Techniques of Motivation
Groups of individuals may be motivated by the use of various techniques.
1. Motivation through job design
- Job design is one of the most discussed and studied concepts in the entire field of organizational
behavior. Though, many of us thinks that the most important motivator at work is pay but
according to some studies, assigning the individuals or group of individuals into a job they like
will more likely to be motivated. Furthermore, job specialization was one of the major advances
of this approach. Job specialization is breaking down of jobs into a simpler components and the
assigning of employees into the selected tasks in a repetitive manner.
In this technique two useful approaches may be used:
Fitting people to job
- Fitting people to jobs requires realistic job previews, job rotation, limited exposure, and
contingent time off rewarding people with early time when they get the job done.
Job rotation – Involves moving employees from job to job at regular intervals. When
employees periodically move to different jobs, the monotonous aspects of job
specialization can be relieved. For example, in a catering company the employees are
rotated from one job to another such as employee 1 is to dishwashing and employee 2 is in
to serving foods and employee 1 that do dishwashing will do the work of employee 2 in a
different event. As a result of the rotation the employees will not get stress and not easily
fed up with their job. Job rotation has a number of advantages for organizations. It is an
effective way for employees to acquire new skills and in turn for organizations to increase
the overall skill level of their employees.
Realistic job preview - Realistic job previews is a process during recruitment of an
employee which clearly highlights all the pros and cons related to the job profile, giving
the candidate the most accurate information about the job. A realistic job preview can be
especially helpful for certain companies with specialized positions.
Jobs with uncommon characteristics or new positions in an industry would benefit greatly
from more specific information about the job. As well, candidates who have recently
graduated or are new to their profession would also benefit from a clear vision of what the
job will entail.
Limited exposure - Where a worker's exposure to a highly fragmented and tedious job is
limited.
Fitting job to people
- Requires "job enlargement," combining two or more specialized task to increase
motivation (also called horizontal job loading), and job enrichment, redesigning jobs to
increase ther motivating potential (also called vertical job loading). This is the changing of
jobs instead of employees. This may be achieved with the use of the following:
Job enrichment - Job enrichment means improvement, or an increase with the help of
upgrading and development. This is also a job redesign technique that allows workers more
control over how they perform their own tasks. This approach allows employees to take on
more responsibility.
As an alternative to job specialization, companies using job enrichment may experience
positive outcomes, such as reduced turnover, increased productivity, and reduced absences.
Also, there are evidence that job enrichment can cause dissatisfaction among individuals.
The reason may be from the increase of work load and not gaining their hopefully increased
pay and other types of compensation.
Job enrichment is also where efforts are made to make jobs more interesting, challenging,
and rewarding.
Job enlargement - Job enlargement is a vehicle employers use to put additional workload
on employees. Due to downsizing, an employee might feel lucky to have a job at all, despite
the fact that his duties and responsibilities have increased.
Another approach is that by adding more variety and enlarging, the responsibilities will
provide the chance of enhancement and more productivity. This is also where two or more
specialized task is combined into a single job.
There are evidence that job enlargement is beneficial, because it is positively related to
employee satisfaction and higher quality customer services, and it increases the chances of
catching mistakes
2. Motivating through rewards
Employees in any organization are primarily motivated when their efforts are appreciated in shape
of reward. Rewards whether financial or non-financial have played and are still playing a very
important role in motivating the employee. Rewards is stated as all forms of financial return,
tangible services and benefits an employee receives as part of an employment relationship.
Rewards are positive outcomes that are earned as a result of an employee's performance. Many
managers choose to reward their best employees by simply praising them for a job well done, or
by recognizing the hard work they put in to a project. Rewards basically falls into two categories;
Extrinsic Rewards
- Extrinsic rewards are a host of external things that managers can provide that may serve
as incentives for employees to increase productivity. These include money, benefits,
bonuses, promotions, flexible schedules etc. This is what is done to and for people to
motivate them. It arises when management provides such rewards as increased pay, praise,
or promotion. The extrinsic motivateors can have an imeediate and powerful effect, by
this will not necessarily last for long.
Extrinsic rewards remain significant for workers, of course. Pay is an important
consideration for most workers in accepting a job, and unfair pay can be a strong de-
motivator. However, after people have taken a job and issues of unfairness have been
settled, we find that extrinsic rewards are now less important, as day-to-day motivation is
more strongly driven by intrinsic rewards. An extrinsic reward is also directly related to
job performance of the employees but it is necessary that employees receive reward every
time they accomplish the task. It depends upon the policy of the company.
