone of success or the lack thereof if seen within the correct perspectives. Motivation is intrinsic to an employee as it asks of him to give his best in both the trying circumstances as well as the better off ones. It asks of the organizational top domains to encourage and motivate their own employees so that they could offer the best and thus do the same time and again. This is a very essential aspect of understanding how motivation comes about in full circle, and how important a role it plays within the global dynamics of business performance and the attached commitment that is a part of the same (Geen 1994). In essence, motivation is central to any productive undertaking that employees ask of their own selves. What this means is the fact that commitment must remain supreme at the end of the day as this will derive performance and get the best out of the employees on a consistent basis. If performance has to be tapped, the best way in which the same could be done is to find out how motivated the employees are and how well they will shape up within the changing times and scenarios. Motivation is central to the premise of a positive change – a change which is more helpful for the organization as it brings in value in the name of commitment and ultimate performance. A few pertinent theories that pinpoint the role of motivation within the lives of the employees are significant to mention and understand here. One such theory is the Theory of Needs coined by Abraham Maslow which takes a deep look at how people’s attitudes and behaviors are shaped up, both within their personal life domains as well as at work. Maslow stated that the most important needs for a person to remain motivated are when he receives the most basic necessities of life. These include the housing, clothing and food intakes that he acquires. After these needs have been properly met, he goes after looking for employment and interacting with the people that live around him. After the same have been fulfilled, he can now go ahead and acquire societal needs of being praised within the different norms of the society that he lives within. This is indeed regarded as the need to be taken as a respectable person. The self-esteem needs are therefore important and thus lead one towards the self-actualization requirements where a person wants to explore new things and innovations on his own, and find out the new areas of life. The Maslow’s theory therefore touches upon quite a few important tangents because all of these pinpoint the basis for understanding what a man can do when he is motivated enough to change principles, beliefs and ideologies that are either around him or with him in entirety. This shall change the way he thinks and makes out things all on his own. If employees believe that their morale is going down with the passage of time and that there are work conditions and routines which mar the very basis of their work, it is a must that they should consult their human resources management departments within their organizations. These departments would look to address the problems and predicaments that have arisen with the passage of time and which shall call for an understanding and empathy of employees with their employers in a much unified way. The employees should know beforehand who they need to contact whenever there are problems which engulf their zones and hence an upheaval within their work fortunes is much desired and required in essence. Employees should therefore know beforehand who they have to contact when they get into a quagmire and thus explore the basis of their weaknesses which have been hampering their normal, day to day work realms. The employees must remain motivated no matter how hard it becomes, and therefore explore the basis of growth and development for their own selves as well as the organization that they work for in essence. This seems important because it will help solve quite a few significant issues and also detail the work that is being required by the top domains within the related organization. These discussions are pertinent because these solve quite a few issues and look after the well-being of the employees in the long run. It also makes them realize how work processes should be done and how they need to be dealt with. When it comes to superlative performance, motivation is all it takes. If this motivation does not seem to happen, there is all the more evidence available which suggests for the negative predicaments to arise within the workplace realms. The employees will not give their best and hence their work domains would fall short of the expected count. It is a well-known fact that motivation turns more heads and that too in a positive way if performance is coming in, in a quantifiable way and the results are being produced with the same expectations as were outlined by the top management domains within the organization. What motivation shall do in essence is to tell all and sundry that it will lift the pace of the work, and outline the need to decipher how good or bad the entire equation of work is in essence. This paper discusses the basis of real life examples that come about within the workplace domains and how these essentially affect the work environs which are present there. It is a well-known fact that motivation has been the key to achieve superior performance and what this shall do in essence is to tell the organizational top heads where they are going wrong and what new measures and amendments they need to incorporate in order to bring sound results at the end of the day. This is a clear cut representation of how motivation comes about and how success can be achieved within the related ranks. Some of the real life examples that can be discussed here include the ones which are encountered by individuals within organizations on a daily basis. Some of the employees feel that they are being hard done by and hence not given their fair share within the performance of their work routines. There are some employees within the midst of an organization who believe that their work should be continuously encouraged and supported because they are giving in their best, and hence praise must be showered upon them as well as their work ethos. However this does not happen all the time, and there are bound to be certain