Employee Motivation

Employee Motivation:A Key Factor in an Organisation.

The job of a manager in the workplace is to get things done through employees. To do this the manager should be able to motivate employees. But that's easier said than done! Motivation practice and theory are difficult subjects, touching on several disciplines.In spite of enormous research, basic as well as applied, the subject of motivation is not clearly understood and more often than not poorly practiced. To understand motivation one must understand human nature itself. And there lies the problem!Human nature can be very simple, yet very complex too.An understanding and appreciation of this is a prerequisite to effective employee motivation in the workplace and therefore effective management and leadership.

Why study and apply employee motivation principles?

Quite apart from the benefit and moral value of an altruistic approach to treating colleagues as human beings and respecting human dignity in all its forms, research and observations show that well motivated employees are more productive and creative. The inverse also holds true. The schematic below indicates the potential contribution the practical application of the principles this paper has on reducing work content in the organization.

Motivation is the key to performance improvement

There is an old saying you can take a horse to the water but you cannot force it to drink; it will drink only if it's thirsty - so with people. They will do what they want to do or otherwise motivated to do. Whether it is to excel on the workshop floor or in the 'ivory tower' they must be motivated or driven to it, either by themselves or through external stimulus.Are they born with the self-motivation or drive? Yes and no. If no, they can be motivated, for motivation is a skill which can and must be learnt. This is essential for any business to survive and succeed.Performance is considered to be a function of ability and motivation, thus:

Job performance =f(ability)(motivation)Ability in turn depends on education, experience and training and its improvement is a slow and long process. On the other hand motivation can be improved quickly. There are many options and an uninitiated manager may not even know where to start. As a guideline, there are broadly seven strategies for motivation.

• Positive reinforcement
• Effective discipline and punishment
•  Treating people fairly
•  Satisfying employees needs
•  Setting work related goals
•  Restructuring jobs
• Base rewards on job performance

These are the basic strategies, though the mix in the final 'recipe' will vary from workplace situation to situation. Essentially, there is a gap between an individual’s actual state and some desired state and the manager tries to reduce this gap.

Motivation is, in effect, a means to reduce and manipulate this gap. It is inducing others in a specific way towards goals specifically stated by the motivator. Naturally, these goals as also the motivation system must conform to the corporate policy of the organization. The motivational system must be tailored to the situation and to the organization.

In one of the most elaborate studies on employee motivation, involving 31,000 men and 13,000 women, the Minneapolis Gas Company sought to determine what their potential employees desire most from a job. This study was carried out during a 20 year period from 1945 to 1965 and was quite revealing. The ratings for the various factors differed only slightly between men and women, but both groups considered security as the highest rated factor. The next three factors were;

             advancement

                           type of work

                           company - proud to work for

Surprisingly, factors such as pay, benefits and working conditions were given a low rating by both groups. So after all, and contrary to common belief, money is not the prime motivator.

Employee education, training and development

In general, education is 'mind preparation' and is carried out remote from the actual work area, training is the systematic development of the attitude, knowledge, skill pattern required by a person to perform a given task or job adequately and development is 'the growth of the individual in terms of ability, understanding and awareness'.Within an organization all three are necessary in order to:

                Develop workers to undertake higher-grade tasks;

            Provide the conventional training of new and young workers (e.g. as apprentices, clerks,   etc.);

                        Raise efficiency and standards of performance;

                Meet legislative requirements (e.g. health and safety)

            Inform people (induction training, pre-retirement courses, etc.);

From time to time meet special needs arising from technical, legislative, and knowledge need changes. Meeting these needs is achieved via the 'training loop'. The diagnosis of other than conventional needs is complex and often depends upon the intuition or personal experience of managers and needs revealed bydeficiencies. Sources of inspiration include:

•  Common sense - it is often obvious that new machines, work systems, task requirements   and    changes in job content will require workers to be prepared;
• Shortcomings revealed by statistics of output per head, performance indices, unit costs,     etc. and behavioral failures revealed by absentee figures, lateness, sickness etc. records;
• Recommendations of government and industry training organizations;
•  Inspiration and innovations of individual managers and supervisors;
• Forecasts and predictions about staffing needs;
• Inspirations prompted by the technical press, training journals, reports of the experience of others;
• The suggestions made by specialist (e.g. education and training officers, safety engineers,             work-study staff and management services personnel).

Designing training is far more than devising courses; it can include activities such as:

• Learning from observation of trained workers;
•  Receiving coaching from seniors;
• Discovery as the result of working party, project team membership or attendance at  meetings;
• Job swaps within and without the organization;
• Undertaking planned reading, or follow from the use of self–teaching texts and video tapes;
•  Learning via involvement in research, report writing and visiting other works or organizations.

