- 03/12/2012
- Posted by: essay
- Category: Free essays
Motivation is one of the key important factors for organizations: when employees are motivated to reach better results, the well-being of the whole company is secure. High motivation is the basis for leadership and management success. In fact, the principal function of managers is to attract and motivate the right people. Thus, studying the types of motivations and different means which can be used to increase motivation is important for efficient management.
For motivation purposes, the “command and control” approach is not the best one (Frey & Osterloh, 2002). It is possible to shape the business environment by creating various motivation stimuli. There are two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation of an employee is based on the satisfaction of doing the job, and bases on inner perception of work. Meanwhile, extrinsic motivation is based on external stimulus such as recognition and rewards (Frey & Osterloh, 2002). For managers, it is necessary to create working conditions in order to increase productivity so that each type of motivation would be involved.
Examples of creating and extending intrinsic motivation in management are numerous. For example, developing a strong mission statement and corporate culture (Ritchie & Martin, 1999) will help employees to feel part of something bigger than just ordinary work environment; stressing the way how company makes the world better and changes people’s lives can add to intrinsic motivation.
Also, management should make efforts so that all employees would believe into the product or service provided by the company; this can be reached by enabling every employee to participate in creating the product or service, or experience this product/service.
Finally, high level of intrinsic motivation may be reached by efficient human resource management: hiring people who have the passion for their job and related functions (Ritchie & Martin, 1999). Gathering people with passion for their job in one team might give exceptional results.
There are also many methods of increasing extrinsic motivation. First of all, a system of rewards is important: addressing employees’ needs and focusing not only on financial issues but on various bonuses, gifts, items with label of the company as well as various social facilities can greatly help to raise extrinsic motivation.
Moreover, successful management is impossible without addressing such type of extrinsic motivation as recognition of employees’ results. Awards for better productivity, speed of work and professionalism have to become traditional and take place each month or each quarter.
Also, monitoring of employee development and giving opportunities for career growth is very powerful extrinsic motivator; for this motivator, the role of human resource managers is crucial. It is the responsibility of HRM to monitor employee progress and suggest timely advancement as well as provide development opportunities for those who have not raised their qualification or have not experienced career growth for a long time. Sometimes, it can be useful to introduce intermediate positions if the steps of career ladder are too high. Also, the practice of creating long-term development plans and objectives for each employees can contribute to this motivating factor.
In general, high employee motivation allows to have greater productivity, improved business efficiency, adds to corporate culture and spirit of achievement. Also, increased motivation may allows to reduce turnover and consequent revenue losses as well as create environment for development of talents. For managers, it is necessary to realize that level of commitment of company owners and government cannot be compared to employees commitment, and that proper atmosphere has to be created, using various intrinsic and extrinsic motivating factors.
References
Frey, Bruno S. & Osterloh, Margit. (2002). Successful management by motivation: balancing intrinsic and extrinsic incentives. Springer.
Ritchie, Sheila & Martin, Peter. (1999). Motivation management. Gower.
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