The Four Drives That Encourages Employee Motivation

 According to the Harvard business review (July-Aug 2008), Individual managers must address the four fundamental emotional drives as well as the organization as a whole. Employees may be constrained by organizational norms, but they are astute enough to recognize that their immediate superiors have some leeway. In fact, our research shows that individual managers have as much influence on overall motivation as any organizational policy, as well as the levers managers can use to address them and the "local" strategies that can boost motivation despite organizational constraints.

Because the four drives are hardwired into our brains, the degree to which they are satisfied directly affects our emotions and, by extension, our behavior. Let’s look at how each one operates (Harvard business review, July-Aug 2008).

1.      The drive to acquire 

We are all compelled to obtain scarce goods that enhance our sense of well-being. When this drive is satisfied, we are delighted; when it is not, we are dissatisfied. This phenomenon applies not only to physical goods such as food, clothing, housing, and money, but also to experiences such as travel and entertainment, not to mention events that improve social status such as being promoted and receiving a corner office or a seat on the corporate board. The desire to acquire is both relative (we constantly compare what we have to what others have) and insatiable (we always want more). That explains why people are always concerned not only with their own pay packages, but also with those of others. It also explains why salary caps are difficult to implement. (Harvard business review, July-Aug 2008)

 2.      The drive to bond 

Many animals form attachments to their parents, kinship group, or tribe, but only humans extend that bond to larger collectives such as organizations, associations, and nations. When the desire to bond is satisfied, it is associated with strong positive emotions such as love and caring, and when it is not, it is associated with negative emotions such as loneliness and anomie. At work, the desire to bond accounts for both the enormous boost in motivation that occurs when employees feel proud to be a part of the organization and the loss of morale that occurs when the institution betrays them. 

It also explains why employees struggle to break free from divisional or functional silos: People form attachments to their immediate cohorts. However, the ability to form attachments to larger collectives can lead to employees caring more about the organization than their local group within it. (Harvard business review, July-Aug 2008). 

 3.      The drive to comprehend 

We want to make sense of the world around us, to develop scientific, religious, and cultural theories and accounts that make events understandable and suggest reasonable actions and responses. We are frustrated when things don't make sense, and we are usually energized by the challenge of figuring out answers. The desire to make a meaningful contribution in the workplace is accounted for by the drive to comprehend. Employees are motivated by jobs that challenge them and allow them to grow and learn, while those that appear monotonous or lead to a dead end demotivate them. Talented employees who feel trapped often leave their companies in search of new challenges. (Harvard business review, July-Aug 2008)

 4.      The drive to defend 

We all have a natural instinct to defend ourselves, our property and accomplishments, our family and friends, and our ideas and beliefs against external threats. This drive is based on the basic fight-or-flight response shared by all animals. It manifests itself in humans not only as aggressive or defensive behavior, but also as a desire to establish institutions that promote justice, have clear goals and intentions, and allow people to express their ideas and opinions. Fulfilling the desire to defend produces feelings of security and confidence, failing to do so produces strong negative emotions such as fear and resentment. (Harvard business review, July-Aug 2008)

The desire to defend reveals a lot about people's resistance to change, it's one reason why employees can be devastated by the prospect of a merger or acquisition an especially significant change even if the deal represents the organization's only hope for survival. So, for example, you could be told one day that you're a high performer and essential to the company's success, and the next that you're being let go due to a restructuring a direct challenge, in its arbitrary nature, to your drive to defend. It's no surprise that headhunters frequently target employees during such transitions, knowing that employees are vulnerable and at the mercy of managers who appear to make arbitrary personnel decisions. (Harvard business review, July-Aug 2008)

Each of the four drives we've discussed operates independently; they cannot be ordered hierarchically or substituted for one another. You can't just pay your employees well and expect them to be enthusiastic about their work in an organization where bonding isn't encouraged, work seems meaningless, and people feel defenseless. (Harvard business review, July-Aug 2008)

It is also insufficient to help people bond as a tight-knit team when they are underpaid or working in deathly boring jobs. You can certainly get people to work under such conditions; they may need the money or have no other current prospects; however, you will not get the most out of them, and you risk losing them entirely if a better offer comes along. To fully motivate your employees, you must address all four motivational factors. (Harvard business review, July-Aug 2008)

 

Reference

Employee Motivation: Harvard business review July–august 2008 page 3, Page 4  

Nitin Nohria (nnohria@hbs.edu) is the Richard P. Chapman Professor of Business Administration 

Boris Groysberg (bgroysberg@hbs.edu) is an associate professor, at Harvard Business School in Boston.  

