Employee Motivation

 

Employee Motivation

 Figure 1: Influenced by Employee Motivation (Koudelková & Milichovsk, 2015)

The motivation of employees is defined

Employee motivation is the everyday excitement, energy, inventiveness, and dedication that an employee contributes to the job (Shkoler & Kimura, 2020). Consequently, motivation is a psychological force capable of generating goal-directed thoughts and actions inside the human mind. An individual's motivation can be influenced by external or internal elements impacting the employee's psychology, which subsequently decides the intensity, direction, and persistence of the activities intended to attain the goals (Ahmad, 2021).

The importance of employee motivation

v  Increased innovation

The innovative capabilities of a business are significantly influenced by staff motivation. Innovation helps a firm become more sustainable, and engaging people to enhance their levels of creativity is crucial to this end (Koudelková & Milichovsk, 2015). The violation of a motivated staff will inspire them to generate new ideas and maximise corporate innovation. The vigour and zeal of active personnel will allow them to identify possible improvement areas that lead to unique ideas (Soleas, 2020).

v  High employee engagement

Employee engagement refers to the commitment employees demonstrate in performing their duties accurately. Once an employee is motivated, they will work harder to enhance their performance (Boye Kuranchie-Mensah & Amponsah-Tawiah, 2016). Joining a group of highly driven personnel raises the degree of involvement of newcomers, hence enhancing their dedication. Thus, motivated personnel may be an advantage to a firm, underscoring the need to retain their enthusiasm (Engidaw, 2021).

v  Highly efficient employees

Employee efficiency refers to the capacity to do a task correctly in less time. Compared to others, this personnel can complete more goals in the same amount of time. Motivated personnel are relatively more productive since they are enthusiastic about doing a good job (Saad, 2018). Reduced time and resource waste are other key consequences of higher staff productivity. Effective personnel demonstrate more productivity and contribute to the organisation's increased sales and profitability (Radha Yadav, 2018).

v  Decreases employee turnover rate

Employee turnover rate refers to the frequency with which another replaces one employee. Obviously, a high staff turnover rate is detrimental to a firm in terms of the time and money required to educate new personnel (Al-Suraihi et al., 2021). Motivated employees perceive the good impact their work has on the organisation and are motivated to continue contributing to the company's success because of this motivation. Motivation is essential to keep highly productive and experienced people in the company (Vnouková & Klupáková, 2013).

Additionally, employee motivation aids in (Deressa & Zeru, 2019):

 

ü  Changing negative attitudes to good attitudes

ü  Achieving organisational objectives

ü  Constructing a hospitable work environment

ü  Implementing modifications in the workplace

ü  Decrease employee absenteeism

ü  Enhancing relationships between managers and employees

ü  Enhancing the standard of work

ü  Strengthening client service

References

Ahmad, Prof. S. (2021). Motivation and Performance: A Psychological Process. International Journal of Business and Management Research, 9(2), 104–112. https://doi.org/10.37391/IJBMR.090201

Al-Suraihi, W. A., Samikon, S. A., Al-Suraihi, A.-H. A., & Ibrahim, I. (2021). Employee Turnover: Causes, Importance and Retention Strategies. European Journal of Business and Management Research, 6(3), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.24018/ejbmr.2021.6.3.893

Boye Kuranchie-Mensah, E., & Amponsah-Tawiah, K. (2016). Employee motivation and work performance: A comparative study of mining companies in Ghana. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management, 9(2), 255. https://doi.org/10.3926/jiem.1530

Deressa, A. T., & Zeru, G. (2019). Work motivation and its effects on organisational performance: the case of nurses in Hawassa public and private hospitals: Mixed method study approach. BMC Research Notes, 12(1), 213. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-019-4255-7

Engidaw, A. E. (2021). The effect of motivation on employee engagement in public sectors: in the case of North Wollo zone. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 10(1), 43. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-021-00185-1

Koudelková, P., & Milichovský, F. (2015). Successful innovation by motivation. Verslas: Teorija Ir Praktika, 16(3), 223–230. https://doi.org/10.3846/btp.2015.472

Radha Yadav. (2018). Employee Engagement uplifts the Revenue: An Evidence study. In Anil Kumar Sinha, Amiya Kumar Mohapatra, Sudhir Rana, & Avinash Kumar Shrivastava (Eds.), Advances in Management Research & Innovation (1st ed., pp. 92–105). Bloomsbury Publishing Pvt. Ltd.

