Employee Motivation

Employee Motivation
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Employee Motivation
The management of any institution must motivate the employees so that they are highly productive. The employees are the heartbeat of any company as they are actively involved in the execution of the duties that the institution does. There has been the development of various theories and models by many philosophers that are aimed at studying the employees’ behaviors and applying corrective action based on the findings of the research. All these models are meant to make employees more comfortable and eventually highly productive to the company.
A leadership model can merge different theories that were advanced by past philosophers on the topic. Some of the models that when applied in unity will bring positive changes in understanding and rectifying the behavior of employees include:
Utilitarianism
This is a theory that was advanced by John Stuart Mill. Mill proposed that it is possible to determine if an action is morally upright by studying its result. In his explanation of utilitarianism, Mill suggested that all actions have the intended ending that takes two dimensions. These are more pleasure or more pain. He further advances that actions are considered right if they lead to happiness and wrong if they bring some pain. According to the utilitarianism theory, employees will do actions that they deem good if only the deeds bring them happiness and satisfaction (McShane & Von Glinow, 2013).

It is for this reason that you will find tasks that are more pleasing and less tedious are preferred to those which are long and troublesome. Anyone will avoid engaging in an activity that is more time-consuming. Also conducting of tasks whose success is unproven is highly likely to meet much resistance as employees are uncertain of the ending.
Therefore, one can make the employees more productive by clearly defining the roles. This means that managers should avoid giving ambiguous instructions to the employees. Also, there should be incentives that will motivate the workers to partake in even activities that are perceived as stressful.
Machiavelli
He is regarded as the founder of pragmatism. Machiavelli was deeply disturbed about Italy being subdivided into different sections that were always at war with each other. He developed a book that he termed A Handbook for Rulers. A rough idea of this book advocates for being ruthless in doing what one is best in. He cites the example of Rome being excellent in war and how they lost their empire after becoming softer in relating to other nations. Similarly, in a working environment, the employees should be made to understand what they are best in (McShane & Von Glinow, 2013). They should be cultured against seeking for alternatives as this will compromise the company’s reputation, and ultimately, they will lose their jobs.
In his explanation of pragmatism, Machiavelli says that only those who strive to get to the root of any matter rather than the wild imagination of it stand a chance of being successful. He is against relying on the ideals of any matter as the gospel truth. Instead, he teaches that success comes with being open to the new ideas and situations that crop up in the execution of any task. This is also applicable to employees’ motivation. The manager should use statistical information to show employees their progress instead of conveying the state of the company through unsupported data (McShane & Von Glinow, 2013). When everything is clear, the employees will have a better reason to work harder than before. Also, if the progress is positive, the workers are more motivated to work hard and maintain the standards.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
According to Isabel Briggs Myer, the developer of this theory, every individual has many preferences that are the determinants of his/her true self. These preferences are also decisive in the decision-making process that one engages in. These traits include introversion, extroversion, sensing, and intuition. Although some of these characteristics are innate, some of them are developed slowly as habits and ultimately become stuck as the true definitions of an individuals’ personality (McShane & Von Glinow, 2013). The aim of this model is understanding the diversity in traits and beliefs in people. Different people have various principles that determine their effectiveness in the execution of given tasks at the workplace. Therefore, applying the model will significantly aid relation between the managers and other staff at personal levels.
Hygiene Motivation Theory
Frederick Herzberg introduced this principle. Mr. Herzberg did a study on 200 employees in Pittsburgh. His research aimed to find out what factors caused employee satisfaction at the workplace and what makes them unhappy. The study revealed fascinating findings. Most employees said that the good salaries and a good working environment were not sufficient in fulfilling their happiness in an institution. Herzberg collectively termed these conditions as hygienic factors. Instead, these conditions just prevented them from feeling dissatisfied. However, factors such as achievement, recognition, and growth were found to be vital in increasing their satisfaction (McShane & Von Glinow, 2013). This study aimed to show that job satisfaction and dissatisfaction are separate entities that are caused by different factors.
Consequently, the manager of every company must investigate the matters that will cause employee dissatisfaction and hinder their productivity. The manager should use the motivators as highlighted by this theory to improve the efficiency of the employees.
In a nutshell, the motivation of employees is a significant role that should be taken seriously. The employees who feel accepted and well-tended are highly motivated to deliver on the ambitions of the company. It is therefore imperative that all companies apply the theories mentioned above in raising their employees’ confidence. The result will be a highly motivated team of workers who are eager to deliver what they are asked.
Reference
McShane, S., & Von Glinow, M. (2013). M Organizational Behavior. New York, New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.