Any businessman or manager working in any organization in simply any industry has to encounter the problem of employee motivation. Employers or managers need to monitor and control all the employees working under them for their level of productivity. Normally, employees lose interest in their job as the level of job satisfaction falls; it is the duty of the managers to make sure the employees remain motivated and perform all the tasks given to them with fervour.
Ashoka Incorporation is a social innovator that works towards the development of social entrepreneurship. It works under the development sector on several projects that focus on bringing a change into the environment and making this society a better one to live in. Mostly, the workers that Ashoka employs are people who are philanthropists and like taking humanitarian steps towards the enhancement of society (Cohen, 2008).
It is common knowledge that every individual has a different driving force; that is, everybody gets motivated by different factors. Some common factors are prosperity, wealth, self-satisfaction and happiness (Palmer, 2004). Ashoka, like every other company, faced the problem of employee dissatisfaction with their jobs. Ashoka took calculated steps towards motivating all its workers which were not only successful but long-lasting.
Firstly, it is important for a company to know whether the workers understand the primary aim of the business or not. In order to be fully devoted to the company, they need to understand the priorities, goals and mission of the business from the owner’s point of view. In the case of Ashoka, the workers need to understand why it is important for strong masses to work for the improvement of their lives. Usually, the company heads or managers carry out surveys to collect answers from all workers together. The company also needs to work on the obstacles that hinder the best performance of the workers.
Those obstacles need to be targeted for eradication. Ashoka also targeted finding out what actually motivates the staff working with them. Since this organization was working for humanity, mostly all workers were searching for happiness by helping out the underprivileged through different projects. Ashoka also makes sure that every worker has his/her own space, as too much empowerment also frustrates the workers.
Most importantly, it needs to be made sure that the goals of the company and the workers are aligned because when an employee works towards the goal fulfilment of the company, he should feel that his aims are being catered as well. Ashoka uses the most basic trick of rewards and recognition – it acknowledges and promotes the efforts made by workers towards the development of the company. Also, it awards salary bonuses, designation promotions, and salary increments. These steps encourage the workers who aim for greater personal efforts then.
However, special care must be taken regarding the implementation of any motivational techniques. People from different cultures or nationalities have different perspectives. All of those need to be kept in mind before assuming anything about the worker. Whatever steps that are taken must not be culturally sensitive or offensive in any way (Smith, N.D). There is also a need to understand that every individual is different and has certain personality traits. Everybody has a different way of thinking which should be respected and dealt with separately. Therefore, whatever methods are used for workers need to be first checked for any such issues.
Works Citied
- Blaire Palmer (2004), employee motivation principles of improving employee motivation and empowerment. Web.
- Todd Cohen (2008), Change is a continuous job, Stanford Social Innovation Review. Web.
- Gregory P. Smith (N.D), Accelerating Workplace Performance. Web.
- Ashoka (n.d). Web.