To understand employee motivation, we first need to know exactly what it means. The most common definition of motivation states that motivation is the psychological process that gives behavior purpose and direction. It has also been defined as the inner force that drives us to do something. If a person is to a job and do it good, they need some sort of employee motivation or motivation factor behind it.
In most cases it is the responsibility of the boss or supervisor to motivate his or her employees. When employees are motivated they are more likely to enjoy what they do and therefore will produce better result from their work. Therefore, the manager or boss is to motivate the employees then he or she should also be motivated. It has been found that employee motivation is the key to performance improvement.
There are several factors that motivate people to do good work. One of the leading motivating factors in a job is money. Those people who are being paid well for their services are more likely to do better work then those who are not.
It has been found in the United States that people who are being underpaid for the work they do are working up the level that they could be. They are too busy thinking about their pay and wishing they were getting more. If they were getting paid for their time and effort then maybe they would be motivated to do better work. You can also look at employee motivation from a psychological point of view. According to a psychologist named Maslow, there are five different levels to motivation.
These levels are based on people's needs. These needs include, physiological, safety, social, ego, and self- actualizing. Maslow argued that lower level needs had to be satisfied before the next higher level need would motivate employees. There are other psychologists who believe that there are other factors that lead to motivation amongst people. These include, motivators or intrinsic factors, such as achievement and recognition, produce job satisfaction.
Hygiene or extrinsic factors, such as pay and job security, produce job dissatisfaction.
James Hunt has spent 15 years as a professional writer and researcher covering stories that cover a whole spectrum of interest. Read more at www.motivation-central.info