How Can Leadership Influence Employee Motivation - Essay Example

As Williams states, “motivating people to do their best work, consistently, has been an enduring challenge for executives and managers” (p. 1). In every company, managers play the role of leaders in increasing employee motivation because they know that motivation not only improves employee performance but also increases the overall productivity of the company. Some of the main benefits that leaders aim to get for their companies through increasing employee motivation include organizational development, improved employee commitment, resource integration, and improvement in business processes.

Role of Benefits in Increasing Employee Motivation

Employee benefits play a valuable role in increasing employee motivation. The main objectives of providing benefits to employees are to retain them and increase their motivation to keep working hard for the company. Some of the widely used types of benefits that employers usually include in the employee benefit plan are housing and medical allowance, flexible work schedule, paid leaves, 401k, and daycare centers. Almost every company, whether big or small, designs employee benefits plan according to their financial capacity because benefits play an influencing role in raising the level of employee satisfaction which in turn increases their job productivity and efficiency. Some of the main benefits that companies get from the implementation of employee benefits schemes include resource integration, increased employee motivation, organizational development, and improvement in business processes.

Let us now discuss some of the main benefits provided by managers to employees. One such benefit is the provision of a flexible job timings facility to employees using which employees become able to handle their professional duties and personal life responsibilities in an appropriate manner. A customized work schedule instead of fixed timings are one of the main motivating factors for employees because it helps them in getting some time for their personal commitments. Another benefit that big companies usually provide to their employees is a house rent allowance. The companies provide house rent to employees who are not able to buy houses in order to support them in meeting their expenses. Along with this, companies also provide free medical insurance to employees which is again a key motivating factor. These were some of the main employee benefits that play a considerable role not only increases employee motivation but also in raising the level of employee retention and decreasing the turnover rate.

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation

If we talk about intrinsic motivation, we can say that intrinsic motivation has no external source that may drive an employee to achieve his/her goals; rather it is associated with the needs and ambitions of a person.  On the other hand, extrinsic motivation refers to the ways that organizations use to build or increase employee motivation. Individuals who are intrinsically motivated do things either to get internal satisfaction or to achieve a sense of accomplishment. There is no external element or force that pushes employees to work hard for their goals (Thomas, 2009). One of the main points that distinguish intrinsically motivated employees from those extrinsically motivated ones is that intrinsically motivated employees usually show long-term consistency and dedication to their tasks. Another point of difference is that intrinsically motivated employees feel pleasure and internal satisfaction in doing tasks because of which their job performance is on the higher end most of the time. Some of the main examples of intrinsic motivation include running daily to relieve stress, writing articles in order to satisfy the internal need of gathering more knowledge and playing physical games to develop sports-related skills and to remain physically fit (Thompson, 2010). On the other hand, some of the main sources of extrinsic motivation include bonuses, rewards, employee benefits, compensation, promotions, and job enrichment (Thompson, 2010).

Importance of Motivation for Organizational Effectiveness

Improved organizational performance is related directly to the level of employee motivation. As Ellis-Christensen (2013) states, “when employee motivation is low, businesses can have a difficult time” (p. 1). This statement shows that companies come across a number of problems with less motivated employees and some of those problems include poor employee performance, decreased employee commitment, poor customer service, decreased income and profits, and increased employee absenteeism. On the other hand, when employees feel valued and respected by their employers, they show more commitment and dedication to their job responsibilities, which consequently improves overall organizational performance and effectiveness.