The issue of employee motivation is of interest to almost every businessman. The most successful of them are well aware that employees need to be encouraged and stimulated in every possible way. After all, there are not often people who are completely and completely satisfied with their position, which they, most likely, did not take by vocation. However, any leader can make the work process comfortable for the team, so that each person fulfills his duties with pleasure. Ultimately, labor productivity, the prospects for the development of the company, etc. will depend on this.
Many companies conduct castings, they are looking for ideal managers with staff, they arrange psychological trainings, etc. And all this is only in order to increase the interest of their employees in the end result by any means.
Motivation
The question of increasing the interest of staff in the final result of theirwork is relevant not only in our country, but throughout the world. After all, successful motivation of employees is the key to the success of the entire company as a whole. What does this concept mean?
Motivation of employees is an internal process that takes place in the enterprise. Its goal is to encourage each member of the team to work towards the end result.
In addition, the motivation of employees is an indispensable component of the personnel policy of any institution. Its role in the management system is very tangible. With a well-organized process of increasing the interest of the staff, such events can significantly increase the profitability of the business. If the system is mediocre, then all the efforts of even the best specialists will be nullified.
Motivation of employees is a set of incentives that determine the behavior of a particular individual. That is, it is a certain set of actions on the part of the leader. At the same time, the goal of motivating employees is to improve their ability to work, as well as attract talented and qualified specialists and keep them in the company.
Each manager independently determines methods that encourage the team to active and creative activities that allow people to satisfy their own needs and at the same time fulfill the common task set for the enterprise. If an employee is motivated, then he will certainly enjoy his work. He is attached to her soul, experiencing joy fromfulfillment of the tasks assigned to him. It is impossible to achieve this by force. But at the same time, encouraging employees and recognizing their achievements is a very difficult process. It requires taking into account the quality and quantity of labor, as well as those circumstances that serve as a prerequisite for the emergence and development of behavioral motives. In this regard, it is extremely important for each manager to choose the right motivation system for his subordinates for his enterprise, applying a special approach to each of them.
Performing tasks
The development of employee motivation is necessary to unite the interests of each member of the team and the entire enterprise. In other words, the company needs quality work, and the staff needs a decent salary. However, this is far from the only task facing the system of motivation. Its execution allows:
- attract and interest valuable professionals;
- eliminate the turnover of qualified personnel;
- reveal the best employees and reward them;
- control employee benefits.
Many business start-ups are not fully aware of the importance of addressing motivation issues. Thoughtlessly approaching the creation of an incentive system at their enterprise, they are trying to achieve the task they have set by paying bonuses alone. However, such actions will not allow to fully solve this problem, which will require a full analysis and competent resolution. This can be done by first studying the theories of motivation created by famous people. Let's take a closer look at them.
Maslow's Theory
Its author stated that in order to create an effective system of motivation for company employees, it will be necessary to study their basic needs well. Of these, he identified five main categories:
- Physical. These needs are the human desire to satisfy the physiological need for food and drink, rest, home, etc.
- Security needs. Each of us strives to gain confidence in the future. At the same time, people need to feel emotional and physical security.
- Social needs. Every person wants to be a part of society. To do this, he acquires friends, family, etc.
- The need for respect and recognition. All people dream of being independent, having authority and a certain status.
- The need for self-expression. People always strive to conquer peaks, develop their "I" and realize their own capabilities.
Maslow's list of needs was compiled by their importance. So, the most important is the first point, and the last is the least significant. A manager who chooses the theory of this author to increase the motivation of employees does not have to fulfill everything one hundred percent. However, it is important to try to at least address each of the above needs.
McGregor's X and Y Theory
The author of this option for managing employee motivation claims that a leader can manage people using two methods:
- With the use of "X" theory. In this casethe head adheres to an authoritarian regime of management. This should happen in cases where the team is extremely disorganized, and people simply hate their work, trying in every possible way to remove themselves from the performance of their duties. That is why they need strict control from the leader. This is the only way to get the job done. The boss is forced not only to constantly monitor the staff, but also to encourage him to conscientiously fulfill the assigned duties by developing and implementing a system of punishments.
