Effect of Technological Development on Employee Motivation

 

Effect of Technological Development on Employee Motivation

The rapid changes occur with globalization have challenged the businesses. For example, technological changes has upgraded the Divisibility of the products, production process and jobs (Gunasekare, 2015). As well as, using Digitalization, Artificial Intelligence and Automation of tasks have hugely spread throughout different industries (Marr, 2019) such as education, healthcare, banking and finance services sector and web designing agencies.

Pratt & Cakula (2021) mentions that it has become a question on how to have high-performing, motivated and satisfied employees within companies where communication is fully or partly-technology based. Within this new context of businesses, a motivated workforce have been pointed out as a hallmark of competitive advantages (Bhatt, 2001). In the current business scenario, it is important to recruit a workforce with frequently updating skills in order to adjust quickly with the changing technologies (Nazareno & Schiff, 2021). Hence, the leadership of the organizations should motivate the “Growth mindset” of the employees and update the knowledge of employees to adjust with the technological changes whereas it inspire the employees intrinsically (Caniëls et al, 2016; Dweck, 2016).

As per the knowledge drawn through different scholars, it is proved that the technological development has affected the employee well-being within organizations (Nazareno & Schiff, 2021). Computer Supported Corporative Work (CSCW) is defined as the use of computing and communication technologies which support the employees to improve task performance (Negahban & Smith, 2014) which is widely used in different industries providing benefits such as improving task performance, increased range and speed of information and overcome time and space distance. While automation and artificial intelligence may improve productivity or wages for those who remain employed, they may also have mixed or negative impacts on worker well-being (Nazareno & Schiff, 2021). As an example, the widespread application of artificial intelligence and automation technology in the banking industry has led to the continuous reduction of teller positions (Nan et al, 2021). Furthermore, Nan et al, (2021) mentions that the awareness of the bank tellers about the new technological development has affect the employee's turnover intention. Hence, it is essential to motivate the employees, to adopt with the technological changes by filling the skills gap because one of the purpose of applying technology is motivating the employees through ease of work.

Effect of Technological Development on Employee Motivation – Practical Scenario

Vedio 1: What will Banking Look Like in 2030?

                                            Source: Banking Software Company (2021)

Considering the financial industry, where I have gained my working experience, technological advancement of banking tasks plays a vital role due to the higher market competition. As stated by Orpen (1994), employee motivation is having a direct effect on technological advancement. Technological advancement changes the nature of the work tasks whereas employees require knowledge and skills to do the new tasks effectively.  Hence, training and development is required in order to fill the knowledge gap. The bank conducts training sessions for new technological introductions, workshops, brain storming sessions and team building activities in order to make the employees adopt with new technologies. Farooq & Khan (2011) mentions that firms should adopt these technological changes and equip the employees with latest technology and develop their abilities to use latest technology.

As a conclusion, Employee Performance is affected by technological advancement (Imran et al., 2014). The development of the technology in organizations causes for both job satisfaction and dissatisfaction for the employees. According to Caniëls et al (2016), The leaders of the organization increase the job satisfaction and reduce the job dissatisfaction as per Herzberg’s Two factor theory, through motivation factors and Hygiene Factors such as empowering the employees with cognitive capabilities which reduce the fear to fail or fear to change, providing training and development with learning opportunities, Automating the tasks, promoting employee engagement and personalized learning methods which enhance employee carrier goals and personal insights. If employees are motivated towards their work, they will boost the organizational performance. 

 

Reference

Bhatt, G.D., 2001. Knowledge management in organizations: examining the interaction between technologies, techniques, and people. Journal of knowledge management.

Caniëls, M.C., Semeijn, J.H. and Renders, I.H., 2018. Mind the mindset! The interaction of proactive personality, transformational leadership and growth mindset for engagement at work. Career Development International.

Dweck, C., 2016. What having a “growth mindset” actually means. Harvard Business Review, 13, pp.213-226.

Farooq, M. and Khan, M.A., 2011. Impact of training and feedback on employee performance. Far east journal of psychology and business, 5(1), pp.23-33.

Gunasekare, D.U., 2015. Virtual teams in Sri Lankan business process outsourcing companies. Journal of Business & Economic Policy, 2(3).

Imran M, Maqbool N, Shafique H. Impact of technological advancement on employee performance in banking sector. International Journal of Human Resource Studies. 2014 Jan 1;4(1):57.

Marr, B., 2019. Artificial intelligence in practice: how 50 successful companies used AI and machine learning to solve problems. John Wiley & Sons.

Nan, J. and Selamat, M.H., 2021. Exploring the Influence of Artificial Intelligence Awareness on Bank Tellers' Turnover Intention: A Pilot Study in China.

Nazareno, L. and Schiff, D.S., 2021. The impact of automation and artificial intelligence on worker well-being. Technology in Society, 67, p.101679.

Negahban, A. and Smith, J.S., 2014. Simulation for manufacturing system design and operation: Literature review and analysis. Journal of Manufacturing Systems, 33(2), pp.241-261.

