Employee Motivation - Does It Improve Performance, Productivity, Keep Them Motivated And Loyal?

Employee motivation is not always the easiest of tasks, but it does pay off for you, your customers and the employee.

Recognition is ranked the number one motivating factor when it comes to employee motivation in the workplace. If you want to maintain motivated employees, and encourage others to do better, recognizing them publicly may save yourself the time and money of having to find and re-train new staff.

One of the best techniques to build and maintain employee motivation is to make it a practice to have an event or period end staff meeting, followed by a employee, & maybe spouse dinner, staff recognition awards and a closing party. This will build and maintain employee motivation though ongoing sincere recognition and deserving reward.

You may find it hard to believe, but recognition is the most powerful employee motivator of all. Research has shown that there is a stronger need in society today for recognition than there is for sex and money. Now, that says something about employee motivation.

Let's think about it.

We could provide employee motivation through a bonus in the form of money at the end of a period. Sure they'll be happy and thankful. They may even perform better, but what are their expectations at the end of the next period? Right; more money. External employee motivation is temporary - it is never lasting.

Money is an external employee motivator and it is never lasting. It's an incentive that once acquired, leads to expectations for more, bigger or better. But if you have a bad period will they care? They'll want a bonus at least equal to what they got last year, but preferably more, not less.

A survey of thousands of workers around the world compared rankings by supervisors and employees on employee motivating factors. The typical supervisory group ranked the factors in the following order:

1. High wages

2. Job security

3. Promotion in the organization

4. Good working conditions

5. Interesting work

6. Personal loyalty of supervisor

7. Tactful discipline

8. Full appreciation of work done

9. Help on personal problems

10. Feeling of being in on things

However, when employees were given the same exercise and asked what affects their morale and employee motivation the most, their answers followed this pattern;

1. Full appreciation of work done

2. Feeling of being in on things

3. Help on personal problems

4. Job security

5. High wages

6. Interesting work

7. Promotion in the organization

8. Personal Loyalty of supervisor

9. Good working conditions

10. Tactful discipline

Note that the top three employee motivating factors marked by the employees are the last three felt to be important for them by their supervisors.

Do you think it would be any different in your business?

So it is fair to say that money, over and above wages, is not a main motivating factor, but full appreciation of work done is. This is recognition: the number one employee motivating factor in building and maintaining a motivated employee.

Why is it so important?

When someone gives you a compliment or recognizes you for doing something, how do you feel? Imagine, for a moment, being complimented by all your family, friends, staff and customers all day, every day.

What would it do to your self-esteem your self confidence and your self respect? Without it going to your head, how do you think you would perform? Would you be outstanding or what? Is this not the basis of employee motivation?

Employee motivation through recognition is positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement of actions gets those actions repeated. Recognition and praise reinforces our beliefs about ourselves and helps make us think we are better than we thought we were. That is what employee motivation is all about.

Employee motivation is positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcements is what builds our self-esteem. Our self-esteem is the way we see and feel about ourselves either internally, through our own beliefs, or externally through what we accept as the beliefs of others.

If we feel good about ourselves and we believe others feel good about us, we perform better than we would when we see the opposite side of the coin. Employee motivation starts from within.

People perform in a manner that is consistent with how they see themselves conceptually. So, the key is to help people build their self-esteem. That is the foundation of employee motivation.

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Motivation Theory

The word motivation is coined from the Latin word "movere", which means to move. Motivation is defined as an internal drive that activates behavior and gives it direction. The term motivation theory is concerned with the processes that describe why and how human behavior is activated and directed. It is regarded as one of the most important areas of study in the field of organizational behavior. There are two different categories of motivation theories such as content theories, and process theories. Even though there are different motivation theories, none of them are universally accepted.

Also known as need theory, the content theory of motivation mainly focuses on the internal factors that energize and direct human behavior. Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Alderfer's ERG theory, Herzeberg's motivator-hygiene theory (Herzeberg's dual factors theory), and McClelland's learned needs or three-needs theory are some of the major content theories.

Of the different types of content theories, the most famous content theory is Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of human needs. Maslow introduced five levels of basic needs through his theory. Basic needs are categorized as physiological needs, safety and security needs, needs of love, needs for self esteem and needs for self-actualization.

Just like Maslow's hierarchy of needs, ERG theory explains existence, relatedness, and growth needs. Through dual factors theory, Herzeberg describes certain factors in the workplace which result in job satisfaction. McClelland's learned needs or three-needs theory uses a projective technique called the Thematic Aptitude Test (TAT) so as to evaluate people based on three needs: power, achievement, and affiliation. People with high need of power take action in a way that influences the other's behavior.

Another type of motivation theory is process theory. Process theories of motivation provide an opportunity to understand thought processes that influence behavior. The major process theories of motivation include Adams' equity theory, Vroom's expectancy theory, goal-setting theory, and reinforcement theory. Expectancy, instrumentality, and valence are the key concepts explained in the expectancy theory. Goal setting theory suggests that the individuals are motivated to reach set goals. It also requires that the set goals should be specific. Reinforcement theory is concerned with controlling behavior by manipulating its consequences.

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