Being Coach not a Manager - Term Paper Example

Employee motivation Introduction Motivation is the most important driver of the workers’ productivity in any organization because it causes the workers to want to do the work. Work is done the best when workers do it with personal will rather than when they are just told to do it. In the present age, when the competition in the market has increased, the importance of keeping the workforce motivated has increased manifolds because it is fundamentally these workers that work at the grass-root level and make things happen for the organization’s sustenance and growth.

Workers only optimize on their potential to produce maximum and best-quality work when they are motivated. On one hand, there is this soaring need and on the other hand, it has become even more difficult for the managers to maintain the workforce today since the workers are culturally, regionally, and politically diverse and accordingly vary a lot in their needs and desires. Managers can choose from a variety of ways to instigate intrinsic or extrinsic motivation in the workers. There are three ways for managers to motivate their employees at work, which are being a coach not a manager, emphasizing the ideas and giving them rewards with specific rules. I. Being coach not a manager In order to learn what factors motivate individual employees in the workforce, it is imperative that the manager works closely with the employees rather than maintaining a distance from them.

To achieve this, an individual needs to be more of a coach than a manager (Shread, 2012). Rather than being told what to do without being given a prior training in the rapidly changing and technologically advancing workplace, employees expect and want the managers to provide them with the required on-the-job training first. This also fosters teamwork among the employees as they get to learn and practice new skills together (Topchik., 2007). Managers need to provide the employees with room to express their opinions with freedom.

This is a potential way to empower the employees. In the present age, employee empowerment has become a need of the organizations rather than a choice. The workforce is the biggest resource of an organization. Managers should benefit from the creative minds and unique talents of their employees. In return, they would not only enhance the competitive advantage of their organization but also keep the workforce motivated. II. Emphasizing the ideas In any organization, workers want the managers to foster a culture wherein ideas are considered important and employees are respected for their ideas (Shread, 2012).

These days, many organizations are dwelling and progressing fundamentally on the basis of ideas. A potential example of this is Apple Inc. that has created a strong market and consumer base by introducing innovative products. Managers should try to develop and introduce such programs in the workplace which encourage the workers to come up with unique and innovative ideas regarding the design of the product or service. This can be achieved by displaying a chart on the notice-board to tell the workers about the competition of ideas related to a certain aspect of work.

The winning employee should be given reward. It is preferable for the managers to also display what reward would be given to the winning employee. This would inculcate extrinsic motivation in the workers as they would attempt to get the prize that has been announced by the manager. In addition to providing the workers with an opportunity to share their ideas with the rest of the workforce and the managers and be motivated by the appreciation they get for their unique ideas from the managers, this is also a very useful practice for the managers as it provides them with unique ideas for progressing.

Moreover, such a strategy helps the managers increase the engagement and involvement of the workers in the organizational activities. III. Giving rewards with specific rules Rewarding the workers with specific rules is one of the most widely acknowledged and recognized way of improving the workers’ motivation (Thomas, 2009). One reason for the rewards being a very important way of motivating the workers is that they spur extrinsic motivation in the workers. Although intrinsic motivation is also a kind of motivation in the workers, yet it is hard for the managers to predict what causes intrinsic motivation for a particular employee.

Some workers want to do a certain task because it complies with their religious beliefs whereas other workers actively participate in a task because it addresses their political interests. These are examples of intrinsic motivation. Workers’ extrinsic motivational factors are more common as compared to the factors that cause intrinsic motivation that vary from one individual to another. Almost all workers are motivated by money, car, and bonus etcetera. Managers should spur the extrinsic motivation in workers by announcing such benefits for the workers that produce a certain level of productivity without compromising upon the quality of work.

Managers should provide the well-performing employees with bonuses in the performance appraisal programs (Taggert, 2009). Other ways to motivate the employees include but are not limited to providing them with holidays, leaves, higher position in the organization, more status and authority, and funding to pursue studies abroad so that they can attain more education and skills. Conclusion Concluding, of the variety of ways to motivate the employees, three of the most important ways that managers can employ are being a coach not a manager, emphasizing the ideas and giving the workers rewards with specific rules.

These motivating strategies inculcate either intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. Increasing the workers’ motivation is the first and the foremost requirement of progressing because the whole work is primarily done by the workers. Managers should carefully assess which motivating strategy would give the most useful results in a certain work setting. The demands of the workers vary from one work situation to another. However, a vast majority of workers are commonly motivated by such rewards as money, power, or funding to pursue further education.

Managers should ensure that there are also certain principles according to which the workers are granted the rewards because rewarding the employees can, on one hand, increase the motivation of the workers that are granted the rewards but on the other hand, can also spur negative feelings in the workers that are left out and are not rewarded. If the managers make the system transparent by clearly establishing the goals, workers can judge by themselves which of them would get the rewards and which would not.

As a result, the employees left out would only try to work harder in the future rather than getting disappointed. References: Shread, P. (2012, october 05). Eight ways to motivate employees. Retrieved from http://business.time.com/2012/10/05/eight-ways-to-motivate-employees/ Taggert, J. (2009). 10-ways to get your staff to love and respect you. Retrieved from http://www.brazencareerist.com/2009/10/05 Thomas, K. (2009). The four intrinsic rewards that drive employee engagement. Retrieved from http://www.

iveybusinessjournal.com Topchik., G. S. (2007). The first-time managers guide to team building. Saranac Lake, NY, USA : AMACOM Books.