Essays-On-Line

Go through academic routine with a smile

Employee Motivation

In the current business environment, executives have to contend with an array of organizational problems. Technological advancements constantly destabilize enterprises and even lead to the collapse of others. In addition, business organizations strive to retain their market share in highly competitive environments as well as explore the best source of venture capital. Even so, leaders have to continually motivate employees to guarantee a greater level of devotion to corporate goals. Consequently, this fosters better engagement and creativity when dealing with organizational problems. Staff members require intrinsic motivation to work efficiently and draw the energy that is necessary to achieve success of a company but also they need extrinsic motivation to dispel the de-motivators that undermine job satisfaction.

Gupta-Sunderji (2017) notes that the failure to inspire the workforce makes everything that a leader does unimportant. It is possible because employee motivation determines the level of engagement and the sense of direction of the personnel. Therefore, as much as an establishment may experience various problems, motivation in the workplace remains a top consideration for any CEO. McShane, Steen, and Tasa (2015) support the idea and argue that motivation is a drive that influences the direction that workers take including their efforts in task performance. It fosters employees’ engagement and draws on the emotional as well as cognitive motivation necessary to accomplish the set corporate goals. Employee motivation induces the focused and purposive endeavor that is key to better performance of the firm. Gupta-Sunderji (2017) also claims that money is not a significant determinant of motivation in the workplace but agrees that fair and competitive pay is essential. Although the authors state that using income to encourage employees is not sustainable and cannot serve as a force that promotes their operation efficiency. In some way, the book supports the idea in the article that money is not the most important incentive tool for the staff.

Intrinsic factors or motivators play distinct roles in creating job satisfaction. On the other hand, de-motivators, which also known as job extrinsic factors, can cause discontent among the workforce when they are not addressed. McShane, Steen, and Tasa (2015) state that money serves as a special status and achievement symbol as well as an important performance indicator for the personnel. Therefore, the book advances the principle that money function as an extrinsic motivation factor. Moreover, it is considered a power symbol among male employees according to the book. McShane, Steen, and Tasa (2015) stress that empowerment leads to the improved motivation, organizational commitment, performance, and ultimately job satisfaction. Power develops a greater sense of responsibility and vigilance in the corporate decision-making. Salary is a good example of the extrinsic factor, which encompasses the provision of fair wages to inspire employees to fulfill their duties properly (Gupta-Sunderji, 2017). The book supports the idea by emphasizing the contribution of job satisfaction.

However, intrinsic factors are to be the focus of long-term motivation efforts. In the article, achievement, recognition, responsibility, and professional advancement comprise some intrinsic factors that organizations can capitalize on in order to improve employee motivation in the long term (Gupta-Sunderji, 2017). The book notes that drives and needs assist in realizing greater motivation in the workplace, especially because they energize the staff members and stimulate emotions that facilitate the pursuit of specific goals (McShane, Steen, & Tasa, 2015). The book presents incentives and requirement to represent the intrinsic factors. The aspiration to satisfy certain demands allows workers to take advantage of positive emotional forces to attain these objectives. The intrinsic factors mentioned above serve as the pre-requisite of most employees. Organizational leaders should recognize these unmet needs in the workforce and provide avenues through which their subordinates can realize them and attain a sense of achievement in their professional careers. As such, this can considerably boost employee motivation if they strive to rise in the hierarchy of needs. McShane, Steen, and Tasa (2015) identified the desire of power, accomplishment, and affiliation as key drivers of motivation in the workplace. In the same manner, the article acknowledged achievement and recognition as the intrinsic factors that executives must concentrate on to provide employee motivation in the long run. Sometimes, the challenging tasks and goals are required to motivate staff in the place of employment because of the desire to be branded achievers. It is common for accomplishment-driven individuals to seek out positions and opportunities that seem strenuous to ordinary workers. Therefore, it becomes important for leaders of companies to identify such people and provide these potentialities because the failure often results in a high risk of leaving for challenging environments. Hence, these ideas support the necessity in achievement, which is often associated with providing ambitious goals to the staff.

In addition, the article highlights the significance of success recognition is another crucial intrinsic factor. In various organizations, acknowledgement for attainment appears in many ways. Wage increments, bonuses, and rewards comprise some of the strategies, which corporation use to determine the best performers. In most cases, staff members receive new positions, promotions, and monetary remunerations as an appraisal of their good work. Some establishments, however, have awards that serve to recognize the efforts of the best employees. The latter can motivate the officials to improve their performance and get credit unlike others whom they compete against at the corporate level. The ideas show consistency with those presented in the book. McShane, Steen, and Tasa (2015) highlight membership rewards, job status rewards, performance rewards, and competency rewards as only a few ways, which firms can implement to encourage the degree of achievement of their workforce. The additional bonuses keep the staff focused and motivated in their operation towards the predetermined organizational goals. The recognition of outstanding employees promotes a competitive workplace and lays the groundwork for improved creativity when dealing with challenges of companies. Furthermore, the article outlined responsibility as an intrinsic factor that is important for employee motivation. The book supports this idea and observes that autonomy in the fulfillment of business tasks leads to a sense of responsibility and ownership among the personnel. As a result, members of staff develop work-related motivation and achieve high levels of effectiveness and satisfaction with regard to their position, especially with adequate feedback and skills.