Saad, D. D. M. Z. bin S. (2018). Impact of Employee Motivation on Work Performance. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications (IJSRP), 8(3). https://doi.org/10.29322/IJSRP.8.3.2018.p7544

Shkoler, O., & Kimura, T. (2020). How Does Work Motivation Impact Employees' Investment at Work and Their Job Engagement? A Moderated-Moderation Perspective Through an International Lens. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00038

Soleas, E. K. (2020). Leader strategies for motivating innovation in individuals: a systematic review. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 9(1), 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-020-00120-w

Vnoučková, L., & Klupáková, H. (2013). Impact of motivation principles on employee turnover. Ekonomická Revue - Central European Review of Economic Issues, 16(2), 79–92. https://doi.org/10.7327/cerei.2013.06.03

 

 

Theories regarding motivation

Theories regarding motivation

Motivation theories are several approaches to examining variables that inspire a person, whether for personal or professional reasons. Various theories of motivation have been suggested, and some of the more influential theories are presented here.

1.      Maslow's theory: The hierarchy of needs

Figure 1: The hierarchy of needs (Maslow, 1943)

Maslow's theory suggests that individuals desire to enhance the quality and quantity of life or career goals (Maslow, 1943). Their demands are grouped based on their relative importance. Therefore, based on this idea, work satisfaction depends on the employee's demands and the circumstances that provide them with an acceptable amount of satisfaction. The five phases of Maslow's hypothesis are based on humans' physical, biological, social, and psychological requirements (M. Badubi, 2017). These steps are represented in Figure 1.

Typically, the ordinary member of society or employee is only partially fulfilled with these desires. For instance, employees starting at the bottom of the organisational hierarchy will have their physiological requirements met. However, as individuals advance in their careers, their demands change and grow more sophisticated. As long as the employee's changing demands are addressed, he or she will be satisfied and driven. Thus, according to Maslow's theory, managers should endeavour to meet employees' unmet wants (Maslow, 1943). When the hierarchy of needs theory is applied to a business, it is evident that a favourable work environment must be developed for employees to realise their full potential.The inability to do so would result in poor job performance, decreased job satisfaction, and increased staff turnover (Steers and Porter, 1979).

2.      Vroom's expectancy theory

Figure 2: Vrooms' three factors of expectation (Vroom, 1994)

According to Vrooms' expectation theory, "choices among alternative courses of action are legally related to psychological events occurring contemporaneously with the behaviour" (Vroom, 1994). An employee's propensity to perform in a certain manner depends on the intensity of the expectation, which is influenced by the expected outcome and the employee's attraction to it (Robbins and Judge, 2013). For instance, management may request that an employee perform a marketing campaign in exchange for the anticipated wage raise. This theory states that an employee's behaviour is the product of choices made among available possibilities and is therefore related to the individual's psychology, namely the perception and creation of attitudes and beliefs (Kour, El-Den and Sriratanaviriyakul, 2019).

Vroom recognised three factors that motivate and guide conduct. These are namely valence, instrumentality, and anticipation. Valence may be described as the emotional orientations that individuals have toward outcomes. A result is regarded favourably valenced if the individual wishes it. Important to remember is that the valances of a work-related outcome are the employee's level of happiness with it, not its actual worth. The probability belief that ties one result to others is known as instrumentality. That is, the employee's inclination for one result depends on their view of how it influences other preferred outcomes. The expectation is a person's impression of whether or not a particular outcome is achievable.

3.      Equity theory

Equity theory is a process theory that examines how satisfaction is attained instead of what causes motivation (M. Badubi, 2017). According to the equity hypothesis, employees will evaluate the effort they put into their employment about the benefits they receive. Consequently, employees considering their work outcome more valuable than the labour required will experience job satisfaction. This belief is contingent on specific aspects of the work itself. For instance, working with precise tasks and a defined position will be more satisfying. Employees typically compare their input/outcome ratio to their coworkers to see whether the outputs are equitable (Robbins and Judge, 2013). They will lose motivation if they see a disparity between their inputs and outputs and those of other employees. Consider a diligent employee who is not receiving the compensation they deserve. Once this employee compares his rewards to those of other employees, he will inevitably feel demotivated. Therefore, equity theory says that workers are concerned not just with the compensation they receive but also with how their rewards compare to those of others. Employees can compare outcomes like compensation, status, promotions, etc., based on inputs, including effort, education, and experience. Individuals are motivated to achieve better because they seek justice and equality.

