Western Health System Case Study

Motivation is defined as, “the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior.” Motivation is key in personal life as well as the career world. Motivation in the work place is highly dependent on employers being able to understand the needs and wants of their employees. When employers can understand and satisfy an employee’s needs, the employee is more inclined to perform well in his position. “The ranked order of motivating factors were: (a) interesting work, (b) good wages, (c) full appreciation of work done, (d) job security, (e) good working conditions, (f) promotions and growth in the organization, (g) feeling of being in on things, (h) personal loyalty to employees, (i) tactful discipline, and (j)

What is motivation? As manager’s, motivation is one of the most vital and crucial assets to possess in managing a business. This drive is a critical tool to use in the work place and determine the success or failure of an organization. Motivation is a driving force that initiates and directs behavior. In other words, motivation is an internal energy that drives an individual to do something in order to achieve a certain goal. Therefore, creating a motivating environment in the workplace will lead to happy employees. Creating a work environment like this, managers can expect low staff turnovers, improved productivity, happy customers, and better financial performance. Therefore, the input of motivation use towards employees determines the output efficiency of the company. However, everyone involved in an organization is motivated differently. Everybody has their own individual needs in regards to motivation. Depending on how motivated a person is, determines the effort that individual puts into the work and therefore, how productive they are.

Motivation is the force that makes us do things, whether accomplishing personal goals or completing tasks at work. Most people are motivated as a result of their individual needs being satisfied, which gives them the inspiration to perform specific behaviors for which they receive rewards (Kinicki & Williams, 2011). These needs vary from person to person, as everybody has specific needs to be satisfied. When we consider factors that determine the motivation of employees, many of us think of a high salary. This answer is correct for the reason that some employees will be motivated by money, but mostly wrong for the reason that it does not satisfy other needs to a lasting degree (Bizhelp24, 2010). This supports the idea that human

“Motivation is the will and desire that a person has to engage in a particular behaviour or perform a particular task” (Lawley & King, P269). In life motivation will be needed to enhance the workforce in various ways, many organisations will use motivation to increase the percentage yield of an individual or to make an individual feel a part of the business or organisation. Incentives have a huge influence on behaviourist & extrinsic approach. In addition other aspects; humanist theorist, intrinsic approach, Taylorism and Fordism have a part in perception of motivation.

Motivation is giving somebody a reason or incentive to do something. It can be intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is focused by an awareness or satisfaction in the task itself and usually occurs within the person rather than relying on external force. Extrinsic motivation is from outside the individual. Some common extrinsic motivators are rewards or punishments like evaluations or money, pressure, and threat of reprimand. The key to an organization’s success is the motivation of the staff. It is clear

Peter Drucker the famous 20th century management consultant may have described motivation best saying, “We know nothing about motivation – all we can do is write books about it”. Motivation is a commonly used buzzword thrown around in daily conversations without much meaning behind it. Motivation defined by Jason Colquitt and company in Organizational Behavior is as follows “a set of energetic forces that originates both within and outside an employee, initiates work-related effort, and determines its direction, intensity, and persistence” (Colquitt, LePine and Wesson ).

Motivating the work force can be difficult to achieve and maintain due to all employees are not motived by the same thing. As Ken Sundheim (2013) points out some individuals are motivated by money and time off, while other are motivated by praise and recognition. Motivation is the tool that managers use to energize, direct, and sustain human behavior in the work place (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin & Cardy, 2016).

Motivation is a complex phenomenon which is influenced of individual, cultural, ethnic and historical factors. According to De Cenzo et al., (1996), people who are motivated use a greater effort to perform a job than those who are not motivated. Motivation can be defined as “a series of energizing forces that originate both with and beyond an individual’s self”. These forces determine the person’s behavior and therefore, influence his/her productivity (Jackson, 2005). In other words this means that all thinkable factors of physical or psychological aspects that we interact with, leads to a reaction within our self or of the entire organization.

Over the years, motivation has been defined by many people, in many different ways. Hence, what is motivation? According to McShane & Glinow, motivation is defined as “the forces within a person that effect the direction, intensity, and persistence of voluntary behavior” (McShane & Glinow, 2011). The author’s further explained, “motivated employees will exert a certain level of effort (intensity), for a certain amount of time (persistence), to obtain a particular goal (direction)” or in other words, employees are essentially “goal-directed” (McShane & Glinow, 2011). Although goals play an important part of employee motivation in the workplace it doesn’t necessarily mean that their only goals are professional in nature. Employees can also be motivated to achieve personal goals within themselves, which could include receiving an educational degree or obtaining additional knowledge, skills and abilities for self-improvement.

Motivation is to achieve a desired outcome such as completing a task or project quickly and to a high standard for reward and recognition through enthusiasm. What motivates employees at work? According to Herzberg et al, 1957 - the happiness of staff at work depends on the existing working conditions, the status of the job and the pay and benefits package. While these so called hygiene factors keep workers satisfied initially, only if the work is challenging, efforts are rewarded and responsibility is given does it lead to long term motivation. For this to work, the company needs to create policies and practises that encourage motivation and performance.

Staff spend a considerable part of their lives at work, so it is not surprising that they expect to be rewarded and satisfied with the job that they do.. Motivation is concerned with why people do things as well as what drives them to behave in a particular way. Understanding what motivates individuals is important in work place. Research suggests that motivated employees are happier at work. They get more satisfaction from their work, are absent less often, tend to be more loyal and work with enthusiasm. This encourages them to contribute more to the development of the organisation.

Motivation can be defined as the intrinsic or extrinsic drive to meet expectation and accomplishment related to an activity. For organizations, some of the intrinsic drive is already held by the employee due to patterns of human behavior, personal character, and life experiences. However, the organization has a responsibility to motivate employees further in the workplace. This responsibility ultimately improves organizational performance. Taylor (2015) states, “motivation matters for organizations” (p.28). When this statement becomes reality, organizations will understand that motivation can be enacted through the work environment, relatedness, job resources and support, incentives, rewards, recognition, and feedback and consequences (Taylor, 2015).

Motivation is a process of arousing and sustaining goal-directed behavior induced by the expectation of satisfying individual needs. It is the major determinants of our behaviors. By understand the motives, you can influence staff’s behaviors. Especially with the shift towards a more socially and culturally responsive workforce, ability to motivate your staff is becoming one of the most important assets of an organization.

Motivation of employees plays a crucial factor in determining their performance with regard to productivity and engagement in their respective duties. Actually, employees who are adequately motivated tend to enhance their performance, be more productive, feel more satisfied, and be more engaged in their work. Managers should take responsibility to enhance their employees in order to enhance their contributions to the organization or company resulting in increased productivity. The significance of employee motivation to organizational productivity is linked to the widely accepted belief that motivation is the basic driver of human behavior. The significance of motivation in driving human behavior has contributed to the development of various theories of motivation, which are mostly applied in real life organizations or businesses. The application of these theories has considerable effects on organizational productivity, employee turnover, and employee satisfaction.

Motivation: Motivation can be defined as a stimulation, inspiring and inducing the employees to perform to their best capacity. Motivation is psychological terms which means it cannot be forced on employees. It comes automatically from inside the employees as it is the willingness to do the work.