Employee Motivation, Rewards, and Driving Forces Motivation

Employee Motivation, Rewards, And Driving Forces

Motivation is the study of what makes us do things. Every day we are faced with many decisions. What choice we make is the study of motivation. There are several theories of motivation, the theory of opportunity-cost is the most widely recognized. This paper will discuss the major forces that drive us and influence our decisions.

The advent of the industrialized age forced many companies to study what motivates their workers in an attempt to boost production. It was believed that money was the key motivational factor in driving employee performance. It was later found that other factors besides money effect their attitudes and work ethics (Lindner, 1998). This led to further studies in an attempt to understand the factors that motivate employees. These included Maslow's need-hierarchy theory, Herzberg's two-factor theory, Vroom's expectancy theory, Adam's equity theory, and Skinner's reinforcement theory (Lindner, 1998).

All of these theories centered on one factor. Modern motivational theory believes that all of these theories are summarized in one idea, opportunity-cost (Lindner, 1998). This idea is centered on the idea that every action has a cost.

This cost may be time, money, or emotional. In making our decisions we weigh the potential gain from the action against the cost (Lindner, 1998).

Motivation is important. For employers motivation means production. For students, motivation means the ability to achieve the end goal. Lorraine and associates conducted a survey of students in both high school elementary school and found that the degree of motivation in these students was directly associated with their ability to learn and perform certain tasks (Lorraine et.al., 2001).

In practical application, in order for employers to increase production and teachers to increase the ability for students to learn. Leaders must increase the benefit of the action and reduce the opportunity cost in relation ship to the gains involved. It is often easier to raise the reward than to decrease the cost. As we know, money is not the sole motivator for employees, or college students. They must gain something else, such as a sense of satisfaction, the achievement of a goal, more free time, respect, admiration, or some other benefit, which cannot be directly measured. In order for motivational techniques to be effective, it is necessary for the leader to identify what motivational factors are important, an then develop incentives based on those needs.

Effective managers and teachers give employees a sense of satisfaction. Verbal rewards and encouragement as well as recognition for accomplishments are important in increasing motivation. Employees must feel that they are a part of a group and that they have input into the outcomes of the company, both personally and as a team member. They must have goals and receive reward for achieving those goals. These goals must be clear and concrete. These same principles are important both in the workforce and in the school environment.