As a manager, you probably faced (or asked yourself) one of these questions:
- Are you finding your employees dissatisfied with their jobs?
- Do you think their interest levels are going down?
- Do you feel that they are carrying out their roles and responsibilities half-heartedly?
If you are, then you need to take corrective actions before it’s too late.
Furthermore, being the responsible manager of the organization, it is your duty to find the causes for the lack of interest and address them accordingly. But is it necessary to touch-base the concern? What if you don’t?
This article explores the importance of motivation in the workplace and provides tips for managers on how to motivate employees.
Additionally, the article discusses different types of motivation theories and how to apply them to help employees connect with their work and meet their major needs.
Why is it important to motivate employees in the workplace?
The foremost reason that calls for motivating employees in the workplace is:
Lack of motivation=low productivity: Disinterested or dissatisfied employees are bound to perform less enthusiastically, and this is sure to affect the overall productivity of the organization.
Be it production, operations, marketing or sales, unmotivated employees are likely to cause harm to the organization. Furthermore, unmotivated employees are bound to look out for opportunities and leave in an untimely manner.
5 Effective Ways to Motivate Your Team
There are many ways of motivating employees.
The question becomes all the more important to answer when it is asked by an interviewer trying to gauge your managerial skills.
However, keeping in mind a few points may help you seize the opportunity!
- Personal care: The easiest yet the most important motivational step is showing personal care.
Employees work in extreme pressure to perform according to plan, and in such cases, if you show personal care and give positive feedback, they are quite likely to get motivated to keep performing well.
Also, showing attention brings forth trust and mutual respect between a manager and a team member that energizes the team. - Reward programs and give feedback: Achievers need to be rewarded and get positive feedback. If you refrain from rewarding them or delivering the right message, they will get frustrated and under-perform.
- Employee benefit plans: It is advisable to tie down health insurance plans to various job positions in the organization.
This way, employees will be motivated to keep performing well in order to retain their positions and/or excelling to acquire higher designations. - Employee professional development programs: These programs are the key factors for companies’ successes. When employees have future prospects for their profession, they feel empowered.
If an employee receives an opportunity for proactive advancement, s/he tends to be more productive and grateful for the workplace. Therefore, write a career development plan for each of your employees in order to support their career. - Problem solving: Many times, employees/ team members tend to get in trouble.
In such cases, a manager should step in and solve the problem promptly and professionally. If he procrastinates, it might affect the overall enthusiasm of the team members.
Maximizing Workplace Productivity –
Strategies for Boosting Motivation in the Workplace
Do you have any ideas of motivating employees to go above and beyond the call of their duty?
The key to motivating workers is to build productive work relationships.
However, different people respond differently, which means there needs to be more than one type of motivator. While there are many different types, we will look at the three most important motivators in the workplace.
Different Types of Motivation in Workplaces – 3 Theories
There are some types of workplace motivators and they all may serve different purposes.
1. Work Motivation: Theory #1 – Personal Styles
Merrill and Reid identified four personal styles that motivate people.
Driver – Action Orientated
Focus is placed on the present and direction action, with minimal concern for cautionary action with relationships.
This group prefers to control and tell.
Expressive – Intuition Orientated
Focus is place on involving others and future time frames. Isolation is rejected and there is minimum concern pertaining to routines.
This group prefers to emote and tell.
Amiable – Relationship Oriented
Focus is placed on relating and supporting the current time frame.
There is very little concern pertaining to affecting chain and conflict is rejected. This group prefers to emote and ask.
Analytical – Thinking Oriented
Focus is placed on cautious actions, the historical time frame, and getting things right.
There is minimum concern for relationship and there is a tendency to reject being wrong. This group prefers to control and ask.
Application
To assist people feel attached with their work, and to organize their work to meet their personal style.
2. Motivation in Workplace: Theory #2 – McClelland’s Theory of Motivation
Three styles were identified.
Achievement – nArch
The goal is to excel.
He/she may avoid low and high-risk results to pursue success that’s meaningful.
Power – nPow
Seek personal power or institutional power.
They like to direct others and those who are focused make good managers.
Affiliate – nAff
The goal is to work harmoniously with others, to accept others and be accepted.
They are most comfortable conforming to the norm.
Application
To assist people connect with their work, and to arrange their work to meet their major needs.
The power need correlates to Theory #1’s driver, and the affiliation need to the amiable. The achievement need is the new addition focusing on high achievers and the need to be around like-minded people.
3. Motivation at Workplace: Theory #3 – Money as a De-Motivator
The clinical psychologist Frederick Herzberg was the pioneer of job enrichment.
He proposed the two-factor theory of job satisfaction, called the Motivation-Hygiene Theory. According to this theory, there are two factors that influence people.
Motivating Factors
- Responsibility
- Work
- Promotion
- Growth
- Recognition
- Achievement
Hygiene Factors
- Company policy & administration
- Pay & benefits
- Supervision
- Physical environment
- Job security
- Salary
- Status
- Relationships with co-workers
Application
To create an environment in which people will motivate themselves once their hygiene factors are taken care of.
If you do not take care of their motivator factors employees will become de-motivated. There is no need for an exceptional physical environment. Adequate will do – anything more will not increase employee motivation. Let the motivational factors work to benefit the company.
It’s here where the upside can be found, compared to the hygiene factors, which have a downside if not carried out well, but have no actual upside.
Workplace Motivational Theory – Summary
The simplicity of employee motivation can be seen here:
- You cannot motivate people.
- You can offer an environment where individuals are able to motivate themselves.
- Apply what you are aware of to strengthen individual work environments.
- Focus on intrinsic motivation factors.
- Work on building sold work relationships.