Theories of Motivation Essay

Pay and Rewards – pay and rewards attract, motivate and retain staff. The employment contract which lists rewards, whether it be pay, bonus or benefits, can remove animosity amongst employees and employers. However, recent research reveals that employees are no longer motivated by a financial reward alone, but

Organizations have to be very careful and very creative when it comes to utilizing bonus pay in order to motivate employees and drive production.

Motivation is what drives people to succeed and reach their goals. This plays an important role in enhancing an organisation’s development. An employee’s motivation can play a big part in organisational behaviour, as it is a fundamental part of how the employee performs in their role and how they assist the organisation in attaining their goals.

Steven Kerr’s article highlighted the multitude of problems associated with organizations and their faulty reward systems or incentives that are set up to accomplish one then, yet motivate people to do another. Kerr simply states: “Managers who complain about lack of motivation in their workers might do well to consider the possibility that the reward systems they have installed are paying off for behavior other than what they are seeking.” While Kerr gives a myriad of examples to illustrate this issue, I’d like to specifically focus in depth on two of them.

Motivation is the “why” behind our behaviors. Behavior that is usually goal-oriented. The forces that lie beneath motivation can be biological, social, emotional or cognitive in nature. There are, indeed, a plethora of inducements that cause us to act the way we act and do the things we do. They include things like quenching our thirst, reading to gain knowledge, studying to ace an exam, surpassing quotas and meeting deadlines for a promotion, etc. According to Kendra Cherry’s article on “WHAT IS MOTIVATION”, there are three components of motivation: activation, persistence and intensity. Activation is the decision to initiate a behavior. Persistence is the continued effort toward a goal even though obstacles may exist. Intensity is the

context of the workplace, so as to assess the validity of the statement “Employees only go

An effective reward system can improve the 'trust, morale and satisfaction among employees ' (Sandelands 1994, p. 32), and hence it is important to find the optimal way to divide bonuses. The two broad categories of how to divide a bonus between groups are splitting it equally for each member or unequally based on factors such as performance, seniority, commission or as proportionally to salary. Individual bonus systems cover a range of different ways to distribute the reward, varying in impact. Companies can set a criteria for individual bonuses which align workers ' targets with the company’s values and goals for an efficient workplace (Heneman and von Hippel 1995). These individual bonuses also tend to motivate workers more, with the incentive of higher pay. This, however, comes with the drawback of competition amongst team members, damaging group cohesion. As an executive remarked in a study for the University of Bath, 'we talk

their effort does wonderful things on motivating the employee, being able to get the employees

Motivation is a theoretical construct used to explain individual’s internal drive that alters their behaviors (Martinez, 2010). Motivation involves biological, emotional, social, and cognitive forces that activate behavior (Martinez, 2010). There are several reasons why a person does something. For example individuals are motivated due to food, water, sexual desires, biological needs, and learning. A motive is what stimulates an individual to respond in a certain manner or develop a specific behavior (Martinez, 2010).

There are varieties of other variables thought to play an important role in people performances which have been proven over the past years. These include ability, instinct, and aspiration level as well as personal factors such as age, education, and family surroundings (Matteson, T.M. and M.J Ivancevich, 2002, p.146). An In-depth knowledge of motivational theory is needed for someone to become a better manager. However, managers can not get the best out of their employers if they do not know the appropriate way to motivate them. Further more, unless employee knows what is supposed to be done and how to do it, high levels of job performance is not possible. Knowing in depth knowledge of motivation theory is not the only way to increase an employee’s contribution or workforce in the organisation. An employee being given the opportunity to perform is also a critical ingredient in the performance recipe.

Motivation: We all have diverse types of requirements. Some of us desire cash, so they work for the business which provides them superior pay. Some value success more than cash, they would connect themselves with companies which present greater chances of encouragement, learning, and growth. A compensation arrangement that hits employees’ requirements is more likely to encourage them to act in a wanted way. ( Ideal Pension , 2014)

Intrinsic motivation is a desire to do something that comes from within an individual and influences him or her to behave in a certain way or direction (Ryan and Deci, 2000). Practically speaking, in the workplace this would mean an opportunity to utilize one’s natural abilities on a project, interesting work, self-development or a chance to better oneself through the job, or a sense of accomplishment from doing the work itself regardless of external incentives. It is derived from the satisfaction in doing the job itself and often connects directly with a person’s values. Extrinsic motivation is rather different. It is concerned with behavior that is done in order to gain tangible incentives such as salaries, fringe benefits, bonuses, job security, promotions, and other largely financially related rewards and not for the satisfaction of the job itself (Ryan and Deci, 2000).

Can employee morale and productivity be boosted in the work place through various program incentives? I am proposing that a process be introduced which recognizes individual as well as team contributions through other means. It has been noted in several readings and throughout companies that employees with high morale are more productive than those unhappy counterparts. This is also a way to reduce the cost associated with recruiting and training of new employees replacing those who lack productivity and morale.

According to Shun (2004), management is often frustrated by lack of motivation generated by the end of the year bonuses. Foremen, who form part of worker strength, are often unable to motivate the average craftsman today (Business Roundtable, 1989). There is therefore the need for craftsmen and other subordinates to be motivated by providing them with the right conditions and opportunity. A correlation exists between worker motivation and performance; therefore there is the need for workers to always feel motivated in order to increase performance.

Being rewarded and recognised for their work or contribution is what keeps an employee motivated to work towards achieving the organisational as well as personal goals. When the employees is motivated by rewards, they will have job satisfaction consequently increasing the productivity of the organisation. It necessitates the need of managers to pay more attention in understanding their employees and come up with suitable types of reward systems for the organisation so that the employees are intrinsically and extrinsically motivated all the time. The hypotheses that I put forward here is to support this statement that effective reward management is critical to