Employee Engagement and Motivation

Introduction

Motivation: motivation is the processing of an individual willingness to exert a high level of effort to reach goals. Motivation comes from the enjoyment of the work itself and/or from the desire to achieve certain goals e.g. earn more money or achieve promotion. “A simplistic overview of motivation theory says needs drive behavior to reach satisfaction and avoid dissatisfaction. There are many types of needs. Consider Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: physiological, safety, love or belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.

” (Galloway, 2016)

Engagement “Employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals” (kruse, 2012) Employee engagement is actually the level of enthusiasm and dedication an employee feels toward his or her job. To these engaged employees, it is far more than a paycheque

In this essay we will be looking in to The Influence of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation on Employee Engagement. I would be looking into the meaning and examples of both the types of Extrinsic Motivation on Employee Engagement, theories of Maslow’s hierarchy, advantages and disadvantages of laws.

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“Motivation is the driving force behind actions and behaviour. It leads individuals to take action to achieve a goal or to fulfil a need or expectation.” (Motivating and engaging employees for better business, 2019)

“Motivation is the word derived from the word ’motive’ which means needs, desires, wants or drives within the individuals. It is the process of stimulating people to actions to accomplish the goals” (What is Motivation ?, 2019)

Employee engagement is a workplace approach resulting in the right conditions for all members of an organisation to give of their best each day, committed to their organisation’s goals and values, motivated to contribute to organisational success, with an enhanced sense of their own well-being.

(mcleod, 2018)

Content

What is Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation with examples of each?

Intrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation is engaging in a behavior which is personally satisfying you, not for an external reward. In simple words motivation coming from within an individual.

For example:

• Participating in a sport because you find the activity enjoyable
• Cleaning your room because you like tidying up

Extrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic motivation occurs when we engage and work in the aim of earning a reward or avoid punishment. In this people work in order to gain something but not for personal satisfaction.

For example:

• Participating in a sport to win awards
• Cleaning your room to avoid being reprimanded by your parents

An overview of theories of Motivational (Maslow’s Theory of need hierarchy, Herzberg's theory)

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

“Maslow (1943, 1954) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs and that some needs take precedence over others. Our most basic need is for physical survival, and this will be the first thing that motivates our behavior. Once that level is fulfilled the next level up is what motivates us, and so on” (McLeod, 2018)

The basis of this theory of motivation is that humans’ beings are motivated by unsatisfied needs and that certain lower needs are to be fulfilled as shown in the pyramid to reach the higher levels.

Herzberg’s theory

“The psychologist Fredrick Herzberg set out to determine the effect of attitude on motivation, by asking people to describe situations where they felt really good, and really bad, about their jobs. What he found was that people who felt good about their jobs gave very different responses from the people who felt bad.” (Placeholder1) (Herzberg, 2003)

According to Herzberg, there are some job factors that result in satisfaction while there are other job factors that prevent dissatisfaction.

Motivators (e.g. challenging work, recognition, responsibility) which give positive satisfaction, arising from intrinsic conditions of the job itself, such as recognition, achievement, or personal growth

Hygiene factors (e.g. status, job security, salary and fringe benefits) which do not give positive satisfaction, although dissatisfaction results from their absence. These are extrinsic to the work itself, and include aspects such as company policies, supervisory practices, or wages/salary

Advantages of Maslow Theory of Motivation

• Simple to Understand
• It takes into account Human Nature
• Relevant in All Fields
• It helps to understand people's needs.
• It motivates employees
• It helps to decide rewards at each level.
• It clearly states that satisfying needs are not motivators. Therefore, managers can easily concentrate on unsatisfied needs of their subordinate

Disadvantages of Maslow Theory of Motivation

• Not all Individuals Think in the Same way
• Culture Differences
• Difficult to Measure
• Every individual is different from each other
• Not all employees are governed by same set of needs
• Each one driven by different needs at same point of time
• The theory is not applicable in case of starving artist as even if the artist’s basic needs are not satisfied, he will still strive for recognition and achievement
• There is no evidence that satisfied need is not a motivator

Advantages of Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Motivation

• Contributed to understanding that money is not always the primary motivator
• Spurred interest in designing intrinsically satisfying jobs.
• Emphasis on Motivation from within
• Companies can focus on the problem of Employees
• Money is Treated Secondary

Disadvantages of Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Motivation

• De-emphasis of individual differences.
• Overlooks the importance of hygiene factors (e.g., benefits) in attracting and retaining workers
• Does not account for workers uninterested in growth and advancement.
• Job Satisfaction and Job Productivity not directly related
• It can be Subjective and Ignores External Factors

Employee’s Engagement Drivers (Psychological meaningfulness, psychological safety, and Psychological availability)

Effects of three psychological conditions — meaningfulness, safety and availability — on employees' engagement in their work. Results from the revised theoretical framework revealed that all three psychological conditions exhibited significant positive relations with engagement. Meaningfulness displayed the strongest relation. Job enrichment and work role fit were positively linked to psychological meaningfulness. Rewarding co‐worker and supportive supervisor relations were positively associated with psychological safety, whereas adherence to co‐worker norms and self‐consciousness were negatively associated. Psychological availability was positively related to resources available and negatively related to participation in outside activities. Finally, the relations of job enrichment and work role fit with engagement were both fully mediated by the psychological condition of meaningfulness. The association between adherence to co‐worker norms and engagement was partially mediated by psychological safety. Theoretical and practical implications related to psychological engagement at work are discussed.

Conclusion

“Helping people focus on the meaning and impact of their work, rather than on, say, the financial returns it will bring, maybe the best way to improve not only the quality of their work but also–counterintuitive though it may seem–their financial success,” observed Wrzesniewski and her co-author Barry Schwartz.

Self-motivation and doing the job in order to achieve personal satisfaction is much better than doing works in order to get rewards.