Workplace+Motivation

=Motivation......whose responsibility is it anyway? =

If you plan to develop strategies for motivating employees......consider the following:
 1. What is motivation? 2. Do employees want or need to be motivated? 3. How can you tell if employees are motivated or not? 4. What would result from increasing employee motivation? 5. How is motivation measured?

These are some of the questions that should be considered when determining how a motivation strategy should, or should not, be implented in the workplace. There are many considerations that should be factored into a decision to try and motivate employees. Before you send your management team off to "motivate" their employees, carefully consider and determine your manager's understanding of how to motivate. The term motivation may mean very different things to different people. For example, one manager may believe to motivate is to decree "thou shalt do this, or else!". This strategy may work in the short term; however, in the long term, it will likely backfire. Some managers may hold the mistaken believe that the only motivators in life or external and they may see monetary rewards as the only form of motivation. Either of these extremes will not necessarily motivate anyone.

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense" //**Ralph Waldo Emerson** //

Two theories that may be helpful to understand employee or worker motivation are Adam's Equity Theory**and Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory.

Adam's Equity Theory "calls for a fair balance to be struck between an employee's inputs (hard work, skill level, tolerance, enthusiasm, and so on) and an employee's outputs (salary, benefits, intangibles such as recognition,and so on). According to the theory, finding this fair balance serves to ensure a strong and productive relationship is achieved with the employee, with the overall result being contented, motivated employees."

Herzberg's Theory suggests that certain characteristics of a job are consistently related to job satisfaction, while different factors are associated with job dissatisfaction. These are:


 * ~ Factors for Satisfaction ||~ Factors for Dissatisfaction ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Achievement || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Company Policies ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Recognition || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Supervision ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The work itself || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Relationship with Supervisor and Peers ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Responsibility || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Work conditions ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Advancement || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Salary ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Growth || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Status ||
 * || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Security ||

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The conclusion he drew is that job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are not opposites.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The opposite of Satisfaction is No Satisfaction.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The opposite of Dissatisfaction is No Dissatisfaction.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Herzberg's article: //One More Time: How do you Motivate Employees// discusses in greater detail some of the strategies to consider in motivation your workforce. This article is a good first step and understaning the concepts.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Exploring these theories will provide an understanding of workplace motivation. One common factor that appears in many workplace motivational theories is that people's values are different. Workers values may also change as they age.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Importance of Motivation in workplace
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Motivation can have an effect on the output of your business and concerns both quantity and quality. See it this way: your business relies heavily on the efficiency of your production staff to make sure that products are manufactured in numbers that meet demand for the week. If these employees lack the motivation to produce completed products to meet the demand, then you face a problem leading to disastrous consequences. The number of scenarios is extreme but you get the general picture. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Your employees are your greatest asset and no matter how efficient your technology and equipment may be, it is no match for the effectiveness and efficiency of your staff. There are two important terms to consider:

__<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Intrinsic Motivation and Extrinsic Motivation** __

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">[|Instrinsic] motivation and extrinsic motivation are two theories to consider when assessing workplace motivation. Instrinsic motivation refers to the individual value of the work such as its interest value and extrinsic motivation arises from the desire to obtain an outcome, such as rewards that are apart from the work itself. Both can motivate people at work but have different effects on how people feel about their work. For more detailed information about workplace motivation, please review this article: Motivational Synergy.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The "Future of Work Motivation" Theory is discussed in the Academy of Management Review. This article provides an overview of the field of workplace motivation and its origins and recent developments. It is a good discussion about how the concept of motivation has been viewed over the years during the changing dynamics of the the type of work that is performed and directs the reader to papers and resources about the development of the theory in the organization and for the practicing manager. Click on the pdf to learn more....

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__**<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The Role of Motivation **__ <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Why do we need motivated employees? The answer is survival (Smith, 1994). 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 employees changes constantly (Bowen & Radhakrishna, 1991). For example, research suggests that as employees' income increases, money becomes less of a motivator (Kovach, 1987). Also, as employees get older, interesting work becomes more of a motivator. []

__**Motivation Humour in the Workplace**__
(Click on the Watch on YouTube Link) media type="youtube" key="dGiQ0ASC_wg" width="425" height="350"

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Warning <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> - this video, while humourous, does have some comedic physical scenes!

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Bloggers Zone:** Check this out: []

=<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit. = =<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">- Andrew Carnegie =