The Best Strategies For Increasing Employee Motivation
Motivation is the reason for a person’s actions, desires, and needs. It can also be interpreted as the willingness to work.
A lot of businesses have the problem of unmotivated staff, nothing about their job really excites them. Don’t get me wrong, there are many companies out there like Google who try to create an excellent work environment for its employee, however, this article will show you how to achieve similar results but won’t burn a hole in your wallet.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow is one of the most acclaimed theorists when it comes to what motivates people.
Maslow’s hierarchy is a motivational theory in psychology comprising of a five-tier model of human needs which states that we must satisfy each need, starting with the first most obvious one, survival. Only when the lower needs of physical and emotional well-being are satisfied, are we concerned with the higher order needs like esteem needs.
As a business you can provide some of these things like esteem needs where you show your employees appreciation for what they do at their job.
Just simply giving them credit will show you genuinely believe they are making a positive impact at their job, making them feel better.
Scientific Management, Frederick Winslow Taylor
Simply put this theory states that people are more motivated by the financial reward, such as being paid more for every product you produce. A business can implement the scientific management theory by doing such things as paying a higher salary than the industry average, this is usually 10% more. You could also offer stock options, which in some cases may be more beneficial than just paying your employee’s more, as it creates a sense of long-term gain.
A lot of the times, this theory is applied in situations where autocratic leadership style is used. This is where one person has control over all decisions and there is little input from group members.
We have created an article listing the most common leadership styles used and how can you use them as well. If you want to know more about this click on the caption under the image below or here:
Management Theory of Elton Mayo
The human relations management theory shows that people desire to be part of a supportive team that facilitates development and growth. Therefore, if employees receive special attention and are encouraged to participate, they perceive their work has higher significance, and they are motivated to be more productive, resulting in high quality work
Mayo believed that people can be motivated by human relationships within the workplace. As a business, you could start increasing group activities that encourage teamwork which will cause more communication to occur and may pave the way to more personal bonds being created at the workplace. This also links in with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs where it talks about belonging and love needs.
Mayo also concluded that better communication between managers and workers would affect motivation as there is greater involvement from managers with their staff, so the manager has a deeper understanding of what the worker goes through day to day. This can lead to more fair workloads and assignments give out to each employee.
Frederick Herzberg — Two Factor Theory
The two-factor theory states that there are certain factors in the workplace that cause job satisfaction, while a separate set of factors cause dissatisfaction.
It was developed by psychologist Frederick Herzberg, who theorized that job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction act independently of each other. The two factors that he identified were:
- The Hygiene Factor: Factors that do not motivate but can cause demotivation if it is not present.
- The Motivation Factors: Factors that do actually motivate and can benefit the overall perception an employee has about their workplace.
Some of these factors are listed below:
So by taking Herzberg’s theory into account, you could build a culture where employees are rewarded every time a positive advancement is made in the company, thus creating an atmosphere where staff come into work and try to produce the best results for their tasks at hand. It is also important to provide them with strong hygiene factors, to build a strong base for motivation.
Conclusion
These researchers and theorists have created theories that show how you can increase motivation and this will lead to your workers being more productive. Therefore, when your employee’s produce more, you to get more value for money. So I encourage you to take some of these ideas and implement them in your business, the thing you can do right away is hold a team meeting and start giving credit where credit is due.
