Reliability (CR)
Discriminant validity—Fornell and Larcker’s criterion.
Work Motivation | Social Relatedness | |
---|---|---|
Work motivation | 0.657 | |
Social relatedness | 0.012 * | 0.636 |
* p < 0.05.
HLM results: (The DV is work motivation) a,b .
Model 1 | Model 2 | Model 3 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coefficient | SE | Coefficient | SE | Coefficient | SE | ||||
−0.063 | 0.006 | *** | −0.063 | 0.006 | *** | −0.063 | 0.006 | *** | |
0.036 | 0.005 | *** | 0.037 | 0.005 | *** | 0.036 | 0.005 | *** | |
0.042 | 0.006 | *** | 0.042 | 0.006 | *** | 0.042 | 0.006 | *** | |
0.010 | 0.061 | 0.007 | 0.062 | ||||||
−0.064 | 0.054 | −0.064 | 0.055 | ||||||
0.019 | 0.059 | 0.033 | 0.060 | ||||||
0.297 | 0.066 | *** | 0.288 | 0.067 | *** | ||||
−0.013 | 0.007 | † | |||||||
−0.000 | 0.006 | ||||||||
0.032 | 0.007 | *** | |||||||
0.042 | 0.007 | *** | |||||||
−0.009 | 0.007 | ||||||||
0.012 | 0.006 | * | |||||||
0.012 | 0.006 | † | |||||||
0.011 | 0.007 | ||||||||
−0.006 | 0.009 | ||||||||
−0.013 | 0.008 | ||||||||
0.019 | 0.007 | ** | |||||||
−0.020 | 0.008 | * | |||||||
0.067 | 0.005 | *** | 0.067 | 0.005 | *** | 0.068 | 0.005 | *** | |
0.011 | 0.006 | * | 0.011 | 0.005 | * | 0.013 | 0.006 | * | |
0.025 | 0.006 | *** | 0.026 | 0.006 | *** | 0.027 | 0.006 | *** | |
0.002 | 0.006 | 0.002 | 0.006 | 0.003 | 0.006 | ||||
−0.014 | 0.079 | −0.054 | 0.056 | −0.052 | 0.057 | ||||
−0.218 | 0.080 | * | −0.067 | 0.062 | −0.077 | 0.062 |
a , n = 32,614 level 1; n = 25, level 2. b , †, p < 0.10, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001.
For the confirmatory factor analysis, previous research (e.g., [ 102 , 103 , 104 ]) suggested that analysis of each variable requires at least three items. Factor analysis using statistical software will provide imprecise results if there are fewer than three items per variable [ 105 ]. Therefore, the authors only performed Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) for social relatedness and work motivation.
To assess the measurement, convergent and discriminant validity were tested. Composite Reliability (CR) and Average Variance Extracted (AVE) were performed to illustrate convergent validity. The study of Hair et al. (2019) [ 106 ] suggested that CR is required to be above a threshold of 0.7. On the other hand, the AVE value should be higher than a threshold of 0.5 [ 107 ]. As shown in Table 3 , CR is acceptable while AVE is slightly lower than a threshold of 0.5. Despite the limitation of AVE, the acceptable result of the discriminant validity is achieved. The discriminant validity was tested using Fornell and Larcker (1981)’s criterion [ 107 ]. This proposes that the square root of the AVE of any latent variable should be higher than its correlation with any other construct. The result of the discriminant validity test indicates that all the two latent constructs have a square root of AVE higher than its correlation with the other construct, as presented in Table 4 .
The authors argued that individuals’ competence (H1), autonomy (H2), and social relatedness (H3) positively relate to their work motivation. However, the findings only supported H2 (β2 = 0.036, p < 0.001) and H3 (β3 = 0.042, p < 0.001). In contrast, the findings presented that H1 was also significant, but in the opposite direction compared with our original prediction. The result suggests that individuals’ competence negatively relates to their work motivation.
In Hypotheses 4a–d, we proposed that higher levels of religious affiliation (4a), political participation (4b), humane orientation (4c), and in-group collectivism (4d) strengthen the relationship described in H1. However, the results only demonstrated support for the two hypotheses, H4c (γ13 = 0.032, p < 0.001) and H4d (γ14 = 0.042, p < 0.001). In contrast, the findings presented that H4a was also significant, but opposite our initial prediction. This different result proposes that a higher level of religious affiliation weakens the association between individuals’ competence and work motivation.
In Hypotheses 5a–d, the authors argued that the higher levels of religious affiliation (5a), political participation (5b), humane orientation (5c), and in-group collectivism (5d) enhance the positive relationship between individuals’ autonomy and their work motivation. However, the results only supported the two hypotheses H5b (γ22 = 0.012, p < 0.05) and H5c (γ23 = 0.012, p < 0.1), while H5a and H5d were not significant.
In Hypotheses 6a–d, the authors argued that the higher levels of religious affiliation (6a), political participation (6b), humane orientation (6c), and in-group collectivism (6d) enhance the positive relationship between individuals’ social relatedness and their work motivation. However, the results only supported H6c (γ33 = 0.019, p < 0.01). In contrast, the findings indicated that H6d was also significant, but in the opposite direction compared to our initial hypothesis. The different result suggests that higher in-group collectivism weakens the positive association between individuals’ social relatedness and work motivation. Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 5 represent the significant moderators of the associations examined.
The association between competence and work motivation at different levels of humane orientation.
The association between competence and work motivation at different levels of in-group collectivism.
The association between autonomy and work motivation at different levels of political participation.
The association between autonomy and work motivation at different levels of humane orientation.
The association between social relatedness and work motivation at different levels of humane orientation.
Regarding the statistical results of the control variables, gender, marital status, and age consistently indicated significant positive relationships with work motivation across three models. On the other hand, family strength indicated a significant negative association to work motivation only in Model 1.
The study’s objective was to examine the influence of individuals’ competence, autonomy, and social relatedness on their work motivation, as well as the impact of country-level moderators, including religious affiliation, political participation, humane orientation, and in-group collectivism on their relationships. Seven primary findings are crucial in this research. First, people’s autonomy and social relatedness positively relate to their work motivation. This result is in line with the findings of prior researchers (e.g., [ 45 , 52 ]), postulating that humans’ autonomy and social relatedness breeds work motivation. The study of Theurer et al. (2018) [ 108 ] argued that, among motivational elements, autonomy had been found to greatly predict positive work motivation. When people feel they have enough control over their activities, they are more confident and motivated to work. Along with autonomy, humans’ social relatedness promotes communal benefits, thereby motivating people to work harder for their organization. Second, the association between individual competence and work motivation is moderated by cultural values, including humane orientation and in-group collectivism. The findings are consistent with the viewpoints of prior researchers (e.g., [ 69 , 70 , 77 , 78 ]), namely that a society with higher levels of humane orientation and in-group collectivism strengthens altruism, solidarity, loyalty, and the encouragement of individuals, which results in work motivation. Consequently, there will be an increase in the differences in individuals’ competence and work motivation if they live in a society with greater humane orientation and in-group collectivism. Third, political participation and humane orientation moderate the relationship between individual autonomy and work motivation. These results are in line with the investigations of prior researchers (e.g., [18,45), which found that social circumstances and cultural practices promote people’s motivation. Accordingly, the differences in individuals’ autonomy based on their work motivation will be enhanced if they belong to nations with higher political participation and humane orientation. Fourth, the association between social relatedness and work motivation is moderated by humane orientation. Accordingly, in a humane-oriented society, the differences in individuals’ social relatedness based on their work motivation will be strengthened.
