Employee Productivity: Arguing for Happiness Over Monetary Pay

This argumentative essay explores the factors that contribute to employee productivity, focusing on the debate between monetary compensation and employee happiness as primary motivators. The essay contends that while financial incentives are important for meeting basic needs, they are not the most effective long-term drivers of productivity. It argues that engaged and motivated employees, fostered by factors such as trust, recognition, career advancement opportunities, and a sense of meaning in their work, are more likely to exhibit higher levels of dedication and output. The essay supports this claim by referencing various studies and theories, including Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory, to illustrate the significance of intrinsic motivation and the impact of a positive work environment. The core argument is that happy, valued employees, who feel connected to the organization's mission and vision, are more likely to be productive and loyal compared to those primarily driven by financial rewards. The essay concludes that creating a workplace that prioritizes employee well-being and development is key to achieving sustained organizational success.

Running head: EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY
EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1
EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY
The success of every organisation and business mainly depends upon the dedication of its
diligent workers who provide excellent productivity. It is seen that employees who provide extra
effort can make a big difference to the organisation helping it to earn profits. It is also observed
that the employees who perform only what the job responsibilities require them to do and
nothing more than that can stymie the expected progress of the organisation (Aboelamaged,
2018). Therefore, duty of the management is to motivate the employees in ways by which they
can reach their full potential and maximal level of productivity. Researchers are therefore of the
opinion that those organisations who can recognise as well as encourage increased productivity
are seen to be more successful in comparison to their counterparts who do not encourage their
employees to do so (Raziq & Maulabakish, 2015). Often motivation is seen to be one of the most
important driving factors for increasing productivity of employees. However, not all motivating
factors can induce the same happiness and zeal in the workers to work beyond their capacity.
While some individuals say that better pay motivates employees to become highly productive,
others are of the opinion that happier the employee, the better is the productivity (Menges et al.,
2017). This assignment will mainly be argumentative where the later claim would be supported
against the former claim and different evidences would be provided to support the argument.
The statement that better pay makes employees more productive cannot be supported. In
place, happy employees are better production givers. Engaged and motivated employees are
extremely important for every organisation. They are fund to be extremely crucial for driving the
business productivity, profitability as well as customer service. Therefore, finding and keeping
top talent is extremely significant for every business (Albrecht et al. 2015). In many of the
companies, money is found to be the most frequently used motivator but researches show that
financial incentives are indeed a poor choice for changing the behaviour of the employees to

2
EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY
make them more productive. Money is extremely important to pay bills and support families but
once when the fundamental needs are met, the psychological benefits of money become indeed
debatable to make employees continue to give more productivity. Researchers have shown that
there is often little correlation between the pay and job satisfaction levels and this extend even
beyond cultures and geographies. Many of the studies have indeed shown that people’s
professional lives are greatly enriched when the employees feel that they are indeed making
progress in the work that is meaningful to their professional career (Hasibuan et al., 2016). When
organisations are able to give employees a sense of meaning, it helps them to build organisations
that are effective and competitive. Researchers after conducting many studies have come to
conclusion that when employees are given meaning as well as ownership of their work, they are
seen to be more committed in doing it. They are seen to be more personally motivated as well as
more personally engaged (Ng & Lucianetti, 2016). When employers place more importance and
time to understand what the employees really value and provide them recognition as contributing
members of winning teams, employees are seen to be much happier and more enthusiastic in
their approach towards the organisation. When the employees are able to align with the mission
and vision of the organisation with the help of the management and when the boss shows
appreciation of the work of the employees, taking every opportunities to celebrate success of the
employees, the later feel loved, cared and accepted in the organisation. Therefore, intrinsic
motivation has the capability to make employees to not only dedicate to themselves to the
organisation but also helps them to develop a sense of ownership of the good will and profit of
the organisation. Such behaviour of the employees helps in increasing the productivity largely
(Njoroge & Yazdanifard, 2016). Money on the other hand is an extrinsic motivator and cannot
help in establishment of a lifelong relationship of dedication of the employee towards the

