Motivation in the workplace Essay

Motivation is the desire to do something. It plays a huge role in any workplace. You want your employees happy and wanting to come to work. People who work for the love of their job are showing intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation refers to performing an activity for the inherent enjoyment or satisfaction derived from the activity. (Levin, et al., 2012). A worker motivated by extrinsic factors may be there just for the money and other benefits. It is motivation which keeps an employee performing and striving to become better at doing their job. There are different ways of motivation, theories, and pro and cons of financial incentives pertaining to the workplace. There are different ways to motivate people in the workplace. Redesigning jobs is one way to motivate people at work. When you are redesigning jobs, you may want to consider job rotation. Job rotation is a way of keeping the employee from boredom of the same routine. Job rotation also gives the employee the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge in other areas within the job. Job enlargement is another redesigned job to help motivate employees. It involves adding on tasks at the same level of skill and responsibility. By giving employees more tasks, it is hoped to make jobs more interesting, which might increase production and job satisfaction. Increasing job involvement may also motivate an employee. Having employees involved in decisions that affect their works have a positive impact on their motivation. Using money as a motivator is also way to motivate people at the workplace. The opportunity to earn more money motivates some employees to increase productivity. There are two types of pay for performance programs. One type is called piece rate pay. It is when an employee is paid a fixed amount for each unit of production. In other words, you get paid for the work you complete. Another type of pay for performance is called merit-based pay plans. Merit pay involves the supervisor meeting with the employee to discuss the employee’s work and to award an increase or a bonus based on their performance. Another motivator for the workplace is alternative work arrangements. An alternative work arrangement is any arrangement which is different from the tradition nine to five while still getting 40 hours a week. Employees receive the same pay and benefits as they would if they were working the traditional schedule. Flexible work time is an alternative work arrangement. Our book states that employee on this work arrangement are expected to work eight hours and to be there during core hours, but they are free to work their remaining hours however they choose. (Youseff & Noon, 2012). Flex time helps employees meet the difficulties of family life, illness and personal emergencies. It also decrease employee stress, reduce sick leave, and increase productivity. Another alternative work arrangement is called compressed work week. For this arrangement, workers still work the 40 hours a week, but they do it in ten hour work day four days a week. Some employees may enjoy having a full day off during each work week to other things. The down side to compressed work week is it can increase fatigue which can decrease production. Telecommuting is also an alternative work arrangement. This arrangement is working from home. Working from home can be a problem for some because they can be easily distracted by their home life. For enhancing my own motivation at work, I would keep a positive attitude about things. I will stay motivated my surrounding myself with positive motivated people. I will do my best at my job and do what needs to be done to get my job done. I will be a team player and offer my help when need be. I would also keep in mind that I do not spend 24 hours at work. I would also take breaks during the work day so I won’t be stress. On my days off, I would relax and prepare myself for the work week. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Alderfer’s existence relatedness growth (ERG) theory are two content theories of motivation in a workplace. Content theories are theories that identify what motivates people. Both of these theories are similar because they recognize various types of needs as a hierarchy. Maslow needs are organized hierarchically. The five parts of the hierarchy are from bottom to top are: physiological needs, safety, belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization. According to Maslow’s (1954) view of individual needs, job satisfaction is said to exist when the job and its environment meet an individual’s needs. (as cited in Brown, & Sargeant, 2007). Alderfer’s theory is in three categories: existence, relatedness, and growth. Existence relates to Maslow’s physiological and safety needs. Relatedness is similar to Maslow’s belonging needs. Growth is like Maslow’s self-esteem and self-actualization needs. Although both of these theories have needs that motivate worker, they also have differences. The difference between these theories is Maslow believed that you have to fulfill these needs in order to move to the next level of needs. Alderfer’s did not believe that each level had to be attained in sequence before moving on to the next. Alderfer’s believed that employee’s motivation can come from more than one level of needs. There are pros and cons for using money as a motivator in the workplace. The pros to using financial incentives in the workplace are employees job satisfaction may increase. Employees may want to do their job well to receive promotions. The employees are happy because they make more money and the employer is happy due to the company running well because of the hard work being done. The cons to financial incentives is that every employee may not get the same amount of financial incentives and that may lead to feelings of unfair treatment at work. In conclusion, motivation is very important in the workplace. Some ways to motivate people at work is to redesign jobs so they become bored. Alternate work arrangements may motivate people at work also. There are different theories that help us understand what motivate people in the workplace, such as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which is broken down in five levels. There are also pros and cons how financial incentives can play a part in at work. In the workplace you want to do your best to keep employees motivated to run a successful company. References Brown, D., & Sargeant, M. A. (2007). Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, and Religious Commitment of Full-Time University Employees. Journal Of Research On Christian Education, 16(2), 211-241. doi:10.1080/10656210701647613 Levin, M. A., Hansen, J. M., & Laverie, D. A. (2012). Toward Understanding New Sales Employees’ Participation in Marketing-Related Technology: Motivation, Voluntariness, and Past Performance. Journal Of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 32(3), 379-393. Youssef, C. and Noon, A. (2012). Industrial/Organizational Psychology. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.