- Using the "Y" theory. This direction of employee motivation is fundamentally different from the previous one. It is based on the work of the team, performed with full dedication. At the same time, all employees take a responsible approach to the fulfillment of their duties, show interest in them and strive to develop. That is why such employees should be managed with a loyal approach to each person.
Herzberg Motivational Hygiene Theory
It is based on the assertion that the performance of work can bring satisfaction to a person or leave him dissatisfied for various reasons. A person will receive pleasure from solving the tasks assigned to him if the end result becomes an opportunity for his self-expression. The main motivation of employees is the development of specialists. And it directly depends on the prospects for their career growth, recognition of achievements and the emergence of a sense of responsibility.
What are the factors that motivate employees to lead to their dissatisfaction? They are associated with shortcomings in the organizational process of the enterprise, with poor working conditions. Their list includes low wages, unhe althy team atmosphere, etc.
McClelland's theory
According to the statements of its author, all the needs of people are divided into three categories. Each of them experiences the following:
- The need to control and influence other people. Some of these workers simply want to manage others. Others seek to solve group problems.
- The need to succeed. These people like to work on their own. They have a need to perform a new task better than the previous one.
- The need for involvement in a particular process. Employees in this category want respect and recognition. They prefer to work in specially organized groups.
The manager, based on the needs of each member of the team, must implement a system of employee motivation.
Process Theory of Stimulation
This direction is based on the statement that it is important for a person to achieve pleasure without experiencing pain. This is what the leader should take into account. According to this theory, he needs to encourage his employees more often, using punishment as little as possible.
Vroom's Expectation Theory
In this case, the peculiarity of employee motivation lies in the acceptance of the fact that a person will perform as high as possiblehis work only when he understands that the end result will satisfy his needs. This is the main incentive for people.
Adams Theory
The meaning of the statements of this author is that the work of any person should have an appropriate reward. In case of underpayment, the employee will work worse, and in case of overpayment, all his actions will remain at the same level. That is why each of the work performed should be rewarded fairly.
Direct and indirect motivation
There are a large number of ways that allow you to increase productivity by influencing the team of employees. Depending on the form used, motivation can be direct or indirect. In the first case, the employee is well aware that the task he quickly and efficiently completed will be additionally rewarded.
Indirect motivation is ongoing stimulating activities that allow you to renew a person's interest in the performance of his duties and cause him satisfaction after completing the task assigned to him. In this case, each member of the team has an aggravated sense of responsibility, which makes it unnecessary to control by the management.
In turn, direct motivation can be material (economic) and non-material. Let's take a closer look at these categories.
Material motivation
Sometimes business leaders are convinced that the most effective incentive toof any employee is the amount of wages he receives. But actually it is not. If we consider those human needs that Maslow described in his theory, it becomes clear that money can satisfy only the first two of them. That is why the system of motivating employees in an organization, which provides for increasing the interest of specialists with only a high salary, is ineffective. Yes, it provides an increase in the productivity of people, but not for long. Usually this period lasts no more than 3-4 months. After that, specialists feel dissatisfaction with all other needs, which are at a higher level than physiological and safety issues.
What are the material ways to motivate employees? There are only three types of them, which include various financial incentives for personnel, as well as pen alties for late or incorrectly completed tasks.
Methods of motivating employees include in their list:
- cash rewards;
- non-monetary rewards;
- pen alty system.
Reward is considered:
- allowances and bonuses;
- wage growth;
- benefits and social insurance;
- percentage of sales;
- cash rewards for overperformance;
- large discounts on the company's products or services.
For example, monetary rewards accrued for overfulfillment of a pre-planned plan are an excellent motivation for employeessales department.
Besides this, the financial incentive is the reward that is due for winning this or that competition. For example, an employee represented a company with dignity at an ongoing industry competition in a region, country, or globally. At the same time, the specialist took a prize-winning place, for which the company's management rewarded him with a large bonus.
Non-monetary rewards include the implementation of social corporate projects:
- providing discounts or free use of organization facilities (kindergartens, clinics, etc.);
- opportunity to relax on a voucher purchased by a company in sanatoriums, rest homes or he alth camps (for children of company employees);
- providing tickets for various cultural events;
- upgrading qualifications or attending a training course at the expense of the organization;
- providing paid time off or extraordinary days off;
- direction on business trips abroad;
- well-equipped workplace.
