Employee Motivation: Theories, Strategies, and Satisfaction

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of employee motivation within organizational settings. It begins by emphasizing the importance of motivating employees for enhanced performance and productivity. The essay explores various strategies for motivating employees, including creating a positive work environment, balancing job enlargement and enrichment, and establishing a balance between authority, responsibility, and accountability. It then delves into different motivation programs, such as monetary and non-monetary incentives, highlighting the significance of employee recognition and appreciation. The essay further examines prominent theories of motivation, including Maslow's hierarchy of needs, equity theory, Herzberg's theory, incentive theory, and expectancy theory, providing insights into their applications. Finally, it differentiates between intrinsic and extrinsic satisfaction, offering examples and emphasizing the impact of both on employee behavior and overall organizational success. The essay concludes by summarizing the key takeaways and reinforcing the importance of understanding and implementing effective motivation strategies in the workplace.

Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Strategies to motivate employees................................................................................................................3
Motivation programs...................................................................................................................................4
Theories of motivation................................................................................................................................6
Difference between intrinsic and extrinsic satisfaction................................................................................9
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................11
References.................................................................................................................................................13
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Introduction
For employee to perform better, it is necessary to motivate them. It varies from individual to
individual. Some are motivated by monetary incentives; on the other hand, some are motivated
by using non-monetary techniques. Motivation is basically used to induce the employees to work
and different organizations use different employee recognition techniques to help the employees
feel that they are important for the organization and are required to be retained. However, when
it comes to aviation industry, there comes many problems and people tend to change their jobs
due to lack of motivation by their employers. Airline industries basically put their efforts in
satisfying the customer because it believes in giving best quality services to them so that they can
come back and avail their services again and again. It is very important to maintain and energetic
and zealous working environment in an organization as it helps to increase the productivity of
employees and they start working with more enthusiasm when they know their work will be
appreciated and they will get incentives.
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Strategies to motivate employees
There are different strategies made by the employers to motivate employees and some of the
strategies are discussed below:
1) Create a congenial environment at workplace
A good environment should be created at the workplace so that employees can feel at home
while working and do not take the work as a burden. Expert professionals should be appointed
by the organization to create such an environment and provide the employees with the best
atmosphere. The culture of the workplace should be such as to keep the employees free from
stress. A happy environment at job should be created to maximize the output of employees. The
leaders should understand what will help the employees to give their best output.
2) Create a balance between job enlargement and enrichment
When the duties for the employees are increased, it is known as job enlargement. However, it is
important to note that when the workload for the employees is increased, they should be fully
satisfied otherwise the employees will start leaving the workplace and it is important to retain the
employees. Retention of employees is important because a lot of money is spent on their training
programs and all goes in vain if the employees turn off the organization (Shahzadi, Javed,
Pirzada, Nasreen, & Khanam, 2014). So, a balance between enlargement and enrichment is
imperative for increasing productivity of employees.
3) Create a balance between delegation of authority and responsibility
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When the responsibility for work is given to employees, it is necessary to delegate the desired
authority to employees as well, so that they can take decisions properly, but the authority
delegated should not be more than what is required since sometimes the employees start
misusing the authority. When the work is delegated, the employees are accountable to the
employer for every decision they take as it has a direct impact on the productivity of the
organization. So there should be a balance between delegation of authority, responsibility and
accountability (Dudovskiy, 2012).
Motivation programs
There are many motivational programs which are used by employers to motivate the employees
and some of them are:
Monetary incentives: In this complex world, there are different types of individuals and
different incentives are to be given to motivate different individuals. There are a huge number of
people who are motivated by monetary incentives. The profit earned by the organization is
distributed among the employees and hence, they work efficiently. Some organizations have this
policy of distributing bonus to employees annually, semi-annually or even monthly. It depends
upon the type of organization in which the employee is working. The employees expect the
increments every year, so the organizations should not miss on this and with the upgrading of the
post, the salary of the employee should be increased too (Romero, 2016). The provident fund of
the employees should be properly maintained. Most of the employees are motivated by same
monetary incentives, for example good and decent remuneration, perks, allowances, insurance
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policies and other funds. But there are employees who want the other benefits to get motivated to
work.
