Employee Motivation at Workplace - Article Example

Employee Motivation at Workplace Article Analysis Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: 1.0 Introduction This exercise is about taking a critical analysis of the article that talks about the motivation of employees at workplace as one of the important aspects of employee management. The article under analysis is entitled, “Worker Motivation: A Case Study in a Hospital Charitable” which is an Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences. The authors of the article are: Mario Camargo, Bernardes Jaime, Filho Walter and Russo Suzana. The article was published online in 2012. The article primary talks about how employee motivation and how it fulfills the management task of employee satisfaction at the workplace. In the address, the article analysis will cover three main areas namely: the main themes in the article, the progress of the social science and finally, the significance of the data, findings and arguments presented in the contemporary management environment and in particular in motivating the employees for satisfaction and hence performance and effectiveness. 2.0 Summary of the article To start with, the article has presented the concept of employee motivation at workplace and has made the use of different academic literatures to explain the concept for the leader to understand and how it does influence employees’ satisfaction in the workplace. In addressing this important area in management, the article has made an attempt in reference to literature to present employee motivation as an area of contention when trying to achieve a high level satisfaction among the employees. For instance, the authors of this article have cited different sources like Herzberg (1959), Bergamini (1997), Moscovici (1997), Stewart (1998), and Nonaka (2000) in building on their literature. Important in making use of the literature as a review in writing about employee motivation by the authors, is that the different material gives different and wide perspective on the definition and application of the concept. For example, in Herzberg (1959), employee motivation in an organization, is founded on two major assumptions which are: hygienic factors which include the workplace environment, physical conditions, wages, benefits, the general organizational climate and many more; Herzberg also goes to present a second assumption on motivation which maintains that other motivational factors include the group and the duties as well tasks that individuals are assigned (Camargo et al 2012). From the review of relevant literature, the authors have also identified the so commonly known “hierarchy of needs” which tend to explain how employee motivation can be achieved by satisfying employee needs in a hierarchical manner. While the article has addressed extensively on the aspect of employee motivation, it can be noted from the literature that it has been presented in detail the foundation of employee motivation without giving due consideration on what is happening in the contemporary management.This has posed a challenge on how to validate the literature and make it fit in the context of employee motivation today. However, it is important to recognize that even though the literature referred to, gives some different perspective on employee motivation, the research that was carried in a case, has given some new revelations on the concept. For instance, while in the literature, it is presented that among the factors that have dominated the long list of employee motivators, high salaries, benefits and payments, are among the top motivators while such factors as job status, and comfort in the facilities are considered external motivating factors. But according to the survey, the findings show that even if all the factors that have been identified are implemented, without due consideration to the job one loves but just compensation, motivation is far from being reached by management (Hong et al 2011). 2.1 Article presentation The article has given a scientific approach to collecting data and analyze its findings. This is important in enhancing the process of carrying a study under social sciences. While carrying out a study remains a very important instrument in determining the validity of the research. It therefore calls for the need to explain clearly how the researcher identifies its research problem, the case study and the process of interacting with the respondents in the process of getting relevant information. It is in this regard that this exercise has embarked on a journey to establish how the researchers had presented their facts in this article. 2.2 Clarity of ideas Important in this article and that becomes one important feature of the social science studies, is the topics that the researchers have tackled. To start with, in the introduction, the authors of this article have given due consideration to the background of the research problem. This is after explaining the fundamentals of the topic of discussion and thus giving the reader the opportunity to understand in detail what the author intends to discuss. In the introduction, for instance, the authors of the article have explained in detail terms how employee motivation can be used to achieve high employee motivation. Further, the authors also recognize the need to clearly understand the concept of employee motivation and how it should apply in the workplace. The article is also clear on the idea of the theoretical framework that seeks to explain the reason as to why this study is important and how other studies already tackled it. The author of the article has tried to explain the object that has been used in the study has been elaborated and is about the case study of Charitable Hospital based in Brazil. Using a case study is important in deriving the reader to a situation where he can comprehend the whole exercise and how the findings have been reached. Further, on helping build on the clarity of the article, the authors have recognized the importance of explaining how data were collected and analyzed and different conclusions derived. While the research has clearly been introduced, one area that needs to have been addressed is the area of the research objectives which is a section in the research as it clearly shows clearly what the study sought to achieve. 2.3 Adequacy of the literature Literature review, is a very important area in any research. This is because it provides the ground for the research and thus helping the reader have a deeper insight on what the author is intending to present. The literature part has been used to elaborate on issues related to employee motivation and how can an employee satisfaction can be used to attain good results for an organization in terms of performance. However, employee satisfaction can only be achieved through employee motivation (Wong et at 2008). It is in this regard that in the literature, the authors have identified various aspects of employee motivation which include meeting internal needs, having an enthusiastic employees and the external factors. However, most crucial here is that in the literature review, the authors have presented that an enthusiastic employee can only be achieved if both internal and external needs are met.The end result of an enthusiastic employee is enhanced confidence towards the company. Adequacy of the chosen methodology The research methodology in any study, shows the various instruments that the researcher