Motivation

“The motivation of a person covers all the reasons for which he chooses to act in a certain manner” (Adair, 2006).

1

are you THAT person? is money you carrot?

I´m currently working at a company that makes commercializes and exports cakes. I began to work half time on 11 January 2011, but I´ve been coming since last semester to assess the company on how to deal with international commerce. Since the day I began until today, I have noticed a certain pattern in the CEO´s behavior and how it affects the employees motivation: given that the CEO has only studied until the 6th grade, he is not familiarized with the different motivation theories there are, he does not understand how a company is driven besides making money, he does not realize that employees are just more than expendable assets. The reaction that I have seen amongst employees is that they work because they have to, they joke A LOT about quitting, they complain about the CEO, they don’t feel committed to the company, they don’t seem happy, etc. 

2

MONEY ISN’T ALWAYS THE SOLUTION; SOMETIMES IT’S NOT EVEN A SOLUTION

Thanks to the lecture with our teacher Gina, to our readings on this subject and my experience in this company (and in other ones), I have noticed that motivation plays a VERY IMPORTANT ROLE in the success of a company; a great leader is not only the one that punishes the hardest, or the one that makes the most money. A great leader is the one that knows how to get to his employees, looking finally to achieve as a team, the company’s goals. So the questions we have to ask ourselves (if someday we want to be leaders [and this applies to everything, not only companies, but also community leaders, family leaders, sports leaders, and so on]) are:

Is economic retribution enough to motivate employees? Does enough money make an employee work harder?

In order to answer these questions, I think that we have to base first on the theory:

• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs states that we have a pyramid of needs and that we fulfill the top levels when we have satisfied the lower levels.
• Frederick Herzberg’s two factors theory states that when a job is executed properly, the employee will be motivated.   
• The equity theory states that people are most motivated when treated equally.

And so on, there are a lot more theories that talk about motivation.

If we analyze closely these theories, many of them state that money is merely ONE of the MANY motivations sources there are. Money is a motivation factor that works only in the short term. Why? Because an employee will be happy once he is announced a raise and will probably be as happy when he receives two or three payments, but when he starts to get used to this income and accommodates his spending according to this money, he will return once again to square one, and eventually will want more and more. On the other hand, a bonus can be quite enthusiastic but the continuity of this method could probably create bad rivalry inside the company.

In my personal experience, I have found good reactions when I walk into the office and say “hi”; I have seen that talking to other coworkers that are below you (in staff position) in a friendly environment instead of a work environment, can allow them to open up and express what they truly feel and think; and so on, I have analyzed inside the company I work in that a happy employee is a motivated employee, and a motivated employee is a triumph oriented employee.

As a conclusion, I think it is evident to say that money is one of many methods to motivate an employee, and sometimes, it could be the least preferred and resourceful.

According to the needs of the company, there are many factors that motivate employees in the short, medium and long term such as:

• talking to each employee in a non employer way.
• offering possibilities to study and work at the same time.
• arranging a day where every employee brings one or two family members.
• and so on.

IMAGES:

1. http://www.businessballs.com/images/jim_barker_cartoons/carrot_motivation_cartoon.jpg
2. http://www.zealise.com/images/prp_cartooncopy.gif

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• Accel team 2010. Employee motivation: theory and practice. accel-team.com. Accessed 02/02/2011. http://www.accel-team.com/motivation/
• Motivational theory. Businessballs.com. Accessed 02/02/2011. http://www.businessballs.com/motivation.htm
• Chapter 4 - organizational motivation. The international development research centre. Accessed 02/02/2011. http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-28365-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html