Work Motivation Theories - Research Paper Example

?Work Motivation Theories Introduction Motivating employees is very important in ensuring that they contribute to the success of the organization. Motivation resulting from equitable treatment of employees has been attributed to the increasing creativity among employees. Creativity leads to the development of important ideas, which is atopic of increasing interest and value to the organization as the pace and uncertainty of work continue to increase. Motivation is thought to improve creativity by creating favorable conditions for exploration and risk taking. Motivation has been explained according to the equity theory and goal setting theory (Pride, Hughes & Kapoor, 2011). Equity Theory Equity theory attempts to explain how motivation is influenced be people’s perception of equity. Equity refers to how individuals in an organization think they are being treated by the management. If any individual in an organization perceives herself or himself to be inequitably paid, relative to other employees with the same level of education or work experience, their motivation will be affected and their productivity will go down so as to eliminate perceived inequalities (Schermerhorn, 2011). Money or lack of enough salary can lead to dissatisfaction among employees. The theory further assert that employees assess information sources in terms of relevance personal, with similar others being used for comparison. Equity theory majorly deals with money and its influences on the productivity of employees. Employees normally view their productivity in relation to the amount of money they are paid for the job or the relation between outputs and inputs. Inputs involve the employee efforts put to ensure that a given task is done effectively; they include person’s efforts, education, and experience. Output in the work environment includes money, recognition, and the working conditions (Miner, 2007). Further, equity theory asserts that unequal ratios lead to tensions within an employee. The tension can only be eliminated if the person is given a pay rise. However, this theory has received criticism since it lacked in explaining how inequality among employees could be addressed. Critics argue that there are several ways of reducing inequality. This is due to the existence of individual differences and priorities at the work place (Koontz & Weihrich, 2006). Even though some employees may accept poor pay while performing effectively, most employees show high levels of dissatisfaction and normally demand ratios that are equal to other employees. Occasionally, there may be other employees that simply feel that they should be paid more than others. However, in general, employees are motivated to achieve equity and seek a reasonable balance between their inputs and outputs. Inequality resulting from overpayment may also result to feelings of guilt. On the contrary, inequality through underpayment may result in anger and resentment toward the management of the organization. Most organizations have reported that resentment among employees often lead to low productivity as well as employee unrest. Motivation resulting from equitable treatment of employees has been attributed to the increasing creativity among employees. Creativity leads to the development of important ideas, which is atopic of increasing interest and value to the organization as the pace and uncertainty of work continue to increase. Motivation is thought to improve creativity by creating favorable conditions for exploration and risk taking (Frank & Conte, 2009). An important aspect to be considered by the management is employees recognition. Recognition can take different forms apart from pay increase. The most important forms of recognition that can foster equity include personal thanksgiving and credit whenever an employee does good work, being given new responsibility or job, being sent to a professional meeting as an expert representative, and considering a person’s work to be more important to the organization’s objectives (Latham & Pinder, 2005). Further, equity ensures that all workers receive various non-contingent reward based simply on the fact that they hold the job. The rewards include fringe benefits, base pay, awards, job security, good working tools and an association with a prestigious organization. No employee would want to feel that he or she is not part of the organization. Although the rewards may not bring any tangible benefit to the organization, they do serve to motivate and encourage employees to work hard in their duties rather than leave the organization (Latham & Pinder, 2005). Equity provides the employee with what he or she wants or values or considers appropriate of important, the employee experiences satisfaction with the job. Equity is not a result of the person alone nor of the job alone but of the employee in relation to the job; the job as appraised by the employee. Treating employees equally ensures that they become enthusiastic. The employees who are treated equally normally display a can-do attitude. These employees can help the organizations in times of crisis since they are normally willing to help (Miner, 2007). Organizations with long-term and dedicated employee should engage in recognition measures for the employees. Recognition can be achieved through personal feedback and various celebrations. It is important to note that equity makes sure that employees are aware of what to do and the employer’s expectations of them. Employees are able to understand the objectives of the management through equitable treatment of concerns (Schermerhorn, 2011). Most organizations have discovered that an effective human resources department is very important to the organizations success. To ensure ethical standards are met, the human resource department must treat all employees properly and fairly. Any organization that is interested in achieving economic growth must ensure that there is established trust with the employees. Trust cannot come to any organization if some employees feel that they are being treated unequally. Improved relationship between the manager and the staff is vital for the success of the organization (Schermerhorn, 2011). Equity ensures that there is increased productivity. When managers ensure that there are measures instituted to equally reward each employee, productivity will automatically increase. Secondly employers will realise that considering ethics in treating employees actually reduce the number of compensations. Several organizations have been involved in relationship marketing. This is the process of ensuring that there is long term cooperation with employees and customers. Relationship marketing ensures that the organization increase their revenues. Relationship marketing, however, cannot be successful without actively involving employees into the program. The management should ensure that employees who are loyal to their jobs are frequently rewarded with increased pay (Miner, 2007). Workplace theft is another problem brought by inequality at work place. Employees have