Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Motivation

Motivation is the result of forces acting on an employee goal that initiate and direct behavior. Previously I’m not a manager and today held approximately 5 years for the middle management position. In general managers must be excellent at addressing the needs and goals of individual employees. No one motivational approach works for everyone. Each generation has its own style, preferences, and core values that should be known to the managers. In 1970s, 1980s and 1990s are different styles of approaching if to compare with the millennium era. For example, 1970-1990 top management and managers are abiding to the tons of documentations as their reference which ending with as a referral besides the individual value for their motivation plan. With the technology enhancement, most organizations are working in paperless environment and just one click; a manager can evaluate his/her employees of their performance and will tie with motivation. However, managers should adapt different approach to meet the company’s goal and will present a good job if the motivation values are really rewards or punishment granted to the employees.

Fulfill Personal need is the most important in mitigating their deficiency or lack of something of value that an individual experiences at a particular point. These may refer to foods, social interaction and self-esteem. When needs are present, the individual will seek to fulfill those needs and may be more susceptible to managers’ motivational efforts. Back to myself, in early stage of my career, my individual needs such as house, car and to marry with a beautiful woman are top priority. In other words, the cash I need to meet the dreaming desire is the factors that motivate that will result to perform a good job. Security and future career development motivates to work hard and smart including rewards or punishment is entailing to do a good job. Moving forward, the motivation is keep changing due to the current needs. The task to be delivered is differently as against the post held. Dealing with top management, the BOD and others stakeholder have matured of life style, the way of thinking and developed our social intelligence and emotional intelligence via motivation processes. Perhaps there is still acquired high and low motivation.


Refer to the theories of content and process, both are determined and explained my motivation level. Either high or low motivation it is based on the situational, my employees and my superior. Manager’s needs to trigger desired behavior, rewarding system, and choices on preferences, rewards and accomplishments are the effective items. Maslow hierarchy, Alderfer three level hierarchy, Herzberg two major factors and McClelland three learned needs are all theory founders that determined by itself. Infact the deficiency needs, growth needs, and extrinsic factors and intrinsic factors are all applicable to my motivation. At one time it is satisfiers motivators and may change to dissatifiers on the job satisfaction. But I’m not to comment on the McClelland learned needs theory as he distinguished the genders that are to be biased at a particular situation. Men and women is now regards at the same level BUT Islam does not permit women to be an IMAM and others related as prescribed in AlQuran and Al Hadith.

Actually, all theories are applicable to my past and current job. From our initial stage i.e. first day sit on the office desk till now, most hierarchies are needed to motivate myself and it grows step by step as our behavior and the environment influence to it. Moving forward to be potential holding high management authority and to motivate our employees, I’m more focus to the Herzberg view with regards to the low and high job satisfaction. In mitigating the job dissatisfaction, we need to recall ourselves first (mua ‘sabah) and followed by our employees to meet the job more meaningful with the degree of full satisfaction. It is a great challenge and to accept that it is not easy to make everybody motivates but to accomplish for the best sake of our organization.