Экономические
науки/6. Маркетинг и менеджмент
Okhrimenko I.Y., Doletskaya
G.M.
Donetsk national university of economic and trade
named after Mikhail Tugan-Baranovsky, Ukraine
Secrets of
effective employee motivation
The job of a manager in the workplace is to get things done through
employees. To do this the manager should be able to motivate employees. But
that's easier said than done! Motivation practice and theory are difficult
subjects, touching on several disciplines. In spite of enormous research, basic
as well as applied, the subject of motivation is not clearly understood and
often poorly practiced. To
understand motivation one must understand human nature itself. And there lies
the problem! Human nature can be very simple, yet very complex too. An understanding
and appreciation of this is a prerequisite to effective employee motivation in
the workplace and therefore effective management and leadership.
The objective of the report is to give recommendations on how to
motivate employees effectively using financial and non-financial incentives.
Research and observations show that well motivated employees are more
productive and creative. There is an old saying you can
take a horse to the water but you cannot force it to drink; it will drink only
if it's thirsty - so with people. They will do what they want to do or
otherwise motivated to do.
Job performance is considered to be a function
of ability and motivation. Ability in turn depends on education, experience and
training and its improvement is a slow and long process. On the other hand
motivation can be improved quickly. Incentive
system always consists
of two main blocks: financial and
non-financial incentives. Non-financial
incentives aimed at increasing employee
loyalty to the company while
reducing the costs of compensation
to employees of their labor.There are
many options and an uninitiated manager may not even know where to start. As a
guideline, there are broadly seven strategies for motivation.
·
Positive
reinforcement / high expectations
·
Effective discipline and punishment
·
Treating
people fairly
·
Satisfying
employees needs
·
Setting work
related goals
·
Base rewards on job performance
These are the basic strategies, though the mix in the final 'recipe'
will vary from workplace situation to situation. Common
types are the following incentives: promotion, empowerment, power increase, the percentage of economic
benefits, the recognition, the best place at the table
at the meeting, the head verbal thanks to
the presence of colleagues, material premium
to the reference "for what",
life and health insurance , an
extraordinary paid leave, the guarantee to preserve jobs, lower loan rates for training, housing,
payment of the cost of repairs and
petrol private car, long-term employment
contracts, the ability to communicate directly with
the supreme leader, payment for medical
services, etc. However, there is no standard package of incentives, it
should be targeted, targeted to a
specific employee.
There
is no doubt that motivation is the crux for good performance. There is no doubt
that we live in a money-motivated world. Any amount of human relations cannot
compensate a lack of monetary reward. If the reward is right, good human
relations will give that extra zest to a
team, motivating them to give their best efforts. Insufficient monetary reward cannot be
compensated by good human relations.
Merit
must be measured and rewarded regularly, if it is to be encouraged and
sustained. The 'gold banana' in Foxboro has its origin in just an ordinary
banana which one of the pioneers could muster on the spur of the moment when he
discovered extraordinary performance by one of the employees.
There
is an indication from various surveys
that the blue-collar and white-collar workers do not attach the same
importance to financial incentives. This is probably more due to differing
value system of the two, rather than the importance each attaches to the money.
To be effective, the reward should be 'tailored' to each individual, but
only as part of the total compensation concept. It is essential to develop an
overall program within which each compensation package must be individualized. If you have an out-going people, don't stick them in a back room and
have them spend all day adding numbers. They will soon get bored, start making
mistakes, and either quit or get fired. Don't put a shy, introverted person
into sales and have them make cold calls. They will hate it and won't make many
sales. Don't put a dreamer in charge of your accounting and don't put a
detail-oriented person in charge of strategic planning.
So
after all, and contrary to common belief, money is not the prime motivator.
Though this should not be regarded as a signal to reward employees poorly or
unfairly.
The secret
to motivation magic simply is to respect employees as individuals and treat
them as adults. Too many companies feel they have to keep secrets from their
employees. They treat them like children who can't handle the truth. They feel
they have to "shelter" or "protect" the employees from the
harsh realities of the business. It's wrong. If you want
your employees to be motivated, to out-produce their peers, to deliver more
than they ever have in the past, be open and honest with them. Treat them like
the adults they are and not like your children.
When
you treat people as professionals, let them know that they are important
contributors to the teams' success, and that their ideas matter, they will look
for ways to improve their own performance. They will look for ways to innovate.
They will seek out improvements and enhancements so they can increase their
performance.
To
draw the line, we can create six secrets of effective employee motivation:
treat each employee with respect and as an individual; provide fair
compensation including benefits; clearly communicate expectations, goals,
rules; put employees in places and situations where they can succeed; get them involved and keep them informed - give them any information
that tells them how their work fits into the overall company effort; provide training
and show them advancement opportunities. Help your employees turn a job into a
career. Unexpected and
irregular incentives motivate
better than projected, they almost become a
part of the same salary.
References:
1. Сколько и как платить
дополнительно. Available from: http://www.management.com.ua/hrm/hrm012.html
2. Employee
Motivation: Theory and practice. Available from: http://www.accel-team.com/motivation/index.html
3. F. John Reh «Employee Retention Tips». Available from: http://management.about.com/od/employeemotivation/a/EEretention09.htm