Nowadays, employees’ motivation seems to be a problem in the workplace. More than half of employees are disengaged at work, counting down the minutes so they can shut down their computers and leave, which leads to lack of productivity and effectiveness. Businesses need passionate and dedicated employees to guarantee the success of the company. Here comes the importance of motivation within companies to enhance the effectiveness of the employees.
Importance of motivation
Motivation refers to how driven and happy an employee is in their job. If an employee is motivated, they are more likely to work hard and in an efficient way.
Motivation is very important for:
Attracting employees which results in lower levels of absenteeism.
Retaining employees which results in lower levels of staff turnover.
Improving relations between management and employees which results in lower resistance to change and lower legal dispute.
Increasing levels of productivity such as improving employees’ performance, quality of work, and customer services.
Helping achieving organizational objectives such as unifying direction of the teams, elevating commitment, allowing optimum use of resources in a very efficient and effective way.
How to motivate employees
In order to motivate people, we need first to understand their needs. Individuals have innate needs. One of the best theory in this field is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It is a simple framework to understand what motivate people.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory known in psychology. It is composed of five levels of human needs represented as hierarchical levels in a form of a pyramid (Figure below):
Physiological needs.
Safety needs.
Sense of belonging and love needs.
Esteem needs.
Self actualization.
Today’s managers use outdated motivation tactics such as bonuses or additional pay, and a day off. A recently conducted survey showed that 29% of workers are more motivated in engaging in meaningful activities. Furthermore, money motivated 25% of the surveyed population. 17% were motivated by recognition.
Therefore, managers should search deeper and go beyond the usual methods to motivate their employees.
Freedom
A work environment with a flexible work-time gives employees a sense of freedom which allow them to manage time between their work and personal tasks (such as taking kids to school, well-being activity, every day’s tasks, etc.) and perform both efficiently.
Appreciation
Adequate pay creates a sense of appreciation, which increases the sense of belonging (and not searching to leave for a better job) and thus increases the productivity.
Flat structure
A flat company structure allows the employees to share their ideas and proposals freely. So, they feel they have impact inside the organization which makes them more engaged and interested in business ‘s growth.
Encourage individual learning
Inspiring employees and give them chances to learn and grow themselves will cost nothing. Instead, it will create a positive organizational environment and motivate employees for further achievements.
Creative culture
The work place is very important to motivate employees. Creating a free atmosphere and a friendly environment is a must in today’s organizations. Happy events such as celebrating together, board games nights, parties, etc. create a feeling of joy, help people to get to know each other and to fit more into the team.
We can also consider giving employees meaningful rewards, conducting clear and effective communication system and many other ways to empower employees and motivate them for an effective and efficient business.
References
Danish, R. Q., & Usman, A., (2010). Impact of Reward and Recognition on job Satisfaction and Motivation: An Empirical Study from Pakistan. International Journal of Business and Management, 5 (2), 159-167.
https://www.fastcompany.com/3002877/employee-motivation-checklist (online, accessed 6 October 2022)
Latt, K. A., (2008). Motivating People on the way towards Organizational Performance. Victoria University (Australia), intern analyst, Covalence SA, Geneva.
Mark A. Tietjen and Robert M. Myers,1998. Motivation and job satisfaction, Management Decision 36/4 pp 226–231, MCB University Press [ISSN 0025-1747].
Varma, C., & Chavan, C. R. Envisioning Organization Culture & Human Resource Management with Organization Strategy–Creating a Competitive Advantage through People. Jbims, 74.
Wanda Roos, René Van Eeden 2008, The relationship between employee motivation, job satisfaction and corporate culture, SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, Vol. 34 No. 1 pp. 54 – 63.