Motivation and Control: Thanks for nothing
The following paper is based on employee motivation in an organization. It describes the reason as to why companies and managers do not often motivate their employees through praise, yet it is a fairly easy and obvious tool. Also, it gives the steps that I would take to motivate my employees after observing above average performance. However, the paper shows clearly that too much praising may have some downsides that managers may need to alleviate. It also gives the measures that a manager can take to ensure that recognition is distributed fairly and justly.
If praising employees for doing a marvelous job seems a fairly easy and obvious motivational tool, then there are a number of reasons that make companies and managers not to do it often. Some companies and managers do not motivate their employees simply because they feel that the motivation methods will cost them resources in terms time and finances (Md Zani et al., 2011). Furthermore, they feel that time that could be used to motivate employees is wastage of company time that should be used to increase production. In other cases, the companies and managers do not understand the importance of praising employees. This can be termed as ignorance, but many managers do not understand the positive impacts of praising employees within an organization. Others feel that the employees cannot give them the required respect if they are praised, and they also fear that praising them may lead to overconfidence among the employees (Md Zani et al., 2011).
As a manager, I would take several steps to motivate my employees after observing them perform well. At first, I would use verbal praise to show the employee that terrific work is appreciated. A simple ‘congratulation’ would make the employee note that someone is constantly checking and rewarding outstanding performances. An E-mail would also be beneficial to recognize someone who does an excellent job in the company, and I would write the mail to the individual and cc other employees so that everyone can know that good work is always recognized. Gifts would also be a proper way of motivating employees, whereby I would give employees rewards in the form of money and other gifts such as laptops every year. The other method that I would use is promotions of those who show exemplary work in their respective departments (Dewhurst et al., 2009).
Giving employees too much of verbal praises can cause some downsides although a manager may find a way of alleviating such occurrences. Verbal praises may make the employees feel as if they are pampered. This is because, in most cases, verbal praises are instant and can easily make employees feel over confident about their jobs. The person may even feel better than everyone else in the organization, which is not true (Musselwhite, 2011). Also, the other employees may become negatively affected by the constant verbal praises that their colleague gets, and this can demoralize them in their duties. The other problem is that the employee may become disappointed once he senses that the praises are not coming his way later. This can lead to confusion on the part of the employee. However, managers can alleviate this downside by ensuring that employees are not given too much verbal praises. The manager does not have to praise employees constantly; rather, he should offer it once in a while.
As a manager, I can ensure that recognition given to employees is distributed fairly and justly by finding the best way to come up with the best performer in each department. There should be a panel of supervisors when finding out the best employee before they are recognized. Of utmost importance, is allowing heads of departments to have a say in selecting the best employee; because they understand their subordinates much better than the top managers (Musselwhite, 2011). Furthermore, it would be vital to ensure that the recognition is fairly done by offering the same rewards for those performing well in given tasks. For example, if the company rewards the best employee every six months, it would be unfair to give the present winner a lot of money and then reduce the amount for the next winner by a large margin. Therefore, there must be a way of balancing the rewards that each winner gets regardless of the time of winning. This would ensure that the recognition that all employees get is distributed fairly and justly.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that companies and managers do not often praise their employees for an outstanding job because they do not see the need for doing so, and they find it a waste of time and financial resources. Other managers do not understand the importance of praising employees. It is crucial to use a number of motivation techniques to motivate the employees especially the use of praises, rewards and recognition in front of other employees. However, it is vital to go slow on the overuse of verbal praises since it can make the employee become over confident, thus slowing down his performance. It is also essential to use fair and just processes of coming up with the best performer in each department.
References
Dewhurst, M., Guthridge, M., & Mohr, E. (2010). Motivating people: Getting beyond money. Mckinsey Quarterly, (1), 12-15.
Md Zani, R., Abd Rahim, N., Junos, S., Samanol, S., Ahmad, S., Merican, F., & Ahmad, I. (2011). Comparing the impact of financial and non-financial rewards towards organizational motivation. Interdisciplinary Journal Of Contemporary Research In Business, 3(4), 328-334.
Musselwhite, C. (2011). Creating a culture of motivation. T+D, 65(9), 46-49.
