Employee motivation is the passion, eagerness, energy level, commitment, and level of creativity that an employee brings to the organization on daily basis. Motivation is derived from the Latin word, “movere” which means movement. Thus, motivation is a behavior, and one needs to embrace this behavior in order to achieve desired goals. Employee motivation is all about how engaged an employee feels towards the organization’s goals.
The ultimate goal of all organization is to increase its productivity. Therefore, motivation of employees at all stages is the chief function of management. Motivated employees form a goal-derived behavior towards the attainment of pre-determined goal.
Basically, there are two types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic. Valuably motivating your employees will need to obtain a better understanding of the different types and ways of motivation. By this way you will be able to apply the right type of motivation to increase the level of employee engagement and employee satisfaction.
Some employees respond better to intrinsic motivation while others may respond better to extrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic Motivation:
Intrinsic motivation means that an employee is motivated from within. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs suggests that people are motivated to fulfill their basic needs before moving on to the higher levels of needs. This means that if an individual’s basic needs are not being met, they may not be motivated to achieve the higher levels of needs. Therefore, it is important for organizations to consider the basic needs of their employees and to create a work environment that helps employees to meet these needs in order to motivate and engage them. Explore Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: A Comprehensive Guide.
Then only, He/she has the urge to perform well. And Research has proven that praise increases intrinsic motivation, so does positive employee feedback. So, if you are a manager, supervisor or in a leadership role, please be deliberate with your feedback or praise. Make sure it is empowering and your employees understand your expectations. Creative works and Tech Development are mostly intrinsically motivated. For a web/app developer they joy of seeing his product being used itself is an intrinsic motivation.
Extrinsic Motivation:
Extrinsic motivation means an individual’s motivation is controlled by external factors – rewards and recognition. Research shows that extrinsic rewards can boost the willingness in a person to work harder and do better. Similarly, rewards like bonuses, perks, awards, etc. can motivate people to increase efficiency in productivity.
Ways to Motivate Employees:
- Recognize Great Work – One of the most crucial factors that contribute to employee motivation is how their hard work and effort gets recognized. 70% of employees claim that motivation and self-esteem would improve massively with an increased recognition from the managers. Studies have proven that there’s a connection between satisfied employees, productivity, and retention.
- Set Small and Measurable Goals – We’ve all had projects and tasks that just goes on and on, and never seem to end. It can be discouraging to be stuck in the same stuff for a long time. Tangible progress acts like an indicator that our work is making a progress. Setting clear, achievable goals provides a real push in motivation of employees each time one is conquered. And it keeps team on the right track. You can boost these effects by taking the next step and celebrating those achievements.
- Celebrate Results – Setting small and measurable goals is important because it provides plenty of opportunities to celebrate your team’s hard work and effort. This doesn’t mean you need to give standing ovation to all the employees who made it to work on time, but it is extremely important to let everyone know exactly how each of their contributions moves the organization forward in achievement of the pre-determined goal.
- Stay Fueled – It’s difficult to stay focused and driven when you are hungry. It is necessary for everyone to stay fed, hydrated, and in some cases, caffeinated. It is normal for employee to get engrossed in work and make themselves so busy that they barely take time for meals. That’s not good for their health and even worse for their productivity.
- Take Regular Breaks – Neither sitting all day isn’t good for you nor working non-stop. Taking a short break every hour or two can have a positive impact both physically and mentally, especially for remote workers. Don’t forget to get up from your desk and grab some fresh air. Get up, stretch your legs, rest your eyes, and come back to work with a refreshed body and mind.
- See and Share the Big Picture – A greater part of knowing and understanding the purpose behind your work is seeing how it fits into the larger picture. You can motivate your employees in the workplace by ensuring your team understands how each of their efforts are valuable and impacts the organization, customers, and the community. Completing a task normally provides a small sense of accomplishment but knowing how that helped the organization is the real matter to consider.
- Offer Small and Consistent Rewards – Rewarding employees for their hard work is a motivational tactic that works all the time without saying. Annual bonus is a common way many employers reward employees for their dedication towards work. Sometimes, they don’t often provide the motivation they’re intended to. Therefore, providing smaller, consistent rewards is a great way to boost motivation regularly over time.
- Offer Merit-Based Promotions – No matter what else is motivating your employees, it’s quite obvious they come to work for a paycheck. If that paycheck gets bigger, they feel they’ve genuinely earned the raise – they’ll continue to work harder. It’s also a good example that hard work is rewarded. That’s why it’s important to pay right to employees as per their performance and dedication.
In conclusion, employee motivation is essential for the success of a company because it directly impacts the productivity, creativity, and engagement of the organization. When employees are motivated, they are more likely to put in extra effort and perform at their best, which can lead to increased profitability and overall success for the organization. Therefore, it is important for leaders and managers to understand what motivates their employees and create a work environment that fosters motivation and engagement. In return for the efforts made by the organization to motivate its employees, it is expected that employees will also adhere to the rules and regulations of the company. Explore more about FR8 and know what we expect as an organization from our employees.
Jay
Jay is the Co-founder and CTO of FR8. With 18 years of experience, Jay loves working on complex problem and providing simple technical solution. He likes training and empowering team by teaching them skills they need, questions they need to ask and answers they need to figure out instead of spoon feeding the answers.
