In a world in which human laziness is accepted probably great more than it should be, there comes a need for direction. Ever since the beginning of time, all people have been motivated. Motivated to succeed, motivated to conquer, and motivated to be the absolute best. But what is this thing we call motivation? Schermerhorn defines motivation as “accounting for the level, direction, and persistence of effort expended at work” (Schermerhorn 2005). Although people (and most employees in general) don’t enjoy being commanded to perform certain tasks by another person or persons, managers are crucial to the motivational end of any business or corporation. It has been in my experience that when I’m employed by an organization and the manager(s) is uninvolved with the day to day activities of his or her employees, my co-workers and I will consistently fall accustomed to being unproductive. A manager who leads through motivation does so by creating an environment under which other people are always encouraged to work hard, and feel friendly about doing so. George Zimmer, founder of Men’s Warehouse, was once quoted stating this about motivation: “when people feel connected to something with a purpose greater than themselves, it inspires them to reach for levels they might not otherwise obtain” (IBID). To achieve substantially and consistent high-performance, a workforce must be highly motivated.

Communication

One of the most important elements of motivation is communication. Without communication within the workplace, virtually nothing will be accomplished. This aspect of motivation is one that stems all the way back to the hiring process of each employee. During this process, it is best for managers to explain rules and regulations and ask as many questions as possible before choosing to hire that sure applicant. Colorful a person’s social background and their interests is crucial, as a manager shouldn’t hire a potential drug dealer or compulsive gambler.

Developing feedback from employees is also plays a very critical role in motivation, and also falls under the category of communication. It’s essential to know what counts and to what degree by asking yourself, “are safe and at-risk behaviors discussed regularly – on the spot, as soon as they occur? ” (Johnson 2005). “Performance is enhanced when people know what they’re doing well and where they can improve” (Jerus 2003). Through surveys, meetings, or some other type of input gathering situation, one can properly obtain feedback. Identifying one’s desires and needs will wait on managers figure out the best ways to motivate their employees through different incentives. Feedback should be timely, accurate and comprehensive. While negative input is important, the positive must be assessed as well.

Motivational Incentives

Promising promotions and raises provides incentives for employees to work harder and increase productivity. The promise to promote an individual to a higher place within their company will usually push that employee to perform at a higher level than previously seen from them before. “Without the aspect of individual promotions or raises, employees really do not feel that it is necessary to perform at a higher level than someone else in the company” (Chang 2005). This is true at my place of work, Washington Lake Park. All employees under managerial levels work for the same wage, regardless of how efficient one is. For example, a coworker of mine and I may work to our very hardest while another coworker of mine will sit in the office for their entire duration of their shift, and yet all of us will be paid exactly the same salary. In a situation such as this, no motivation is provided for employees to work to their fullest potential.

Another type of incentive for employers to provide stems help to the hiring process. During the hiring process, managers may tell prospective new hires that they will soon receive a raise after a definite time period. “This method makes workers try as hard as possible to retain their positions, almost locking these people in” (Jerus 2003). Although it seems to be a completely bulletproof type of incentive, it also has its problems. A few years ago, I worked for a company called Amazon Café, an upcoming restaurant chain that provides many healthy alternatives to fast food. Upon being interviewed, I was told immediately that after a three-month period, I would receive a fifty-cent raise on top of what my starting salary. It occurred to me then that I would only have to force myself to please my managers to only the minimum to hold my station and still acquire the raise I was promised. Also, there was no need for me to compete with the rest of my coworkers. This is why this method is not always the best motivation technique in the workplace.

It’s becoming a very celebrated trend for many college graduates with a bachelor’s degree to continue their formal education by completing a master’s or doctoral program in their field of study. Often times, these employees will find themselves stuck because they are financially unable to pay for the required courses. This is where their company’s management steps in. If a company feels that an employee is a critical part of their team, it’s common for that company to compensate that employee to further his or her education, ultimately helping the company in the long urge. This process is a motivational incentive called “tuition reimbursement” (Ayers 2005), under which most companies will provide if these employees are achieving a ‘C’ GPA or higher. Among the biggest users are the hotel industry, business services industry (i.e. accounting/management consulting firms), and retail/wholesale trade. Those industries that offer the lowest levels of tuition reimbursement include food and tobacco, textile and apparel, lumber and paper, and printing and publishing.

