Motivation

Introduction
In everyday conversations, the word motivation is vaguely used. It is assumed that

motivation is found only in successful people. It is thought that, motivation is an

intense commitment of doing something, or it is a willingness to engage in particular

set of activities.

For instance, an employee who regularly spends half an hour more than his official

job timings to finish work without being rewarded through overtime is said to be

highly motivated. It is also common to believe that only few people have motivation,

while others do not have it. However, the scholars across social sciences, such as

Sociology, Psychology, and management sciences, have viewed, defined, and

theorized about motivation somewhat differently from the conceptions of laymen.

Practitioners of social sciences view motivation as a force that energizes a behavior.

Motivation is a drive, or a force that activates behaviors. Motivation makes it

possible for humans to perform tasks consistently over period of time. For instance,

Typist whose lifelong work is to type and type must have a degree of motivation;

otherwise he won’t be able to maintain quality of his work. Contrary to the beliefs

held by a lay person about motivation, scholars of social sciences argue that

motivation is not limited to successful people. They contend that motivation is found

in every human being.

The factors that make an individual motivated are different. For example, some

employees work hard to earn a promotion, while others value appreciation of

managers, and of fellow workers. Motivation is not a behavior, nor is it a level of

performance. Motivation is an inner trait that triggers human actions, and

behaviors, in order to satisfy a need, or achieve a goal. For instance, many

employees work hard to receive a pay rise in order to better fulfill their economic

needs. In The following paragraphs we offer a definition of motivation.

The literature offers several competing yet complimentary definition of motivation.

These definitions use words like “need”, “wish”, “incentive”, “drive”, “desires”,

“motive”, and “goals”. In the attempt to describe the nature of motivation, as a

force having an inherent capacity to trigger human behaviors. In other words,

individuals opt to behave in a certain way, in an attempt to fulfill a need, or to

satisfy a wish, or to get benefits of an incentive. In the following lines we shall

highlight some definitions of motivation.

1.1 Definition of motivation.

The processes that account for individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence of

effort toward attaining a goal.

Mitchell defines motivation as 'the degree to which an individual wants and chooses

to engage in certain specified behaviors’.

Motivation is a process that starts with a physiological or psychological deficiency

need that activates a behavior or a drive that is aimed at a goal.

These definitions highlight the fact that motivation is a force, or a drive, behind

human behaviors. It is a degree of intensity or willingness of an individual to engage

in certain activities.

In order to achieve goals, or satisfy needs. On the bases of these definitions, we can

say that motivation has the following characteristics.

Characteristics of motivation.

Motivation is an individual phenomenon. It is individuals who become motivated to

achieve a goal, or satisfy a need. Motivation is individual also in a sense that

different people are motivated by different things. There is no one formula of

making everyone motivated. For example, singing a company song before starting

work every day may motivate few employs to work hard as they can for the

company. On the other hand, it might be a laborious activity for other employees.

This example shows that motivation is an individual phenomenon, and different

things motivate different people.

Motivation is an intense pursuit of a goal.

Intensity refers to a level of willingness or nonwillingness to carry out certain tasks,

or behaviors. In Everyday conversation intensity is often used as a synonymous of

motivation. When an individual desires to achieve a certain goal, for instance

getting a salary increase, he works more diligently, to achieve this goal. Since his

work is characterized by an aspiration of achieving a goal, as a consequence, his

work would be full of intensity. This intensity is developed among employees

because they want to achieve a certain goal. Hence we can conclude that intensity

and pursuit of a goal are key factors influencing the degree of motivation among

employees of any organization.

Motivation is aroused by a need, or an expectation.

It is widely acknowledged that people become motivated when there is an

unsatisfied need, or when they want to fulfill an expectation. This expectation could

be of an individual from his own self, or it can be imposed on him by others. The

needs that make individuals motivated can be of various natures. These can be

physiological as well as higher order needs. Some people enjoy and want to work

because they enjoy what they are doing. As a result they develop a positive self

image. On the other hand some people work to maximize economic rewards.

Expectations also play an important role in motivating individuals. An employee,

who knows that his boss expects more from him, is likely to devote extra energy to

his work. Self expectations also can increase the level of motivation. An employee

believing that his work should be more productive is likely to give better outputs to

the organization.

1.2.4 The ability of becoming motivated is found in everyone.

Contrary to the general opinion held by people that only certain people have

motivation; it is found in all individuals. As highlighted so far, the degree, and

intensity of motivation is influenced by different factors. For instance, let us suppose

an employee who does not like the way his boss treats him may not give good

performance, but as soon as he has a new boss, or he joins a different organization

his performance levels drastically improve. The scenario presented as an example

above, illustrates it is not because an individual lacks an ability of being motivated,

it is because of other factors, and in case of the present example situational factors
that influence employee motivation. In short, all individuals have a capacity to be

motivated. However the situations and factors that make them motivated vary from

individual to individual.

