Employee Motivational Theories - Essay Example

Motivation in organisations Introduction “Motivation is the inner power that pushes human toward taking action and toward achievements. Motivation ispowered by desire and ambition, and therefore, if they are absent, motivation is absent too” (Sasson, 2013). It is impossible for the human to do something without motivation. The driving force behind all the activities of human is motivation. According to Isaac Newton, every body continues in the state of rest or of uniform motion unless compelled by an external force. Newton has labelled this tendency as inertia. In other words, inertia is the tendency of the objects to stay in its present state as long as possible. Inertia is applicable in the case of human also. Motivation is the force which breaks the human inertia. For example, an employee would work hard if he is satisfied in his profession. In other words, job satisfaction acts as a motivating factor in this case. The duty of the leaders and managers is to motivate the employees as much as possible so that the employees break their inertia and contribute heavily to the success of the organization. Some employees have an inherent dislike towards their profession. Managers use punishment as the motivating force in this case. On the other hand, some employees are hard working in nature. Managers provide rewards to such employees as a measure to improve their productivity further. Rewards and often given in the form of money, since majority of the employees consider money as the most important motivating force. However, monetary gains alone may not motivate the employees all the time. Working climate, organizational culture, praising words, complements, management style, work life balancing opportunities, growth opportunities, opportunities for learning and development etc are some of the other factors which motivate the employees. This paper analyses the motivating factors other than money in the case of employees working in an organization. Types of Motivation Motivation can be classified into two broad categories; intrinsic and extrinsic. According to Areepattamannil et al. (2011, p.428), “Intrinsically motivated behaviours are those whose motivation is based in the inherent satisfactions of the behaviours per se, rather than in contingencies or reinforcements that are operationally separable from those activities”. Intrinsic motivation is driven by inherent factors. For example job satisfaction provides intrinsic motivation to the employees. In other words, employees who are satisfied in their profession will work hard to improve their productivity and efficiency. “Extrinsic motivation, by contrast, “refers to a broad array of behaviours having in common the fact that activities are engaged in not for reasons inherent in them, but for instrumental reasons” (Vallerand and Ratelle 2002, p. 42). Unlike intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation is driven by external forces. Imagine a case in which an employee gets more salary. It is evident that the employee may try to increase his performances further when he is able to get more salary. Here salary is acting as the extrinsic motivating factor. Motivating factors other than money Work life balancing is one of the major motivating factors for the employees. It should be noted that employees always like to spend more time with their family and friends. Normally they dislike overtime works. Some organizations have the habit of fixing overtime works on a regular basis. Such organizations recruit less number of employees and try to complete bulk amount of works with the help of limited number of employees. In such cases, the workloads of the employees will be considerably higher and the employees forced to work overtime on regular basis. The stress levels of the employees working overtime on a regular basis is more than that of other employees. It should be noted that employees require some leisure time to shed the job stress accumulated from the organization. However, overtime works prevent them from doing so. Such employees will never be motivated even if they get higher salaries. Peace of mind is necessary for the employees to improve their performances. However, overtime works prevent the employees from securing peace of mind all the time. Ability to work in professions, in which the employee has special skills, is another motivating factor. Some employees may have special skills in doing certain jobs. Such employees derive pleasure or job satisfaction while doing such jobs. For example, a computer expert always likes to work in the computer department of a company. He derives pleasure while working on computers. Suppose a manager asks that employee to do some sales or accounts works. He may not be a success in these professions, since his intrinsic motivations are towards computer profession. In short, the ability to work in the desired professions would improve the motivational levels of the employees. According to Nohria et al (2008, p.3-4), the four drives that underline motivation are: the drive to acquire, the drive to bond, the drive to comprehend and the drive to defend. In other words, money is not at all a factor in the list of motivational factors provided by Nohria et al. It should be noted that all these four factors are related to intrinsic motivation. The desire for climbing the organizational ladder is inherited in most of the employees. The ability to acquire promotions in quick time would definitely motivate the employees to work hard. No employee wants to work as an ordinary employee all the time. Every employee wants to become the manager first. Managers on the other hand want to become general managers. General Managers would try to become the CEO of the company. In short, the thirst for promotions in inherited in the bloods of all the employees. Therefore, organizations which provide better promotion opportunities or career opportunities would be successful in motivating the employees better than organizations which offer limited opportunities to the employees. The drive to bond is another element of motivation. The relationship between the employee and the employer is extremely important in determining the motivational levels of the employees. Gould & Voelker, (2010, p.2) defined leadership as a “complex process that involves the effort of an individual to help groups identify and achieve personal and group goals”. Different leaders and managers have different styles of functioning. Some leaders and managers use autocratic styles whereas others use democratic styles in their functioning. A third segment of leaders or managers use situational leadership effectively to manage and motivate the