Motivation; Appraising and Rewarding Performance

MOTIVATION: the process of activating behavior, sustaining it and directing it toward a pariticular goal. It moves people to act and accomplish.

IN THE WORKPLACE, motivation may be more specifically defined as the set of internal and external forces that cause a worker or employee to choose a course of action and engage in a certain behavior.

KEY ELEMENTS OF MOTIVATION

-Intensity-Direction-Persistence

Intensity refers to the level of effort provided by the employee in the attempt to achieve the goal assigned to him. In short it is all about hardwork.

Direction relates to what an individual chooses to do when he is confronted with a number of possible choices.

Persistence is a dimension of motivation which measures how long a person can maintain effort to achieve the organization’s goal.

In any case, this elements complement each other. If the intensity of motivation is insufficient, or the effort is not properly directed or persistent enough, excellent performance is not just possible.

THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

1.ContentTheories- focusing on wants and needs of an individual

I. Hierarchy of needs theory (Abraham Maslow)

II. ERG Theory( Clayton Alderfer)

III. Acquired Need Theory (David McClelland)

IV. Two-factor Theory (Frederick Herzberg)

2. Process Theories – how people act in response to the wants and need they have.

I. Expectancy Theory (Victor Vroom)

II. Equity Theory

III. Goal Setting Theory (Edwin A Locke)

Motivational methods and programs

1. Motivation through job design-job challenging

I.Job enrichment- refers to the practice of building motivating factors

II. Job Characteristics Model- focuses on the task and interpersonal demands of job.

III. Job Crafting- refers to physical and mental changes workers make in the task or relationship aspect of their job.

2. Organizational behaviour modification- motivating people to work

OB Mod program

-Identfying critical behaviour-Developing baseline data-identifying behavioural consequences of performance-developing an intervention strategy-evaluating performance improvement

Benefits of OB Mod

Improvement of employee and productivityReduction of errors and accident ratesImprovement of friendliness toward customers

3. Motivation through recognition and pride – recognition is a natural human need and it is a strong motivator. Pride is another motivator. Workers who achieve outstanding performance experience the emotion of pride

4. Motivation through financial incentives-financial incentives are powerful tools of motivation.