1.2.5 Motivation is influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors.

Individuals are motivated by intrinsic factors as well as extrinsic factors. Sometimes

the combination of both forms of factors motivates individuals. Intrinsic or internal

factors mostly refer to psychological characteristics of an individual. They include

the amount of interest an individual have in a given task. For instance how much an

interest an employee has to work for a particular organization. Need is also an

internal motivator. There can be several needs of employees, and it is not possible to

identify a small group of needs, that is universally applicable, while attempting to

understand the employee’s needs. However commonly the needs of appreciation, the

need of affiliation, and the need for self actualization have been identified as a

motivating factors. No discussion on need as a motivating force can be complete

without discussing the basic needs possess by every individual. These are

physiological and security needs. In the economic system of modern societies these

needs cannot be satisfied without money. All organization offer monetary reward to

its employees in a form of salary along using several other motivating techniques.

Extrinsic factors such as work environment, behavior of fellow workers and of

management, are also important factors influencing the degree, and intensity of

motivation.
 1.2.6 Different factors influence motivation in different cultures.

While every human being blessed with a normal function mind has an ability to

become motivated, the factors that make them motivated vary from culture to

culture. For example employees working in cultures that value individualism are

likely to be motivated by factors like opportunity for self growth, equality, and

prestige. On the other hand, people living in collectivist cultures are likely to value

benefits they can get from doing a job for their family. They also like to work in a

harmonious environment and like to enjoy close relations with fellow workers.

1.3 Types of motivators.

Simply put motivators are desires, or needs, that make an individual

motivated. For example, the need of hunger motivates individuals to

struggle to make sure that they can fulfill their need for food.

Similarly the need for job security, keeps employees honest and

committed to their work. Motivators can be divided into three types.

These are Primary motivators, general motivators, and secondary

motivators. The most relevant motivators from the view point of

organizational behavior study are secondary motivators. In the

following paragraphs, we briefly discuss primary and general

motives. Then we would comprehensively discuss secondary

motivators.

1.3.1 Primary motivators.

Primary motives are also referred to as physiological, or biological,

or unlearned motivators. There are two defining characteristics of

these types of motivators. Firstly they are physiological in nature.

Secondly they are unlearned. Most commonly recognized primary

motivators are Hunger, thirst, sleep, sex, and avoidance of pain.

Since these motivators are universal and do not differ from societies

to societies, and culture to culture, they are of less significance in

organizational behavior study. They are treated as constant factors

behind human behavior.

1.3.2 General motives.

General motives are those motives which are unlearned but not

physiological in nature. They are curiosity, manipulation, activity,

and feeling affection. These general motives are more relevant to

the study of organizational behavior. Hence they are further

elaborated under separate headings in the following paragraphs.

1.3.2.1Curiosity, manipulation and activity motive.

Curiosity is a trait of human beings that make them discover new

things. Without curiosity humans would not have unearth solutions

to many problems of humanity. Curiosity is important in the context

of organizational behavior, because it is curiosity that makes an

employee find solutions to problems. For example questions like

how to increase productivity without increasing the labor force how

to ensure that all workers are committed to organizational goals,

cannot be answered without curious THINKING. In short without

curiosity an employee or a manager cannot bring creativity to his or

her work. It is curiosity that makes jobs interesting, without it job

can become laborious.

The activity motive in the context of organizational behavior refers

to a human instinct to engage in some kind of activity. By nature

humans are not passive, and they like to do something. If humans

are denied from satisfying this motive, their abilities can seriously

be hampered. For instance if an employee is asked to work at a

machine for Eight hours without talking to someone, and do nothing

but work on the machine, his social growth would seriously be

influenced negatively.
1.3.2.2 The affection motive.

Affection in the context of organizational behavior refers to the

empathetic feelings fellow workers and management has for one

another. The management is always concerned to make employee

realize that they are important for the organization, and their work

is being valued. The role of affection in organizations cannot be

undervalued. This is because to feel affection is a basic human

motive, and if organizations are able to satisfy this motive of its

employees, it is likely to flourish.

1.3.3 Secondary motives.

The secondary motives are not physiologically based, nor are they

unlearned. These motives are unquestionably the most important

motives in the study of organizational behavior study. They are need

for achievement, need for power, need for affiliation, need for

security, and need for status. We shall briefly discuss these motives

in the following paragraphs.

1.3.3.1 Need for achievement.

Most individuals have lofty goals, and they want to achieve a lot in

their lives.

The need for achievement has two distinct dimensions. One relates

to everyday life in which individuals want to do something which

give them a feeling of accomplishment. Second relates to the

lifelong goals, in which individual want to achieve something before

he dies. While studying behavior in organizations, we are more

concerned with need for achievement that is present in our everyday

life. This need or motive is satisfied when individual complete a

difficult task, e.g. preparing a report before time. This motive is also

satisfied when an employee solves a complex problem, e.g. why

profits have decreased in a certain region. Doing better than others

also satisfies this motive, e.g. receiving employee of the month

award. In short, individuals have a need to achieve. This motive is

satisfied in organizations through various activities.