3
EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY
organisational development and better productivity. Those organisations, which will claim to
provide higher money to the individuals, can easily attract those employees easily. Such
employees can never be retained and therefore they cannot prove to be a true companion of the
organisation when the organisation goes through periods of distress. Therefore, happy employees
are stated to be more productive and dedicate themselves entirely to the welfare of the
organisation (Masadeh et al. 2016). However, those employees who use money as the sole
motivator can provide high productivity but they can never be considered as a dedicating
employee and can change their focus, when monetary compensations does not make them
satisfied or when they find better financial opportunity.
Another angle can be also provided in their argument where money does not only satisfy
employees and there are many other factors that are also considered by employees to work in the
organisations. Money cannot always ensure to motivate people to provide more productivity.
Many other motivators also play key role in deciding the morale of the employees, making them
much happier and satisfied and helping them to provide greater productivity (Bhuvianeh & Raya,
2016). Trust is one of the most important aspects that have great contribution in developing the
morale and making employees much more dedicated towards production. When employees feel
that their employers trusts them completely and is trying their best to meet the interests of the
employees, they feel happier and contented with their position in the organisation and develop an
intrinsic motivation to work for the betterment of the organisation and the employer. (Scott et al.,
2015) An environment of trust and transparency makes employees happy and more productive
(Xiong & King, 2015). Many employees prefer this attribute rather than monetary compensations
and hence only better pays is not enough to make employees productive all the time. Many
others researchers are of the opinion that recognition is yet another motivating factors that can

4
EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY
also motivate people by making them happy and enabling them to develop an intrinsic feeling to
provide more productivity. Researchers are of the opinion that the simple act of letting an
employee know about their dedication and high quality performance and thereby recognizing
their achievements that helps the organisation to flourish can help in developing the productivity
of the nation. When employees are appreciated, they develop a feeling of accomplishment and
this in turn makes them satisfied and happy. They feel that their dedication is recognised and
cared for by the organisation 9Navimipour et al., 2015). Such respect makes human beings
happy, they tend to dedicate themselves more to prove their capability, and hence they are seen
to be highly productive in comparison to those employees who are motivated by money. The
inner enthusiasm to provide one capability has huge strength to make the people work beyond
their capability and meet the organisational goals and vision. Another factor that also leads to
higher production in employees making them satisfied is better chances of career advancements.
When employees feel that that they have greater avenues as well as opportunities for the
employees for advancing in their positions, they feel excited as they feel that they can advance in
their careers and cross milestones to emerge out as expert professionals (Hanaysha & tjahir,
2016). Many professionals are highly ambitious and therefore career advancement opportunities
make them happy and result them in working with the organisation whole heartedly providing
more productivity (Van De voorde et al., 2016). Therefore the claim that better pays make
employees more productive cannot always be held true but happier employees who are well
recognised, have source career advancement and develops a relationship of trust with the
organisation also provides higher productivity.
There are different theories that have also supported many other factors that lead to
motivation besides money being one of the factors. One can take the example of Maslow’s

5
EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY
hierarchy of needs in order to provide more strength to the claim that is made in the assignment.
Maslow has clearly five important things that are extremely important for the professionals to
achieve in order to be motivated to work. In this theory, there has been no mention of monetary
benefits as a measure of being motivated. The first one is the psychological need like food,
water, shelter. The other factors are safety, feeling of love and belongingness, esteem as well as
self-actualisation (Jung & yoon, 2016). In this theory, Maslow has not been seen to provide
importance to financial benefits as a rationale for motivation in employees and therefore it can be
used in order to prove that the statement that “better payoffs result in better productivity” can be
nullified. Hertzberg Two factor theory can also be used here to shed more light on the arguments
that are being made. This theory states that two categories of factors affect productivity at work.
The first category is called the motivational factors that result in satisfaction as well as
motivation of the employees to work harder. These factors are enjoying the work, career
progression as well as feeling recognised. These category called motivational factors do not see
the involvement of monetary compensations as one of the motivational factors for the
development of productivity in the individuals working for the organisation (Zavadsky et al.,
2015). There is also another set of category called the hygiene factors, which does not
necessarily influence motivation but lack of these factors, may make employees demotivated.
These include salary company policies, benefits, and relationships with managers and co-
workers. Hence, salary was seen to be included in the hygiene factor which means the
researchers has clearly stated that salary is one of the factors which does not necessarily does not
motivate employees but low salaries may make them motivated (Dugguh & Dennis, 2014).
Therefore, this easily helps to prove the fact that the claim of better payoffs resulting I higher
productivity cannot be supported. Again, Maslow’s theory says that when all the needs of the

