Leadership & Business Management (CHAPTER 2)

Motivation and its Theories

As per the view of Pierce and Cameron (2016), motivation is referred as one of most critical aspect for every business firm because it helps in advancement of employees morale. There are number of factors which need to be consider by businesses in order to promote motivation. It means internal and external factors has great impact on the overall aspects. It enhances the morale of individual and forces individual to have better commitment within organization. It also allows to make sure that through motivation interest towards job role can be created in diverse manner. Plantinga (2013) has contended that motivation is referred as results from the interaction of both conscious and unconscious aspects. It has been noticed that if members are satisfied with the needs then he or she will be motivated. Along with this, there are number of theories which need to be referred effectively so that morale among members can be advanced effectively.

Podmoroff (2005) has asserted that Maslow's hierarchy of needs is one of most critical aspect which helps in focusing on number of aspects. It has been noticed that there are diverse needs which must be considered by company in order to enhance the morale. Classification of needs can be as self actualisation, esteem, love and belonging, safety and security and physiological. According to Maslow's concept individual never look for social needs until he or she is satisfied with basic needs. In order to have better motivational promotion the company must ensure that basic needs like food, job security and stability are effectively accomplished. Richard and Johnson (2008) has contended that self esteem, challenges and self actualisation also need to be advanced for improvement in morale of individual. Along with this, application of ERG theory is also beneficial to consider because it helps effective understanding of factors which are associated with the Maslow's hierarchy needs. In this theory the management need to focus on three core factors such as existence, relatedness and growth. Moreover, there are few other methods which can be employed by organizations in order to advance the morale. Classification of methods can be reward policies, training and development, etc. The ERG theory is closely related with the Maslow's theory. It includes the Existence, Relatedness and Growth aspects of motivation. The existence aspect is related with delivery of all the basic requirements to employees, thus it relates with physiological and safety needs of Maslow theory. The relatedness reflects the desire of people for maintaining their social status relating to Maslow's social status. Finally, the growth aspect refers towards the personal development so that an employee can make a good growth. Thus, mentioned company provides all the requirements to its staff along with their proper motivation so that they can make growth in their career.

Rowland and Hall (2014) has critically explained that reward management is practice in which strategies are framed to make individual feel valuable for the organization. It is basically classified in monetary and non-monetary rewards. By having an effective consideration of such aspects the businesses are having advancement in morale of work force. In addition to this, it can be stated that reward policies helps in advancement of motivation which is beneficial for effective satisfaction. Through application of such aspect the employees shows more commitment towards work so that they attain rewards in form of monetary or non-financial aspect. It has been noticed that employees work more effectively if their performance is being appraised by managers. Richard and Johnson (2008) has contended that reward system is beneficial to appraise the individual of work. It has been said that effective reward policies of organization allows to have improvement in competitive advantage and make sure that goals and objectives are being accomplished effectively. It has direct positive impact on the overall outcome which also advances the profitability and other aspects.

Motivational issues faced by business

Podmoroff (2005) has stated that businesses faces issues in regard to motivational aspects. If manager is not having appropriate communication with employee's. In such conditions, it might be possible that overall outcome of business entity will get affected because it also influences the relationship between employees and management. It has been noticed that such kind of values is well maintained then morale of work force can be advanced effectively. Plantinga (2013) has contended that unclear expectations of employees also create an issue for business firm. If management is not having appropriate knowledge in regard to employees needs then application of motivational strategies can not be appropriate. In addition to this, it can be said that feedbacks need to be referred effectively so that employees expectations can be analysed. It helps in selection of motivational techniques as per need because it helps in meeting long term sustainability.