Management of extrinsic rewards must be properly managed in line with the following:
- It must satisfy individual needs.
- The manager must make him/her employees to believe that each of their effort for a job
will pay off.
- The rewards must be equitable or fair in all of the individuals that is doing their given job
greatly.
- Rewards must be based on the performance of each individual.
Intrinsic rewards - Intrinsic rewards are the non-physical rewards. They cannot be seen
or touched but are emotionally connected with the employees. In other words, intrinsic
rewards can be defined as the feeling of contentment one finds in completion of any task.
Intrinsic reward is directly related to job performance as a successful task automatically
produces it. Higher the success rate, higher will be the rate of intrinsic rewards one receives.
Intrinsic rewards are internal to the individual and are in many ways less tangible. In fact,
they are highly subjective, in that they represent how the individual perceives and feels
about work and its value.
Intrinsic rewards are inherent in the content of the job itself’ and include ‘motivational
characteristics such as skill variety, autonomy and feedback’ as well as employee
participation in decision making and role clarity. It can be described as the process of
motivation by the work itself in so far it satisfies people's needs or at least leads them to
expect that their goals will be achieved. Intrinsic motivation is self-generated in that people
seec the type of wark that satisfies them, but management can enhance this process through
its values as well as empowerment, development and job design policies and practices.
The following are descriptions of the four intrinsic rewards and how workers view them:
Sense of meaningfulness - This reward involves the meaningfulness or importance of the
purpose you are trying to fulfill. You feel that you have an opportunity to accomplish
something of real value something that matters in the larger scheme of things. You feel that
you are on a path that is worth your time and energy, giving you a strong sense of purpose
or direction.
Sense of choice - You feel free to choose how to accomplish your work, to use your best
judgment to select those work activities that make the most sense to you and to perform
them in ways that seem appropriate. You feel ownership of your work, believe in the
approach you are taking, and feel responsible for making it work.
Sense of competence - You feel that you are handling your work activities well, that your
performance of these activities meets or exceeds your personal standards, and that you are
doing good, high-quality work. You feel a sense of satisfaction, pride, or even artistry in
how well you handle these activities.
Sense of progress - You are encouraged that your efforts are really accomplishing
something. You feel that your work is on track and moving in the right direction. You see
convincing signs that things are working out, giving you confidence in the choices you
have made and confidence in the future.
The rationale for the use of rewards is to motivate or induce certain behaviours among employees
which are viewed as beneficial for enhanced performance while inhibiting other behaviours which
they perceive as detrimental to organizational growth and performance. Employees must believe
that efforts will lead to reward. Otherwise, they will not strive to turn in more efforts in their
particular job assignments.
Other Types of Management Motivation Techniques
Create a Positive Work Environment - Motivate employees by offering an upbeat,
positive work environment. Encourage teamwork and idea-sharing, and make sure staffers
have the tools and knowledge to perform well. Be available when employees need you to
be a sounding board or a dispute mediator. Eliminate conflict as it arises, and give
employees freedom to work independently when appropriate.
Set Goals – Help employees become self-motivated by helping establish professional goals
and objectives. Not only does this give employees something to strive for, but your
business benefits when goals are tied to corporate contributions. Make sure goals are
reasonable and achievable so employees don’t get discouraged. Offer encouragement when
workers hit notable milestones.
Provide Incentives - Increase motivation by providing incentives to work toward. You can
create individual incentives for each employee or team incentives to motivate employees
as a group. Financial incentives can include cash prizes, gift cards or restaurant gift
certificates. Nonfinancial incentives can include extra vacation days, compressed work
weeks or choice office space or parking spots.
Recognize Achievements - Celebrate employee achievements through employee-of-the-
month or star performer awards. Make a big deal out of accomplishments by celebrating at
staff meetings. Print certificates or engrave plaques, issue a press release or post a notice
on your company website. Recognize team accomplishments as well as individual efforts.
Share Profits - Motivate employees with the incentive of a profit-sharing program. In this
way, employees increase earnings while helping the business income rise. This approach
simultaneously promotes collective goal-setting and teamwork. It also gives employees a
sense of pride in ownership and can improve performance and reduce turnover as well as
raise morale.
Provide Professional Enrichment - Encourage employees to pursue additional
education or participate in industry organizations. Provide tuition reimbursement or send
employees to skills workshops and seminars. If an employee is motivated to an upward
career path, offer mentoring and job shadowing opportunities. Promote from within
whenever possible and create opportunities to help employees develop from a
professional standpoint.
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