How to Increase Employee Motivation

How to Increase Employee Motivation

Communication

The easiest way to increase employee motivation is by having positive communication at the workplace. Not relying only on emails but by making sure they talk to their employees in person and even on a personal level, if possible (Pool & Pool , 2007). Try setting aside some time each day to talk with employees or you can join them during coffee breaks instead of sitting at your desk. By doing so, you actually make employees feel as though you are part of the team; a leader instead of just the boss (Pool & Pool , 2007)

Employees also want to see the company that they are working for succeed. Many have excellent ideas, ranging from money saving to operational improvements. Management must make an effort to take some time to ask and listen to suggestions. Nothing is more worthwhile than feeling valued (Crawford , 2004).

Value Individual Contributions

Management should ensure their employees on how their individual efforts and contribution plays an important part of the company’s overall goals and direction. Employees will take pride and be engaged in their work if they are aware how their efforts create an impact the organization; regardless of how big or small their contributions are.

Management does not have to reward their employees with gifts every single time they did a good job at a task. At times, a simple “Thank You” or “Great job” will suffice.  These meaningful words acknowledge effort, build loyalty and encourage people to work even harder.

As Mulcahy (2001), stated , Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person – not just an employee – are more productive, more satisfied, more fulfilled. Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability.

Positive Workplace Environment

Sometimes, the employees lack motivation because their workplace does not have a positive work environment.To fix this, management could sent out surveys and get feedback from employees in order to solve the issues that they may face (Thomas , 2002).

Management could also post a positive quote or picture by the copier, coffee machine or somewhere else that is visible and that receives high foot traffic so that others can see. Flora and fauna also helps create a serene workplace environment for employees, so why not add a couple of plants around the office (Grant , 2008). Management could also find creative ways in which to consistently keep their employees motivated as much as possible. 

Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory:

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid (McLeod, 2007).Needs lower down in the hierarchy must be satisfied before individuals can attend to needs higher up. From the bottom of the hierarchy upwards, the needs are: physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem and self-actualization ( Macleod, 2007).

The most fundamental and basic four layers of the pyramid contain what Maslow called "deficiency needs" or "d-needs": esteem, friendship and love, security, and physical needs. If these "deficiency needs" are not met – with the exception of the most fundamental (physiological) need – there may not be a physical indication, but the individual will feel anxious and tense. Maslow's theory suggests that the most basic level of needs must be met before the individual will strongly desire (or focus motivation upon) the secondary or higher level needs. Maslow also coined the term "metamotivation" to describe the motivation of people who go beyond the scope of the basic needs and strive for constant betterment (Dobre, 2013). 

The human brain is a complex system and has parallel processes running at the same time, thus many different motivations from various levels of Maslow's hierarchy can occur at the same time. Maslow spoke clearly about these levels and their satisfaction in terms such as "relative", "general", and "primarily". Instead of stating that the individual focuses on a certain need at any given time, Maslow stated that a certain need "dominates" the human organism. Thus Maslow acknowledged the likelihood that the different levels of motivation could occur at any time in the human mind, but he focused on identifying the basic types of motivation and the order in which they would tend to be met  (Macleod, 2007).

Figure 01 - Pyramid of Maslow’s Hierarchy Needs Theory

                        (Source: Macleod, 2007)

Assumptions of Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory:

1. Behaviour of people depends upon their need. Human behaviour can be changed or motivated by fulfilling their needs.

2. Generally the needs follow the Hierarchy, i.e., starting from physiological need.

References

Ikoku, A. (2018) Impact of Motivation on Employee Performance. Federal College of Education, 9 (1) (2).

Lunenburg, C. (2011) Goal Setting Theory of Motivation. International Journal of Management, Business, and Administration, 15 (11) 2.

Tella, A., Ayeni, C. O., Popoola, S. O. (2007). Work motivation, job satisfaction and organizational commitment of library, personnel in academic and research libraries in Oyo State, Nigeria. Library Philosophy and Practice, 1-16

B. H. Maslow, "Critique of self-actualization theory", in: E. Hoffman (Ed.), Future visions: The unpublished papers of Abraham Maslow (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1996), pp. 26–32

Rowden, R.W. and Conine, C.T. Jr (2005), “The impact of workplace learning and job satisfaction in small US commercial banks”, Journal of workplace Learning, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 215-30.