Introduction
The workplace is supposed to be a place an employee enjoys being and working. But, in many cases, workplaces have turned to be a boring pace that employees just make routine appearances because they lack motivation. Employee motivation is an important aspect for a company; well-motivated employees are more productive (Williams, 2006). For the management to motivate its employees, it needs to provide a better working environment, good remunerations, and good human management relations that make the employees feel satisfied and appreciated.
What was the worst job you have ever had?
The worst job I had was in sales; as a salesperson with an information technology firm, I was supposed to achieve some set targets in sales. I made a lot of efforts to achieve the targets but, every period I could not get much from my fellow sales executive, who was always on top. With time I wondered if I will ever many sales colleagues who were more aggressive and flamboyant. I felt that I was a very sensitive person and, thus, much sensitive on the job. My sales supervisor advised me to use my sensitivity to sales more; instead of focusing on the product, I started focusing on building a good rapport. I made no attempts to sell, but to listen to people’s challenges, soon I earned their trust and made an easy sale. With time I was on top of the league. Supposing it was me, the motivational approach I could have used would have, been offering training in communication so that the sales executive gains more communication skills and develop confidence. Training, as it has been shown, is an important way of motivating employees.
How can spontaneous communication channels be both beneficial and harmful?
Spontaneous communication in an organization can be both good and bad. Unprompted communication is used to communicate issues that are both official and unofficial in the organization; this communication can be beneficial. For instance, when the manager what to inform an employee of changes in work, such as temporary changes of duties of the employee, then the manager can use spontaneous communication to inform the employee. The harmful part of this kind of information is that it does not give time for the communication to be digested and responded to. Communication being very important in an organization; it is supposed to be effective, clear, and kept recorded for future references.
What was your biggest “aha” about what managers do?
The biggest surprise I have discovered about management is the simple fact that the biggest motivating factor is to recognize employees as persons. Employees who work in the best environments, with the best salaries, soon start feeling de-motivated if they are not recognized as persons. Money is not everything an employee works for; the most important thing is the values of an employee. As examines by Fink (1992), to motivate the employee, the manager should learn and appreciate the various values that different employees will exhibit. The moment the employee realizes that his/her values are appreciated, the employee will become more productive. Small gestures that mean well from the management go a long way in motivating employees than implementations of projects that don’t take the personal values of employees into account.
Conclusion
Ultimately, motivation has to come within a person; the management can not singularly and continuously provide motivation to a person. However, the management should encourage, give support, inspire, and at times give examples in order to motivate its employees (Fink 1992). The greatest motivation role of the management is to recognize the employees’ personal value and assist them in moving forward to achieve set targets. This way, a person will achieve, develop and feel recognized; these are factors that will truly motivate a person.
References
- Fink, S. L. (1992): High Commitment Workplaces. New York: Quorum Books.
- Katzell, R. A., and Yankelovich, D. (1975): Work, Productivity, and Job Satisfaction: An Evaluation of Policy-Related Research. New York: Psychological Corporation
- Williams C. (2006): Effective Management; A multimedia approach (2nd edition). Mason, OH Thomson.