Motivating is the management process influencing people's behavior based on this knowledge of what makes people "tick". Motivating and motivation both deal with the range of conscious human behavior somewhere between two extremes - reflex actions and learned actions.
Motivation is the activation or energization of goal-orientated behavior. Motivation is said to be intrinsic or extrinsic.
At a recent company meeting at Kandalama Hotel in Sri Lanka for General Managers, Assistant Managers and Sales staff I, led a discussion on Employee Recognition and Motivation. The following comments and list are from notes they developed from several sources.
The foundation of recognition and motivation is that people need and want Acceptance, Approval and Appreciation. Almost all positive motivation is based on these needs. People want to know that what they do makes a difference. Just recognizing the staff is the most important step one can take.
The dictionary defines motivation this way: "Motivation: The psychological feature that arouses an organism to action towards a desired goal, the reason for that action. "Substitute "organism" with "a human being" and you begin to get it. An implication of the definition is that we need to have a reason behind our actions to achieve out goals.
One school of thought says that Motivation is simply
- The reason for an action
- That which gives purpose and direction to behavior.
Motivation is "WHAT drives you" to behave in a certain way or to take a particular action.
Motivation is the internal condition that activates behavior and gives it direction; energizes and directs goal-oriented behavior. Motivation is a desire to achieve a goal, combined with the energy to work towards that goal. Students who are motivated have a desire to undertake their study and complete the requirements of their course.
The definition of motivation in anoter school of thought is to give reason, incentive, enthusiasm, or interest that causes a specific action or certain behavior. Motivation is present in every life function. Simple acts such as eating are motivated by hunger. Education is motivated by desire for knowledge. Motivators can be anything from reward to coercion.
There are two main kinds of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is internal. It occurs when people are compelled to do something out of pleasure, importance, or desire. Extrinsic motivation occurs when external factors compel the person to do something. However, there are many theories and labels that serve as sub tittles to the definition of motivation. For example: "I will give you a candy bar if you clean your room." This is an example of reward motivation.
A common place that we see the need to apply motivation is in the work place. In the work force, we can see motivation play a key role in leadership success. A person unable to grasp motivation and apply it will not become or stay a leader. It is critical that anyone seeking to lead or motivate understand "How lets Hierarchy of Work Motivators."
Salary, benefits, working conditions, supervision, policy, safety, security, affiliation, and relationships are all externally motivated needs. These are the first three levels of "How lets Hierarchy" When these needs are achieved, the person moves up to level four and then five. However, if levels one through three are not met, the person becomes dissatisfied with their job. When satisfaction is not found, the person becomes less productive and eventually quits or is fired. Achievement, advancement, recognition, growth, responsibility, and job nature are internal motivators. These are the last two levels of "How lets Hierarchy." They occur when the person motivates themselves (after external motivation needs are met.) An employer or leader that meets the needs on the "How lets Hierarchy" will see motivated employees and see productivity increase. Understanding the definition of motivation, and then applying it, is one of the most prevalent challenges facing employers and supervisors. Companies often spend thousands of dollars each year hiring outside firms just to give motivation seminars.
Another place motivation plays a key role is in education. A teacher that implements motivational techniques will see an increased participation, effort, and higher grades. Part of the teacher's job is to provide an environment that is motivationally charged. This environment accounts for students who lack their own internal motivation. One of the first places people begin to set goals for themselves is in school. Ask any adult: "What is the main thing that motivates you." Their answer will most likely be goals. Even the simplest things in life are the result of goal setting. A person may say, "I want to save 300.00 for a new T.V." Well, that is a goal. School is where we are most likely to learn the correlation between goals, and the definition of motivation. That correlation is what breeds success.
Identify a company currently addressing motivation problems at work and evaluate their efforts.
I had identified one of the hotels in Sri Lanka named Kandalama Hotel, which is located out side of Colombo. The time I had the discussion with hotel staff they were reviewing the staff motivation policies.