1.3.3.2 Need for power.

Individuals like to feel that they are in command of their life, and of

others. Hence need for power is another important secondary

motive. Power is an important topic of discussion in organizational

behavior. This motive is satisfied when employees feel completely

responsible and empowered about their work, and feel that they can

take necessary steps to fulfill their tasks. In the strict sense power

refers to complete command of an individual, or an entity over

others. However in modern organizations power is distributed

among employees.

1.3.3.3 Need for affiliation.

Affiliation is another important motivator. In modern societies

affiliation has become even more important. As primary relations

have declined. Researches in the field of management sciences have

shown that affiliation play an important role in determining

employees motivation. Individual’s feel affiliation in organizations,

when they feel they are liked by fellow workers. They feel affiliation

when they feel a part of the group, e.g. they work in an environment

where they feel that they are not alone working hard, and others are

also there to work with them. Also employees feel motivated when

they enjoy harmonious relationships with fellow employees, and can

participate in pleasant social activities with them.

1.3.3.4 Need for security.

Need for security is one another important motive of humans. In the

context of organizational behavior, this motive is satisfied in the

following ways: Job security, i.e. When individual feels that his or

her job is secure. Security from physical dangers, i.e. work would not

result in any serious injury such as a loss of a body organ. This

applies usually to workers, who manually operate machines. The

security motive can also be satisfied by giving some kind of

protection in case of serious illness or disability. Workers also feel a

sense of security when they feel protected from an economic

disaster. More clearly when they know that if their organization

suffers huge losses, it would not ignore their interests. The security

motive is an important motive, and without its satisfaction few

individuals, if any, can be motivated.

1.4 Motivation and organizational behavior.

Motivation is an important topic for any student of organizational

behavior. From the view point of managers the study of motivation

is important since it helps him or her to better motivate the

employees. From a view point of academics the study of motivation

is important as it answers the following questions: How

management and managers try to motivate employees? What

motivational techniques are most successful? How employees

become motivated? What types of rewards are most influential in

increasing productivity? Why workers sometimes lack motivation?

The questions posed above do not provide a holistic account of the

interest of scholars, and of managers to the study of motivation.

However these questions provide a general overview of what are the

key areas of interest while studying motivation. In the remainder of

this section, we attempt to illustrate what is the significance of

employee motivation for the success, and existence of an

organization. Also we shall attempt to highlight why the study of

motivation of employees is important.

1.4.1 The importance of employee motivation for organizations.

Formal organizations have a hierarchy and division of labor is found

in them. This means that people occupy different statuses, and

positions in the organization. Also they have different skills,

knowledge, and specialties. Formal organizations have a well

defined goal, and theoretically all employees are striving to achieve

that goal. However, it is not easy to motivate employees to work

with complete devotion and utilize all abilities to achieve

organizational goal. It is one of the difficult tasks for management of

the organization to make employees motivated, and ensure they are

giving their best to the organization.

Without committed and motivated employees and organization

cannot hope to be successful. If employees are not motivated this

can result in disaster for the organization. The importance of

motivation can be judge from the fact that if employees are not

motivated organization cannot achieve its goal. Also employees with

low motivation usually give poor performances, and their

productivity declines. Low motivation also cause worker

dissatisfaction, and they also look to quit the job. Without motivated

employees an organization cannot achieve sustained success, and it

faces a threat of even going out of business.

1.4.2 Why study employee motivation?

The answer of the question why study employee motivation has

somewhat been answered by the prior paragraphs. However, few

more lines on this question would further clarify why studying

employee motivation is important.

The fate of an organization is usually determined by its employees.

So it sounds logical to understand how employees can be motivated.

So organizations can develop strategies of rewarding and motivating

employees. Researchers have shown that all people cannot be

motivated by similar thing. For example two employees of a same

organization, when ask would they prefer pay rise or better work

environment, one might select pay rise, while other might opt for

better work environment. Also different cultures value different

things, so it is important to study what motivate people in different

cultures. This knowledge is useful for organizations who work

internationally. Such organizations usually hire people of different

countries, and different cultural backgrounds. Without knowing that

what things can motivate people of a specific cultural and racial

background, an organization cannot motivate its employees.

If employee’s motivation is not studied, organizational managers

would have a seriously difficult time in discovering how they can

motivate their employees.

In short, motivation of employees is a key determinant of success of

any organization. The study of motivation is important as it provides

management of an organization with necessary knowledge, and

ideas of how to motivate employees.

2. Techniques of motivating employees.

The success or failure of any organization is dependent on its

employees. Therefore management should always be trying to make

sure that its employees are motivated. There are several techniques

of motivating employees, and we will review some of them in the

following pages. It should be kept in mind that the definition of

motivation presented earlier in this paper that motivation is

persistent and an intense pursuit of a goal has been used as a

criterion while selecting the techniques of motivating employees for

the following discussion. Techniques of motivation have been

defined as any attempt on the part of the management and

managers to ensure that their employees stay committed to the job,

and strive to improve performance levels. The numerical order in

which these techniques are discussed does not imply that one

technique is superior to the subsequent mentioned techniques.

