Work Motivation: How to Stay Focused and Productive Every Day

Motivation is a psychological force involving an employee to stay engaged with his/her work, put in a considerable amount of effort, and stay committed to the organization. It is an individual social action associated with his/her environment, which includes individual needs and the actions taken to gain satisfaction through commitment and contribution to the organization. That might include adopting specific practices or techniques to improve their productivity and offers productivity improvement strategies for building an enabling environment, which can result in higher levels of productivity. Therefore, motivation is the force that causes a work to move toward a goal. It indicates how much effort an individual will expend in different or similar situations.

Although the concepts of motivation for an employee hold many diverse thoughts, generally it requires to encourage, inspire, do and act towards a goal on behalf of the workforce through the practice of purposes of the organization. Motivation on the both hands reflects effectiveness from the organization to get some tangible benefit as profitability, customer satisfaction and stability of the employee and sustainability of the organization. It is considered a strategic imperative in attaining long-term sustainability in terms of organizational efficiency and effectiveness.

Several motivation theories exist today to facilitate the understanding of the concept as well as to expose various motivations leading to particular explanation. These theories provide a better understanding of employees’ state of mind and leads to the explanation of employee behavior. The various motivation theories are focused on enhancing the concept of behavioral science and its application to the workplace. While studying the different theories of motivation and its possible practical method for motivation, it can help the organization to come up with a concrete explanation or analysis why an employee behaves in a certain way.

Motivation is one of the psychological forces that determine the direction of people’s behaviour in organizations. Motivation is a critical aspect of an employee’s general performance in the workplace. Motivation plays an important role in making employees effective and efficient for organizations. The motivation of workers in an organization must be given pragmatic attention in terms of creativity to make the organization a success. There are various theories of motivation that provided practical methods for motivation; however, a different method may not work on a specific person or organization. Therefore, organizations may adopt from various theories of motivation to maintain the sustainability of their organization and its employees. Employee motivation can be considered as an interior process of engaging individuals’ interest in tasks or taking benevolent actions.

Employee motivation could be classified into intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsically motivated employees are those who have a desire to do their tasks for their own reasons, such as job satisfaction, personal development and pride of belonging to a prestigious organization. Extrinsically motivated employees do their tasks to gain external rewards or avoid punishment from their superiors (Perry, 1999). Employee motivation is rebuilt or maximally improved gradually. It is a continuous process for organizations. In order to engage employees in the jobs continuously and for the satisfaction of employees, it is necessary for organizations to develop the degree of employee motivation. This is not a piece of rear art for organizations.

Motivation does not only help to make a good working environment for workers, but it makes other factors of production work effectively. Motivation produces productivity, engagement, performance and turnover. Motivation is a catalyst for the performance of employees and ultimately for the organization. To have long-term sustainability, motivation is an essential requirement for an organization. The improvement of employee motivation is a gradual and perpetual process for organizations.

In the workplace, research into the theory and application of employee motivation is highly valuable to understanding employees’ actual and potential performance. Although there are many apparent theories, one of the most common and widely used approaches to personnel management is motivated by employee needs. Therefore, workplace practices adhere to several motivation theories, including Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory, Expectancy Theory by Victor Vroom.

In 1943, Abraham Maslow proposed his now-famous “Hierarchical Theory of Needs”, which would be arguably the most common approach to understanding employee motivation. Maslow maintained that the most basic level of needs must be fulfilled before other, more complex needs can be fulfilled. In his picture of this hierarchy, each progressive tier fulfills needs that transcend the previous tier. These needs can be listed in order of progressive importance to employees as such: physiological needs (e.g., food, water, rest); safety needs (e.g., Security, stability); Social needs (e.g., affection, belonging); Esteem Needs (e.g., achievement, recognition, gainful employment) and Self-actualization Needs (e.g., Utilization of talents & creative solutions). According to Maslow, employees have fundamental needs that must be fulfilled, before they can be motivated by higher-level needs that transcend basic needs.

In the 1960s, psychologist Frederick Herzberg expanded on Maslow’s theory by carrying out an extensive study of employees and their workplace experiences. He claimed that employees experience levels of dissatisfaction and satisfaction depending on the presence of “hygiene factors” and “motivators” in the workplace. Hygiene factors comprise the general working environment, which must be adequately provided to ensure the workers are not dissatisfied, while motivators give the employee job satisfaction and foster a sense of achievement. Without appropriate hygiene factors, the employee will be totally dissatisfied, which leads to a lost cause for the employer. But even with high levels of hygiene, the employee is still not satisfied and missed the opportunity for a positive outcome for both parties. In delivering hygiene factors, an employer cannot use them alone as a motivational strategy but must also provide the means for employees to be motivated by the work and the achievement thereof.

