Motivation - Admission/Application Essay Example

Factors Affecting Employee Motivation Factors Affecting Employee Motivation In order to understand employee motivation as well their attitude towards work, Fredrick Herzberg carried out studies to find out the factors that influenced an employee’s motivation. He discovered that the factors causing dissatisfaction at work are different from those causing satisfaction. In light of this he developed the two-factor theory (Grasser, 2008). The motivation-hygiene theory tries to explain these factors.

The hygiene factors are the dissatisfiers while the motivation factors are the dissatisfiers. It is important to note that the term hygiene is loosely used here to mean that these factors do not cause dissatisfaction on their own. Instead, it is their maintenance that leads to dissatisfaction. Company policy, supervision relationships in the work place, work conditions and salary are some of the factors identified to cause dissatisfaction. Achievement, recognition, responsibility, the work itself, advancement and growth are the ones that cause satisfaction.

The first section of this paper shall critically analyze my own job in relation to this theory. Since my graduation four years ago, I have been working for the Information Technology Services Administration in the King Fahad Specialist Hospital (KFSH), Dammam, Saudi Arabia, for three years. The mission of the administration was to “provide compassionate quality healthcare, integrated with education and research and to be the leading center of excellence in specialized healthcare”. I was the person in charge of developing, revising and distributing this mission among the employees.

The administration was one of the four main divisions in KFSH, responsible for all IT daily functions for more than four thousands users. These functions include distribution, installation, configuration, and maintenance of PC's, laptop, scanners, audio-visual and printers. Motivators Before working for KFSH, I was a simple college graduate, undecided about my future. I was passionate about working but I did not know that through my job I could positively influence the community. After working in KFSH, the only hospital in the small town of Dammam, I was glad to have the facilities to help the community members to receive the best healthcare possible.

I was proud of both myself and the organization. Therefore this is a satisfier leading to motivation since I was happy with the work I was doing (Grasser, 2008). At KFSH, I had a wide range of administrative responsibilities. Additionally, I trained several new employees and coached them for a few months. Indeed, I am still frequently consulted by my superiors on certain projects that I used to handle. Therefore, I was satisfied with the responsibility I had to undertake. Though I was working in the IT department of a hospital, the nature of my work was mostly administrative given my purely academic educational background.

Hence, my opportunities for promotion was particularly limited; as colleagues with computer science backgrounds would be more qualified for promotions. Indeed, it was not uncommon for non-medical professionals to be stagnated in a certain level of the hospital’s managerial ladder. I am not satisfied with advancement and growth due to the lack of promotion. This is a dissatisfier leading to lack of motivation (Grasser, 2008). Hygiene Factors I was privileged to work with a professional team of managers and co-workers, who were willing to support, encourage and guide me.

I was always listened to, appreciated and acknowledged for my work. Indeed, my relationship with co-workers has been particularly excellent. It is noteworthy to state that I got married to a dentist who was a colleague. Therefore I am not dissatisfied with the relationship I have with both my supervisors and colleagues (Grasser, 2008). Additionally, I am satisfied with supervision at the work place. I also enjoy working there and thus enjoy the working conditions as well as my salary. Vroom’s Expectancy Theory Victor Vroom assumed that behavior comes as a result of conscious choices in order to maximize pleasure.

This theory has three faces to it. One is valence which can be defined as what employees prefer for their reward. This is based on what they value (Grasser, 2008). The other is expectancy is the expectations that the employees have on what they are capable of doing. Lastly, is the instrumentality is the perception that the employees have whether they will receive what they desire. My job was developing the policies and procedures for IT department I expected a high recognition to my work; therefore, I put my maximum effort.

Additionally, I had the right qualifications and did my work competently. I was confident about my capabilities and thus remained motivated (Grasser, 2008). Nevertheless, although the remuneration was very low, I believed that I was helping the society. In this way I remained motivated to work since I believed the work was well worth all the effort. However, I was not as motivated as I could be because of the pay. Conclusion I enjoyed my job. Using the motivation-hygiene theory, I was mostly satisfied with the factors.

I was particularly not dissatisfied with the hygiene factors. However, the motivation factors fell short. I was not satisfied with my growth and advancement. Using the vroom expectancy theory, it is safe to conclude that I stayed motivated. The only factor that was not motivating was the remuneration. Therefore, overall, using both theories, this paper comes to the conclusion that I was motivated to do my work. Reference Grasser, A. (2008). Understanding pretense: A look at theories of motivation. ProQuest.