Methods for Motivating Employees - Essay Example

? Methods for Motivating Employees al Affiliation Methods for Motivating Employees Methods for Motivating Employees The success of any organization depends on the level of commitment of its workers to deliver. The commitment level of employees to a business and its goals depends on their level of motivation. Messmer (2011) notes that motivated employees perform better than employees who are not motivated. Apparently, so many employers have not recognized the importance of motivating their employees. At the same time, the few that understand the value of motivation in enhancing the performances of employees do not know the techniques to adopt and the circumstances where such techniques are applicable or necessary. One of the most effective methods of motivating an employee is through praising the employee in public. Lauby (2005) notes that most employees feel motivated to work harder when their employers acknowledge their achievements in the organization and praise them in public. When an employer praises an employee in public, this serves as an acknowledgement that the employee is performing well. The motivational effect created is beneficial since it make the employee put more effect in his or her work. Praising an employee in public should be used when an employee has made an achievement that other employees in the organization should know about (Podmoroff, 2005). For example, it is wise for an employer to praise an employee who demonstrates skills and expertise that other employees need to emulate. The fact that the employee is praised in public also makes other employees to work hard in order to receive public praise like their colleague. Praising an employee may prove ineffective when it is done in secrete. This is because most employees are motivated when their colleagues hear them being praised. As such, managers should only insist on praising an employee in public forums, such as during staff meetings. Giving rewards is also another method that has proved to be an effective way of motivating employees (Messmer, 2011). Reward in this case may take the form of promotion, salary increments, or giving gifts. Most employees look for companies that offer fair remuneration packages. However, providing a salary increment for good performance has the effect of motivating an employee to increase his performance. The same applies to awarding an employee promotion to a higher-level cadre. It has been observed that promoting an employee to a higher position in an organization motivates the employee to put more effort in their work, thereby, resulting in better performance. Reward can prove effective in motivating an employee when the employee in question is yarning for a salary increment. Podmoroff (2005) observed that only the employees who view salary increments are motivated by such an increment. As such, before awarding a salary increment, managers should first evaluate the needs of each employee. This will ensure that only employees who are motivated by salary increment are rewarded salary increments. Promotion, on the other hand, is effective when it is awarded based on the skills and experience of an employee. However, rewards may prove ineffective when it is not done the right way. For instance, awarding a salary increment to people who do not consider it motivational may serve no purpose. Promotion as a reward, on the other hand, may prove ineffective in motivating employees when it is not awarded based on skills, experience, and achievements. The third technique of motivating employees is by involving employees in decision-making, particularly those that affects them. Involving employees in decision-making makes employees feel part of the organization (Messmer, 2011). For an example, when an employee is involved in making a certain decision that affects him or her, he, or she will feel valued. As a result, they will tend to work hard to accomplish the decisions arrived at during the decision-making process. High involvement may only prove effective in motivating an employee when managers implement the decisions made by the employee. For instance, an employee will only become motivated when he or she seen the employer implement all the decisions arrived at. However, high involvement will prove ineffective when the employer only involves employs in decision-making, but fails to implement them. This is because, when an employee learns that the decisions arrived at are not being implemented, they get demoralized and see themselves to be worthless to the organization. Ethics and Justice Violations All companies are guided by the ethical codes of conduct. However, going by past cases of scandals that have rocked organizations, it becomes apparent that many CEO fail to adhere to ethical standards. They find themselves engaging in unethical behaviors that impact negatively on the organization. Enron is one of the companies that were declared bankrupt in 2001 due to the unethical behaviors of its top executives. Enron was declared bankrupt in December 2001 after incurring losses amounting to $140 billion (Fowler, 2002). It was surprising how Enron could come from generating annual revenues of up to $101 billion in 2000 to making a loss of $140 billion. Subsequent investigations into the matter revealed that a number of Enron’s executives had engaged in money laundering, fraud, and insider trading. For instance, the former treasurer of the Company, Ben Glisan was charged with engaging in fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy (McLean, 2001). He only pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit fraud. Other executive charged for unethical behavior included Andrew Fastow, Ken Lay, and Jeff Skilling. The executives of Enron were certainly driven to engage in the unethical behavior by their greed for money. Based on the amount they siphoned from the company, it becomes apparent that they were not considerate of the position of the company and its employees, but were only after their personal interests. This is because they did not envision the financial impacts that fraud, money laundering, and insider trading would have on the company and its stakeholders. The scandal that befell Enron impacted significantly on employees’ motivation. Immediately the company began registering losses, employees’ level of motivation began declining. This is due to the fear of losing their jobs immediately the company is declared bankrupt. Naturally, employees fear losing their jobs. As such, when employees foresee a possibility of losing their jobs, their morale goes down, which affect their work performance. Transactional vs. Transformational Theory Different leaders adopt different leadership styles in managing organizations. A leader is a person who has the authority over a team and directs their actions. A leader also plays a huge role in motivating his or her followers to put more effort (Hood, 2007). Transactional and transformational leadership theories are the most common leadership styles that most managers adopt in the management of an organization. Transactional leadership is a leadership style where a leader