Three Reasons Why Employee Motivation is Important

Written by Theodora Pavlidou

“It goes without saying that no company, small or large, can win over the long run without energized employees who believe in the mission and understand how to achieve it”– Jack Welch

Further to Dr. Evi Prokopi’s article 10 reasons why employees lose motivation, let’s explore why employee motivation is important.

Each company wants productive and loyal employees who will help the company achieve its goals. Motivation is the key component of a productive and dedicated employee and motivated and happy employees equal successful business. However, according to Gallup research, only 15% of employees feel engaged in their job worldwide. Why is the percentage low? Where do organisations lack?

It is important to recognize that increasing an employee’s motivation is a very difficult and complex task for managers because they need to first understand and then satisfy these needs. Thus, each employee has to be motivated continuously and in a different way that is a better fit to their personality and needs. Some may be more self-reliant, while others may require structure and rules. Either way, employees want to have goals and make a contribution to a major cause.

Undoubtedly, employee motivation is a critical aspect of the workplace and highly important especially during the pandemic, with many people working remotely, without face-to-face interaction with their managers. So companies now more than ever need to understand the importance of employee motivation and start thinking outside the box.

There are several reasons why motivation is important for companies and business. However, in this article, we are going to talk about three benefits of increasing employee motivation.

Increase Employee Satisfaction And Performance Levels

Motivation is an internal willingness to satisfy an unmet need and to achieve a certain goal (Dobre, 2013). Employees satisfaction is a critical factor towards progress and profit for organisations. A highly engaged workforce add 21% to the company’s bottom line. Thus, motivation and job satisfaction are the major drivers for better performance, which will bring evolution to the organisation (Rahman, 2019). Furthermore, a satisfied employee has a stronger incentive to work hard and contribute to a common work ethic that urges others to do likewise. This means that the task errors will be reduced as well as the conflicts at work.

Build Trust Between Employee and Employer

As long as the managers have recognized their staff’s needs and are trying to fulfil them, trust will be gained in the workforce. Managers are challenged to create a strong and committed relationship with their employees. This can be achieved by recognizing employees’ efforts, giving them the right opportunities for their personal growth within the working environment, combined with an active role in the company. Therefore, the company reduces employee turnover and absenteeism. A survey on employee motivation among more than 50,000 workers found that well-motivated and engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave a business as well as the percentage of absenteeism is 41% less.

Furthermore, if there is trust and transparency, managers won’t find as much resistance in case they have to apply new changes, because employees will have a comprehensive picture of the company’s needs. If these changes are not implemented, employees’ needs will not be meteither.

Create Innovative Minds

In a globalized world, innovation is a critical aspect of business success. But how can we make each employee start thinking outside the box? We can’t argue that a part of this process is to start motivating and inspiring employees, in the right way, in order to develop a different and creative way of thinking. Restrictions, heavy workload, lack of opportunities, and recognition are factors that inhibit the development of innovative ideas for achieving the desired results.

Ultimately, we need to understand that we all seek safety and we want to meet our fundamental needs. Therefore employees can concentrate more on their performance once they have met said needs. Consequently, managers need to encourage a positive work environment that will get the company to the top. In the process, managers may be challenged to understand and determine what motivates and drives employees to maximize performance and they will need to maintain momentum. However, it is important to mention that managers should not focus solely on motivation for business success but on a combination of factors such as diversity, inclusion, and more.