Definition
of an Employee
Hornby (2010) defined an employee “as a person who
is paid to work for somebody”
Definition
of Motivation
Motivation represents the forces within a person
that affect his or her direction, intensity, and
persistence of voluntary behaviour (Campell &
Pritchard, 1976, Pinder 1998).
Definition
of Employees Motivation
“Work motivation is a set of energetic forces that
originate both within as well as beyond an
individuals being, to initiate work-related
behaviour and to determine its form, direction,
intensity and duration (Pinder, 1998),
Employees
motivation is also defined as describes how committed an employee is to his
job,
Job motivation can be extrinsic or intrinsic; meaning an employee’s motivating factor can come
from
internal or external sources.” (Donohoe, A,2018)
“Motivation will always beat mere talent’ – Norman Ralph Augustine. Talented worker will do
A task given well. But when there is a motivation as a reward or appreciation or proving to
oneself
then the task will be done better.
Intrinsic
Motivation
Intrinsic motivations refers to being in an activity for itself, and the pleasure and satisfaction
derived from participation (Deci, 1975) Employees are motivated from within themselves
without looking for a reward at the end of the task to a job well as it gives them a self
satisfaction, self confidence and feel good about themselves.
Malone
and Leeper identified these factors as increasing intrinsic motivation:
·
Challenge: employees are more motivated
when they pursue goals with personal
meaning
and when attaining the goal is possible but not necessarily certain. These
goals
may
also relate to their self-esteem when performance feedback is available.
·
Control: Employees want control over
themselves and their environments and want to
determine
what they pursue.
·
Cooperation and competition : Intrinsic
motivation can be increased in situations where
Employee
gains satisfaction from helping others. It also applies to cases where they can
compare
their performance favourably to that of others.
·
Curiosity: Internal motivation is
increased when something in the physical environment
grabs
the individual’s attention (sensory curiosity). It also occurs when something
about
the
activity stimulates the employee to want to learn more (cognitive curiosity).
·
Recognition: Employees enjoy having
their accomplishments recognized by others,
which
can increase internal motivation.
Extrinsic motivation can be defined as, “it pertains to a wide variety of behaviours that are
engaged
in as a means to an end and not for their own sake” (Deci, 1975)
Extrinsic
motivation refers to behaviour that is driven by external reward. (Kendra
Cherry,2022)
External rewards that motivates could be tangible or intangible. Some of the tangible rewards
could be increase in salary (not salary as salary is paid for task done. Salary increase will be for
task done well and on or completing before time), bonus, family holidays. Some of the
intangible will be appreciation, public recognition.
Its important to look at the specific situations to determine if extrinsic rewards might help
motivate behaviour. Below are some example scenarios when extrinsic rewards may be most
effective:
(Kendra Chery, 2022)
· When employees not interested in their activities.
· When a short-term motivator for a specific purpose is needed
When an employ is interested in the job and will do the job whether he is rewarded or not and he
is rewarded he may start looking for reward for a job he was willingly doing it without a
reward. Therefore Mangers and leaders have to be aware of their team’s personality to identify
the
motivation that they should use.
References:
Campbell, D.J., & Pritchard, R. (1976).
Motivation Theory in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. In M.D.Dunnette
(Ed.), Handbook on Industrial and Organizational Psychology (pp. 63-130).
Chicago: Rand McNally
Deci,
E.L. and Ryan, R.M. (1985) Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior, Plenum,
and Self-Determination in Human Behavior, Plenum, New york
Horhby, A.S., (2010). Oxford advanced learners
dictionary. (8th. ed). Oxford. Oxford University press.
Kendra cherry (2022) what is Extrinsic Motivation?
Kendra Cherry (2022) What is Intrinsic Motivation?
How Internal Rewards Drive Behavior
Maryam T Abbah, Employee Motivation: The theory to
effective organizational Management in Nigeria
Malone TW , Lepper MR. Making learning fun: A
taxonomy of intrinsic motivation for learning.
In: Snow RE, Farr MJ, ed. Aptitude, Learning and
Instruction: Ill. Conative and Affective
Process Analysis Erlbaum.
Pinder, C.C., (1998). Work Motivation in
Organizational Behaviour, Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice Hall.
Hi Danushi, interesting blog and wish to share below from Armstongs book - 2017
ReplyDeleteSelf-determination theory
As formulated by Deci and Ryan (2000) this theory
states that individuals are motivated by the need
to achieve three fundamental goals: striving for
competence, autonomy and relatedness.
Thank your feedback. Much appreciated. In other words, we are more satisfied and successful when we can pursue goals in “our own way” rather than according to a strict, external system of regulation. Even when pursuing extrinsic rewards like wealth or fame, we are more satisfied and self-actualized when we pursue them autonomously, for our own reasons and with our own methods (Deci & Ryan, 2000).
