Effective Staff Motivation as a Strategic Tool

This paper discusses how proper staff motivation is a strategic tool for attaining competitive advantage and achieving organizational goals. It explores existing motivation theories and their relationship to staff motivation and achievement of organizational goals.

Running Head: EFFECTIVE STAFF MOTIVATION AS STRATEGIC TOOL
Effective Staff Motivation as a Strategic Tool
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Business environment is changing swiftly. The current workforce is occupied mainly by
generation X and Y. These generations have different values as compared to baby boomers.
Generation Y, for example, appreciates the relaxed atmosphere and free communication style,
does not like to adhere to the dress code and walk along the line. Another effective method of
motivation for the generation that has grown up on computer games is the “disguise” of the
working routine of the aesthetics of the game (Tulgan, 2009). This put to the task the role of
human resource management. One of the most important aspects of human resource management
is ensuring effective motivation for daily work. This issue deserves special attention from
managers seeking to increase the success of their organization. That is why the study of labor
motivation underlies the development of economists and sociologists for a long time industrial
and organizational development. The main feature of theories of motivation is that until now,
none of them has lost its relevance (Ochola, 2014). This fact is explained by the fact that
organizations use the main conclusions and recommendations of completely different theories of
motivation, which may be incompatible with their activities. The provisions of these theories
play the role of assessing the existing or emerging theory of motivation in the enterprise. The
significance of the assessment of motivation as an integral part of the set of conditions for
overcoming the economic crisis requires careful reflection on the application of the theory of
motivation and the achievement of the desired results. The paper will demonstrate how proper
staff motivation is a strategic tool for attaining competitive advantage and achieving
organizational goals.
To understand the relationship between staff motivation and achievement of
organizational goals, it is important to understand dimensions and concepts of existing
motivation theories. The ancestor of the classical school of the theory of scientific management

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is F. W. Taylor. The reasoning of the scientist was simple enough and boiled down to the
following statements: if it turns out that energetic workers who work hard and hard, are paid no
more than a lazy employee, they will lose interest in their work (Grubbs, 2015). To solve the
problem of motivation, F. Taylor introduced innovations such as timekeeping and the system of
premium payment of piecework to science. In other words, the employee had the opportunity to
receive a larger salary for more hard work. Timing was necessary for the scientific assessment of
each task, because the vagueness of work requirements does not allow either to plan or set clear
goals for the employee. F. Taylor reduced each task to a series of timed and proven movements,
determined the scientific time limits for each task. This allowed us to establish the expected
performance for each type of work. The uniqueness of Taylor's theory was a significant increase
in rewards for better performance.
Famous experiments conducted in the city of Hawthorne under the leadership of E. Mayo,
opened a new vision of the theory of motivation. M. Mayo found that decent wages and well-
designed production operations did not always give a positive effect in terms of productivity.
The forces that arose in the process of interaction between people often exceeded the efforts of
the leader. Sometimes workers reacted more strongly to the influence of colleagues at work than
to material incentives and executive orders.
As a result of all scientific research conducted in the 20th century, there were several theories of
labor motivation, which could be divided into two groups: substantive and procedural.
Substantial theories of motivation combine common, inherent only signs that encourage a person
to act. It is a need, or need, that has taken a specific form in accordance with the cultural level
and personality of the individual. The need, being the internal reason for the activity of the
individual, dominates in the motives and motivation of the activity.

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As revealed by Keynes (2018), one of the first who believed that a person carries out
economic activity in a state of a certain activity, depending on the existence of a need and an
objective situation to satisfy it, is the researcher A. Maslow. He differentiated human needs into
5 groups in a sequence of social development of the individual, which states that the need for the
lower level must be satisfied before the need for the next level becomes a powerful influence
factor on human behavior. True, there is one exception: in order for the next, higher level of the
hierarchy of needs to influence human behavior, it is not necessary to fully or partially satisfy the
needs of the lower level.
The theory of motivation D. McClelland focuses on the highest needs: power, success
and involvement. It can be informal leaders, and only small groups can be exposed to their
personal influence, but this leader is interested in achieving the goals of the entire organization
(Karami & Maimunah, 2013). The need for success of such a person is satisfied by the process of
bringing the work to a successful conclusion; he can take responsibility for solving the problem
with the expectation of concrete encouragement. The need for involvement is realized by people
interested in establishing friendly relations and helping others (Trope, 2014). People with this
need will be passionate about working with a wide range of social opportunities.
According to Baldonado (2008), in the second half of the 20th century, the problem of
meeting the needs of the management system for specialists and workers was clearly marked,
and their activities became firmly tied to the environment. In accordance with the theory of F.
Herzberg, when there are insufficient hygienic factors for a comfortable and safe work, a person
has a feeling of dissatisfaction with the work performed. Many organizations tried to implement
the theory with the help of work enrichment programs, in order for the performer to feel his
importance and the complexity of his work, the lack of routine and monotony while maximizing

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responsibility. But in the theory of F. Herzberg lies the problem of determining the motivating
factors, which in turn are different applicable to the individual employee.
From these theories, it is evident that motivation enables employees work effectively.
However, the big question is: Do modern human resource managers understand the fact that the
current generation of employees have unique needs? Do they understand that generation Y, for
example, likes freedom? (Spiegel, 2013). Ability to answer this question will demonstrate that
effective staff motivation is indeed the best strategic tool for achieving organizational goals.

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References
Baldonado, A. M. (2008). 25 ways to motivate Generation Y: A pocketbook guide. New York:
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Grubbs, J. R. (2015). Leading the Lazy: Get the Most from Today’s Workforce. North
Charleston: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Karami, R., & Maimunah, I. (2013). Achievement motivation in the leadership role of extension
agents. Newcastle : Cambridge Scholars
Keynes, J. M. (2018). The general theory of employment, interest, and money. Cham,
Switzerland : Springer Science and Business Media
Ochola, D. (2014). Motivational factors influencing generation y in the workplace [EMOD
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Spiegel, D. E. (2013). The Gen Y Handbook: Applying Relationship Leadership to Engage
Millennials. New York: Select Books Inc.
Trope, Y. (2014). Dual-process theories of the social mind. Guilford Publications
Tulgan, B. (2009). Not everyone gets a trophy: How to manage the millennials. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.