Classical Theories of Motivation
February 12, 2025
With an aim to leverage on the global talent, virtual teams are becoming the norm for team work in most of organizations. But there are certain myths that cloud the mindset of the managers/leaders of these virtual teams which does not allow them to utilize their full potential. For the success of virtual team, it […]
It is often the case that companies are faced with a dilemma about whether the change initiatives must be driven from the top or they should be organic from the bottom up. This is especially the case with organizations that are growing in size where the increase employee base or the skyrocketing sales and revenues […]
The core of the equity theory is the principle of balance or equity. As per this motivation theory, an individual’s motivation level is correlated to his perception of equity, fairness and justice practiced by the management. Higher is individual’s perception of fairness, greater is the motivation level and vice versa. While evaluating fairness, employee compares […]
Academicians and practitioners from all over the world have been tried very hard to come up with a model which would help them to predict bankruptcy in a firm before it occurred. In the previous article, we have already studied how the expected default frequency model was used and what its advantages and limitations were. […]
What is Strategic Change? In response to the fast changing and fluid marketplace and industry landscapes, many management thinkers came with theories of strategic change. The first among them was the legendary Peter Drucker who coined the term Age of Discontinuity to describe the way in which disruptive change affects us. In Drucker’s model, the […]
“I am in this job because I have no other option.” If this is what an employee of your company feels, read on to know how this statement can be changed to something more positive - “I love what I do.”
First things first - whose responsibility is it to ensure that an employee loves his job? While an employee would say - the employer, the human resource experts have a different point of view which sounds fair. It’s both the employer and the employee who should work together to make work fun for each other.
It is interesting to know here, that employees do not rank ’salary’ as the top factor in determining whether they like their jobs or not. What is important to them then - the opportunity to do what is ’important’. Almost all the employees would like to feel part of the big picture and would want to contribute to the organizational goals in some way or the other. Doing the mundane, routine work will never excite them - what excites them is - work that challenges them to use their talent. Right Management Consultants conducted a survey sometime back and found that 83% of about 500 workers surveyed were motivated by “challenges at work”. Also, as per an executive editor of the Harvard Business Review, while salary and promotions could do a great job of demotivating people if handled ineffectively, they aren’t so much effective in motivating people.
So then what needs to be done for effective motivation at workplace?
![]() | Link Rewards directly to Performance- An organization should adopt a fair reward structure which provides incentive to the most deserving employee. Have an incentive structure in place doesn’t solve the problem... what makes it workable is the employees trust in the system and believe that they will be rewarded if they perform well. |
![]() | Compliment employees- Even though an employee’s name has not appeared in the list of people getting incentives, go ahead and compliment that employee for a job well done - no matter how small. There is nothing more satisfying to an employee than a pat on his back. |
![]() | Be transparent- While there may be some strategic decisions which you might want to share with the employees at a later stage, make sure employees do not give in to the rumours. Stay in touch with the employees. |
![]() | Work on your PDP- Every employee is responsible for his/her own career. He/she should work towards his ’Personal Development Plan’ [PDP] as discussed and agreed by his manager. Find out what are the training company offers and which is best suited to his development needs. How this will motivate you - remember training always increase your marketability and enhance your career. |
![]() | Participate and Network- Remember you work for a company where a one-on-one attention might not be possible. Do not wait for an invitation to participate in a discussion. If you are a part of a forum, then you have full right to express your opinion and be a part of the process. Expressing yourself is a good way of motivating yourself. |
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