Employee Motivation

7 Pages 1800 Words

WHAT IS MOTIVATION?
Motivation is difficult to explain and even harder to “turn on” in people. Webster defines motivation as “an act or process of motivating; the condition of being motivated; a force, stimulus, or influence: incentive or drive” (“Motivation”). It is most often the job of the manager to use motivation to drive its employees to accomplish acts which they normally would not have done. The study of motivation helps managers understand what prompts people to initiate action, what influences their choice of action, and why they persist in their action over time (Daft and Marcic 444).
Since motivation influences productivity, supervisors need to understand what motivates employees to reach peak performance. It is not an easy task to increase employee motivation because employees respond in different ways to their jobs and their organization’s practices (Supervision 1998). Motivation is the set of processes that moves a person toward a goal. Therefore, motivator behaviors are voluntary choices controlled by the individual employee (Supervision 1998). It is extremely important to managers and supervisors to motivate employees.
Motivators are a collection of learned attitudes and beliefs. They provide an individual with information regarding which motivators are most important to him/her at the present time. There are many attitudes and beliefs. These motivators were identified originally by Edward Spranger and supported in additional research by Gordon W. Alport and Philip E. Vernon (Wolfe 167). Motivators can be flexible and will often change throughout careers and life. As an individual situation changes, the priorities of their motivators tend to change as well.


MOTIVATION AND EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION
The job of a manager in the workplace is to get things done through employees. To do this the manager should be able to motivate employees. This is easier said then done! To understand mot...