Factors Affecting Motivation in Public Organizations

The success of any business depends on the productivity and satisfaction of its employees. Employees need to be motivated to work. Motivation can be defined as the inner force that drives individuals to accomplish personal and organizational goals. Motivation can be either intrinsic or extrinsic. For an individual to be motivated in a work situation there must be a need, which the individual would have to perceive a possibility of satisfying through some reward. Intrinsic motivation stems from motivations that are inherent and arise from performing the task of the job itself, which the individual gets a feeling of either positive or negative motivation as a result of

Many managers agree that motivation is important and that the quality of employees’ motivation is important,

Motivation theory examines the process of motivation. According to Amstrong (2006), it explains why people at work behave in the way they do in terms of their efforts and the directions they are taking. It describes what organisations can do to encourage people to apply their efforts and abilities in ways that will further the achievement of the organisation’s goals as well as satisfying their own needs. It is also concerned with job satisfaction-

0 “Effectively motivating employees has long been one of management's most important and challenging duties“ ( Hartzell, n.d.) since Industrial Revolution. As time passed discussions about motivating employees became bigger and definition of motivation much clearer. In fact the exactly definition of motivation can not be objectively set up, unless the definition would count with all individual aspects which influence person. By this time many people are confused even by the meaning the world motivation. “Motivation actually describes the level of desire employees feel to perform, regardless of the level of happiness. Employees who are adequately motivated to perform will be more productive, more engaged and feel more invested in their work.”

The term “motivation” is derived from a theoretical construct. Many times, psychologists have used this term to refer to something responsible for our action. The concept of motivation can be classified into categories: intrinsic and extrinsic. Extrinsic motivation is the one related to external factors that influence an individual’s drive towards action. On the other hand, intrinsic motivation is an impulse which comes deep from within a person and greatly influences their course of action. The applicability of both types of motivation at the workplace varies, depending on the organizational structures and policies (Tremblay, Blanchard, Taylor, Pelletier, & Villeneuve, 2009). Robbins and Judge (2007) add that at the workplace, motivation, especially extrinsic motivation, is regarded as a skill that is acquired through learning. It is inherent in an individual and does not get influenced by the environment. This paper will analyze the application and theories of motivation at the workplace.

This essay’s aim is to analyse and establish an understanding of various motivation theories and their possible application within organisations. Along with implementing, the information related to motivation, this essay would demonstrate the importance of motivation and it is necessary for organisations to motivate their employees effectively

Motivation in the work place has always been a problem for employers. It is a key element in keeping the employees driven to do good work or finish tasks on time. There are several methods of motivation that help employees stay with an organization. Motivation varies from person to person. Different methods of motivation drive people differently. Webster’s dictionary says motivation is something inside people that drives them to action. In other words it is the willingness to work at a level of effort. It is a day to day struggle for managers, supervisors, employers to keep its employees motivated not only finish the job at hand with perfection in mind but also to keep employees for as long as possible. “Motivation comes from

To start with, it is useful to infer from the literature and research that motivation in organisations refers to the process by which employees are enabled and induced to behave in particular ways. Thus, motivation is often associated with a search for the means by which people 's job performance and productivity may be improved or maintained. Many theories about motivation begin by addressing the interrelated issues of human needs and how these influence the direction and maintenance of an individual 's intentional behaviour.

Employee’s sincerity and passion for the work ultimately leads towards the goals satisfactory approach of the organization. Most of the survey respondents recognized and accepted that the success and survival of the organization is highly influenced by the professional capacity and level of motivation of the company’s workforce. In fact it is the main reason for the successful working achievement of many sectors. In all, 52.4% of the respondents consider that there is a significant relation

The meaning of motivation has been defined as follows: the psychological process that gives behavior purpose and direction (Kreitner, 1995); the internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied need (Higgins, 1994); the will to achieve (Bedeian, 1993); and an inclination to act in a purposive manner to achieve specific needs (Buford, Bedeian, & Linder, 1995). What motivates people can vary from person to person. For example, one person may be motivated by monetary rewards or extrinsic factors, while others are motivated by recognition and achievement or intrinsic factors (Linder, 1998). Motivation plays a vital role in an agency’s management. The key factor is to identify the method of each employee’s motivation and work on that to increase job satisfaction and decrease job burnout. A successful leader will need to understand different motivational theories and must be able to determine which strategy or combination of strategies works best to motivate each member of their team.

Varying employee needs lead to different kinds of motivation. Different kinds of motivation influence employees’ job satisfaction. Employees’ motivation will be affected by factors such as occupation, gender, social culture and organisational structure. This study will attempt to explore the differences in motivation between core-workers and periphery workers, and whether these differences in motivators are distinctive. Previous researchers have directed most of their attention towards the questions like, why people behave as they do on the job and what can be done to influence employees’ work motivation? Several theories of work motivation have been formulated to identify factors that influence work behaviours and factors that contribute to the maintenance and termination of these behaviours (Maslow, 1954; Herzberg, 1966). Although motivation as a concept represents a highly complex phenomenon that affects, and is affected by a multitude of factors in the organisation (Kanungo, l994), it is accepted by most scholars and practitioners that thereisa positive relationship between motivation and job satisfaction, individual performance, and physical and mental health. They believe that behavioural influences, such as job satisfaction, have a very important impact on quality of service, organisational commitment and total organisational effectiveness (MacRobert, et al. 1993; Beall 1994; Joseph and Deshpande 1997; cited: Lewis et al.2001; Morgan et al. 1995).

Motivation may be described in two different ways in an organization, but before talking about the different kinds of motivation, it is important to understand the general term of motivation. According to Nicu (2012, p. 1040), motivation is the initiative employees get from within to act in a way that is most efficient in getting their job completed. The level of motivation can be different from employee to employee, because it is not a set standard. For example, two employees are working under the same working conditions. One worker is producing more output than the other, which shows that the amount of motivation can change from employee to employee (Park and Rainey 2012, p. 2633). Motivated employees are of the

Nowadays it is widely accepted that the most important resource of any company are its employees; therefore competent manager need to have the clear understanding what motivates their subordinates to achieve effective performance as from efficiency of their work the success of the organization depends. Consequently, the task of manager consists in as much as possible effectively to use personnel opportunities. In independence on the manager decision the effect from it can be received only in case if this decision would successfully be embodied in the employees’ affairs. And it can occur only in case if workers are interested in results of the work. For this reason, it is necessary to motivate the person, to induce to action.

There are factors that exist in a company that can be controlled by the manager that directly affect the level of motivation of the employees either negatively or positively.

Employee motivation plays a critical role in employee performance and productivity. There are many factors that can affect this motivation, both positively and negatively. The purpose of this paper is to explain in detail the underlined factors that affect motivation and to through research provide evidence that will support my belief in how more effective employees are if they have the right motivation to perform. Also showing how motivation can increase performance as well as overall productivity of employees. These things will be key in management and the way they motivate their employees.