Why We Need Motivation
INTRODUCTION
Why Do We Need Motivation ? " People don 't change their behavior unless it makes a difference for them to do so." ~ Fran Tarkenton
The most difficult job that faces a supervisor is learning how to effectively motivate and keep his/her employees motivated . The average person when asked how to motivate someone will tell you what motivates him or her. Unfortunately, everyone is different and what motivates one employee may only make another employee angry. The method we use to motivate each employee must be tailored to the individual employee. We must offer them something that value as an incentive to work towards a goal. One size does not fit all when it comes to motivation.
Before we begin exploring ways to tackle motivational problems, let us first discuss some of the telling signs of an unmotivated staff:
Telling Signs
It is clear that unmotivated staff are more than just lazy staff. They are not proactive and are afraid to make decisions. The following are some remarks that typically reflect these symptoms:
"The more you work, the more mistakes you make. So don 't do anything unless you have to. And even then, do as little as possible."
"We just do our job, play it safe. We are not paid to make our own judgement. It is perfectly alright to seek and follow the boss 's instructions every time."
"Why bother making suggestions? Let 's check how the job was done last time and follow suit." Human resources (HR) are the backbone of an organisation (Gerhart & Milkovich 1990, Pfeffer 1998). Moreover, the continuing prosperity of a firm is likely to be enhanced by employees who hold attitudes, value and expectations that are closely aligned with the corporate vision (Borman & Motwidlo 1993, Spector 1997, Cable & Parsons 2001, Feldman 2003). Clearly, hiring capable people is an attractive point of departure in the process, but building and sustaining a committed workforce is more likely to be facilitated by the employment of
Why Do We Need Motivation ? " People don 't change their behavior unless it makes a difference for them to do so." ~ Fran Tarkenton
The most difficult job that faces a supervisor is learning how to effectively motivate and keep his/her employees motivated . The average person when asked how to motivate someone will tell you what motivates him or her. Unfortunately, everyone is different and what motivates one employee may only make another employee angry. The method we use to motivate each employee must be tailored to the individual employee. We must offer them something that value as an incentive to work towards a goal. One size does not fit all when it comes to motivation.
Before we begin exploring ways to tackle motivational problems, let us first discuss some of the telling signs of an unmotivated staff:
Telling Signs
It is clear that unmotivated staff are more than just lazy staff. They are not proactive and are afraid to make decisions. The following are some remarks that typically reflect these symptoms:
"The more you work, the more mistakes you make. So don 't do anything unless you have to. And even then, do as little as possible."
"We just do our job, play it safe. We are not paid to make our own judgement. It is perfectly alright to seek and follow the boss 's instructions every time."
"Why bother making suggestions? Let 's check how the job was done last time and follow suit." Human resources (HR) are the backbone of an organisation (Gerhart & Milkovich 1990, Pfeffer 1998). Moreover, the continuing prosperity of a firm is likely to be enhanced by employees who hold attitudes, value and expectations that are closely aligned with the corporate vision (Borman & Motwidlo 1993, Spector 1997, Cable & Parsons 2001, Feldman 2003). Clearly, hiring capable people is an attractive point of departure in the process, but building and sustaining a committed workforce is more likely to be facilitated by the employment of
References: 1. Ritchie, S. and Martin, P. (1999), Motivation Management, Hampshire: Gower. 2. Martin, P. and Nicholls, J. (1987), Creating a Committed Workforce, London: Institute of Personnel Development. 3. Chew, Y. T. (2005), Achieving Organisational Prosperity through Employee Motivation and Retention: A Comparative Study of Strategic HRM Practices in Malaysian Institutions, Research and Practice in Human Resource Management. 6. Abraham Maslow, Motivation and Personality, 1954 7. Douglas Mc Gregor, The Human Side of Enterprise, 1960 8. Frederick Herzberg, Work and The Nature of Man, 1966 9. David Mc Clelland, The Achieving Society, 1961 10. J. Stacey Adams, 1965 11. Victor Vroom, Work and Motivation, 1964