Usually, in an attempt to define motivation, several words surface; motive, needs, and desires. However, the definition of motivation starts with the root word 'motive', that is, an incentive to act in a particular way. Motivating employees begins with identifying that people must be in a working environment that meets their intellectual, emotional and social needs. Each employee has a different mix of needs, thereby making it essential for managers to understand what makes their employees tick. Human needs are channels through which organizations can focus its motivation efforts. Motivation is an effective tool with which managers can improve both their effectiveness and employee performance.

Motivation is not a program, it is a personal approach to inspiring individuals to do great work.

It includes factors that attract and sustain human behaviour in a desired direction. However, a sound motivation system in an organization should have the following features:

The motivation system should reflect both the organizational goals and employee goals. In other words, employee goals must be aligned with the organizational goals

It should involve monetary as well as non-monetary rewards

The system should be flexible enough to adapt to situations and people

It should be adequate, equitably distributed and available to each employee

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In recent times, several types of motivation system have become popular and applied in some organizations. Here are few of many options:

Employee Recognition

Praise and recognition are simply acknowledgement of an employee's performance, results, and behaviour that surpasses the status quo in the organization. Employee recognition programs range from formal programs to on-the-spot thank-you. An advantage of praise and some recognition programs is that they are inexpensive. People love praise; they want to feel valued for their contribution and as well as be recognized for it. Employee recognition program initiative may span from 'Employee of the Month award', 'Years of Service award', 'Employee Appreciation day' or simply publicly announcing when an employee makes a particularly outstanding achievement.

Flextime

This is a system that allows employees to choose their start and close time at work. "Flextime tends to reduce absenteeism and frequently improves worker productivity." Although, this popular work scheduling may not be applicable to all jobs, especially in jobs where people have to be at their workplace at predetermined times. "Flextime can also help employees balance work and family lives; it is a popular criterion for judging how 'family friendly' a workplace is."

Financial assistance program

This majorly involves monetary rewards paid either directly or indirectly. They include but not limited to insurance subsidies, adoption assistance, direct financial assistance, scholarships, tuition reimbursement, health benefits, and stock ownership plan. Organizations, such as Accenture have included in its reward benefit, a plan called 'Flexible spending accounts'; in which employees can use pretax dollars to pay eligible health care and dependent day care expenses'. Bank of America's one of her many monetary plan also includes 'Associate Basic Life Insurance', where employees are automatically provided with bank-paid basic life insurance equal to one times their annual base salary, up to a maximum of $2,000,000'.

Security

Security is a non-financial motivator that can be used in the workplace. People like to work in nonthreatening work environment with long-term security. When employees don't feel secured in their job, the effects are usually tension and stress which invariably impacts employee performance. Employees want to feel that their job is secure and this allows them to work free of anxiety or uncertainties.

Telecommuting

"This refers to working at home at least 2 days a week on a computer linked to the employer's office." The new design of the workplace is Flexibility. A valid example of this motivation option remains Bank of America's 'My Work' program; a flexible work location program for certain employees, which provides the opportunity to work from the office or from home.

References

Accenture, 'Rewards and Benefits, https://www.accenture.com/us-en/careers/your-future-rewards-benefits Bank of America, 'Benefits & Advantages, http://careers.bankofamerica.com/us/working-here/benefits-advantages Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson. (2013). Why Managing Sucks and How to Fix It. Stephen P.R. and Timothy A.J. (2013). Organizational Behaviour, 15th Edition



