Executive Summary
To address the issue of the lack of motivation, the case of C., an office worker, is explored through interviewing him and empathizing with him regarding his work situation from his perspective. C. can hardly imagine what could motivate him to work harder and with more inspiration at his current job. It is suggested that one of the main causes is poor corporate culture. Therefore, it is proposed to improve it through employee relations, and the first step is to demonstrate to employees that the company wants them to be motivated, which in itself shows that the company cares for its employees. This will help establish an environment where excitement with work is encouraged, which will contribute to motivation.
Introduction
The lack of motivation is a problem that can negatively affect both employees and the businesses for which they work. From entrepreneurial, communicational, and psychological perspectives, the lack of motivation is recognized as something more than a “side effect” of production, which is why it is suggested that businesses should pursue improving motivation in their employees. To propose recommendations, a particular case was explored through an interview with an office worker who found it more and more difficult to go to work. The proposed solution will be based on empathizing with the employee by trying to understand the nature and causes of his lack of motivation through his perspective.
Problem Statement and Background
The lack of motivation in employees has come to be recognized as an important issue in every sphere and industry due to the improving understanding of how businesses develop and succeed. First of all, the lack of motivation has been acknowledged as an issue and an obstacle to development rather than simply a side effect of production, which means that it needs to be addressed within certain frameworks. This changing understanding and the effort in addressing the issue of the lack of motivation in employees can be examined from three major perspectives: entrepreneurial, communicational, and psychological.
From the entrepreneurial perspective, it has been observed in studies as well as in real-life business practice that a lack of motivation deteriorates performance (Uzonna, 2013). Motivation is thus seen as an instrument for entrepreneurs to utilize to improve their operation. Moreover, it has been confirmed that innovation and quality improvement are more likely to occur in environments where employees are more motivated to move their common business forward (Lin & Liu, 2012). From the communicational perspective, there previously existed a vision that businesses only needed to communicate outward with the ultimate purpose being to sell more products and services. Currently, however, it is also acknowledged that businesses need to pay attention to inward communication (i.e., employee relations) to succeed (Christ, Emett, Summers, & Wood, 2012). The general vision, purposes, and feedback need to be conveyed to employees for them to be motivated to do a better job.
Finally, from the psychological perspective, there is now a shared vision in entrepreneurship that employees need to feel accomplishment and purpose to perform better, be less stressed, and be more satisfied in general with their lives (Warr & Inceoglu, 2012). Overall, it can be said that there has been a shift from regarding the workforce as individuals who provide their services in the form of work to employers in exchange for a reward regarding the workforce as people who have needs, ambitions, and aspirations. Work is an important part of their lives, and they may be willing to contribute more to it if they know that what they do is purposeful and useful (Lăzăroiu, 2015). To assure them of the purposefulness and usefulness of their work means to improve their performance (benefits for the business), make them more satisfied with what they do (benefits for the employees), and create a healthier environment of making a difference and encouraging innovation (benefits for the society).
Therefore, the addressed problem is the causes, development, and outcomes of the lack of motivation in employees. It is misleading to suppose that employees will simply perform their functions because they are led by the motivation to earn money for their work. It has been confirmed in studies that employees may demonstrate a worsening performance despite monetary rewards (Aguinis, Joo, & Gottfredson, 2013). Moreover, motivated employees do more than comply with their job requirements—they bring something new to their work, thus increasing the opportunities for growth for the entire business. To understand the nature of the lack of motivation, it is proposed to explore it by empathizing with a real-life employee who experiences it.
Empathizing
C. is an office worker who has been in his current position for more than five years. When asked what he does, he replies that he deals with numbers. He does not like to bother people with explaining what “statistical analysis” and “data reconfiguration” are. He sometimes jokes that his job is to simply copy numbers from one column to another. His current boss is his former co-worker who used to work in a cubicle not far from C. C. has developed a strong disliking for her as it seems to him that she used to be friendly when occupying the same position as he did, but now she is demanding and rather unkind towards her subordinates.
When asked what his company does, C. does not answer straightforwardly either, saying that it is a big company and that it does many things. C. occasionally meets his colleagues during breaks, and what they talk about is rarely uplifting or inspiring. Instead, everyone complains about how much work they have, how terrible the customers they deal with are, or how unreasonable their bosses are being. Somehow, there was a culture established in the company that encourages complaining to co-workers; it is regarded as acceptable and maybe even in good taste. It is somewhat frowned upon to be excited about your job. C. realizes that, but he plays by the rules of this game, which is not hard to do because he is rarely excited about his work.
C. is single. After leaving work at six in the evening, he returns home to spend time with his friends or roommate. He occasionally goes out during the weekends. The money he makes is rather good, and he has a savings account with a certain amount in it that would allow him to support himself for a considerable period if he lost his job. However, losing a job does not seem to be an actual threat. His performance is slightly above average, and despite some pressure, he feels from his boss, he is generally regarded as a decent employee. C. says he is not happy at his current job, but he is not looking for a different one.