One interesting incentive method old-fashioned by many companies, including world-renowned coffee blender Starbucks, is the stock option. A stock option “gives the option holder the right to buy shares of stock at a future date at a fixed price” (Schermerhorn 2005). This links ownership directly with performance, since employees holding stock options will almost always be motivated to work hard to raise the price of the company’s stock. Starbucks is one of the first companies across the globe to start using this method for its lowest-level employees. Most firms will only provide this option to the highest-ranking senior members of the company.

Stock options are one form of what are called employee fringe benefits. As defined by Schermerhorn, fringe benefits are “nonwage or nonsalary forms of compensation” (IBID). Four reasons to have employee benefits are: “to attract and hold sterling people, to preserve up with competition, to foster generous morale, and to keep employment channels open by providing opportunities for advancement and promotion as older workers retire” (King 2005). Aside from stock options, other types of employee benefits include health and dental insurance, an automobile provided by the company, childcare, disability benefits and more. For many employers, a benefit plan is an important part of total compensation, because employers either pay the entire cost of a befriend plan or have employees contribute a small portion of costs for their coverage. Many employees will continue to work for their company for the sole reason that the benefits are good, even if they’re not ecstatic with his or her current position.

More than just a nice gesture, the process of rewarding employees is an effective way to drive performance and reinforce the behaviors that help your company meet its objectives. There are two forms of rewards. The first form is internal, called intrinsic, which “are the good feelings that come from accomplishing something” (Jerus 2003). While the employee receives these kinds of rewards, managers need to communicate to their employees just how important they are. These are usually the best form of rewards for boosting morale within the workplace. Extrinsic rewards “are externally administered, and are provided by someone else” (Schermerhorn 2005). Bonuses, paid vacation time, improved status and security, free coffee breaks or lunches provided by the company, or the potential of a pay raise are all examples of extrinsic rewards. Some theorists, including Frederick Herzberg, argued that “extrinsic rewards are only hygiene factors, as they neither motivate nor de-motivate” (Ayers 2005). Of course, this does not apply to all people, but the theory is simple in its meaning: intrinsic rewards are more rewarding to people as humans because they affect them for a long period of time, and extrinsic rewards are in the long accelerate less rewarding because they are simply material. But, all people are different, so Herzberg’s theory may not apply in all cases.

Incentive Pay

Commission pay is also a great form of incentive. It’s one of many forms of what is called “incentive pay,” as it is a “payment made to employees based on the value of sales achieved” (Chang 2004). The main advantage of commission from an employee’s point of view is that it enables high performing sales people to accept large amounts, while the main advantage from an employer’s point of view is that the cost of wage expenses is equivalent to the value of business achieved rather than just the amount produced. This form of incentive pay is fairly common in gigantic retail stores such as Sears, Boscov’s, etc. Unfortunately, commission payment also has its drawbacks. According to Dave Johnson,

“the biggest problems with commission payment include sales people who cut corners, high commission earnings enjoyed by some of the sales team may be resented elsewhere in the business, and it is difficult to change what proves to be an over-generous commission structure without upsetting and demoralizing the sales team” (Johnson 2005).
Although it has its downsides, commission pay is still a very popular means of motivating employees to work their very hardest.

An alternative but increasingly popular style of incentive pay is the skills-based pay system. Skills-based pay “provides pay raises for years of experience, education units and university degrees” (King 2005). These variables are indirect indicators of knowledge and skills. Under this system, an employee with more education units and more experience in their state of work is assumed to have developed a greater professional expertise. It’s a new wave of motivational incentive that’s sweeping companies gargantuan and small all over the country, including companies such as Best Choose and Federal Express. This type of incentive is crucial in work environments in which knowledge is constantly being updated and new products and services are frequently being produced. In my past experience with Best Select, most of the learning that I received followed by a system such as this, in which we (associates) were tested almost daily on new technological information. Unfortunately, I wasn’t so lucky enough to ever receive promotions or raises for completing these tests. At Fed Ex, “test scores are incorporated into the employee’s performance appraisals, and pay can be increased for employees scoring high” (Schermerhorn 2005). Although I was given no raise for completion of any of those tests, I unexcited felt better about myself knowing that I wasn’t as ‘left in the dark’ anymore after taking them.