2.1 Recognition of superior performance.

It is essential that a well-performing employee is recognized for his

or her work. By informing an employee that he or she is doing well,

management can increase the morale of him or her. Several methods

can be adopted to reward good performing employees. These

methods can be tangible e.g. money, in form of a bonus, or a salary

raze. This reward can be intangible e.g. verbal appreciation of that

employee. Recognition of performance has an impact on not only the

employee who is performing well; it also tells other employees that

they should also improve their performance.

2.2 Introduce healthy competition in the organization.

One another technique that management or managers can use to

motivate employees is to introduce healthy competition in the

organizations. These competitions can be of several types. For

instance, a manager can give a same amount of work to two

employees, and inform them that they must finish their work before

the other. Also they can do the same with two teams of employees.

Also management can start a competition on who is the most

punctual employee? And who have completed most tasks within a

timeframe of suppose one month. However management should

remain conscious of the fact that this competition should not take a

form of conflict. This can be ensured by not offering very high

rewards to the employees who have done well in the competitions.

For example, offering a Ten percent salary raze for the employee

who has been most punctual in one month, may create an air of

jealousy, and conflict in the organization. This is something that an

organization must avoid at all costs.

2.3 Provide feedback to employees about their performance.

Providing feedback to employees about how they are performing is

another way of motivating them. However when and how this

feedback is provided to the employee is very important. Giving

feedback to good performing employees that they are doing well is

likely to ensure their current performance levels, or increase them.

However telling an employee that he or she is not doing well is

critical. This is because, this can reduce his motivation. Management

should be very careful when providing feedback to less performing

employees. Some methods manager can use are to personally

communicate with the employee, and empathetically discuss the

possible reasons behind his substandard performance. Only telling

that to an employee that he is not doing well is not enough. He

should be completely informed where he is not doing well. If

possible managers should also provide some solutions to that

employee of how he can increase his performance. In short feedback

about performance is a good motivator. It certainly sustains currant

motivation levels, and it can also increase them. However less

performing employees should be provided feedback in a way that it

should not cause employees to feel less motivated.

2.4 Align organizational goals with the goals of employees.

Management should strive to spread a feeling in the organization

that the goals of an organization are also goals of employees. For

example, if a goal of a car manufacturer is to increase sales by Ten%

an organization should try to make sure that this goal is shared by

the employees. This can be achieved by offering a portion of the

profits that a ten% sales increase would give to the organization to

employees. This can also be achieved by telling employees that if

company reaches its stated goal all of them would receive a certain

amount of bonus. In short management should attempt to create

some sort of harmony between the goals of organizations and of its

employees. If employees do not feel any attachment to the goals of

organizations, they would not be motivated to help organization

reach them. As a result the goals would not be achieved.

2.5 Give incentives to employees.

Giving incentives to employees is another technique of motivating

employees. Simply put, incentives are a possible reward that an

employee can strive to achieve. Incentives are not a reward as they

serve a purpose of a possible benefit an employee would get.

Obviously incentives are given to convince employees to increase

their performance levels, or to achieve a goal. Examples, of

incentives are a possible doubling of salary, promotion to an

executive post, providing housing or medical facilities, and receiving

a large sum of money. Incentives are a useful motivating technique

when a management wants employees to really work hard, or to

achieve its goal in a short span of time. Incentives as a motivating

technique can be describe as a quick fix solution of improving

employee motivation. As it is believed that by presenting a big

incentive an organization can quickly raze employee motivation,

thereby performance.

2.6 Develop good relations with employees.

The literature of employee motivation places high importance on the

relation of employees, and of management. If managers have strong

and healthy relations with employees they can motivate them easily.

By developing sound relations with employees a manager gets the

following advantages. Firstly he creates a feeling among employees

that they have some worth in the organization, and their work is

being valued. This gives a positive boost to employee motivation.

Secondly; a manager gets to know the strength and weaknesses of

his employees. This helps him in the future while distributing tasks

in employees. As he can identify correct people for correct jobs.

Thirdly by maintaining good relations with employees he can better

identify their needs, and expectations. Helping him to design better

motivational strategies in the future. In short strong relations of

management with employees are a useful motivating technique. On

one side workers feel motivated because of the attention they

receive from the management. On the other hand management is

better able to understand employee needs, thereby learning how to

motivate the employees.

2.7 Create an environment where open communication is possible.

If modern psychologists are to be believed most human behavioral

problems result from lack of communicating skills. Organizations by

creating an environment where open communication is possible can

prevent many behavioral problems to emerge in the organization.

