Introduction
The notion of motivation is revealed through each worker’s experience of aspiration and distaste. Motivation is derived from the word motive which denotes a physiological need that provokes an individual to an action. Motivation influences the performance of a workforce in an organization in different ways. Motivation has a broad impact on choice, effort as well as persistence among workers in an organization. Workers within an organization will always have a tendency to make choices regarding their goals, the amount of force wielded and the duration of their persistence in chasing their goals. This chapter will focus on the impacts of motivation on the performance of any organization based on certain explicit aspects. Such aspects include needs, values and cognition.
Among the conditions required for an employee’s wellbeing in an organization is needs. In fact, the moment a need is not met, distress among workers is experienced. In severe cases, the denial of needs to workers leads to loss of direction thus the desired goal cannot be achieved. To evade such experiences, workers should be impelled to take action to attain their desired goals. According to Barling & Cooper (2008), employees’ needs are “well-organized from lower needs to higher needs: i.e., physiological, safety, affiliation, esteem and self-actualization” (106). It is mandatory for the satisfaction of lower needs before laying a hand on higher needs. However, it is not compulsory to satisfy all the employee’s needs since they tend to recur. The satisfaction of the employee’s needs determines their choice, pace and duration of achieving the set goals and objectives within an organization.
Deci asserts in his book that, “the ultimate test of organizational success is its ability to create values sufficient to compensate for the burdens imposed on resources contributed (Deci, 1975)”. He scrutinizes industrial workers, particularly librarians, in a structured attempt, “putting in time and efforts for personal, economic, and non-economic satisfaction; in this era of the information superhighway, employers of information professionals or librarians must be careful to meet their needs” (Deci, 1975).
Needs
Values bear a resemblance to needs in their ability to have an effect on the choice made by an employee, their efforts and their duration in effecting the procedures to attain the set goals and objectives. In opposition to inborn needs, values develop from an employee’s notion of the attractive deeds which are attained through education and know-how. Fulfillment of an employee’s value leads to pleasure while lack of satisfaction of values leads to discontentment. The choices are made by employees through motivation based on the values of the employees. Values tend to serve as guiding principles throughout the life of an individual. Because values turn out to be transcending situations, they have the “ability to have an impact on choice, effort and persistence beyond the attainment of an organization’s goals to more ultimate goals” (Latham, 2007).
Values
Values act as moderators of an individual’s work satisfaction with respect to the income an employee receives (Bandura, 1977). Employees who earn good pay tend to encompass positive motives for valuing money. Such motives include a provision to the safety of family members and attaining a sense of justice. Such aspects have a neutral impact on the evaluation of an individual’s self and furthermore in his overall life. However, other employees tend to develop a negative motive for valuing money. Such persons tend to feel superior to others. These employees partake in the earning of a huge salary as a way of gaining more power within an organization. Therefore, motivation on the basis of an employee’s values has a great impact on the performance of an organization.
Cognition
Cognition is a very significant aspect to consider while scrutinizing the effect of motivation in any organization. Knowledge is required especially during the identification and satisfaction of an employee’s needs and also in choosing and achieving the set goals. In an organization where there is a lack of knowledge, the employees will not be able to determine the techniques of meeting a need. The workers will not conduct themselves in a way that is consistent, or a way that leads to the achievement of a set goal. The motivation of workers within an organization without knowledge makes everything futile. The reverse is also true in that a knowledge worker within an organization without motivation makes everything absolutely ineffective. Therefore motivation of workers along with knowledgeable workers helps the institution in the achievement of the set goals within an organization.
Vroom asserts in his book that the “choice of a worker to exert effort is a multiplicative product of the person’s expectancy that effort will lead to performance, performance will be instrumental to the attainment of one or more outcomes and the valence of the outcomes for that employee” (Vroom, 1964). This assertion offers a language and structure for devising questions regarding the significance of the worker’s beliefs and values on the performance of the person. There is a need for an employee to perform some calculations before coming up with a decision. Most organizations fail to attain their goals because the employees make decisions based on their sub-conscience. As a matter of fact, research attests that motivation along with imparting knowledge to workers leads to the unobstructed achievement of the set goals and objectives. Most presumptions expose the fact that employees constantly prefer to act in ways that take full advantage of treasured results. Though, this is not at all times the case. The motivation of workers usually incites them to take action. This ought to be done before the attainment of the set goals within an organization.
