Executive Summary of the Article
The article “Employee Motivation: a Malaysian Perspective” by Islam and Ismail published in 2008 focused on the identification of factors which contributed to employee motivation while working in organizations in Malaysia. Islam and Ismail used a survey method as a means of investigating these factors.
This involved preparation and administering a survey questionnaire that had ten motivating factors compiled from different literature sources. These factors include interesting work, appreciation of the work done, working conditions, job security, feeling of involvement in organization, good wages, career growth and promotion while in the organization, organization loyalty to employees, and sympathetic help in personal problems (Islam, & Ismail, 2008). Human resources professionals were consulted in the process of refining these motivating factors. Employees from various organizations were requested to rank the factors evaluating their effectiveness. Results of the study suggested that gender, education, and race were significant as they influenced employees very much.
Critique of the Ideas
Results of the study revealed that only six factors of the ten investigated were the most effective. These factors included high wages, provision of better working conditions, growth and promotion, job security, work done appreciation, and interesting work. Money was definitely expected as the first and perhaps the most important factor. In the modern society money is usually the only thing that separates a person from the object that they desire. Being able to earn as much money as is necessary to provide good living condition for oneself and one’s family is clearly a strong motivating factor. (Nawab, 2011, p. 1212).
The authors also found that job security greatly influenced motivation. Because of this fact, employees preferred to choose organizations which promised to offer job security. This indicates why job security is ranked as one of the main factors for employees’ motivation. The next factor that contributes to workers’ motivation is mirrored in the working conditions. Working conditions are associated with the worker’s well-being, job satisfaction, and remunerations (Wiley, 1997, p. 279). As such, organizations which provide better working conditions tend to attract more competent and reliable labor force; as a result, it contributes to the improvement of the overall performance of the organization.
Employees value the possibility of advancement in their professional work very much. Therefore, employees consider promotion as one of the significant factors as it shows that organization values its workers. Moreover, employees’ promotion leads to the development of motivation among workers. Promotion of employees helps to ensure that they develop a positive attitude towards work and appreciate it. When employees appreciate their work, they develop a self-drive in their activities, which enables them to attain success within their working environment. Furthermore, interesting work gives the workers motivation to improve their individual level of performance.
Finally, study findings indicated that demographic factors such as education level, age, and gender, influenced the ranking of employees for effectiveness. I would argue that all of these characteristics are tightly related to social standing and that we could name social standing as one of the crucial factors for workers’ motivation. When individuals develop in an environment where they have the possibility of reaching goals that they set for themselves then they develop a high level of self-esteem. High social standing and privileged position that highly educated people have contribute to their motivation. Gender, race, ethnicity etc., can cause discrimination in our society; therefore, members of unprivileged groups tend to lose motivation because of so many hardships that they face on their road to success. In psychology, this phenomenon is known as learned helplessness.
Implications for Organizations
The finding of this study can be used in organizations to improve the motivation of the employees which will consequently result in better performance. In that effort companies can consider introducing the following measures. Trying to save money on wages can result in bad performance and loss of competent labor force. Therefore, investing in workers’ motivation definitely pays off.
Since employees have a desire of good working conditions, there is a need for organizations to establish. This should include the establishment of an organizational culture which encourages effective interaction among all employees. Moreover, organizations have to be structured to ensure they provide job security to employees. This contributes to attraction and retention of competent and reliable labor for an organization (Manzoor, 2012, p. 10).
Taking into account that Islam and Ismail have concluded that interesting tasks increase motivation, companies should introduce some measures to make the activities that employees perform more dynamic and interesting (Darlington, 2009, p. 30).
In conclusion, from the abovementioned, it is clear that motivation is one of the crucial components of the work performance of an employee. For that reason, companies should develop elaborate programs in order to improve motivation of the workers. Such programs should take into account that high wages, provision of better working conditions, growth and promotion, job security, work done appreciation, and interesting work really have an impact on workers’ performance. Moreover, it has to be clear that racial, cultural and other discrimination has no place at a modern workplace. Once such plans are constructed, the company can hope to enjoy the economic benefits of having well motivated stuff to come very soon.
Reference
Darlington, H. (2009). Motivation ideas for supervisors and employees. Kitchen & Bath Design News, 27 (12), 30-30.
Islam, R., & Ismail, A. Z. H. (2008). Employee motivation: A Malaysian perspective. International Journal of Commerce & Management, 18 (4), 344-362.
Manzoor, Q. (2012). Impact of employees’ motivation on organizational effectiveness. Business Management and Strategy, 3 (1), 1-12.
Nawab, S., Bhatti, K. K., & Shafi, K. (2011). Effect of motivation on employees’ performance. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 3 (3), 1209-1216.
Wiley, C. (1997). What motivates employees according to over 40 years of motivation surveys. International Journal of Manpower, 18 (3), 263-280.