The value of communication cannot be undervalued as a

motivational technique. Employees feel more motivated, and drive

more satisfaction from their work, if they feel they can give their

ideas to management, and discuss their problems with them. Lack of

communication result in employee dissatisfaction, and frustration,

which is not a sign of high motivation. Manageress should always

communicate with their employees. They should learn about the

ideas, and suggestions employees have for the organization, what

things they do not like about how presently organization is

managed. Managers can keep a box labeled employees ideas, and

suggestions box somewhere in the building of an organization.

Employees can be requested to drop their ideas in it. Also manager

can arrange frequent meetings with employees, where employees

and managers can think together about improving organization.

Open environment for communication is essential because to

express one self is a basic human tendency. If employees are

derived of expressing themselves, they sure are likely to get

frustrated. This can seriously hamper their motivation.

2.8 Make work interesting.

People are easily motivated to engage in activities they like doing.

Managers should strive to make work interesting for the employees.

This can be achieved through several ways. Firstly managers should

allocate work to individuals who are capable of performing that task.

Capable people are more likely to enjoy what they are doing, rather

those people who are not capable. Work can also become interesting

when it is a challenge for employees. Many people like overcoming

challenges, therefore, managers should always create a sense of

challenge for employees. Employees also enjoy working when they

work in a good social environment. It is the responsibility of the

manager to create it. In short employees are usually more motivated

to perform a task which is interesting. Since not all tasks are

inherently interesting, it is up to managers to make them

interesting. This can be achieve by making tasks challenging, and

giving a feeling to an employee that performing this task is a good

test of my abilities. In this way work can be made more interesting,

thereby more motivating for employees.

2.9 Use reinforcement to maintain good performance.

Reinforcement is a psychological concept. It is a rewarding or not

rewarding a particular action. The underlying idea of reinforcement

is that continuous reinforcement makes an action long-lasting. For

example, if a behavior is continuously rewarded, such as good

performance, that behavior would become permanent. On the other

hand, if a behavior is continuously not rewarded, such as poor

performance, that behavior would become extinct. There is a lot

more to the concept of reinforcement, but we would not delve too

deeply in to it now. We shall turn our attention to how reinforcement

works in organizations.

As highlighted above reinforcement can make a behavior

permanent, or extinct. The notion of reinforcement in organizational

behavior implies that managers should positively reward good

behavior. This reward can be tangible, such as money, or intangible

such as appreciation. Whatever this positive reward or reinforcer is

it should be given to each good performance. Similarly poor

performance should be given a negative reward or reinforcer. This

does not imply that every poor performer should be punished. It

means that a system should be in place where causes of poor

performance can be unearthed, and solutions can be learned. Such a

managerial approach appears to be quite valuable. This is because;

it tries to reward good performance all the time, and try to stop poor

performance. It does this by using positive or negative rewards.

2.10 Provide job security to employees.

Security is one of the basic human motives. Managers can motivate

employees by providing them a sense of job security. It should not

be wrongly believed that job security means that an employee would

never be fired from the organization. It means that an employee is

sure that he is not going to lose his job at any moment. Employees

who feel that their job is secure can devote their complete energies

to the task at hand. They Aare subconsciously not worried about

their future as an employee of the organization. By assuring

employees that their job is under no threat a manager can improve

the motivation levels of employees.

2.11 Introduce little awards in the organization.

Managers can also motivate employees by introducing little awards

in the organizations. These awards may not necessarily be financial

in nature. Such awards can be employee of the month, emerging

employees of the year, most punctual employees of the month, and

employees with the best idea of the month. The employees who

receive these awards can be given a small recognition for their

contribution at the end of each month, or at the start of the new

month. They can be rewarded by a bonus, or by giving a day off, or

given a written appreciation for their work. The purpose of this

award should be to create an example for employees to follow. The

names of award winners for a particular month should be

highlighted at a place where most of the employees pass. As pointed

out earlier these rewards might not be financial in nature. But the

introduction of such awards motivates employees to work hard to

earn such awards.

2.12 Learn about the employee’s needs and expectations.

As it was highlighted at the beginning of this paper, motivation is

aroused by needs and expectations. Individuals engage in certain

actions because doing so satisfy a need they have. Also they engage

in a work when they have an expectation about an outcome. The

more favorable or more positive the possible outcome, more

intensely they engage in the activity, or perform a behavior. So if

managers can learn about the needs and expectations of employees

about the results they hope to achieve as a consequence of their

work. They can better motivate employees. Managers can do this by

increasing personal interaction with the employees. Or by taking

surveys of what employees want. Whatever the technique is

managers must learn about the needs and expectations of their

employees. Suppose for example, a company was earning profits of

over 12% for five years continuously. However in the next Three

years its profits drastically shrink. Also many of its top employees

are working in different organizations now. What can explain this

change in fortune of this company? For the sake of our example, now

let us suppose that in the profitable five years, that company gave

yearly bonuses to workers, but no employee received a substantial

salary increase. Company management relax by the fact that it is

offering a good chunk of its profits every year to employees, lost

sight of the fact that the employees were more interested in

monthly salary increase rather than yearly bonus. We have earlier

seen what happened to the company. This example, though

imaginary, illustrates why it is so important for the organizational

management to learn about the needs, and expectation of the

employees.