Gupta-Sunderji (2017) also presents several extrinsic factors that encompass job security, status, business relationships, working conditions, money, and bureaucracy. Moreover, she asserts that the latter induce job dissatisfaction when the standards are unmet. Working relationships and conditions influence employee motivation and orientation of operational environments. The book supports this notion and discerns that establishments with favorable work environments have open communication and their staff show intrinsic motivation with respect to their obligations (McShane, Steen, & Tasa, 2015). The provision of adequate resources at the corporate level and orientation to learning foster creativity in decision-making and create better working conditions. The book further notes that positive business dealings improve self-esteem and allow employees to understand others better. Consequently, this minimizes the cases of stereotyping because workers consider their colleagues as valuable contributors to organizational success. In the article, the author states that hostile working relationships contribute to job dissatisfaction (Gupta-Sunderji, 2017). Similarly, the book claims that perceptual biases and preconceptions can strain working relationships in the enterprise since they cause categorization and discrimination of the officials in the firm. Thus, this provokes workplace conflicts that fuel rivalry and hostile relationships among employees in different categories. Therefore, instead of developing stereotypes and creating biases, staff members should try to understand their coworkers and respect their views. Hence, it will promote healthy business relationships as well as facilitate interactions and feedback, which play key roles in improving employee engagements, open communication, and productive sharing.

The article acknowledges that leaders are to address the extrinsic factors before pursuing the intrinsic ones to reach the required level of motivation in the workplace. Similarly, the book considers autonomy and responsibility as important issues in gaining satisfaction and encouraging the subordinates (McShane, Steen, & Tasa, 2015). Thus, it means that leaders need to stamp out bureaucracy and leadership skills that limit creativity in the workplace. The article notes that poor business dealings and working conditions negatively affect employees’ morale and drive them out of the company in pursuit of working environments that will support their needs and drives. Gupta-Sunderji (2017) states that intrinsic motivators vary for individuals; moreover, she highlights that the focus on achievement and recognition can operate as a starting point for employee motivation. The book also emphasizes the contribution of accomplishment and appreciation in generating motivation.

Therefore, different workers have specific preferences with regard to recognition, and leaders must be aware of this fact in order to address the demands of their subordinates. It would guarantee that the recognition system raises the motivation of staff members to a higher level and encourages even better performance in the future. The absence of an individualized recognition system might only serve the interests of a few employees and erode the zeal with which others operate because of unmet needs. The reason why certain recognition strategies might not be effective for some officials is that they fail to evoke the emotions that generate the right kind of internal energy. The book highlights the importance of recognizing achievement among employees. McShane, Steen, and Tasa (2015) concede that emotions influence attitudes of the staff and subsequently their behavior. Hence, the failure to evoke positive emotions interferes with employees’ viewpoints, conduct, and motivation in the workplace. Gupta-Sunderji (2017) emphasizes that giving more money to uninspired and dispirited workers will not solve the problem. However, eliminating extrinsic de-motivators and capitalizing on the intrinsic motivation of individuals can help in developing a workforce with a substantial level of motivation and productive performance. However, the book notes that money can help in amassing some degree of encouragement among the personnel who consider it a power and status symbol.

In conclusion, employee motivation is fundamental for all organizations because it ensures greater commitment and focused effort of the staff. Leaders must take action to inspire the workforce and evoke emotions that generate positive energy among workers. The article presents various issues tackled in the course and supports the reviewed information. The paper focuses on the matters of emotions, employee motivation, perceptions, stereotyping, money, rewards, drives, needs, employee engagement, behavior, and work environments as presented in the course. It is noted that motivation in the workplace depends on whether executives have eradicated de-motivators and nurtured intrinsic motivation as opposed to providing financial benefits as the primary encouraging factor. Achievement and recognition rank high among various intrinsic factors that CEOs should focus on in the pursuit of increased employee motivation.

References

Gupta-Sunderji, M. (2017). Why money is not an employee motivator. The Globe and Mail.

Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/leadership-lab/why-money-is-not-an-employee-motivator/article33755286/

McShane, S. L., Steen, S., & Tasa, K. (2015). Canadian organizational behavior. Whitby,

ON: McGraw-Hill Ryerson.