So far as group training is concerned in addition to formal courses there are:

• Lectures and talks by senior or specialist managers;
• Discussion group (conference and meeting) activities;
• Briefing by senior staffs;
• Role-playing exercises and simulation of actual conditions;
• Video and computer teaching activities;
• Case studies (and discussion) tests, quizzes, panel 'games', group forums, observation        exercises and inspection and reporting techniques.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of training is done to ensure that it is cost effective, to identify needs to modify or extend what is being provided, to reveal new needs and redefine priorities and most of all to ensure that the objectives of the training are being met.In making their judgments senior managers will question whether the efforts expended have produced:

• More effective, efficient, flexible employees;
• Faster results in making newcomers knowledgeable and effective than would follow from            experience;
• More effective or efficient use of machinery, equipment and work procedures;
• Fewer requirements to implement redundancy (by retraining);
• Fewer accidents both personal and to property;
• Improvements in the qualifications of staff and their ability to take on tougher roles;
• Better employee loyalty to the organization with more willingness to innovate and accept change.

Employee Rewards

The previous section dealt with motivation theory and practice. There is no doubt that motivation is the crux for good performance, but there is no clear cut answer to the question of how to motivate. The previous pages gave a glimpse of the answer through various theories and practices.

Money is a factor in motivating people and this section concentrates on this.

Employee reward systems are discussed in general and later in specifics in terms of payment by results. Various schemes for financial motivation are also described.

Money is important!

This is, perhaps, saying the obvious. But it still needs to be said, for a perusal of the previous section may give the impression to the contrary, at least judging from Maslow's concept. Refreshing as it is, if the theory was completely valid then, at least in affluent countries, economic incentives should have lost all their force. This we know is not correct.

There is no doubt that we live in a money-motivated world. Any amount of human relations cannot compensate for a lack of monetary reward. If the reward is right, good human relations will give that extra zest to a team, motivating them to give of their best efforts. Insufficient monetary reward cannot be compensated by good human relations.

Even dedicated footballers do not think of the honour of playing for England, they merely pay 'lip service' to it; the financial rewards of playing for their clubs far exceed those recieved from playing from their country. Cricketers and rugby players no longer play for their own country but opt for the 'highest bidder'. Professional tennis players have refused to play at Wimbledon, the 'Mecca' of lawn tennis, because the rewards were not attractive.

Self-motivation can go only so far and it needs to be constantly reinforced by rewards. In particular, merit must be measured and rewarded regularly, if it is to be encouraged and sustained. The 'gold banana' in Foxboro has its origin in just an ordinary banana which one of the pioneers could muster on the spur of the moment when he discovered extraordinary performance by one of the employees in your business.

Ten Tips on Improving Employee Motivation

When people lose their motivation, however, their job performance suffers -- they become less productive, less creative, less of an asset to the company. The bottom line: You pay a heavy price when employees have motivation issues. How then to light a fire under an employee who has lost his or her motivation, whether a former hard worker whose performance has declined over the years, or a long-term problem employee who has failed to improve? Here are 10 useful pointers on getting your employees enthused, productive, and ready to give their all:

1. Build a foundation. It’s important to build a solid foundation for your employees so they feel invested in the company. Tell them about the history of the business and your vision for the future. Ask them about their expectations and career goals, as well as how you can help them feel part of the team. When any new employee starts, make sure he or she receives a thorough welcome orientation.
2. Create a positive environment. Promote an office atmosphere that makes all employees feel worthwhile and important. Don’t play favorites with your staff. Keep office doors open and let folks know they can always approach you with questions or concerns. A happy office is a productive office.
3. Put people on the right path. Most employees are looking for advancement opportunities within their own company. Work with each of them to develop a career growth plan that takes into consideration both their current skills and future goals. If employees become excited about what’s down the road, they will become more engaged in their present work.
4. Educate the masses. Help employees improve their professional skills by providing on-the-job training or in-house career development. Allow them to attend workshops and seminars related to the industry. Encourage them to attend adult education classes paid for by the company. Employees will feel you are investing in them, and this will translate into an improved job performance.
5. Don’t forget the fun. Once in a while you have put work aside and do something nice for the people who work for you. Treat the office to a pizza lunch or take everyone to the movies. Reward employees with an unexpected day off or by closing the office early on a random Friday afternoon.
6. Acknowledge contributions. You can make a huge difference in employee morale simply by taking the time to recognize each employee’s contributions and accomplishments, large or small. Be generous with praise.
7. Provide incentives. Offer people incentives to perform well, either with something small like a gift certificate or something more substantial such as a performance-based bonus or salary increase. Give out “Employee of the Month” awards. Such tokens of appreciation will go far in motivating employees.
8. Honor your promises. Getting people to give their all requires following through on promises. If you tell an employee that he or she will be considered for a bonus if numbers improve or productivity increases, you’d better put your money where your mouth is. Failure to follow through on promises will result in a loss of trust -- not only that person’s trust, but the trust of every employee that hears the story.
9. Provide career coaching. Help employees reach the next level professionally by providing on-site coaching. Bring in professionals to provide one-on-one counseling, which can help people learn how to overcome personal or professional obstacles on their career paths
10. Match tasks to talents. You can improve employee motivation by improving employee confidence. Assign individuals with tasks you know they will enjoy or will be particularly good at. An employee who is successful at one thing will have the self-confidence to tackle other projects with renewed energy and excitement.