Discussions

Literature Review

Motivating employees is vital to any business. Rich Henson has said in his studies that motivating employees is a lot like bathing. The results are not permanent, but it’s something you should be doing on a regular basis. Every employee can use a shot of motivation from time to time, no matter how much of a self-starter the person is. It’s easy to tell when people are properly motivated because they:

1. 
   Look for better ways to do a job
   
2. 
   Care about customers
   
3. 
   Take pride in the work, and
   
4. 
   Are more productive.
   

Leaders motivate people to follow a participative design of work in which they are responsible and get it together, which make them responsible for their performance. Aguinis et al. (2013) stated that monetary rewards can be a very powerful determinant of employee motivation and achievement which, in turn, can advance to important returns in terms of firm- level performance.
Vuori and Okkonen (2012) stated that motivation helps to share knowledge through an intra-organizational social media platform which can help the organization to reach its goals and objectives. Den andVerburg (2004) found the impact of high performing work systems, also called human resource practices, on perceptual measures of firm performance. Ashmos andDuchon (2000) recognizes that employees have both a mind and a spirit and seek to find meaning and purpose in their work, and an aspiration to be part of a community, hence making their jobs worthwhile and motivating them to do at a high level with a view to personal and social development
A motivated workforce means a highly productive staff, all of which will help to achieve business goals. And this should be a main objective in organizational and business plan. Few points are mentioned with relevant significance of motivating employees-

1. 
   Completing task in allotted time to increase productivity- When workers are continuously motivated from outside or within, they tend to show passion in their work and perform better. Companies that provide a reason behind challenging jobs are, in turn, motivating them to work hard and reach the goal or accomplish the challenges so provided. As such, when they are faced with productivity goals, they give in their best efforts to reach the challenges and complete their tasks within the allotted time, without any external motivational tools like bonuses and awards. This, in turn, is beneficial for the company through increased production and productivity.
   
2. 
   Improved Employee Morale- Motivating employees on a continuous basis can induce them to work hard and accomplish the challenges, thereby improving the morale levels amongst them. A team with high employee morale is in a better position of attending office every day and facing challenges of the job. The happier the workers are, the more productive they turn
   

out to be. Additionally, the company experiences less conflicts and lower incidents of absenteeism.

3. 
   More Loyal Workforce- The more employees are motivated, the more loyal they are towards their work and the organization, on the whole. It proves to be expensive for the organization to hire new employees by investing time and money on their recruitment. Plus, they come with a high employee turnover (the cost of replacing an employee with another one) to the company. On the other hand, loyal workers lead to saving money in recruitment costs, training, and lost productivity, thereby reducing the employee turnover to a great extent. Besides, a company with a group of motivated and loyal workers is more likely to gain a good reputation amongst potential workers and clients.
   
4. 
   Better Creativity- A motivated workforce tends to work freely and more passionately on the tasks assigned. As such, these employees display improved and better levels of creativity and imagination on the job. As a result, a group of innovative and inspired employees help in taking the business to step forward with creative ideas flowing all the while for the betterment of the organization. For inducing more creativity amongst employees, the supervisors have to design such a leadership style which constantly encourages them to provide suggestions, new product ideas, and new cost effective ways of delivering better performances.
   
5. 
   Appraisal Opportunities- The more motivated employees are towards their job goals and objectives, the better are their chances of getting promoted. Depending upon the interest and hard work that an employee delivers on the job, he is likely to be rewarded accordingly. As such, better levels of performance are more likely to get an employee recognized amongst other workforce, thereby being benefited with an appraisal, promotion, or increased salary pay.
   

With the above stated reasons indicating the significance of employee motivation, it is essential to keep the workforce stimulated and encouraged.
According to Lockley (2012) offering training and development programs that effectively contributes to personal and professional growth of individuals is another effective employee motivation strategy. At the same time, Lockley (2012) warns that in order for motivational aspects of training and development initiatives to be increased, ideally they need to be devised and implemented by a third party with relevant competency and experience.
Alternative working patterns such as job-rotating, job- sharing, and flexible working have been branded as effective motivational tools by Llopis (2012). Moreover, Llopis (2012) argues that motivational aspects of alternative working patterns along with its other benefits are being appreciated by increasing numbers of organisations, however, at the same time; many organisations are left behind from benefiting from such opportunities.

An interesting viewpoint regarding the issue has been proposed by Wylie (2004), according to which members of management primarily should be able to maintain the level of their own motivation at high levels in order to engage in effective motivation of their subordinates. Accordingly, Wylie (2004) recommends managers to adopt a proactive approach in terms of engaging in self-motivation practices.
Furthermore, Wylie (2004) recommends concentrating on specific variations of intangible motivational tools such as celebrations of birthdays and other important dates with the participation of whole team
According to Thomas (2009) the main challenge of motivation in workplaces is identifying what motivates each individual employee taking into account his or her individual differences. In other words, individual differences have been specified by Thomas (2009) as the major obstruction for management in engaging in employee motivation in an effective manner.

3. Research Methodology

The main objective to write this review is to highlight the flow of motivation and to reveal what motivation techniques work more efficiently in different stages of life. This study provides useful managerial implication for employee motivation in an organization. Business owners often fret about the best way to increase employee motivation. Some might wonder, however, why simply providing a paycheck is not enough. Looking closely at what causes a loss of motivation, and recognition of the business' dependence on employees, reveals it is fundamental for employees to bring
their enthusiasm to the workplace to increase the company's bottom line.

1. 
   A motivated workforce will work in a way that provides the greatest value it can to the organization. The success of the company will suffer as a result of employees working below their level of capability.
   
2. 
   Employee imagination and creativity can feed into the innovations made by a new business.
   
3. 
   A company with an environment that prevents demotivation, or includes the financial compensation and recognition of a formalized motivation program, will retain good workers.
   
4. 
   A company can achieve its full potential only by making use of all the financial, physical, and human resources that it has. It is through these resources that the employees get motivated to accomplish their duties. This way, the enterprise begins to glisten as everyone is doing their best to fulfill their tasks.
   
5. 
   Any enterprise has its goals, which can be achieved only when there is a proper resource management, the work environment is a cooperative, one and all employees are directed by their objectives.
   
6. 
   Needs, wishes and desires are interrelated, representing the thrust to act. These wants should be understood by the manager and he/she should formulate and frequently update comprehensive motivation strategies.
   
7. 
   Managers should seek to empower them through promotion opportunities, monetary and non-monetary rewards, or disincentives in case of inefficient employees.