Lower level staff was de motivated due to the reason the performance appraisal which is carrying out in the company they had the feeling that it was bias. I understood that they were evaluating the performance of the employees through rating scale method. All the lower lever staff had the assumption that appraisal techniques are quite partial & was disappointed on the same.
This was been very much conveyed to the management through there trade union and management was reviewing what steps to be taken on the same. There was a brain storming session which they carried out were I was a part of the team, which we decided to introduce the 360 degree approach of Performance appraisal.
Since on 360 degree approach feedback that comes from all around an employee. "360" refers to the 360 degrees in a circle, with an individual figuratively in the center of the circle. Feedback is provided by subordinates, peers, and supervisors. It also includes a self-assessment and, in some cases, feedback from external sources such as customers and suppliers or other interested stakeholders. It may be contrasted with "upward feedback," where managers are given feedback by their direct reports, or a "previous rating scale performance appraisal," where the employees are most often reviewed only by their managers.
With introducing 360 degree approach the group who were at brain storming session took the time to discuss the importance of Motivating of. When developing motivation plans, it was understood the importance to recognize the individual differences among employees and realize that not all motivation techniques will work for everyone. Each employee must be evaluated to determine what motivates them the most. Below are several ideas came out for motivating employees and preventing job boredom or job overload.
Job Rotation
Job rotation, also known as cross-training, can be very effective for employees that perform repetitive tasks in their job. Job rotation allows the employees to learn new skills by shifting them from one task to another.
Job Enlargement
Job enlargement is a motivation technique used for employees that perform very few and simple tasks. Job enlargement increases the number and variety of tasks that the employee performs, resulting in a feeling of importance.
Job Enrichment
This method increases the employees control over the work being performed. It allows employees to control the planning, execution, and evaluation of their own work, resulting in freedom, independence, and added responsibility.
Flextime
Flextime allows employees to choose their own work schedule, to a certain extent. For example, if the office is open from 8am until 9pm, the employees can come in at any time during that period to complete their 8 hours.
Job Sharing
This is a less common method, but very effective at preventing boredom. It allows 2 employees to share 2 different jobs. They could alternate days or weeks, working 20 hours in each position each week.
Employee Involvement
People want to feel like they are a part of something. Letting the employees be more active in the decision-making related to their job makes them feel valued and important to the company and increases job motivation.
Variable-Pay Programs
Merit-based pay, bonuses, gain sharing, and stock ownership plans are all great motivators for employees. However, don't just give them out. Offer them as an incentive or reward for outstanding performance.
Create a positive environment
Promote an office atmosphere that makes all employees feel worthwhile and important. Don't play favorites with your staff. Keep office doors open and let folks know they can always approach you with questions or concerns. A happy office is a productive office
Additional Responsibility.
There are definitely employees in your organization who are begging for and can handle additional responsibility. Our job as managers is to identify who they are and if possible match responsibilities to their strengths and desires.
Theme Contests.
Over the years my contests have produced up to 170% increase in performance. But equally as important, they've helped maintain positive environments that have reduced employee turnover by 400%.
Overall the most successful contests seem to be those affiliated with different themes. Holidays, anniversaries, sports and culture are examples of ideas to base contests on. Sports, without a doubt, provide the largest opportunity for a wide variety of contests. Even Culture can be used to create theme contest. My favorite is using the '50s and '60s as a theme for a contest that I run at least once a year.
Stress Management.
There are many articles and books available on the subject. Make this reference material available to your people. Make sure they know it is available and encourage them to use it.
If possible, have an in-house seminar on stress management techniques. So that production time is not lost, you might consider having a brown bag luncheon with a guest speaker on this subject. Because stress is an ongoing concern, anytime is a good time for a seminar like this to take place.
Outside Seminars.
Outside seminars are a stimulating break. Because outside seminars are not always cost efficient for most people, consider on-site seminars or workshops for your staff. Use outside seminars as a contest prize for one or two people. Then set up a structured plan for those seminar attendees to briefly recreate the seminar to the rest of your people when they return. Now everyone gets educated for the price of one.