The case was explored through an interview. From the very beginning, C. stated that for about six months he has been finding it harder and harder to go to work. He does not think his performance has worsened, but he is concerned that it might worsen in the nearest future unless he stops feeling such a strong unwillingness to do what he does. When asked what he initially wanted to do for a living, he vaguely answers that he had some writing ambitions back in college, but it is not like he had a dream to become a writer. However, he does acknowledge that he initially considered his current job to be a temporary one, and he is somewhat bitter that he has stayed there for more than five years. He does not leave his job, because he prefers stability. When asked what he thought could make him more motivated to work where he works, he quite hopelessly responded that he does not think anything will do it.
Three options were suggested to him: Would he be more satisfied with his job, and thus more motivated, if he saw more clearly how his work contributes to the development of the company and possibly makes a difference for someone? He replied that this could be the motivation, but it is unlikely to happen because he has been working there for more than five years, he knows how the company functions and his work does not make a difference at all. The second option suggested to him was: Would he be more motivated if the company conducted more extensive internal relations and employee engagement campaigns? C. replied that this would not contribute to his motivation either because all corporate engagement things look pathetic, pushy, insincere, and lame—they make him sick. Finally, the third option suggested to C. was: Would it increase his motivation if there was a system of monetary bonuses, i.e., if he could earn more by demonstrating a better performance? Again, he answered no. C. does know that working harder earns more money. His co-worker worked much harder than he did, which is why she is now his boss with a significantly larger salary. At the end of the interview, when asked if his company can do anything at all to motivate him, he responded humorously, “To become motivating.”
Ideas and Possible Solutions
Without close examination, the case seems to be somewhat terminal. Even hypothetically, C. cannot say what would eliminate his lack of motivation. However, explanations such as “it is a bad job” or “this job is not right for this person” were not considered. Instead, it is suggested to explore what could improve motivation even in this difficult case. It is posited that a person can be motivated to do any job; it does not mean that they need to, but motivation is something that comes with work; it can be lower or higher, but there are always opportunities for improving motivation (Manzoor, 2012). In the studied case, one of the solutions that can be proposed is to improve corporate culture.
Corporate culture is a complicated notion consisting of many things, from workplace planning to employee relations. However, its fundamental characteristic is that it establishes an environment where all the work is performed, which is why it is unwise to expect outstanding performance with a poor corporate culture. Corporate culture is seen by researchers as a major factor in employee motivation (Pinder, 2014). In the company where C. works, the environment is such that employees talk to each other during their break about how “lousy” their work is. Even if some aspects of their jobs are satisfying and exciting, or, for example, if they start a new interesting project, it is not considered appropriate to share the excitement.
What the company needs is a change in corporate policies and practices. Employees should see that the company is interested in them. Internal communication efforts should not look “pathetic, pushy, insincere, and lame,” as C. described them. Instead, the company (i.e., top managers and leaders) should spend some resources to genuinely demonstrate that they want the people who work for them to be more satisfied with their jobs and more driven to do those jobs better. Among other things, it is beneficial for companies to adopt design thinking, acknowledge human capacity for creativity, and encourage their employees instead of relying on performance indicators solely (“Designing for growth,” n.d.). Also, it might help to demonstrate what the company does for the community (Skudiene & Auruskeviciene, 2012). Interestingly, even attempts to motivate can already be motivating. When employees see that their companies care for them and want them to be more interested in their work, it becomes a stimulus for those employees to look for new motivation too.
This is exactly what C. was talking about at the end of the interview. He does not know what he wants his company to do exactly, but he wants it to be motivating. If he recognizes that his company is trying to become motivated by caring for its employees, this will be the first step to improving overall motivation by building a more appropriate corporate culture.
Conclusion
Employee motivation has been recognized as not only an important aspect of successful performance but also as a driving force for businesses. It is also recognized that businesses in the modern world should be growth-oriented (Mason & Brown, 2013), which is why contributors to growth, such as motivation, should be pursued by businesses. The importance of successful businesses was stressed by Isenberg (2011), who claimed that successful entrepreneurship, i.e., “sustainable, aspirational, and on a massive scale” (p. 13), is what will create a better future. Improving employee motivation by various means, including building a more inspiring corporate culture as suggested above, is thus a component of bringing positive social change.
References
Aguinis, H., Joo, H., & Gottfredson, R. K. (2013). What monetary rewards can and cannot do: How to show employees the money. Business Horizons, 56(2), 241-249.
Christ, M. H., Emett, S. A., Summers, S. L., & Wood, D. A. (2012). The effects of preventive and detective controls on employee performance and motivation. Contemporary Accounting Research, 29(2), 432-452.
