How Can a Manager Motivate a Workforce - Essay Example

? Employee Motivation Introduction A manager is defined as an individual who is awarded with theprimary of managing an organization and he/she may perform this function by conducting the tasks of planning, organizing, and staffing as well as leading the resources of an organization. While managing resources, managers even have the task of leading the human resource of an organization and they tend to perform this task my motivating the human resource in order to attain the aims and objectives of the organization (Bach, 2013, p.212). Employee motivation is the drive that pushes individual employees into working hard towards the achievement of an aim or objective that is critical for the success of an organization. Several theories regarding how managers can motivate employees have been figured out by different researchers and these theories can be incorporated in real life by managers to motivate employees. One such theory is the need theory proposed by McClelland and according to this theory all individuals experience three kinds of needs including need for power, association and achievement and individuals tend to work in order to attain the satisfaction of these needs (Lauby, 2005, p.2). This writing will focus on how managers can use McClelland’s need theory in order to motivate their employees and how motivating employees can benefit an organization. Body As stated in the introductory section, individuals face three kinds of needs and they have a desire to fulfil these needs. One of the three needs identified by McClelland is the need for achievement that motivates individuals to work hard. Managers can motivate their employees by helping them in achieving the aims and objectives of their lives. For example: employees work in order to earn money and they want to earn money in order to purchase a better living standard and lifestyle for themselves and even for those who are related to them. This shows that managers can motivate employees with the assistance of monetary rewards in exchange for the hard work and time employees invest in completion of aims and objectives of the organization. A study was conducted by Condly and other researchers in which the researchers figured out that out of 45 studies conducted on the impact of financial incentives on employee performance, a 22% performance increment was experienced by those organizations that offered financial incentives to their employees and the impact of financial incentives was greater than the impact of nonmonetary incentives (Condly, 2003, p.60). Employees are not only motivated by monetary benefits, they can even be motivated through other motivational factors if used by managers in the appropriate manner. One need that motivates individuals to work hard is the need for achievement, while McClelland states that different individuals experience difference in the desire of satisfaction of different needs. Some individuals may experience a higher level of desire to fulfil the need for achievement, while others may experience a higher desire to fulfil the need for affiliation. Need for affiliation is categorized by an individuals preference to maintain relationships that are social in nature and to be with certain individuals who share similar kinds of taste and choices. Managers can help employees satisfy this need in order to motivate employees. For example: certain employees may have a need to satisfy the need of affiliation by being affiliated with to level management of the organization or they would want to be affiliated with individuals who have ample amount of power within the organization. In order to help satisfy this need, managers can assign employees with tasks that are of great importance to the organization. This will motivate the employee to work hard as such assignments will help in gain recognition among the top level management of the organization. A research was conducted by Eisenberger and other researchers in which they conducted two studies to find the link between employee performances on the basis of the perception of being values held by the employee (Eisenberger, 1990, p.57). The researchers figured out that there was a positive link between perceived value and attendance and performance level of the employees. The last need identified by McClelland was the need for power and managers can even assist employees in satisfying their need for power in order to motivate them. Individuals who have a higher degree of desire to satisfy their need for power obtains satisfaction when things happen around them and changes taking place in their environment are caused due to heavy involvement of these individuals. It is not necessary that an individual is awarded with a powerful position in order to satisfy his/her need for power, an individual can have power obtained through the source of his/her expertise. Managers can use these expertise while solving problems and finding solutions for issues in order to make employees feel that their expertise are helping the organization in the decision making process. A study was conducted by Spector to identify the benefits of having employees who perceive that they are in control (Spector, 1986, p.1014). Through this study, the researchers figured out that when employees believed that they were in control, the performance level, job satisfaction, commitment as well as their involvement levels elevated. There are various benefits that can be obtained by an organization that has a highly motivated workforce. When employees are motivated they tend to be less absent from their organization and their performance level as well as commitment level towards the organization increase (Condly, 2003, Eisenberger, 1990 & Spector, 1986). When employees are less absent and their performance levels elevate, they tend to work for higher number of hours and this results in increased productivity for the organizations. When the level of commitment increases, employees tend to stay with the organization for a longer period of time and this results in decrease in employee turnover rate of the organization and this even leads to reduction in the costs including the cost of recruitment and selection as well as training and development of employees that an organization has to pay as a result of higher turnover rate (Catano, 2009, p.65). Conclusion There are several ways proposed by theorists through which managers can motivate their workforce. One theory that can be used by managers in actual life to motivate workforce is the need theory proposed by McClelland. He proposes that that all individuals have three needs and they try to satisfy them, these needs include need for relationships, power as well as attainment. Managers can motivate employees by paying them wages that equate with their input to help employees attain their personal goals in life, managers can help employees in creating and marinating relationships with different constituencies of the organization by providing them with task that are of significant importance to the organization and managers can involve employees in decision making to satisfy their need for power. A highly motivated workforce tends to produce more and leads to decrease in employee turnover rate and costs associated with rate of employee turnover. References Bach, S., & Edwards, M. R. (2013). Managing human resources human resource management in transition. Hoboken, N.J., Wiley. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=645071. Catano, V. M. (2009). Recruitment and selection in Canada. Toronto, Nelson Education. Condly, S. J., Clark, R. E., & Stolovitch, H. D. (2003). The Effects of Incentives on Workplace Performance: A Meta-analytic Review of Research Studies 1. Performance Improvement Quarterly. 16, 46-63. Eisenberger, R., Fasolo, P., & Davis-Lamastro, V. (1990). Perceived organizational support and employee diligence, commitment, and innovation. Journal of Applied Psychology. 75, 51-59. Lauby, S. J. (2005). Motivating employees. Alexandria, Va, ASTD Press. http://www.lib.sfu.ca/cgi-bin/validate/books24x7.cgi?bookid=12182. Spector, P. E. (1986). Perceived Control by Employees: A Meta-Analysis of Studies Concerning Autonomy and Participation at Work. Human Relations. 39, 1005-1016. Read More