Title of the essay:
If monetary incentives were not available how could a manager motivate
their employees?
Exam candidate number: FVWV0
Word count: 1995
Abstract
Motivating employees could be considered one of the most important and complex
tasks a manager has, due to the multi-faceted nature of motivation and its
importance for the wellbeing of individuals and of the organization. The current essay
aims to explore the practical applications of several empirically supported motivation
theories within organizations. Both content and context theories of motivation are
considered, along with the impact of the wider socio-cultural environment. In order to
achieve a more complete picture of motivational processes, future research may
attempt to integrate motivational models within the organizational field, while
acknowledging various environmental influences on motivation.
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Question 3. FVWV0
Employee motivation is a crucial element within a healthy, high-performance
work environment and for the satisfaction of both manager and employees. Despite
the multifaceted nature of motivational processes, numerous theories may be
successfully applied to the organisational field, by addressing different aspects of
motivation such as the content, context or underlying processes (Kanfer, Frese &
Johnson, 2017). Thus, we argue that a manager may increase the motivation of his
employees by understanding what drives motivation and ensuring that job
characteristics support the employees’ universal motives behind qualitative
performance, while acknowledging the diversity within the workforce.
Firstly, one theory that may provide substantial insight into the content of
motivational processes within the workplace is the Self-Determination Theory (SDT).
The authors of this theory posit that satisfying basic needs such as autonomy,
competence and relatedness may positively impact employees’ performance through
autonomous motivation (Deci, Olafsen & Ryan, 2017). In comparison with controlled
motivation, autonomous motivation is characterized by a full sense of willingness,
volition and choice, and may be categorised into intrinsic motivation (when it lies in
the behaviour itself) and internalized motivation (when the external regulation is
integrated). As the goals and/or tasks are rarely chosen by the employees
themselves, it might be useful for a manager to mainly focus on inducing a level of
fully internalized motivation in his employees. It is suggested that this would allow
employees to realise their authentic selves, rather than feeling any external or
internal pressure due to controlled motivations (Deci & Ryan, 1985). This idea is
supported by studies that report correlations between more autonomous forms of
motivation and higher levels of well-being, resilience and quality of performance (e.g.
Deci & Ryan, 2000; Roth, Assor, Kanat-Maymon & Kaplan, 2007).
Therefore, in order to inspire this desired type of employee motivation and an
optimal level of performance, the satisfaction of the three basic needs has to be
practically addressed. It has been suggested that a manager may support
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