Non-monetary incentives: There are employees who are not only motivated by monetary
incentives, but require non-monetary incentives too. The employee recognition programs should
be conducted for the appraisal of employees and this improves their productivity of work. The
appreciation of employees is very significant to help them work hard. It is important to help the
employees know that they are important for the organization. Some organizations hold
‘employee of the month’ program to appreciate the employees and make them feel significant
(McGregor & Doshi, 2015). These programs are proven efficient for the organization because
they do not involve much cost and are simple to perform saving the time, efforts and expense of
the organization. Other incentives can be given for example bonus cards, coupons to make them
feel happy about their job. There are a number of non-monetary incentives and some of them are
listed below:
(i) Employee recognition programs can be conducted either monthly, semi-monthly or annually.
(ii) Appreciation in front of whole organization will help them improve their overall
productivity.
(iii) Various gift cards and coupons should be given to them as a token of appreciation.
(iv) The name of the best employee of the month should be displayed on the board to make them
feel important for the organization (Progressive Personnel Team, 2013).
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Theories of motivation
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: Maslow’s hierarchy need to contain five levels. The lower most
level is physiological needs which are the most basic needs, including food, shelter, and clothing.
The next level is the safety needs which include security of a job, security of body, security of
resources etc. next is the belongingness needs which include family, affection, friendship etc. the
level rises up to esteem needs which include confidence, self esteem, achievement, respect. The
last level is the self actualization needs which include creativity, acceptance of facts etc. In order
to move properly in the hierarchy, one must satisfy the basic needs and only then the self
actualization needs are fulfilled (Cherry, 2016). If the lower level needs are not fulfilled, it is not
possible to meet the highest level of needs. So, the employer should focus on meeting the needs
of the employee step by step to keep the employee motivated. It can be discussed with the help
of a figure:
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Equity theory: This theory was given by John Stacey Adams which provides that everyone
should be treated equally in an organization and giving preference to one employee over another
without any fair reason can de-motivate the other employee. Incentives given to one employee
and not given to the other employee for the same performance can be highly de-motivating and
can even compel the employee to leave the organization. There should not be biasness on the
part of the employer and fairness should be maintained. Equal appreciation should be given to
employees for the output they have given and has also benefited the organization. When they are
not treated equally they generate the feeling of ill-will towards the employer, organization and
even towards the co-workers. This disturbs the environment of the organization making it
difficult to produce good results and affecting the overall productivity. This theory promotes the
equal treatment of all the employees in the organization and reduction of biasness and prejudice
and reduction of unnecessary favors (Chand, 2016).
Herzberg’s theory of motivation: Herzberg conducted a study on few people to examine what
satisfies people and what not. The things which motivate people are not the same which de-
motivate them. The things which motivate the employees were called motivators and the things
which de-motivate them were called hygiene factors. The factors which cause satisfaction and
dissatisfaction are listed below:
a) The policies of a company may cause dissatisfaction among employees and other
procedures adopted by employers to supervise the employees may also lead to
dissatisfaction.
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b) Sometimes, ill relationships with boss may cause a great amount of dissatisfaction,
leading to de-motivation; the conditions and the atmosphere of work if not congenial
can add a lot to de-motivation.
c) The salary of employees and their relationships with peers may also cause
dissatisfaction if they are not good enough and can be considered as hygiene factors.
d) The factors causing satisfaction may be achievement of goals at the workplace,
recognition by employees, assigning of work according to the capability of
employees, delegation of authority as well as responsibility.
e) Other factors leading to satisfaction of employees may be an enrichment of job,
promotions and increments time to time and holding programs making them feel
important for the organization.
Incentive theory of motivation: The employees should be motivated to work by setting reward
for every output they bring with their hard work. Every human being works in order to get
something in return. The rewards set out may be monetary or non-monetary. Some employees
are motivated by monetary benefits and some are motivated by non-monetary benefits. People
start working harder in order to achieve the rewards. This is somewhat similar to concept called
operant conditioning where people are conditioned in a certain way where they start relating
things and in the same way employees in organizations work and they start relating work with
rewards. The more the rewards, the more the employees are motivated. So, it is suggested the
quality and quantity of rewards should be good enough to motivate the employees.