Pierce and Cameron (2016) has critically explained that lack of adequate materials is also a critical factor which might affect the overall outcome. If resources within organisation are properly available then it will enhance the morale of employees to work effectively. But the resources' availability is not appropriate then it will impact the work culture in negative manner. It means lack of facilities, operational support, infrastructure aspects might affect the motivation aspect in negative manner. For example, individual is working as a manager but the resources within organisation is not proper. It impacts the work allocation to subordinates which also influences the morale and motivation to manager. It reflects that lack of adequate resources also impacts the morale in diverse manner. Podmoroff (2005) has asserted that lack of employee reward and pay also creates a motivation issue within organisation. Many of employees morale is dependent over pay, if individual is gaining monetary values as per his expectations then morale will be advanced. On the other situation if such aspects are not according to monetary benefits then it will impact the work culture and motivation in negative manner.

Types of motivation

There are different types of motivation which fosters the inner state of employees at an organisation so that they can work more effectively. According to Zhang and Bartol, (2010) use of motivation is necessary at workplace so that workers can be encouraged to work in a better way. There are different ways of motivation that can be applied within workplace which can induce a worker in a right direction. There are some extrinsic motivational factors as well as some intrinsic components which are needed to be applied in organisation. The Extrinsic way of motivation includes monetary methods and tangible rewards like benefits given through pay raise, bonus, job security, good working conditions and better contract of services. Cerasoli, Nicklin and Ford, (2014) has stated that the extrinsic motivational factors are structured at organisational level that can give better results in a quicker way. On other hand, Grant, (2012) argues that though the use of extrinsic factors of motivation useful for getting quicker results but it cannot help for longer terms. In context of Woolworths in Ghana, the company believes that there must be a factor which can keep them intact with working in the organisation. For this purpose, there is a need for a driving force which can help in motivating the inner state of an employee to increase their productivity. In cited firm, there were many workers who were the students and were doing job in the company as a part time staff. Their major purpose was to make most of the money so that they can bear their various expense. Thus, the managers of mentioned enterprise identified the main factor which can induce their motivation. Therefore, they applied the use of monetary rewards like pay raise, incentive system etc. which can help in motivating them by fulfilling their financial needs (Weibel, Rost and Osterloh, 2010).

Similarly, there are some intrinsic factors which play an important role in motivating workers of an organisation. This includes intangible tools like giving appreciation for good work, providing recognition, promotion, challenging tasks, grater responsibilities etc. All these methods help an employee to get motivated but it is necessary that the manager or concerned person identify this need among employees in a right way. As per Rich, Lepine and Crawford, (2010) the employees can be motivated in various ways, but before this, it is necessary to identify correctly their needs. All persons do not have the same needs like some give more importance to financial aspects while some give more importance to the non financial factors. As per this, it is necessary to identify the right need and apply it accordingly. The intrinsic rewards give more emphasis on quality of work and adjust their actions and behaviours accordingly. Apart from this, it is necessary that managers make efforts to change the working environment by making all types of tasks interesting. On this basis, Woolworths give various types of tasks to their employees as per the ability of each person. This gives opportunities to develop the person's abilities and potential career enhancement. Apart from this, Peterson and et.al., (2011) has opined that situations are also a considerable factor which can impact a person's ability in various ways. As per this, the managers at mentioned enterprise noticed that young age people working in the organisation had an urge for money more than other factors. Besides this, some other factors like job satisfaction and security were secondary concerns. On other hand, the people who were at higher positions had a more emphasis on getting better status through promotions. Thus, there was a need of using both intrinsic as well as extrinsic tool of motivation for different levels of organisation (Luthans and et.al., 2010).