employees. The core of situational leadership is to use motivational strategies based on situations. No employee would like to work under the managers who follow autocratic management styles. On the other hand, all the employees like to work under the managers who follow democratic management styles. It should be noted that democratic managers give more importance and values to the opinions of the employees. On the other hand, autocratic managers give less respect to the views and opinions of the employees. In short, the bond or the trust between the organization and the employees will be increased while the organization follows democratic management styles. The drive to comprehend is the third element of motivation. Some organizations provide ample training and development opportunities Torrington et al (2007, p.7) have pointed out that “Training and development has a role to play as do reward systems to maximise effort”. Training can be classified into two categories; one the job training and off the job training. On the job training, is training provided during the regular performance of duties whereas off the job training provided away from the employee’s usual work environment and the employee will stop their usual duties/work during the training period” (Training, n. d). In any case, it is a fact the training helps the employees to fine tune their skills. It is necessary for the employees to update their skills and abilities time to time to become successful while working in organizations. Training is the only opportunity which helps the employees to polish their skills so that they can compete effectively with the upcoming generations or fresh employees. For example, majority of the fresh employees may have computer skills. On the other hand, it is not necessary that an employee over the age of 45 or 50 years may have computer skills. Such employees use training as the opportunity to acquire computer skills. In short, training is another motivating factor for the employees. The reputation of the organization is another factor which improves the motivational levels of the employees. All the employees like to work in organizations that have good reputations in terms of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. Enron and Satyam computers are two of the organizations which have shown less respect to corporate social responsibility in recent times. These companies have used unethical business practices to cheat the public and the employees. Modern employees may not like to work in such organizations. On the other hand, Apple Inc. is one of the most reputed companies in the world at present. It is not only the second largest company in terms of market capitalization, but also the most valuable technology company in the world. A job offer from Apple Company would be accepted with both hands by most of the employees in the world. In short, the corporate image or the reputation of a company is a motivating factor for the employees. One of the popular motivation theories used by leaders and managers at present is the XY Theory. Theory X says that generally human being has an inherent dislike towards work. “Because of this inherent dislike of work, most people must be coerced, controlled, directed, or threatened so as to induce them to put forth enough effort so as to meet their goals and get their work done” (Furst, 2009). Majority of the employees have an inherent dislike towards their profession. Employees in this category are labelled as X type by the XY theory of motivation. Punishment is the suitable motivational strategy for the employees in the X class. Punishment would help such employees to break the inertia and concentrate more on their works. On the other hand people in Y category believe that work is natural just like play or rest. Leaders can motivate such people easily with the help of compliments or praising words. According to expectancy theory, “even if the individuals have different sets of goals, they can be motivated if they believe their effort leads to performance and performance results in desirable reward” (Prit, 2007). The expectancy theory can be illustrated with the help of the figure given below. (Expectancy Theory:(Vroom), n. d) From the above illustration, it is evident that efforts are necessary for the employees to get promotions. Only the motivated employees put an effort to improve their performances. Leaders or the managers are responsible for motivating the employees to work hard so that they get better recognition in the organization. Imagine a case in which an employee fails to get promotion even after putting in a hard work. May be, because of the racial discrimination prevailing in the organization, that employee failed to get promotion. It should be noted that some organizations have the habit of demonstrating racial discrimination at work places. Apple Inc. is often blamed for racial discrimination in its workplaces. In other words, black employees may not get promotions as smoothly as white employees in Apple Inc., even if the black employees outperform the white employees. In such cases, the employees who failed to get the desired promotion will be demotivated. In short, organizational culture plays an important role in motivating the employees. Conclusions Outcome is the most important motivating factor when an employee put extra yard into his performance. If the manager acknowledges his outstanding performance with the help of rewards, he will be motivated positively. It is not necessary that the rewards should be dispersed in the form of money all the time. Praising words, complements, organizational climate and culture, management styles, the trust between the employees and the organization, the ability to have better work life balancing opportunities etc are some of the factors which motivate the employees. References Areepattamannil S, Freeman, J.G & KlingeIntrinsic D.A. 2011. Motivation, extrinsic motivation, and academic achievement among Indian adolescents in Canada and India. Soc Psychol Educ (2011) 14:427–439.DOI 10.1007/s11218-011-9155-1 Expectancy Theory (Vroom), N. d. [Online] Available at: http://www.12manage.com/methods_vroom_expectancy_theory.html[Accessed 28 April 2014] Furst P. G. 2009. Supervisor’s role in employee performances [Online] Available at: http://www.irmi.com/expert/articles/2009/furst11-construction-risk-management.aspx [Accessed 28 April 2014] Gould D & Voelker D.K. 2010. 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J., & Ratelle, C. F. 2002. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: A hierarchical model. Handbook of self-determination research (pp. 37–63). Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press. Read More