The remaining findings were contrary to the original propositions. Pinder (2014) [ 20 ] argued that it is possible to find that contextual practices can influence variables at the individual level in the opposite prediction in motivation research. Fifth, individuals’ competence negatively influences their work motivation. This finding proposes that more competent individuals are less motivated at work. One possible interpretation of this opposite result is that, when the majority of the organization members recognize individuals’ competence, these individuals may perceive that it is not necessary to devote most of their time and energy to work anymore. These individuals may believe that no matter how unwillingly they perform, they are still competent enough because of their prior achievements. Additionally, competent individuals recognize that they have already sacrificed their enjoyment of life for their previous successes; therefore, they tend to offset this by investing their valuable time in other aspects. This is consistent with other researchers’ investigations (e.g., [ 109 ]), which found that low-skilled individuals are more often compelled to engage in regular work activities and are more easily motivated than others. By contrast, highly competent individuals tend to be motivated by challenging tasks and improving themselves through further education. Sixth, the relationship between competence and work motivation is negatively moderated by religious affiliation. This finding suggests that religious affiliation weakens the association between individuals’ competence and work motivation. One possible explanation for this finding is that strong religious beliefs are the foundation for virtuous living [ 110 ]. Individuals with religious affiliation usually employ religious principles to guide their behavior, regardless of their competence. In other words, both competent and incompetent individuals tend to be more motivated at the workplace if they are affiliated with any religion, thereby diminishing the influence of competence in work motivation. Seventh, the relationship between social relatedness and work motivation is negatively moderated by in-group collectivism. This result proposes that a higher degree of in-group collectivism weakens the association between individuals’ social relatedness and work motivation. One possible explanation for this is that, under an in-group collective society, people put more weight on mutual relationships and encourage acts that may build up the solidarity of groups. Since in-group collectivism is viewed as a social attachment in which people emphasize the group over the self (e.g., [ 79 , 80 , 81 ]), individuals are fairly conscious of their responsibility to the group regardless of their social relatedness. Both socially related and unrelated individuals belonging to in-group collective cultures tend to work harder for common goals. Accordingly, the influence of individuals’ social relatedness on their work motivation is reduced.
Despite its significant contributions, this study has its limitations. The use of secondary data represents the fact that the data collection process was beyond the authors’ control. However, the collection of cross-national data is time-consuming and costly. The authors used the available data but strove for the efficient use of multilevel data. The secondary data also limited the measurement of individual-level factors based on the available data. Moreover, it is quite complex to gauge an individual’s work motivation appropriately, since personal work motivation may not be one-dimensional. Nevertheless, the authors made efforts to employ the measurements utilized by prior research. Moreover, it is complicated to measure social factors such as political participation. There are challenges in investigating social contexts due to the absence of direct measurements [ 111 ]. This compels the authors to identify substitute measurements for this study. Finally, this study covered 25 samples from 25 countries with different characteristics. Despite the attempt of this study to include the most relevant social conditions in the framework, the influence of other national differences and cultural sensitivities were not considered.
This paper directs further research considering that several frameworks and approaches should be employed to better examine motivation [ 112 ]. First, as some of the results were opposite to the original propositions based on the theoretical foundations employed, combining different concepts and approaches is necessary to enhance perspectives of psychological needs and social issues. For instance, the relationship between competence and work motivation can be further investigated by employing other theories to understand their association better. Similarly, the moderating effects of social contexts such as religious affiliation and in-group collectivism should be further examined to obtain a more in-depth comprehension of the roles of contextual circumstances and cultural values in individual-level relationships. Additionally, self-determination theory and the concept of prosocial motivation may be used to explore motivation towards specific behavior in organizations, such as organizational citizenship and proactive behaviors. Organizational context, such as rewards, training, and culture, can be considered as part of the framework to enhance the conception of work motivation.
This study has utilized a multilevel framework to examine the influence of psychological needs and social context on work motivation. Through this research, a deeper understanding of the roles of competence, autonomy, and social relatedness, as well as social situations and cultural values on work motivation, is achieved. The contrary findings call for integrating other concepts and approaches towards a more comprehensive knowledge of work motivation.
Along with the theoretical contribution, the study’s findings offer practical implications. The satisfaction of psychological needs promotes self-motivation, which creates positive outcomes. Hence, organizations can provide programs and activities to promote employees’ autonomy and social relatedness as this will enhance their work motivation. Employee empowerment can be advocated by encouraging them to make their own decisions at the workplace, providing constructive criticisms rather than instilling the fear of failure. Additionally, managers should encourage solidarity, support, and mutual care among employees. Putting more weight on employees’ fulfillment of needs will further increase employees’ motivation, thereby diminishing costs related to stress or turnover [ 50 ]. To establish a novel mechanism towards promoting work motivation in the entire nation, the government should pay attention to the political structure and conditions that encourage citizens’ participation. Additionally, a culture of humane orientation should be promoted in the workplace and society so that solidarity, kind assistance, and altruism among communities as well as among individuals can be strengthened. For instance, teamwork should be encouraged for employees to help each other overcome difficulties at the workplace or share responsibilities with their colleagues. This will motivate people to work harder for collective goals, contributing to the development of organizations.
Conceptualization, T.T.D.V. and K.V.T.; data collection, T.T.D.V.; methodology, T.T.D.V. and K.V.T.; formal analysis, T.T.D.V. and K.V.T.; resources, K.V.T. and C.-W.C.; writing-original draft, T.T.D.V. and K.V.T.; writing-review, editing & proofreading, T.T.D.V., K.V.T. and C.-W.C.; visualization, K.V.T.; supervision, K.V.T. and C.-W.C.; project administration, K.V.T. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
This paper does not receive funding from any individuals or organizations.
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Data availability statement, conflicts of interest.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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Psychologists are expanding their efforts to get research on what motivates people at work to employers at a time when the workplace is changing dramatically
Vol. 52 No. 7 Print version: page 52
The upheaval of the working world since March 2020 has no precedent in living memory. Some people went home for what they thought would be weeks, only to still be working from home more than a year and a half later. Others were left to struggle through enormous stresses in front-line occupations. It was, in short, a tough year for workplace motivation.
Yet psychological research suggests that there are ways businesses can support their employees moving forward even as the pandemic slips into a new phase of uncertainty. Much of this work comes from decades of research on the impacts of stress in the workplace and how job pressures influence motivation, said James Diefendorff, PhD, an industrial and organizational (I/O) psychologist at the University of Akron.
“Those demands consume regulatory resources, lead to faster emotional exhaustion and depletion, and require more opportunities for replenishment,” Diefendorff said. “It’s just amped up in the context of working under the various additional stressors and demands that the pandemic has introduced.”
One of the key findings from I/O psychology over the past several decades is that not all workplace stresses are created equal. Some stressors are hindrances, which are things outside of an employee’s control that feel like barriers to performance: red tape, lack of resources, conflicting goals. Others are challenges, which feel like tasks that a person can overcome while growing and improving. An example of a challenge stressor might be learning a new skill to take on a new job responsibility. A meta-analysis led by Jeffery LePine, PhD, a researcher in organizational behavior at Arizona State University, found that while hindrance stressors crush motivation, challenge stressors actually boost it ( Academy of Management Journal , Vol. 48, No. 5, 2005 ). Research further suggests that people find challenge stressors motivating because they expect that if they put the work in, they can achieve an outcome they value. Hindrance stressors, on the other hand, feel insurmountable—no matter how hard you work, a satisfactory result is out of reach.
Many of the stressors introduced by COVID-19 were hindrance stressors, said Thomas Britt, PhD, an I/O psychologist at Clemson University. This was particularly true in health care, where limited personal protective equipment early in the pandemic put workers at risk. Hindrance stressors also abounded in other professions, such as in education, where teachers had to try to teach in far-from-ideal remote-learning circumstances.
