Conclusion

Motivation is an important concept that has been receiving considerable attention

from academicians, researchers and practicing HR managers. In its essence,
motivation comprises important elements such as the need or content, search and
choice of strategies, goal-directed behavior, social comparison of rewards
reinforcement, and performance-satisfaction.
The increasing attention paid towards motivation is justified because of several
reasons. Motivated employees come out with new ways of doing jobs. They are
quality oriented. They are more productive. Any technology needs motivated
employees to adopt it successfully.
Several approaches to motivation are available. Early theories are too simplistic in
their approach towards motivation. For example, advocates of scientific
Management believe that money is the motivating factor. The Human Relations
Movement posits that social contacts will motivate workers.
Mere knowledge about the theories of motivation will not help manager their
subordinates. They need to have certain techniques that help them change the
behavior of employees.
One such technique is reward. Reward, particularly money, is a motivator according
to need-based and process theories of motivation. For the behavioral scientists,
however, money is not important as a motivator. Whatever may be the arguments,
it can be stated that money can influence some people in certain circumstance.
Being an outgrowth of Herzberg’s, two factor theory of motivation, job enrichment is
considered to be a powerful motivator. An enriched job has added responsibilities.
The makes the job interesting and rewarding. Job enlargement refers to adding a
few more task elements horizontally. Task variety helps motivate job holders. Job
rotation involves shifting an incumbent from one job to another. This reduces
boredom and disinterest.
OB Mod uses the reinforcement principle of B.F. skinner to give the management a
powerful technique to change employee behavior. Several reputed organizations in
a America have used OB Mod programmes successfully to achieve positive results.

Conclusion

Creating a workplace with excellent morale and motivated employees is a long-term

project, and needs to be embedded within the fabric of an organisation’s daily operations.
Highly motivated and engaged personnel are a tremendous asset to any organisation.
While money is an important foundational consideration, the main factors that attract and
maintain “talent” within an organisation include:

• recognition
• having interesting work to do
• being heard by management
• having skilled managers
• having good communication flows
• being provided with opportunities for advancement.
1. Ask what they want out of work. Just knowing that an HR manager or boss is
interested in a worker's goals will make many employees feel better about their jobs. It
can be difficult to get a quick and accurate answer to this question, however. Some
workers may say that they want to work on a prestigious project, for example, only to
discover once they have been assigned to the project that it isn’t what they expected.

It may help to ask a more specific question. Have workers describe a previous project that
they felt good about, then see what aspects of that can be repeated, suggested Michael
Beasley, a career-development and executive coach who owns Career-Crossings in
Portola Valley, Calif.

2. Consider each employee’s age and life stage. There are exceptions to every
generalization, of course, but workers nearing the end of their careers are often less
focused on the next promotion than those who are just starting to climb the corporate
ladder. Younger workers may also be less accustomed than older ones to waiting
patiently in a job they don’t find interesting.

3. Match motivators to the company or department culture. Again, there are

exceptions, but engineers are likely to be motivated by working on cutting-edge projects.
On the other hand, sales professionals tend to use money as a way to measure how well
they’re doing.

4. Pinpoint each employee’s personality. Some people love public praise; others are
mortified by it and would much prefer a sincere, in-person “thank-you.” Make sure you
take this into account if you are planning a ceremony to give awards or other recognition.

5. Use flexibility wisely. Allowing employees to telecommute some of the time or to set
their own office hours can have big benefits. It makes employees’ lives more manageable
— and it shows them that they are trusted.

Still, as with other motivators, one size does not fit all. Some jobs simply can’t be done
effectively outside the office. And some workers actually like going in to the office to
escape the distractions of home or to preserve a line between home and work. “As long as
the commute is not bad, some people would rather go in to work,” said Marianne
Adoradio, a Silicon Valley recruiter and career counselor.

6. Put money in its place. How well does money motivate workers? The answer isn’t
simple. An employee who demands a raise might really be unhappy because his or her
suggestions are being ignored, for example. And surveys and experts offer different
answers about how important money is, depending on how the question is phrased.

Dee DiPietro, founder and CEO of Advanced-HR Inc., described money as “a baseline”:
too little of it can make workers feel unappreciated and resentful. “You don’t want
compensation working against you as a motivator,” she said. “People just don’t want to
feel like their employer is taking advantage of them.” However, motivation to work hard
rarely comes solely from money. If your employees are being paid fair salaries and still
seem unwilling to go the extra mile, throwing more money at them is unlikely to be the
answer.

7. Don’t rely on stock options. If money is an unreliable motivator, stock options are
even less likely to motivate most workers. Employee worth goes up and down with a
company’s stock price — something very few workers feel they can control.

DiPietro considers options “more of a retention tool” because they vest over several
years. But she said that most employees simply lump them together with their salary
when they consider how much they’re being paid for their work. “People tend to look at
the whole cash package,” she said.

8. Offer help with career goals. When you ask workers what kind of work they enjoy,
also find out about what they’re hoping to do in the future. Giving workers opportunities
to build the skills and make the connections they need to get ahead in their careers will
build loyalty and motivation.

9. Help employees learn. It’s very important for workers to keep learning new skills on
the job. With people changing jobs more often than they used to and companies no longer
promising long-term employment, younger workers in particular realize that continuing
to learn is the way to stay employable, said Leslie G. Griffen, managing partner of Career
Management Associates, in Overland Park, Kan.

“Kids today are really under pressure to keep adding knowledge,” Griffen said. “I think
learning is huge: the ability to gather new knowledge on the job.”

Organized classes and seminars are one way to help with this, as are tuition-
reimbursement programs. But in many cases, it’s a matter of listening to what skills a
worker is interested in acquiring, then giving the person a chance to work on a project
that will develop those skills.

10. Recognize that motivation isn’t always the answer. If your motivation efforts
aren’t working, it may not be your fault. “Not everyone can be motivated for that
particular job,” Beasley said. If an employee would really rather be doing something else,
it may be best to encourage him or her to pursue something new.