Four major methods to improve employee motivation

Employee Motivation

As there is no best style of leadership in situational leadership, the most effective one is the one that will keep balance between what is task-relevant and the maturity of the individual or group that they are attempting to lead or influence (Hersey and Blanchard, 1977). Motivation is the basic driving force by which individuals work, change, and actualize to achieve their goals -- and may be intrinsic or extrinsic. Much of the theory of motivation is based, of course, on the seminal work of Maslow, not only on human needs, but on the manner in which those needs are met within the cultural context which, in the contemporary world, often means the workplace (Maslow, 1943). Regardless of the contemporary nature of the workplace, the manager is still working with individuals who have differing needs, styles of communication, expectations, and internal needs for actualization. There are a number of theoretical paradigms one may use to improve employee motivation. Within those theories are differing modalities of structure and actual motivational templates. For the purposes of this work we will focus on four theoretical questions: how do each of the following theories translate into the most efficacious employee motivation tools - incentive theory, drive-reduction theory, need hierarchy theory, and goal-setting theory.

Incentive Theory -- Incentive theory presupposes a reward, tangible or intangible, that has the potential for a recurring benefit to the individual. This is done at its most basic level by associating positive returns for certain types of performance. Stimuli -- money, intellectual satisfaction, power, authority, etc. -- all drive these individuals. Within the workplace, they individual knows that the manager is the reinforce of the behavior and if they perform X they will receive the Y reward that motivates them the most. The reinforce, however, also believes that rewarding this behavior will have dual outcomes: habit for the employee and greater motivation for colleagues and co-workers (Watkins and Leigh, 2010, pp. 4345+).

Drive Reduction Theory- The basis of drive-reduction theory is that each person has certain drives, both biological and cognitive, that are strengthened until the drive is satisfied. In the workplace this may translate out to the point that the drive for the employee becomes insatiable unless it is fulfilled. It is up to the manager to find a way to communicate with the employee so that that particular drive is amplified. For the manager, this may be recognition (a need to be acknowledged as an expert), social change (a causality of something perceived as good), part of innovation (new materials or ideas), etc. Thus, reducing this overwhelming drive causes the employee satisfaction, and therefore better work performance. However, it is unlikely that this theory operates on its own; there are likely secondary and tertiary motivators that work within this model (Harrison, et.al., eds., 2004; Masicampo and Baumeister, 2011).

Need Hierarchy Theory- Need theory is a combination of Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs" and Herzberg's "Two-Factor Theory." It essentially goes beyond drive and says that humans have needs that must be satisfied; typically layered from survival issues upward. Once the bottom layers have been fulfilled (e.g. food, shelter, safety), then self-esteem, recognition, achievement and self-actualization, which are all workplace goals, become even more important. These workplace needs are an intrinsic/extrinsic motivational technique that results in job satisfaction, but if absent, result not in dissatisfaction, but no satisfaction. Thus, there are motivators (challenges, responsibility and recognition) and hygiene factors (salary, fringe benefits, status) that may result in demotivation. The key for the manager, then is to identify the true motivational needs and provide an appropriate environment for their actualization (Bobic and Davis, 2003; Koontz and Weihrich, 2006).