rewards his followers for good performance, but punishes employees who perform poorly (Hood, 2007). In this regard, transactional leadership is based on the theory that employees are motivated by reward and discipline. Experts argue that transactional leaders are normally not concerned about steering an organization to market leadership position; rather, the managers are mainly bothered with ensuring smooth flow of everything in the organization. This leadership is more of authoritarian since the leader has total authority over members of the staff. In addition, employees are required to adhere to the leader’s directives. Employees working under transactional leaders are rewarded in the form of paychecks, while punishment is in the form of continuous discipline and termination of contract. Transformational leadership, on the other hand, is a leadership style where leaders put greater emphasis on team building, collaboration, and motivation with workers at different to achieve organizational objectives. Transformational leaders normally act as example to their following by motivating them to increase their input in order to accomplish organizational goals (Bowerman and Van Wart, 2010). Transformational leadership style works on the premise that followers are motivated to increase their effort through positive influence. A frontline supervisor being directly in charge of employees can exhibit the characteristics of transactional theory by exercising complete authority over followers by issuing orders on how things are to be done (Gill, 2011). Once a frontline manager has issued directives, all employees are expected to disobey, but to comply. However, employees who register good performance are rewarded by the frontline supervisor in the form of paychecks. However, in case an employee registers poor performance, the frontline manager can exhibit the characteristics of a transactional leader by disciplining the employee or terminating the employee’s contract all together. A frontline supervisor can also exhibit the characteristics of a transformational leader by inspiring his followers towards the attainment of the organizational goals. The frontline supervisor can do this by fostering innovation and creativity in his or her followers. In addition, in case an issue arises in the workplace, a frontline supervise can demonstrate the characteristics of a transformational theory by addressing the issue before it becomes a problem. A middle level supervisor can exhibit the characteristics of a transactional theory by encouraging employees to adhere to the directives issued by the frontline supervisor (Bowerman and Van Wart, 2010). In this regard, they make a close follow up to ensure that employees comply with all the directives. As regards transformational theory, a middle level supervisor can demonstrate the characteristics of a transformational theory by motivating staff to work hard to accomplish the organizational goals. In addition, a middle level will work alongside employees as an example to the rest. A blend of transactional and transformational leadership styles can be beneficial in enhancing the performance of an employee. This is because, on one hand, transactional leadership will lead to the development of compliant employees who follow the directives of leaders, resulting in good performance. This is because transactional leaders ensure that employees comply with the leader’s directives failure to which an employee is punished. Transformational leadership results in a self-motivated workforce. This is beneficial since a self-directed worker tends to ensure that work is done without necessarily looking for reward as a motivator. Therefore, blending the two will certainly enhance the performance of employees in an organization. Charismatic and Transformational Theories Avolio and Yammarino (2013) noted that the world has many leaders who have excelled in their leadership positions. However, Abraham Lincoln has inspired me most. This is because he demonstrated leadership qualities that helped end slavery in America. Despite all the challenges that he faced, including strong opposition from Confederates States, he managed to transform America to what it is today. I certainly believe that American will be quite different from what it is today without Lincoln. Probably we would still be witnessing slavery in the Confederate States. Based on the leadership qualities demonstrated by Lincoln, it comes out that Lincoln was a true transformational leader. This is demonstrated through the degree to which he acquired loyalty, trust, and respect of his followers; his ability to inspire his followers to keep fighting the Confederates despite the hardship; and lastly his ability to the ethical values of his followers by inspiring them to a higher morality (Davis, 1999). As a transformational leader, Lincoln treated his soldiers, regardless of their position with a lot of respect and courtesy. Leidner (2002) noted that, whenever soldiers visited Lincoln in the White House, he would welcome them and listen patiently to their requests and solved their problems instantly, regardless of how insignificant the problems might have been. In most cases, after listening to the soldiers, he would write a note to the Secretary of War directing that the soldiers be given a chance. This earned him respect from his followers who regarded him as “Father Abraham” (Leidner, 2002). As earlier stated, Lincoln demonstrated his transformational leadership style by inspiring his soldiers to continue fighting to ensure that they win the war. He did this not just by commanding his soldiers, as some would do, by ensuring that soldiers get all the needed support from him. In so doing, he was able to transform America by ending slavery with the surrender of General Lee and the Confederate armies. References Avolio, B. J., ? & Yammarino, F. J. (2013). Transformational and charismatic leadership: 10th anniversary edition: The road ahead. New York, NY: Emerald Group Publishing. Bowerman, K. D., & Van Wart, M. (2010). The business of leadership: An introduction. Manson, OH: M.E. Sharpe. Davis, W. C. (1999). Lincoln’s men: How President Lincoln became father to an army and a nation. New York, NY: The Free Press. Fowler, T. (2002, October 20). The pride and the fall of Enron. Houston Chronicle, p. 4. Gill, R. (2011). Theory and practice of leadership. London: SAGE. Hood, J. D. (2007). Transformational and transactional leadership styles: An exploratory investigation of traditional and nontraditional student perceptions. Princeton, NY: ProQuest. Lauby, S. J. (2005). Motivating employees. New York, NY: American Society for Training and Development. Leidner, G. (2002). Lincoln the transformational leader. Retrieved from http://www.greatamericanhistory.net/transforming_leader.htm. McLean, B. (2001, December 9). Why Enron went bust. Fortune, p. 2. Messmer, M. (2011). Motivating employees for dummies. Upper Saddle River, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Podmoroff, D. (2005). 365 ways to motivate and reward your employees every day--with little or no money. Hoboken, NJ: Atlantic Publishing Company. Read More