Understanding Why People Work: Factors Affecting Employee Motivation

This project explains the various factors that motivate employees to work and the positive and negative factors affecting employee experience. It also recommends strategies to cope with negative factors. The subject is World of Work, course code BMP3004, for BSc (Hons) Foundation in Business Management.

BSc (Hons) Business Management with
Foundation
BMP3004
World of Work
Understanding why people work
Submitted by:
Name:
ID:
Contents

Introduction 1
What does Motivation Mean? 1
The various factors which motivate employees to work
p
The positive factors employees experience as a result of their
job roles p
The negative factors employees experience as a result of their
job roles p
Strategies to cope with negative factors employees
experience as a result of their job roles p
Conclusion p
References p

Introduction
World of work defines the occupations, jobs, employers, employees, pay-checks,
promotion and other employment related stuff. This project will help in understanding
the reason why the people work. In this project the various different factors which help
in understanding the reason why people work will be explained. This project helps in
understanding the impacts which the work can have on people. This project explains
both negative and positive factors effecting the employee experience.
What does Motivation Mean?
Motivation is the process which initiates, guides or influences an individual
towards their goals. Here the motivation is about working for an organization as an
employee. Motivation for employees is the level of energy, commitment and creativity
which the company's workers bring to their jobs. It depends on the environment whether
it is growing or shrinking for finding ways of motivating employees.
Maslow's Hierarchy theory suggests the needs of the employees is what
motivates them for their work. This theory consists of five stages which can be depicted
as hierarchical levels within a pyramid. Starting from the bottom of the pyramid
elaborating the most motivating need is the physiological need. These are necessary
needs which are essential for the human survival. These needs are, air, food, drink,
shelter, clothing, sleep, etc. Safety needs are also very important for the motivation of
the employees as people like to experience order and predictability and control in their
lives. Love and belongingness needs is the next need which motivates employees as it
talks about the social and involved feeling towards their belongingness (Rožman, Treven
and Čančer, 2017). Esteem needs is the fourth level on this pyramid which suggests that
individuals wants to have their self-worth, respect and accomplishment for feeling
satisfied and motivated. Self-actualization the need which is at the top of pyramid refers
to the realization of the person's potential, self-fulfilment for seeking personal growth and
peak experiences.
Intrinsic motivation is the kind of motivation which comes from within and is
considered that the individual enjoys such activities for which they are intricately
motivated. Extrinsic motivation is the types of motivation which refers to the behavior
3

according to which the employees are motivated through external factors such as
rewards, money or grades (Olusadum and Anulika, 2018).
The various factors which motivate employees to work
Salary: Salary and motivation of employees are considered to be correlated to each
other. Those individuals which are satisfied with the salary they are on can afford to have
a comfortable life. This is what motivates them, getting their salary increased motivates
the employees to gain job satisfaction, maintain and improve their lifestyle in monetary
terms. For some employees high salary is a validation of their status and qualifications
which all together is a motivating factor for the employees to work. High salary helps the
employees to afford more and better things which are way beyond their basic needs.
Promotion: In the current era motivation is a very important and effective factor of the
employee to work with encouragement. Motivation some times is based on the
determined rewards at which the subordinates set for achieving goals. Promotion is such
type of motivation as it plays an important role in the organization with enhanced
motivation technique. Promotion is not just growth in the monetary terms what it brings is
a sense of responsibility which allows the individual to gain motivation as they feel more
and more successful. It helps the employees to become a priority to the work they are
doing, and they feel much more important (Shaaban, 2018).
Work Environment: The work environment is a very influential factor for the
motivation of the employees. This happens because the mind of an employee is said to
be very easy to get influenced. This allows the employees to find the balance between
the stress and pressure of the work and life balance for the stress and pressure. This
changes the incremental improvements of the environment and can be very positive for
the behavior of the employees.
The positive factors employees experience as a result of their job
roles
There are five factors which can positively effect the employee experience as a
result of their job roles,
Meaningfulness :
4

Employees which knows about the meaningfulness of their job role are tended to
contribute more towards the ultimate objective. Transparent goal management and open-
ended conversations the understanding of the goal management can be achieved
(Alhempi and Supeno, 2021).
Work environment :
Both the physical and psycho-social work environment plays a very important role
for ensuring that the employees can feel contented and secured. A safe environment in
which the employee gets the respect they deserve can be very motivating for
achievements and receiving support and sympathy in tough times.
Modern performance management :
The employees feel the most motivated for knowing their appreciating work which
they have put in. In many organizations the performance reviews are also tied with
compensation and other benefits which help the employees to push forward. This is why
in the modern performance management the employees are able to align with the needs,
goals, and ambitions of the organization towards the objectives and their mission.
Growth opportunities & skill :
Employee do not want to get stuck in the same position or the job role in which
they can do their task day after day. It is considered to be the talent which offers the
unique skills which allow the business to be honed and be celebrated. Training sessions
from the management or workshop experience acts very positively towards the job role of
the organization (Augustine and et.al., 2021).
Trust in leadership :
The degree of trust which the employees have in their leader can effect them
positively as they can influence the performance. Leaders have the ability of motivating
the employees for working effectively and also make sure that they are not being
exploited. For such a leader the employee enjoy working and achieving goals.
The negative factors employees experience as a result of their
job roles
Factors which effect the employee experience negatively are,
Excessive workload :
5

