2014

Factors Affecting Employee Motivation

Increase Employee Performance by Harnessing the Power of Motivation

Employee motivation and productivity can be enhanced and improved by creating a work environment that maximizes the factors that affect performance. These factors are simple to understand, easy to measure, and can add tremendous value to any organization that is willing to implement them. Use these 10 tips to make sure that your employees are energized and inspired to produce the best results possible.

1. Interesting Work

Intrinsic motivation comes from the shear joy and pleasure of doing a task. When you read a great book, no one has to pay for each page you read. It is a pleasure to learn how the story unfolds and watch the plot develop. It is the same way with employee motivation. To maximize employee performance, find out what employees like about their jobs and then try to add more tasks that align with their own natural interests and talents.

2. Appreciation & Recognition

William James said, "The deepest desire in human nature is to be appreciated." It does not matter how much you pay someone, everyone want to know that their efforts are being seen and appreciated, especially by their manager. Don't just send them a thank you e-mail - that just means you care enough to hit the "Enter" key. If you really want to thank someone buy them a real "Thank You" card and describe how their behavior and performance has added value to the team and organization. Make it a point to catch people doing things right and they will inevitably do things right more often.

3. Feeling Involved In the Work Process

Research shows that when people get to participate in creating a system or process, they are much more likely to follow it than one simply imposed upon them by an outside expert. Recognize that the people doing the job have the knowledge of how things can be done better, faster, and cheaper. If you want them to tell you, then make it easy for them to offer suggestions and reward employees who contribute ideas that add value to the bottom line.

4. Achievement

Napoleon once remarked, "It is amazing how willing men are to risk their lives for a little bit of tin and ribbon to wear upon their chest." Awards and prizes can serve as a great motivator to harness the power of healthy competition. It is always better to use rewards that are meaningful and inspiring. When an employee exceeds your expectations, then make sure you recognize their achievement. On the day someone retires, they will pack up these awards and prizes to serve as fond reminders of a wonderful career.

5. Job Security

If everybody had what it takes to be an entrepreneur, then there would be no General Electric or Toyota and we would all be buying products from artisans and craftworkers. Thankfully, many people prefer to be part of a large organization and can be more productive when they get to focus on doing their job instead of worrying about developing a business plan or marketing strategy. Telling people that they are lucky to have a job creates an atmosphere of fear and worry that decreases job performance. Instead, tell your employees that the company is lucky to have such a skilled and committed workforce and people will take pride in their work and their company.

6. Increased Responsibility

We all know that some employees lack ambition and have no desire to advance on the job, but the vast majority of workers want a chance to take on more responsibility and add more value to the organization. Always be aware of opportunities for training that will equip your employees with the skills and tools they will need to advance in their career. Always try to fill open positions with internal applicants before looking for an outside candidate. This will create a culture of career development and preserve institutional memory and organizational knowledge so that it can be transferred to rising employees as they advance in their own career.

7. Good Wages

Robert Bosch, founder of the world's largest automobile parts supplier, said, "I do not pay good wages because I have a lot of money; I have a lot of money because I pay good wages." If you want motivated, high productive employees you have to pay such people according to their ability and performance. Good employees are motivated by more than just good wages, but never allow low wages to be the wedge a competitor can use to steal away your best people.

8. Good Working Conditions

If you want to get the most out of people you need to create an environment that facilitates success. At the minimum, you must offer a safe, clean, and sanitary work site. To get the most out of employees, help them take pride in their workspace, even if it is only a cubicle or workstation. Allow people to personalize their own work sites with photos or small trinkets so they will feel like they have a place that belongs solely to them.

9. Being Part of a Team

Being part of a dysfunctional team is an emotionally draining experience that results in low morale, low productivity, and high turnover. The great coach, Vince Lombardi, once remarked, "Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work." We are all social beings and we all want to be part of a healthy team where we can give and receive support, help, and encouragement. Organizations can harness this natural human desire by aligning employee efforts to achieve goals that are mutually beneficial to both the organization and its employees.

10. Help with Personal Problems

How many times have you heard about a bad boss who told their employees to leave their problems at the door so they could focus on their job? Unfortunately, they probably left their motivation and productivity at the door as well. Smart managers know that it is not their job to be a counselor or therapist, but it is there job to recognize when one of their employees is having personal problems that are affecting their job performance. They need to have open lines of honest communication so that employees can feel encouraged to ask for help and then be directed to their Human Resources Department or their Employee Assistance Programs.

Source:http://ezinearticles.com/?Employee-Motivation---10-Tips-to-Boost-Job-Performance&id=1011144

Leads to stability of work force 1

Stability of workforce is very important from the point of view of reputation and goodwill of a concern. The employees can remain loyal to the enterprise only when they have a feeling of participation in the management. The skills and efficiency of employees will always be of advantage to employees as well as employees. This will lead to a good public image in the market which will attract competent and qualified people into a concern. As it is said, “Old is gold” which suffices with the role of motivation here, the older the people, more the experience and their adjustment into a concern which can be of benefit to the enterprise.

Builds friendly relationship 2

In order to build a cordial, friendly atmosphere in a concern, the above steps should be taken by a manager. This would help in:

Effective co-operation which brings stability,
Industrial dispute and unrest in employees will reduce,
The employees will be adaptable to the changes and there will be no resistance to the change,
This will help in providing a smooth and sound concern in which individual interests will coincide with the organizational interests,
This will result in profit maximization through increased productivity.

Builds friendly relationship 1

Motivation is an important factor which brings employees satisfaction. This can be done by keeping into mind and framing an incentive plan for the benefit of the employees. This could initiate the following things:

Monetary and non-monetary incentives,
Promotion opportunities for employees,
Disincentives for inefficient employees.