Designing for growth: A design thinking tool kit for managers. (n.d.). Web.
Isenberg, D. (2011). The entrepreneurship ecosystem strategy as a new paradigm for economic policy: Principles for cultivating entrepreneurship. Web.
Lăzăroiu, G. (2015). Work motivation and organizational behavior. Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice, 1(2), 66-75.
Lin, C., & Liu, F. C. (2012). A cross-level analysis of organizational creativity climate and perceived innovation: The mediating effect of work motivation. European Journal of Innovation Management, 15(1), 55-76.
Manzoor, Q. A. (2012). Impact of employees motivation on organizational effectiveness. Business Management and Strategy, 3(1), 36-44.
Mason, C., & Brown, R. (2013). Entrepreneurial ecosystems and growth oriented entrepreneurship. Web.
Pinder, C. C. (2014). Work motivation in organizational behavior. New York, NY: Psychology Press.
Skudiene, V., & Auruskeviciene, V. (2012). The contribution of corporate social responsibility to internal employee motivation. Baltic Journal of Management, 7(1), 49-67.
Uzonna, U. R. (2013). Impact of motivation on employees’ performance: A case study of CreditWest Bank Cyprus. Journal of Economics and International Finance, 5(5), 199-211.
Warr, P., & Inceoglu, I. (2012). Job engagement, job satisfaction, and contrasting associations with person-job fit. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 17(2), 1-22.
Summary
The problem in a business and societal context selected for this report is the lack of motivation in employees. The necessity to address this problem has been widely recognized within recent decades. There are three perspectives to describe the importance of motivation: entrepreneurial, communicational, and psychological.
From the entrepreneurial perspective, it has been confirmed that the lack of motivation deteriorates performance. Therefore, motivating their employees is a tool businesses need to employ to improve their operation and develop.
From the communicational perspective, there has been a shift in understanding the direction of communications that businesses need to perform. Previously, it was believed that companies need to engage in public relations, advertising, and marketing for external audiences to increase sales and profits. Today, however, it is also recognized that internal communications are required, too, in order to ensure that the workforce is adequately coordinated.
Finally, from the psychological perspective, there is now a shared vision in entrepreneurship that employees need to feel accomplishment and purpose in order to perform better, be less stressed, and be more satisfied in general with their lives.
To sum up the problem background, it is acknowledged today that employees should not be expected to simply work in exchange for money. Instead, businesses should stop thinking about the lack of motivation as a mere side effect of production and regard it an issue to be constantly addressed by policies and practices.
A particular case of the lack of motivation was explored by interviewing C., an office worker, a specialist in statistical analysis and data reconfiguration. To address the issue from inside, it was suggested to look at the case closely and empathise with C.
C. feels that it has been harder and harder for him within the last six months to go to work. He is always doing the same thing, and he describes what he does as copying numbers from one column to another. He does not enjoy his job, but he is not going to quit because he prefers stability. Somewhat bitterly, C. says that this job was supposed to be a temporary one when he got it, but it has already been more than five years since then.
C. was offered several possible solutions to his lack of motivation. First, would he be more motivated, if he saw more clearly how his personal work possibly makes a difference for someone? C. said no; he knows how the company works, and his part does not really make a difference at all.
Second, would he be more motivated if the company conducted more extensive internal relations and employee engagement campaigns? C. said no; he hates corporate programs such as employee engagement, and he thinks they are insincere, pushy, and lame.
Third, would he be more motivated if there was a system of monetary bonuses, i.e., if he could earn more by demonstrating a better performance? Again, C. said no; he knows that working harder brings more money. If he had worked harder, he would have been promoted and given a much larger salary like his colleague who used to sit in a cubicle near him and is now his boss.
Upon empathising with C., it became clear that his case is difficult. But there are still solutions to be proposed.
In C.’s company, it is an accustomed practice the employees complain to each other about their bosses, workloads, and unpleasant clients. It is considered bad taste to talk about how excited you are about your work. This is an environment that not only reflects the lack of motivation but also promotes it.
The proposed solution is for the company to take measures toward adopting a new corporate culture where employees are appreciated. If the top management demonstrates that they care about their employees, it is the first step in building such a culture.
It is concluded that the fundamental thing companies should do to motivate their employees is to show the employees that the companies want them to be motivated. Measures taken toward improving motivation are already motivating, as employees get to see that their companies care.
If the company where C. works manages to show a genuine and open effort to improve motivation, it will help establish a corporate culture where whining about your work is not as acceptable as being excited about it.
Improved motivation will contribute to better performance (a benefit for the business), increase employee satisfaction (a benefit for employees), and help create a healthier environment of making a difference and encouraging innovation (a benefit for the society).