Understanding why people work and the factors that motivate employees

This report discusses the reasons why people work and the factors that motivate employees to perform better. It covers Maslow's Hierarchy theory, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, positive and negative factors that affect employee experience, and strategies to cope with negative factors. The report emphasizes the importance of a positive work environment, appreciation, and support for employee development. References are also provided.

BSc (Hons) Business Management with
Foundation
BMP3004
World of Work
Understanding why people work
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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
People work so that they can earn money to fulfill their needs and demands to live life as
on their own terms. People work to provide themselves the basic essentials of life such
as food, rent, clothing an shelter. The report further shows the impact of work on the
people at the workplace. It also elaborates the different factors which can motivate the
employees to work better. Moreover, it shows the positive and negative impact of factors
which can show the impact on the employees.
What does Motivation Mean?
Motivation means the process of encouraging people to attain the desired goals for the
better performance of the employees in their jobs. It is an internal process which is
affected by the satisfaction of needs for sustaining life for growth and well being. It is an
important factor to motivate in giving their best performance to attain the goals of
organization (Houghton and Baczor,2020).
Maslow's Hierachy theory
Maslow's Hierachy theory is a theory of motivation which contains five categories of
human needs and an individual's behavior. The five categories are physiological needs,
safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs and self-actualization needs.
This theory presents its hierarchy needs in a pyramid shape.
Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation
Extrinsic motivation
Extrinsic motivation is the behavior of individuals that is driven by external factors which
can be a reward or avoidance of negative outcomes. It can be defined as a motivation
to participate in an activity which is based on achieving an external goal for example
winning an award, competition or praise.
Intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation is behavior which is affected by the internal rewards and when
someone engages in a behavior due to its rewarding nature. The activity is being
performed for its own sake instead of desire for some external reward. For example
investing money to become financial independent, playing games to enjoy, working in
team to lean collaboration and many others.
The various factors which motivate employees to work
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Each employee has different set of rules and regulations that motivates them to do their
best work as motivation is the reason that drives all of the actions. There are various
factors that drive an employee is the main step on the way to increase performance.
There are some components that contribute to employee motivation are explained below-
 Salary: A well planned salary will motivate the employees to work and
improve their performance so that it can help in retaining the key employees.
It helps in providing motivation to stay and contribute to the company's goal.
 Promotion: To keep employees motivated is the main task and job
promotion can motivate an employee by appealing to career and personal
priorities that workers may hold. For the future success of company promotion
is important as employees receive recognition on the basis of their hardwork.
 Work Environment: Work environment shows an important role at workplace
as the positive work environment allows thExtrinsic motivation e employees to
feel good about their work which provides the motivation to sustain them. As
the employees spend their significant part of their time at work when the
employees are satisfied they can lead towards more towards positive work
outcomes(Severson, 2018).
The positive factors employees experience as a result of their
job roles
A positive employee experience provides the opportunity to grow and when the
employees are engaged they feel inspired and motivated to do the tasks in order to
attain the desired goals. There are several positive factors which can affect the
experience of employee's job role-
 Working Environment- For the overall development of the employees
working environment is also important to give both personal comforts and
faculties doing a good job. If the working conditions are not good then the
employees will find it difficult to get things done. On the other hand, if the
working conditions are good then the employees will find it easier to carry
out their jobs.
 Appreciation- Appreciation leads to encouragement and that will clearly
visible on the performance of the work. The level of job satisfaction is always
higher whenever appreciation is higher. The human being loves to be
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appreciated. When the employees get acknowledged in front of everyone,
that leads to boost their morale.
 Support employee's development- When employees are committed for
professional growth and career development. The management can support
the employees throughout their journey by regular coaching, feedback,
check-ins, training and courses.
A positive employee helps the company to keep a long way in keeping employees
engaged in order to keep the employees happy and supported (Maslow , 2019).
The negative factors employees experience as a result of their
job roles
1. A negative work environment at some point can lead to lawsuits for
defamation, discrimination or harassment. A negative co-worker can
adversely affect the whole organization or a team. Managers and co-workers
are advised to listen, redirect and work towards a solution. Most of the
employees are not skilled , trained or comfortable at handling the conflict.
There are negative factors that employees can experience as a result of their
various job roles which are as follows-
 Interruption and annoyances- This includes the various conditions or
situations at workplace that could disturb the daily work of the team or an
individual. When someone from the team makes mistakes that will lead to
disturb the whole working of the team.
 Unpleasant interpersonal interaction- This can be the disagreeable
situation or behaviors delegated to the employees by the colleagues,
customers or mangers. It can be aggressive communication or bad mood
behavior.
 Leader-related issues- This concern leads to face difficulties in performing
daily tasks and involvement in unwanted and unchallenged tasks. This could
bring the situations at workplace that somehow disturb the daily work of an
individual.
 Threats to self-efficacy and performance- It is mainly related to the
personal flaws or difficulties that can somehow threaten an self-efficacy
which can badly affect the employee's behaviors, attitudes and performance
at work (Heckhausen, and Heckhausen, 2018).
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Strategies to cope with negative factors employees
experience as a result of their job roles
Managers try to maximize the effectiveness by removing the negative factors. Better
employee experience is the key to enhance the customer's experience. Different
strategies to cope with negative factors that can be felt by employees due to their job
roles are as follows-
 Make the employees feel heard- Whenever the employees feel bad or
negative about any situation at the workplace the management should take a
moment to listen to their concern. By giving time they can feel better about
their particular situation that will ultimately lead to reduce the overall negativity
(Bridger and Gannaway, 2021).
 Distance from the negative situations- At workplace it is necessary to
remain professional and positive while working in teams and completing the
projects . Some workplaces have some employees who create negative
environment at office. A break can be taken to get rid of the negative
situation, take deep breathes of fresh air or take a walk outside to calm the
mind around the negative employees. Professionalism can also help in
negative coworker discover different resources to help them in order to find
the solutions for their various problems (Fulcher, Cote and Marasco, 2021).
 Set boundaries- It is also essential to set the boundaries at the earlier stage
at the workplace to make sure that all are respected to each other. The limits
can be set in terms on how the employees approach the communication and
prefer to be communicated with. If an employee engages in the casual
conversation with anyone tell them to get back to the work.
 Cultivate a positive mindset- getting rid of the negative environment helps
to feel happier and motivated about completing the work and task. As after
spending time with negative people at workplace it is important to clear the
mind to remove the negativity from the work life.
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the above report that people work to earn money to fulfill
the needs for food, rent and to live life with their family and friends. Main reason for
work is not only money because working can also give a sense of independence to
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control life on its own terms. There are also various ways to keep employees
motivated that is by promotion, holding an “Employee of the month”, providing
training, positive work environment, path of career progression and many others.
References
Bridger, E. and Gannaway, B., 2021. Employee Experience by Design: How to
Create an Effective EX for Competitive Advantage. Kogan Page Publishers.
Fulcher, J., Cote, T. and Marasco, K., 2021. People Operations: Automate HR,
Design a Great Employee Experience, and Unleash Your Workforce. John Wiley &
Sons.
Heckhausen, J. and Heckhausen, H., 2018. Motivation and action: Introduction and
overview. In Motivation and action (pp. 1-14). Springer, Cham.
Maslow, A.H., 2019. A theory of human motivation. General Press.
Severson, E., 2018. Integrating the Employee and Customer Experience. People &
Strategy, 41(3), pp.48-50.
Houghton, E. and Baczor, L., 2020. Workplace technology: The employee
experience.
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