Motivation in management is a process of invigorating employees, aimed at encouraging them to work by satisfying their needs. The basis of motivational management of modern organizations contains various theories of motivation. Over the course of studying issues of motivation in management, many different approaches have been developed to determine the main factors that motivate people to highly effective work. There are two main groups of modern motivational theories: substantive and procedural. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the basic theories of motivation and discuss their application in practice.
Substantive theories of motivation are based on identifying needs and personal motives that encourage people to take action. The most famous one is the theory of motivation by Abraham Maslow, which is reflected in the Pyramid of Needs. Under this theory, the basic needs of humans are physiological, the satisfaction of which is necessary for survival (Maslow, 2019, 36). There are also other needs: the need for security, socialization, respect and self-expression. To motivate employees, the employer must satisfy their vital needs through actions that help achieve the organization’s goals. However, in practice, the hierarchy of needs is not clear-cut and is not always suitable for building a motivation system for an enterprise.
There are other fundamental substantial theories of organizational motivation. McClelland’s theory of needs focuses on the needs like power, success, and ownership (Hiriyappa, 2018, 92). Taylor’s motivational theory, by contrast, focuses on satisfying the instinctual needs on a physiological level (Hiriyappa, 2018, 129). He considers the rationing of work, the hourly wage, and the rules describing the procedure for performing tasks as factors ensuring the interest of employees in high-performance labor.
Procedural theories focus on the behavior of people based on their knowledge and upbringing. The expectancy theory of Vroom, based on the relationship between the level of remuneration received and satisfaction with it gained wide popularity among procedural theories. In his view, employee satisfaction and motivation are directly dependent on the degree to which the expected remuneration corresponds to labor results (Ryan, 2019, 60). If employees do not understand the relationship between the results achieved and the desired compensation, their motivation will weaken. At the same time, they will strive to minimize the costs of their labor. The theory of justice, supplementing the theory of expectations, postulates that people subjectively determine the ratio of the reward received to the effort expended. They relate it to the rewards of other people doing similar work. The use of this theory can be successful if it is possible to establish a fair remuneration system and explain its advantages to employees.
The effectiveness of enterprises and the level of profit are greatly influenced by employee engagement. It is one of the main conditions for business success in any field. Employee engagement implies the psychological state of workers when they are interested in the success of the organization and invest their efforts and time in the common goal. If employees are involved in the working process, they are ready to help managers make decisions, solve problems, and plan future projects. When a team is in the right condition, its members understand that their effective performance makes their lives and the life of the company better. Motivated people do not think about leaving an organization, therefore creating a strong team.
Low engagement is the reason for the unsatisfactory performance of employees, quality of service, and customer service. This, in turn, leads to a serious loss of the company’s income. The level of employee engagement in the enterprise should be measured regularly. It is also essential to conduct a timely analysis of the effectiveness of measures taken to increase this indicator. The main criteria for evaluating engagement include interest in the work process, a good understanding of goals, prioritization, and great initiative. To analyze the level of engagement, managers can use statistical data, monitor the work process, conduct surveys, and create questionnaires.
The engagement system should be created using tools divided into several stages. First is the planning of events, in which enterprise heads and HR managers conduct surveys to determine the level of staff engagement and analyze the results. Further, it is necessary to develop appropriate measures to increase this indicator for each unit or group of employees. The second stage is the implementation of the steps provided by the plan. There should be an appointed employee responsible for staff engagement activities. Third, an analysis of the effectiveness of the measures taken should be carried out. The level of staff engagement achieved during events can be revealed based on the information obtained through a repeated survey.
In conclusion, staff motivation is an exciting and challenging task. In any circumstances, this should be done by every company that wants to achieve success. Employees are people whose happiness plays a vital role in the prosperity of any organization. If they feel comfortable in a company, they are ready to perform their tasks better and achieve common success. Therefore, the better they are motivated to work, the better the company’s performance becomes.
Reference List
Hiriyappa, B. (2018) Management of motivation. New York: PublishDrive.
Maslow, A. (2019) A theory of human motivation. New Delhi: General Press.
Ryan, R. (2019) The Oxford handbook of human motivation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.