Motivation refers to an internally generated drive to achieve a goal or follow a particular course of action. Highly motivated employees focus their efforts on achieving specific goals. It’s the manager’s job, therefore, to motivate employees—to get them to try to do the best job they can.
Motivated employees call in sick less frequently, are more productive, and are less likely to convey bad attitudes to customers and coworkers. They also tend to stay in their jobs longer, reducing turnover and the cost of hiring and training employees. But what motivates employees to do well? How does a manager encourage employees to show up for work each day and do a good job? Paying them helps, but many other factors influence a person’s desire (or lack of it) to excel in the workplace.
Motivation theories analyze the factors that influence motivation. To a large extent, their subject is focused on the analysis of needs and their impact on a basis. These theories describe the structure of needs, their content, and how these needs are related to a person’s motivation for the activity. In my company, I would apply the motivational theory of expectations, in which the motivational effect is not the needs of people themselves but a thought process in which an individual evaluates the reality of achieving a goal and receiving the desired reward.
The theory of expectations is based on the position that the presence of an operational need is not the only motivation. This theory is based on a person’s expectations that efforts will give the desired results (Barba-Sánchez & Atienza-Sahuquillo, 2017). In addition, the anticipation that the results achieved will be followed by a reward and the understanding that the reward will have a specific value. The higher the value of each of the elements, the higher the motivation.
Difficulties can be solved by motivating people to perform specific tasks. Often, financial motivation will be the most effective, so the theory of expectations will be the most appropriate. A person’s desire to succeed is influenced by the desire to earn more money to be able to purchase the desired goods, the desire to travel, and other opportunities that money can give. Therefore, by motivating employees to perform high-quality work with subsequent monetary remuneration, one can get excellent results. For the most straightforward definition of how effective an employee is, it is necessary to establish in advance the framework and criteria by which the work performed will be evaluated.
Reference
Barba-Sánchez, V., & Atienza-Sahuquillo, C. (2017). Entrepreneurial motivation and self-employment: evidence from expectancy theory. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 13(1), 1097–1115.