Impact of motivation on performance

The performance of workers have a direct and close relationship with motivation as correctly motivated person will give better responses at workplace. If an organisation correctly applies the motivational aspects at workplace, this will impact the performance level of employees directly. The employees will do their work more energetically, the absenteeism a among workers will be less and they will show more potential towards the tasks and their performances. The positive performance of staff can be expressed as product of ability and motivation. As per Jiang and et.al., (2012), there are three foremost components that have a significant role in impacting the performance level of people at organisation. These components are ability of employees to execute their work, motivational level of workers which reflect their will to do the job and support of company in providing better opportunities for performing various works. Thus, they will willingly perform their work when they are motivated with right tools. Therefore, the Woolworths applies the mixture of both tools that can motivate employees. In this, it is necessary to consider that at the time of making recruitments, all employees have a good level of performance as they are new in a particular field (Rogstadius and et.al., 2011). But with increasing time, they loss their interest and performance level goes down. Thus, it shows that their motivation has gone down and it also reflects the right time to apply measures that to induce their lost motivation. When a will to do the work is correctly matched with a right driving force, the organisations can have the heights of success. Therefore, Zhang and Bartol, (2010) states that it is necessary to establish a close link between both the factors in a better way. The employees having higher motivational level will have higher satisfaction as well at workplace. Apart from this, it is also apparent that the motivation is an important tool that also helps in improving the quality of performance. When an employee does not provide better tools motivate staff, then there are more possibilities of in increasing dissatisfaction among workforce. This dissatisfaction is reflected in their work as well because they start taking less interest in work. This may result into compromise in their quality of work which ultimately degrades the performance of overall organisation. Therefore, Cerasoli, Nicklin and Ford, (2014) has stated that employees are an important asset for the company who assist in making development of a firm in market. But, if they are not taken care of in right manner, then it may impact the image of organisation in adverse manner. The highly motivated worker will also motivate other staff persons in positive way and vice versa. The enterprises are required to make a correct identification of employee needs and apply it in right manner so that entire company can give good performance. This will also be helpful in making people creative which is reflected in their work performance. This not only aids in development of an organisation but also in enhancement of an individual's career (Grant, 2012).

Tools of motivation applied in Woolworths

To apply the right motivational techniques, it is necessary to have an understanding of various theories related to it. On this basis, the Woolworths established in Ghana can apply the most suitable one within its company. The cited organisation is a high street retail chain which has its operations in various parts of country with large number of employees. Among these employees, each one is appointed on either full time or part time basis. All of them are allotted with their own individual roles and responsibilities (Weibel, Rost and Osterloh, 2010). Apart from this, the firm understands significance of need of motivation for boosting their performance as well as to maintain reputation of company. It is evident that motivation can be applied in the form of monetary or non monetary terms. In this, it becomes necessary to identify employees' needs as everyone have different motivational drives. In general, it is assumed that higher level managers and officials have more interest in getting recognitions and appreciation of their work. However at lower levels, employees get more satisfied through monetary awards. The cited venture has a number of workers who are students and doing part time job in the company. Therefore, for them monetary form of motivation matters more than non-financial terms. To resolve this situation, stated firm makes efforts to apply a best strategy that can help in overall motivation of all the workers operating in their firm (Rich, Lepine and Crawford, 2010). As a result, the managers applied the theory of motivation given by Maslow which covers both monetary and non monetary rewards. Apart from this, it is also essential to notice that monetary and non monetary measures of motivation have equal impact on performance of workers. It depends on a person that what are his needs which drives them towards better performance.

The application of Maslow's theory helps the mentioned entity in a wider aspect as it motivates people in a systematic manner. Through motivational techniques of Maslow hierarchy method, the employees are provided with timely wages, incentives and other perks and benefits that can help them in satisfying their needs. On further stages, the managers of firm apply various measures that can render good working conditions, job satisfaction and security to workers (Peterson and et.al., 2011). This helps in creation of a positive working environment that is reflected positively in the performance of workers. Apart from this, the workforce also have the need of a social groups with whom they can share their feelings and happiness. Thus, company provides a good team spirit among employees so that they can be transformed into a cohesive groups contributing towards better performance. In addition to this, cited venture also ensures that their efforts are helping employees in development of their career. Therefore, they give promotions and other similar benefits that can make their status higher in the society as well as at workplace. The final need of an individual after right satisfaction of all other needs stated above, there is a need of self actualisation in which they urge for self development and realisation of their potentials (Luthans and et.al., 2010). This can be done by giving additional responsibilities to deserving and efficient employees so that they can become better in accepting challenges and maintain a good position. This also encourages other employees of organisation to perform better so that they can ultimately reach to a higher position and status.

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