Competition in the workplace can gain for a stressful environment, but will usually make for a very productive environment. “Human beings are competitive by nature, and this also applies to the workplace because we know we won’t win anywhere with someone else always outshining us” (Different Strokes 2005). When employees see their coworkers receiving raises, promotions and rewards for luminous at work, they too will most likely feel it necessary to do whatever it takes to match whatever those coworkers are doing.

Not all motivation has to be positive. In fact, it’s sometimes more beneficial as a manager to instill some kind of fear or instability within the hearts of their employees. Punishment is “the use of an aversive unpleasant consequence following behavior, with the intention of reducing its frequency” (Chang 2004). It can pick many forms such as; criticism, reprimands, extra work, demotion or even corporal punishment for more terrible acts of unwanted behavior. “In an extreme space where an employee’s behavior is personally dangerous or excessively disruptive to the workplace, punishment may be well-known to suppress poor behavior in the short term” (Ayers 2005). However, this can be a dangerous course upon which to embark. Persistent punishment is likely to evoke dislike of the manager and the rest of the corporate environment, which in turn can lead to a withdrawal of co-operation, contribution to work accomplished or even attendance. Thus the employee fails to become an active participator. Punishment can only serve in stopping a bad behavior, never starting good one.

Morale and De-motivation

While it may be an effective means of motivation, the employ of too grand negative reinforcement in the workplace can cause depreciation in the value of workers’ morale. Employees are human beings, and as some may be more sensitive than others, they all have feelings and limits to those feelings which can only sustain a certain amount of criticism and hurt. The concept is simple – if morale is high, employees will enjoy coming to work and performing at an appropriate pace but if it is low, just the opposite will occur. “Absenteeism, humdrum performance levels, and neglect for getting things done on time are all very possible outcomes for low morale” (Johnson 2005). Keeping morale high is absolutely a key element to motivating employees. Design a positive, high morale work environment for employees that enable them to use their talents and skills.

Big-box store Best Recall is definitely an example of a company that needs to work on increasing employee morale. Of course, Best Buy does offer a stout stock option and a discount that’s absolutely mind-blowing, but nothing more than that would probably keep many employees around for more than a few months. During the short period of time that I worked for the group, I quickly discovered that not only would I have one manager to instruct me, but somewhere around five. Under the general manager of the store were four assistant managers, a manager of each department, and assistant managers to the manager of each department! Needless to say, any employee under the title of ‘associate’ such as myself was considered a serf and was treated no higher than that of an easily replaceable one. Therefore, I really never felt as though I wanted to go to work, as I was completely unmotivated and my level of morale was so coarse that I sometimes regarded Best Buy as my own personal ‘Hell on Earth.’ “If companies would just cease using this bad obtain of chain management and start enforcing head managers to focus more on employee well-being, they would be more likely to maintain valuable employees for a much elongated period of time” (Chang 2004). It’s a simple theory – profits are higher when morale is higher. Extreme morale is just one example of what’s called de-motivation.

De-motivation occurs when motivational factors are absent from the workplace. “Lack of incentives or unhappy conditions will drive any workforce out of the office and into another, sometimes regardless of employees’ salary” (Ayers 2005). Even if not highly educated, employees generally hope for some kind of psychological contract. If that is not fulfilled, serious unhappiness arises rapidly. Likewise, broken promises are guaranteed to de-motivate.

One way to analyze de-motivation is to refer to behavioral psychologist Abraham Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ theory. Diagrammed as a pyramidal chart, the Hierarchy of Needs explains in an ascending fashion how people need to be satisfied on five levels: physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization needs, respectively. Physiological, safety and social needs are considered “lower-order needs,” while like and self-actualization needs are regarded as “higher-order needs” (Schermerhorn 2005). Lower-order needs are desires for social and physical well-being, while the higher-order needs are desires for growth and psychological development. “According to Maslow, people try to satisfy the five needs in sequence. They progress step by step from the lowest level in the hierarchy up to the highest” (IBID). Based on the theory, once an employee has joyful all of these needs, he or she will operate more efficiently and managers will see an improvement in that employee’s morale.