DeleteHi Danushi, the blogs is very simple and clear, Organizations, regardless of industry and size, strive to create a strong and positive relationship with their employees. However, employees have various competing needs that are driven by different motivators. For example, some employees are motivated by rewards while others focus on achievement or security. Therefore, it is essential for an organization and its managers to understand what really motivates its employees if they intend to maximize organizational performance (Lee & Raschke, 2016). hope this is important to think on motivation
ReplyDeleteThank you for your feed back Rinosha. However, current research on employee motivation is more cross-disciplinary and includes fields such as neuroscience, biology and psychology. It seems that current research is aiming to bring together and revolutionize traditional motivation theories into a more comprehensive theory that encompasses the traditional perspectives of management, human resources, organization behavior with new perspectives in neuroscience, biology and psychology. For example, Lawrence and Nohria (2002) use cross-disciplinary perspectives to explain how human nature is the foundation of employee motivation. They argue that it is human nature for employees to possess four drives – the drive to acquire, bond, comprehend and defend – and these drives are the foundation for employee motivation. (Lee & Raschke, 2016)
DeleteEnhancing employee motivation is crucial for raising organizational performance and results. Motivating employees to do their jobs well is both a goal and a strategy. Each member of a strong workforce is committed to the organization's beliefs and objectives. Employees who are motivated work well and are supported in their efforts to overcome obstacles. The relationship between organizational commitment and employee motivation has been discussed and demonstrated. For instance, the job satisfaction and organizational commitment model suggests that job satisfaction is the primary factor influencing organizational commitment and the an effective work that is beneficial to the organization (Hoai Num et al., 2020).
ReplyDeleteHi Dhanushi! Well explained the motiviation theory, motivation of employees would resuilts in the performance of the organization. According to Mitchell, (1982, p.81) “those psychological process that cause the arousal, direction, and persistence of voluntary actions that
ReplyDeleteare goal oriented
Hi, Dhanushi
ReplyDeleteNice research and explained well Employee motivation is a factor, or factors, that cause (s) an employee to pursue work tasks or goals. It's what causes you to act in a certain way. There are two primary theories of motivation that are often used by employers: extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation.
Thank you Nifrash, Subsequently, employee motivation is all about how engaged an employee feels in tandem to the organization’s goals and how empowered he/she feels (QuestionPro, 2019).
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDear Danusi, Employee motivation is a aways an interesting topic to discuss about. I would like to add a few thoughts into it. Armstrong, (2014) argues motivation is the strength and direction of behaviour and the factors that influence people to behave in certain ways. People are motivated when they expect that a course of action is likely to lead to the attainment of a goal and a valued reward that satisfies their needs and wants.
ReplyDeleteAnd the three components of motivation are:
1 Direction – what a person is trying to do.
2 Effort – how hard a person is trying.
3 Persistence – how long a person keeps on trying.
Motivation is defined as inner burning passion caused by need, wants and desire which propels an individual to exert his physical and mental energy to achieve desired objectives(techthug99, 2019).
DeleteDhanushi, when we discussed the topic of intrinsic motivation, Ryan and Deci (2000) have given a broader and simple definition as below,
ReplyDeleteAccording to them some animals also have more general motives that drive them to investigate, influence, or examine their environment, stimulating curiosity and engagement in fun and novel activities. Humans are the most notable example of this. This type of drive, which psychologists refer to as intrinsic motivation.
Agreed Shiran, Intrinsic motivation can arise from self-generated factors that influence people’s behaviour. It is not created by external incentives.It can take the form of motivation by the work itself when individuals feel that their work is important, interesting and challenging and provides them with a reasonable degree of autonomy (freedom to act), opportunities to achieve and advance, and scope to use and develop their skills and abilities (techthug99, 2019).
DeleteIt is always an interesting to discuss on employee motivation. providing training is another way if motivating employees. Levine and Alaina (2017) mentions that constantly providing training to employees in accordance with current technologies will not only assist upskill the personnel, but will also provide them with substantial talents that they can use to their regular job. With suitable training modules, one may encourage new workers to work harder and communicate more effectively.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your feedback Aruna. There are many advantages of training and development for an organization, but the benefits of employee training and development also impact employee career growth as well. When employees sense that their employer is helping them to improve their skills and knowledge base, they feel motivated, and this increases their job satisfaction and morale (Simplilearn, 2020).
ReplyDeleteHi Danushi,One of the greatest challenges organizations face today is how to manage turnover of work force that may be caused by migration of a lot of industrial workers. This may be because of their lack of Motivation and commitment for the organization.(Prof. S. K. Singh & Vivek Tiwari, 2011).
ReplyDeletein the study, Osakwe (2014) highlights that the quality of supervision, social interactions within the workplace, and the degree to which people succeed or fail at their jobs are all elements that have an impact on how satisfied workers are with their jobs.
ReplyDeletei agree Normally it is agreed that employee motivation can be distinguished in intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Staw 1976, 49-52). Staw indicates that one of the first efforts to make that distinction was in Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory. Nevertheless, the discourse on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is more
ReplyDeletefrom latter years (e.g. Amabile, 1993 and Deci & Ryan 2000). The discourse on how intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation can enhance employee performance (Ramlall 2008, 128).
Hi Danushi ,The relationship among employee motivation and job performance has been studied in the past
ReplyDeleteBut high statistical relationship between the two were not instituted.
later on research resolved that employee motivation and job performance are indeed mutually related (Vroom, 1964).