Social Gatherings.
Scheduled offsite events enhance bonding which in turn helps team spirit, which ultimately impacts your positive work environment. Halloween costume parties, picnics on July 4th, Memorial Day or Labor Day, and Christmas parties are only some of the ideas that successfully bring people together for an enjoyable time. Some others that I've used with equal success are softball games (against other companies or among employees, depending on staff size), groups going putt-putt golfing or movie madness.
All there will help the management to address issues relating to motivation & reduce the de -motivation of the work force. Management should identify the concern areas for motivation & correct people to do it accurately.
Explore the relationship between the effective employment of appropriate recruitment and selection strategies and their impact on staff motivation.
Better recruitment and selection strategies result in improved organizational outcomes. The more effectively organizations recruit and select candidates, the more likely they are to hire and retain satisfied employees.
Recruitment Strategies
> For recruiting managerial/professional candidates, the Internet is the most popular advertising medium
> Organizations regularly utilize internal resources (e.g., internal job postings and employee referrals) when recruiting both internal and external candidates.
> Different kinds of agencies are used to recruit for positions at different levels.
* Temporary and government agencies are used mainly to recruit non-management candidates.
* Employment agencies, colleges, and professional organizations are used more often to recruit managerial/professional candidates.
Organizations with the most effective recruiting strategies were 15 to 19 % more likely to offer candidates high-quality options such as:
- Potential for advancement.
- Company reputation.
- Stocks.
- Benefits package.
- Corporate culture.
- Salary scale.
- Organizations offering candidates and employees a positive culture (e.g., innovative, diverse, potential to advance) and learning environment have more satisfied employees and are more successful at retaining them.
Current and Future Selection Practices
Organizations were asked to indicate how extensively they use several selection practices and how much they anticipate using them in the future.
Most organizations make extensive use of applications (89 %), manual resume screening (80 %), and reference checks (75 % ) in their selection systems. Nearly half (48 %) of the organizations plan to increase their use of computerized resume screening in the future. New technology allows organizations to screen literally thousands of resumes in a fraction of the time it takes to screen them manually.
Although nearly all (97 % ) the organizations already use behavior-based interviews to some extent when selecting employees, nearly half (49 %) plan to use them more frequently in the future. This type of structured interview can be used to validly predict future behavior in dimensions (or competencies) critical to job success.
Less than 20 %t of organizations currently use testing or assessment methods extensively in their selection process. However, organizations plan to increase their use of applicant testing and assessment in the future. These structured approaches to assess skills, abilities, and knowledge can significantly reduce the candidate pool by eliminating those who fail to meet the minimum job qualifications.
Selection Practices :
Organizations with the most effective selection systems were 15 to 22 % more likely to use the following practices:
- Behavior-based interviews.
- Training and experience evaluations.
- Ability tests.
- Biographical data.
- Motivational fit inventories.
Organizations with highly effective selection systems experienced higher business outcomes (i.e., financial performance, quality of products and services, productivity, and customer satisfaction) and employee outcomes (i.e., employee satisfaction and retention of quality employees) than those with ineffective selection systems.
Recruitment refers to the process of attracting, screening, and selecting qualified people for a job at an organization or firm. For some components of the recruitment process, mid- and large-size organizations often retain professional recruiters or outsource some of the process to recruitment agencies.
The recruitment industry has five main types of agencies: employment agencies, recruitment websites and job search engines, "headhunters" for executive and professional recruitment, niche agencies which specialize in a particular area of staffing and in-house recruitment. The stages in recruitment include sourcing candidates by advertising or other methods, and screening and selecting potential candidates using tests or interviews.
When a company takes the time to set the culture of learning, growth and advancement for its employees, the company is placed in a strong position when it comes time to hire new people. When you establish an amazing internal culture, you can use your current employees as referral catalysts. This is one of the best ways to find new talent.
