Without trust, there is not change to the status quo, and with no change to the status quo, there is no motivation. It all begins with trust in the leader who attempting to bring greater levels of change within any organization (Burke, Sims, Lazzara, Salas, 2007). Any leader looking to create more motivation in their organizations, from for-profit to social services, the need is clear for management teams to be trustworthy, transparent, (Douglas, Zivnuska, 2008) and most important, willing to create opportunities for employees including social workers to have the opportunity to achieve more. The need for achievement, recognition and earn an identity of having mastery over their jobs is more critical to the majority of workers than increased time off or more money. Herzberg (2003) has defined in his theories the use of more accountability and less control from managers on how a given job goal or objective is attained. Allowing employees to in effect define their own approaches to solving the complex problems also provides them with a strong sense of mastery of their job as well. From these accumulated factors, the majority of employees over time develop a strong sense of ownership specifically for their jobs and its responsibilities (Herzberg, 2003).
Summary
The task of motivating employees in any organization is more about fostering and nurturing an internal sense of ownership of their jobs and the opportunity to continually gain mastery of it. The use of coercion and authoritarian-based approaches to this is often...
Motivating employees need to start first with a focus on creating new ways for them to gain accomplishment from doing their jobs, also providing for recognition when earned and the chance to also learn more about how what they do benefits the entire organization but also enrich them as individuals. Only then will motivation increase. It cannot be pushed from the outside; it has to come from within.
References
Jeff Dennis. (2007, March). The 20% SOLUTION. Profit, 26(1), 25. Retrieved February 14, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1219077571).
Shawn Burke, Dana E. Sims, Elizabeth H. Lazzara, Eduardo Salas. (2007). Trust in leadership: A multi-level review and integration. Leadership Quarterly, 18(6), 606.
Retrieved February 16, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1397260071).
Ceasar Douglas, Suzanne Zivnuska. (2008). Developing Trust in Leaders: An Antecedent of Firm Performance. S.A.M. Advanced Management Journal, 73(1), 20-28,2. Retrieved February 13, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1451832151).
Frederick Herzberg. (2003, January). One more time: How do you motivate employees. Harvard Business Review, 81(1), 87-96. Retrieved February 15, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 272453511).
Robert F. Hurley…
