Impact of motivation on employees’ performance

According to Herzberg's two-factor theory of motivation, money is not even a motivator (Herzberg, 2003). Today the workforce is becoming increasingly skilled and technologically inclined. Managers need to think of new ways to manage this knowledgeable workforce. With knowledge and skills come with higher salary demands. This knowledge workers will no longer "work for beans". As per Maslow's hierarchy of needs, people have physical, security, social, ego and self-actualization needs. People are motivated to fulfill lower-level needs before moving to fulfill higher level needs such as ego (esteem) and self-actualization (Herzberg, 2003).

Knowing what people need can help contemporary organizations understand how to motivate today's knowledge-based workers. Since these workers command a high-paying job, it can be concluded that money by itself does not provide sufficient incentive as a performance driven motivator. It is, of course, an element of Herzberg's theories of motivation (Herzberg, 2003).

Managers must provide jobs that are challenging to better motivate today's knowledge workers. Because physical or material and social needs that come with their jobs are already filled, these knowledge workers tend to move to a higher level of needs such as ego (esteem) and self-actualization.

Work itself is a motivator according to Herzberg's two-factor theory. The worker draws a sense of self-worth into the process of performing the work and after completion of this work, a sense of achievement is derived. Studies showed that satisfied workers are more productive (Schermerhorn , et al., 2003). In dealing with today’s knowledge workforce, managers must design jobs that are both a challenging and a satisfying. To design the "right" job for the right person, the job design process must involve employees because of their needs must be addressed. A considerable number of jobs are clearly not very demanding in the modern workplace.

In situations like these, managers can set goals and objectives so that employees know what is expected of them. These goals and objectives must be specifically stated to have the most motivating effect. Having a clear goal can make a previously routine job become more challenging. With this view, the worker becomes more motivated to achieve that goal. Regardless of the job is by design or by goal setting, a highly motivated worker is likely to be one who has the necessary skills and supplies to perform the job.

A compliment like a simple thank you still goes a long way in motivating employees, or it can be more formal, such as a the "employee of the month" award. The value of recognition is the attention employees receives (Wiscombe, 2002).

Employees and people in general want to feel like they are natural persons and that they can distinguish themselves by doing exceptional or outstanding work. This concept would relate to "ego" level in the Maslow’s theory on the hierarchy of needs, which deals with independence, achievement, freedom, status, recognition, and self-esteem. By recognizing excellence and well-performed activities of employees, managers can determine the type of recognition required. Level of appreciation from recognition increases if it is an honest and well deserves recognition because “if employees believe you are a fair, honest, and caring boss, most will remain loyal and respond in kind” (Wiscombe, 2002).

If managers are to be effective, they must have at least a basic understanding of motivation and various motivational theories that attempt to explain the concept of motivation. They must be able to grasp the key elements of theories such as Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Herzberg's two-factor theory and make sure they really try to understand their employees. It is only because of properly grasping these concepts that they can hope to achieve effectively bring out continual high performance in their employees.

Leaders must provide growth opportunity and challenging jobs to motivate today's workers. Without these challenges and growth opportunities, employees do not see the need to deliver excellent performance at work. This realization plays an important role in the motivation of employees, and it is a very effective motivator. Employees want and need to feel their contribution is making a difference and recognition is one way to satisfy these desires or needs.

 

References

Herzberg, F., 2003. One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees?. [Online]
Available at: https://hbr.org/2003/01/one-more-time-how-do-you-motivate-employees
[Accessed 20 August 2022].

Schermerhorn , J. R., Hunt, J. G. & Osborn, R. N., 2003. Organizational Behavior. 8 ed. New York: John Wiley and sons, Inc.

Wiscombe, J., 2002. Workforce. 81(4).

Comments

  1. Danushi SeneviratneAugust 31, 2022 at 9:32 AM

    Agreed. Herzberg published the two-factor theory of work motivation in 1959. The theory was highly controversial at the time it was published, claims to be the most replicated study in this area, and provided the foundation for numerous other theories and frameworks in human resource development (Herzberg, 1987). The theory states that job satisfaction and dissatisfaction are affected by two different sets of factors. Therefore, satisfaction and dissatisfaction cannot be measured on the same continuum(C M Stello, 2011)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reshan FernandoSeptember 2, 2022 at 9:54 AM

      Hi Danushi, yes, it is evident that most theories discuss job satisfaction in the context of motivation (Kian et al., 2014). Herzberg's theory was used as a method for researching job satisfaction among employees (Lundberg et al., 2009).

      Delete
  2. Larry ShanthikumarSeptember 3, 2022 at 6:46 AM

    According to Nyinyimbe (2020), motivation is an ideal tool for achieving employees' superior performance at the workplace, leading towards organizational effectiveness.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reshan FernandoSeptember 3, 2022 at 7:37 AM

      Employees can also be motivated through proper leadership as leadership is all about getting things done the right way. To achieve these goals, the leader must earn the trust of employees and make them follow him/her. However, to make them trust him or her and fulfill their tasks properly for the organization, employees must be motivated (Baldoni, 2005).

      Delete
  3. Asitha GalhenaSeptember 6, 2022 at 7:35 AM

    As per studies, there are several ways to improve employee performance. Motivation is the best. If the employee rewarded positively, it will lead to better job satisfaction. Suppose an organization uses salary as a motivating fact. In that case, first must establish a proper salary structure based on the job's importance, essentiality and productivity, and individual performance (Sarker,2016).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reshan FernandoSeptember 10, 2022 at 6:51 AM

      Milliken (1996) described the Eastman Chemical Company method to motivate and retain employees. The programs adopted are job security, performance-based appraisal system, extrinsic recognition through employee suggestion system, giving performance feedback, training in problem solving, etc.

      Delete
  4. Hiranka MBASeptember 18, 2022 at 5:42 AM

    Your right fernando Organizations in this dynamic globalized world are continuously trying to develop and motivate their
    employees to help achieve enhanced performance with various Human Resource applications and practices.
    Reward management system is the highly used practice for the enterprises to achieve the desired goals (Güngör,
    2011). According to Barber and Bertz (2000), Reward management system helps the organizations to attract,
    capture, retain and motivate employees with high potential and in return get high levels of performance. Reward
    management system consists of both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards; where former involves financial rewards
    (salary, bonus etc) and the later includes non-financial rewards like recognition, security, title, promotion,,
    appreciation, praise, decision making involvement, flexible working hours, workplace comfort ability, feedback,
    work design, social rights etc (Yang, 2008).

    ReplyDelete

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