Understanding Employee
Drives and Motivations - The First Step Towards Motivation at Work
Copyright © 1997 Claire
Belilos
CHIC Hospitality Consulting Services
http://www.easytraining.com/motivation.htm
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However large or small
a company or business is, it is employees at all levels that can
make or break it. This holds true not only for the people we hire
on a regular basis, but also for temporary and contracted workers.
It is as important to research and study the needs, drives, and
expectations of people we hire or employ, and aim at responding
to and satisfying those, as it is with regard to customers.
In actual fact, considering
the role each "employee" plays in a company's success,
analyzing and planning an adequate response to employees' motivations
deserves first place in the order of business.
Before going any further,
let us shift our approach from grouping people under the generic
category of "employee" to individual human beings and
term them as "hired workers" or "working partners".
This is what they are. We must acknowledge them as human beings
with individual needs, drives, characteristics, personalities, and
acknowledge their contribution to the business success.
Though each person has
specific needs, drives, aspirations, and capabilities, at varying
degrees of intensity, people's basic needs are the same, as illustrated
by Abraham
Maslow
in the following model:
MASLOW'S
HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
Maslow explains the
Hierarchy of Needs as applied to workers roughly as follows:
Physiological
Needs
basic physical needs: the
ability to acquire food, shelter, clothing and other basics to survive
Safety Needs
a safe and non-threatening
work environment, job security, safe equipment and installations
Social Needs
contact and friendship
with fellow-workers, social activities and opportunities
Ego
recognition, acknowledgment,
rewards
Self-Actualization
realizing one's
dreams and potential, reaching the heights of one's gifts and talents.
It is only when these
needs are met that workers are morally, emotionally, and even physically
ready to satisfy the needs of the employer and the customers.
Worker motivation must
also be viewed from two perspectives:
- Inner drives
- Outer (external)
motivators.
A person's inner drives push and propel him/her towards
an employer, a particular job, career, line of study, or other activity
(such as travel or recreation). It is these drives that Maslow delineates
in his hierarchy of needs, and which we must understand and internalize,
use as guidelines in our efforts to help employees feel motivated.
The outer (external) motivators are the mirror image the employer
or outside world offers in response to the inner drives. In order
to attract the "cream of the crop" of available workers,
same as in his/her dealings with customers, the employer not only
tries to satisfy these basic needs, but to exceed them - taking
into consideration additional extraordinary needs individual workers
have.
Most workers need to:
- Earn wages that
will enable them to pay for basic necessities and additional
luxuries such as the purchase of a home, or travel
- Save for and enjoy
old age security benefits
- Have medical and
other insurance coverage
- Acquire friends
at work
- Win recognition
- Be acknowledged
and rewarded for special efforts and contributions
- Be able to advance
in life and career-wise
- Have opportunities
for self-development
- Improve their skills,
knowledge, and know-how
- Demonstrate and
use special gifts and abilities
- Realize their ideal(s).
The employer responds
to those needs by offering and providing:
- Employment
- Adequate pay
- Assistance to workers
for their special needs (such as child care arrangements, transportation,
flexible work schedules)
- Job security (to
the degree possible)
- Clear company policies
- Clear and organized
work procedures
- A stable, just
and fair work environment
- A safe work environment
- Medical coverage
and other benefits
- An atmosphere of
teamwork and cooperation
- Social activities
- Reward and recognition
programs
- Incentive programs
- Open lines of communication
(formal and informal)
- Systematic feedback
- Training and development
programs
- Opportunities for
promotion
- Company/ business
information
- Information on
customer feedback
- Sharing of company
goals and objectives
- Information on
the market situation and industry
- Future expectations
- Plans for the future
- Guidance and mentoring.
It is important that
the employer discover other extraordinary needs applicants have
before hiring them and know beforehand whether he/she can satisfy
those needs or not. An employee may have:
- Family responsibilities
and be unable to work shifts, overtime, or weekends
- Heavy financial
responsibilities which he/she can meet only by working at two
jobs, leading to exhaustion, "sick leave", and deficient
work performance
- A desperate financial
need for additional overtime and weekend remuneration
- Premature expectations
of swift promotions.
Some other needs the
employer can expect, for which company policies should be planned
accordingly:
- If the company
is in a remote location, all employees will have a need for
more social activities
- Many single people
look for dates and spouses at work
- Some women may
not be ready to work late shifts unless the employer provides
transportation back home
- Some workers may
have a problem with drug or alcohol abuse.
In addition to needs
and drives, adult workers have expectations from their employer
- they expect:
- A knowledgeable,
experienced, expert employer
- Clear and fair
policies, procedures, and employment practices
- Business integrity
- Clear job descriptions
- Two-way communications
- Effective management
and supervision
- Positive discipline
- Good company repute
- Good customer relations
- Company survival
- Opportunities for
personal growth
- Company growth
- A share in the
company's success.
Business owners and
managers are under constant scrutiny by the people they hire. Adult workers care beyond
the salary - they care to know to whom they entrust their fate,
reputation, and security.
They consider their work as a major factor that shapes their lives
and the lives of those dear to them. Hence the scrutiny. Once they
feel confident that the employer and their place of work is what
they wished for and expected, they are ready to contribute above
and beyond "the call of duty".
Most of these needs,
expectations and aspirations are unexpressed - it is up to the employer
to develop a good system of company communications, employee relations,
training and development that will lead to an environment of openness,
cooperation, teamwork, and motivation that will benefit all the
parties involved.
Thank you for visiting. We hope you
will find value in the free online information provided in our "how
to" articles.
Copyright
© 1997 Claire Belilos - All Rights Reserved
This article is not to be sold or distributed in any form or manner
without the author's written permission
Further articles on employee motivation
at http://www.easytraining.com:
How Can I Motivate My Employees? - The Eternal Question
Beyond Training: Focusing
on the Human Factor
Cross-Training as a Motivational
and Problem-Solving Technique
Conducting
Effective Employee Orientations
Managers
and Supervisors Expected to Create a Motivated Team
and the famous article
by the late Mr. James Lavenson, Hotelier,
Think
Strawberries
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