Employee Motivation

Employers who fail to acknowledge the importance of employee motivation usually face greater absenteeism, high employee turnover and reduced productivity and efficiency among employees. Employers have a big responsibility other than hiring workers and giving them wages.

When there's no motivation in the workplace, employees will spend more time attending to unproductive things that do not benefit the company especially if they are left unsupervised.

An employee who starts a new job is likely to have lots of initiative and feels motivated and idealistic. The opportunity usually looks encouraging. She sees her chance of using her skills to improve herself in the organization and expects that the rewards will follow. But if employee motivation is not present, and as she continues to work she may lose her inspiration to perform at a high level.

Employees are human beings with individual needs. The first reason anyone secures a job is to earn an income to meet her basic needs to pay for food and shelter. She then expects more out of her job like having extra money to spend on a little luxury and for her savings.

If the basic monetary reward is met, she would look for something more like recognition or reward for a job well done. When she is motivated she welcomes challenges and responsibilities, look for better ways to do her job that allows her to demonstrate her skills and capabilities.

"An employee's motivation is a direct result of the sum of interactions with his or her manager." - Bob Nelson

Demotivators in the Workplace

Organization without a shared mission and goals to achieve.

The company does not share its mission and has no specific goals for employees to achieve. They will find work becoming routine and dull. A company that shares its vision with the employees makes them feel like a team and partly responsible for its success.

Rewards do not match expectations.

Since humans have different needs, each employee has her own expectations and expect appropriate rewards. A staff may expect a salary increase, another would want a promotion while someone else would love to feel important and crave recognition.

An employer who is concerned about his employee motivation must not assume that all employees want the same things. Giving something that a person does not value will not motivate. The organization should make its policies about employee benefits and reward system clear so that they know their entitlements and what to expect.

Unfair rewards and performance appraisal system.

An organization that rewards its employees based on seniority and favoritism will frustrate the employees who do not fall in this category. When an employee realizes that the performance appraisal system is unfair, she will not put in her maximum effort. She perceives that her effort will not provide the promotion, salary increase, reward, career advancement and personal growth.

Employee conflict.

Employees spend about a third of her daily life associating with the people and conditions at work. It can make or break her. If employers practice discrimination and favoritism at the workplace, employee conflict is likely to happen. This will further lower the staff efficiency and productivity.

Lack of reinforcement.

An immediate praise for a job well done is motivating. If she gets feedback on how well she has done her job, she will do better. A superior can acknowledge an employee's performance by personally congratulating her, offering an incentive or celebrating the success, even in a small way. Without reinforcement, she can't measure her performance and is uncertain of her progress toward the company's objective and even her own goals.

Inadequate tools, insufficient resources and non supportive working conditions.

Having a supportive, safe and clean working condition with adequate tools makes it comfortable to work and provide employee motivation. She is able to facilitate a good job in a situation where she can work with ease and perform at her highest level. A supportive supervisor and a cooperative atmosphere allow her to put in the efforts. Giving coaching, training and development programs will educate, encourage and motivate her to perform better.

Communication breakdown.

When employees can't communicate and voice out their opinions and ideas or receive information, either because of an imposed barrier or improper communication system, frustration ensues. When employees are kept in the dark, they don't feel that they belong. When there is communication breakdown across, below or above, employee motivation is down.

Motivating Employees

When you understand what causes employee dissatisfaction, you can find ways to motivate them. Here are a few more suggestions.

Understand human needs and give it.

Employers, managers and supervisors have to understand individual needs and use the knowledge to keep the employee motivation high. Though all motivation must start from each person, employers and supervisors can inspire them to have more drive. Giving recognition, praise and encouragement to make them feel valuable is highly recommended.

Improve communication.

Effective communication is very important in an organization to gain rapport, build relationships, teamwork and a successful team. Listen to your employees and they will listen to you. Communicate your mission and goals and tell them that you need their cooperation. Keep them updated and give them the information or they'll assume things. Praise when praise is due.

Provide coaching, mentoring and training.

There are short sighted employers who think that providing training for their employees don't benefit them because they think that the employees will finally look for another job elsewhere. They think that it's a waste of money and effort. What they fail to see is that employees who are given coaching, mentoring and training will increase their productivity. Motivated employees won't simply think about changing their careers if they love what they are doing and enjoy their work environment.

Build trust and show your integrity.

Be honest, sincere and trustworthy. Exercise fairness and justice and avoid practicing favoritism. Show your integrity so that you not only get employees who are motivated but also gain respect and high regards because of your sound moral principles.