Setting of goals
Motivation has a great impact on the setting of goals within an organization. Goals are in essence a duty and definite development. According to Latham, “most employees value education in that a worker is likely to go back to school and master the chosen subject matter” (Latham, 2007). Pursuing and achieving the set goals that a workforce values offers them job satisfaction. Given “that a person has sufficient knowledge or skill, a primary determinant of job satisfaction is a cognitive challenge regarding work assignments an employee values” (Latham, 2007). A definite high performance set goal provokes effort and additionally prompts an employee to draw upon knowledge that will probably lead to its achievement. Motivation in form of encouragement especially during the setting of goals is of great significance. Generally, a definite high goal for instance ‘to do your best’ is a pathway to a high performance due to higher employee performance. Inclusively, variables, for instance, taking part in the making of decisions, feedback regarding the performance within an organization and incentives along with competition maximize the employee performance to an echelon that leads to the dedication to a definite higher goal.
The echelon of performance of each employee relies on their genuine skills as well as the level of motivation each one of the exhibits. This innermost drive or better still, an external stimulus to behave in a certain way that will result in a productive outcome is very significant in any organization. “Over-achieving, talented employees are the driving force of all firms so it is essential for organizations to strive to motivate and hold on to the best employees” (Wiggins, 1996).
The motivation of workers within an organization results in strategic integration, commitment flexibility and quality work from the employees. Motivation has the ability to guide the workers by their curiosity in creating a good feeling on others, carrying out interesting tasks and turning out to be successful in their performance. Motivation enables workers to make the right choices in the direction and behavior that is required by the organization. Motivation also allows the employees of an organization to maintain their behavior according to the requirements of the firm. Work motivation within a firm in an organization determines the duration of the persistence portrayed by the employees in their attempt to meet the set goals and objectives.
Motivation influences job performance in such a way that it affects the behavior portrayed by a person after receiving either a substantial or a non-substantial reward. This kind of motivation is recognized as extrinsic motivation. Some of the rewards that can influence the behavior of an employee include capital, positive feedback as well as lack of punishment (Deci, 1975). According to Deci, motivation can be done for the pleasure of performing a particular activity within an organization by an employee for instance interesting work, recognition, growth, and achievement (Deci, 1975). This kind of motivation is called intrinsic motivation.
A number of studies attest a positive correlation between intrinsic motivation and both job performance and job satisfaction. Employees who are motivated intrinsically by their managers and leaders produce a higher job performance within their working place. Similarly, intrinsically motivated workers have been known to satisfy productively their bosses through goal achievement. Therefore motivation is highly significant to organizations in this current extremely competitive business environment. Intrinsically motivated employees have been attested to produce a better performance. As a result, such employees are exceedingly productive. Motivated workers within an organization will appear to be satisfied within their working environment thus remaining faithful to their firm. Motivated workers will not feel any pressure or the need to relocate to a different organization.
Motivation to a worker serves to coagulate the worker’s sense of competence. According to Vroom “people are motivated by how much they want something and how likely they think they are to get it. Motivation leads to efforts and the efforts combined with employees ability together with environmental factors which interplay’s resulting to performance” (Vroom, 1964). Performance after motivation has different impacts and each impact has its allied valence.
Motivation gives workers within an organization an opportunity to seek social equity in the incentives they are offered for higher performance. Lantham attests in his book that the outcomes from a job include; “pay, recognition, promotion, social relationship and intrinsic reward which should be offered after the employees have employed certain needs to the job such as time, experience, efforts, education and loyalty” (Latham, 2007). Effective leadership along with motivation helps in the development of effective teamwork plus the incorporation of not only personal but also group goals. Motivation is a strong forecaster of the performance of any organization. According to Barling & Cooper (2008) “employee motivation is also a vital ingredient to achieving business progress, overcoming problems and achieving business goals” (63).