2.13 Value small achievements.

One another way of motivating employees is to appreciate and value

their small contributions. These small contributions can be

completing an allocated task before time. Helping other employees

to complete their task. Always coming up with new ideas. Identifying

and fixing possible flaws in the everyday operations of

organizations, such as finding ways to limit cost. Contributions like

these are best rewarded intangibly. For example, a manager can

leave a note of appreciation on a table of employees. He can send

him an email, or in this age of information technology, he can

appreciate his contribution on the forum on the organization’s

website. By acknowledging such small contributions, managers can

create a feeling of being valued in the organization. This in turn led

to increase in motivation.

2.14 Maintain a good social environment.

The role of social environment i.e. the relations of employees with

one another and with management have been well documented in

organizational behavior literature. It is an accepted fact now that

without harmonious social relations or environment in the

organization employees cannot be motivated. Managers can

maintain good social environment by making every employee feel

that he is an important part of the organization, and ensure that no

activities are performed in the organization that can create

agitation, conflict and jealousy in workers. This can be achieved by

not allowing rumors to spread and create workers anxiety. For

instance, false news that 200 workers are about to be expel from the
organization soon, can led to a serious disruption in the social

environment of the organization. This also can seriously influenced

worker motivation. Also if junior employees are harshly treated by

senior employees this can also disturb social environment of the

organization, and can create tensions among workers. Resulting in

low motivation levels. In short without a good social environment an

organization cannot hope to motivate its employees. It is one of the

upmost duties of a manager to create and maintain good social

environment in the organization.

2.15 Create a feeling in employees that working for organization is

something special.

Managers can also make employees motivated if they can develop a

feeling that the organization they working for are different than

others, or there is something special working for this organization.

Managers can achieve this by inculcating a feeling in employees that

the organization they are working for is really unique thus it is

worthwhile devoting all energies to it. One relevant example is of

computer software giant Microsoft. One programmer working at

Microsoft remarked that for the first five years of my job, I use to

think that all the things outside of my office room are evil and

unnecessary. He also said that every employee at Microsoft haply

spends long time in working i.e. programming software’s. This is not

because Microsoft offers huge salaries; this is because each

employee of Microsoft feels that he is working for a special

organization. As Microsoft can influence lives of billions and billions

of people. Obviously not every organization is Microsoft, but still

organizations can create this feeling in employees. This can be done

by creating mission statements and objectives for labor force that

are inspiring. For instance, to develop an organization whose

products cannot be matched by any organization. In short if

managers can manage to create this feeling of specialness among

employees they can become motivated.

2.16 Money as a technique of motivation.

Our discussion on techniques of motivation has so far mentioned

money on several occasions. However considering the amount of

discussion on money as a motivator found in motivation literature

necessitates further elaboration of the role of money in employee

motivation. The common believe is that money can easily motivate

people. When people are asked about how to motivate people,

almost the instant answer is money, give them more money to be

precise. However evidence collected together by years and years of

research has given lesser significance to money. Particularly in

cultures of developed societies, employees give less importance to

money. Whereas people living in developing countries give more

importance to money. While there is no general consensus on how

much money motivates, but there is no denying the fact that money

does have a motivating power.

Money is the most commonly used motivating tool in organizations.

Almost all organizations try to motivate employees by offering

bonuses for good performance, or increasing salary. Money

encourages employees to work hard. As it can result in moving

upwards in the organizational hierarchy. Resulting in higher pay.

Using money as a motivator does not require superior managerial

skills. Usually money is attached as a reward for an employee’s

performance. When employees give a certain level of performance

they are given money as a reward. Many methods are used by

organizations to offer money as a reward to its employees. Some

organizations offer a hard cash, while other organizations offer

employees an opportunity to buy organization’s share at a fixed

price. When the value of this share raises above the fix price at

which they were bought by the employee he can opt to earn profit.

In short money is the most famous or widely known motivational

technique. While researchers have reached differing conclusion

about how much money motivate employees, its importance remain

highly significant.

2.17 Developed a carefully thought out reward system.

So far we have discussed many techniques of motivation in isolation.

In actual practice no one single technique is used by managers to

motivate employees. They use combination of several techniques. A

reward system can be viewed as the collection of material and

nonmaterial rewards offered by an organization to its employees.

Reward systems have been thoroughly discussed elsewhere in this

paper. Therefore our discussion does not focus on definitional

aspects of rewards system. Our focus is on how they serve to

motivate employees.

Employees of an organization can only be motivated when they feel

satisfied by the rewards they receive from the organization. Some of

these rewards include an adequate salary, fair evaluation of

performance, and good working environment. If employees feel that

they are not well rewarded by the organization their levels of

motivation go down to very low limits. A manager can only develop a

good reward system when he or she is aware of what are the needs,

and expectation of members and what is the cultural background of

employees.
In short without a reward system that is satisfying for the

employees, and that reflects their needs and aspirations, an

organization cannot seriously hope of being successful.