The philosophy of equity and justice articulated by J.S. Adams (1965) examines how individuals assess social trade connections. Inputs and outcomes are the fundamental components of this theory. In the workplace, people exchange their talents, experience, education, training, and effort for monetary compensation. The outcomes are the results of the transaction, which might include status, promotion, recognition, material advantages, and so on. Like the equity theory, Adam suggests that people create attitudes about fairness (or justice) that they deserve and perceive as equitable for their acts. Then, individuals would compare their outcomes to those of others and be inspired to take the required steps to merit a fair result. For a firm to keep its employees engaged, it is essential to design and implement fair and equitable compensation plans.

4.      McClelland's need theory

According to McClelland's need achievement theory, individuals are driven by their accomplishments instead of rewards (McClelland, 1961). For some employees, creating and accomplishing lofty objectives is their primary source of inspiration. They are motivated by the desire to achieve something better than anybody else has (Robbins and Judge, 2013). The idea of wants, as stated by McClelland is based on three needs: accomplishment, power, and affiliation (McClelland, 1961). The urge for achievement was defined as the desire to excel in a given work, meet specific criteria, and succeed in one's endeavours. The thirst for power was characterised as the desire to compel people to act in ways they would not have acted on their own. The need for positive interpersonal interactions and approval was identified as the urge for attachment. Individuals with a strong demand for connection spend more time cultivating social ties because they want to be loved and acknowledged. Due to their reluctance to make complex judgments for fear of provoking the ire of others, these individuals may not be suited for management positions (Kreitner and Kinicki, 2012). In contrast, those driven by a desire for power are motivated to train, influence, instruct, and motivate others. Those with a strong demand for power and a low need for affiliation are best fitted to be good managers (Kreitner and Kinicki, 2012).

5.      Motivator-hygiene theory

Motivator-Hygiene theory or Herzberg's Two-factor theory (Herzberg, Mausner, and Snyderman, 1959) was derived from a study conducted by accountants and engineers to determine the factors that cause an individual to feel good or bad about their career. According to Herzberg, five motivators contribute to job satisfaction: accomplishment, acknowledgement, the job itself, responsibility, and progress. In contrast, the hygiene elements, which include management style, corporate regulations, compensation, supervision, work relationships, and work environment, can demoralise people.

According to Herzberg, addressing the reasons for unhappiness through managing hygiene issues would not always lead to contentment. Instead, it would produce a condition devoid of happiness or discontent. Motivators are required for satisfaction and, subsequently, motivation to occur. This notion suggested that work should be reformed to provide more incredible difficulty, greater responsibility, progression prospects, opportunities for personal growth, and acknowledgement. Since the elements that contribute to discontent are separate from those that contribute to satisfaction, eliminating the ones that contribute to dissatisfaction would only result in serenity, not motivation. Changing the company's policies, for instance, would prevent employees from being pleased but would not motivate them. Managers need to add motivational variables such as material rewards to stimulate motivation. Therefore, both sorts of issues require consideration. It has been suggested that vertically loading jobs or giving workers more responsibility would result in more motivation than horizontally loading them with duties of comparable complexity. Herzberg outlined seven universal principles applicable to vertical loading (Herzberg, 1976). These are shown in the table below:

Principle	Motivators involved
Eliminating specific controls while preserving accountability	Responsibility and personal achievement
Increasing the accountability of people for their job	Responsibility and recognition
Providing a person with a whole unit of natural work (module, division, area, and so on)	Responsibility, achievement, and recognition
Increasing an employee's power over one's activities, employment freedom	Responsibility, achievement, and recognition
Making periodic reports immediately accessible to the employee as opposed to the supervisor. supervisor	Internal recognition
Introduce previously unaddressed new and more challenging responsibilities	Growth and learning
Assigning individuals specific or specialised tasks, enabling them to become experts	Responsibility, growth, and advancement

Table 1: Principles used to assign extra liability (Herzberg, 1976)

References

Adams, J. S. (1965)' Inequity In Social Exchange', in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, pp. 267–299. doi: 10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60108-2.

