Unit 2 Ip "Motivation"

"Work" is a positive thing for many people. To some people, it may be described as a place to escape from the kids, or even a time consumption thing for a single or retired person, but most importantly it is what we do in order to provide for our families and ourselves. Work is something that we all will experience at one time or another during our lives.

There are several reasons why a person goes to work. These reasons can be better explained as "work motivation". Work motivation can be defined as the inner forces that make us work and want to work harder to achieve personal or organizational goals (George & Jones, 2005). There are two different types of motivation; intrinsic and extrinsic.

When personal goals motivate us, it is considered to be intrinsic (George & Jones, 2005). For example; when I stay over 3 extra hours to help my department set up the new computer system because I know it's going to save us all time once we get it going, and because I enjoy doing that kind of work, it is for intrinsic reasons.

Extrinsic motivation can be better described as working towards a reward or to keep from getting punished (George & Jones, 2005). For example: when I decide to work twice as fast so that I can clock out early to go shopping, it is considered to be extrinsic because there was a reward in the end.

Motivation is definitely something that an employer wants to see from their employees. Not only are motivated employees more productive but also they are also easier to work with as well as help to provide a better work environment for everyone.

When analyzing Aberdeen and Green River I found that the Green River's employees are motivated mainly by personal rewards such as higher rates of pay, and benefits. They basically only do what they have to or the minimal of what is needed in order to get that higher rate of pay or bonus. On the other hand, things like total accomplishment motivate Aberdeen's employees; they thrive on bettering the work environment, learning new skills and getting to participate in-group leadership.

You could say that the main difference between the Aberdeen and Green River plants have mostly to do with which type of motivational reasoning each have. Aberdeen employees are motivated for intrinsic reasons. They continue to work hard for the satisfaction of the entire company doing well, as Green River employees do things for extrinsic reasons. They are only concerned with doing only what it takes to make more money.

There are several different ways an employer can motivate their employee's: job design & goals, performance appraisal, pay, and career development.

Job design is the process of envisioning and defining specific work systems for a particular job, and deciding what techniques, procedures, and equipment that it will take to do the job (George & Jones, 2005). Job design plays an important role in enhancing motivational levels in the workplace. It seems that if you can break jobs down individually and make them simpler to understand & do, then people are more apt to do them effectively. With this in mind, I would like to recommend that Green River's management break their jobs down into steps to help simplify and make for better production. Developing goals and teams, as well as teaching them to share the responsibility of being a leader will also help to motivate people. It gives them something to look forward to, as well as a chance to express their ideas and use their knowledge more.

The second recommendation I have to improve motivation in the Green River plant is to implement performance appraisals. A performance appraisal is an evaluation of ones work performance. These evaluations are done for two main reasons; to encourage high levels of motivation, and to give managers information as to how you are doing your job (George & Jones, 2005). It is very necessary to have an evaluation/appraisal system within a company for the main reason of letting the employee know their strengths and weaknesses. It is a way to be positive and "brag" on their good work as well