periods within the work realms where there is absolutely no motivation at all. This is called the period of hiatus where the employees are giving in their best yet nothing conclusive is coming up at all. This is a period where a lot of breakdown occurs, and hence the work dynamics gets affected due to the same incorporations of the work where motivation is a much desired equation. At other times, there are individuals who are constantly being encouraged for their work and hence this praise gets on to their heads and they start giving in satisfactory work, one which is not outclass or exceptional by any means. There is always room for improvement within the work realms, and this can happen when motivation is given out in a balanced way. Overplaying or downplaying the skills and capacities of the individuals is equally bad for their own sake as well as for the case of employees doing something worthwhile for the organization that they work for in essence. What is required now is a concerted effort to set things right and this can only happen when moderation seems to be the buzzword within such circles of performance and motivation, combined all in one. It is always essential for the top management domains to understand what their role within the related equation is going to be. They must always motivate their employees so that the latter remain on their feet and give their best in terms of work performance. If this does not take place, there are bound to be serious differences amongst the employees and their employers, which is essentially the breakdown of communication between the two hierarchies. It is important to decipher how properly things are going to be monitored and this can transpire if proper efforts and endeavors rule the roost, and hence work gets done in the way it is expected to be right from the very beginning. If the top management is aloof of its responsibilities, there could be serious reservations within the employees as per their work performance levels, and they would raise their voice in a number of different ways. Therefore it is always better to understand such issues before they crop up within a workplace setting, and hurt the cause of the organization. The top management must keep abreast of the changes taking place within the organization and thus find out who is motivated enough to do his work at the best of his abilities on a proactively consistent basis. The ones who are doing work just because they have to fill in man-hours should be motivated and if their case does not get any better, they should be warned before issuing show cause notices to such individuals. This is important as far as the organizational success is concerned because the organization banks upon these employees from a long term standpoint. The top management’s role is of paramount significance as it aims to resolve the differences which might arise within the lengths and breadths of the company. The business must not suffer due to the low motivation that exists amongst the employees and any predicaments that might arise within the future should be taken care of in a proactive manner. The role of the human resources management department is of utmost essence here since this department has to be answerable for all the actions and changes within the organization and the linkages that shape up with the employees as well. If the human resources management department is not performing up to the par and the employees feel that it just a department and nothing else, there are bound to be serious problems within one such organization. The human resources management department should therefore remain positively inclined to take changes in a very open manner and should not be aloof of the problems that employees face from time to time. The human resources management department is the backbone of any organization and hence is the cornerstone behind its success in the long run only if it understands its proper role and does what is expected of it from the strategic perspectives (Brewer 2000). There must be a divide between the strategic decisions that the human resources management department has to take and the tactical, short term ones since the two focus a great deal on how things shape up within the organization as well as discuss the motivation level of the employees, and more than that their tilt to do something constructive for the sake of the organization from the long term scheme of things. These are important discussions and should be understood as such because these bank a great deal on how employees manifest their truest basis and thus give in their best time and time again. It is up to the human resources management department to get the best mileage out of these employees and thus make the organization a worthwhile experience for all and sundry – the ones who are working as employees and the employers as well. The human resources management department must make sure that all its actions and decisions are legally backed up by the top management domains because the latter is the sole authority that shall decide upon the work basis of the human resources management department and the manner in which this human resources management department interacts and communicates with the employees on a consistent basis. The role of the employees themselves is of essence here, and should be understood before moving ahead any further. If these employees cannot derive enough motivation for their own selves, it would be easy to decipher that there is something which is hindering their work regimes. This something could either be their financial insecurities that they encounter within the workplace domains or their constant tussles with their immediate bosses or subordinates who are working under them. A similar pattern has also been witnessed of the people who are peers, which essentially suggests that they are working on the same levels and thus have no seniority or junior hierarchies existing within them. One must understand that motivation has to be a self-starter, and should be derived from the basis of attaining growth and development within one’s own personality. It must be self-centric yet given out to others who are working within the same workplace realms. There is a great amount of distress found amongst employees if they are feeling