Employee Motivation

A. Needs
The best one word definition of a need is a deficiency. In the homeostatic sense, needs are created whenever there is a physiological or psychological imbalance.
B. Drives
With a few exceptions drives or motives are set up to alleviate needs. A drive can be simply defined a deficiency with direction. Drives are action oriented and provide an energizing thrust toward goal accomplishment. They are at the very heart of the motivational process. The examples of the needs for food and water are translated into the hunger and thirst drives for affiliation.
C. Goals
At the end of the motivation cycle is the goal. A goal in the motivation cycle can be defined as anything which will alleviate a need and reduce a drive. Thus attaining a goal will tend to restore physical or psychological balance and will reduce or cut off the drive. Eating food, drinking water and obtaining friends will tend to restore the homeostatic balance and reduce the corresponding drivers. Food water and friends are the goals in this example.

Basic Characteristics of Employee Motivation are as follows:

Traditionally it is believed that employees are motivated by the opportunity to make as such money as possible and will act rationally to maximize their earnings. The assumption is that money, because what it can buy, is the most important motivator of all people.
Three types of forces generally influence human behavior

1. Forces operating within the individual,
2. Forces operating within the organization and
3. Forces operating in the environment.

Description:

1. The Individual: Human needs are both numerous and complex. Some of the needs cannot be described and identified because people hide their real needs under the cover of socially accepted behavior. Further, each person is different and a variety of items may prove to be motivating, depending upon the needs of the individual, the situation the individual is in and what rewards the individual expects for the work done. It is the duty of the manager to match individual needs and expectations to the type of rewards available in the job setting.
2. The Organization: The climate in the organization must be conducive to human performance. Climate plays an important part in determining worker’s motivation. The climate in an organization is determined by a number of variables such as its leadership style, autonomy enjoyed by members, growth prospects, emotional support from members, reward structure.
3. The environment: A worker does not live in two separate worlds, one side the factory and the other outside it. The troubles and pleasures of off-the-job life cannot be put aside when reporting for work in the morning, nor can factory matters be dropped when returning home after work. Culture, norms, customs, images and attributes accorded by society to particular jobs, professions and occupations and the worker’s home life- all play a strong motivational role. The factors such as social status and social acceptance play an important role in shaping the motivations of people.

Motivation can have an effect on the output of your business and concerns both quantity and quality. See it this way: your business relies heavily on the efficiency of your production staff to make sure that products are manufactured in numbers that meet demand for the week. If these employees lack the motivation to produce completed products to meet the demand, then you face a problem leading to disastrous consequences. The number of scenarios is extreme but you get the general picture.
Your employees are your greatest asset and no matter how efficient your technology and equipment may be, it is no match for the effectiveness and efficiency of your staff.
Motiva0tion involves getting the members of the group to pull weight effectively, to give their loyalty to the group, to carry out properly the purpose of the organization. The following results may be expected if the employees are properly motivated.

1. The workforce will be better satisfied if the management provides them with opportunities to fulfill their physiological and psychological needs. The workers will cooperate voluntarily with the management and will contribute their maximum towards the goals of the enterprise.
2. Workers will tend to be as efficient as possible by improving upon their skills and knowledge so that they are able to contribute to the progress of the organization. This will also result in increased productivity.
3. The rates of labor’s turnover and absenteeism among the workers will be low.
4. There will be good human relations in the organization as friction among the workers
5. themselves and between the workers and the management will decrease.
6. The number of complaints and grievances will come down. Accident will also be low.
7. There will be increase in the quantity and quality of products. Wastage and scrap will be less. Better quality of products will also increase the public image of the business.

Employee Motivation is the core of management. Employee Motivation is an effective instrument in the hands of the management in inspiring the work force .It is the major task of every manager to motivate his subordinate or to create the will to work among the subordinates .It should also be remembered that the worker may be immensely capable of doing some work, nothing can be achieved if he is not willing to work .creation of a will to work is motivation in simple but true sense of term.Employee Motivation is an important function which very manager performs for actuating the people to work for accomplishment of objectives of the organization .Issuance of well conceived instructions and orders does not mean that they will be followed. A manager has to make appropriate use of motivation to enthuse the employees to follow them. Effective motivation succeeds not only in having an order accepted but also in gaining a determination to see that it is executed efficiently and effectively.

In order to motivate workers to work for the organizational goals, the managers must determine the motives or needs of the workers and provide an environment in which appropriate incentives are available for their satisfaction .If the management is successful in doing so; it will also be successful in increasing the willingness of the workers to work. This will increase efficiency and effectiveness of the organization .There will be better utilization of resources and workers abilities and capacities.