Managers must understand that not every employee is the same. The fine boss understands this and assesses how he or she can accommodate each employee without disregarding fairness to other employees. Being respected in the workplace plays a very crucial role in heightening morale. For example, employees of foreign origin may celebrate different religious holidays than the majority of the rest of the employees and/or the manager. The importance of this must be recognized, as “distributing vacation time amongst other opportunities and benefits to these employees must be completely equivalent in comparison to what is distributed to other employees” (Johnson 2005). Once again, profits are higher when morale is higher.

Employee Engagement and Goal Setting

There is a theory that states that the leader is solely responsible for curious his or her workers and that the truly engaged employee is “one whose needs and values are aligned with their work and with their organization” (Ayers 2005). This theory is proposed by Keith A. Ayers of New York University. He argues that there are five steps to developing truly engaged employees. Firstly, one must build trust. Like most things, it does not happen fair because you’re trustworthy. People do not know how trustworthy you are until you expose it by using trust-building behaviors, as the most important behavior is trusting others. Secondly, managers must implement some sort of mentoring. “The relationship between the employee and his or her immediate manager is a critical factor in how engaged the employee will be, as employees need feedback” (IBID). Next, one must carefully use inclusion. Effective leaders know that everyone on their team has strengths, which are important for team to be successful. Fourthly, alignment is a necessary element because engaged employees feel aligned with their organizations’ purpose, values and vision. Finally, great leader focus a great deal of energy onto team development. Effective leaders ensure that all team members understand the strengths they and other members bring to the team and work on capitalizing all of these strengths. They focus on developing the leadership potential of each team member and ultimately implementing a shared approach

Your employees must be part of the goal setting process so that they will work towards the same goals that you are working toward. Your clients have to be curious enough, desperate enough, or thoughtful enough to commence and continue doing business with your company. “When they have a tremendous experience (and this is the key) with your company employees they will likely stay as long as you maintain giving them concise, educational information that will help them save money” (King 2005). Goals give direction to people in their lives, including everything from education, work, social interactions, etc. Also, they are a great procedure to establish a system of generating feedback and making the performance expectations between a subordinate and a manager distinct. “It may not always be possible to allow participation when selecting exactly which goals need to be pursued” (Schermerhorn 2005). Setting goals is a crucial part of motivating employees, as it gives them a sense of belonging and a desire to approach the “light at the end of the tunnel.”

Conclusion

Obviously, there are many forms of motivation. In this paper, I have examined various types such as effective communication, employee incentives including pay increases, promotions, benefits, stock options, commission, skills based pay, competition, negative motivation, engaging employees, and goal setting. The world’s best managers may spend some or all of these techniques. Motivation within the workplace fuels the fire in every employee’s soul. Creating and facilitating a workplace that supports motivation rewards the organization with higher personal and group productivity. It also enhances an employee’s work environment and increases the chances of retaining high-quality people for much longer periods of time. Most importantly, it is an integral part in the long-term growth, stability and success of any organization, and thus, is incumbent upon every manager to master these skills to the best of his or her ability. Effective motivators are not always leaders, but leaders are always effective motivators!

References

Schermerhorn, Management, 8^th edition, John Wiley and Sons, 2005

Johnson, Dave. 25 ways to motivate employees & power profits. Ebscohost, Vol. 39, Number 5 (May 2005).

Jerus, Robert G. The Top Ten Creating Motivation at Work. Proquest/Coachville Publications (June 2003).

Chang, Emmui. Composite effects of extrinsic motivation on work effort. ScienceDirect Abstracts, Volume 38, Issue 1 (February 2004).

Ayers, Keith E. Leading the Way. ScienceDirect Abstracts, Vol. 52, Iss. 8 (Aug 2005).

King, Ruth. Real Employee and Client Motivation. Community Mental Health Journal, Volume 37, Number 4 (August 2005), pp. 347-358

Different Strokes For Different Folks. Ebscohost Vol. 34, Iss. 4 (Jul/Aug 2005).