Employee Motivation

An equation commonly used to understand employee performance follows:

Ability x Motivation = Performance

Ability will be determined through the recruiting, hiring, and training processes. However, discovering what motivates individual workers is important. This is something that a manager can learn by simply asking, “Tell me about a time when you performed well on the job. What motivated you to do so?” Another way to learn about employee motivation is by observing your staff members’ performance to determine their motivating factors. Does the employee perform well when a bonus is awarded for achieving a certain goal? Does the employee perform well when rewarded with formal recognition? Effective managers use different types of motivation and rewards to encourage employees to perform to their fullest potential.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Motivating employees means to stimulate dedication to an organization and interest in their work. According to Abraham Maslow, people work to satisfy a series of needs. Maslow described those needs as a hierarchy that resembles a pyramid. Employees start out satisfying the needs at the bottom of the pyramid. Once an employee’s needs are met at that stage, he or she begins to think about satisfying needs at the next stage. Maslow’s five stages:

1.  Physiological/Basic. First are the basic needs of shelter, food, drink, and sleep. In the workplace, this means hygienic working conditions, as well as sufficient salary and benefits.
2. Safety/Security. People normally seek out safe, predictable, and orderly environments. In the workplace, safety is being free from the fear of workplace violence, having a good health insurance plan, and having job security.
3. Belonging/Social. This stage includes such needs as group membership, friendships, family, and a sense of belonging. These needs can be met at work by being part of a team. People in this stage may enjoy passing out paychecks or organizing the company softball team because it's a chance to connect with coworkers.
4. Esteem/Ego/Status. At the fourth stage, a person needs to be regarded as
   competent or important. An employee may measure his or her esteem by salary level (often an important status symbol) or receiving recognition for a job well done. An individual might seek to meet these needs by teaching a course or training session or by seeking more responsibility at work.
5. Self-Actualization or Self-Fulfillment. In the last stage, a person attains his or her personal goals. At this stage employees realize their full potential and nothing stands between the employee and his or her work. Self-actualization exists when employees feel a genuine joy and satisfaction from doing their very best work. People at this level are the easiest to manage because they are self-motivated and produce consistent, high quality work.

When the economy slows, and companies are in turmoil or conduct lay-offs, employees may regress back to a previous stage out of necessity.

Goal-Setting

Goal-setting theory asserts that people with specific challenging goals (often called “stretch” goals) perform better than those with vague goals such as “do your best” or specific easy goals. A benefit of goal-setting is that it often motivates employees to perform better. This is because a goal is the object or aim of an action—for example, to attain a specific occupancy rate within a specified time limit. Goal-setting instills purpose, challenge, and meaning into what may typically be perceived as a tedious or tiresome task. The psychological outcomes of setting and attaining high goals include enhanced task interest, pride in performance, and a heightened sense of personal effectiveness. In addition, goal-setting has shown to improve employee attendance. What is wrong with urging people to “do their best”? This type of direction is vague and is defined differently by different supervisors. Setting a specific high goal, on the other hand, makes explicit for people what needs to be attained.