Employee Motivation, Productivity and Job Satisfaction

Employee Motivation, Productivity and Job Satisfaction

Introduction

Leaders and managers commonly face a lot of issues and problems related to motivation. Employees that are not motivated tend to put less effort and spend less time at work. These employees tend to avoid taking responsibility at work and remain absent most of the times. The turnover rate of such employees is always high as unmotivated employees keep on looking for new and better opportunities. The work or task carried out by them is often of lower quality. On the contrary, employees that are motivated at work always tend to produce high quality of work. They apply creative and innovative approaches at work in order to stand out among all employees. These employees are found to be more committed and dedicated towards their work. There has been vast research done by scholars in the field of motivation. The literature is full of motivational theories and strategies to motivate employees (Valencia, n.d., pp. 1).

Discussion

The factors associated to motivation are usually derived from inner self such as feelings, needs, thoughts, ambition, objectives of life etc. The concept of motivation can be defined as the degree to which continues effort is directed towards an objective. The degree to which employees deliver high quality of work is also dependent on the type of leadership within the organization, and personal motivational factors (Nader, n.d., pp. 1-15).

There are many external factors in or work environment that may lead to motivation such as pay, monitoring, perks and benefits at job. These are referred to as extrinsic motivation factors. The bond between employee and employer has also a significant impact on motivation. Similarly, intrinsic motivational factors are those that are derived from within the employee and it may also be associated to task assigned.

One of the best known theory of motivation is of Maslow's hierarchy of needs that has become base for every other theory of motivation. It is derived by Abraham Maslow. He identified five sets of human needs. The theory suggests that people tend to satisfy their most basic need or urgent need in the beginning. These needs are classified as psychological needs, safety needs, relationship needs, esteem needs, and self actualization. The psychological needs are the basic source of requirements for human such as food, water, shelter, clothes, and monetary funds. A human must satisfy these needs at first to move forward towards achieving other set of requirements. These requirements are necessary to be fulfilled in order to live a normal life in society. The intrinsic vales at this stage refer to the personal satisfaction and the extrinsic values are to be fulfilled at organizational or societal level. The second set of needs is referred to as safety needs. It indicates the need of security, solidity, and a prearranged atmosphere. At this stage a human being is expected to have job security, a contented work setting, pension and insurance scheme (Alshallah, 2004, pp. 47-51).

The third stage of need is referred to as ...