Motivating employees

            The success of an organization greatly relies on how employees perform their duties in producing goods and offering services aimed at meeting the company objectives. In order to enhance the success of a business, the organization must find ways to motivate its employees and encourage them to not only perform their duties but do so in a way that is best suited to promote the growth and success of the business. Motivational theories are therefore helpful as they help a business to determine ways in which it can motivate its employees to work as a team and maintain high quality work not only in groups but also when tackling individual responsibilities.

            A good example of motivational theories is Maslow’a theory of hierarchy of needs which argues that; when trying to motivate employees, employers must start by understanding the current needs that employees have and come up with ways to satisfy them accordingly. The theory is best situated for situations where an organization is trying to grow from its current position (Jeanty, 2018). In a situation where a business is trying to expand its reach in the market, satisfying employee needs will encourage them to be more positive and even market the business to other customers and bring about the desired growth. An advantage of this theory is that it brings employees together and makes them feel as part of a team. A disadvantage is that focusing on employee needs could draw attention away from the business and end up neglecting the business objectives.

            The carrot and stick theory on the other hand argues that fear and incentives are an ideal way to motivate employees. Incentives can be used to appeal to employees that work well when their efforts are recognized and rewarded. Fear on the other hand can be used to motivate employees who are afraid of losing their job or being reprimanded (Joseph, 2018). The carrot stick approach is ideal for situations where a business is under new management. Since the employer does not know all employees well, the approach can be used to encourage or scare employees to do well and is therefore a good motivational tool (Joseph, 2018). An advantage of this approach is that it allows employers to motivate employees even when the employer is not fully acquainted with them especially in new businesses. The downside however is that it is difficult to identify which employees need to be inspired and which need to be scared and the approach could backfire. 

            Lastly is the two factory theory that suggests that various factors in the business could either satisfy or dissatisfy employees and therefore influence their level of motivation. The theory is best suited for a situation where a business’ performance keeps rising and falling despite the motivation practices in play (Joseph, 2018). Employers could identify factors that demoralize employees and resolve them in order to ensure that the business environment is ideal. The theory has an advantage in that it not only identifies ways to motivate employees but also helps to resolve factors that create a non conducive business environment. The downside to the theory is that it requires a lot of research and analysis as the entire business process has to be examined in order to identify which areas cause dissatisfaction for employees as well as coming up with ways to resolve them.

 

 

 

References

Jeanty J, (2018) “What is motivational theory in an organization?” retrieved from,             https://smallbusiness.chron.com/motivational-theory-organization-15946.html

Joseph C, (2018) “Three main theories of motivation” retrieved from,             https://smallbusiness.chron.com/three-main-theories-motivation-1888.html