HR Performance Issues and Motivation
Motivations of the human capital within an organization shape the relationship between the employees and the organization. Performance and satisfaction of employees is also shaped by the job design, style of leadership, environment and resources on the job. Individual motivations also impact the performance of employees in the places of work. Individual motivations are attached to financial rewards, social issues, recognition in the workplace, intrinsic satisfaction, development and personal growth. All these factors influence the performance of an organization. There are various theories explaining on the nature of motivation in the places of work.
Managing people in organizations is critical to organizations and part of the management process. Human resource in the twenty first century plays a pivotal role. It is supported as one of the crucial assets in organizations (Doyal & Gough, 2001). Organizations are successful through motivating employees. Satisfying the needs of the employees is one of the simplest ways of motivating human capital. Meeting the needs of the human capital results to intrinsic motivation towards work; resulting to greater returns to the organization from the employees. Motivated employees in most cases are satisfied with the work they do, which means that organizations get the best from the employees (Islam, 2011).
Understanding effective people in an organization is analyzed through an investigation of the organization and employees as independent units. Successful organizations consider employees as the cause of quality and success (Rummler, 2002). Successful organizations consider the human capital as influential to capital investment. An effective organization has mechanisms of accomplishing its goals and the needs of its employees. Effective organizations facilitate strong cooperation, satisfaction and commitment among the human capital (Doyal & Gough, 2001).
In making sure that employees are committed and satisfied in working with the organization, the top management teams must make sure that effective and strong motivation exist among the human capital at all levels of the organization. Employee motivation is complex and ambiguous, considering that employees are motivated by different things. It is worth understanding individual employee, and also assessing motivations for each employee (Doyal & Gough, 2001).
Common ways of motivating employees are connected to personal thanks, giving feedback, responding to queries, praising employees in public, enhancing two way communications and monetary awards. Additional ways of motivating employees are connected to developing tailor made rewards, facilitating an inclusive environment, encouraging involvement of employees and in setting a clear direction. In addition, motivation encouraged by fostering celebrations, reasonable rewards, development of employees and a sense of ownership among the employees (Islam, 2011).
Motivation is part of the psychological process that influences the behaviors of individuals within organizations. Most of competitiveness challenges in organizations are related to issues of motivation; since motivation influences behaviors, attitude, personality and perceptions of the employees. Motivation is related to different cognitive processes (Doyal & Gough, 2001). Motivation directs, energizes, sustains and arouses the work performance and behavior of employees towards job satisfaction of the employees. Motivation stimulates the human capital within an organization in offering the best work performance resulting to job satisfaction.
An example of a performance issue resulting from a motivation problem is as follows: In an organization, a supervisor in a production department set unclear requirements and expectations. This resulted to inconsistent feedback resulting to negative motivational issues. The employees in the department felt lost in the department, therefore unable to perform their duties to the expected standards. The production department had no identifiable goals hence inconsistent results were realized after the job assessment from the employees. The supervisor seemed not to care on the business since he had not defined clear performance expectations and the feedback system offered inadequate information. The feeling that the supervisor was less interested on the department de-motivated the employees and slowed down the performance.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory was initiated by Abraham Maslow reflecting on human motivation (Maslow, 2011). According to Abraham Maslow, the psychologist argued that human beings are motivating by things that satisfy the basic needs numbering to five. The human needs are formatted in a hierarchy (King, 2011). According to the theory, it was argued that the lowest level needs are addressed first, which is then followed by fulfilling the subsequent needs as formatted in the hierarchy. The theory has been engaged by people and organizations in understanding human motivation (Islam, 2011).
The hierarchies are connected to physiological needs attached to basic things that humans need for survival. In an organization, stable employment and a salary are critical in fulfilling the basic human needs. The security needs are connected to stable emotional and physical environment; such as pension, benefits, fair work practices and safe work environment (King, 2011).
In this context, the employees have already received the physiological needs since they have salaries and stable work in the production department. The employees have challenges with the security needs since the unclear goals and poor feedback systems are affecting the emotional and physical work environment (Maslow, 2011).
Belongingness needs appears in the third level, in the hierarchy of needs. Belongingness is influenced by the social acceptance such as cooperation and friendship in the places of work. In this context, the supervisor is failing to offer cooperation in the production department. Employees in the production department have issues with belongingness needs.
Esteem needs appears in the fourth level of the hierarchy. This is influenced by respect, positive self image and issues of recognition in the workplace (Islam, 2011). Employees in the production department have issues with esteem needs since they feel that the organization is failing to address at their needs through the supervisor, in this context acting as the leader in the production department (King, 2011).
The fifth need is self-actualization needs that are connected to issues of achievement such as challenging work environment, workplace autonomy and issues of the status quo. Employees in the production department are also lacking self actualization needs. The work environment is not encouraging employees to realize their potential within the organization (Rummler, 2002).
Employees working in the production department have issues with security needs, belongingness needs, esteem needs and self-actualization needs. The production department in the organization has just fulfilled the physiological needs. The four needs in the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs that are not fulfilled is a result to unclear requirements and expectations in the production department.
The supervisor can address the challenges within the production department by setting clear requirements and expectations. The action or intervention plan is designed to foster motivation in the organization. It will be achieved through creating effective teams and involving the teams in goal setting and decision making processes. The human capital will be motivated hence improving the work performance of employees due to the job satisfaction on the employees (King, 2011).
Goal setting within the production department will be facilitated by setting clear expectations and goals. This will be desirable in making it to the desired outcomes match the objectives of the organization. The motivations of the employees within the production department are directly connected to the actions of the supervisor.
References
Doyal, L. & Gough, I. (2001). A Theory of Human Need. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Islam, T. (2011). Relationship between Motivation and Job Satisfaction: A Study of Higher Educational Institutions. Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies , 94-100.
King, P. W. (2011). Climbing Maslow’s Pyramid. Púchov, Slovakia: Matador.
Maslow, A. H. (2011). Hierarchy of Needs: A Theory of Human Motivation. New York: www.all-about-psychology.com.
Rummler, G. A. (2002). Human Performance Problems and Their Solutions. Human Resource Management , 2-10.
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