awry or are at discomfort due to managerial issues which plague any organization in the time and age of today. What is important is the manner in which the employees will showcase their true skills and abilities, and thus give in their best so that their organization grows on a proactively consistent basis, and that their own motivation levels also increase with the passage of time. When it comes to sheer commitment on the part of the employees, it is important that they must give in their best and remain in line with what the organization asks of them in the long run. If the employees believe that being half-committed does the trick for them as it brings in the much desired results for the organization, then one should believe that the organization is losing out on a number of different counts, and now is the time to bridge the gap between what is desired and what is taking place at the present. Commitment is a very significant aspect of any employee since he needs to give in his very best to achieve sound results for the organization and his respective traits are also appreciated due to the commitment levels that he displays on the job. His seniors look for commitment which shall instill a sense of confidence and dignity within his folds. These are important areas which need to be discussed at length as there is a great amount of work that must be put in to echo what an organization really requires at the end of the day. Commitment is directly proportional to performance because the two bring in best possible results for the sake of the business and hence the organization achieves a great deal during all this while nonetheless. The onus is on the employees to be their own bosses and thus give in their best so that success is achieved on a consistent basis. The motivation must remain supreme during this while so that others around these employees also get inspired and give in their best time and time again. Another example of workplace motivation stems from the fact that there are some individuals who are constantly hindering the attention of a new employee who has just recently been inducted within the organization. This new employee is feeling harassed because he has not been able to exert his influence and there are negative vibes as far as his work domains are concerned. Therefore what best he can do is to raise hue and cry about it with the human resources management department and thus allow this department to bring in the results which would satisfy his stay at the workplace. The commitment for such individuals should depend a great deal on how he solves the problems that hamper his smooth working domains. This individual will surely encounter many problems initially but if he makes sure that his employers know what is going on around him, his problems would come down and he would heave a sigh of relief quickly. The employees who are creating troubles for this individual should be taken to task so that the organizational sanctity is restored and be given the respect that is much desired by any organization in the time and age of today. Also the employees would know that they cannot be taken any one for granted and each one amongst them or under them deserves respect in much the same way as they would opt for. One more example that can be offered here is that of an employee who wants to do something on his own yet is not given the room to manifest his truest self. This is proven true in the case of those young employees who want to make it big very quickly yet are shown that they are worth absolutely nothing when the real test comes. They are not given any opportunities to prove their own selves, which is a sad state of affairs as far as the work ideologies within such organizations are concerned. Such employees must always manifest their truest basis through hard work and commitment on their part yet the role of the human resources management department cannot be denied its due right. Their performance shall not come down because this would mean failure as far as his work ideologies are related. An employee who undergoes such strenuous work routines within his domains must always stand up so that his motivation does not go down and hence no one gets to bear the negatives which arise as a result of the same. There has to be a proper effort in place on the part of this individual so that success should kiss his feet at the end of the day. Motivation remains very important for such an individual who wants to manifest his truest self in the most apt manner possible. In the end, it would be fitting to state that motivation is something which shall change the course of a number of tides that come along within the course of an organization. It is pertinent to note that any organization would dearly require its individuals to feel encouraged and motivated because this means so much to the organization that it cannot even fathom. A great deal of learning is at hand for those people who want to know and find out how commitment and performance are directly related with motivation and what best can be done to avoid low motivation levels that usually creep within any organization from time to time. The theories and examples used in this paper clearly justify how motivation seems to be an important element of an employee’s work domains and what is the best path forward as far as performance of his work realms are concerned. The role played by the top management and the human resources management department is of utmost significance because this mentions quite a few pivotal pointers that shall remain supreme within a business process or an entity that comes directly under the aegis of a corporation or an organization. All said and done, motivation will always be seen as a positive aspect within any individual’s repertoire as he explores new business pathways or at the time of venturing within new organizations to aspire for a career that better suits his desires and wishes. This indeed would be his sole savior when he looks back and reflects on his career achievements. Bibliography Brewer, Gene A (2000). Work Motivation in the Senior Executive Service: Testing the High Performance Cycle Theory. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Vol. 10s Geen, R (1994). Human Motivation: A psychological approach. Wadsworth Read More