How To Motivate Employees

Every organization aims to achieve certain economic and social objectives, but the resources at its disposal are limited. It tries, therefore, to motivate its personnel towards the achievement of a range of goals, which may include societal, organizational, group, and individual goals. An HRM consultant may be requested to assist in determining what motivational tools and strategies should be used. This may include, for example:

● The improvement of the overall organizational climate (the psychological and motivational environment of the organization). This climate strongly affects the motivation of people at every level in the organization to work and to achieve. It is determined primarily by the people management practices of senior managerial staff, by the employment and working conditions, and by the encouragement given to individual and group initiative, innovation, creativity, and self-development.

● The enrichment of job content, where, by changing the structure of the work to be performed, the consultant endeavors to assist in creating intrinsic job interest, increasing job satisfaction, and developing a more flexible and efficient workforce. There is evidence that increased teamwork, increased autonomy for teams, and employee involvement generally have a positive motivational effect.

● Reward systems, where the appropriate behavior is shaped as a result of certain rewards, particularly financial and material ones. This requires a feedback system so that the incentive used (e.g., pay) is tied as directly as possible to actual individual or group performance. However, the role of non-financial rewards or incentives is important and must not be underestimated when trying to enhance staff motivation.

These methods do not operate independently but affect separate components of the motivational process and call for different levels of intervention on the part of the organization and of the consultant.