MSG Team's other articles

10704 Preventing Relapse for a Training Program

‘People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well neither does bathing – that is why we recommend it daily’ said Zig zagler. One of the strong objections to the usefulness of training is that the impact of training programs doesn’t last longer and that employees get back to older ways of doing things sooner. This […]

11941 Why Businesses Must Protect Themselves From Cyber Threats and Cyber Warfare ?

In this tightly integrated and interconnected 24/7 world where businesses operate at all times and keep their IT (Information Technology) enabled processes and systems running all the time, it is important for such businesses to protect themselves against cyber threats and cyber warfare. By definition, cyber threats refer to the risks arising from hacking and […]

8829 Workplace Efficiency – Being Efficient at Workplace

Remember, every organization pays its employees for their hard work and efficiency. Individuals need to achieve the assigned targets within the desired time frame. It is essential for employees to meet deadlines and deliver results on time. Why would an organization promote you if you do not accomplish tasks within the desired time frame? Employees […]

12935 Corporate Strategies to beat the Downturn: Cutting Slack and Layoffs

The Difference between Top Line Growth and Bottom Line Profitability Corporates need growth to sustain their activities and increase their profits. What is known in financial jargon as Top Line Growth is the increase in revenues that happens because of growth that the corporate actualizes during a given year. In contrast, what is known as […]

9676 How Technology Can Help in Collection of Metrics for the HR Scorecard

The HR Scorecard Relies on Data The HR Scorecard is a data and metrics-driven tool that relies heavily on the collection of such data and metrics. Thus, it can be said that the HR Scorecard thrives on data and metrics. While data can be collected manually which is a time-consuming procedure, it can also be […]

Search with tags

  • No tags available.

Motivation is one of the most important concepts in HRD. In most organizations, it is common to hear the refrain that a particular employee is not motivated and hence his or her performance has taken a backseat. This is the reason companies spend humungous amounts of money in arranging for training sessions and recreational events to motivate the employees. Motivation can be understood as the desire or drive that an individual has to get the work done.

For instance, when faced with a task, it is the motivation to accomplish it that determines whether a particular individual would complete the task according to the requirements or not.

Further, the absence of motivation leads to underperformance and loss of competitiveness resulting in loss of productive resources for the organization. It is for this reason that the HR managers stress on the employees having high levels of motivation to get the job done.

There are many theories of motivation and the ones being discussed here are the Herzberg’s hygiene theory, Maslow’s need hierarchy theory, and McGregor Theory X and Theory Y.

Herzberg’s Hygiene theory states that for employees to be motivated, certain conditions need to exist and the absence of these conditions or the hygiene factors demotivate the employees.

The point that is being made in this theory is that the presence of hygiene factors is a precondition for performance and is not a determinant of performance. On the other hand, the absence of these factors actually demotivates the employee. Hence, the bottom line is that companies should have the basic conditions under which employees work fulfilled so that there is no drag on the performance.

Maslow’s need hierarchy theory postulates that individuals are motivated according to a hierarchy of needs which start from satiation of basic needs and then go on to need for recognition and finally, the need to actualize one’s vision and reach the highest stage of personality.

The point that is being made in the theory is that individuals progress from one stage to the other depending on how well the needs at each stage are met.

Motivated Employee

So, organizations have to ensure that employees’ needs are taken care of at each level so that by the time the employee reaches the top of the ladder, he or she is in a position to actualize them. Finally, McGregor’s theory of motivation alludes to the carrot and stick approach that is favored by many managers.

This theory states that employees can be motivated by a dual pronged strategy of rewarding them for good work and punishing them for bad work. The opposites of these reactions mean that employees have a strong incentive to do well as opposed to doing badly.

Motivation of employees is indeed important for the health of the companies. Only when employees are motivated sufficiently can they give their best. Typically, companies focus on compensation and perks and benefits as a strategy to motivate employees.

However, as we have seen in this article, employees are motivated by factors other than pay and hence, the HRD function must take cognizance of this fact and proceed accordingly. This means that the need for job satisfaction and fulfillment have to be taken care of as well for the employees to reach their potential.

Article Written by

MSG Team

An insightful writer passionate about sharing expertise, trends, and tips, dedicated to inspiring and informing readers through engaging and thoughtful content.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Articles

The Best Ways to Deal with C Level Performers

MSG Team

When Dismissal is the Best Course! How Corporates Decide to Fire Employees

MSG Team