got higher chances of stealing organization’s properties than any other person in the society. Non motivated employees will often find away of how to steal property from their employers. Theft can lead to massive losses of revenue especially is very important and expensive equipments are stolen by employees. In addition, employees’ who feel that they are being discriminated against in terms of pay increase can lead to serious accidents in the company. Accidents normally occur due to low levels of concentration on the part of the employee while using machines (Miner, 2007). Equity leads to job satisfaction. Employees who are satisfied in whatever they are doing know that they are valued and trusted by the management. These employees normally foster respect and trust with their managers. The also feel confident as well as respecting the goals and objectives of their manager. Further, job satisfaction ensures that employees enjoy their work environment. Organizations must pull effort to ensure that their human resources have a sense of worth and reason in their work as well as privileges to study and grow. Employees experience a greater sense of personal fulfillment when the employer offers them some control over their duties. This ensures that workers are motivated work hard in achieving the objectives of the organization (Miner, 2007). A goal can be defined as the objective that is desired, something that is prioritized among those to be achieved in one’s plans. People often have got needs to meet in life, and in the process of self actualization want to reach some levels. They work very hard towards accomplishing the objectives they have set to realize their potential. Knowing what you want in life is a desire that leads you to set goals in life in order to achieve those desires. Life is like a journey which has a beginning and a destination. Goal setting opens ones mind to think about the future and therefore be prepared for it. The process of goal setting helps one to decide where he wants to be in life. Also, knowing what you want to achieve helps you put an extra effort in whatever you are doing, maximize your time on it while avoiding barriers that can hamper you from reaching there. Goals are set by people who want to achieve as they give you future expectations (Cairo, 1988). The process of goal setting must be clear and defined. Goals should be realistic, meaning that they should not be beyond your ability to achieve or too simple that everyone else can achieve. Realistic goals improve the confidence that one is able to accomplish what one has set to do. In goal stetting process, the first step is to have in mind what one wants to achieve in their life or in the near future. After this, the achievement is sub divided into components or targets that you hit to achieve the long term goals. Finally, once there is a plan, work towards achieving them. Strong goals are supposed to be SMART-specific, measurable, attainable, and realistic and time bound. It is important to express the set goals positively and precisely. This is to say that information on the date, time and amount must be given. When there are several goals to be achieved, they should be prioritized to avoid feeling the weight of many goals. Another strategy is to put them on paper so as to remember them constantly. As the goal setter, one needs to have as much control of them as possible taking into account issues of finance, and law just to name a few. After achieving a goal, it is advisable to take some time to celebrate the success for the achievement. Consider the efforts you have put towards achieving it to create a feeling of satisfaction (Cairo, 1988). The Goal Setting Theory In a workplace, goal setting is seen as part of motivation. According to stickler, motivation is the process of making decisions in the mind through which goal-directed behavior is established, sanctioned, led and maintained. In firms or organizations, goal setting can produce both negative and positive impacts. The motivational theory was first developed by Edwin Locke in the United States in 1960. The theory states that goal setting and performance in the workplace are closely linked. Locke claimed that higher and good performance is achieved by setting specific and challenging goals accompanied by regular checkups. Goals guide an employee towards the direction he is taking in the process of carrying out his work. Goals acts as a reminder to the employee about what he is expected to accomplish at a given time. In an organization, goals are motivational tools that employees work to meet and also determiners of performance when performance appraisal is being conducted (Stickler, 2011). An organization comprises of many goals which are set to be achieved. These are consumer goals, operational goals, product goals and secondary goals. Consumer goals are concerned with customer service in regards to how well their needs are met to satisfaction. They also look at the availability of products or services at a time when customers mostly need them. Product goals, on the other hand, relate at the ability of the organization to produce and deliver products that are distinct from other organizations and the quality of their services in terms of design reliability and range. Operational goals deal with the processes involved in making the end product. That is, how activities relate as in management processes. Lastly, secondary goals do not touch the activities involved in the manufacture and design of the product but other aspects unrelated to them for instance training, supervising and employment of personnel. Having this knowledge in mind, it is easy to differentiate between organizational and individual or personal goals. Organizational goals are set by the management who decide what the employees will work to meet. Individual goals can be an attempt to work in order to get a pay rise or promotion. Personal goals must be in line with organizational goals to avoid conflicts of interest. Employees working towards satisfying their own goals must feel comfortable to achieve organizational ones. This improves hard work because they know that they are able to accomplish their own goals while at the same time accomplishing those of the organization (Stickler, 2011). Goal setting is a very important tool of improving employee efficiency and eventually performance. From a motivational point of view, a goal is a realistic objective. In an organization setup, goals are used for measuring the level of motivation. Management and employees usually set goals for themselves and work to achieve them. Then, goals act as scales in which performance is weighed. During the process of performance appraisal, appraisers usually look at the goals that the employee has set and rate the performance according to those goals. In education institutions for example, teachers work towards coverage of the syllabus. However, if the syllabus is not covered by the end of the academic year or term, the teacher knows that he has been lazy or that something went wrong along the way. Failure to achieve a goal can