The impact of the pandemic on workers is also clear through the lens of self-determination theory , a framework for understanding motivation developed by psychologists Richard Ryan, PhD, a professor at Australian Catholic University, and Edward Deci, PhD, a professor emeritus at the University of Rochester. Research into self-determination theory finds that three main psychological needs support optimal motivation: autonomy, competence, and relatedness ( Annual Reviews of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior , Vol. 4, 2017 ). The pandemic has been a disaster for all three, said Susan Fowler, a San Diego–based motivation consultant who uses self-determination theory as the basis for her work. Suddenly, many workers were being told they had no choice but to stay home, Fowler said. They were being asked to do things that made them feel bumbling and helpless, such as interacting solely via Zoom. And the necessity of social distancing meant they were often isolated from their colleagues.
At the same time, working from home reduced hindrance stressors—such as commutes—for some workers. Researchers, clinicians, and coaches alike are now tapping into basic research to show people how to connect with their own motivation and goals, especially when external circumstances challenge them.
“Motivation researchers are active in workplaces, classrooms, sports . . . pretty much anywhere people would be engaged,” Ryan said. “We want to find out, what are the internal factors that facilitate that engagement?”
Research has turned up several good answers to that question. One of the most motivating experiences employees can have is making progress on a meaningful task, said Teresa Amabile, PhD, a social and organizational psychologist at Harvard Business School. Amabile and her colleagues asked more than 200 employees at seven companies in the tech, chemical, and consumer products industries to write daily diary entries describing events at work and rate their own feelings of intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, creativity, and collegiality, among other measures. They also collected periodic ratings of the workers’ creativity from colleagues ( Administrative Science Quarterly , Vol. 50, No. 3, 2005 ).
“We could look at how the events that were occurring impacted their intrinsic motivation and their creativity,” Amabile said.
When people reported more intrinsic motivation, their creativity simultaneously rose, she said. So did other desirable states such as productivity, collegiality, and commitment to work. And what spurred intrinsic motivation? Amabile and her team found that the most powerful precursor was the feeling of making progress at meaningful work.
“Here’s what’s interesting: It doesn’t have to be a huge breakthrough,” Amabile said. “It can be small, almost trivial, steps forward.”
This finding fit with previous I/O psychology research. For example, job characteristics theory, developed in 1975 by Greg Oldham, PhD, an I/O psychologist now at Tulane University, and J. Richard Hackman, PhD, a social psychologist now at Harvard University, holds that meaningfulness is one of the three factors leading to motivation, along with responsibility and knowledge of results.
Anecdotal reports during the pandemic suggest that the winnowing effect of work-from-home policies actually boosted feelings of progress for many employees, Amabile said. With time freed from long commutes, random coworker interruptions, and morning makeup and hair-care routines, workers often felt they got more meaningful work done each day.
However, there are caveats to the benefits of meaningful work, said Britt. He and his colleagues surveyed U.S. working adults in multiple industries using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk website during the pandemic and found that mental health symptoms after hindrance stressors were more severe in those who felt a “calling” to their work ( Work & Stress , Vol. 35, No. 2, 2021 ). “Encountering these demands that you can’t control and that harm your performance is going to be particularly impactful for those who feel called to do the work and feel the work is highly important,” Britt said.
Furthermore, in a study of emergency department physicians, Britt and his colleagues found that a sense of meaning in work did not buffer doctors from mental health strain early in the pandemic ( Applied Psychology , online first publication, 2020 ). That was a surprise, Britt said, but it may indicate that when hindrance stressors become too overwhelming, a sense of purpose isn’t enough to rescue one’s sense of well-being at work.
One lesson from these findings is that workplaces need to make sure their employees have the basic resources they need to perform their job duties, Britt said. In times of crisis, workers also need extra time to rest and recover from stress. Listening to employee feedback and responding to their needs can help administrators and managers reduce hindrance stressors among their workers.
There are also strategies that workers themselves can use to boost their own motivation, Diefendorff said. These range from motivation-control strategies, such as setting subgoals and rewards for meeting them, to attention-control strategies to minimize disruptions and interruptions. Emotion-regulation strategies such as minimizing anxiety and worry can also be helpful for goal-setting, he said. But workers might also need to recognize when they’re too tapped out to use these strategies effectively. “You have to have self-compassion, which basically means cutting yourself some slack as a way to give yourself the time and space you need to try to recover your depleted resources,” Diefendorff said.
In general, Amabile said, managers can help by encouraging employees to see ways in which their work is meaningful and by providing clear goals and benchmarks for progress. Step back, micromanagers: The most motivationally beneficial leadership style is one that encourages employees to manage their own workflows and solve their own problems.
This style is called leader autonomy support, and it’s characterized by a manager who encourages their employees to self-initiate tasks, to share their own perspectives, and to make their own choices, while still stepping in to support them when needed.
A meta-analysis led by Ryan found that leader autonomy support fosters employees’ sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness within the workplace, which boosts autonomous work motivation. This self-derived motivation, in turn, is linked to feelings of well-being and engagement as well as declines in distress and improvements in positive behaviors at work ( Motivation and Emotion , Vol. 42, No. 5, 2018 ). The meta-analysis included studies from multiple countries, including Iran, the Philippines, Korea, Bulgaria, Holland, China, New Zealand, and South Africa. Ryan said that this beneficial effect of leader autonomy support seemed to hold in workplaces worldwide and that autonomy improved productivity, commitment, and satisfaction with work in both collectivist and individualistic societies.
“Regardless of culture, if you don’t have a sense of freedom and choice in your work activities, your well-being is undermined,” Ryan said.
With the onset of the pandemic, motivational experts, like many other workers, moved online. Ryan and his colleagues at his consulting business, motivationWorks , found themselves coaching business leaders dealing with vastly different circumstances. Managers suddenly working with largely remote teams had to find ways to support their employees’ sense of competence to help them tackle the challenges that remote work created, Ryan said. Managers overseeing essential workers, on the other hand, faced a different set of issues.
“Especially in the health care industry, where we are doing extensive work, job stressors were manifold,” Ryan said. “Here, again, autonomy-supportive leaders were better able to hear and respond to the needs of their employees, which was crucial during this challenging period.”
Motivation research applies to a broad range of workplaces, far beyond the stereotypical white-collar office setting. Ryan and his colleagues found, for example, that autonomy, feelings of competence, and feelings of relatedness or connection within the workplace all positively influence job satisfaction and general mental health in a factory setting ( Journal of Applied Social Psychology , Vol. 23, No. 21, 1993 ). A case study led by Philip Cheng-Fei Tsai, PhD, of Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages in Taiwan, that analyzed a Taiwanese manufacturing company undergoing a downsizing found that while managers thought factory workers were most motivated by the company’s salary and benefit structure and the opportunity for education and training, the factory workers were actually most driven by relationships with their colleagues and the extent to which their jobs allowed them to cultivate their relationships with their families ( Journal of World Business , Vol. 42, No. 2, 2007 ).
“In context where people can feel a sense of autonomy, where they can feel a sense of competence, and where they can feel connected and related to the people around them, that’s where they have the highest-quality motivation,” Ryan said.
Fowler saw a particularly emotional example of this in her work with a large construction firm during the pandemic. A supervisor she was working with noticed that one of his employees was frequently late and struggling at work. The supervisor made a stab at connection and asked the employee if he was homeschooling his kids, pointing out that remote learning was a struggle in his own home. The employee broke down. His wife was an emergency room nurse, he said. They had two kids in early elementary school and no family help. He was working around the clock to try to juggle it all.
The supervisor called together his team and explained the situation. Working together, the rest of the team shuffled their own schedules to make life easier for the struggling father. The result, the supervisor told Fowler, was that the entire staff felt like they were doing something good. Given choice and autonomy, they could support the family of a health care worker and feel a sense of connectedness rather than inconvenience.
