Employee Motivation: Understanding Employees' Needs

By Jason D

Motivating employees can be a challenging task. In order to drive your employees to be motivated it helps to understand what motivates people. This article discusses some of the key factors that motivates people. Understanding these motivating factors can help in finding the right solutions in motivating employees.

One of the keys to being a successful manager is the ability to motivate employees to perform at their best. When employees aren’t interested in their work or they’re bored, employee motivation is low and productivity drops. Generally, employees are willing and able to work if they feel their job is important and they are appreciated. When motivating employees there are two main types of rewards, intrinsic reward and extrinsic reward.

People are motivated in different ways, one of which is by intrinsic reward. Intrinsic rewards or intrinsic motivation primarily deals with the feelings an employee has when they have done a good job.

They do it because they enjoy it. This can be seen more in hobbies or in the feeling of obligation to do well at ones job. The second type of reward is extrinsic. Extrinsic rewards or extrinsic motivation refers to a tangible or intangible reward given to you by someone else. Praise, pay increases, bonuses, and promotions are a few examples of extrinsic rewards. The traditional method of motivating employees has been used extrinsic motivation. In order to better understand how to motivate employees you must first understand how motivation works. According to Abraham Maslow, people are motivated by unmet needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:

1. Psychological needs – these are your basic survival needs, like food, water, and shelter.

2. Safety needs – employees want to feel secure at work.

3. Social needs – the need to feel accepted and part of the group.

4. Esteem needs – the need for acknowledgement and recognition from others.

5. Self-actualization needs – the need to develop to your fullest potential.

In theory, when one of these needs is met a person will start to satisfy the next need. As a manager it is important to understand the types of needs you are dealing with. Your needs and the needs of your employees, for the most part, are the same. When motivating your employees it is important to have a good understanding of what your needs are to better understand your employees. There are many methods that are used in motivating employees. This article was written to help give you insight on the types of needs you may encounter while implementing techniques that are key to motivating employees.

Jason D. writes for the informational website http://www.myinfosource.biz and has a BA degree in Operations Management.

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