Motivating Employees in an Organisation
Motivating Employees in an Organization
S Santosh
Contents
Chapter 1 2
Chapter 2 5
Chapter 3 10
Chapter 4 15
Chapter 1
Motivation: Concepts and Theories
Defining motivation
The word "motivation" comes from the Latin word movere - "to move." And managers often view motivation in exactly those terms ("I need to get my people moving!"). Motivation is the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action. General motivation is concerned with effort towards any goal, whereas effort towards Organizational goals reflects work-related behavior. Many contemporary authors have also defined the concept of motivation. Motivation has been defined as: the psychological process that gives behavior purpose and direction (Kreitner, 1995); a predisposition to behave in a purposive manner to achieve specific, unmet needs (Buford, Bedeian, & Lindner, 1995); an internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied need (Higgins, 1994); and the will to achieve (Bedeian, 1993).
For this paper, motivation is operationally defined as the inner force that drives individuals to accomplish personal and organizational goals. We mainly deal with the motivating employees in an organization towards the organizational goal for the benefit of both the organization and the employee. Understanding what motivates employees and how they are motivated was the focus of many researchers following the publication of the Hawthorne Study results (Terpstra, 1979).
Motivation Theories and concepts
While there are many theories on motivation, the seven major approaches that have led to our understanding of motivation are the following: • According to Maslow, employees have five levels of needs (Maslow, 1943): physiological, safety, social, ego, and self- actualizing. Maslow argued that lower level needs had to be satisfied before the next higher level need would motivate employees. • Herzberg 's work categorized motivation
S Santosh
Contents
Chapter 1 2
Chapter 2 5
Chapter 3 10
Chapter 4 15
Chapter 1
Motivation: Concepts and Theories
Defining motivation
The word "motivation" comes from the Latin word movere - "to move." And managers often view motivation in exactly those terms ("I need to get my people moving!"). Motivation is the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action. General motivation is concerned with effort towards any goal, whereas effort towards Organizational goals reflects work-related behavior. Many contemporary authors have also defined the concept of motivation. Motivation has been defined as: the psychological process that gives behavior purpose and direction (Kreitner, 1995); a predisposition to behave in a purposive manner to achieve specific, unmet needs (Buford, Bedeian, & Lindner, 1995); an internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied need (Higgins, 1994); and the will to achieve (Bedeian, 1993).
For this paper, motivation is operationally defined as the inner force that drives individuals to accomplish personal and organizational goals. We mainly deal with the motivating employees in an organization towards the organizational goal for the benefit of both the organization and the employee. Understanding what motivates employees and how they are motivated was the focus of many researchers following the publication of the Hawthorne Study results (Terpstra, 1979).
Motivation Theories and concepts
While there are many theories on motivation, the seven major approaches that have led to our understanding of motivation are the following: • According to Maslow, employees have five levels of needs (Maslow, 1943): physiological, safety, social, ego, and self- actualizing. Maslow argued that lower level needs had to be satisfied before the next higher level need would motivate employees. • Herzberg 's work categorized motivation
References: • Dayton Business Journal - by Dean Mcfarlin • Journal of Extension June 1998 // Volume 36 // Number 3 // Research in Brief // 3RIB3 • Journal of World Business Volume 42, Issue 2,Philip Cheng-Fei Tsaia, Yu-Fang Yenb, Liang-Chih Huangc, Ing-Chung Huangd • Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, Vol. 36, No. 1, 20-27 (1995) Chapter 4 Conclusion From the Literature review and the case studies it is clear from the fact that there are discrepancies in the results according to different theories. These discrepancies prove the fact that motivation factors of employees differs according to the context or the environment that he/she works in. In most of the cases it could be seen that interesting work is rated as the best motivator in an organization and the pay factor comes into play only after this motivator. Hence a person-job fit becomes the key task of the managers in an organization to improve the productivity of the employees. Thus in an organization it is essential to take stock of the skill variety of the employees, corresponding task identification and its significance to ensure maximum productivity as a result of the ‘interesting work’ motivating factor. The feedback process from the employees and the self setting of goals are also techniques through which an organization can ensure highly motivated employees. Introducing job rotation so that the employees do not get bored of their jobs and increasing employee involvement in management activities where they are also involved in active decision making increases the ownership of the employees and hence the motivation. Introducing variable pay according to the performance of the employee also pays in majority of the cases as long as the goal is challenging and achievable. Due importance must be given to the personal life of the employees i.e. it is very essential for the organization to ensure the work life balance of its employees, so that the motivation levels achieved can be sustained in the long run.