“[The supervisor] said, ‘I learned that being empathetic and just having a casual conversation with someone may be one of the greatest gifts I can give my people as a leader,’” Fowler said.
Emotional connection can be powerful. In his work with business leaders, clinical and organizational psychologist and consultant George Kohlrieser, PhD, focuses on bonding. This can be a hard sell in some business cultures—he counts among his success stories a heavy-machinery dealership in South Carolina where he helped change the culture from one of aloof detachment to one where employees felt bonded to one another. Such connections foster employees’ sense of psychological safety, or the feeling that the workplace is a safe environment to take risks and be vulnerable.
With vaccination widely available in the United States, employers are increasingly calling workers back into offices. They’ll need to feel safe there—not only from new outbreaks of COVID-19 but also from the new uncertainties introduced by a year or more of remote work. Many industries are turning to hybrid solutions for employees who can work from home and who have realized that they don’t want to go back to cubicles and commutes, Ryan said.
“People have been able to experience firsthand that they can self-regulate their work efforts and also balance work demands with the things that matter most outside of work,” Ryan said. “Their horizons have been expanded, and I think we will see increasing demands for empowering work conditions.”
The key detail to making this work, Fowler said, is ensuring that every employee gets equal consideration, even if the ultimate workplace arrangement isn’t the same across the entire company. Some jobs require face time more than others, she said, but those employees should still have their needs considered and be offered as much autonomy as possible. Certain types of job training or mentoring, for example, might need to be done in person, but employees could still get opportunities to autonomously decide when or how they fulfill these responsibilities.
“Not everyone is going to get the same deal, but everyone should have the same consideration and conversation,” Fowler said.
Not all workplacerelevant research starts out in studies of employees. Carol S. Dweck, PhD, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, did much of her early research on how the types of goals people have influence their levels of motivation in school. She found that when students were motivated by the desire to learn and become better at something, they bounced back from failure much more readily than when they were motivated by external carrots and sticks, such as the desire to get outside approval or avoid negative judgment ( Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , Vol. 54, No. 1, 1988 ). Out of this research, Dweck and her colleagues coined the well-known notion of a “growth mindset,” which views intelligence as malleable and failure as an opportunity to learn.
Expanding out of the educational system, Dweck and her colleagues have discovered that their growth mindset framework applies in workplaces. For example, they’ve found that the more that employees view their company leadership as cultivating a growth mindset—rather than a fixed mindset in which ability and intelligence are immutable—the greater trust and commitment they have in their organization ( Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings , 2018 ).
Researchers who study motivation in schools also provide perspective on how to teach motivation habits early, as well as how to avoid squelching kids’ intrinsic motivation before they even get their first job interview. These lessons may be particularly important as children return to the classroom after a year of disruptions and remote learning.
“There is pretty strong research that shows that the motivation in academic subjects during adolescence is an extremely strong predictor of people’s career trajectories later in life,” said Eric Anderman, PhD, a professor of educational psychology at The Ohio State University. Unfortunately, the traditional incentives of education don’t do much to kindle that motivation.
“As kids move up through the grades, the focus of school—the purpose of school—becomes more about getting grades and doing well and less about learning,” Anderman said.
Paralleling Dweck’s findings, Anderman and his colleagues have found that taking a mastery-based approach to education rather than a reward-based approach can improve motivation-related outcomes like task efficacy, knowledge, and behavioral intentions ( Journal of Educational Psychology , Vol. 112, No. 5, 2020 ). The hope is that instilling these habits early can immunize people against the motivation-killing norms they might face in the work world.
“In terms of preparing people for the real world, we do have to acknowledge that workplaces are competitive and there are going to be extrinsic outcomes,” Anderman said. “But it’s how we train people to cope with it. We don’t want to send them out of school with the message that they have to be number one at everything.”
Mindfulness and its association with varied types of motivation: A systematic review and meta-analysis using self-determination theory Donald, J. N., et al., Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 2020
Toward a new curriculum of leadership competencies: Advances in motivation science call for rethinking leadership development Fowler, S., Advances in Developing Human Resources , 2018
Student motivation and associated outcomes: A meta-analysis from self-determination theory Howard, J. L., et al., Perspectives on Psychological Science , 2021
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Employee motivation: it really does matter.
If you’ve ever been stuck in a job with no direction or motivation and have felt extremely discouraged, you’re not alone. Unfortunately, there are many employees who find themselves caught in the same situation. Managers and supervisors are often not taught how to motivate their employees. Regrettably, several management personnel are only advised on the performance-improvement-plan form of management. But often, the carrot produces better results than the stick.
Consider the bosses you’ve had in your career. Who were the good ones, and who were the bad ones, and — most importantly—what was the difference? After some contemplation, you’ll begin to see why the good ones were able to motivate you and make you passionate about coming into work.
Although it’s difficult in the corporate world to find employee satisfaction that is meaningful and lasting, as management, it’s your job to see to it your employees feel appreciated, which in turn will result in better teamwork, better attitudes and an eagerness to contribute.
Gregg Lederman, in his book CRAVE: You Can Enhance Employee Motivation in 10 Minutes by Friday , explains, “Strategic employee recognition is a management discipline that goes way beyond 'being the right thing to do.' Recognition should not be viewed only as a feel-good, altruistic endeavor. No, it’s a management discipline that should garner significant ROI.”
What makes Susan feel rewarded and valued won’t be the same as what motivates Kari or Chad. People are individuals, and being recognized in a way that is meaningful to them shows you care enough about them as individuals to acknowledge them as such. In my years of working with people in leadership positions, I always emphasize the importance of knowing enough about your employees to understand what they value individually as a reward. My advice is: If you don’t know, just ask. Most people are more than happy to relate what makes them feel appreciated.
If you are a supervisor or manager of a group of employees, it’s very important to understand that they aren’t robots. They require a human touch and frequent motivation. As a leader, it is your job to provide that. If you don’t, you’re going to find yourself constantly trying to fill the same positions over and over as unmotivated people get discouraged and quit.
In their book The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace: Empowering Organizations by Encouraging People , Gary Chapman and Paul White offer , “When leaders actively pursue teaching their team members how to communicate authentic appreciation in the ways desired by the recipients, the whole work culture improves. Interestingly, even managers and supervisors report they enjoy their work more! All of us thrive in an atmosphere of appreciation.”
My clients are often surprised how far a little bit of encouragement propels their employees and organization. In my experience, ignoring or discounting the importance of employee motivation often leads to disengagement.
In the HBR article "4 Reasons Good Employees Lose Their Motivation" (registration required), authors Richard E. Clark and Bror Saxberg offer this advice: “Carefully assessing the nature of the motivational failure — before taking action — is crucial. Applying the wrong strategy (say, urging an employee to work harder, when the reason is that they’re convinced they can’t do it) can actually backfire, causing motivation to falter further.”
They explain that these reasons fit into four categories: values mismatch, lack of self-efficacy, disruptive emotions and attribution errors.
Basically, the first one, values mismatch, means the employee isn’t connected with the value of the task and therefore is disinclined to perform the task. With the second “trap” (as they refer to it), the lack of self-efficacy points to the feeling that the employee is afraid they aren’t capable of performing the task, and so they are fearful of appearing incompetent.
I’ve seen that when employees are overwhelmed with negative emotions, such as frustration or anger, they feel overcome by disruptive emotions, and it interrupts their ability to be motivated enough to perform a task. When the managers I’ve worked with take the responsibility to recognize these signs and remove hindrances that are holding their employees back from their true potential, things change for the better.
It’s important to understand that the work your employees are doing needs to make a difference in some way and for you to help them see it, too. Otherwise, your employees will grow restless and feel automated. It’s up to you to inject some passion and help them to see how valuable they are to the organization. Let your employees know on a frequent basis that they are welcome any time to come to you for feedback and sincere communication, and you will reap the benefits of a motivated workforce.
