ILM3 Management: Understanding how to motivate to improve performance
Understand the factors that influence motivation levels in the workplace
We can define motivation as the desire and willingness to do something and the inner force that helps individuals achieve their goals. Understanding what motivates employees and what employers can do to motivate their employees has been the focus of research for many years. This is mainly because motivated employees can provide an organisation with a distinctive advantage and a competitive edge and by being more productive they can help the organisation thrive and survive. In a public service organisation such as West North West Homes we would expect staff to be motivated partly by the desire to have a positive impact on others. Someone working within a sales team may be expected to be motivated by making progress and ‘winning’. However it must also be considered that a person working within the social sector needs reward and progression. A sales person may also be motivated by providing an excellent service to the customer and having a positive impact on others.
It is often considered that money is the defining factor in staff motivation. However when asked to rank a range of factors that relate to personal motivation, money often features less in choosing a job. There are also many other factors that affect motivation; however research shows that two of the largest contributory factors are the cultural and environmental facets of an organisation. If negativity exists in either of these components employee motivation has a good potential of spiralling downwards.
In my experience, if an organisation cultural atmosphere is plagued with negativity this can have a terrible effect on the mind set of employees which can be difficult to change. Employers who invest time and effort into developing a positive working environment often find their employees are happier and this attitude becomes part of the organisations culture. However if no effort is given to this a wave of pessimism can overtake
We can define motivation as the desire and willingness to do something and the inner force that helps individuals achieve their goals. Understanding what motivates employees and what employers can do to motivate their employees has been the focus of research for many years. This is mainly because motivated employees can provide an organisation with a distinctive advantage and a competitive edge and by being more productive they can help the organisation thrive and survive. In a public service organisation such as West North West Homes we would expect staff to be motivated partly by the desire to have a positive impact on others. Someone working within a sales team may be expected to be motivated by making progress and ‘winning’. However it must also be considered that a person working within the social sector needs reward and progression. A sales person may also be motivated by providing an excellent service to the customer and having a positive impact on others.
It is often considered that money is the defining factor in staff motivation. However when asked to rank a range of factors that relate to personal motivation, money often features less in choosing a job. There are also many other factors that affect motivation; however research shows that two of the largest contributory factors are the cultural and environmental facets of an organisation. If negativity exists in either of these components employee motivation has a good potential of spiralling downwards.
In my experience, if an organisation cultural atmosphere is plagued with negativity this can have a terrible effect on the mind set of employees which can be difficult to change. Employers who invest time and effort into developing a positive working environment often find their employees are happier and this attitude becomes part of the organisations culture. However if no effort is given to this a wave of pessimism can overtake