A less pleasant category of all types of motivation for employees of a material nature is the system of fines introduced at the enterprise. These include:
- pecuniary punishments for a specific member of the team, which take place in case of his being late, failure to complete the task and other administrative violations;
- withdrawal of bonuses for all employees for failure to fulfill the plan of a particular time period;
- introduction of so-called pen alty hours.
When applying punishment as one of the ways to motivate employees, the manager must remember that the main task of such an event is to prevent certain actions that can harm the enterprise in a certain way. The employee, realizing that if he fails to fulfill the plan, he will certainly be fined, he will begin to take more responsibility for his work.
However, it should be borne in mind that the punishment system is effective in cases where it is not revenge for the employee's misconduct. Fines should be a measure of the psychological impact on a person. One example of this type of employee motivation is the slogan that an employee must play by the company's rules in order to feel comfortable. At the same time, failure to comply with such rules should be punished in accordance with the level of the offense committed.
Will it be enough just to intimidate people with fines? Will they work with due dedication after that? Not! Such a system should be applied only if it is closely linked to premiums, bonuses and incentives. It is important for a leader to find a middle ground in order to act fairly, rewarding success and punishing failures.
Intangible motivation
This method should also be applied when stimulating company employees. He will allow them to come to work, while having a genuine desire to beat competing firms in everything.
What is the non-material motivation of employees? She isis a set of effective forms and types of staff incentives, which are:
- praise for successes and their public recognition;
- career prospect;
- comfortable atmosphere in the team and throughout the organization;
- holding cultural events and corporate events;
- congratulations to employees on significant dates for them (happy birthday, wedding, anniversary);
- holding motivational meetings;
- draw prizes and professional contests;
- involving specialists in strategic decision-making.
Non-material motivation of employees is also understood as feedback in the form of a manager's response to employees' claims, their wishes, etc.
Other incentives
What other measures can a manager take to increase labor productivity at the enterprise? To do this, there are such methods of motivating employees as:
- Social. A person realizes that he is part of a team and an integral element of the whole mechanism. This makes him afraid to let his colleagues down. To prevent this, he does everything for the highest quality performance of the task assigned to him.
- Psychological. The head of the enterprise should contribute to the creation of a friendly atmosphere within the team. Good relations in the company lead to the fact that a person willingly goes to work and takes part in the production process. In doing so, he receives psychological satisfaction.
- Labour. This method of stimulationis aimed at the self-realization of the employee.
- Career. In this case, career advancement is a good motive.
- Gender. The employee's motivation in this case lies in his ability to show off his own successes and good luck to others.
- Educational. When applying this method, the desire to work appears when a person desires to learn, develop and receive education.
To obtain an effective result, the system of employee motivation should be built in such a way as to use all the methods of stimulating personnel in a complex, which will allow the company to receive a good stable profit.
Levels of motivation
Each person is undoubtedly individual. So, in the team there will always be careerists for whom climbing the career ladder is extremely important in life. Others prefer the lack of change and stability. This should be taken into account by the manager when developing a system of employee motivation. That is, each of them will need to find its own approach.
Today, there are three levels of motivation for the activities of employees of the enterprise. She happens:
- Customized. With such motivation, decent wages for employees are provided. When calculating the amount of payments, it is necessary to take into account the skills and abilities inherent in the employee. The subordinate must understand that if he performs the tasks assigned to him in a quality and timely manner, thenwill definitely climb the career ladder.
- Command. With such motivation, a team united by one thing works more efficiently. In this case, each member of the team understands that the success of the entire group directly depends on the results of his work. When developing team motivation, it is important to understand that the atmosphere that exists within the team must certainly be friendly.
- Organizational. In this case, the team of the enterprise should be united in the system. At the same time, people need to realize that their team is a single mechanism. All work performed will directly depend on the actions of each employee. Maintaining a company at this level is one of the most difficult tasks for a leader.
Organization of a systematic approach to the motivation system
How to carry out activities aimed at increasing the productivity of employees? To do this, you need to remember that motivation is a system consisting of 5 successive stages. Let's take a closer look at them.
