Effects of Employee Motivation Level

Question: Discuss about the Effects of Employee Motivation Level. Answer: Introduction: Motivation is a powerful tool which can reinforce behavior and trigger the tendencies to continue. Employee motivation is crucial for any organization, and plays a major factor in the success of the organization. A well motivated employee is able to perform better, which results in competitive advantage for the company (Combs, et al. 2006). It is often said that the only thing that effects employee motivation is the level of pay, but it is far from truth. In the following parts, a discussion has been carried out to establish that the level is pay is not the only thing affecting the motivation of employees. It is a known phenomenon that the higher a job pays the more satisfied an employee would be (Aziri, 2011). Higher pays are used as a common factor to attain and retain the talents in organizations. Competitive pay rates are used as a frequent strategy by the HR professionals to attract the top talent. In the personal view of the founder of the largest automobile part supplier of the world, Robert Bosch, good wages are not paid because the person has a lot of money; instead the person has a lot of money as a result of paying good wages. So, if the organizations want the employees to be highly productive, as well as, motivated, they have to be pad as per their performance and abilities (Weibel, Rost and Osterloh, 2010). In the work culture, two types of motivations exist, the intrinsic and extrinsic (Premuzic, 2013). Extrinsic motivation deals with the tangible rewards, which includes the pay, along with bonus, and raise in salary. So, the pay, along with money bearing motivators like the raise and bonus, which is in addition to the pay for the employee, acts as a highly motivating factor (Kuvaas, 2006). The more the individual earns the better lifestyle they can attain, and the higher can they climb in the society. Without money, all this is not possible. And this is the reason why employees are attracted towards higher pay scales, and even leave organizations to join the ones, which pay better. But the question begs, is money the sole motivator? Or does money matter that much? A Gallup survey showed that with the increase in salary, the motivation levels do not increase. 30 % of the people, as per this survey, who earned $36,000 per year, were engaged at work. Further, out of those earning in the range of $36,000 and $89,000, only 28% of the individuals were engaged. Lastly, out of the ones earning $90,000 or above this amount, 30% were engaged (Blacksmith and Harter, 2011). So, the engagement levels do not increase with even a rise in 10% of the salary. So, there are factors beyond the pay scale which could help in the achievement of higher engagement levels. The pleasure and joy in doing any task results in intrinsic motivation for the individuals (Hartzell, 2016). When a book is read by a person, they are not paid for reading each and every page. The joy is attained as the story unfolds and the plot is revealed. In the similar manner, the motivation of employees works. If the employee is assigned the tasks which are aligned with their interests and talents, the performance of the employee can be maximized (Sundheim, 2013). The other factor which really motivates the employees is the appreciation and recognition for the work done (Dobre, 2013). According to William James, in the human nature, the deepest desire is to be appreciated. Even if an employee is paid generously, and their efforts are not seen or appreciated, then they would not be motivated (Haizlip, 2008). So, if the employees really are to be motivated, instead of being paid hefty amounts, they have to be commended for their efforts. Along with this achievement is a great motivator. Prizes and awards have the power of harnessing healthy competition, and a healthy competition inspire the individuals in performing better. Also, such awards and prizes form as a reminder for the achievements in a persons career for the lifetime, which brings a sense of accomplishment for the individuals (Herzberg, Mausner and Snyderman, 2011). No matter how much a person gets paid, unless they are secure in the job, the employee would not give their best performance (Sundheim, 2013). Often the individuals prefer large and established organizations, for instance Toyota or Microsoft. If the employees are told that they are lucky to have the job, the motivation level would go down, instead the employees should be told that the organization is lucky to have such committed and skilled workforce, so that the employees feel safe and take pride in working with the company. Another contributing factor to the employee motivation is increased responsibilities. Increased responsibility is a way of telling the employee that their work is good and that the employee deserves more and so, is being given a chance to shine. To motivate the employees, the organizations often fill up the vacancies internally, so that the workforce can get a chance to rise and shine. This promotes a culture of development, along with preserving the knowledge of organization, which can then be transferred to the employee, with the rise in the career of the employee (Haizlip, 2008). The working conditions also play a major role in the motivation of an employee. If the employee is given good working conditions, where the workplace is safe, clean, hygienic and sanitary, they would want to work, in comparison to such places which are filthy, unsafe or a walking hazard. These days, the organizations are providing a very comfortable environment for the employees, to come in as they please, in the dresses in which they are comfortable. This is done with the objective of increasing productivity, by removing the formalities from workplace and giving the comfort of home. One of the key examples of such companies is Google, where the employees are provided bean bags to sit on (Wilson, 2012). Team work also plays a contributing factor in employee motivation. If an employee is put in a team which is dysfunctional, it would turn out to be an emotionally draining experience, which would result in lower productivity, lower morale and higher turnovers (Abbah, 2014). An employee is a social being, who wants to be associated with a healthy team, which can provide the necessary help, encouragement, and support. And to achieve this, often the objectives are set which are mutually beneficial for the employees, team and the organization. A working environment where the problems of an employee are seen and ignored turns to be very de-motivating for the employees. The smart managers are aware of this fact, and they know that they are neither therapists nor counselors, but they still make the efforts to recognize and address the personal problems of the employees, which could have an adverse impact over the employees job performance (Ladimeji, 2015). This is one of the reasons for the formulation of Employee Assistance Programs or the Human Resources Department in the organizations, which address and resolve such personal issues of the employees. Along with these factors, the pay can also act as a major de-motivator. It is a common occurrence that due to the increase in pay of one employee, the other employees tend to prejudiced or left out. Research have shown that people are often less motivated in accepting new jobs, when as per their view, the others are paid at higher pay scales for similar position. The pay can also have an adverse impact over the creativity of the employees. Creativity drives the employees in finding better ways of doing the things, and finding out unique approaches. If the employees are motivated solely through the monetary factor, then the interesting factor would be left out of the job (Ladimeji, 2015). Also, the personality type of the people can affect pay as a motivator. As per the study in Journal of Management research, the extrovert employees tend to have positive outlook regarding the pay level. And on the other hand, the ones who score high in areas of openness, conscientiousness and neuroticism were less likely to achieve the satisfaction with the levels of pay (Nielson and Smith, 2014). Similar conclusion was drawn in the study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology (Ladimeji, 2015). So, money is firstly, not the sole motivator for the employees, and secondly, plays a role of being a potent de-motivator. For an employee, money could play a role in selecting or continuing with a job, but in the long run, money is not everything. The employee needs things like appreciations, rewards, job satisfaction, healthy competition, cooperative team, feeling of involvement and increased reasonability, to feel successful and content with the job. If the employees are not content with their job, the productivity would never increase and the organization would not be able to succeed. Moreover, the creativity is hampered due to money restraints, which could otherwise result in discovery of efficient ways to doing the things. To conclude, the thesis statement is quite correct and money is not the sole factor which motivates the employees. There are a number of factors which have to be present for the employees, and pay is just one of those motivators. References Abbah, M.T. (2014) Employee Motivation: The Key to Effective Organizational Management in Nigeria. 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