6
EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY
persons are meet, they become happy and satisfied and they can increase productivity by being
motivated. Therefore, the statement that happy employees are more productive can thereby be
stated to be correct.
From the entire discussion, it is seen that better pay offs are not enough to make
employees motivated to continue giving higher productivity for a large period. Such employees
who get motivated with better pay offs might give higher productivity but they can also shift
their base to a new organisation who attracts them with higher salary or incentive structure.
Therefore, such employees may not tend to dedicate themselves in ways by which they feel to
meet the mission and vision of the organisation although they try to achieve higher productivity.
On the other hand, employees who are satisfied with their job role and enjoys working in the
organisation would be considered as happy employees who do not require extrinsic motivation
factors like money to hold them back to produce higher productivity. It is clearly stated in the
assignment that employees who feels that the company trusts them, maintains transparency with
them, shares all important information of the organisation with them feels that they are respected
cared and loved by the organisation. This helps them develop intrinsic motivation to provide
more productivity for the organisation that trust them and helps them to overcome all barriers.
Thus, symbiotic relationship is yet another motivational factor that ensures employees are happy
and providing high productivity. Such motivational factors help them to stick to the organisation
even when the organisation is in crisis and their dedication for the organisation makes them sure
that they are providing high productivity. Often when employees see that the organisation is
giving them scopes for career advancement by which they can become expert professionals, the
employees also feel motivated. They tend to develop an internal urge to work their best to
provide more productivity and do not require extrinsic motivators to inspire them to develop

7
EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY
more productivity. Moreover, the individuals who are acknowledge by their employers feel more
encouraged and happy and they try to keep up the good work and achieve more productivity to
meet the expectations. Therefore, it is seen that the only money is not the sole factor that can
make the employees productive. There are many other factors which make employees happy and
that in turn results in higher productivity. Moreover, theories have also been seen that support
the claim and the argument that happy employees are productive are proved to be true through
the argumentative essay.

8
EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY
References:
Aboelmaged, M. G. (2018). Knowledge sharing through enterprise social network (ESN)
systems: motivational drivers and their impact on employees’ productivity. Journal of
Knowledge Management, 22(2), 362-383.
Albrecht, S. L., Bakker, A. B., Gruman, J. A., Macey, W. H., & Saks, A. M. (2015). Employee
engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage: An
integrated approach. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and
Performance, 2(1), 7-35.
Bhuvanaiah, T., & Raya, R. P. (2015). Mechanism of improved performance: Intrinsic
motivation and employee engagement. SCMS Journal of Indian Management, 12(4), 92.
Dugguh, S. I., & Dennis, A. (2014). Job satisfaction theories: Traceability to employee
performance in organizations. Journal of business and management, 16(5), 11-18.
Hanaysha, J., & Tahir, P. R. (2016). Examining the effects of employee empowerment,
teamwork, and employee training on job satisfaction. Procedia-Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 219, 272-282.
Hasibuan, H. A., Purba, R., & Siahaan, A. P. U. (2016). Productivity Assessment (Performance,
Motivation, and Job Training) using Profile Matching. SSRG Int. J. Econ.
andManagement Stud, 3(6).
Jung, H. S., & Yoon, H. H. (2016). What does work meaning to hospitality employees? The
effects of meaningful work on employees’ organizational commitment: The mediating
role of job engagement. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 53, 59-68.

9
EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY
Masa'deh, R. E., Obeidat, B. Y., & Tarhini, A. (2016). A Jordanian empirical study of the
associations among transformational leadership, transactional leadership, knowledge
sharing, job performance, and firm performance: A structural equation modelling
approach. Journal of Management Development, 35(5), 681-705.
Menges, J. I., Tussing, D. V., Wihler, A., & Grant, A. M. (2017). When job performance is all
relative: how family motivation energizes effort and compensates for intrinsic
motivation. Academy of Management Journal, 60(2), 695-719.
Navimipour, N. J., & Zareie, B. (2015). A model for assessing the impact of e-learning systems
on employees’ satisfaction. Computers in Human Behavior, 53, 475-485.
Ng, T. W., & Lucianetti, L. (2016). Goal striving, idiosyncratic deals, and job behavior. Journal
of Organizational Behavior, 37(1), 41-60.
Njoroge, C. N., & Yazdanifard, R. (2014). The impact of social and emotional intelligence on
employee motivation in a multigenerational workplace. International Journal of
Information, Business and Management, 6(4), 163.
Raziq, A., & Maulabakhsh, R. (2015). Impact of working environment on job
satisfaction. Procedia Economics and Finance, 23, 717-725.
Scott, M., Falkmer, M., Girdler, S., & Falkmer, T. (2015). Viewpoints on factors for successful
employment for adults with autism spectrum disorder. PloS one, 10(10), e0139281.
Van De Voorde, K., Veld, M., & Van Veldhoven, M. (2016). Connecting empowerment‐focused
HRM and labour productivity to work engagement: the mediating role of job demands
and resources. Human Resource Management Journal, 26(2), 192-210.

10
EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY
Xiong, L., & King, C. (2015). Motivational drivers that fuel employees to champion the
hospitality brand. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 44, 58-69.
Závadský, J., Hitka, M., & Potkány, M. (2015). Changes of employee motivation of Slovak
enterprises due to global economic crisis.