Orpen, C., 1994. Interactive effects of work motivation and personal control on employee job performance and satisfaction. The Journal of social psychology, 134(6), pp.855-856.

Pratt, M. and Cakula, S., 2021. Motivation in a business company using technology-based communication. Artificial Intelligence in Industry 4.0: A Collection of Innovative Research Case-studies that are Reworking the Way We Look at Industry 4.0 Thanks to Artificial Intelligence, pp.15-30.

Vroom's Expectancy Theory of Motivation

Parijat & Bagga (2014), states that the motivation theories are divided in to two categories as Content theories that focus on individual needs and Process Theories which focus on cognitive processes which motivate the individuals. The Expectancy theory propounded by Victor Vroom in 1964, is a process theory which provides a sort of a mechanism for finding out motivation through a certain type of calculation (Eerde et al, 1996). Vroom’s Expectancy Theory states that motivation will be high when people are aware on the things they have to do in order to get a reward (Armstrong & Taylor, 2020). Moreover, there is an expectancy that they will be able to get the reward as well as the reward will be worthwhile. The strength of expectations are based on the past experiences (reinforcement).

Werner (2002, p.335) states that an employee will exert a high effort if he believes there is reasonable probability that the effort will lead to the achievement of an organizational goal, and Simultaneously, the achievement of the organizational goal will become an instrument through which that employee will attain his personal goals. Hence, there is a link between expectancy, effort, productivity and reward (Mathibe, 2008).

Furthermore, the expectancy theory unlocks potentiality of employee productivity. Mathibe (2008) states that, it is assumed that unlocking of potential is linked to empowerment which gives the confidence to employees in order to attempt anything. As adapted from Robinson (1992), table 1 provides a summary of essentials for unlocking potential.

Table 1: Essentials for unlocking employees' potential

Communicating	The manager keeps his or her team members up-todate and in the picture on a regular basis
Horses for courses	The manager allocates work in ways that match staff members’ capabilities and preferences
Valuing differences	The manager encourages respect, trust and understanding between team members
Work standards	The manager sets realistic and clear standards for job performance
Participative decision making	When it is appropriate the manager makes sure that she/he involves team members in those decisions that would affect them and their performance

Source: Robinson, 1992

Application of Expectancy Theory in Organizational Context

Most of the profit oriented organizations are looking for employees who are motivated to top performing in pursuit of competitive advantages. Top performing people are goal directed (Coetsee, 2003). The financial services sector is highly competitive and it is necessary for an institute to increase the customer loyalty in order to retain the customers for long term. Hence, a goal oriented high performing staff will easily achieve the organizational goals. As per the knowledge drawn from scholars about expectancy theory, there are various employee behaviors identified that prove the organization has used motivational rewards to encourage the employees in cognitive basis. The predicted behaviors are, an employee will work for extra hours for career advancement, maintain superior inter-personal relations, project a more ethical image and do similar other things (Parijat & Bagga, 2014).

Reference

Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2020. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice.

Chopra, K., 2019. Indian shopper motivation to use artificial intelligence: Generating Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation using grounded theory approach. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management.

Coetsee, L.D., 2003. Peak performance and productivity. Potchefstroom: Van Schaik. Collis, J. & Hussey.

Mathibe, I., 2008. Expectancy theory and its implications for employee motivation. Academic Leadership: the Online Journal, 6(3), p.8.

Nimri, M., Bdair, A. and Al Bitar, H., 2015. Applying the expectancy theory to explain the motivation of public sector employees in Jordan. Middle east journal of business, 10(3), pp.70-82.

Parijat, P. and Bagga, S., 2014. Victor Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation–An evaluation. International Research Journal of Business and Management, 7(9), pp.1-8.

Robinson, G.M., 1992. Managing after the superlatives: Effective senior management development for the 1990's. Tudor (Hodder & Stoughton).

Van Eerde, W. and Thierry, H., 1996. Vroom's expectancy models and work-related criteria: A meta-analysis. Journal of applied psychology, 81(5), p.575.

Werner, A. 2002. Leadership. In: Nel, P.S., Gerber, P.D., Van Dyk, P.S., Haasbroek, G.D.,

 

Role of Leadership and Team Building in Employee Motivation

 

The motivators which fulfill the employees’ various competing needs, are the elements used to boost the performance (Paul & Vincent, 2018). In addition to that, the ultimate purpose of motivation is to achieve the organizational success through job satisfaction of the employees. Khan and Wajidi (2019) states that the motivation level of employees is considered as one of the most vital elements in attainment of the highest level of success and prosperity in business in such dynamic market competition. Hence, the competition level requires innovative techniques, theories and strategies to battle in order to gain competitive advantage through job satisfaction (Khan & Wajidi, 2019). It is a challenging task to maintain the level of satisfaction of the employees.

