Employee Motivation and Engagement

¶ … Improving Employee's Involvement

Motivation is a complex subject yet important in the success of management and the organization if applied correctly. Actually, organizations in the modern business environment increasingly face the need to understand and apply effective strategies for promoting employee motivation and involvement in work processes. As the Chief Executive Officer, I have noticed that the production unit is experiencing employee dissatisfaction, which has generated the need for improving employee involvement and motivation. This will be accomplished through addressing various topics and subtopics related to employee motivation as shown below:

Factors that Contribute to Employee Motivation

Employee Engagement Survey

Define Engagement Goals

Motivation at Personal and Organizational Level

Barrier to Employee Motivation and Engagement

Lack of Knowledge

Fear

Poor Management Practices and Strategies

Organizational Culture

Employee Motivation Program

3.1. Awareness of Organization's Vision and Mission

3.2. Employee Training

3.3. Team Building Events

3.4. Rewards and Recognition Program

3.5. Encourage Risk-taking

Implementation of Critical Topics

As previously mentioned, employee motivation is crucial towards the success of management and the overall success of the organization. For this organization, the production unit could benefit from implementation of effective employee motivation strategies through addressing the various issues relating to employee involvement. The most crucial topics to address and implement in the organization's production unit include

Factors that Contribute to Employee Motivation

The first step in promoting employee motivation and involvement is identifying factors that contribute to employee motivation. According to The Wall Street Journal (2010), obtaining a better understanding of what contributes to employee motivation help in enhancing the success of the manager while getting the most out of employees in relation to their involvement and input to work processes. In this case, management practices should not be based on assumptions of what motivates employee based on information regarding human behavior. Since these assumptions are not usually accurate, asking employees what contributes to their motivation is vital towards effective management practices and increased employee involvement.

The implementation of this important aspect would entail conducting an employee engagement survey, defining employee involvement goals, and examining motivation at individual and organizational level. The survey will focus on determining the level of employee engagement in the unit and identifying individual and organizational factors that affect motivation. This implies that the organization's management will ask employees what contributes to their motivation and if those factors are present in the organization's workplace. In addition to defining the goals of employee involvement, the survey will help management identifying existing gaps between current practices and the actual factors for motivation.

Barriers to Employee Motivation and Engagement

The second important aspect in employee engagement and motivation is the identification of barriers that hinder the development and implementation of effective strategies that promote motivation and involvement in work processes and activities. Some of the most common barriers include lack of knowledge, fear, poor management practices and strategies, and organizational culture. Lack of knowledge and fear have been regarded as the major reasons workers show poor attitude and are not motivated at work ("Employee Motivation," 2010). Poor management practices affect employee motivation and engagement by creating an environment where employees do not feel a sense of belonging or ownership. Employees become increasingly dissatisfied with the management's decisions and actions, which results in low self-esteem and negative attitudes towards work. An organizational culture can also act as a barrier, especially when it does not promote the creation of a strong social environment.

The implementation of this crucial aspect in the production unit of the organization will entail using the results of the employee engagement survey. Once the management has identified existing gaps between current practices and actual factors that contribute to employee motivation, they will examine individual and organizational factors that contribute to this gap. These individual and organizational factors will be considered as barriers that affect employee motivation and involvement in the various work processes and activities in the organization's production unit. The management will then proceed to develop effective strategies to address each of the identified factors or barriers. This is primarily because identifying the barriers is not enough to promote improved motivation in the workplace as much as the development and establishment of important strategies to deal with the barriers. These strategies will vary depending on the existing barriers and will be included in the employee motivation program.

Employee Motivation Program

The final most important aspect of this process is the development of a suitable employee motivation program based on individual and organizational factors. A suitable and effective employee motivation program goes beyond rewards and recognition initiatives to incorporate other elements like team building, encouraging risk taking, promoting awareness of organizational vision and mission, and employee training. Team building provides an avenue through which a strong social environment is created in the organization while awareness of the firm's vision and mission helps in ensuring adopted practices facilitate the realization of common goals and objectives. Risk taking helps employees become more involved whereas the training enhanced motivation through promoting career growth and development. These measures contribute towards making a business case for employee engagement, taking action on survey results, ensuring managerial accountability for engagement, and using engagement metrics as part of performance criteria (McMullen, 2013, p.24).