Training Managers to Motivate Employees

According to researcher Lindner (1998), motivated employees are needed in our rapidly changing workplaces to aid in the survival of organizations. Not only is it important to meet the needs of the consumer, it is equally important that to make sure that associates are taken care of and remain motivated. For this reason, Gibson, Ivancevich, Donnelly and Konopaske (2012) “states much of management’s time is spent addressing the motivation of their employees” (p. 125). According to the Encyclopedia of Small Business (2007), employee motivation is the level of energy, commitment, and creativity employees bring to their jobs; the inner force that drives individuals to accomplish personal and organizational goals (Lindner, 1988). Despite its obvious importance, employee motivation can be an elusive quest for managers due to the multiplicity of incentives that can influence employees to do their best work. The reality is that every employee has different ways to become motivated and the knowledge of how to motivate them is key to organizational success. It is imperative that employers get to know the personal needs and wants of their employees in order to establish tactics in which to motivate each of them. Once achieved, “managers are in a better position to encourage and reward employees to behave in effective ways” (Gibson et al, 2012, p.

The biggest problem to a manager is managing employees. This is because employers often do not know how to handle their employees. An effective manager knows that motivation is a difficult skill to acquire. So over the years, many theorist have studied motivation in order to

Motivation is literally the desire to do things. It’s the different between waking up before dawn to pound the pavement and lazing around the house all day. It’s the crucial element in setting and attaining goals – and research shows you can influence your own levels of motivation and self-control. (Psychology Today, 2014) An individual, while capable of determining their goals should align professional goals with the organization; in turn this organization will need to determine the motivation level of their employees through evaluation of the goals outlined by the employee and how to plan to attain those goals. Edward Deci and Richard Ryan (2008) examine in their self-determination theory people’s life goals or aspirations, showing differential relations of intrinsic versus extrinsic life goals to performance and psychological health. They discuss further that when people are controlled, they experience pressure to think, feel, or behave in particular ways. Both autonomous and controlled motivation energizes and direct behavior and they stand in contrast to amotivation , which refers to a lack of intention and motivation.

Through the collection of research, it has been noted that training and development (T&D) has a positive connection with intrinsic aspects of human needs within the workplace. Autonomy support and the self-determination theory (SDT) were found to be the most common concepts in relation to training and development and intrinsic human needs. Autonomy support (or autonomy-supportive teaching) relates to “the interpersonal behavior teachers provide during instruction to identify, nurture, and build students’ inner motivational resources” (Deci, 1975; Reeve, Deci, & Ryan, 2004). Self-determination theory is a theory of motivation that suggests that people tend to be driven toward growth and “distinguishes between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations”

Within the work environment employees with high levels of intrinsic motivation have the ability to reduce total labor costs. Managers spend less time working to stimulate intrinsically motivated employees therefore freeing more time for the manager to focus on more productive tasks. Intrinsically motivated employees are more likely to assume new projects on their own (Saleh & Hyde 49). Extrinsic motivation in the workplace sanctions for a greater extent of control over operational processes. These employees require a closer degree of supervision in order to keep performance high. Extrinsic motivation can come in the form of a financial incentive rather than encouragement (Ingram 1).

Over the last several years, the issue of employee motivation inside the workplace has been increasingly brought to the forefront. The reason why is because, globalization has been having an effect on the ability of firms to compete (which is placing more pressure on them). To deal with these challenges, most organizations are relying on their employees. The results are that those employers who are able to use this resource will be able to make adjustments quickly. This is when the firm will be able to maintain their dominance in the marketplace.

Motivation is the complex forces starting and keeping a person at work in the organization.

Peter Drucker the famous 20th century management consultant may have described motivation best saying, “We know nothing about motivation – all we can do is write books about it”. Motivation is a commonly used buzzword thrown around in daily conversations without much meaning behind it. Motivation defined by Jason Colquitt and company in Organizational Behavior is as follows “a set of energetic forces that originates both within and outside an employee, initiates work-related effort, and determines its direction, intensity, and persistence” (Colquitt, LePine and Wesson ).

Consequently, employees’ motivation plays a vital role in the organisation. Motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic) is a process related with

A successful company only exists if its employees are properly motivated. However, finding the right types of motivation proves to be difficult considering the variety of employees within the company. While one employee may appreciate vacation time, another may feel he is not properly motivated to do more for the company. One employee may crave recognition, while another finds solace in completing their work without any applause. Also, in terms of incentives, it would be hard to distinguish employees who work intrinsically to perform quality work from those who work extrinsically for the reward. Too much of a stimuli leads to habituation and employees may ultimately become demotivated (Myers 340). Without motivation, however, employees

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.

Motivation can be a key-contributing factor in employee performance. It is of great importance to an organization to recognize ways in which it can use employee motivation to positively affect employee performance. The methods used by organizations to motivate its employees are essential in determining how they affect employee performance. There are both positive and negative motivational tools that may be explored. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between motivation and employee performance.

The term motivation refers to two different ideas. Motivation is an internal state that leads to the fulfilment of objectives. Personal motivation affects the direction, depth, and persistence of effort. From a manager’s point of view, motivation is the process of getting people to fulfil objectives. Both concepts have an important meaning in common. Motivation is the expenditure of effort to accomplish results. The effort results from a force that

One of the most important assets of any organization is its human resources. Human resources play an important role in organization’s performance and success. So motivating employees is considered by organizations as crucial to retain the employees and drive them to perform better. Motivated employees tend to be gore effective in fulfilling their job responsibilities. Baack (2012) notes that the exiting literature on motivation seeks to develop an understanding of the nature of motivation, how to increase motivation level in employees and improve employee performance; thus, in turn, improve overall performance of the organization. Motivation helps employees to feel encouraged to perform effectively and thus, contribute towards

Motivation is important because even at the most basic level, it costs more to replace staff than to keep them. Staff liked to feel needed and respected and keeping them happy means they 'll stay with you for much longer. The company needs to remind them self’s that even in tough times; they need to keep motivating their staff high on their list of priorities.