Motivation is an essential yet complex aspect of any organization. Sound motivation plays an important role in increasing the employee output and achieving the organization’s goals and objectives. The labour industry however keeps changing and management faces challenges in implementing sound motivational policies presently as opposed to five decades ago. Explained below are three challenges that current managers face while motivating employees as opposed to fifty years ago.
- Workforce Diversity
Present day workforce takes diverse dimensions in terms of age, gender, race, cultural background, physical abilities and disabilities and religion. This results in a less homogeneous workforce as opposed to fifty years ago. Not all the employees have the same motivational demands. This complicates motivation as the manager needs to consider several motivational variables to achieve this.
- Organizational Restructuring
Massive layoffs succeed the wave of mergers and acquisitions. Workers laid off for reasons not related to performance come to question as to whether political survival rates superior to initiative and survival. As a result, the remaining employees concentrate on keeping their jobs than taking risks - risks that may reveal new products, advances, and new markets.
- Fewer Entry Level Employees
Present day labour force grows at a lower rate than 50 years ago leading to conspicuous decrease in the number qualified candidates for entry-level employment. As a result, managers face challenges in attracting, retaining, and motivating qualified entry-level workers. Managers also need to device means of motivating less qualified candidates to improve their skills and education to be able to carry out entry-level obligations.
Studies reveal that factors influencing employee motivation are specific, individual, and complex and no single theory can explain this. The available theories are used after evaluating motivational variables to establish which one enhances work behaviour and performance. Motivation can be either intrinsic or extrinsic and thus each need should be addressed specially.
Instrumentality / Carrot and Stick / The Law of Effect Theory
According to this theory, motivation is driven by rewards and punishments and is based on reinforcing behaviour through rewards. This theory suits an organization that aims at promoting certain behaviour and attitude and shunning others. Employees get encouraged by giving them tokens in appreciation of their efforts while withdrawing privileges to those who do contrary to the firm’s policy. When well addressed, this theory can be useful to promote behaviour at workplace.
This theory focuses on satisfaction of motivation and the needs that spur us to execute actions and achieve objectives to substantiate the needs. The need for survival need satisfaction before getting motivation to meet higher level ends. Good implementation of this theory helps a firm foster positive employee behaviour as sound remuneration promises assured welfare and thus the workers are focused on achieving organization’s goals and objectives.
Process Theories
The theories address the process of motivation and identification of variables influencing motivation, their relationship and improvement of their design to improve motivation. These theories help establish various variables under consideration for motivation. This theory thus helps address the need of each individual in a diverse workforce. Once everyone’s concerns are addressed, performance at work improves tremendously.
Organizational behaviour refers to the study of their respective behaviour and attitude in a workplace environment. It encompasses several disciplines such as communication and management, psychology as well as sociology. Organizational behaviour reveals how different group of workers interact with each other. Further, these addresses how firm respond to various factors affecting them. Organization behaviour shows a lot on how a firm handles its matters and the type of relationship especially between employees and the managers.
References
Nelson, D. L., & Quick, J. C. (2013). Organizational Behaviour: ORGB3 (3rd Ed). Mason:
Cengage.
Sweett. (2012, Sep 09). Motivation. Retrieved Feb 08, 2013, from papercamp.com:
http://www.papercamp.com/essay/59749/Motivation