The efficacy of management is the most compelling contributor to the performance of an employee. An effectual leadership stratagem will always lead to productive results. The inclusion of motivation in the leadership of any organization helps employees to bring out effectually productive work. The management of any organization ought to create a scenario whereby all the employees are advantaged from the leadership.
The motivation of employees either intrinsically or extrinsically will always result in higher job performance. The motivation of workers within an organization ensures that the value of each employee is not in contradiction with those of an organization. In fact, human resource managers should know that for an organization to meet its goals there must be work motivation.
For motivation to be effected within an organization there must be an effectual leadership approach provided by the human resource manager. Effectual leadership, as well as work motivation, is an autonomous variable that mutually and comparatively contributes to the performance of an employee. Generally, work motivation brings about effectual productivity among all the employees in the working place.
An organization will only meet its goals and objectives if the employers, human resource managers as well as other leaders show total interest in the interests of their employees to make them extremely valuable and identify themselves as contributors to the success of the organization through work motivation. The motivation of workers within an organization creates an excellent working condition and surrounding to enable them to chip in highly towards the comprehension of the goals and objectives of the organization.
The motivation of workers boosts the performance of workers for all the employees with an organization. Managers and leaders should gauge and appraise employees’ motivation techniques at all echelons before directing them towards the set goal and objective. The motivation of workers has the ability to lure all the employees within an organization towards the path of attaining the set goals and objectives.
In most cases, an organization that is properly managed identifies a moderate employee as the major source of good quality and highly productive achievements. The truth is that successful organizations do not primarily focus on income investment, but on workers as the elementary root source of progress. An effectual firm is one that goes to an extent of achieving its own set goals. An efficient firm will ensure that there is a spirit of teamwork, a sense of dedication along employee satisfaction within its frontiers. There is one sole way to change the worker’s attitude and make them not only contented but also devoted to their work in scholarly and investigative libraries. The solitary approach is the need for strong and effective motivation at different echelons, departments and sections of the organization.
Wiggins states in his book that “along with perception, personality, attitudes, and learning, motivation is a very important element of behavior with motivation being a tool that interacts with and acts in conjunction with other cognitive processes” (Wiggins, 1996). Motivation affects the performance of an organization since it is an administrative process that entails influencing conduct based on the knowledge of what affects performance.
Bandura denotes that motivation within an organization “arouses, energizes, directs, and sustains behavior and performance due to the fact that it stimulates people to action and to achieve a desired task” (Bandura, 1977). The most readily accessible technique of luring employees towards affirmative action is through motivation. Motivation contributes to the worker’s contentment and loyalty to both their jobs and their firms.
Motivation has the ability to change the employee’s attitudes towards the job that they perform within the organization. The change of attitude from a bad to a better one leads to elevated job performance. Maintaining a definite worker attitude that relates to job contentment and organizational devotion is of key interest to the field of managerial behavior along with employee motivation. Attitude has a direct effect on job satisfaction in any organization. Motivation is perceived to be influential on the level of contentment and dedication towards organizational duties.
Motivation has the impact of activating either an act of intimidation and action or behavior that is directed towards a goal incentive. Most leaders, human resource managers and employees continually consider the goals of an organization as being unachievable and are devoid of the continuing dedication of members of the firms accompanied with motivation (Bandura, 1977). Motivation within an organization is a human psychosomatic attribute that contributes to a worker’s degree of devotion (Bandura, 1977).
Motivation entails aspects that bring direction and uphold the behavior of workers in a certainly dedicated pathway as per the requirements of an organization. Motivation within an organization makes an employee feel well about him/herself after performing a recognizable job. Motivation is also an aspect that goes into a workers’ performance through specific factors such as capability, resources, and circumstances under which an individual performs.
