Introduction
Motivation is the psychological feature that arouses a person to action toward a desired goal. It can also be referred to as the reason for the action or that which gives purpose and direction to an individual’s behavior. The direction of behavior is determined by one’s desires and needs. Human dynamics of behavior include among others our desires, needs and life-long ambitions. The ultimate desire of achieving personal aspirations in life is the results of motivation on behavior known as achievement motivation. Therefore the way an employee performs certain tasks is likely to be affected by achievement goals. Others behave this way because of their unquenchable desire to show competence, (Harackiewicz, Barron, Carter, Lento, & Elliot, 1997).
Main body
According to the Kerr (1995) motivation the paramount reason that catapults one to engage in a particular behavior. His analysis further elaborates that motivation as three-fold. Firstly is the incentive concept of motivation which concerns a reward; whereby a reward, whether tangible or intangible is awarded after the occurrence of a certain action/behavior with the anticipation of causing the recurrence a similar desirable behavior. His second concept of motivation is two-directional composing of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The former occurs when an employee engages in an activity involuntarily such as a hobby where no external incentives are used. In such a case people are motivated by providing work that interests them, increasing their responsibility and assigning challenging tasks.
These intrinsic factors bring out their deep-seated desires for growth and achievement. Extrinsically, an external force is in play as it originates from outside of the performer, whereby money is the most obvious example. Others include threat of punishment and coercion. Finally, self motivation as the third motivational concept has continuously been understood by great motivational researchers as the unit of emotional intelligence, (Bandura, 1997).
Accel, (2008) views motivation as the key to performance. This is because human nature causes employees to do what they want involuntarily or whatever they are motivated to do. Humans can either be born with or without the self-motivation drive; when born without the drive, employees can be motivated because motivation is a skill which can and ought to be learned considering the future survival of the business is paramount. Mathematically, the relationship between performance, motivation and ability can be represented as
Job Performance = f (ability) (motivation)
However, ability to perform is pinned on experience, education and training. Interestingly, motivation can be improved quickly through such strategies as; effective discipline and punishment, positive reinforcement or increased expectations, fair treatment of individuals, restructuring jobs, rewarding according to performance, setting work-related goals/targets and satisfying employees’ individual needs, (Harackiewicz, Barron, Carter, Lento, & Elliot, 1997).
In certain elaborate study of employee motivation composed of men and women, the goal was to determine what the potential desires of either sex was from their jobs. The ratings for various factors exhibited slight variance between them, but both groups rated security as most desired. Second was advancement, then type of work and lastly pride of working for the company. Contrary to common belief, it was concluded that money was not the prime motivator because factors such as pay, benefits and conditions of work were highly rated than money, (Accel, 2008).
Employee motivation as an art employs certain tactics towards employee satisfaction for the company survival and success. Mostly insignificant importance is pegged on health care plans/benefits that employees are entitled to. This is a likely reason why employees’ morale is at most times very low. An employees’ health plan should include a full coverage for any illness or injury, hospital payments and in case of some minor surgeries needed. Apart from ensuring a good health care plan, additional care such as an insurance cover while still in duty serving the company is necessary. Another great employee motivation tactic for loyal employees is to have a car loan ready for them, especially for employees who have already served for a considerable time in the company, (Bronstein & Maier, 2005).
As individuals our goals dependent on incentives can include such examples as hunger for food, having mature relationships and the need for love. Other includes the desire for satisfying creative desires and realizing success in competitive ventures. The fact that motivation affects our daily lifestyles confers motivation as a vital ingredient human survival. And as a general rule, all of our behaviors, thoughts, actions and beliefs are influenced by our inner force to succeed, (Bandura, 1997).
Most motivational researchers subscribe to the belief that achievement behavior is composed of situational variables and the individual subject’s motivation to achieve. According to this view, two motives are directly involved in the revelation of behavior both implicit and explicit. The explicit motives stimulated for extrinsic purposes can be expressed involuntarily in the liking of the affected individual. In contrast, employees with strong implicit needs set higher internal standards, towards achievement of goals while others have no option but to opt for societal norms. These two motives coordinate to determine the individual’s behavior in both passion and direction, (Kerr, 1995).
Upon an employees’ behavior explicit and implicit motivations have a worthy effect. Effective performance of a task is the only available option for employees when faced with challenging activities. His increase in effort towards the challenge through pleases the individual, although they are entrenched in his self esteem, and it affects his behavioral choices and responses. This far, most thinkers are not in agreement as to whether or not achievement is based on mastering one’s skills or striving to promote a better self-image. As a matter of fact, most research is yet to conclude whether these types of motivation in the same environment would result in different behaviors, (Bronstein & Maier, 2005).
References
Accel Team Development, (2008), Employee Motivation, the organizational environment and Productivity. Web.
Bronstein, J. C., & Maier, G. W. (2005). Implicit and self-attributed motives to achieve: Two separate but interacting needs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 205-222.
Bandura, A. (1997), Self-efficacy: The exercise of control, New York: Freeman, pp. 604.
Harackiewicz, J. M., Barron, K. E., Carter, S. M., Lehto, A. T., & Elliot, A. J. (1997). Predictors and consequences of achievement goals in the college classroom: Maintaining interest and making the grade. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 1284-1295.
Kerr, S, (1995). An academy classic: The folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B. Academy of Management Executive, 9(1): pp 7-14. Web.