Motivation: providing with a reason to act in a certain way. More specifically Employee Motivation: 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. When becoming a leader or manager it is pertinent that you understand the motivation of the people who are working for you. The following articles contain information/studies highlighting this information. In this chapter I have also included exercises to help improve upon motivation in the workplace. I think it is important to understand your own motivation as well as the motivation for others in your organization. To be an effective leader understanding motivation and being able to use that information can make the difference in your success. Understanding motivation is a fundamental idea when pursuing my career aspirations to run my own business. I have attached a copy of some educational slides that summarize the information in this chapter and can be accessed as a teaching tool.
Articles on motivation:
Articles on motivation:
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hbr_employee_motivation.pdf | |
File Size: | 223 kb |
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Employee Motivation A Powerful New Model
By Nitin Nohria, Boris Groysburg, and Linda-Eling Lee
This article identifies how to motivate people to do their best work even in trying circumstances. This can be very enduring and challenging for a manager. This topic has been largely researched and as someone with minimal management experience this article was extremely insightful and helpful in identifying the four basic emotional needs/drives for individuals. The needs/drive that underline all that we do include: the drive to acquire (obtain scarce goods, including intangibles such as social status); bond (form connections with individuals and groups); comprehend (satisfy our curiosity and master the world around us); and defend (protect against external threats and promote justice). This is important to note as my goal is to one day manage the employees that work for my RT consulting business. This article explains that to improve overall motivation you need to satisfy all four drives in concert. The whole is more than the sum of its parts, the consequences of neglecting any particular drive is clearly explained in this article. It is also noted that an organization as a whole needs to attend to these four emotional drives but so do individual managers. Each drive is described in detain in this article and the consequences of whether they are met or not are also noted. Each of these drives are independent, they can not be ordered hierarchically or substituted for one another, to fully motivate your employees, you must address all four. This article identifies the primary lever and actions for each drive and provides this information in a very helpful and accessible chart. The secret to employee motivation is improving your effectiveness in fulfilling all four of the basic emotional drives, not just one. This article can help my strengthen my leadership skills by providing me with the information on how to get the best out of employees by fulfilling their most fundamental needs. I will use this article as a resource as I pursue my career goals/aspirations.
By Nitin Nohria, Boris Groysburg, and Linda-Eling Lee
This article identifies how to motivate people to do their best work even in trying circumstances. This can be very enduring and challenging for a manager. This topic has been largely researched and as someone with minimal management experience this article was extremely insightful and helpful in identifying the four basic emotional needs/drives for individuals. The needs/drive that underline all that we do include: the drive to acquire (obtain scarce goods, including intangibles such as social status); bond (form connections with individuals and groups); comprehend (satisfy our curiosity and master the world around us); and defend (protect against external threats and promote justice). This is important to note as my goal is to one day manage the employees that work for my RT consulting business. This article explains that to improve overall motivation you need to satisfy all four drives in concert. The whole is more than the sum of its parts, the consequences of neglecting any particular drive is clearly explained in this article. It is also noted that an organization as a whole needs to attend to these four emotional drives but so do individual managers. Each drive is described in detain in this article and the consequences of whether they are met or not are also noted. Each of these drives are independent, they can not be ordered hierarchically or substituted for one another, to fully motivate your employees, you must address all four. This article identifies the primary lever and actions for each drive and provides this information in a very helpful and accessible chart. The secret to employee motivation is improving your effectiveness in fulfilling all four of the basic emotional drives, not just one. This article can help my strengthen my leadership skills by providing me with the information on how to get the best out of employees by fulfilling their most fundamental needs. I will use this article as a resource as I pursue my career goals/aspirations.
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motivation_3.pdf | |
File Size: | 143 kb |
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Exercises to improve my motivation skills:
The following exercises can be done in the workplace to help motivate employees. These are exercises that as I practice/experience currently (in a non management position) with my group or with peers and will find out which ones work best for RT and use them in the future when I am a manager. In my experience practicing with exercise 1 I found that people enjoy friendly workplace competition and it was successful in motivating myself and my peers.
Exercise 1:
Workplace Assembly Competition
Present your workers with a speed challenge to motivate them to up
productivity. Arrange an Olympic style assembly challenge for your workers,
selecting different objects that you assemble in your business and ask workers
to build them as quickly as possible. For example, if you run a pizza shop, pit
workers against each other, having them fold boxes as quickly as possible or
craft pepperoni pies as rapidly as they can. Reward the winners with metals,
ribbons or places on a wall of fame.
The following exercise was practiced with my group and I felt that it is an exercise that can be done annually if not more frequently to stay on track with your goals and keep yourself motivated. This book is an example of this exercise on a larger scale.
Exercise 2:
Dream Big
Take time out of your daily routine to imagine what your
ideal life would be like, advises the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign Student Programs and Activities Office. Consider all aspects
of your life -- education, career, personal relationships. Don't limit yourself
to what seems practical or what you can accomplish right away. Once you've
formed a mental picture of the life you want, write down a list of specific
long-term goals. Develop a plan of action with specific steps on how you will
achieve your goals.
Goal setting is crucial for motivation. I also think that open communication about goals with your employees is an effective way to motivate them. This is an exercise that will be used throughout my career.
Exercise 3:
Goal Setting
Sit down for 30 minutes and determine what your most pressing goals are.
Write down a list of everything you want to accomplish, and then select the one
to three things you would like to accomplish. Now, select the one thing you want
to do most, and write down a concrete goal that you can achieve. Not only will
you improve your leadership by setting performance goals, chances are the goal
itself will provide motivation for you to achieve success.
The following exercises can be done in the workplace to help motivate employees. These are exercises that as I practice/experience currently (in a non management position) with my group or with peers and will find out which ones work best for RT and use them in the future when I am a manager. In my experience practicing with exercise 1 I found that people enjoy friendly workplace competition and it was successful in motivating myself and my peers.
Exercise 1:
Workplace Assembly Competition
Present your workers with a speed challenge to motivate them to up
productivity. Arrange an Olympic style assembly challenge for your workers,
selecting different objects that you assemble in your business and ask workers
to build them as quickly as possible. For example, if you run a pizza shop, pit
workers against each other, having them fold boxes as quickly as possible or
craft pepperoni pies as rapidly as they can. Reward the winners with metals,
ribbons or places on a wall of fame.
The following exercise was practiced with my group and I felt that it is an exercise that can be done annually if not more frequently to stay on track with your goals and keep yourself motivated. This book is an example of this exercise on a larger scale.
Exercise 2:
Dream Big
Take time out of your daily routine to imagine what your
ideal life would be like, advises the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign Student Programs and Activities Office. Consider all aspects
of your life -- education, career, personal relationships. Don't limit yourself
to what seems practical or what you can accomplish right away. Once you've
formed a mental picture of the life you want, write down a list of specific
long-term goals. Develop a plan of action with specific steps on how you will
achieve your goals.
Goal setting is crucial for motivation. I also think that open communication about goals with your employees is an effective way to motivate them. This is an exercise that will be used throughout my career.
Exercise 3:
Goal Setting
Sit down for 30 minutes and determine what your most pressing goals are.
Write down a list of everything you want to accomplish, and then select the one
to three things you would like to accomplish. Now, select the one thing you want
to do most, and write down a concrete goal that you can achieve. Not only will
you improve your leadership by setting performance goals, chances are the goal
itself will provide motivation for you to achieve success.
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motivation_presentation.pptx | |
File Size: | 74 kb |
File Type: | pptx |