What does motivation mean?
Introduction
This report is going to outline why people work and the different motivating factors that influence them to continue in their job roles and understand why this is the case. Furthermore, the positive and negative factors that result from a person's particular job role and the impact that they have not only mentally but from a physical aspect will also be detailed. Alongside both the above points the diffrntheories used will also be used to show the characteristics from different points of view.
What does motivation mean?
Motivation is a physiological and mental force that directs the behavior of an individual or grathandler and Munday, 2016). There are two distinct types of motivation the first intrinsic which is more of a psychological concept where motivation can arise from being proud of what you could achieve to being a competitive person (Worldcat.org. 2019). Intrinsic motivation carries a strong link with Maslow's (1943) hierarchal needs concept where people are motivated to reach the top, the needs that people intrinsicaty try to reach begin with physiological needs and progress through safety, belongingness, esteem until you have reached your self-actualization achieving your full potential.
The second type of motivation is extrinsic which focuses on things outside of the individual needs and is more set against working for a reward as opposed working for yourself. examples of this include pay. recognition and other rewards like paid time off. Taylors scientific management theory coincides with what is thought of as extrinsic motivation and believes that the end means should be that workers are paid more if they do more work, resulting in people working harder for the business to in turn earn more money for themselves.
Why are people motivated to work?
Firstly, why does motivation matter inside of a work environment? This can be answered by Simon (1997) who suggests that one of the initial challenges a business faces is that the more motivated an employee is the more likely the organization will reach their targets. Pffefer (1998) also states that employee manizient Is crucial to employee happiness. Although there is no perfect fit for why every employee is motivated or unmotivated.
Work environment?
The work environment Is everything that surrounds an employee at work whether this is physicatlymn-physically and has some impact on an employees motivation (Sutanto. ler-Sampson and Mutyono, 2018). According to Chandrasekar (2011) a good quality workplace environment can help increase motivation in staff as well as decrease it if the work environment is not up to scratch. In addition. Tankonyvtar.hu. (2019) state, Herzberg's two factor theory shows that working conditions are a factor in dissatisfaction within the workplace and this can lead in a decrease in cooperation from employees.
Why are people motivated to work?
The work environment can be both a positive and negative factor when trying to motivate staff and can cause a lot of dissatisfaction within the workplace.
How do employers motivate employees?
Offering room for people to gigind promoting from within a business is key to keeping staff motivated as people who have worked hard to gain promotion can set a benchmark for others to work towards (Square. 2019). Offering rewards for staff can also be very beneficial for the company in a way of motivating their employees if the rewards are viewed as being worth the effort. rewards should also be linked to performance to get the most productivity.
Furthermore, creating a safe and enjoyable work environment will ensure employers get the best out of their staff (Sutanto. Scheller-Sampson and Mulyono, 2018). There are many ways that employees can be motivated by the work place and is important for productivity.
Salary
It is regarded by Li.Ping Tang. (2004). that the biggest factor for people going to work is to make money, this is of great importance to general life and also the quality of it. all over the world money is regarded as a currency that allows you to live the life you wish. However, it is argued that although money is important it is not of great significance when it comes to whether working people are motivated and can actually lead to complications within the business (Olafsen et al.. 2015). Financial motivation can also extrinsically fit in with Maslow's (1943) hierarchy of needs as money can help fulfill most levels of the concept including the physiological needs through the ability to purchase food and clothing in turn helping the person to reach the stage of self-actualization.
Further to this Taylors theory is also based around the idea of money being the biggest motivator and whist that may be true in some instances it is not always the case for everybody.
Promotion
There is a risk of losing a company's best employees if they are not seen to be doing a good job and promoted through the company, the greater responsibility from the promotion can be a strong motivator for an employee (Career Trend. 2019). In addition to this the added power and authority that comes with being promoted is also one of the key motivators within people not only in the workplace but in general, this can also be beneficial to a business as leaders motivated by power tend to hold greater influence to people around them (Harvard Business Review. 2019). This is another type of motivation that fits in well with Taylors scientific management theory due to the reward of gaining the promotion, although imlarly fits in with Maslow's (1943) hierarchal ct struure as promotions within the w lace also give a certain level of job security.
Negaltve factors of work
Work related stress is a significant negative factor of work and can present long term issues not only for the person worlunCnor the organization as a whole. companies tend to look for ways to combat stress in their employees not only for the employees benefit but also to benefit the company too (Matteson and Ivanceviat 1987). Cousins et al., (2004) conclude that a 'risk-assessment based approach would be more effective than case-based methods in achieving a nationwide reduction in work-related stress.' Stress in the work place can be a strong indication of further mental health issues (Quick. Murphy and Murrell. 1997).
However. there is a type of stress referred to as eustress that is effectively a positive type of stress that can help improve performance and keep you motivated (Mils. Reiss and Dombeck. 2019). Furthermore. distress or negative stress within the workplace can be caused because of the following: -
• Excessive demands made by the company
• Insecure about keeping the job
• Conflict with colleagues or management
• Lack of training needs
• Commuting and travelling commitments.
Conclusion
Overall there are many different reasons as to why people work and what motivates them to do so, there is seemingly no set way to motivate people and the different theories show that there is not one set method for this. Employers can use the different theories when trying to motivate their workforce. A lot of different factors contribute to the positive and negative factors and these can also interlink with the different theories that have been aforementioned This leaves the best way to motivate someone on an individual basis and essentially up for debate.
