All employees need some kind of a motivation to be engaged and achieve the goals in the job that they do. Motivation is the inner force that drives people to do things and achieve things. (Shahzadi et al,2014). Higgins (1994) defined motivation as an internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied need and by Bedeian, (1993) as the “will to achieve”.
Individuals are different to each other in skills, attributes and in their preferences. In the same manner the factors that motivates an individual also varies from individual to individual depending on many cognitive factors. (Hosseini 2014). There are many theories’ that have evolved as a result of many studies conducted on employee motivation and factors that affect it.
The level of success of an organization depends on the level of commitment of its employees. (Verma. 2017). The only way that an organization can make their employees committed to its goals are by motivating them. The job of managers and supervisors in a work place is to get the work done from the workers who are under them. How they can get the set goals or tasks achieved through their subordinates are by motivating them. Motivating a work force is not an easy task as motivation directly deals with the human nature. Every individual in an organization is motivated by some different factor. Understanding human nature is very simple and in the same way it could be very complex too. An understanding and appreciation of the human nature is a prerequisite to effective people motivation which influences the entire behavior of the employee (Shahzadi et al.2014).
Businesses today operate in a very competitive environment. Apart from the competition from rivals, business has to face the fast changing business environment due to digitalization and technology. Organizations need to frame strategies to face this situation and the ones who survive will sustain longer than others. (Verma 2017). While battling with competition and changing environment the other challenge the organizations face today is how to manage turnover of work force. (Verma 2017). One of the main reasons for this turnover may be because of their lack of Motivation and commitment for the organization. This point of view was emphasized by Prof. Singh & Tiwari (2011) in the study of Motivation and its relationship to Job Satisfaction. The HRM policies and practices should be directed in such a manner that they are aligned to the organization strategies and also understand the employee expectations. (Verma 2017). These strategies are not just directed towards the retention and attraction but also to overcome other adverse effects of demotivation and dissatisfaction such as absenteeism, low performance, low morale, low contribution to the team, less orientation and focus to the organizational objectives. (Verma 2017). These factors could affect the organizations capacity to compete in the highly competitive business environment and adopting the much needed change. Thus it makes it important to study and understand the factors which motivates employees and create job satisfaction among them.
A good rewards system with good salary, training and development opportunities, career growth, working conditions, work life balance, job security, recognition could be listed as the main motivation factors for employees (Hosseini 2014). The order and the importance of these factors may change from individual to individual, but it will definitely boost the morale of the employee to work harder and more committedly. Absence of these factors in a work place will definitely de motivate the employees and will eventually lead to leave for better organizations when an opportunity arises (Hosseini 2014).
According to Bagraim et al. (2007), the concept motivation refers to the force within us that arouses (intensity), directs and sustains our behavior.
There are three major components of motivation which are (i) direction, (ii) intensity, and (iii) persistency according to the above citation.
Direction is a goal which forces the employees to perform an act to achieve the targets. The targets are chosen consciously or unconsciously by the employees. There are factors which influence the employees in selecting the targets. These factors can be both internal and external factors. Employees select their targets which they consider best among potential alternatives. The intensity is the level of determination or efforts put by the employees in the process of achieving the targets. This means how hard the employees have tried, and how much energy, time, or any other mental or physical things they have been spent during the process of achievement of the targets. Persistence is the ability of the employees to maintain the motivation through times even though there is existence of obstacles.
The accomplishment of goals (direction) depends on the force (intensity) and the level of sustaining this force (persistency). The combination of these 3 factors is known as motivation.
We can broadly divide motivation in to two parts on the basis from where the motivation is derived.
Motivation
Extrinsic
1. Intrinsic Motivation (Internal Motivation)
Intrinsic motivation refers to doing an activity for its own sake, for the pleasure and satisfaction derived simply from performing it (Deci,1975, sited in Alexendries,2002). This type of motivation comes from within a person, to do a task or achieve a particular goal
Understanding the factors that promote intrinsic motivation can help HR managers to see how it works in employees and how it can be used to increase employee motivation thereby to increase employee performance in organizations. The factors that affect intrinsic motivation include curiosity, challenge, control, recognition, corporation and competition. Non-financial rewards like recognition, security, title, promotion, appreciation, praise, decision making involvement, flexible working hours, workplace comfort ability, feedback, work design, social rights act as rewards (motivators) for the intrinsic motivation. (Yang, 2008, sited in Shahzadi et al.2014).
The role/ title of “Justice of the Peace” in Sri Lanka can be given as a classic example for a job which is driven by intrinsic motivation. Even though the title holder renders an important service to the society by spending his time and energy no financial reward is offered to him, instead he is driven by the honor or the recognition that the title brings him from the society. Even though some would not prefer the idea of spending their time and energy for a cause which does not bring any financial benefit (which is the motivator for them) there is another segment in the society who crave to obtain positions like these for the honor and prestige.
2. Extrinsic Motivation (External Motivation)
Extrinsic motivation comes from outside sources or forces as salary, money or grades etc. (Scott and Bruce, 1994, sited in Shahzadi et al.2014). Some other person or organization motivates the individual to work hard to achieve certain goals or tasks for extrinsic rewards which are offered in return. Extrinsic motivation is driven by motives (rewards) like financial bonus, rewards, punishment, demotion etc.