Although Vroom’s theory of expectancy appears to be simple, it is a valid workplace motivational theory. The theory maintains that if effort is put into a task, a clear expectation of the output will be made. Then comes the reasonable expectation of a reward for the level of input. What Vroom’s model also teaches is that there may be demand for a reward on behalf of the employee, leading to a question for the employer, that is, am I prepared to reward? Although Vroom’s expectancy theory is logical and appears rather straightforward, it gives employee motivation a link with the psychology of an individual.

The writing around goal-setting theory has evolved over the years, but an early model developed by Edwin Locke in the 1960s is based on the premise that employees are motivated through 1) clarity, 2) challenge, 3) feedback and 4) goal complexity. In practical terms, employees need to have a clear set of expectations for their performance. They need to be aware of what is expected of them before they can deliver to the expected standard. Then management needs to offer fair reward for the attainment of performance, and clarity of what the reward is should be included in the initial dialogue on expectations. The most effective motivational effort is the establishment of specific, challenging goals with an open channel on feedback. Giving feedback to employees ensures that they are aware of their standing in relation to the respective management’s expectations. Locke’s model advocates that people’s performance improves when they are given complex set task goals rather than easier goals or merely being told to do their best.

Workplace performance and productivity can be improved through a deeper understanding of employee motivation. Whether companies’ are managed in the hierarchical fashion, Taylor style or as free trading, employees need to be motivated to deliver work. It is important to understand what form of employee motivation works better to the company’s style of management.

Strategies for Enhancing Motivation

There are strategies that organizations can employ to achieve employee motivation, and these can be classified into intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. These motivations motivate employees from inside and outside of the workplace, respectively. Intrinsic motivation can include things such as professional development, training programs, and mentorship, where an employee learns how to perform his/her role efficiently to enhance career growth opportunities through enhancing skills. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation can be rewards and recognition shows through cash bonuses and public acknowledgment, in both these scenarios the employee is enhancing his/her welfare. In such an instance, the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are important for employee morale.

Furthermore, in line with the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, the organization must come together to provide a positive work environment through good relationships, communication, work-life balance, and autonomy, with the employee being involved in decision-making that pertains to his/her duties. In addition to a positive work environment, an organization can also motivate employees by providing meaningful work which is linked to the mission of the organization. This can involve the employees seeing the impact they have on the customers or on society. An employee will be more inclined to accomplish his/her duties, if he/she sees the impact of the work he/she is doing. Through organization innovation, the organization is bound to show employees on how current trends are effective in the workplace. Employees will constantly be engaged in new ways of doing things where their opinions on the project may be requested.

In conclusion, the above strategies will increase employee motivation causing them to work more efficiently where they will be inclined to achieve maximum productivity, which will result in improved customer satisfaction as employees will deliver high-quality services.

Well-motivated teams are one of the most sought-after targets for organizations today. Creating and maintaining the same is an extremely complex and perpetually ongoing process. Motivation is a very complex phenomenon that cannot be quickly achieved. Rather, it is a very elaborate facet in the psychology of motivation and requires the acquisition of evidence-based theories. A successful management requires executive heads to create such environments where employees are valued, and the need for their growth and development is fulfilled.

An important aspect of employee motivation is to recognize their achievements. It is very important for them to realize that their contributions are contributing to the organization and that their work is noticed and valued. For the course, an open and positive culture needs to be cultivated within the organization. The positive culture motivates employees to think about attaining future challenges and also enhances productivity. The common practice of offering monetary compensations at the end of every year is vanishing fast due to the changing perceptions regarding business motives. Employees want something more than just monetary compensations. They want a sense of belongingness to the organization. Creating a good work environment, insulating such arrangements where there is a minimal amount of politics, creating a sense of competition among the members to attain their goals rather than competing with their team members, etc. are some of the steps to be taken to create a positive environment.

Motivating the team is a crucial factor for enhancing the productivity of an organization. When the productivity of an organization is enhanced by setting new goals and targets by creating healthy competition among the employees, it attracts clients and customers who contribute to brand value for the organization. With a positive culture in place, there is improved retention of employees in the organization which ultimately leads to creating a robust organization. Investing in employees is preparing the best investment for the future.