3. Organizational reward system.

Organizations, particularly formal organizations have a well defined

and clear goal. Organizational management tries to achieve the goal

by making the best use of available resources. The most valuable

resource for any organization is its employees. One of the main

questions that a manager of every organization has to answer is how

to motivate employees, and how to reward them for their efforts. We

have discussed motivation and have also highlighted the different

motives individuals have. In this section of this paper, we will

discuss the reward system of an organization. However this needs to

be kept in mind that this discussion of different rewarding

techniques provides a general overview of several ways used by

different organizations to motivate its employees. So far there has

been no comprehensive reward system been developed that can

work for every organization. We will begin by defining organizational

rewards.

Organizational rewards.
Organizations reward their employees for their availability,

competency and for the work they do for the organization. Hence

organizational reward can be defined as “the return or benefit given

by an organization to its employees for their contribution to the

organization.” This reward can be financial, i.e. in form of money.

Management of organizations also reward employees for their

efforts verbally i.e. by appreciating the employee’s performance.

The organizational rewards are designed with a two-fold purpose.

Firstly it is designed to reward those whose level of performance is

high. Secondly, it is designed to make sure those employees, who

are less committed, and less motivated towards fulfilling their

responsibilities, start to show better commitment. There are several

types of rewards, and different types of criteria are used by

organizations to reward their employees. In the following

paragraphs, we shall review some main types of rewards offer by

organizations in today’s world to its workers. But first we will

highlight two major forms of rewards.

3.1 Intrinsic and extrinsic rewards

The motivation literature classifies rewards into two distinct types.

These are Intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards are

those which are external to the individual. Salary and housing

facilities provided by an organization to the employees give

examples of external rewards. Also prestige and power attached

with a job is an example of external rewards.

Intrinsic rewards are internal to the individual. Examples of intrinsic

rewards are enjoyment of doing a job, interest in the job and

pleasure derived from doing work. Besides offering external

rewards, organizations also attempt to make work of their

employees intrinsically rewarding.

There is no general consensus in motivation literature on what

rewards are most important in determining employee’s

performance. Some Researchers have found intrinsic rewards to be

of high significance, while others have given priority to extrinsic

rewards. In reality, both of these types of reward go together. An

organization cannot motivate its employees only by offering external

rewards; it has to make sure that the work is intrinsically satisfying

for the employees as well.

3.3 Types of organizational reward systems and their objectives.

Organizations reward their employees for their membership and

seniority, for their job status, for their competency, and for their

performance. Each type of rewards has advantages, and

disadvantages. In the following paragraphs, we shall discuss in

detail these rewards systems.

3.4 Membership and seniority based rewards.

This reward system is not competency or performance based. In this

reward system all members of an organization receive a fix hourly

wage, or a monthly salary. As the seniority of members increases,

they receive a pay rise. Many benefits are same for every member of

the organization e.g. medical facilities.

Advantages and disadvantages.

The membership and seniority reward system has advantages, and

disadvantages. On the positive side, it increases the number of job

applicants. As the size of the reward i.e. salary, increases with

seniority. Also in such a reward system, people do not feel afraid of

losing a job. as a result job security is higher. Considering the

flexible and worker friendly nature of this reward system, employees

are usually loyal with the organization.

However there are some glaring problems with this reward system.

To begin, rewarding employees on the bases of their seniority,

reduces employee turnover, that is number of people joining, and

leaving the organization. Since the cost of leaving a senior post

implies a bigger financial loss. Membership based rewards do not

directly encourage better job performance. It discourages poor

performers to quit the job. On the other hand, good performers are

lured to good jobs. In short the disadvantages of membership and

seniority based rewards can be described as golden handcuffs.

As they discourage people to leave their jobs, and on the other

hand there is no proper mechanism to reward better performing

employees.

3.5 Rewards based on job status.

In this reward system, employees are rewarded according to their

job status. Jobs, that require more skill and effort, have more

responsibility attach to it, and have difficult working conditions,

have higher job status. High status jobs are placed in high pay

grades. Evaluating jobs in terms of their worth creates a hierarchy of

jobs in organizations. Individuals having better job status enjoy

financial benefits, as well as several facilities offer to them by the

organization.

Advantages and disadvantages.

Giving employees rewards on the bases of job status has some

advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is that, this reward

system motivates workers to compete with one another for higher

status jobs. This creates an air of healthy competition in the

organization. Secondly it maintains equality in the organizations.

Employees placed in one pay grade according to job status receive a

similar wage, as compare to fellow employees having a similar job

status. It also maintains equality among genders. As both males and

females receive a same salary if their job status is same. One

another positive of this system is that it values good performance,

unlike membership and seniority based system.