Some times during the work the employees experience excessive workload due to
which they feel exploited. Being felt exploited is a very negative factor for the employee
as they are unable to move forward.
Poor management :
The ability of the if is poor it can lead to different problems in the organization.
Management is needed to be strong for providing the company the directions for moving
towards the success.
Job security :
Employees want job security for them as it ensures them about the future. Lack of
job security in a job can be very demotivating for the employee and can effect the
employee and their motivation negatively (Rusmianto, Damayanti and Irawan, 2018).
Lack of challenges :
Some people want to face some challenges and when they do not face them tend
to feel boredom or frustration towards their job roles. Thus, it is important for the
individuals to face some challenges to keep them motivated.
Recognition :
Employees want to get recognized for their work and performances. In work
places were they do not get these treatments they tend to get demotivated and results in
their performance is negatively effected.
Strategies to cope with negative factors employees experience
as a result of their job roles
For coping up with the negative factors of the employee experience an employer
follow the following strategies,
Utilization of employee journey mapping :
By visualizing the different stages through which the employees go through in their
job role for the company, It will allow the company to identify the main points and critical
moments in which action is required for closing the current gap for the desired state.
Improving internal communication :
Internal communication within the team can also be very effective for the
performance of the employees in the organization. It allows the business to foster the
sense of community and encourage the employees for working together for the common
goal of creating a cohesive company culture (Shahraki and Ghaderi, 2020).
Implementing stay interviews :
6

Stay interviews are individual conversation which takes place between the
manager and the employee for understanding the employee wants and also resolving the
issues of retention. One of the reason it is helpful in building trust because it allows the
employees to gather their perspectives on the experiences they have developed.
Investing in Employee benefits :
The active employees can incur lower health cost which saves the company both
time and money (Kaemingk, 2019). The benefits of the employees are more than just
their health it also considers the emotional and spiritual wellness which can create the
employees who are rested and more attentive and productive for work.
Conclusion
With the help of this project it can be concluded that employees work properly in
their specific job role only when they are motivated for working in it. This project explains
motivation with the help of Maslow's Hierarchy, instinctive and extrinsic motivation. In this
project different factors which effect the motivation of an employee both positively and
negatively are discussed. This project also recommended some strategies for coping with
the negative factors of employee experience in their job role.
References
Books and Journals
Alhempi, R.R. and Supeno, B., 2021. Effect of Training and Motivation on Employees
Performance of The Environment and Forestry Department of Riau
Province. Husnayain Business Review. 1(1).
Augustine, O.O., and et.al., 2021. THE IMPLICATIONS OF MOTIVATION ON
EMPLOYEES’PERFORMANCE IN THE NIGERIA CIVIL SERVICE. FUDMA
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES. 1(2). pp.22-40.
Olusadum, N.J. and Anulika, N.J., 2018. Impact of Motivation on Employee Performance:
A Study of AlvanIkoku Federal College of Eduaction. Sigma. 1(1).
Rožman, M., Treven, S. and Čančer, V., 2017. Motivation and satisfaction of employees
in the workplace. Business Systems Research: International journal of the
Society for Advancing Innovation and Research in Economy. 8(2). pp.14-25.
Rusmianto, R., Damayanti, D. and Irawan, I., 2018. Factors Affecting Employment
Waiting Period for the Graduates of DIII Accounting of State Polytechnic of
Lampung. Jurnal Ilmiah ESAI. 9(1). pp.301-310.
Shaaban, S., 2018. The impact of motivation on organisational citizenship behaviour
(OCB): The mediation effect of employees’ engagement.
7

Shahraki, M. and Ghaderi, S., 2020. Investigating the Factors Affecting Hospital
Expenditures of Iranian Urban Households: Emphasis on Maternal
Education. Journal of Health Management & Informatics. 7(2). pp.76-83.
Online
Kaemingk, D., 2019. 10 ways to improve employee experience.[Online]. Available
through: <https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/10-ways-to-improve-employee-
experience/>
8