Employee Motivation Overview

Motivation

• Motivation is the willingness to finish a task.
• The word originates from Latin, meaning "to move".
• It involves the intensity, direction, and persistence of effort towards organizational goals.
• Understanding what people want is key to motivation.

The Three Key Elements of Motivation

• Intensity: The amount of effort put forth to reach a goal. (How hard should one work?)
• Direction: Focusing efforts on organizational goals. (What should one do?)
• Persistence: How long an effort is sustained. (How long should one work?)

Two Types of Motivation

• Intrinsic Motivation: Comes from within. Relationships between worker and task, volunteerism, a sense of purpose, and accomplishment.
• Extrinsic Motivation: Driven by external factors like money, promotions, or other tangible rewards.

Importance of Employee Motivation

• Employee motivation is critical for workplace performance, impacting team, department, and organizational success.
• Motivation affects employee commitment, job satisfaction, professional development, and efficiency.

Increasing Motivation Through Job Redesign

• Job Characteristic Model (1976) and Job Crafting Theory (2001) aim to boost motivation through job restructuring.
• Job rotation is an example, allowing employees to take on new tasks and challenges.
• Effective job redesign requires an understanding of employees.

Practical Tips for Motivating Employees

• Demonstrate trust and empower employees, avoiding micromanagement.
• Make jobs complete and satisfying.
• Preserve employee dignity and respect.
• Encourage employees to develop expertise in specific areas.
• Hire self-motivated individuals.
• Eliminate fear and address individual slackers.
• Introduce challenging goals based on goal-setting theory.