Like other rewards systems, rewards based on job status, has many

disadvantages as well. It rewards members, according to their

skills, efforts, responsibilities, and difficulties. This creates

psychological tensions between employees, and management,

resulting in lack of communication. This happens because every

employee wants to improve his or her job status. Failure to improve

job status can result in discontent, and low motivation in employees.

This system gives high priority to skills and effort. This sometimes

encourages employees to provide a wrong description of their jobs.

In attempt to improve their job status. Also sometimes employees

claim qualifications, and expertise they do not have.

3.6 Rewards on the bases of competency.

Competencies are skills, knowledge, and other underlying

characteristics that lead to superior performance. In this system of

rewarding employees competent employees are more rewarded then

less competent employees. The question arises how do

organizations reward competent employees? Organizations limit the

number of pay grades in the organization, and reward employees

according to their competency in their assigned jobs. This is done by

creating a small number of groups in the organization. Employees

with least competence are place at the lower end of the hierarchy of

the organization, and employees with the highest competency are

placed at the top. Least competent employees are offered chances

to improve their skills, and move upwards in the organizational

hierarchy. For instance, clothing retailer Eddie Bauer created three

groups of employees. These being entry, intermediate and

specialist. Employees had the opportunity to improve their

competence, and move upward in the organization.

One advantage of performance based reward system is that it

provides a meaningful incentive for the employees to perform well.

It also creates a healthy competition in employees to perform well.

By rewarding good performance an organization is able to tell

employees that they must perform well if they want to have a better

future in the organization.

4. Summary, recommendation for managers, and conclusion.

At times, Motivation is a complex phenomenon to understand. This is

because variety of meanings attached to it by scholars, and by lay

people. While it is impossible to present a definition of motivation

on which everyone can agree. Motivation can be understand as a

driving force that activates a behavior. It is an intense pursuit of

goal.

There are several distinguishing characteristics of motivation. They

are:
Motivation is an individual phenomenon; Motivation is an intense pursuit of a

goal; Motivation is aroused by a need, or an expectation; the ability of becoming

motivated is found in everyone; Motivation is influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic

factors; different factors motivate people in different cultures.

There are three types of human motives. Primary motives, general motives, and

secondary motives. For students of organizational behavior, the secondary motives

are most significant.

To understand and study employee’s motivations is essential. This is because

without motivated employees an organization cannot be successful. By

understanding what motivates employee’s managers can develop better

motivational strategies.

There are several techniques used to motivate employees. These range from

appreciating small contributions to rewarding those who have performed a difficult

task. While trying to motivate employees a manager must understand that different

people are motivated differently. Also employees have needs and expectations and

satisfaction of them is important. A proper rewards system must be in place to

ensure employees motivational levels.

Organizations use different types of rewards system. In this paper four of them are

discussed. In these systems employees are rewarded for their membership, and

seniority; for their job status; for their competency; lastly for their performance.

4.1 Recommendations to managers for designing motivational programs.

4.1.1 Employees should be valued as an important resource.

Any motivational program that does not value employees is inherently flawed. It is

employees who determine the success of any organization. Managers should

consider questions like how employees would be rewarded for their work. What

rewards should be provided to them? What facilities organization can give them to

help them to do their jobs? Without finding answers to these questions managers

cannot make successful motivational programs.

4.1.2 Seek for constant feedback from employees.

Managers should look for constant feedback from their employees. It is highly

probable that the rewards and incentives they are providing to employees are not

working. Feedback on how much employees feel committed or not committed to the

organization, can help management to review their policies.

4.1.3 Try to higher competent people.

As an old saying goes, you can bring hoarse to water, but cannot make him drink it.

Similarly organization can provide many incentives or rewards to employees. But if

they are not competent to do a job at hand, nothing will work. Hence managers

should always hire appropriate people for appropriate job.

4.1.4 Distribute work in employees.

Human beings have a certain limit of potential. No matter how good is the

motivational program, over worked employees are likely to feel stress and lose their

productivity.

4.1.5 Create communication channels between employees and management.

Management should ensure that employees are able to communicate easily with

management. The communication can be about the problems employees are facing.

It can also be that an employee wants to give management a new idea. When
employees feel that they work for a management that listens to them and is always

available to do so. They are more committed to the organization.

4.2 Conclusion.

In this paper we discussed motivation; we learned how motivation can determine

the success of an organization. The techniques of motivation were discussed.

Rewards systems were discussed next. Followed by summary of the paper, and

recommendation for managers. This paper has illustrated that motivation is a

difficult concept to explain. Also we do not know with certainty what factors

motivate, and what do not motivate employees. Years and years of research have

put together several factors that influence employee motivation. Even then we are

not certain that particular method would be successful in improving employee

motivation. This paper has asserted that intangible rewards are as important as

tangible. In some cases intangible rewards outweigh tangible rewards. It is

recommended that further work on motivation should continue this debate and If

possible collect some empirical data for strengthening the argument.