Herzberg, F. (1976) 'One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees?', in Job Satisfaction — A Reader. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 17–32. doi: 10.1007/978-1-349-02701-9_2.

Herzberg, F., Mausner, B. and Snyderman, B. (1959) The motivation to work. 2nd edn. John Wiley.

Kour, J., El-Den, J. and Sriratanaviriyakul, N. (2019) 'The Role of Positive Psychology in Improving Employees' Performance and Organizational Productivity: An Experimental Study', Procedia Computer Science, 161, pp. 226–232. doi: 10.1016/j.procs.2019.11.118.

Kreitner, R. and Kinicki, A. (2012) Organizational Behavior. 10th edn. McGraw-Hill Education.

M. Badubi, R. (2017) 'Theories of Motivation and Their Application in Organisations: A Risk Analysis', INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, 3(3), pp. 44–51. doi: 10.18775/ijied.1849-7551-7020.2015.33.2004.

Maslow, A. H. (1943) 'A theory of human motivation.', Psychological Review, 50(4), pp. 370–396. doi: 10.1037/h0054346.

McClelland, D. C. (1961) The achieving society. New York: Van Nostrand.

Robbins, S. P. and Judge, T. A. (2013) Organisational behavior. 15th edn. Edited by S. Yagan. Pearson Education, Inc.

Steers, R. M. and Porter, L. W. (1979) Motivation and Work Behavior. 7th edn. Edited by Lyman W. Porter, Gregory A. Bigley, and Richard M. Steers. McGraw-Hill.

Vroom, V. H. (1994) Work and Motivation. 1st edn. Jossey-Bass.

 

Types of motivation

 

Types of motivation

According to the notion of self-determination, people have three primary desires: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Autonomy refers to the urge to feel in control of one's activities and goals. Competence is the requirement to acquire proficiency in various jobs and talents. When employees are sure they have the necessary abilities and expertise to complete a task, they will take the initiative. Relatedness is belonging to a group that recognises and cares for the employee. (Li et al., 2021)

Based on the self-determination theory, Ryan and Deci's (Ryan & Deci, 2000) theory defines three motivation types: amotivation (insufficient drive), extrinsic motivation, and intrinsic motivation, as well as six regulatory styles' Intrinsic motivation is the motivation that is governed by intrinsic elements, such as personal interest, whereas amotivation is the absence of any motivation without regulation. Extrinsic motivation depends on extrinsic influences and is governed by four regulatory elements: extrinsic, introjected, identifiable, and integrated. Values and objectives must be internalised and incorporated to transition from external to integrated regulation. These are fostered by autonomy, proficiency, and relatedness (Cook & Artino, 2016).

Figure 1: Theory of self-determination and motivation (Cook & Artino, 2016) 

Extrinsic motivation

Extrinsic motivation refers to motivation that arises from the employee's external environment. They might be monetary or physical advantages that drive the worker to perform better. These may include bonuses, salary increases, promotions, company-paid vacations, outings, etc (Choi & Presslee, 2022). Extrinsic incentive elements may also include intangible rewards such as praise, recognition, performance evaluation, and induction into a hall of fame (Fischer et al., 2019). The manager and not the employee often determine the extrinsic rewards.

Employees who are externally motivated perform their duties to get a reward. In this sense, individuals work well not out of a desire to assist the business or for job pleasure but to get some cash recompense. Occasionally, extrinsic motivating elements might have a negative impact on an employee's inventiveness (Cooper & Jayatilaka, 2006). It is often believed that employees in lower-level jobs of a corporation perform better when supplied with extrinsic motivators such as a higher income and incentives (Turner, 2017).

Intrinsic motivation

Extrinsic motivation is based on materialistic factors, whereas intrinsic motivation is based on psychological factors (Ali et al., 2022). Intrinsic motivation is associated with personal fulfilment and the desire to do well at one's profession (di Domenico & Ryan, 2017). According to experts, intrinsic motivation is more effective than extrinsic motivation since the drive from within the individual causes them to appreciate their work (Abels et al., 2016).

