What Motivates Employees In the Workplace?
Keep Your Employees Motivated
Understanding the 5 Components of Motivation
Many employers know that motivation is a key element of being a good leader. Yet, somehow they still seem to miss the mark when it comes to actively motivating their employees. Employee motivation ought to be a priority on any employer’s list and we are here to help guide you, as a leader, in improving your motivation game.
It’s a proven fact that a workforce that is motivated, engaged and responsive is considerably more productive than an unmotivated, apathetic group of employees. Businesses with motivated employees also benefit from people who work harder and generate higher-quality results. These businesses see lower turnover rates and, in turn, save the time and money it would take to recruit and train replacements.
Now before going any further, let’s stop and review what exactly motivation is.
The Webster dictionary defines motivation as “something inside people that drives them to action.” This being the case, what motivates one person may be different from the next.
Motivation comes from within. It emerges from theories, out of needs, values, goals, intentions and expectations. Leaders don’t need to create motivation. Instead, they need to cultivate and direct the motivation that is already in each employee.
By understanding what motivates individual employees, employers and managers will be able to better grasp why people perform the way they do
Employee motivation is, or at least must be, one of the key issues for directors, managers and personnel managers. The leader must be able to find the sensitive strings of his subordinates, which can be motivated by influencing them to achieve high performance. The correct use of motivation encourages staff to make more efficient use of their knowledge, skills, and talents. In today's turbulent, often chaotic environment, commercial success depends on the employee's talent and effort. Despite the many existing theories and practices, some of the motivation of leaders today remains a mystical term. This is partly due to the fact that people are motivated by different things and techniques.
Motivation is derived from an internal force that provides an individual the opportunity to achieve their needs or goals. People are motivated by a variety of things and often have different motivating factors. Employers should be mindful of individual motivating factors when attempting to motivate staff to increase performance. While some people may be motivated by money, many are motivated by things like: recognition, promotion, and increased responsibility. Once an employer has identified motivating factors they are able to analyze a variety of motivational theories to design and implement a program that will motivate employees to go above and beyond what is expected of them.
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.
With this being said, motivation is very complex and is continuously fluctuating over time (Maslow, 1954). Getting employees optimally motivated is very difficult, due to the various components that go into motivation. However, when an employee is positively motivated, they will be able to accomplish any task set in front of them.
“Motivating Employees” is a book about how employee motivation is driven by companies that invest and grow their employees. One of the most important traits of highly effective and successful companies is that employees are happy and have fun at work. Leadership is not assaulting your employees, but to lead your employees you need to motivate by using caring,
There are as many different methods of motivating employees today as there are companies operating in the global business environment. Still, some strategies are prevalent across all organizations striving to improve employee motivation. The best employee motivation efforts will focus on what the employees deem to be important. It may be that employees within the same department of the same organization will have different motivators. Many organizations today find that flexibility in job design and reward systems has resulted in employees ' increased longevity with the company, improved productivity, and better morale.
Motivation most certainly plays a huge role in the workplace, therefore, it is imperative to understand fully the basic theories and methods, and of course how to apply these theories and methods to everyday workplace scenarios. These motivational skills and techniques will definitely play a key role for leaders and or managers, knowing how to motivate people in today’s workforce will provide job growth.
Employees should always be motivated; this attracts talent, opens up new channels for innovation and creativity and brings in a sense of satisfaction among them which helps the growth and development of the organization.
Motivation comes from within, and can push someone into action, whether they actually want to or not. No one will do anything unless there is something pushing them from within to do it. An example is the quote 'But a fire burns in my heart. Under the ribs where pulses thud and flitting between bones of skull is the push, the endless mysterious
Leadership is a key component to the successfulness, profitability, and sustainability of an organization. Having effective leadership in a company is beneficial for the internal and the external customers. An individual, may ask the question: “why is effective leadership important to the internal and external customer?” The answer to this question is very simple: effective, well balanced leaders produce highly proficient and motivated employees. Consequently, when workers are happy they will be compassionate, and engaged resulting in an outstanding experience for the external customer. One fundamental aspect of effective leadership is understanding the significance of employee motivation. If I were charged with the task of the implementation
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 can come from two sources, from inside of you and from outside of you. It can come from your hopes and expectations. It is from your desire to do something or to be someone, but not everyone is highly
Human Resources is dependent on the success, happiness, and contentment of employees that keep the business on course. Motivation is one of the best ways to push employees forward while making sure everyone is in a comfortable position in their job. Motivational theories just attempt to explain what motivates or makes people act the way that they do. The goal of understanding these theories and their outcomes is to ensure a better performance from each employee, and to give each of those employees the best situation they can have in the workplace. Visionaries such as Abraham Maslow, Frederick Herzberg, and Henry A. Landsberger also brought forward new ways of management and ways to handle internal situations that changed the landscape of human resources as a whole. Motivational theories instituted in the workplace have a commonly positive effect on both employees and management, showing that it is important to strive for proven motivational practices.
Motivation is what makes people tick: the needs, desires, fears and aspirations within people that make them behave as they do. It is the energizer that makes people take action; it is the why of human behavior. So how do we create something that is supposed to come from within? It cannot be done, but it can be turned on and activated. Through different methods of motivation, incentive programs and rewards, and a positive work environment and culture motivation can be created in any organization. In an organization motivation and productivity (go hand in hand). Motivation is important in organizations because it keeps employees driven to do more, better quality work. Motivating reduces turn over and creates happier more loyal employees who will work with and through their organization to make it the best it can be.
According to the Business Dictionary the definition of motivation is, “internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested and committed to a job, role or subject, or to make an effort to attain a goal.” So what keeps individuals motivated? Several different things keep individuals motivated. It really depends on the person and what is important to them. Some motivators are more money, career advancements, and more time off from work. There is also, recognition which is an achievement that has been received for completing a job or goal. Today, recognition is one of the top motivators amongst individuals at work. Recognition comes by word of mouth, written as a “Thank You, awards or given in monetary form as a raise or promotion just to name a few. It has been determined that being passionate about a job will keep you motivated and engaged. Individuals who are positive, optimistic, uplifting and happy usually have the drive