- At the first stage, the problems that exist in staff motivation are identified. To do this, the manager will need to conduct an appropriate analysis. Obtaining the necessary data is possible with the help of an anonymous survey, which will reveal the reasons for the dissatisfaction of subordinates.
- At the second stage, taking into account the data obtained during the analysis, the team is managed. At the same time, the leader must work closely with subordinates. Given the research data, it will be necessary to introduce methods such asthat can bring more value to the enterprise. One example of employee motivation at this stage is a change in the working day, if the majority of specialists do not agree with the one that exists at the moment.
- At the third stage, there is a direct impact on the behavior of workers. But, carrying out activities to develop a motivation system, the manager must accept criticism and provide timely remuneration of employees. In addition, the boss must demonstrate the correct behavior on himself, thereby teaching his employees the same.
- The fourth stage is characterized by activities aimed at improving the existing motivation system at the enterprise. During this period, non-material ways to stimulate employees are being introduced. Employees must be convinced of the importance of increasing labor productivity. The manager will need to "ignite" each of his subordinates, finding an individual approach to each of them.
- At the fifth stage, employees should receive a well-deserved reward for their work. To do this, each of the companies develops its own system of incentives and bonuses. When the team realizes that its efforts do not go unrewarded, it will begin to work even more productively and better.
Examples and ways of motivation
There are quite a lot of methods to increase the activity of employees at work. However, before putting them into practice, the manager should consider which of the methods are suitable.for his company.
Among the best methods of motivation are the following:
- Salary. It is a powerful motivator, forcing the employee to perform the tasks entrusted to him with high quality. With low wages, it is unlikely to satisfy the employee, who, most likely, will not give all his best.
- Praise. Every employee who conscientiously performs his work certainly wants to hear words of approval. The manager needs to regularly analyze the performance of tasks by specialists, while not stinting on praise. With this method, without spending a single penny, the boss can significantly increase the productivity of the staff.
- Call by name. In order to constantly maintain the authority of the director, he needs to know his employees by name. Addressing a person not by their last name is showing respect to him. The subordinate in this case realizes that he is a person who is valued by the leader.
- Extra rest. This method allows you to stimulate people to do their job better and faster. So, for example, the motivation of department employees who are not directly related to customers can be carried out. The member of the team who shows the best result according to the results of the week can go home earlier on Friday. The use of this method causes excitement among subordinates and the desire of each of them to become a winner.
- The prospect of an increase. People should understand that with the quality and speed of their work, they willachieve climbing the corporate ladder. Such a prospect can motivate no worse than material rewards.
- An opportunity to be heard and have your say. It is important for every specialist to know that his opinion is considered and listened to.
- Rewarding. When any memorable date comes, it is advisable for employees to present gifts. Such a sign of attention can be an ordinary trinket, on which an engraving will be applied. Such a memorable gift will be remembered by a person for a lifetime.
- Honor board. Placing photographs on it refers to non-material methods of motivation that remarkably increase labor productivity. The organization places pictures of the best employees of its team on such a board. This allows you to create such a direction as production competition, which allows you to stimulate staff to improve performance.
- Providing the opportunity to work from home. This method of motivation is only suitable for certain companies. In the case when an office worker has to do routine work, he can do it without leaving the walls of his house. The main condition for this will be the qualitative performance of the task.
- Corporate events. Many businesses throw parties to celebrate big holidays. People present at such celebrations relax, their communication takes place in an informal setting. Corporate events help employees to be distracted and also demonstrate that the company cares about its employees.
- Public expression of gratitude. The leader mustpraise the employee not only personally. It would be great if it was done in public. Implementation of such an idea is possible in various ways. For example, the announcement of the best employee through the media, on the radio or through a loudspeaker installed in the enterprise. Praise like this will motivate other workers to do much better, so that as many people as possible will know about their success.
- Motivational board. This method is simple but very effective. The idea is realized by placing on the demonstration board a graph of the productivity of each of the participants in the production process. In this way, sales staff can also be motivated. Each of the team members will immediately see who works better, and he will have the desire to become a leader himself.
- Formation of a bank of ideas. It can be created in the organization in the form of an electronic box. Everyone is given the opportunity to send their letter with proposals. Thanks to this approach, employees will certainly have a sense of self-worth.
