Motivation

3.1 Motivation Motivation is the activation or energization of goal-oriented behavior. Motivation may be internal or external. According to various theories, motivation may be rooted in the basic need to minimize physical pain and maximize pleasure, or it may include specific needs. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/motivation)  Work Motivation: The psychological forces that determine the direction of a person’s behavior in an organization, a person’s level of effort, and a person’s level of persistence. Three key element of work motivation are as following: 1. Direction of Behavior Direction of behavior refers to the behavior employees choose to perform from the many potential behaviors they could perform. For example: Employees can be motivated in functional ways that help an organization achieve its goals or in dysfunctional ways that hinder an organization from achieving its goals. They want employees to be motivated to come to work on time, perform their assigned tasks dependably, come up with good ideas, and help others. They do not want employees to come to work late, ignore rules concerning health and safety, or pay lip service to quality. 2. Level of effort How hard does a person work to perform a chosen behavior' It is not enough for an organization to motivate employees to perform desired functional behaviors; the organization must also motivate them to work hard at these behaviors. 3. Level of Persistence When faced with obstacles, roadblocks, and stone walls, how hard does a person keep trying to perform a chosen behavior successfully'  Theory of work motivation 1. Need Theory Need theory focuses on the customer side. In order to determine which outcomes motivate employees the most, managers must first learn which needs employees are trying to satisfy. 2. Expectancy Theory Regardless of which outcomes are available employees will not be motivated to contribute their inputs to the organization unless they believe it will result in achieving a given level of performance. Put simply, if employees do not think they are capable of performing at an adequate level even with maximum effort, their motivation to perform at that level will be zero. For Example: A manager who wants to motivate an employee to perform at a certain level must first make sure the employee believes he or she can achieve the performance level. Then the manager must make sure the employee believes he or she will receive, and actually does receive, the desired outcomes after the performance level has been achieved. 3. Equity Theory Equity theory focuses primarily on the relationship between inputs and outcomes. As the model of work motivation is: The manager needs to make sure that the different employees’ outcome and input ratio are equal. For Example: A manager need to administer outcomes based on those inputs. Moreover, managers need to ensure that different employees’ outcomes/input ratios are approximately equal so that employees who contribute more inputs receive more outcomes and vice versa. 4. Procedural Justice Theory Employee will not be motivated to contribute their inputs unless they perceive that fair procedures will be used to distribute outcomes in the organization. It is about the decision of everything that fair or unfair for the employees. If the employees think that some things provide from the organization is unfair. They will feel unsatisfied and it leads to bad result of performance. Because of rapid globalization over recent years, the competition around the world becomes more intense, especially for the service industry with the similar products. The most critical point for business to success is not only the quality of products they supply, but the atmosphere of cooperating and the amount from yield of teamwork in retail sales. The employees who always touch with customers and can realize what customers really need are first-line staffs. Therefore, it turns to be essential for companies to motivate, reward and train their employees to be the best quality personnel. Motivation is a vital factor for business in the process of making their production. Labours are not working machine, so that they can not always do the same affairs with equal passion. Accordingly, the efficient method to make staffs keen on their jobs should be to motivate them. It might even gain a better yield than purchasing plenty of equipments and facilities. However, to be contrary to the classical management approaches, some reports had proposed that the ways to motivate employees are not only money. Kohn (1993) showed a survey that if a reward frame only offers physical rewards, the produce from workers might decline, especially in the creativity industries. What is more, other factors are essential as well, such as working environment or relationship between employees and managers. Nicholson (1998) reported that “workers had strong social needs which they tried to satisfy through membership of informal social groups at work place”. Besides, “the importance of informal social factors in the work place such as co-worker relationships and group norms that influence employee motivation and performance is highlighted” (Macky & Johnson, 2003) A pervious researcher, Pugh & Hickson (1989) cited Elton Mayo (1933) made an investigation called ‘Hawthorne Experiment’. According to the results, if managers provided a suitable working environment considering each personal requirement and their sense of satisfaction rather than a higher salary or bonus, workers were encouraged to be more hard-working and efficient. He also verified that if managers of an organization do not consider about individual works’ needs and wants, then treat them as equal units would “maximize payment and minimize effort”. As a result, how to use non-financial incentives would be an important issue for nowadays business. What Motivates Chinese Employees' * Employees in China, compared to those in the West, are more dissatisfied with their personal issues – compensation, benefits, and development. – Most likely there is confusion here amongst employees and a good communication about C&B might be all that it takes to make this better. * Companies that handled change well had significantly higher levels of trust and commitment in their employees. Chinese Employees are Generally Motivated to do Well: A few tips for positively influencing motivation in China - Compliment employees on their work – not common in China; - Show patience and concern – important Confucian value; - Let employees share responsibility for improving the work process – reinforces collectivism; - Appreciate the quiet workers – not just the outspoken ones – Chinese people are taught to be low-key; - Share your vision often – Western value uncommon in China.