bring about shame, discouragement and guilt while the success of it is happiness, confidence and pride. Goal setting theory explains how goals can influence behavior. It also assists in the understanding of how different personalities cope with failure to accomplish a specific goal (Griffin & Moorhead, 2011). According to Locke, the theory asserts that goals and intentions shape a person’s behavior. The process of setting goals for employees is an attempt by the management to influence their behavior. This statement underscores the point where employees set their own goals. The question that stands is: who influences their behavior?. Acording to Locke, goal setting has two specific characteristics, i.e. goal difficulty and goal specificity. Goal difficulty is the degree to which the goal is hard and requires additional effort. It is assumed that reinforcement improves motivation towards difficult goals. If an employee is rewarded for achieving a difficult goal, it is expected that his motivation will improve in the process of achieving the next goal provided it will be difficult. Goal specificity is how the goals are defined in clear and precise terms. Sensitive goals such as those dealing with costs, profitability, and business expansion should be defined in clear and simple terms. Other goals involving employees’ conducts in the organization, communication patterns, organizations public view, social responsibility, job accomplishment and motivation can be defined in more specific terms. Other concepts related with goal setting theory are goal acceptance and goal commitment. Goal acceptance is the ability and the level at which an individual accepts the goal as their own. On the other hand, goal commitment is the personal degree of interest towards accomplishing that goal (Locke, 1984). The overall performance is determined by the organization’s ability to support the employees and the individual’s character and abilities. The organization positively supports the individuals by either providing resources that are required in reaching the goal, motivation included. Negatively, the organization can hinder goal reaching process by failing to provide adequate resources, employee demotions, and threats of sacking that demoralizes employees. Some individuals require encouragements every time they are working g in order to improve efficiency. Others can work without being motivated and still perform. Goal setting theory has been tested by various scholars in different fields. The importance of acceptance and commitment has been emphasized but how people commit themselves to those goals is yet to be established. Despite this shortcoming, goal setting has been proved to be the best method that managers should employ in transforming motivation to actual performance (Locke, 1984). Features of Goal Setting Theory Locke came up with several features associated with the theory. First, the emphasis is on willingness which is the key driving force in meeting the set objective. On the same note, well defined specific and difficult goals serve as a great motivation compared to easy, general and undefined goals. Specific and well defined goals always result to increase in output and actual performance, clear, achievable and realistic goals together with set dates for achieving improves communication and comprehension. It is clear that challenging goals provides satisfaction for the individual after completion and gives him the strength and motivation to work out the next goal. The more challenging a goal is, the greater the motivation and energy towards accomplishing it. Also in the organizational setting, constant and free flow of information about the achieved goals increases the level of performance. Rewards and recognition serve as means of improving the image of the employees coupled with clarifying the areas of difficulty of the goals which increases job satisfaction. Individuals performing the tasks must have self efficiency or the self confidence and trust that allows them to unleash their potential. The more the individual is self confident, the higher the motivation and likelihood of reaching the desired goal and vice versa. Goal commitment is also a key concern. Goal commitment ensures the individual will not give up at any time on the way (Locke, 1984). Limitations of the Theory Goal setting theory has its own limitations. Sometimes the organizational and individual goals may be in conflict such that he employees place more emphasis on achieving their own goals than those of the organization. This conflict has direct impact on the performance. The difficulty of the goals if not evaluated might put the employees into risk. In the process of reaching very challenging goals, individuals can be exposed to dangerous and unfavorable conditions s well as straining their resources. Individuals must be skilled in the goals they are supposed to achieve. According to research, there has been no proof that goal setting improves job satisfaction. Despite these limitations, the advantages of goal setting are many. The goal setting theory provides a mechanism through which employees get promotional materials to improve their efficiency in work. Promotion can be in the form of gifts or rewards, maternal and paternal leaves, other personal leaves, holiday leaves and media exposure. Generally, goal setting leads to greater performance not only by increasing motivational programs but also improving feedback quality. Goal setting plays a vital role in many motivational programs and managerial activities of motivating employees (Pride, Robert & Kapoor, 2011). Conclusion Motivation leads to job satisfaction. Employees who are satisfied in whatever they are doing know that they are valued and trusted by the management. These employees normally foster respect and trust with their managers. They also feel confident as well as respecting the goals and objectives of their manager. Further, job satisfaction ensures that employees enjoy their work environment. References Cairo, J. (1988) Motivation and Goal Setting: How to Set and achieve Goals and Inspire Others, Career Press. Dubrin, A. (2008). Essentials of Management. New York: Cengage Learning. Frank, J. & Conte, J. (2009) Work in the 21st Century: An introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Griffin, R. & Moorhead, G. (2011).Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations. New York: Cengage Learning. Koontz, H. & Weihrich, H. (2006). Essentials of management. New York: McGraw Hill. Latham, P. & Pinder, C. (2005). Work motivation theory & research at the dawn of twenty first century. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Locke, E. (1984). Goal Setting: A Motivational Technique That Works. Prentice Hall. Miner, J. (2007). Organizational Behavior: from theory to practice. New York: M. E. Sharpe. Pride, W., Hughes, R. & Kapoor, J. (2011) Business. New York: Cengage Learning. Schermerhorn, J. (2011). Organizational Behavior. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Stickler, V. (2011). Motivation at Work: Goal Setting. Grin Verlag. Read More