Hence, the main question for the management is to find answers to the question that from where to get the extrinsic motivation and how the employer can help the employee sustain their motivation by rewarding them accordingly.
The below video gives an in-depth view of the intrinsic and the extrinsic motivation theories we discussed above.
Source - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6GRgML2gos.
Motivation is seen as one of the most important factors in issues related to human resources management (HRM) and organizational behavior management (Lathem, 2007). Despite the existence of different and sometimes conflicting views about motivation, its role and significance in the management of human resources and organizational behavior in particular is undeniable.
Therefore, the management must look for solutions and techniques to enhance its employees’ motivation. This can be done by rewarding them intrinsically or extrinsically. Low employee motivation at work may reduce the efficiency and effectiveness in the organization, leading ultimately to high employee turnover. and thus the failure of the organization. Therefore, it has become mandatory for each organization to adopt the needed policies and strategies to improve the employee motivation to survive (Abbas Zadeh, 1996).
References
1. Alexandries, K., Grouios, G.(2002). Perceived Constraints on Recreational Sport Participation: Investigating their Relationship with Intrinsic Motivation, Extrinsic Motivation and Amotivation. Journal of Leisure Research, 2002, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 233-52.
2. Bagraim, J., Cunningham, P., Potgieter, T. and Viedge, C.,( 2007). Organizational behavior. A contemporary South African perspective. (2nd edn.). Pretoria: Van Schaik.
3. Bedeian, A.G.(1993). Management (3rd edn.). Dryden Press, New York.
4. Higgins, J.M. (1994). The management challenge (2nd edn.). Macmillan, New York.
5. Hosseini,S.A.R.(2014). Factors affecting employee motivation. Management and Administrative Sciences Review, Vol.3, Issue: 4 (Special Issue), pp: 713-23.
6. Shahzadi,I. ,Javed,A.,Parzda, S,H.,Nazreen, S., and Khanan ,F. (2014) Impact of employee motivation in employee performance. European Journal of Business and Management. Vol.6, No.23, 2014.
7. Verma, C. (2017) Importance of employee motivation & job satisfaction for organizational performance. International Journal of Social Science & Interdisciplinary Research. Vol. 6 (2), February (2017), pp. 10-20.
8. Zadeh, M.A and Mehrvazhan A. (1996). Organizational Behavior. Tehran, Allameh Tabatabaei University.
Moshood and And Akpa, n.d.) stated that Kimunge and Were (2014) investigated the impact of total compensation on employee desire to depart. A descriptive survey was used in the investigation. The Kenya Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat's whole population was surveyed in a census. The census approach was used because the researcher was interested in every member of the Secretariat community. Questionnaires were utilized to collect data from respondents, and the Cronbach’ alpha coefficient was employed to assess reliability. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences and Microsoft Excel were used to analyze the data.
ReplyDeleteReference
Moshood, A. and And Akpa, V. (n.d.). Employee Motivation and Employee Intention to Leave of Selected Food and Beverages Manufacturing Companies in Ogun State, Nigeria. American Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Research,
Adding to intrinsic motivation, When assessed jointly, intrinsic motivation was the strongest predictor of turnover intention. Mastery‐approach goals were positively related to turnover intention, but this relationship was moderated by intrinsic motivation. The relationship between mastery‐approach goals and turnover intention was only positive for employees low in intrinsic motivation (Dysvik and Kuvaas, 2010).
ReplyDeleteAdding to lack of motivation for Employee turnover,
ReplyDeleteCostly et al. (1987) points out that a high labour turnover may mean poor personnel policies, poor recruitment policies, poor supervisory practices, poor grievance procedures, or lack of motivation. All these factors contribute to high employee turnover in the sense that there is no proper management practices and policies on personnel matters hence employees are not recruited scientifically, promotions of employees are not based on spelled out policies, no grievance procedures in place and thus employees decide to quit.
I agree to the points mentioned in your literature review article as to how Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation affects employee turnover/ retention. I would also like to add what Vnoučková and Klupakova, (2013) stated as key point for reducing turnover, which "is to change the style of working with employees by encouraging independence, career planning, open communication and sharing information." which influences the system of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation factors that affects employees.
ReplyDeleteVnoučková, L. and Klupakova, H., 2013. Impact of motivation principles on employee turnover.
It is very complicated to understand about the turnover of the employees, recently educational institutes are
ReplyDeletefacing this problem because their competitors are capturing their employees. Any organization is always on high
risk which is unable to retain its employees for a longer period of time because the skilled human resources are a
vital asset of the organization. It is critical for educational institutions to know about the motivation level,
performance and turnover intention of their employees. Therefore it is deem necessary to know about the factors
which make them loyal to their organizations or educational institutes (Jafar Hussain, 2018).
Ramlall (2004,p.52) stated "There is significant economic impact with an organization losing any of its critical employees, especially given the knowledge that is lost with the employee’s departure. This is the knowledge that is used to meet the needs and expectations of the customers" .
ReplyDeleteLindner (1998) states interesting work and good pay are key to higher employee motivation as well as carefully designed monetary and non monetary reward systems would be an important factor.
ReplyDeleteLindner, J.R. (1998). Understanding employee motivation. Journal of extension, 36(3), pp.1-8.