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Introduction
The humanistic theory of motivation offers a means of establishing specific behavioral patterns in order to achieve specific goals and objectives. Work-based motivation supports the ability to achieve specific milestones within the career path that are driven by feedback and goal-setting behaviors (Chadrick, 2010). In this context, professional experiences are likely to be most successful when there is a series of steps in place to allow employees to reach the next steps of their career (Chadrick, 2010). From personal experience, this theory is applicable because it supports my personal goal development framework which motivates me to achieve my goals throughout the year. However, it is my manager’s responsibility to assist me in identifying my goals for the coming year and to develop methods to reach those goals in an effective manner.
Motivation is also driven by professional expectations and needs within the workplace setting (Herzberg, 2003). These contributions require managers to recognize where motivation is necessary and to develop a system to motivate employees towards the greater good for their careers and for the organization (Flynn, 2011). My manager’s ability to conduct an appropriate and effective performance review also plays a critical role in supporting my growth by recognizing my potential and contributions to the organization (Smith and Mazin, 2004).
I am consistently committed to my growth and development through the activities in which I participate to promote professional and organizational growth. I also believe that the humanistic approach to motivation requires a level of understanding and acceptance that goes beyond what is written in a performance evaluation, as there are significant inherent factors that must be addressed to improve employee performance. In addition, small yet gradual improvements are likely to be effective in supporting professional growth within a given position and organizational framework. These contributions are the key to successful and consistent motivation in the workplace setting.
Chadnick, E. (2010). Giving feedback that fuels success. Canadian HR Reporter , 23(15), 19-24.
Flynn, S. (2011). Can you directly motivate employees? Exploding the myth. Development and Learning in Organizations , 25(1), 11–15.
Herzberg, F. (2003). One more time: How do you motivate employees? Harvard Business Review , 81(1), 88–96. Retrieved from http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=8796887&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Smith, S., & Mazin, R. (2004). Performance management: How do I evaluate performance and conduct meaningful performance reviews? From The HR answer book (pp. 41–59). New York: American Management Association International.
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Motivation in the workplace refers to the drive and willingness of employees to give their best effort towards achieving the goals and objectives of the organization. This is crucial for boosting productivity, job satisfaction, and overall performance. Motivation can be intrinsic, from within the individual, or extrinsic, influenced by external factors like rewards and recognition. Factors like clear communication, positive feedback, challenging yet achievable goals, and a supportive work environment can contribute to the motivation of employees.
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Understanding the concept of self-interest is perhaps the only way we will understand our need to achieve. Self-interest or feeling good about your self is a fundamental ingredient of motivation. When you work an extra hour, not on the clock, you are doing it for one real reason. It makes you feel good to either get the job done well or to help someone else. In the end you might get some sort of recognition in the company but usually you will not stay an hour extra today to get a gold star in two weeks from now. Dr.
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Type of paper: Essay
Topic: Workplace , Motivation , Employee , Productivity , Time Management , Human Resource Management , Company , Staff
Words: 1800
Published: 12/21/2021
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Motivation is a primary need for employees to appreciate their jobs and have optimal performance. Employees are motivated differently. There are those motivated by money while others are not motivated by money but by being recognized and rewarded (Lauby, 2005). Although money, as a form of extrinsic motivation, is one of the main reasons why people go to work every day, the workplace is a bit different since it relies on staff motivation to achieve a high level of productivity from the employees, which on the other hand increases revenue. Motivation can be defined as the different processes that to contribute to a person’s strength, direction, as well as the tenacity to struggle towards achieving a particular goal (Scott, 2014). This can be understood as the force that determines why people may execute certain undertakings. Motivated and excited employees will perform their tasks to the best of their abilities, which would lead to an increase in production numbers. This paper is therefore aimed at discussing the workplace motivation in Apple Inc. The paper will look at various motivational strategies employed by the company and their impacts on productivity, different ways used to improve employee performance, staff resistance to increasing productivity, the effects of motivation on employees and the management, and the application of motivational theory. Whenever an individual becomes employed at the Apple Inc., they always attain a sense of commitment and pride because of the company’s success hence they gain a convinced expectation level from the enterprise. This gives the company responsibility to sustain those expectations, which could be more through motivating them.
There are several motivational strategies that do affect productivity. In fact, the inner motivation of an individual is what makes them have the courage to go to work every day. Productivity, on the other hand, is determined by increased performance, which results from motivated and willing staff. One thing that Apple has been done to achieve employee productivity is by ensuring that its personnel have all the requirements necessary for performing their tasks. These include office supplies, which are important in the assessment of important information for the completion of specific duties. It is clear that employees become discouraged when they are forced by circumstances to waste much time searching for specific items that are necessary to complete their daily tasks effectively (Lauby, 2005). It is also significant for every company to ensure that the staff has access to the specific needs they require. For instance, if the person who is in control of the only key to the supply room acts in ways that depict that his workmates might steal the supplies, he might create tension to the employees, which demotivates them. Petty issues like looking for office supplies can greatly affect the motivational levels of employees (Dozier, 2011). The company strategizes on offering effective training for the ongoing career development. This has proved to be a fundamental element of the process of performance that does greatly affect the productivity within the institution. For instance, assisting the employees to meet their personal goals proves to them that the company values their development and therefore, they would execute all their duties willingly, which is a key thing to giving their best for the business success. It is also important to engage the staff in solving business issues. For instance, the employees would like to be involved in developing the solution of new ideas after they are identified in the organization. This would show them that their contribution is valuable hence a key motivation factor, which would see them struggle to achieve organizational objectives. The employees should also be recognized for their efforts and praised. There are instances when workers do take on extra responsibilities like when the business is unsettled. This would call for the management to have a system of recognizing these additional efforts, which might be through simple appreciations like telling an individual “thank you” or even “good job.” These might seem like small words, but they have an effect on employee motivation for they can greatly build loyalty. A workplace that has effective systems of rewarding its employees has a great advantage of increased staff productivity (Lauby, 2005). In fact, a rewarding employee does bring positive reinforcement. The system should focus more on the staff behavior than the finances. Employees would work harder to achieve the outlined awards, which effectively increases productivity. In every institution, several organizational efforts are significant in increasing productivity. An organization’s success is determined by staff productivity. This is achieved mainly in sales, and it is imperative to ensure that the customers are handled in the right manner to promote their loyalty, which has great effect on the total sales. It is the responsibility of the leadership to recognize the strengths and the abilities of their subordinates. These might include pinpointing their unexploited potential to become leaders and cultivate efficient communication skills. These elements would lead to an improved personal performance level as well as a more effective and cohesive company. It is, therefore, paramount for an organization to develop plans and strategies to advance performance. This can be achieved through several steps. First, the management should employ effective communication of their expectations and highlight personal responsibility. This is critical since it makes every employee have a clear understanding of how their contributions towards the achievement of the organizational goals are essential to the organization’s value and success (Hamlett, 2015). The employees should also be held accountable for any tasks they undertake, their choices as well as the agreed deadlines of their tasks. Secondly, the management has a role in monitoring and evaluating the employee job performance through different time appraisals. This is important in showing the staff where they are strong in and where they need to improve. Some evaluation and recognition methods like the employee of the month, promotions and gratuities are ways of enlightening performance since individuals would like to be noticed for their achievements and efforts (Durkin, 2010).
The changing aspects of the international economy, the advances in technology as well as the more assorted personnel has led to continuing change in the nature of work. This has therefore brought about the need to concentrate on the management’s challenges in developing work that would motivate and inspire the employees. For quite some time, the management has relied on the extrinsic motivators that are old and out of time. However, for Apple, the management seems to have a clear understanding that the employee compensation does not only involve salary but also some programs that inspire creativity as well as teamwork within the company to attain the best performance results. However, employees might have some resistance to any recent changes made in the corporation since they might not be aware of the benefits of the changes and how they might affect them. Therefore, for changes to be accommodated, the goal-setting theory is an effective way of increasing productivity since the company would have to communicate with the staff on the goals of the organization and the expectations of every worker.
