Management Challenge of Motivating Employees

One of the major challenges management faces is motivatingemployees to do their best at work. Successful organizations have motivatedand enthusiastic employees. In this paper I will summarize three articles I’ve found in Harvard Business Review and relate them to chapter 16 from our text on motivation. In this summary I will show the relationship between a motivated workforce and corporate performances. I will then apply the concepts from the articles and the text to management in a personal organizational setting. The first article was abouta new model of employee motivation. For centuries thinkers and behaviorists have studied whatmotivates human beings. Today knowledge of brain science, neuroscience, biology, and evolutionary psychology has allowed deeper studies. Lawrence (2007) and Nohria (2007) suggest people are guided by four emotional needs. The four drivers that underlay motivation are the drive to acquire, bond, comprehend, and defend. We are all driven to acquire physical goods, experiences, and social status. We tend to compare these physical goods and experiences with others. People drive to bond with other employees. They feel motivated when they are proud to belong to an organization. The drive to comprehend leads to adesire to make a meaningful contribution. Employees are motivated by jobs designed to challenge them and enable them to learn. Fulfilling the desire to defend leads to feelings of security and confidence. People have a quest to promote justice and have clear goals and intentions (Groysber, Lee, & Nohria, 2007). The organization and individuals should strive to fulfill all four basic emotional drivers. The drive to acquire is satisfied by an organizations reward system. The most effective way to fulfill the drive to bond is to create a culture that promotes teamwork, collaboration, openness, and friendship. The drive to comprehend is best addressed by designing jobs that are meaningful, interesting, and challenging. Fair, trustworthy,