Types Of Motivation

Motivation may be classified on various bases :

1)    Positive or negative

2)    Extrinsic and intrinsic

3)    Financial or non-financial

 


Positive motivation is the process of attempting to influence the employees’ behaviour through recognition and appreciation of employees’ efforts and contribution towards achievement of organisational goal. Examples of positive motivators are : taking interest in subordinates benefits, appreciation and credit for work done, delegating the authority and responsibility to subordinates etc.

 

Negative motivation is based upon fear i.e. demotion, lay off etc. The fear of punishment affects the behaviour towards changes. Though punishment has resulted in controlling the misbehaviour and contributed towards positive performance but it may also lead to poor performance & lower productivity. The second classification relates to extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivators arise away from the job. They do not occur on the job. These factors include: wages, fringe benefits, medical reimbursement, etc. Thus, they are generally associated with financial incentives. But, intrinsic motivators occur on the job and provide satisfaction during the performance of work itself. Intrinsic or internal motivators include: recognition, status, authority, participation, etc.

Lastly motivators may be financial or non-financial. Financial motivators are those which are associated with money. They include: wages and salaries, fringe benefits, bonus, retirement benefits, etc. Non-financial motivators are those which are not associated with monetary rewards. They include: intangible incentives like ego satisfaction, self- actualisation and responsibility. Here we shall be confining our discussion only to financial and non-financial motivation/incentives.

 

Financial Motivation/Incentives

Money plays an important role in motivation. Management generally make use of financial incentives like wages and salaries, bonus, retirement benefits, insurance, medical reimbursement, etc. to motivate the workers. However, such incentives may not always prove to be motivating. In many cases, management may have to increase the financial incentives to keep the workers with the organisation. This can be appreciated from the practice of making wages and salaries competitive among various enterprises so as to attract and maintain

good work-force.

Money is a real motivating factor when the physiological and security needs of the workers have not been fully satisfied. Money plays a significant role in satisfying these needs. Therefore, management can use financial incentive for motivation. Money also helps in satisfying the social needs of employees to some extent because money is often recognised as a symbol of status, respect and power. Besides money is an important means of achieving a ‘minimum standard of living’ although this ‘minimum’ has the tendency to go up as people become more affluent. But this should not lead one to conclude that money will always be a motivating factor to all people. To some people, importance of money may be reduced after a certain stage, and non-financial rewards may become more important. They are motivated by money only up to the stage they are struggling for satisfying their physiological and security needs.

Money provides for the satisfaction of physiological and safety needs only which have been called hygienic factors by Herzberg. Hygienic factors include: wages and salaries and other fringe benefits. The presence of these factors at a satisfactory level prevents job dissatisfaction. They do not provide ‘on a job satisfaction’ to the employees and, therefore, cannot be considered as motivational factors. According to Herzberg, in order to motivate the employees, it is necessary to provide for the satisfaction of ego, social and self-actualisation needs. But these needs are  present generally in case of employees in the higher positions, who get higher monetary rewards and are not motivated by increased monetary benefits. In case of employees at the operative levels, money certainly plays a significant role in motivating them because their survival and safety depends on it.

From the above discussion, it can be said that money is not the only motivator and it is not always a motivator. Management should therefore, establish a motivational system which is capable of satisfying different kinds of human needs. On the job, satisfaction can be provided by helping the employees to develop themselves. Job enlargement, participative management, recognition, status symbols, and making the job challenging are some of the other non-financial incentives which also motivate employees.

 

Non-Financial Motivation/Incentives

When the physiological and security needs are satisfied with the help of money, it ceases to be a motivating force; that is why it is regarded as a maintenance factor. Indeed employees have other needs also. They want status and recognition in society; they want to satisfy their ego needs and they want to achieve something in their lives. In order to motivate the employees having these needs, management may use the following non-financial incentives:

 

1)    Competition : If there is healthy competition among individual employees, groups of employees, it leads them to achieve their personal or group goals. Hence, competition acts as a non-financial incentive.

 

2)    Praise or Appreciation of work done : Recognition of satisfactory performance acts as a non-financial incentive since it satisfies one’s ego needs. Sometimes appreciation of work done is more effective than any other incentive. However, this incentive should be used with great care because praising an incompetent employee creates resentment among competent employees.

 

3)    Knowledge of the results : Knowledge of the results of work accomplished leads to employee satisfaction. A worker feels happy if he is informed about performance. He derives satisfaction when his superior appreciates the work he has done. In modern industry, the production workers have no contact with the consumers and so they cannot get the reaction of the consumers. However, they can be motivated to a greater extent if they are told the rating of their performance.

 

4)    Workers’ participation in management : Participation in management provides strong motivation to the employees. It gives them psychological satisfaction that their voice is heard. Participation in management provides for two-way communication and so imbibes a sense of importance.

 

5)    Suggestion system : Suggestion system is an incentive which satisfies many needs of the employees. Many organisations which use the suggestion system make use of cash awards for useful suggestions. They sometimes publish the worker’s name with his photograph in the company’s magazine. This motivates the employees to be in search for something which may be of greater use to the organisation.

 

6)    Opportunity for growth : Opportunity for growth is another kind of incentive. If the employees are provided opportunities for their advancement and growth and to develop their personality, they feel very much satisfied and become more committed to organisation goals.

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