The foundation of every positive work environment, as well as the effective motivation methods, lies on the management philosophy. For instance, the way the managers and the workers interact do affect how they behave, which has eventual effects on productivity. In a company where the managers advocate for positivity, the employees tend to be more productive (Knights & Willmott, 2007). The management must lead as an example, and they have to encourage the staff where possible for the advantage of the general institution. The management is responsible for giving the employees incentives to increase their productivity.
The application of the motivational theory in any company is important since it explains what motivates people to perform certain behaviors. It is also vital since it assists the company in understanding the level the employees committed to the achievement of the company’s goals, which act as a means of guiding them to develop and implement the different strategies of motivation to promote productivity. It is effective for the motivational theories to be applied from the start of the business to avoid confusion to the staff since they become familiar with operations being carried on in a particular way. For instance, application of the goal-setting theory in a company, which had unclear goals might lead to staff stress since they might feel like they might not be capable of satisfying the goal’s prospects (Dozier, 2011). On the other hand, the application of the motivation theory could have implications, which might lead to unfriendly work environment because of the failure of the leadership to promote positivity through communicating with the employees. These two theories have adverse effects on the management and the employees. When the goal-setting theory is used by the leadership, they do communicate the organization’s objectives to the workers, which are the key determinants of productivity (Dozier, 2011). The absence of an effective working relationship between the leadership and the staff could bring a great challenge to the effective communication of the company’s goals, which might lead to confusion of employees on what is expected of them.
In conclusion, it is clear that workplace motivation is vital to increased productivity and the business success. Motivated employees would work extra to ensure that the organizational goals are achieved. Various motivation strategies like proper communication and rewarding the staff is significant for increasing productivity. Also, the motivation theories need to be applied at the start of the company to avoid confusing the employees on what is expected of them.
Dozier, B. (2011, March). The Effect of Motivation on Productivity. Retrieved January 2016, from barbra Dozier: https://barbradozier.wordpress.com/2011/03/21/the-effect-of-motivation-on-productivity/ Durkin, D. M. (2010, September). How To Keep Employees Motivated. Forbes, pp. 1-3. Hamlett, C. (2015). How to Improve Employee Organizational Performance. Retrieved January 2016, from Chron.com: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/improve-employee-organizational-performance-11830.html Knights, D., & Willmott, H. (2007). Introducing Organizational Behaviour and Management. Boston: Cengage Learning EMEA. Lauby, S. J. (2005). Motivating Employees. Virginia: American Society for Training and Development. Scott, S. (2014). Motivation & Productivity in the Workplace. Retrieved January 2016, from Chron.com: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/motivation-productivity-workplace-10692.html
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Every business is expected to yield profit. However, raising profits can only be possible if the managers and workers perform their duties with their best efforts towards achieving a common goal. A workplace where the employers and employees are dedicated to their work and meet their deadlines without being supervised can score better proceeds. In the competitive business world, each organization yearns to succeed and improve the quality of its services and raise performance levels. Employee motivation is what makes an employee willing to improve personal performance and effectiveness, resulting in the provision of the high-quality outcome at the workplace (Berrin & Bauler 182). It is divided into intrinsic motivation (internal factors), such as a feeling of enjoyment brought by the work, and extrinsic motivation (external factors), such as rewards. This paper will research on employee motivation types, factors affecting it, its importance, and techniques applied in motivating employees.
Intrinsic motivation is a feeling that comes from within a person. It is self-driven and comes from the inner feeling of an individual rather than being imposed by someone or being triggered by a particular reward (Kovach 59). When a worker feels motivated by the work, it is referred to as intrinsic motivation. It is the job itself that motivates a person, especially when it is enjoyable and includes an understanding of the reasonable goals. One can be intrinsically motivated by the work environment. For example, if the environment is favorable, an employee is more likely to feel at peace with the work thus driving him/her to work even more. On the contrary, if the environment is unfriendly, the employee is more likely to be discouraged to work. In fact, he/she will not like the idea of going to work. Intrinsic motivation may be generated through job satisfaction. Most employees feel gratified with their job when they are permitted to have control and liberation and to contribute to innovations on their job. Intrinsic inspiration can also be prompted by an environment that emboldens the exploration and learning. Intrinsic motivational factors can be accomplished by job design that encompasses job simplification, job rotation, job enlargement, and job enrichment.
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Extrinsic motivation is a type of motivation that is affected by the external factors to self-motivate an employee (Kovach 62). These factors usually drive an employee to reach a particular goal either willingly or unwillingly. They originate from the management, and the employees can either react to them positively or negatively. Thus, employers should use external motivators that generate a positive response from the workers. The examples of these factors are punishments and rewards system. When a punishment is set for not achieving a particular target, employees tend to do their best to hit the target. Likewise, when a reward is given to those workers who meet an objective, they will be motivated to work harder to reach the target and get the award. However, in some cases, a punishment produces a negative result; for example, some employees may cheat in their results when they are given a precise target to achieve, making the organization calculate its performance rate on false information. This information will include data that supports the improvement but no financial proceeds to support it.
Employee motivation is important because it facilitates the sustainability of the business organization by enhancing its improvement. Without motivation, whether intrinsic or extrinsic, it will be challenging for a business to succeed and prosper in the future. Thus, a key to the development of any company is motivation. People cannot be forced to work well but rather be motivated to perform better than before.
The following are techniques used to create and increase motivation of employees: fashioning a positive work environment, celebrating achievements made by employees, offering job security, providing incentives, training, surveys on employees, and promotions to best performers, and, lastly, sharing profits with the workers. A positive work environment motivates the employees because they feel free, comfortable and welcomed at the workplace. Promoting teamwork and sharing of ideas between employers and employees result in enhanced job performance (Berrin & Bauler 223). Bonding is necessary at the workplace because employees will learn to work together to achieve a common goal and promote healthy competition among workers. A manager should be a good mediator when a conflict arises at the workplace and eradicate conflicts as soon as they arise. As much as teamwork creates a positive work environment, employees should be reminded to work independently to perform their assigned task.
Recognizing and celebrating achievements made by the workers motivate them to perform better than before (Berrin & Bauler 228). Naturally, people like to be recognized for their achievements; the same regards a workplace setting. Awarding workers with the certificates of accomplishment, vacation days, and employee of the month or year titles, giving trophies and gift vouchers are ways of recognizing and celebrating the efforts of the employees. When an employee is honored and known for an excellent work done, he/she will be motivated to do their best. However, if his/her achievements are not recognized, they will be discouraged because their efforts have not been celebrated. There is no need to make a success if you are not going to be known for it.
Setting goals to be achieved by the end of a specified time gives an employee a reason to strive to attain a particular target (Berrin & Bauler 237). Professional goals encourage competition between workers thus motivating them to reach a particular objective. However, the goals should be reasonable that is an employee can achieve that. When goals are not set, it is difficult for employees to know what is expected of them; thus, they will feel relaxed at their job. On the contrary, when a goal is set, they are made aware of what is expected of them. Setting specific goals and time limits will motivate the employees.
Incentives boost employee motivation because when an incentive is put in place, it lures the employees to work harder and smarter (Berrin & Bauler 255). Those include cash prizes, gift cards, parking spot and office space. Employees are more likely to be motivated if their efforts are rewarded.
