Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Importance of Employee Motivation

Varma (2017) notes that the global business environments are rapidly changing nowadays, the organisations which adapts to the change are the one going to thrive. Motivated and satisfied employees will have committed approach towards organisational objective, in turn organisations will also have to show similar commitment towards employee objectives. It is the human capital (the knowledge skills and abilities of the human resources) as well as the relationships and motivation of the employees that leads to competitive advantage. (Wright et al. 2001 cited in Boxall et al. 2007)

Studies of the impact of motivational work systems on a range of effectiveness criteria have generated mixed results. Evidence is consistently supportive that the work content produced by such configurations (relative to more mechanistic systems) generates a sustained willingness to expend effort, positive work attitudes (e.g. job satisfaction, commitment), and lower levels of absenteeism and turnover on the part of employees (Parker and Wall 1998 cited in Boxall et al. 2007). 

According to Boxall et al (2007) in the environments where the production system is capital intensive, and technology savvy the labor cost may be low however the workers play a major role in how well & efficiently the technologies are used. In such environments it’s important to keep their motivation high to utilize their skills better. 

Work motivation is often viewed as a set of energetic forces that originate within individuals, energetic forces that determine the form, direction, and intensity of work-related behavior (Latham and Pinder, 2005, cited in Bakker and Leiter, 2010). Thus motivational processes in organizations represent in part individuals’ decisions to allocate energy over time from their energetic resources among different activities. (Bakker and Leiter, 2010)

As the millennial group continue to grow in the workplace, they are fast becoming one of the most complex and challenging generations for leaders to understand and support. This poses a continued challenge for how best to lead and motivate the millennial group in the workplace. Such difficulties are reflected in the literature, which notes that managers are increasingly reporting problems managing and motivating their younger employees (Thompson, 2012) 

According to the millennial survey done by Deloitte (2019) 49% of the millennials they have surveyed has informed that they will quit their jobs in 2 years compared to their 2017 survey this figure was 38%. Below bar chart elaborate the top reasons the millennials wanted to leave their organizations.

                                                Source: (Deloitte, 2019)

This becomes an increasing threat to the organizations to keep their employee turnover rates down. Therefore, employee motivation must be considered a key factor to focus within the HR systems.


References:

Bakker, A.B. and Leiter, M.P. (2010). Work engagement : A handbook of essential theory and research. Hove England ; New York: Psychology Press.

Boxall, P.F., Purcell, J. and Wright, P. (2008). The Oxford handbook of human resource management. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Delloite ed., (2019). The Deloitte Global Millennial Survey 2019. [online] Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited. Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/About-Deloitte/deloitte-2019-millennial-survey.pdf.

Varma, C. (2017). Importance of Employee Motivation & Job Satisfaction for Organizational Performance. International Journal of Social Science & Interdisciplinary Research, 6(2), pp.10–20.


13 comments:

  1. Motivation has long been seen as a powerful tool for reinforcing behaviour and triggering the desire to continue. Motivation is an internal drive to meet an unfulfilled need and achieve a specific goal. This perspective on motivation demonstrates that in order to achieve certain goals, individuals must be sufficiently energetic and have a clear vision of their objective. Furthermore, it functions as a procedure that begins with a physiological or psychological demand and motivates a performance based on an objective. It also demonstrates that motivation is innate in humans. It only appears when there is something to accomplish and it is linked to human energy to execute ( Abbah, 2014).

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    1. Hello Virosha, Thanks for your valuable contribution. I would like to add more thoughts into your contribution. contrary to your statement above that motivation is internal, Randall et al, (2006) argues that there are 2 different types of motivation which are internal & external. he states that Internal motivation means an individual’s drive to accomplish their goals comes from within, and it is determined by the individual’s own values and goals. And external motivation means the drive to attain goals comes from a source outside the individual.

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  2. We must take into account that there can be a better HR management through an efficient motivation and recognition system. There should be a standard to evaluate the performances and how to allocate of the rewards. The promotion opportunities should be more open by increasing employees' skills through courses. The company ought to encourage the personal skills development and potential, to stimulate employees who fulfill their tasks perfectly. In case of new employees, the organization must show support for them and invest in creativity and initiative. Also, there must be a better performance dissemination(Achim, M.I., Dragolea, L. and Balan, G. 2013).

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    1. Dear Danushi your input about rewards & recognition systems will indeed effect the employee motivation greatly. A carefully designed reward system can greatly enhance an organization's effectiveness and productivity. Today, complex reward systems are needed to meet the demands of a more diverse workforce and gradually more, organizations are finding they must focus on the total compensation package for employees. Rewards and recognition play an imperative role in motivating employees and improving performance (Akafo, 2015).

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  3. Yes Rumaiz, As you mentioned it is very important to motivate employees where the organization is able to earn long-term benefits by having motivated employees. The organization may motivate employees financially and non financially. According to (Yousaf et al., 2014) Financial recognition ways are by balanced paying balanced pay, good bonus, Paid vacation, and providing health benefits and insurance.

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    1. Dear Isuri, i can agree with your argument. For people to be motivated and stay motivated, there needs to be a balance where needs are being met, yet needs that still are being acquired. To achieve this balance, financial and symbolic rewards that emphasize both individual achievement and teamwork must be utilized. To be motivated and stay motivated, employees need to have support for satisfying their needs, and this includes more than just monetary incentives (Randall et al 2006).

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  4. Dynamic organizations used to have an effective reward and recognition program to boost staff morale and motivation, which led to organizational effectiveness in the long run (Hussain et al., 2019).

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    1. Dear Larry, Indeed rewards play a vital role in determining the significant performance in job and it is positively associated with the process of motivation (Usman, 2010) and highly motivated employees will be committed towards long term organizational growth.

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  5. Very clearly explained. Also, motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it”, and analyzing it in depth, we reach the conclusion that motivation, the power to influence people and their actions is an art that advertises many qualities. Expanding on the above, we may say that not everyone can motivate, but anyone can be motivated in various forms and ways. (Dwight D. Eisenhower)

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    1. Hi Shafaz, i can agree with your thought. Motivation is the individual’s desire to demonstrate a particular behaviour and to willingly expend effort (Govinder & Parumasur, 2010). That supports your claim "anyone can be motivated".

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  6. Motivation is a psychological force within an individual that sets him in motion for achievement of certain goals or satisfaction of certain needs (Manisha Pillai, IJRASET 2020) and Motivation is the force that energizes, directs and sustains behavior. High performance is achieved by well-motivated people who are prepared to exercise discretionary effort, that is independently do more than is expected of them. (Armstrong, M., 2017).

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  7. Tremendous article Rumaiz, adding to this first, leaders must know their employees intimately in order to determine their wants and needs. Leaders must engage employees at work and be intentional about making time to get to know each employee. This includes taking an interest in employees outside of the office (Tracy, 2017)

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  8. Great Blog post Rumaiz , One of the biggest problems facing by a manager in the organizations is how best to get employees
    committed to their work and put in their best towards the accomplishment of organization’s
    objectives. Motivation, as a process, started with a need in human being which creates a vacuum in a person.
    In an attempt to fill the vacuum an internal driving force is generated which starts and sustains a
    chain of action and reaction. It is at that point that the vacuum is also filled. With this background
    information, Nnabuife (2009) Employee motivation is one of the policies of managers to increase effectual job management
    amongst employees in organization (shadier et al. 2009).

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