How Motivation Can Affect Employees Commitment and Performance - Essay Example

? MOTIVATION How motivation can affect The employees’ commitment and performance at work 07 January Introduction Motivation of the employees forms a very important position in any given company and this has been recognised by various business companies and organisations worldwide. Simon and Enz (1995) assert that motivation is the factor that drives people into choosing a specific and particular job and then continue working at the said company while putting in his or her best effort. Ramlall (2004) also gives another definition of employee motivation as having the will to exert high levels of effort towards organizational goals, conditioned by the effort’s ability to satisfy some individual need. This can be explained as the desire and will to make extra efforts in accomplishing objectives on behalf of the company at the same time as recognizing the capability of one’s effort in achieving personal needs. The intention of this essay is to give a methodical and in depth enlightenment into the trend of employee motivation and at the same time explain how the effect of motivation can be on the employee’s obligation and work performance in an organisation. This will be made possible with pertinent examples and hypotheses, pertaining motivation of employee. In order to produce a focused type of presentation the paper will be concluded by me through the presentation of executions that are practical of either any or more of the theories discussed on one particular organisation to determine what factors affect the discussed employee motivation hypotheses at that organisation. This will be done to examine how motivation is closely associated to the dedication and performance at work in any organisation. The aims are of great importance since they are solely responsible for giving out helpful insight into the area concerning the motivation of employees and how this aspect of motivation will influence the mind-set and perception of the employees in an organisation or company. Therefore to achieve this objective I will present consistent literature that are written by respected academicians in the said turf of employee motivation and management. In through the writings, hypotheses with examples of cases of employee motivation and the different perspectives will be showcased in order to be the blueprint on what effect motivation has on employees in terms of their allegiance, dedication and the level of performance of work in the organisation. Subsequently a sample study on a relevant case concerning employee motivation will be presented and this will support the hypothesis on employee motivation execution in an organisation and how this has influenced the employee motivation and the allegiance in the company. Through this process I expect I would have achieved the main objectives set for this essay. Theoretical Background Motivation The word motivation is derived from the word ‘move’ and it simply means the inward drive that is crucial to guide people’s actions and behaviours towards goals either personal or organizational goals. Mullins, (2005) explains that “this ‘force’ is a degree to which an individual wants and chooses to engage in certain specified behaviours. On the other hand, the behaviours that are motivated are mostly choices done voluntarily controlled by the individual doing the said action and at the same time this can contain several step procedures that projects an individual towards a specific goal. In the business environment, the supervisor or the manager might act as the motivator, will want to prevail upon the factors that will motivate his or her staff who in this case are the employees for them to perform at their highest levels of productivity. Even though many theories exist that try to explain the motivation phenomenon, still, there are no specific answer that can describe exactly what motivates people to work. Employee Motivation This is the drive that makes the personnel to commit themselves in excelling to accomplish the goals and objectives that is quite accommodating for themselves and their entire bodies. This implies that the employee motivation is the effort that has been put in place and the factors that influences the said effort from the beginning. Many critics and analysts emphasize that the most important eminence that separates a successful organisation from other organisations is mostly comparative to the employees’ contentment. Hence this means that there has been a growing tendency of organisations to invest a lot in the human resource sections by pumping capital and this is so in order to sustain the energy level that is experienced with the new employees. Hypothesis have been made and used and this was to solely show you how with the allegiance from the employees what effect will happen on the employees in terms of their motivation. Some of the theories include: The Theory of human motivation by Maslow According to the 1943 paper on the theory of motivation by Maslow he claims that human have a peculiar way of which they get motivated and one of the way that is adversely discussed is the needs of human beings for satisfaction. This he gave an example of hunger which he claims that is possible to it through participation of other activities case in point drinking water. This implies that human beings and in the sense the employees will be satisfied once their needs are catered for in the sense that if the purpose of the employee in getting the job was to get food and shelter or even clothing, then the employee will get gratification if the said needs are fulfilled. This means that there is a high likelihood for the employee to get motivation to work as he or she believes that the needs that are important to him or her will get fulfilled with the advent of them working. As the time goes so do the change in terms of priority of needs. The most basic ones will be fulfilled and other needs will come up that will take up the priority spot for the employee. This, Maslow explained that the domination of certain needs is bound to change as it is dynamic and this will also alter the perception of the future on the human being. This can be exemplified by the employee having a different need after a period of time meaning that once a need has been achieved then the employee is bound to seek for another need up high in the hierarchy of needs until all the possible needs have been conquered and the purpose of all these needs will be driven by the motivation on the employee’s part. Expectancy Theory of Motivation The theory was brought about by Victor Vroom