MOTIVATION

Impact of Motivation to One’s Performance

As human beings, people have their own drives, aspirations and needs.
Motivation process explains why and how human behavior is activated.
Motivation is the ability to change the behavior of a person. It is a drive that
compels a person to act because human behavior is directed towards some
goal. Motivation is the reason for people's actions, willingness and goals.
Motivation is derived from the word motive in the English language which is
defined as a need that requires satisfaction. These needs could also be wants
or desires that are acquired through influence of culture, society, lifestyle, etc.
or generally innate. Motivation is one's direction to behaviour, or what causes a
person to want to repeat behaviour, a set of force that acts behind the motives.
An individual's motivation may be inspired by others or events (extrinsic
motivation) or it may come from within the individual (intrinsic motivation).
Motivation has been considered as one of the most important reasons that
inspires a person to move forward in life. Motivation results from the
interaction of both conscious and unconscious factors. Mastering motivation to
allow sustained and deliberate practice is central to high levels of achievement.
What I learned about motivation is that motivation is an internal force
that drives a person move toward a personal or organizational goal. Motivation
might be extrinsic, whereby a person is inspired by outside forces—like
rewards and punishments- other people or things that transpire. Extrinsic
rewards can promote interest in a task or skill a person didn't previously have
any interest in. Rewards like praise, commissions, bonuses, or prizes and
awards can also motivate people to learn new skills or provide tangible
feedback beyond just verbal praise or admonishment. Motivation might be
intrinsic, whereby the inspiration comes from within a person. Intrinsic
motivation involves psychological rewards to enhance job satisfaction, such as
the opportunity to use one's ability, a sense of achievement, receiving
appreciation and positive recognition or being treated in a considerate manner.
Motivation is the force that transforms and uplifts people to be productive and
perform in their jobs. Maximizing employee’s motivation is a necessary and
vital to successfully accomplish the organization’s targets and objectives.
Motivation as a process leads to an increase in productivity of the employee.
Motivation meets the needs of the employee and thereby creates the drive to
work at the best of his abilities. A well-employee will be willing to put in more
effort towards the betterment of the organization than another disheartened
employee. A well-motivated workforce is a loyal workforce. Motivated employees
have high levels of morale and commitment towards the organization and its
goals and objectives. Motivation thus reduces employee turnover and reduces
the need for constant induction of new employees. The role of motivation
cannot be understated in an organization. It is a simple process that requires
an understanding of human mind and behavior. Such an understanding and
proper action thereby stimulating the motives of an employee helps in initiating
and maintaining action and helps extensively in satisfying organizational
objectives.
According to James. R Linder (1998) a motive is an impulse that causes
a person to act. According to Jennifer M. George and Gareth R. George (2008),
motivation includes 1) direction of behavior, which is behavior a person
chooses to use. 2) Level of effort, which is how hard someone works. 3) Level of
persistence, which is how hard someone keeps behaving despite obstacles
faced. Motivation is one of the many factors that affect job performance and
because of that a high level of motivation will not necessarily lead to high
performance on the job. Therefore they shouldn’t assume that low or high
performance is as a result of low or high motivation otherwise they will miss
the actual cause Jennifer M. George and Gareth R. George (2008). The job of a
manager in the workplace is to get things done through employees. To do this
the manager should be able to motivate employees. However, that’s not an easy
thing to do. Motivation practice and theory are different, some managers know
the theory but putting it into practice fails them. To understand motivation one
must understand human nature itself which is where the problem lies. Human
nature can be very simple, yet very complex too. Understanding this is a
needed to ensure effective employee motivation in the workplace and therefore
effective management and leadership. Motivation can either be intrinsic or
extrinsic, and according to M Ryan and Edward L. Deci (2000) intrinsic
motivation is defined as doing an activity for its own sake and satisfaction
rather than for a separable reason. Such people are motivated to act for the fun
or challenge rather than external reasons like rewards. Extrinsic motivation is
done to obtain a separate outcome like rewards and for this reason it contrasts
with intrinsic motivation. Several motivation theories have been put forth and
these include 1) Need theory which looks at workers needs as the source of
motivation and includes theories like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs which states
that human beings have five sets of needs that they seek to satisfy in order of
bottom to top and Alderfer’s ERG theory which says human beings have three
needs and states that higher needs can be satisfied before lower needs are. 2)
Expectancy theory, which focuses on which specific behaviors to perform and
the effort to exert. 3) Equity needs which focuses on fairness of work outcomes
and input. 4) Social justice needs which focuses on overall fairness in an
organization (Jennifer M. George and Gareth R. George (2008). Motivation in an
organization should therefore be emphasized but this isn’t the case since some
firms neither have the time nor resources to do so or they deliberately choose
to ignore it. We shall therefore seek to know the consequences organizations
face when they choose to motivate or not to motivate their workers. The top
manager of the organization must recognize these needs in order to motivate
his employees to work the best of their abilities (Gabriel 224). To be effective,
top managers must understand how to motivate their employees and how they
can use to direct employees toward attaining organizational goals and
objectives. Motivation is the process of initiating and directing behavior. The
personal needs of an employee are satisfied as long as he or she is motivated to
perform the assigned tasks. The manager is able to achieve his goals when he
can satisfy both the employees’ needs and those of the organization (Gabriel
224). However, motivation can have an effect on the output of an organization
and concerns both quantity and quality (Mathis and Jackson 79). For instance,
an organization relies heavily on the efficiency of their production employees to
make sure that products are manufactured in numbers that meet demand for
the week. If these employees lack the motivation to produce completed
products to meet the demand, then the organization will face a problem leading
to disastrous consequences. The employees are the greatest assets of the
organization, no matter how efficient the technology and equipment may be
(Pepitone and Bruce 2). Therefore, the success of a business is often the result
of motivated employees. In order to motivate the employees, the organizations
need to use motivational techniques such as providing a fun workplace,
compensation program, and training and development program. An employee
who is unmotivated means there is some imbalance or dissatisfaction in his or
her relationship to the environment. Nowadays, employee motivation is
essential for every organization. Job satisfactions are declining among the
employees of the organization. There are increasing numbers of employees who
are eager to find a balance in work and family life (Kast and Rosenzweig 244).
In November 2003 a survey made by CareerBuilder, a leading job-search Web
site, revealed the level of employees’ dissatisfaction. The survey found that
nearly one in four employees now dissatisfied with their present jobs, there will
be a 20 percent increase over 2001 levels. It is predicted that some six out of
ten employees are planning to leave their present jobs for other organizations
within the next two years. Also, a similar survey made by the Society for
Human Resource Professionals (SHRM) revealed that more than eight out of ten
workers are going to look for a new job when the economy goes up (Kepler 63).
The increasing numbers of job dissatisfaction can bring negative effects to the
organization’s performance. Employees who are not happy with their current
jobs tend to leave for other organizations. As a result, employee turnover will
become a serious problem in today’s corporate environment. Furthermore, the
organization will receive specific benefits from training and developing
employees, which include increased productivity, reduced employee turnover,
increased efficiency resulting in financial gains, and decreased need for
supervision (Bratton and Gold 274). Therefore, training and development
program is an important process of motivating employees in the organization.
My prior idea about motivation which states that it is an internal force
that drives a person move toward a personal or organizational goal is in
agreement with what I have learned after my readings. Indeed, motivation is
the process of initiating and directing behavior. I agree to this because when
the personal needs of an employee are satisfied, he or she is motivated to
perform the assigned tasks. The manager is able to achieve his goals when he
can satisfy both the employees’ needs and those of the organization. In
November 2003 a survey made by CareerBuilder, a leading job-search Web site,
revealed the level of employees’ dissatisfaction. The survey found that nearly
one in four employees now dissatisfied with their present jobs, there will be a
20 percent increase over 2001 levels. It is predicted that some six out of ten
employees are planning to leave their present jobs for other organizations
within the next two years. The increasing numbers of job dissatisfaction can
bring negative effects to the organization’s performance. Employees who are not
happy with their current jobs tend to leave for other organizations. Clearly, a
fun and excited workplace would be best for employees to work together as an
organization to accomplish specific goals and objectives. Employees who have
been doing the same tasks for a long time, it is quite likely they are bored and
their job performance is below average. Eventually, their productivity and work
quality will continue to decrease, and the organization will begin to notice that
there will be an increase in mistakes and bad judgment.
As a summary, motivation is defined as the forces within a person that
affect the direction, intensity, and persistence of voluntary behaviour. It is the
internal and external factors that stimulates a desire and energy in a person to
be continually interested and committed to a job, role, or to make an effort in
attaining a goal. Further, motivation can be separated in to two concepts:
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation comes from rewards
inherent to a task or activity itself. Extrinsic motivation comes from outside the
performer. People committed to organizational objectives generally outperform
those who are not committed. Those who are intrinsically rewarded by
accomplishments in the work place are satisfied with their jobs. Therefore, an
important part of management is to keep work satisfying and reward employees
and keep employee motivation consistent with organizational objectives within
the diversity of contemporary workplaces.
This school year, I want to become more motivated in my work as a
teacher despite the stress and various obligations to be done responsibly. I may
feel teachers are not compensated well, I’d rather be motivated intrinsically like
being able to feel fulfillment every time I help a child learn how to read and
write. This is somehow beyond compensation, something money can’t buy. Due
to the differences within an organization, it is important for a manager to get to
know her employees and understand what motivates their performance. A
motivated employee is a productive and beneficial employee, thus can be an
asset in the organization.

