Employee Motivation In The Workplace

6 Pages 1509 Words

Employee Motivation in the Workplace
Organizational Psychology


Motivation is defined in our textbook by the conditions that energize, direct, and sustain work behavior. What is the reason that organizations desire motivated employees? The simple answer is survival. “Motivated employees are needed in our rapidly changing workplaces. Motivated employees help organizations survive. Motivated employees are more productive. To be effective, managers need to understand what motivates employees within the context of the roles they perform. Of all the functions a manager performs, motivating employees is arguably the most complex. This is due in part, to the fact that what motivates employee’s changes constantly. For example, research suggests that as employees’ income increases, money becomes less of a motivator. Also, as employees get older, interesting work becomes more of a motivator.” (Linder, 1998).

The first article that I found on employee motivation is called “Understanding Employee Motivation” by James R. Linder. After an initial introduction to motivation, the author talks about motivation theories such as: Maslow’s need-hierarchy theory, Herzberg’s two-factory theory, Vroom’s expectancy theory, Adams’ equity theory and Skinner’s reinforcement theory.

The next part of the article talks about the definition of motivation, the role of motivation and the purpose for studying motivation. The last part of the article talks about the results from studies about motivation. The ranked order of most important motivating factors are as follows: 1) interesting work, 2) good wages, 3) full appreciation of work done, 4) job security, 5) good working conditions, 6) promotions and growth in the organization, 7) feeling of being in on information at work, 8) personal loyalty to employees, 9) tactful discipline, and 10) sympathetic help with personal problems.

The second article that I researched wa...