Conducting surveys to get feedbacks on how employees feel about the management if they face any problems will provide possible solutions to the problems. This technique can determine if there is a barrier in the workplace and allows the managers to solve the problem. If there are no barriers in the workplace, employees will be motivated to work because there is a peaceful co-existence (Berrin & Bauler 228). A survey can be facilitated with questionnaires. These questionnaires should be filled by employees anonymously for the protection of their identification and making them feel free to share their feelings and ideas.
A promotion granted on performance motivates employees to perform better. When an employee sees a reward or promotion for good job performance, they will be motivated to work their best. When one worker sees his/her co-worker being promoted because of performing well in his/her duties, he/she will be motivated to do the same to get a promotion (Berrin & Bauler 250). Promotions come with a monetary increase in the salary, bigger office and better rank in the office. Acquiring a status through the promotion motivates the promoted employee to work at his/her best not wanting junior workers to think that their senior employee cannot handle the assigned new tasks. It also encourages other employees to copy the behavior of the promoted employee to achieve the same success.
The managers should motivate their employees by encouraging them to get more knowledge by sending them to seminars and workshops. This technique enables the employees to acquire new knowledge that helps them advance in their job. Training is very important because it ensures that employees are knowledgeable about new technology or any new way of performing a job. New work is made easier after undergoing a well-constructed training; the training also works as a refresher course for the profession (Berrin & Bauler 262).
Providing job security also motivates the workers to work better. A worker who is at a company that offers job security is calmer, relaxed and has trust in the business, unlike an employee who is working in an organization with no job security. An employee has faith in an organization where job security has been offered hence will do what is expected of him/her by the employers (Kovach 64). Unlike an employee who has no job security, whose managers may dismiss him/her any time they wish too, he/she will always be anxious and tensed because of being unsure at which point the employment will be terminated whether he/she works at his best or not.
Sharing of the company’s profits is also another way of motivating the employees (Berrin & Bauler 259). When the profits of a corporation are reflected in the employee’s salary, it will make him/her want to get more profit for the company to earn more. The more profits they make, the more money they get. That is salary plus profits made by the company. Financial gains mostly motivate employees. When they release an input, they expect an output to them by the management.
These theories support the techniques of motivating the employees and are divided into process and content theories. Motivation content theories concentrate on the exact thing that motivates an employee (for example, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, McClelland’s Achievement Motivation, Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory, and Alderfer’s Modified Need Hierarchy) while process theories look at how behavior is instigated and sustained; they include Vroom Expectancy Theory and Adam’s Equity Theory.
Herzberg’s Theory is also referred to as Hygiene Theory. It is a two-factor approach that states that two different factors influence satisfaction and dissatisfaction (Herzberg, Mausner, & Snyderman 288). Herzberg ’names the factors that influence dissatisfaction as dissatisfiers (maintenance and hygiene factors) while factors that influence satisfaction are called satisfiers or motivators. Dissatisfiers include working conditions, policies, job security, and status while satisfiers include recognition of achievements, responsibilities, and growth. Dissatisfiers do not have the same impact on job satisfaction but rather influence job dissatisfaction. These factors will not motivate an employee, but their absence in a workplace will influence job dissatisfaction (Berrin & Bauler 188). To motivate workers effectively, the management should work on providing good hygiene factors that ensure the staff’s job satisfaction thus motivation.
Maslow’s Hierarchy Theory of Needs arranges the interdependent needs of a human being from the basic need to the highest level of requirements (Berrin & Bauler 184). The author concludes that once a person has satisfied the lower level of need, the next level of requirements motivates him/her to work harder to attain it. The most fundamental needs are physiological, for example, shelter, food, air, and clothing (Maslow 372). They are the key needs to sustain life, and when they are not met, it affects a person physically. Once a person can sustain his/her life, he/she can be motivated to achieve the next step; but if he /she cannot afford these basic needs, it will be difficult to move to the next level. Employees should be able to afford these necessary basic needs with their salaries to be motivated to get to the next level. Safety needs are the next level, where employees feel a sense of having security, feeling peaceful and orderly at the workplace (Maslow 380). Social needs comprise of friendship, a sense of belonging to a certain group, love and acceptance in a certain environment. Employees usually want to fit in a particular group at a workplace or feel accepted and loved by the others. To satisfy these needs, they tend to work harder to reach a target that will allow them to be identified and accepted by others. A person will strive to reach that rank. Esteem needs generate motivations only when the lower needs are satisfied. They include self-esteem, freedom, and self-confidence. When an employee satisfies these needs, he/she feels capable, in power and worthy to be in that place. However, if the needs are not met, an employee will lack esteem and will feel inferior to the others. What is more, he/she might not be able to tend even to the duties. The highest need is self-actualization that includes creativeness, self-realization, and self-fulfillment (Berrin & Bauler 185). When an employee realizes his/her potential, he/she feels the satisfaction of oneself. This process serves as a continuous motivational fact because when an individual completes one need another need arises.
Alderfer’s Modified Hierarchy of Needs is a modified Maslow’s Hierarchy Theory (Berrin & Bauler 187). Alderfer agrees with Maslow that human needs can be arranged in levels but instead of categorizing them in five, he reduces them to three levels of existence, growth and relatedness. According to Alderfer, two levels can be achieved at the same time. It is not necessary to move from one stage to another (Berrin & Bauler 187). A person can attain the highest level of need without fulfilling the lower needs. Thus, in these two propositions, he is not in agreement with Maslow’s theory. When an employee satisfies growth needs, he/she will have the desire to meet relatedness needs. The fewer existence needs are met, the more desire a person will feel to fulfill them.
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In McGregor X-Y Theory, X stands for autocratic management while Y is participative management. X theory assumes that external motivation is achieved through punishment or threat while Y theory believes that an employee is internally motivated with a good environment. X Theory assumes that people dislike work and, therefore, have to be pressured to contribute to a company’s goals. Y implies that although punishment can motivate a worker to work, it is not the only way because employees are self-motivated. Employees can get motivation from within themselves because of good environmental factors surrounding them at a workplace.
According to McClelland’s Need-Based Motivation Theory, human beings have three needs: achievement, power, and affiliation (Berrin & Bauler 190). In his research, McClelland found out that businessmen have a desire for achievement motivation. According to him, motivation achievement can be taught through training by teaching an employee to act in terms of achieving a motive (Berrin & Bauler 190).
Locke’s Goal Theory illustrates how setting specific goals to induce high performance and setting more challenging goal increase performance efforts. Through employees’ participation in making goals, they will set higher goals and be motivated to achieve even more to gain superior performance. Workers will set reasonable and attainable goals since they are the ones expected to reach the objective unlike when employers set unreasonable goals. In this theory, for a goal to be achieved, there has to be an effort to achieve it. When the goals set are unreasonable, there will be no motivation to attain them. Thus, it is important to involve the staff in setting the goals.
Skinner’s motivation through positive reinforcement suggests that stimuli trigger behavior. Thus, in a business set up, any factor that results in behavior change is a motivational change (Berrin & Bauler 205). The change can either be positive or negative. Skinner advises managers to use positive reinforcers such as promotion and salary increment to promote motivation in the workplace. Managers should also solve problems in the workplace to create a peaceful environment that will motivate employees. The staff can only be motivated if there is a positive reinforcer.
Vroom’s Model Theory asserts that effort leads to performance and performance leads to either positive or negative rewards. Positive rewards motivate employees while negative rewards do not motivate them. Employees’ work effort is based on what they are expecting to gain at the end of it thus the expectancy theory (Berrin & Bauler 203). Ensuring the staff expects a pay rise and promotion will motivate them to work harder on achieving the set goals. When there are no reward expectations, a minimum effort will be put since there is no potential gain at the end of it. No one wants to work for free unless it is charity. Work is believed to have some payment after its completion; thus, an extra work of achieving a goal should have an extra bonus to the salary. If the management considers bonuses, its staff is more likely to be motivated.
