Critique of an Article on Managerial Motivation Techniques

This report offers a comprehensive critique of an article that investigates the influence of managerial motivation techniques on employee productivity. The analysis begins with a summary of the article's core argument, which posits that motivation techniques significantly impact worker efficiency. The critique then delves into the strengths and weaknesses of the study, highlighting the use of an actual study to determine effects and the limitations due to the specific industry context. The report emphasizes the importance of motivation, discussing how it enhances employee willingness, creates positive attitudes, and reduces turnover. It also explores various motivation techniques, such as building trust, providing meaningful work, and offering opportunities for career advancement. The report assesses the validity of the article's thesis statement, considering the influence of demographic factors and the division of motivational needs into economic, psychosocial, and organizational categories. Ultimately, the critique concludes that motivation is a crucial factor in maximizing employee skills and organizational efficiency, emphasizing the importance of managers using diverse techniques to achieve optimal results. The report includes references to supporting literature.

Article Critique – Motivation 1
ARTICLE CRITIQUE - THE EFFECT OF THE MOTIVATION TECHNIQUES USED BY
MANAGERS TO INCREASE THE PRODUCTIVITY OF THEIR WORKERS AND AN
APPLICATION
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Article Critique – Motivation 2
Article Critique - The Effect of the Motivation Techniques Used By Managers to Increase
the Productivity of Their Workers and an Application
Introduction
The reviewed article speaks about the effect of motivation techniques used by managers to
increase productivity of their workers. The results are based on a study, which is carried out on
229 employees working in weaving and fabric dying factories. The study is carried out in
Cerkezkoy Organized Industrial Site. A relevant thesis statement that can be derived from this
article is that motivation techniques applied by a manager has an effect on employee efficiency
and productivity and this may be dependent on various demographic factors (Guclu & Guney
2013).
Based on the thesis statement, the article has various strengths and weaknesses. One of the
strengths is that an actual study is carried out to determine the effects of motivation on workers,
rather than just basing it on assumptions. Through the study, various conclusions can be drawn,
as it is evident that motivation of employees is also determined by other factors apart from the
kind of techniques that are used by the employer (Lazaroiu, 2015). Gender, level of education,
income, marital status and job experience are factors, which can influence how employees feel
about certain motivation techniques. Another strength is that motivation factors are assessed in
term s of whether they are economic, psychosocial or organizational and managerial. This assists
in giving a broader view of what kind of factors motivate employees most and lead to an increase
in their efficiency and productivity. The weakness of the article is that the study is limited to a
weaving and dyeing factory, which may give a limited perspective of motivation due to the
nature of work and type of skills needed to carry out the work (Cunningham 2016). The study
would have included different types of industries so that the factors, which influence motivation,
can be more conclusive in terms of whether they are similar or slightly different based on
industry.
Importance of Motivation
Motivation is a key factor that influences how employees in an organization perform hence
managers should ensure they use the right motivational techniques. Motivation is important as

Article Critique – Motivation 3
the ability of any employee to work and their wiliness affect their efficiency. Motivation creates
ability by providing an employee with the necessary training and skills needed in performing the
task. It also creates the willingness needed to do work (Dobre 2013). All these lead to efficiency
of an employee, which is then reflected in the performance of a department or an organization. In
an organization, some employees have negative attitudes, which are passed on to their colleagues
hence leading to poor performance and lack of efficiency. Motivation is key in such situations as
it enables organizations to create positive attitudes among the workforce. Positive attitudes lead
to enhanced teamwork hence overall efficiency and great organizational performance. An
organization that has employees who are not motivated constantly suffers from high employee
turnover (Gupta & Shaw 2014). This is because employees keep looking for greener pastures so
that they can leave. Work is greatly affected in such organizations as there are constant shortages
and it leads to overworking of other employees. This leads to disgruntlement among the
workforce. Such organizations spend a lot of time and money in recruiting employees and
training. This wastage can only be cleared if the organization looks at motivation and ways in
which it can retain its workforce through different techniques (Korzynski 2013). Motivated
employees work for long periods in companies hence the problem of high turnover is eliminated.
Such employees are also often willing to take on extra tasks hence a lot gets done and efficiency
is maximized in the organization, leading to greater output levels (Asim 2013). Absenteeism is
also reduced in such companies. Employees look forward to going to work and absenteeism
cases are minimal.
Organizations are constantly changing due to environmental factors. Effective change
management can only occur where employees are motivated. Employees who are not motivated
do not embrace change and instead seek to frustrate management efforts when a new change is to
be implemented. Motivation leads to employees taking change initiatives positively and
becoming change champions (Pandey 2014). Change occurs smoothly in such environments, as
employees become the key drivers for change efforts.
The main aim of motivation is to ensure that employees work willingly and fondly. This can
only be achieved if manager listen to employees and come up with techniques that will have a
positive effect on the employees. Managers can use different techniques to motivate employees
so that they receive maximum efficiency. They must build trust with their employees. Trust is
two therefore as managers trust employees to perform effectively; their employees also expect

