Employee Motivation

Perhaps one of the most effective ways to motivate employees is to make sure they understand and appreciate goals of the organization and are supported by managers in the work to achieve these goals. There are several motivational techniques that can be used to increase productivity, reduce workplace stress, and increase self-confidence. There are a number of ways to inspire and motivate employees. Job Enrichment According to Koontz & Weihrich (1990) , this is an attempt to build a greater sense of challenge and achievement into jobs. Work can be enriched by giving workers more freedom in deciding on such as work methods, sequence and pace or acceptance or rejection of materials; it gives workers a sense of personal responsibility for one's tasks; taking action to make sure that workers can see how their tasks contribute to the final product and well-being of the company; involving workers in the analysis and change of physical aspects of their work environment such as offi...

Expectancy theory developed by Victor Vroom states that an individual tends to act in a certain way based on the expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual (Robbins, et al., 2013) . Expectancy theory describes the cognitive process that employees go through to make a choice between various voluntary actions. The theory suggests that our choice depends on three specific beliefs that are based on our past learning and experience: Expectancy, Instrumentality, and Valence (Colquitt, et al., 2015) . Expectancy is the perceived probability that an individual applying a certain amount of effort will lead to a certain level performance (Robbins & Coulter, 2018) . Instrumentality is the degree to which the individual believes that performance at a certain level is instrumental in achieving the desired result (Robbins & Coulter, 2018) . Valence represents the attractive (seductive) force, i.e., affectiv...

According to the equity theory, whose founder is Stackey Adams, individuals are satisfied only in cases where their inputs and outputs are equal. According to this theory, employees compare their inputs and outputs with inputs and outputs from other members of the organization (Champagne & McAfee, 1989) . Perhaps employees start with an idea of ​​what inputs and rewards another employee has and then compare them to themselves. If another employee with the same effort at the workplace has the same remuneration, the employee concludes that he has been treated fairly and equally with other employees of the organization, if not it will be considered as an injustice is being done to him in the organization. It should be noted here that in fact there can be equality between workers, but this should not be understood as such by the relevant employee (Champagne & McAfee, 1989) . Figure 1: Equity Theory Relationships Source: (Robbins, et al., 2013) Adams proposed this theory, specif...

Need theories attempt to pinpoint the intrinsic factors that stimulate behavior (Lee & Raschke, 2016) . Needs are physiological or psychological deficiencies that arouse behavior. These needs can be strong or weak under the influence of environmental factors. Thus, human needs change over time and in different situations  (Robbins & Coulter, 2018) . Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory The most famous theory of motivation is probably that of Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory. Maslow was a psychologist who suggested that within each person there is a hierarchy of five needs (Robbins & Coulter, 2018) . Figure 1 : Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Source: (Robbins & Coulter, 2018) Physiological needs : Human needs for food, drink, housing and other physical requirements  (McLeod, 2018) . Safety needs : Human needs for security and protection from physical and emotional harm, and confidence that physical ne...

There are a number of theories of motivation that mainly complement each other (Armstrong, 2009) . Traditional theories of motivation focus on specific elements that motivate employees to achieve organizational results. However, current research on employee motivation is more interdisciplinary and includes areas such as neurology, biology and psychology. It seems that current research is directed to unify and revolutionize traditional theories of motivation into a more comprehensive theory that embraces traditional views on management, human resources, organizational behavior with new perspectives in neuroscience, biology and psychology (Lee & Raschke, 2016) . At the beginning of the 20th century motivational theories were the main organizing strength in both experimental and applied psychology (Ryan, 2012) . Five ways to explain behavior - needs, reinforcement, cognition, performance, and feelings/emotions - are at the heart of the evolution of modern theories of human motivat...

Over the years, psychologists have done a lot of research to understand why people behave the way they do. The field of study was mainly limited to two areas of explanation of behavior; basic biological needs related to survival and external rewards or punishments. Both of these explanations were supported by the fact that human behavior is motivated by the desire to achieve certain results. Thus, motivation is a factor that feeds and directs behavior towards the achievement of a specific goal. In modern organizations, making employees motivated to perform the desired work is an integral part of management objectives (Sansone & Harackiewicz, 2000) . Below is a brief exploration of the two main types of employee motivation. Intrinsic Motivation Intrinsic motivation is the most autonomous form of motivation and the driving force behind participation in activities out of sincere interest and pleasure (Ryan & Deci, 2000) . According to Schultz & Ryan (2015 ), the pleasure...