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Expectancy theory of motivation: This theory of motivation consists of three aspects which are
valence, instrumentality and expectancy. Valence refers to the value, the things which generate
less personal rewards are considered to have low valence and the things which generate high
personal rewards are considered to have high valence. On the other hand, instrumentality means
what role individuals play in generating the output. If they find the work out of their reach, they
will feel less motivated and if they work and contribute to the output, they will feel more
motivated. Expectancy provides that one holds a belief that he can generate a desired outcome
and if he holds the skills and knowledge to produce such outcome, then he feels motivated
otherwise not (Lynes, 2004).
Difference between intrinsic and extrinsic satisfaction
The few differences between the intrinsic and extrinsic satisfaction are listed below:
1) Extrinsic motivation is that from of motivation which is not internal and is external to
human beings. Some of the instances can be setting up of deadline and adding reward to
it so that employees may be motivated to perform it and the employees actually work
hard to attain the rewards.
2) Intrinsic motivation is internal to the person and the employee works hard to achieve the
goals and does it to accomplish an aim for which the employee is appointed. For some of
the employees the external factors are not motivating, but for some employees intrinsic
factors are the most satisfying ones (Lewis, 2016).
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3) The factors that can be motivating and are external may be increments, perks, allowances,
coupons, gift cards, medals etc. and the factors which can be intrinsic may be employee
recognition programs, appreciation by employer etc.
4) Example: There is a story about the old man who had an empty space next to his home.
Every day the neighborhood kids played football in the lot. The old man, irritated by all
the shouting and commotion, developed an idea to refrain the children from using the
space. One day while they were playing, he told them that he would pay each of them Rs
100 every day they came to play in the lot. They thought he was a little nut, but were
thrilled to be paid to do something they did anyway. After a few days, he told them he
couldn't afford to pay the Rs 100 but still wanted them to play in the lot, and asked if they
would accept Rs 10. They grumbled a little, but agreed to take the Rs10. A few days
more passed and he approached them with an apology telling them that he wouldn't be
able to pay them anymore, but hoped that they would still play in the lot anyway. The
children responded by refusing to play in the "stinking" lot if he wasn't going to pay
them.
5) The overall satisfaction in the job is actually clubbing of extrinsic and intrinsic factors
helping them work hard. Intrinsic satisfaction is only considering the work with which
they are assigned and not the other external factors.
6) Extrinsic job satisfaction is when workers take into account the congenial and poor
conditions of work and other factors such as their salary, relationship with peers,
relationship with employers (Economics, 2014).
7) Both the factors together make the employees work efficiently and both the motivating
factors are important and employers should analyze it which factors motivate the
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employees and at what stage such incentives should be given to help them achieve their
goals.
Conclusion
Every individual is different and so are his needs. Some needs monetary incentives for
motivation; some needs non-monetary incentives some needs both. The motivational programs
should be conducted after regular intervals to keep the employees on track. The leaders and
supervisors should be friendly and should help the employees in achieving their goals. The
individual’s needs are dynamic and keep on changing from time to time, so it is recommended to
analyze their demands. Several methods can be adopted to know their needs for example
questionnaire method, surveys, personal interview, etc. This can be done by appointing
professionals and trained employees to collect the data of employees and motivate them
accordingly using such methods. It is very important to provide rewards and incentives to
employees and incentives may be in any form like monetary or non-monetary incentives. Some
employees feel motivated on receiving monetary and some on receiving non-monetary
incentives. To analyze what are the needs of employees, various surveys and personal interviews
are conducted and only after it, the employees are provided with such incentives. The Airline
industry has been performing quite well and growth can be seen over a few years. This is about
the airline industry of the whole nation. Many investors are regularly investing in this sector
since it has been proved to be quite profitable in recent years. Regular improvements are made
by the service providers to enhance the customer loyalty and brand image. Various marketing
strategies are used by the service providers to attract the customers and to launch new services;
various promotional techniques are used to make the people aware of such services. These days
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