References:
Bratton, John, Gold, Jeffrey, T (2001), Human Resource Management: Theory
and Practice, Routledge, Europe.
Curry, Myron, (2004) – Effective ways to Motivate Employees
Dessler, Gary (1998) Management: Leading People and Organizations in the
21st Century, Prentice-Hall International, Inc., United States of America.
Gabriel, Vincent, Management (1989) Longman Singapore Publishers (Pte)
Limited, Singapore.
George, Jennifer M. and George, Gareth R. (2008) – Understanding and
Managing organizational Behavior (5th edition) Pearson Education
International
Kast, Fremont E., Rosenzweig, James E., (1981) Organization and
Management: A Systems and Contingency Approach, McGraw-Hill, Tokyo,
Japan.
Kepler, Kay (1994) Achieving Job Satisfaction, Thomson Crisp Learning.
Lindner, James R., (1998) – Understanding Employee Motivation
Mathis, Robert L., Jackson, John Harold (2006) Human Resource
Management, Thomson South-Western, United States of America.
Pepitone, James S., Bruce, Anne (1998) Motivating employees, McGraw-Hill
Professional, United States of America.
Ryan, Richard M. and Deci, Edward L. (2000) – intrinsic and extrinsic
motivations: classic definitions and New Directions.
Wertz, Keith R., Bryant, James J. Managing (2001) Workers’ Compensation: A
Guide to Injury Reduction and Effective Claim Management, Lewis Publishers,
United States.