Motivation is a tool that ought to be incorporated by managers in all organizations as it drives and lures workers or those working for them to perform a certain desired task. Barling & Cooper (2008) stated that motivation is “whatever it takes to encourage workers to perform by fulfilling or appealing to their needs; a goal-directed, and therefore cannot be outside the goals of any organization whether public, private, or non-profit” (p. 109).
Motivation is an important tool as it helps in the sustenance of workers within an organization. The lack of motivation within an organization will make them realize too late that they are losing their brilliant and gifted experts to other neighboring firms who are ready to convene their desires and demands. Workers will never walk away from an organization that appreciates their endeavors through motivation in one way or another.
The motivation of workers in form of capital encourages them by gratifying them in accordance with their performance, individual or exceptional salaries along with considerations such as the absence of a specific skill. The motivation of workers in form of money encourages them to achieve greater productivity. The provision of wages to workers acts as a means of invigorating them to high performances, devotion and contentment. Motivation symbolizes insubstantial goals for instance security, power, prestige, and a feeling of accomplishment and success.
Motivation in form of money has the ability and influence to attract, uphold and invigorate industrial workers towards higher performances. Lantham offers an example in that “if a librarian or information professional has another job offer which has identical job characteristics with his current job, but the greater financial reward, that worker would in all probability be motivated to accept the new job offer” (Latham, 2007).
Work motivation may also affect the performance of an organization in that the managers, leaders and employers use the income they are offered to either reward or chastise the workers. The strategies of chastising and rewarding workers ought to be done for higher productivity to be achieved by instilling the fright of loss of job. A good example of this is retirement prematurely due to poor job performance.
Training
The motivation of employees through a good personnel training program offers the workers professional opportunities for self-progression and development to convene the drawbacks and necessities of new gears and new strategies of carrying out a task. This also prepares workers in advance to meet new challenges defiantly. This can be done when the managers motivate workers by giving genuine information on the outcomes of their deeds on their colleagues.
According to Bandura “information availability brings to bear a powerful peer pressure, where two or more people running together will run faster than when running alone or running without awareness of the pace of the other runners” (Bandura, 1977). By offering training programs to the workers, workers will be able to compete with each other. From the competition generated, the set goals will have to be attained.
Job Performance
The motivation of workers brings about job satisfaction. Lower salaries, absence of status as well as social security affect motivation. Job satisfaction within a working environment can never be attained in the absence of motivation. The satisfaction of an employee will always have an impact on the quality of service delivered within the organization. The absence of job satisfaction through motivation will time and again lead to lassitude and lessened organizational devotion. An individual may quit working due to a lack of motivation. Workers in larger organizations who are motivated are attested to perform their tasks to total satisfaction. A certain conducted research that has been presented in “Vroom” attests that motivated organizational workers stay more happily in their firms and are fully dedicated to their line of work (Vroom, 1964).
The presence of motivation within an organization can have a tendency to increase the worker’s attention, enhancing success and welfare. Motivation lures a worker into the identification of the goals and objectives within an organization and to have a feeling of working at the right place as well as the enthusiasm to exhibit effort in support of the firm. The presence of motivation within an organization makes an individual become bound by his deeds. These deeds will then uphold his activities and participation.
Conclusion
Conclusively, motivation has a great impact on the performance of an organization. However, habitually motivated workers will only work to the expectations of the organization when they are motivated. The absence of motivation within this organization will pose a great risk to its performance. This is due to the fact that the employees within organizations are used to being motivated before working to the expectations of the firm. Lack of motivation within the firm will have a negative impact on the behavior of the employees. The pace of the employees towards achieving the set goal will have to slow down. Therefore, motivation should be affected intelligently.
References
Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Barling, J., & Cooper, L. C. (2008). The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Behavior. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Deci, E. L. (1975). Intrinsic Motivation. New York: Plenam.
Latham, G. P. (2007). Work Motivation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Vroom, V. H. (1964). Work Motivation. New York: Wiley and Sons.
Wiggins, J. S. (1996). The Five-Factor Model of Personality. New York: Guilford.