Diverse sources of intrinsic motivation exist. They may include a desire to satisfy superiors, stand out among peers, improve a specific talent, etc. (Manzoor et al., 2021). Intrinsically motivated employees try to improve themselves, leading to excellent performance and efficiency.

Therefore, intrinsic incentives are psychological and generate favourable emotional responses to work while encouraging beneficial behavioural changes among employees (Manzoor et al., 2021).

Other types of motivation

Other motivation classifications exist besides extrinsic and intrinsic motivation (Jain et al., 2019).

ü  Positive motivation

Positive motivation pushes the employee to perform more challenges to get monetary or non-monetary positive incentives.

ü  Negative motivation

Negative motivation instils in the employee a sense of dread that they will be punished if they do poorly. Negative motivation is discouraged in the workplace since it is detrimental to the employees' mental health and the organisation's long-term success.

ü  Reward-based/ Incentive motivation

This is a positive motivation in which the employee aspires to work hard to receive a reward that is often of a materialistic character. This type of incentive is extrinsic.

ü  Fear-based motivation

Although fear-based motivation is not recommended, it instils a sense of duty and responsibility in the employee. Fear of failing bosses and coworkers may sometimes serve as a motivator for employees. Externally taught extrinsic motivation is fear-based motivation.

ü  Power-based motivation

Power-based motivation is an extrinsic style of motivation that is most appropriate for those driven to perform better when they have greater power. For instance, the commitment to lead subordinates and team members motivate a team leader to improve their performance. The urge to exercise control over others is also an example of power-based motivation.

ü  Achievement-based motivation

Achievement-based motivation is most effective for individuals that desire to make their presence known inside the firm by attaining titles and higher positions. Achievement-based motivation is intrinsic since it originates from inside the individual.

ü  Competence motivation

This internal motivation is formed by the desire to improve one's competence and expertise, resulting in a feeling of fulfilment.

ü  Attitude motivation

Attitude motivation is a sort of intrinsic motivation that is driven by the desire to accomplish something good or perform better. This can be a sensation within a person that compels them to correct something when they observe a flaw or defect or to assist another person in need. Employees' attitudes and motivations rely on their culture, education, and personality.

ü  Affiliate motivation

Affiliate motivation is an intrinsic motivation technique based on the employee's desire to belong to and be accepted by a group. This desire motivates people to improve their performance and get the respect of their peers.

References

Abels, E., Howarth, L., & Smith, L. (2016). Envisioning Our Information Future and How to Educate for It. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science Online, 57(2), 84–93. https://doi.org/10.12783/issn.2328-2967/57/2/1

Ali, A., Abbas, S. F., Khattak, M. S., Arfeen, M. I., Ishaque Chaudhary, M. A., & Yousaf, L. (2022). Mediating role of employees' intrinsic motivation and psychological safety in the relationship between abusive supervision and innovative behaviour: An empirical test in IT sector of Pakistan. Cogent Business & Management, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2039087

Choi, J. (Willie), & Presslee, A. (2022). When and why tangible rewards can motivate greater effort than cash rewards: An analysis of four attribute differences. Accounting, Organisations and Society, 101389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2022.101389

Cook, D. A., & Artino, A. R. (2016). Motivation to learn: an overview of contemporary theories. Medical Education, 50(10), 997–1014. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.13074

Cooper, R. B., & Jayatilaka, B. (2006). Group Creativity: The Effects of Extrinsic, Intrinsic, and Obligation Motivations. Creativity Research Journal, 18(2), 153–172. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326934crj1802_3

Fischer, C., Malycha, C. P., & Schafmann, E. (2019). The Influence of Intrinsic Motivation and Synergistic Extrinsic Motivators on Creativity and Innovation. Frontiers in Psychology, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00137

Jain, A., Gupta, B., & Bindal, M. (2019). A Study of Employee Motivation in Organization. International Journal of Engineering and Management Research, 09(06), 65–68. https://doi.org/10.31033/ijemr.9.6.11

Li, Z., Yang, Y., Zhang, X., & Lyu, Z. (2021). Impact of Future Work Self on Employee Workplace Wellbeing: A Self-Determination Perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.656874

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions and New Directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54–67. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.1020

Turner, A. (2017). How does intrinsic and extrinsic motivation drive performance culture in organisations? Cogent Education, 4(1), 1337543. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2017.1337543