has used to collect data from the area of study. There are two major methodologies to any research and they are: the primary research and the secondary research. According to (Kooij et al 2008), primary research refers to the process of collecting data that is not in existence while secondary research entails the process of collecting data is already in existence. Considering the methodology that the researcher had been used, it is clear that while secondary resources had been used to build the research background, the authors have also used the primary research methods in collecting the data (Akella 2010). This is particularly important in collecting most relevant data and that can be used to address the impending contemporary issues in the management of employee motivation. Most to understand in the methodology, the authors, have used the case study of Charity Hospital based in Brazil. The institution was founded in 1913 and offers a range of services including surgery, psychiatric and the UTI. The institution has 302 bed capacity and has 1080 employees who are active. This gives a clear guide to the process of sampling which must not show any kind of bias and also be well representative of the whole population. For the purpose of validity and accuracy of the research findings, sampling is a very important process. In methodology and especially where the researcher is intending to use the views of a certain portion of the population to represent the whole population (Pearman & Härtel 2010). Other research is showing the process of sampling is very critical in determining the accuracy and validity of the research findings. To add on the methodology, it is also important to note that the researcher, had used a random sampling of the respondents. From the whole population, 76 employees were chosen to participate in the study as the respondents. Further, on this regard, the researcher had selected the respondents from all employees irrespective of their age, role, sex, position and even work shift. This was particularly important in ensuring that any element of bias is done away with (Porter & Ayman 2010). To start with, this article has taken into consideration as already highlighted earlier, the use of case study has been applied by the researchers to try and bring into perspective how the subject under study can be enhanced from the management perspective. The case that has been identified and which is a Charitable Hospital, stands out to be unusual case and this means that the findings of the research although in management, they might apply completely as they are in other context. The primary reason is that, in the charitable world, the terms of employment and working conditions tend to be independent as they are independent organizations and in some circumstances are not profit-oriented. This is to mean that the research findings of this study are more specific to the case study and could not apply in other circumstances (Pearman & Härtel 2010). In the area of research findings, the researcher had specific questions that the respondents were expected to answer and the two questions were: first and foremost, the respondents were expected to show what actually motivated them to work in the hospital and second, what actually the organization offered in order to motivate the employees. In relation to these two main questions, the authors ought to study important themes in employee motivation and which included fair wage, salary for employees, organizational plan on employee various and salaries, opportunity for growth and professional recognition (Wong et at 2008). The other themes are use of appropriate work tools, organizational goals and objectives and the health plan by the institution. The data provided was quantitative and was based on the responses by the participants. To add to this, it also important to mention that the questions that were framed for this research were correct and showed a good attempt to answer the problem under discussion. 2.4 Contribution to the theory While the study was specific and was intended at establishing how employee motivation in a charitable organization takes, it also very necessary to indicate the primary purpose was to try and demonstrate how the process occurs in other organizations of the same status. While the research could be questioned on its coverage especially now it has specifically addressed motivation in an institution owned by a charitable organization. This therefore limits the application of the research to other fields together with health facilities that are either public or private owned. Despite this limitation however, the article has made a tremendous effort to demonstrate how different employee motivation themes are being exercised (Jordan & Lawrence 2009). This is after the respondents had indicated the factors both internal and external that contributed to their high motivation, satisfaction and commitment to the institution. Relevance to managerial practice This research in terms of relevance to present management practice, is well within the context. This is because while in the past, many organizations have been maintaining employee motivation is all about salaries and other benefits that employees get, motivation is also a factor of the job one does and the facilities that one works in. In other words, loving one’s job, is key to attaining a high level of motivation. In general, the article has managed to show various factors that are significant in employee motivation and which have been linked to the process of meeting different needs as provided for in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Wong et at 2008). In general terms, the paper is specific and this is very interesting to many organizations after it has shown that motivational factors not necessarily need to be the same but contextual. References Akella, D. 2010, Learning together: Kolb's experiential theory and its application, Journal of Management and Organization, 16(1), p. 100-112. Camargo, M., Bernardes, J., Filho W and Russo S 2012, Worker Motivation: A Case Study in a Hospital Charitable, Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 6(9), p. 135-140. http://journal-archieves20.webs.com/692-708.pdf Hong, Y., Catano, VM., & Liao, H. 2011, Leader emergence: the role of emotional intelligence and motivation to lead. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 32(4), 320 – 343. Jordan, PJ & Lawrence, SA 2009, Emotional intelligence in teams: Development and initial validation of the short version of the Workgroup Emotional Intelligence Profile (WEIP- S). Journal of Management and Organization, 15(4), 452-469. Kooij, D., Lange, AD., Jansen, P., & Dikkers, J 2008, Older workers' motivation to continue to work: five meanings of age: A conceptual review, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23(4), 364-394. Pearman, GI & Härtel, CEJ 2010, Understanding and responding to the climate change issue: Towards a whole-of-science research agenda. Journal of Management and Organization, 16(1), p. 16-47. Porter, S & Ayman, R 2010, Work flexibility as a mediator of the relationship between work- family conflict and intention to quit. Journal of Management and Organization, 16(3), p. 411-424. Wong, M., Gardiner, E., Lang, W., & Coulon, L 2008, Generational differences in personality and motivation: Do they exist and what are the implications for the workplace? Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23 (8), 878–890. Read More