Motivation drives many people to do tasks that they might not do or could not do relying on status quo circumstances. People can derive motivation from almost any object, idea or person. Motivation can be split into two common categories: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic is the motivation that one finds naturally from the satisfaction of completing tasks or accomplishments. Extrinsic motivation involves factoring in another variable. In cases of the workplace, this motivation should come from the management level. Management is responsible for providing the most suitable work environment possible for its employees. However, motivating some workers can often times seem difficult, if not, impossible. Managers, then, need to focus on the values of workers in order to maintain an environment conducive with completing the common goals. The values can certainly be linked to what is commonly known as work life balance. Through this balance, employees will find that motivation, whether intrinsic or extrinsic.
The idea behind work life balance is that certain service objectives can be met by making the best use of a company’s most valuable resource: the ability and skills of employees. The intrinsic motivation for most employees comes from making tough choices about their work life balance and feeling a personal sense of accomplishment for completed tasks. The most astute managers develop the ability to cloak extrinsic motivation with a sense of intrinsic motivation and, therefore, create an employee who feels they should continue in that particular role. Work life balance is about common sense and good practice in management. An organization must commit to identifying with their workforce how both the organization and its employees can benefit from a more imaginative approach to working practices. Once a company has done this, they can provide the extrinsic motivation for employees through many various programs. Gottschalg and Zollo (2007) state these can include such programs as: “flextime, job sharing, telecommuting and cafeteria style benefits.” The results have seen an improvement in service delivery and a better quality of life for employees. (Vansteenkiste & et al., 2007).
In the past, however, the lack of such initiatives that business would undertake has been detrimental to employees’ work life balance. Planning meetings, overtime, travel, relocation and planning days became a serious problem for many workers as they try to balance the career and lives. (Vansteenkiste & et al., 2007). Staff meetings would consist of quick responses to the issues directly affecting the business aspect of the company. All of these issues adversely affect the ability of an employee to balance their priorities and thus lead to thoughts of inadequacy and lack of intrinsic motivation. Recognizing the importance of families goes beyond organizing open days and social events which are usually dreadful, if they even exist. Again, these management issues are critical to providing the extrinsic motivation that employees need to maintain their job satisfaction and trust within the company.
Managers must seek to provide workplace environments that promote both intrinsic and extrinsic motivating factors. Cloaking intrinsic values comes with experience and managers should seek to learn this art. Extrinsic motivation creates a critical link to the employee and makes them realize the importance they provide to the company. These motivating factors are influenced by developing programs to solve work life balance issues. Managers must develop these options to maintain the best worker; a happy one.
References
Vansteenkiste, M., Neyrinck, B., Niemiec, C., Soenens, B., De Witte, H., Van Den Broeck, A., et al. (2007). On the relations among work value orientations, psychological need satisfaction and job outcomes: A self-determination theory approach. Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology, 80(2), 251-277.
Gottschalg, O., & Zollo, M. (2007). Interest Alignment and Competitive Advantage. Academy of Management Review, 32(2), 418-437.