Linda-Eling Lee (llee@hbs.edu) is a research director at the Center for Research on Corporate Performance in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

 

Benefits Of Employee Motivation To An Organization

Employee satisfaction has positive influence on customer satisfactions in the service industry (Harter, Schmidt, & Hayes, 2002). Employee motivation is one of the policies of managers to increase effectual job management amongst employees in organizations (Shadare et al, 2009).

Employee performance is fundamentally dependent on many factors such as performance appraisals, employee motivation, employee satisfaction, compensation, training and development, job security, organizational structure, and others; however, the focus of this study is solely on employee motivation because this factor has the greatest influence on employee performance, Employee motivation is one of the policies implemented by managers to increase effective job management among employees in organizations (Shadare et al, 2009).

1.    Improves level of efficiency of employees.

A subordinate's or employee's level is determined by more than just his qualifications and abilities. To get the most out of his work performance, the gap between ability and willingness must be bridged, which aids in the improvement of subordinates' performance, this will result in increased productivity, lower operational costs, and improved overall workplace efficiency (Adi, 2000).

2.    Puts human resources into action. 

To achieve its objectives, every business requires physical, financial, and human resources; Human resources can be fully utilized by motivating them, this can be accomplished by instilling in employees a desire to work and this will assist organizations in ensuring the best possible utilization of resources (Rothberg, 2005).

 3.    Builds friendly relationship 

Motivation is a key factor in ensuring employee satisfaction and this can be accomplished by considering and designing an incentive plan for the benefit of the employees which could result in the following events: Incentives, both monetary and non-monetary, employees are given opportunities for advancement, while inefficient employees are penalized. Employees' industrial disputes and unrest will decrease, and there will be no resistance to change; this will aid in providing a smooth and sound business in which individual interests will coincide with organizational interests; this will result in profit maximization through increased productivity (Anka, 1988)

4.    Leads to achievement of organizational goals.

An organization's goals can only be met if the following conditions are met: There is optimal resource utilization, a cooperative work environment, employees who are goal-oriented and act purposefully; goals can be achieved if coordination and cooperation occur concurrently, which can be accomplished effectively through motivation (Anka, 1988)

5.    Leads to stability of work force 

The stability of a company's workforce is critical in terms of its reputation and goodwill. Employees can only remain loyal to the organization if they have a sense of participation in management. Employees' skills and efficiency will always benefit both employers and employees. This will result in a positive public image in the market, which will attract competent and qualified individuals to a company. "Old is gold," as the saying goes, and this applies to the role of motivation here; the older the people, the more experience and adjustment into a concern they have, which can benefit the organization (Rothberg, 2005)

 

Reference

Adi, D.Y., (2000). Motivation as a Means of Effective Staff Productivity in the Public Sector: A Case Study of Nigerian Immigration Service, Borno State of Nigeria. Unpublished MPA Thesis. School University of Maiduguri Nigeria.

Anka, L. M. A., (1988, March-April). Corporate Objectives and Self Development: The Specialist International. Journal of Institute of Management Specialist, 3(5).

Employee Motivation: The Key to Effective Organizational Management in Nigeria.

Maryam T. Abbah Department of Marketing, Federal Polytechnic Bauchi PMB 0231Bauchi-Nigeria

Harter, J.K., Schmidt, F. L., & Hayes, T. L., (2002). Business-Unit-Level Relationship between Employee Satisfaction, Employee Engagement, and Business Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of applied psychology, 87(2), 268-279.

Rothberg, G., (2005, Fourth Quarter). The Role of Idea in the Managers Workplace: Theory and Practice. Pakistan Management Review, XLII (4), 48-73.

 

Employee Motivation

Introduction

Every organization and business wish to be successful and to make constant progress. Employee retention is a challenge in today's highly competitive environment, regardless of organization size, technology, or market focus. To overcome these constraints, a strong and positive relationship and bonding between employees and their organizations should be established and maintained. Employees are the most important part of any organization, so they must be influenced and persuaded to complete tasks. (European Journal of Business and Management, ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper), Quratul-Ain Manzoor, Department of Management Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur)

 

Organizations devise various strategies to compete with competitors and improve organizational performance in order to achieve prosperity. Few organizations believe that a company's human resources and employees are its most valuable assets, which can propel it to success or, if not properly focused, lead to decline. Unless and until the employees of any organization are satisfied with it, are motivated to complete tasks and achieve goals, and are encouraged, no organization can progress or achieve success. (European Journal of Business and Management, ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper), Quratul-Ain Manzoor, Department of Management Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur)

 

Definition and brief outset

Motivation refers to the internal forces that influence a person's direction, intensity, and persistence of voluntary behavior (Campbell & Pritchard, 1976, Pinder, 1998).