Article Critique – Motivation 4
that their best interests be looked out for by their managers (Mathew & Johnson 2015). The
manager therefore has to ensure that trust is built and this can only be done through effective
communication. Openness must be encouraged between managers and employees. Feedback
should be a two way process. Managers should be able to provide honest feedback to their
employees whether its positive or negative. In the same way, managers should be open to
feedback from their employees. Open communication leads to positive working environments
and motivated employees. This greatly enhances teamwork as employees communicate well and
are willing to work with each other. In such environments, employee grievances and suggestions
are listened to hence; it becomes easier for managers to apply the relevant motivation techniques.
Managers should also make sure that they provide work that is meaningful and challenging to
their employees. When staff feel that, the work that they do is important it makes a great
difference in an organization (Baba 2017). Most employees just want to feel that they are part of
the organization and that their roles are recognized. Employees mostly want to feel a sense of
achievement, responsibility, enjoyment and recognition.
Employees are also most likely to achieve when there is a possibility of career advancement
ahead of them. Managers should therefore provide opportunities where employees are able to
grow and gain skills from other departments. Employees get motivated when they know that
their hard work is going to be repaid by a promotion or a bright future in terms of advancement
in their careers. It is therefore important that managers train employees constantly and provide a
working environment where there is freeness and fairness in terms of career growth.
Validity of Thesis Statement of Article
The Thesis statement of the article is agreeable because motivation factors used by managers do
influence efficiency and productivity. However, demographic factors do not necessarily
influence the type of motivation used. The study done on the Cerkezkoy Industrial Site is an
indication that the demographic that influences motivation most is education. People who are
more educated tend to have stronger opinion and are keener on the kind of motivation, which is
used. People who are less educated tend to look at economic motivational factors more as their
main aim is to get income to sustain their needs (Kaur 2013).

Article Critique – Motivation 5
The study also divides the motivational needs into economic, psychosocial and organizational,
which reflects the types of motivation, which managers can use to motivate their employees so
that they achieve efficiency. Economic factors include using factors involving money to motivate
employees and these can be bonuses, pay rises or monetary rewards. This motivates employees
to work efficiently as they know that at the end of the day they will benefit from various
incentives. Organizational and managerial motivators are different and include factors within the
company, which can be used in motivation (Mason 2017). The organization can use team
building to build morale and enhance teamwork in the company hence leading to a positive
environment, which will lead to employees feeling, motivated. Employees can also be allowed to
learn skills in different departments so that they are all-rounded. This leads to motivation, as they
will feel that the organization cares about them enough to do job rotation. Managers can also
ensure that they are responsible for employees under them and constantly train and recognize
them. This way, employees feel that their managers actually care and are motivated to work
harder as they know that their efforts are recognized. Psychosocial motivation includes factors,
which appeal to the psychological side of an employee. Employees want to feel appreciated and
recognized at the work place. Such incentives include managers having programs like employee
of the work schemes where different employees are recognized based on their work and efforts.
Healthy competitions can also be put in place and the most productive employees rewarded. This
leads to motivation as everyone works hard to achieve the reward.
Conclusion
Overall, the article shows us that motivation is a key factor that can bring out employee
capabilities and skills. Once employees are motivated, they do their best to perform and through
this, managers are able to identify the strengths of their employees. This leads to employee skills
being maximized hence leading to efficiency. Through this, organizations are able to be efficient
in processes hence leading to overall success that reflects in the bottom-line. It is therefore very
important that managers use various techniques to motivate employees so that they achieve
maximum benefit.

Article Critique – Motivation 6
References
Asim, M., 2013. Impact of motivation on employee performance with effect of training: specific
to education sector of Pakistan. International Journal of Scientific and Research
Publications, 3(9), pp.1-9.
Baba, A.I., 2017. EFFECTS OF MOTIVATION, WORKING CONDITIONS AND
PERCEIVED ORGANIZATIONAL JUSTICE ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE. ASIAN
JOURNAL OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY STUDIES, 5(8).
Cunningham, A., 2016. What are the Key Drivers Used to Promote Employee Motivation and
Engagement in a Manufacturing Environment?.
Dobre, O.I., 2013. Employee motivation and organizational performance. Review of Applied
Socio-Economic Research, 5(1), pp.53-60.
Guclu, H and Guney S, 2013. The Effect of the Motivation Techniques Used by Managers to
Increase the Productivity of their Workers and an Application, Business Management Dynamics
6 (7),pp 01-18
Gupta, N. and Shaw, J.D., 2014. Employee compensation: The neglected area of HRM
research. Human Resource Management Review, 24(1), pp.1-4.
Kaur, A., 2013. Maslow’s need hierarchy theory: Applications and criticisms. Global Journal of
Management and Business Studies, 3(10), pp.1061-1064.
Korzynski, P., 2013. EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION IN NEW WORKING
ENVIRONMENT. International journal of academic research, 5(5).
Lazaroiu, G., 2015. Employee Motivation and Job Performance. Linguistic and Philosophical
Investigations, 14, p.97.
Mason, K., 2017. The impact of HR practices on employee motivation and
performance’ (Doctoral dissertation, Cardiff Metropolitan University).

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Mathew, U. and Johnson, J., 2015. Impact of Performance Appraisal System on Employee
Motivation: With Special Reference to a Multi-Specialty Hospital in Kerala. International
Journal of Finance & Policy Analysis, 7.
Pandey, P., 2014. Employee motivation and retention-key to organisational performance-in
Indian perspective. International Journal of Marketing and Technology, 4(4), p.144.