A vast number of different approaches and techniques help companies motivate their workers. Some are aimed at various financial rewards and bonuses, and others focus on the psychological side of employees. For example, leaders assume that staff is motivated when receiving positive feedback or accessing healthy competition. In this paper, I will discuss two methods applied at my previous workplace and explain whether they were efficient.
The organization I worked for had specific values that served as a basis for the staff motivation system. Firstly, our managers were tasked with providing us with biweekly feedback about our personal achievements or failures. As indicated by Locke and Latham (2002), receiving commentary on one’s performance is a great way to encourage further success. Secondly, we were invited to moderate our individual monthly objectives and set higher goals at will. Such an approach is intended to create healthy competition among workers and with one’s own past self (Locke & Latham, 2002). Unfortunately, my colleagues were rarely motivated by these methods. They were not interested in setting more challenging goals because, according to them, the extra effort required extra payment, and talks with managers needed more insights.
Since I worked in a private company, its leaders should have selected a more monetary approach. Thus, as noticed by Rashid and Rashid (2012), private sector workers need “monetary rewards, pay-for-performance or bonuses” to have higher performance (p. 25). If I were a manager or leader in a public organization, I would apply the methods my previous workplace used because “public sector employees are motivated by responsibility, growth, feedback or recognition” (Rashid and Rashid, 2012, p. 25). As a result, my staff would be more determined to achieve higher standards because they would take part in setting them in the first place.
To conclude, it is essential to select appropriate tools and techniques in particular circumstances. Most employee motivation methods have proven beneficial and practical, but only some approaches are applicable in a given firm. Therefore, leaders need to analyze the needs and focuses of their workers and take the features of the company into consideration as well. Eventually, mixing financial incentives and psychological methods is also advantageous in many cases.
References
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705-717. Web.
Rashid, S., & Rashid, U. (2012). Work motivation differences between public and private sector. American International Journal of Social Science, 1(2), 24-33. Web.