Manipulation of Employees :: Business

The concerns that managers have regarding the subject of motivation and how to get the most effort from their employees are valid concerns because. The reality of today’s economy have many people living paycheck to paycheck and sometimes working two and three jobs just to make ends meet. Although many people are grateful to have jobs, they feel that they are living in times of uncertainty and worry everyday if they will have jobs tomorrow. The stress of dealing with the rising cost of everything not only makes motivation more challenging, it has caused people to be more anxious and distrustful. Trying to keep employees motivated in these times of uncertainty is indeed a big concern. Robbins and Judge define motivation by means of three elements. The first element is defined as being the process that account for an individual’s intensity which is concerned with how hard a person tries. The second element is direction that benefits the organization and the third element is persistence which is a measure of how long a person can maintain effort. Motivation is also driven by certain situations that vary between individuals and within individuals, at different times. (Robbins & Judge, 2007, p.186) These elements should not only be expected from employees but from managers as well. The key to understanding what employees’ motivations are, and how managers can support them in their aims and objectives, is to understand that different people are motivated by different things. Managers should make a conscience effort to stay in touch with the interest, skills and abilities that their employees possess. Given the opportunity, it is possible that employees can provide valuable information about how to motivate each other to do a better job. Maslow needs theory has received wide recognition particularly among practicing managers. Perhaps it could provide some valuable insight in motivation. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs â€Å"hypothesized that within every human being there exists a hierarchy of five needs. Maslow separated the five needs into higher and lower orders. Physiological and safety needs were described as lower-order needs and social, esteem, and self-actualization as higher-order needs. As each of these needs becomes substantially satisfied, the next need becomes dominant. So if you want to motivate someone, you need to understand what level of the hierarchy that person is currently on and focus on satisfying the needs at or above that level.† (Robbins & Judge, 2007, p.187) Psychologist Frederick Herzberg contends that â€Å"if we want to motivate people on their jobs, emphasize factors associated with the work itself or to outcomes directly derived from it.