Adam’s Equity Theory illustrates how employees seek fair treatment at the workplace in cases of rewards and the rate of their efforts (Berrin & Bauler 195). Employees base their judgments on comparing themselves with people around them or with persons of the same profession. They will feel undermined if they realize that they are contributing more than the other employees and are not being rewarded the same way. The level of motivation is based on the percentage of fairness that has been found out by the employees. When employees believe they are treated equally, they will be motivated; but when they believe there is unfairness; they will be discouraged. Unfairness can cause the staff to be hostile, disruptive and silent.
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This paper has critically explained the concept of employee motivation and the various advocated theories used to motivate employees towards helping the organization to accomplish its goals. Theories of employee motivation suggest that there are many variables influencing how employees perceive their work and are motivated to achieve a high level of performance. Concepts of fairness, hierarchy, motivational effects and external motivational factors all give tools to help to analyze motivational influences and come up with strategies to increase levels of motivation at a workplace. Although most theories seem to conflict, they do shed light on those areas of motivation. Motivation is a vital area in the study of organizations and management, and it cannot be ignored even with the presence of many unanswered questions and conflicting theories.
Employees are the most important resource in an organization and, for this reason, they should be treated well and should always be motivated. Well-motivated employees are always ready to work hard towards achieving the set goals of the organization. Employees individually and collectively contribute to the attainment of the set goals for sustainable competitive advantage. It can be achieved through various ways including providing safe working conditions for employees, rewarding the employees well according to the work they do, and providing training programs to sharpen the employees’ skills.
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Positive thinking is thought to be an important component of self-motivation in various practical fields such as education and the workplace. Previous work, including sentiment transfer and positive reframing, has focused on the positive side of language. However, self-motivation that drives people to reach their goals has not yet been studied from a computational perspective. Moreover, negative feedback has not yet been explored, even though positive and negative feedback are both necessary to grow self-motivation. To facilitate self-motivation, we propose CArrot and STICk (CASTIC) dataset, consisting of 12,590 sentences with 5 different strategies for enhancing self-motivation. Our data and code are publicly available at here.
Mcgregor’s theory and its impact, maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Engaging and retaining qualified specialists in the healthcare sector are the practices that are maintained by professional managers effectively. An opportunity to provide subordinates with favorable working conditions is the guarantee that employees will perform their immediate duties competently and will be ready to devote themselves to achieving the ultimate goals of their organization.
Motivational ideas promoted among workers can play an important role in forming opinions about the internal policies of a particular institution and the healthcare system as a whole. For this purpose, it is essential to consider the existing leadership approaches and principles that allow managers to not only retain subordinates but also to control their behavior, which contributes to productive work. Scholarly motivational theories are the significant components of management, and their effective application in practice correlates with the performance and satisfaction of subordinates.
The factors that motivate medical staff to perform their duties effectively and adhere to appropriate behavior are largely determined by the nature of management approaches. About nurses, the leaders of healthcare institutions often stimulate the activity of subordinates by organizing effective cooperation among them and supporting the system of rewards. Nevertheless, factors affecting productivity and dedication to immediate duties may vary.
For instance, Borkowski (2015) states that there is a direct link between physicians’ “disruptive behavior and nurse satisfaction and retention” (p. 273). Management’s failure to provide a normal interaction mechanism among employees influences their job satisfaction negatively, which, in turn, reduces performance.
One of the most successful mechanisms for achieving high production results is motivation. As Johnson and Rossow (2019) note, leaders’ ability to influence the indicators of subordinates’ interest and utilize the appropriate methods of stimulating working activity characterizes managers’ professionalism and their awareness of assigned functions. In case employees are willing to make efforts and do everything possible to achieve the highest possible results, it affects the overall work process positively. Based on various motivational theories implying work with subordinates as one of the key aspects of personnel management, it is possible to assess the success of specific measures and their importance in the healthcare sector.
Human resource management requires constant monitoring to achieve high production results. Following McGregor’s theory, initially, employees do not have the appropriate motivation and are not ready to put maximum efforts for the benefit of their organization (Prottas & Nummelin, 2018). In the context of the healthcare area, such an approach is unacceptable since the interest of medical personnel is a significant factor in the success of all interventions and, consequently, public health and safety.
Therefore, Theory X and Theory Y considered is a valuable tool in researching and adjusting organizational behavior. As Prottas and Nummelin (2018) note, it is the framework that facilitates the study of such a phenomenon as an employee interest factor. Therefore, its use in a working environment is a well-established practice.
The interaction of subordinates and managers is a key area of McGregor’s research. According to Prottas and Nummelin (2018), leadership approaches and beliefs maintained in a specific working environment influence the organizational behavior of employees directly. Any actions aimed at increasing productivity and engaging in certain projects are analyzed by subordinates, and the relevance of proposed changes serves as a key background for the formation of specific behavioral decisions. In other words, if the management makes objectively competent and logical decisions, it will necessarily stimulate subordinates’ activity. Therefore, McGregor’s concept is significant in the context of studying organizational behavior.
The individuality of employees is a significant criterion that determines their interest in performing direct duties and following the plans of a particular organization. In this case, the application of Maslow’s theory related to the distribution of needs is a relevant technique that allows focusing on subordinates’ priorities and their behavior in the workplace. In their study, Liu, Aungsuroch, and Yunibhand (2016) consider this model in the context of the nursing profession and use Maslow’s approach to assess the ability of healthcare institutions to meet the needs of employees at different levels. Using such a framework helps to determine which conditions are optimal for nurses so that their activity in the workplace could be as productive as possible.
Satisfying subordinates’ needs at different levels of Maslow’s pyramid can be accomplished by applying appropriate management strategies. For instance, the lower two stages related to physiology and safety may be realized in a comfortable working environment. According to Liu et al. (2016), “when nurses are satisfied with their working conditions, burnout, work stress, absenteeism and intention to leave are often reduced,” which, has a positive impact on performance outcomes (p. 89). The need to belong to a specific social group is also satisfied by maintaining relevant managerial activity in keeping nurses as a separate medical community.
Confidence and self-esteem can be met by offering subordinates to participate in various refresher courses and experience sharing workshops. Finally, the highest level of needs implying self-actualization may be satisfied by encouraging employees’ activity and their career success. An opportunity to provide the considered conditions characterizes the management of a particular medical institution as qualified and seeking to improve the motivation and organizational behavior of subordinates in the workplace.
Using appropriate motivational theories in the field of healthcare and, in particular, among nurses can make it possible to satisfy the needs of employees, which, in turn, influences their productivity positively. McGregor’s concept allows the management to focus on the organizational behavior of subordinates and control their performance. Maslow’s theory helps to determine the range of needs that employees have and contributes to increasing productivity in the workplace through leadership skills to meet employees’ specific requirements.
Borkowski, N. (2015). Organizational behavior in health care (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Johnson, J., & Rossow, C. (2019). Health organizations, theory, behavior, and development (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Liu, Y., Aungsuroch, Y., & Yunibhand, J. (2016). Job satisfaction in nursing: A concept analysis study. International Nursing Review , 63 (1), 84-91. Web.
Prottas, D. J., & Nummelin, M. R. (2018). Theory X/Y in the health care setting: Employee perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors. The Health Care Manager , 37 (2), 109-117. Web.
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Positive thinking is thought to be an important component of self-motivation in various practical fields such as education and the workplace. Previous work, including sentiment transfer and positive reframing, has focused on the positive side of language. However, self-motivation that drives people to reach their goals has not yet been studied from a computational perspective.
Get a custom Essay on Motivation in the Healthcare Field Workplace. Motivational ideas promoted among workers can play an important role in forming opinions about the internal policies of a particular institution and the healthcare system as a whole. For this purpose, it is essential to consider the existing leadership approaches and principles ...