Employee Motivation in the Workplace

Abstract

In all business organizations, employee motivation is a key factor for optimal employee performance. This paper will discuss employee motivation techniques, employee appreciation and how to improve employee morale. It will also discuss how employee motivation can have a great impact on company productivity.

Employee Motivation in the Workplace

Introduction

Not long ago, employees were considered to be just another factor for the production of goods and services. The main strides towards the importance of employees were put forward by the Hawthorne studies, which were conducted by Elton Mayo. According to the study, money was not the sole factor that motivated employees, and their attitude was linked to the employee behavior. From there, a new human relations perspective was introduced to the management, and the world duly recognized the importance of motivation among the employees (Sara et al., 2004). Motivation is a key issue for development, and that translates into individual and collective development, resulting in a fulfillment of the objectives, which in turn will become motivation for members of the working groups.

Employee Motivation

Motivation can be defined as a systemic solution to facilitate the management make the staff works with minimal supervision directly, integrating the functions of the Administration of Staff to the other areas of their responsibility. Scholars have studied the field of employee motivation for decades (Kovach,p 1987). Questions like what keeps the employees motivated, how to make employee more motivated towards their work have been discussed. Leaders now are keen to focus their attention towards the motivation of their employees so that their workforce can not only be more production, but feel belonged to the mission and goals of the organization.

Many methods have been employed by leaders to motivate their workforce. Some give motivational and energetic speeches some use posters and much fanfare to attract the attention of the workforce. Other traditional approaches are of extrinsic rewards, bonuses and recognition. These types of motivation though provide instant motivation, but they may not turn out to be a long term solution (Scott & Nink, 2002).

So the question that may arise here is why do leaders need to keep their workforce motivated? The answer is simple, to survive. Motivation is a difficult subject for any company, even more so in public administration, where the passage by the staff to the management of staff cannot be said to be fully realized in every institution in terms of everyday practice. In this highly competitive world, leaders need to make sure all the factors in the organization are directed towards the goals and objectives of the organization. Hence motivated workforce will be more productive for the organizations, hence the organization will not only survive, they will flourish. Motivation for a leader must remain a constant concern; it must continuously work to motivate their teams. Everyone knows that motivation is the key to success, and if it does not guarantee in itself, the performance of an employee, there can be no lasting performance without ...