Motivation

What is Motivation?

Motivation is the force that makes us do things: this is a result of our individual needs being satisfied (or met) so that we have inspiration to complete the task.

These needs vary from person to person as everybody has their individual needs to motivate themselves. Depending on how motivated we are, it may further

determine the effort we put into our work and therefore increase the standard of the output.

When we suggest factors (or needs) that determine the motivation of employees in the workplace, almost everyone would immediately think of a high salary.

This answer is correct for the reason that some employees will be motivated by money, but mostly wrong for the reason that it does not satisfy others (to a

lasting degree). This supports the statement that human motivation is a personal characteristic, and not a one fits all option.

The Importance of Motivation

Motivation can have an effect on the output of your business and concerns both quantity and quality. See it this way: your business relies heavily on the

efficiency of your production staff to make sure that products are manufactured in numbers that meet demand for the week. If these employees lack the motivation to produce

completed products to meet the demand, then you face a problem leading to disastrous consequences. The number of scenarios is extreme but you get the general picture.

Your employees are your greatest asset and no matter how efficient your technology and equipment may be, it is no match for the effectiveness and efficiency of your staff.

Motivational Theory: Herzberg's Two Factor Theory

Motivation has been studied for many years stretching beyond the 19th century. As a result, a number of theorists have compiled their own conclusions and

consequently a wide variety of motivational theory has been produced. Without going into the fine details and depth of all the motivational theory, we will use

Fredrick Herzberg's (1966) research to outline the main issues concerning motivation.

In 1966, Herzberg interviewed a number of people in different professions at different levels to find out two things:

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Those factors that MOTIVATED them in the workplace

These were identified as factors that gave employees an incentive to work resulting in job satisfaction. They are also referred to as 'motivators'. These motivators

increased the job satisfaction of the employee and further increased their efficiency.

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Those factors that PREVENTED JOB DISSATISFACTION

These were identified as factors that prevented job dissatisfaction. These did not make the employees happy (or have job satisfaction): it just removed the

unhappiness out of working. They are also referred to as 'hygiene' factors. Such hygiene factors, if not satisfied, had an effect of reduced employee efficiency.

Herzberg believed that all factors fell into one of these categories and therefore had separate consequences. His research concluded that some factors fell into both

categories although they held a stronger position in one of them.

7 motivational strategies

1. Team Work

Skillful managers form work groups when possible with the hope that peer pressure will induce high levels of performance. This is reported to be an effective means of motivation

because individuals appear to be more concerned with living up to the expectations of fellow workers rather than the expectations of their bosses. Complexities arise when a group

conforms to a level of achievement rather than a high performance level, or when a particular work setting makes it difficult to structure group activities.

2. Personal involvement

Workers who are allowed to set their own performance levels will usually try to meet their own expectations. It is important to have the worker make a verbal commitment regarding

their anticipated achievement levels. Also, individuals and groups are most likely to attain goals when they make a public commitment to do so. This may be due to the fact that

such commitments are promises and most people view themselves as persons who keep their word.

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The chief problem with this strategy results from workers who maintain a low self-image. At this point, managers are faced with the problem of motivating a worker to think positively

about himself so his self-image will correlate with high performance. On the whole, this strategy is effective, but it might demand a manager to reinforce an employee's strengths first.

3. work Enhancement

With this method, managers structure jobs so the work provides fulfillment. The experiment in job enrichment underway at the Saab-Volvo automobile plant in Sweden illustrates

rather nicely how job enrichment works. They use a team-assembly concept in which workers rotate the tasks required for building an automobile. Basically,