Employee Motivation: The Concept

Ballerina dancing - illustrating passion, desire, ambition

Employee motivation as a term is a complex and difficult term to define; therefore a precise definition of this concept is elusive as the notion comprises the characteristics of individual and situation as well as the perception of that situation by the individual (Ifinedo, 2003; Rosenfeld and Wilson, 1999).

The liveliness of an organization, whether public or private, comes from the motivation of its employees, although their abilities play just as crucial a role in determining their work performance (Lewis, Goodman and Fandt, 1995).

Golembiewski (1973) refers to motivation as the degree of readiness of an organization to pursue some designated goal and implies the determination of the nature and locus of the forces inducing the degree of readiness. Elsewhere, motivation has been described as a predisposition to act in a specific goal directed manner. Motivation may be defined as the state of an individual’s perspective, which represents the strength of his or her propensity to exert effort toward some particular behavior.

Motivation is the need or drive within an individual that drives him or her toward goal-oriented action. The extent of drive depends on the perceived level of satisfaction that can be achieved by the goal. Motivation is the characteristic that is required in order to achieve anything in life; without it one will give up at the first sign of adversity. It means to inspire, instigate and encourage a person to do their best. Motivation will compel a person to think "If I can't, then I must" and will cause them to do whatever it takes to become successful.

You Might Also Like:

Effects of Motivation On Employee Performance in GES

Impact of Organizational Culture on Turnover Intention

The Relationship Between Styles Of Leadership And Quality Of Employee Work Life
4 Types of Organizational Culture

To Kelly, (1974), motivation has to do with the forces that maintain and alter the direction, quality and intensity of behavior. According to Hoy and Miskel (1987), employee motivation is the complex forces, drivers, needs, tension, states, or other mechanisms that start and maintain voluntary activity directed towards the achievement of personal goals. In short, Dessler (2001) defines motivationas the intensity of a person’s desire to engage in some activity. From the above definitions some issues are brought to mind that deal with what starts and energizes human behavior, how those forces are directed and sustained as well as the outcomes they bring about (performance).

Motivation is therefore the driving force that determines the amount of effort expended in executing a certain task. These forces could be internal (generated within the individual) or external (triggered by the actions or inactions of the environment within which the individual lives or works). Ifinedo (2003) demonstrated that a motivated employee is easy to spot by his or her agility, dedication, enthusiasm, focus, zeal, and general performance and contribution to organizational objectives and goals.

All organizations are concerned with what should be done to achieve sustained high levels of performance through people or employees. This means giving close attention to how individuals can best be motivated through such means as incentives, rewards, leadership and, importantly, the work they do and the organizations context within which they carry out that work. The aim is to develop motivation processes and a work environment that will help to ensure that individuals deliver results in accordance with the expectations of management (Ifinedo, 2003).

Mullins (2006) indicates that the study of motivation is concerned basically with why people behave in certain ways. The basic underlying question is “why do people do what they do?” In general terms, motivation can be described as the direction and persistence of action. It is concerned with why people choose a particular course of action in preference to others, and why they continue with a chosen action, often over a long period, and in the face of difficulties and problems.

You Might Also Like:

Effects of Motivation On Employee Performance in GES

Impact of Organizational Culture on Turnover Intention

The Relationship Between Styles Of Leadership And Quality Of Employee Work Life
4 Types of Organizational Culture

Motivation is one of the key ingredients in employee performance and productivity. Even when people have clear work objectives, the right skills, and a supportive work environment, they would not get the job done without sufficient motivation to achieve those work objectives (Mullins, 2006). Motivation refers to the forces within a person that affect his or her direction, intensity and persistence of voluntary behaviour. He added that motivated employees are willing to exert a particular level of effort (intensity), for a certain amount of time (persistence), toward a particular goal (direction).

Remez (2001) explained motivation as the inner power or energy that pushes toward acting, performing actions and achieving. Motivation has much to do with desire and ambition, and if they are absent, motivation is absent too. Often, a person has the desire and ambition to get something done or achieve a certain goal, but lacks the push, the initiative and the willingness to take action. This is due to lack of motivation and inner drive.

Motivation strengthens the ambition, increases initiative and gives direction, courage, energy and the persistence to follow one's goals. A motivated person takes action and does whatever is needed to achieve his/her goals. Motivation becomes strong when there is a vision, a clear mental image of what is to be achieved, and also a strong desire to materialize it. In this situation motivation awakens and pushes one forward, toward taking action and making the vision a reality.

Motivation can be applied to every action and goal. There could be motivation to study a foreign language, to get good grades at school, bake a cake, write a poem, take a walk every day, make more money, get a better job, buy a new house, own a business, or become a writer, a doctor or a lawyer. Motivation is present whenever there is a clear vision, precise knowledge of what one wants to do, a strong desire and faith in one's abilities. Motivation is one of the most important keys to success.

When there is lack of motivation you either get no results, or only mediocre results, whereas when there is motivation you attain greater and better results and achievements. Compare a student who lacks motivation and who hardly studies, to a student who is highly motivated, and who devotes many hours to his studies; they will get absolutely different grades.

Lack of motivation shows lack of enthusiasm, zest and ambition, whereas the possession of motivation is a sign of strong desire, energy and enthusiasm, and the willingness to do whatever it takes to achieve what one sets out to do. A motivated person is a happier person, more energetic, and sees the positive end result in his/her mind.

Dessler (2001) indicates that motivating employees is also more challenging at a time when firms have dramatically changed the jobs that people perform, reduce layers of hierarchy, and jettisoned large numbers of employees throughout the process. These actions have significantly damaged the levels of trust and commitment necessary for employees to put out effort beyond the minimum requirements. Some organizations have completely given up on motivation from the heart and rely instead on pay-for-performance and layoff threats. These strategies may have some effect (both positive and negative), but they do not capitalize on the employee’s motivational potential (Mullins, 2006).

Summary