in 1964 at Yale School of Management. In the theory Vroom is of the assertion that the outcome is more important than the needs as suggestion by the two theories of motivation argued by Maslow and also Herzberg (Wlodarczyk, 123). The theory itself bases its assumptions on three cognitions or perceptions. The first perception is the Expectancy perception which assumes that there is a perceived probability of an effort in the work that will be the mainstay of the work performance meaning that if the employee is motivated enough then he or she will put a lot of effort in the accomplishment of the given tasks. The next perception is the Instrumentality which means that there is a perceived probability of the accomplished work performance will result into greater rewards to the employee thus the employee will have his goals set in order to get the reward for every accomplished goal in the organisation. The last perception is the valence perception which stipulates that the employee will have an anticipated value of an outcome from the work accomplished in any given organisation, thus the employee will get the reward after an effort and this reward will have a great value to the said individual in the form of promotion which will have the value of career advancement or even pay rise which will imply the employee will have a better and comfortable life than before thus all these three perception will be the reason for an employee to be motivated in the long run at an organisation. Case Study Bank Employees in Punjab In order to fully understand how the motivation of an employee is the basis of the operation of any organisation in terms of the work performance, loyalty and commitment from the employee, I have a practical case study. The study was done in the Pakistan for the sole purpose of examining the satisfaction of the job in the banking industry among the bank employees in the state of Punjab. The bank employees in four banks around Punjab were provided with a questionnaire in which it was structured and then the data was gathered for the purpose of the research study. The correlation value coefficient for recognition was around 0.251 meaning that the association with the job and satisfaction on the job was positive. The respondent in the survey and study of the four banks indicated that there was the need to fulfill their own personal goals and this can be equated to the Malsow’s theory of motivation that the needs in human beings are dynamics. In the case of the bank employees more than 50 percent of the respondents suggested the quest for a better lifestyle being the reason that drives them to stick in the banking industry thus implying that the fulfillment of the basic needs led to the quest for other needs in the hierarchy to be fulfilled. Furthermore the theory of Expectancy also was put into play as evidenced by the employee’s effort in doing the tasks given to them and accomplishing them for the sole purpose of having the rewards as the outcomes of the tasks they were undertaking. The rewards ranged form getting performance appraisals and pay rise to getting further training sponsored by the respective bank. Khalid et al (2010) explained that the satisfaction of the job in this case it was the employees in the banking sector in Punjab was directly in relation to the internal work motivation of the employees thus supporting the cognition of the expectancy in the theory of expectancy by Vroom further the study showed that when the motivation of the employees increase so does the employees’ job satisfaction and this will have a positive impact tot eh organisation in terms of service delivery and the achievement of the organisation’s objectives. The opposite will have a negative impact too meaning that whenever the organisation will have a deficiency in terms of the relevant recognition and rewards towards the staff and employees of the organisation in this case it was the banking sector then there will be a significant reduction on the level of motivation of the employee thus negatively affecting the job satisfaction of the employees hence there will be minimal employee retention in such a situation (Ali et al, 2009). Conclusion With the case study above the discussion and the literature itself is in support of the two theories of motivation whereby one stipulates that the motivation of the employees is entirely dependent on the hierarchy of needs that the employee will be having and since the needs are dynamic accomplishing one need will lead to the tackling of the next need therefore necessitating the aspect of the employees being motivated to conquer their needs. The second aspect of motivation is entirely based on the perception of the employees towards work that will drive them to have the effort to finish a task in order to see the outcome of the rewards given to them and hence it is expected that the reward will be of great significance to the employee enough to get him motivated to work more in an organisation. By the managers in organisations recognizing the employees effort and work will be a major factor in the employees being greatly motivated and their increase in motivation will imply that tasks will be accomplished and all the responsibilities given to them by the organisation will be executed meticulously. The case study on the Punjab banks can be applied by the Human Resource department in any organisation in order to understand their employees much better than before. References ALI, R., & AHMAD, M. S., (2009). The Impact of Reward and Recognition Programs on Employee’s Motivation and Satisfaction: An Empirical Study. International Review of Business Research Papers, 5 (4), 270-279. HERZBERG., F., MAUSNER., B., & SNYDERMAN., B. B. (2005). The motivation to work. New Brunswick, Transaction Publishers. KHALID, S., & IRSHAD, M. Z., (2010). Job Satisfaction among Bank Employees in Punjab, Pakistan: A Comparative Study. European Journals of Social Sciences, 17 (4), 570-577. MASLOW, H. A.. (1943). Motivation and Personality. New York. Harper & Row Publishers Inc. MULLINS, L. J. (2005). Management and organisational behaviour. Harlow, Prentice Hall/Financial Times. http://www.myilibrary.com?id=60175&Ref=Athens. RAMLALL, S. (2004). A Review of Employee Motivation Theories and their Implications for Employee Retention within Organizations. Cambridge, The Journal of American Academy of Business, 5(1), 52-63. SIMONS, T. & ENZ, C. (1995). Motivating Hotel Employees. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 36 (1), 20-27 WLODARCZYK, ANDRZEJ Z. (2011). Work Motivation A Systemic Framework for a Multilevel Strategy. Authorhouse. Read More