Motivating Employees

Motivation of employees is an important part of the success of the business. “Psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed that all people seek to satisfy five basic kinds of needs: physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs.” (Jones & George, 2011, p. 303) If the needs, within reason, of the employee are being met, than it’s only makes sense that the employee will exceed goals, be happier at the workplace, and have more motivation to continue. The Equity theory is based on what the employee perceives as fair; relative to the work outcomes and their work inputs. (Jones & George, 2011, p. 307) That would be in a case where you have two bank tellers and both are trained to work in the lobby but one the ability to be a little quicker and she is occasionally in the drive-thru. Because of this, she has slightly higher pay, which is the outcome, but her input to the company is more with her able to perform both tasks well. This motivation can benefit the teller at that works both windows since she has added responsibility, she feels more confident about her work and therefore wants to progress. It can also be a benefit for the teller that is only at the lobby. Although she is a great worker, her speed or multitasking ability may need some work. This should motivate her to pay closer attention to her speed, and with this need, the manager may step in and offer more training. The other theory that is important is the goal-setting theory. In my opinion, this is so important to have in a company. When you have a goal in place, the drive is there in the work you perform and the ability to reach the goal. “Specific, difficult goals cause people to put forth high levels of effort, for example.” (Jones & George, 2011, p. 311) I’m guessing that most car dealerships have goals for the month. When you set forth that goal for an employee, the competition is healthy and they may strive harder to reach that