According to Butkus and Green (1999), motivation is derived from the word "motivate," which means to move, push, or influence someone to do something in order to fulfill a desire.

Motivation, according to Bartol and Martin (1998), is a power that strengthens behavior, directs behavior, and triggers the desire to continue. Motivation is also a progression of moving toward and supporting goal-directed behavior (Chowdhury.M.S, 2007).

Individuals are motivated to achieve personal and organizational goals by an internal strength (Reena et al, 2009). According to Rutherford (1990), motivation makes an organization more successful because motivated employees are constantly looking for better ways to do their jobs.

Motivation is a set of courses concerned with a child's strength that boosts performance and directs toward the achievement of some specific goals. (Kalimullah et al., 2010)

Several experts have proposed motivational theories. As per Pinder (2014), These theories emphasize the importance of understanding the factors within an individual that cause them to behave in a particular way. Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs theory is one of the most widely used motivational theories.

Employee motivation and performance have a positive relationship. According to Mikkelsen (2017), researchers and academics have viewed motivation as the force that causes people to behave in a certain way.

The Hawthorne Studies, which Elton Mayo conducted from 1924 to 1932, may have changed this way of thinking about employees (Dickson, 1973). This study found employees are not motivated solely by money and employee behavior is linked to their attitudes.

The Hawthorne Studies pioneered the human relations approach to management, in which managers' primary focus is on the needs and motivation of their employees (Bedeian, 1993).

To be motivated, an employee must believe that his or her needs are being met. As a result, employee satisfaction is an essential component of the motivational process. A satisfied individual would undoubtedly contribute positively to the achievement of organizational goals and objectives, whereas a dissatisfied employee may not only contribute but may even act in such a way that the achievement of such goals and objectives is completely destroyed. This emphasizes the significance of employee satisfaction to the organization (Anka, 1988)

Finally, I like to state that there are many of the contemporary authors also have defined the motivation in brief.

Motivation has been defined as the psychological process that gives behavior purpose and direction (Kreitner, 1995).

A proclivity to behave purposefully in order to meet specific, unmet needs (Buford, Bedeian, & Lindner, 1995).

It is an internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied need (Higgins, 1994).

Motivation is operationally defined in this paper as the inner force that drives individuals to achieve personal and organizational goals (Bedeian, 1993).

 

 

References

Anka, L. M. A., (1988, March-April). Corporate Objectives and Self Development: The Specialist International. Journal of Institute of Management Specialist, 3(5).

Bedeian, A. G. (1993). Management (3rd ed.). New York: Dryden Press.

Buford, J. A., Jr., Bedeian, A. G., & Lindner, J. R. (1995). Management in Extension (3rd ed.). Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State University Extension.

Campbell, D.J., & Pritchard, R. (1976). Motivation Theory in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. In M.D.Dunnette (Ed.), Handbook on Industrial and Organizational Psychology (pp. 63-130). Chicago: Rand McNally.

 

Chowdhury, M. S., (2007). Enhancing Motivation and Work Performance of the Salespeople: The Impact of Supervisors’ Behavior. African Journal of Business Management, 1 (9), 238-243.

Dickson, W. J. (1973). Hawthorne experiments. In C. Heyel (ed.), The encyclopedia of management, 2nd ed. (pp. 298-302). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Green, T.B. and Butkus, R.T., 1999. Motivation, beliefs, and organizational transformation. Greenwood Publishing Group.

European Journal of Business and Management, ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper), Quratul-Ain Manzoor, Department of Management Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur)

Higgins, J. M. (1994). The management challenge (2nd ed.). New York: Macmillan.

Kreitner, R. (1995). Management (6th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Mikkelsen, M.F., Jacobsen, C.B., Andersen, L.B. (2017), Managing employee motivation: Exploring the connections between managers’ enforcement actions, employee perceptions, and employee intrinsic motivation. International Public Management Journal, 20(2), 183‑205.

Pinder, C.C., (1998). Work Motivation in Organizational Behaviour, Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice Hall.

Pinder, C.C. (2014), Work Motivation in Organizational Behavior. New York: Psychology Press.