According to Maslow, human needs are hierarchical; this means that there are particular needs that must be fulfilled first before considering the next. One’s need highly influences his or her motivation towards work. When one is motivated to work, the productivity of the company will go up. Money is the only way an employer can motivate the employees. When the workers are well paid, the money discussion will get away from the table. Instead of discussing money, the employees will dig deep into work increasing the productivity of the company. Money and incentives are, however, not the only way that the employees can be motivated. There are three other ways of motivating the employees that are autonomy, mastery and purpose.
Autonomy is the desire to be self-directed. Employees feel better when they are given the chance to practice autonomy in their workplaces. Autonomy leads to better performance and lead to personal satisfaction. Engagement in the workplace can be enhanced through personal direction. With autonomy, the level of creativity and innovation of the employee's increases. Creative employees can come up with the best ways to solve problems and hence can lead to higher productivity of the company. Most companies have failed in the area of autonomy as most of the managers give workers directions on what they should do. In a time that the manager directs a worker on what should be done, such particular worker lose the urge to work and instead will view the work as the manager’s work.
Mastery is another factor that leads to motivation of workers. Some workers don’t see money and incentives as a motivation towards better performance. Instead, the urge to have the best and to get better in a particular area is the motivations for such workers. There are those workers who would be motivated by the internal urge to offer the best. Such employees will only have such intention if the company is purpose-driven rather than profit driven. A company can have a change in the balance sheet if the workers are motivated and their dreams at work and life met.
The expectancy theory drives most workers in any organization. According to the employees, they are driven by their behavior and know the behavior they are expected of at any workplace. Expectancy theory works hand in hand with autonomy theory that says that a worker will be motivated if he or she is allowed to do things in the direction desired. If workers are allowed to make choices in life and consider their behavior, then rules in the workplace will mean nothing.
In the Daniel Pink video, what comes out clearly is that workers should be motivated with money. The employer should pay the workers well so that productivity can go higher. It is true that money is the best way of motivating the workers. No worker will be 100 percent productive if the pays low. Another theory in the video is the theory about autonomy. All workers should be allowed to make a choice at work. The direction that a worker will follow to solve the task should be nobody’s business. Autonomy in this case is the driver towards having innovative and creative workers. Cognitive Evaluation Theory states that workers have two ways of motivation, the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The intrinsic motivations are those which drive someone internally to offer better services. The extrinsic motivations are those coming from the external environment like from the company. Pink’s video agrees with the extrinsic motivators as the factors that drive a person to good performance. The extrinsic motivators include payment, promotion, work condition and promotion. A company that offers fair promotion to its workers will motivate such workers. Promotion should be based on someone’s academic qualifications and not because someone is the brother of the manager.
Scheme of service should also be the basis of which payments are derived. Payment should not be very low and at the same time not very high. Maslow theory on motivation sees the human needs as hierarchical. In this case, one cannot satisfy the needs at the top of the hierarchy leaving those at the bottom. This is an area where most of the companies have failed to respect. The company will offer a better recognition of the worker yet the office is not well aerated. Training of the workers is not bad unless the worker don’t have job securities. Security at job means that a manager cannot wake up in the morning and draft a sacking later without following rules. Health insurance of the workers is another factor that motivates workers. Workers will be highly motivated to work even under untraditional conditions if their health is insured. The goal setting motivations are, however, the best approach that any company can get better production. If all the workers know what are expected from them and the goals of the company, they will work towards achieving the goal.
Works cited
Dan Pink video uploaded April 1, 2010. RSA Animate - Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. Accessed on November 19, 2014. Available on <<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc>>
TAORMINA, ROBERT J., and JENNIFER H. GAO. "Maslow And The Motivation Hierarchy: Measuring Satisfaction Of The Needs."American Journal Of Psychology 126.2 (2013): 155-177. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
