HR drivers discussed: Employee motivation
Each month we will discuss a chapter out of our new book entitled 'Achieving Excellence with your Employees: Insight into your performance from an employee perspective'. Each chapter discusses a different HR driver. This month the second subject will be discussed: Employee Motivation.
The importance of motivation
According to humanistic psychologists, self-realisation is at the heart of being human. It is in our nature to allow opportunities and talents to flourish, in order to get the most out of ourselves. This applies both to the social (friends) and the societal sphere (education, job).
Motivation plays an important role in improving your organisation’s performance. Motivated employees can help take an organisation to the next level, in order to make it successful. Motivated employees are also often more satisfied, innovative and productive.
In short, motivated employees ensure that within your organisation:
There is a positive work atmosphere…
Where employees are happy to work hard…
Where employees are service-oriented towards clients…
And because of this, better results are achieved.
Motivation is thus the driving force behind your organisation’s success and ensures that your employees remain active and contribute to better performance. Furthermore, a high level of motivation leads to a demonstrably lower level of absence and turnover.
Intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation
There are two distinguishable sorts of motivation, namely intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation means that people want to make an effort for something because they are stimulated from inside, for example by being given responsibilities. This form of motivation is entirely dependent on the nature of the activity. Employees are motivated, because they attach value to the activity. The activity is an enriching experience for them, which offers challenges and opportunities to develop. Intrinsic motivation relates to action, which is guided by a feeling of satisfaction and fulfilment.
Extrinsic motivation means that people will make an effort for something, because they are stimulated from outside, for example by money or status. In contrast to intrinsic motivation, in which work is seen as valuable, employees who are extrinsically motivated see their work purely and solely as a means to an end. Fulfilment is not gained from the work itself but from related things. People can become extrinsically motivated by both economic and social stimuli. Employees are economically motivated if they take good remuneration, good working conditions and job security as the basis on which to evaluate their work. Status and chances for promotion give a feeling of fulfilment.
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are related in the sense that intrinsic motivation can be coloured by extrinsic influences. Factors that are external to the individual, such as remuneration, can have a negative effect on intrinsic motivation. Linking bonuses to targets can lead to employees who initially worked enthusiastically to meet targets, ultimately only focusing on the target that offers the biggest bonus.
More: Employee survey, Engagement, Motivation