Motivation and Employee Productivity

In a workplace, employees are expected to work, and they are given a salary for
this work, however this only satisfies the basic requirements of a job. Humans
have emotional, physical, and mental needs that need to be fulfilled not only for
themselves, but also to let them work at their best potential. As such, besides
the basic salary, many other things need to be taken into account. These mainly
pertain to motivation and workplace conditions.

Motivation relates to the commitment and effort that an employee will put into
their job. Without it, employees would settle with the minimum requirement,
and in extreme cases, even less, resulting in the job being unfulfilled. If such a
condition was to be found throughout the company, it would stagnate and
eventually deteriorate. Then comes the question: how to motivate employees?

There are many ways different ways this can be done. A suitable theory to better
illustrate this would be Herzberg’s 2 factor theory of motivation. This theory
explains motivation by the influence of two factors - motivators and hygiene
factors. Motivators are those factors related to the nature of the job and personal
preferences. There are many different factors that could influence motivation
like recognition, continuous learning and development, career progression, and
job satisfaction, but they all vary by each person according to their requirements
and personality. For example: Some employees may be more concerned with the
tasks and achievements, while others are more concerned with status or social
recognition. Hygiene factors mainly deal with the conditions of the job and the
workplace. Their presence lets the employee work smoothly and without any
misgivings, however it cannot substitute for motivators, because no matter how
good the conditions are, if the job itself does not suit the employee, there won’t
be any fulfillment. Nevertheless, as motivators are highly individualized, more
often than not, they can only be left to chance. As a large company with
thousands of employees, there is no practicality or feasibility in trying to meet
each persons needs, and they can only be sought gradually through employee-
employer interaction. Hygiene factors however, are for the most part common
amongst all people. Companies therefore seek to maximize hygiene factors
uniformly for all employees.
This brings us to employee productivity. It can be said that hygiene factors
are linked closer to employee productivity rather than motivation, as it deals
more with the practical aspects of work. A large factor of employee productivity
is the work place environment. The atmosphere of the work place, the ambience,
the sounds, the colors, the design of the building, etc. These factors significantly
affect how an employee performs at work at a subconscious level. The first
importance is to create a professional setting so employees are of the right mind
set to work. Aside from this it is important to maintain an insulated
environment that regulates noise and temperature, and provides a sense of
safety and peace of mind. Furthermore, as human beings, there are always some
matters that will burden the mind or the heart, and these burdens affect us in
whatever we do. As such, it is important to ensure that employees can continue
functioning without being impaired by them. Building such a professional and
insulated environment allows the employee to put aside these emotional
burdens and increase their focus on the present tasks. There are other basic
hygiene factors as well such as literal hygiene and cleanliness, and decent
facilities and equipment, which serve rather obvious purposes.

Though it was said that motivators are highly individualized and vary by
each person, there is one motivator that is always common among every
employee. That motivator is the company itself. As employees of the company,
it’s only natural that they will be influenced by it. By defining the identity of the
company, and letting the employees assimilate into that identity, a sense of
solidarity is created that gives the employees belonging, pride, and purpose in
their jobs.
Mylan demonstrates this through its thorough characterization of the
brand. The core values, goals, company vision, and color scheme are all
significant in this. With each of these components ingrained in every aspect of
the company from the building walls to the company policies and procedures.
Due to this, they not only reinforce the companies identity, but also serve as
ideals for the employees to strive towards. The defining logo and the signature
blue and white color scheme are the physical representation of everything Mylan
stands for, which further cements this identity in the minds of the employees
and gives it substance. The aspiration to achieve new heights in health care and
providing high quality medicine to all people around the world. These are the
highlights of Mylans mission statement which give the employees pride in doing
something meaningful and making the world a better place. Consequently, every
bit of progress the company makes toward these goals further motivates
employees, creating a virtuous cycle of motivation, productivity and growth.