Leads to achievement of organizational goals

The goals of an enterprise can be achieved only when the following factors take place :-

There is best possible utilization of resources,
There is a co-operative work environment,
The employees are goal-directed and they act in a purposive manner,
Goals can be achieved if co-ordination and co-operation takes place simultaneously which can be effectively done through motivation.

Improves level of efficiency of employees

The level of a subordinate or a employee does not only depend upon his qualifications and abilities. For getting best of his work performance, the gap between ability and willingness has to be filled which helps in improving the level of performance of subordinates. This will result into-

Increase in productivity,
Reducing cost of operations, and
Improving overall efficiency.

Importance of Motivation 1

Puts human resources into action

Every concern requires physical, financial and human resources to accomplish the goals. It is through motivation that the human resources can be utilized by making full use of it. This can be done by building willingness in employees to work. This will help the enterprise in securing best possible utilization of resources.

Negative incentives

Negative incentives are those whose purpose is to correct the mistakes or defaults of employees. The purpose is to rectify mistakes in order to get effective results. Negative incentive is generally resorted to when positive incentive does not works and a psychological set back has to be given to employees. It is negative by nature. For example- demotion, transfer, fines, penalties.

Positive Incentives

Positive incentives are those incentives which provide a positive assurance for fulfilling the needs and wants. Positive incentives generally have an optimistic attitude behind and they are generally given to satisfy the psychological requirements of employees. For example-promotion, praise, recognition, perks and allowances, etc. It is positive by nature.

Motivation Incentives - Incentives to motivate employees 8

Promotion opportunities- Promotion is an effective tool to increase the spirit to work in a concern. If the employees are provided opportunities for the advancement and growth, they feel satisfied and contented and they become more committed to the organization.

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Job enrichment- Job enrichment is another non- monetary incentive in which the job of a worker can be enriched. This can be done by increasing his responsibilities, giving him an important designation, increasing the content and nature of the work. This way efficient worker can get challenging jobs in which they can prove their worth. This also helps in the greatest motivation of the efficient employees.

Motivation Incentives - Incentives to motivate employees 6

Suggestion scheme- The organization should look forward to taking suggestions and inviting suggestion schemes from the subordinates. This inculcates a spirit of participation in the employees. This can be done by publishing various articles written by employees to improve the work environment which can be published in various magazines of the company. This also is helpful to motivate the employees to feel important and they can also be in search for innovative methods which can be applied for better work methods. This ultimately helps in growing a concern and adapting new methods of operations.

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Praise or recognition- The praise or recognition is another non- financial incentive which satisfies the ego needs of the employees. Sometimes praise becomes more effective than any other incentive. The employees will respond more to praise and try to give the best of their abilities to a concern.

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Non-monetary incentives- Besides the monetary incentives, there are certain non-financial incentives which can satisfy the ego and self- actualization needs of employees. The incentives which cannot be measured in terms of money are under the category of “Non- monetary incentives”. Whenever a manager has to satisfy the psychological needs of the subordinates, he makes use of non-financial incentives. Non- financial incentives can be of the following types:-

Security of service- Job security is an incentive which provides great motivation to employees. If his job is secured, he will put maximum efforts to achieve the objectives of the enterprise. This also helps since he is very far off from mental tension and he can give his best to the enterprise.

Motivation Incentives - Incentives to motivate employees 3

Therefore, management has to offer the following two categories of incentives to motivate employees:

Monetary incentives- Those incentives which satisfy the subordinates by providing them rewards in terms of rupees. Money has been recognized as a chief source of satisfying the needs of people. Money is also helpful to satisfy the social needs by possessing various material items. Therefore, money not only satisfies psychological needs but also the security and social needs. Therefore, in many factories, various wage plans and bonus schemes are introduced to motivate and stimulate the people to work.

Motivation Incentives - Incentives to motivate employees 2

This will include job satisfaction, job security, job promotion, and pride for accomplishment. Therefore, incentives really can sometimes work to accomplish the goals of a concern. The need of incentives can be many:-

To increase productivity,
To drive or arouse a stimulus work,
To enhance commitment in work performance,
To psychologically satisfy a person which leads to job satisfaction,
To shape the behavior or outlook of subordinate towards work,
To inculcate zeal and enthusiasm towards work,
To get the maximum of their capabilities so that they are exploited and utilized maximally.

Motivation Incentives - Incentives to motivate employees 1

Incentive is an act or promise for greater action. It is also called as a stimulus to greater action. Incentives are something which are given in addition to wagers. It means additional remuneration or benefit to an employee in recognition of achievement or better work. Incentives provide a spur or zeal in the employees for better performance. It is a natural thing that nobody acts without a purpose behind. Therefore, a hope for a reward is a powerful incentive to motivate employees. Besides monetary incentive, there are some other stimuli which can drive a person to better.

Employee motivation

Motivation can be defined as "the complex forces, needs, drives, tension states, or other mechanisms within us that will create and maintain voluntary activity directed toward the achievement of personal goals". Employee motivation can be defined as "psychological forces that determine the direction of a person's behavior in an organization, a person's level of effort and a person's level of persistence". It is important to understand that employee motivation is a separate and distinct topic apart from motivation. Vast articles and studies exist on this topic indicating the level of importance employee motivation has in business success. A study conducted by the District Chief of the Tulsa, Oklahoma Fire Department concluded that morale does, in fact, have a direct impact on employee productivity. Employers who understand the theories of motivation have a greater ability to understand what motivates employees, to boost employee morale and thus obtain the advantage of greater organizational productivity. Various studies on motivational techniques have proven the effectiveness of job design, rewards, employee participation, and quality-of-work-life programs on employee motivation.

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employee_motivation