Team building acts as a motivational factor to encourage the job satisfaction because, effective teams tend to make things happen more than anything else in organizations (Fapohunda, 2013). According to Fajana (2002), the importance of team building is, current organizations are looking to team-based structures to encourage further enhancements to their productivity, profitability and service quality. Furthermore, team building focuses to specialize in bringing out the best in a team to ensure achieving benefits through intrinsic and extrinsic rewards such as self-development, positive communication, leadership skills and the ability to work closely together as a team to solve problems (Fapohunda, 2013). In order to achieve the employee’s satisfaction in teams, the leader have to understand and identify employee’s expectations, needs and requirements to create a healthy working environment by applying proper motivational strategies (Luomanpaa, 2012).

Vedio 1: How to Keep your Team Motivated      

                                        Source: Kellogg School of Management (2015)

In order to achieve the organizational goals, the leaders and the employees should work together in an organization. Hanifah et al. (2014) mention that leadership styles play a vital role in running the organizations effectively. It is a proved fact that, motivation is a special approach which leads an organization to perform at its best and keep the employees satisfied about their job (Wanjau & Kyongo, 2013). Therefore, Hanifah et al. (2014) mention that the leaders who directly contacts the subordinates daily should pay their attention to work motivations seriously. According to Wirawan et al. (2009) the leadership style and work motivation affect the organizational performance. Furthermore, Employee performance is highly integrated with the leader’s role while the employee requires motivation to work. 

Practical Application of Leadership and Team Building as a Motivation Factor in Organizational Context

Considering the current organizational context, among the trendy approaches the companies have taken to battle in pursuit of competitive advantages, Team Building has transformed to Virtual basis as a relatively recent phenomenon, which requires modern approaches than working in the traditional organizational environment (Prasad et al., 2002). Going forward with the global pandemic, most of the companies started to build virtual teams, because WFH concept made the employees feel like alienated or disconnected compared to onsite employees (Garro-Abarca et al., 2021). Teams building keep the co-workers connected by flushing away the loneliness, releasing the work stress and attaining a healthy work life balance with a very strong sense of belonging whereas motivate the employees to improve the performance with innovative ideas (Lajčin et al, 2021).

With the industrial experience in financial services sector, it can be proved that the team members achieve more efficiency in tasks assigned compared to individual works. Most of the tasks are linked to each other and different team members are specialized to do the particular task. Team leaders tend to achieve the assigned tasks by motivating the employees to perform through satisfying their unmet needs or reducing the dissatisfaction. 

As practical examples from where I have my working experience in banking industry, the managers apply practical implications such as building quality working relationships, flexible administration, work-life balancing, flexible working hours, satisfactory working conditions and quality supervision can be identified. Moreover it can be explained as the managers of the bank, keep the employees updated about business performances and management decisions, ask employees about their ideas before making decisions by holding weekly briefings to plan and discuss, Provide each person a good, comfortable organizational environment and the right training and equipment for the job. Furthermore, building up an atmosphere of trust and teamwork, not defensiveness and fear by avoiding blame, Encouraging people to ask for help when difficulties arise because the employees avoid decision making in case if they are wrong. Share any news and problems and give employees credit for their achievements and criticisms in weekly briefings or daily if it is an urgent matter. As well as especially for task failure or criticism, riding roughshod over employees leads to poor morale, low productivity and staff turnover.

Furthermore, the leadership of the bank has allowed employees progress from being beginners in a role to the point where they enjoy real competence and take full responsibility. Clear and confident instruction is given for newly recruited employees and when existing employees get a new task or an equipment. Teaching more advanced skills which improves loyalty and employee work engagement and continuous encouragement helps to build the confidence of even experienced employees.

As a conclusion, a leader should develop his abilities to coach and motivate people and the key to successful motivation is the attitude of the leader. Luomanpaa (2012) mentions that the effective leaders of the teams identify the actual needs of the team members and address the problems with strategic solutions to get the best outcome through the motivation. 

Reference

Lajčin, D. and Porubčanová, D., 2021. Teamwork during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Emerging Science Journal, 5, pp.1-10.

Fajana, S., 2002. Human resource management: An introduction. Lagos: Labofin and Company.

Fapohunda, T.M., 2013. Towards effective team building in the workplace. International journal of education and research, 1(4), pp.1-12.

Fapohunda, T.M., 2013. Towards effective team building in the workplace. International journal of education and research, 1(4), pp.1-12.

Garro-Abarca, V., Palos-Sanchez, P. and Aguayo-Camacho, M., 2021. Virtual Teams in Times of Pandemic: Factors That Influence Performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, p.232.

Hanifah, H., Susanthi, N.I. and Setiawan, A., 2014. The Effect of Leadership Style on Motivation to Improve the Employee Performance. Jurnal Manajemen Transportasi & Logistik, 1(3), pp.221-226.

Khan, M.R. and Wajidi, A., 2019. Role of leadership and team building in employee motivation at workplace. GMJACS, 9(1), pp.11-11.

Luomanpää, R., 2012. Employee motivation at Tommy Bartlett, Inc.

Paul, A.K. and Vincent, T.N., 2018. Employee motivation and retention: issues and challenges in startup companies. Int. J. Creat. Res. Thoughts, 6, pp.2050-2056.

Prasad, K. and Akhilesh, K.B., 2002. Global virtual teams: what impacts their design and performance?. Team Performance Management: An International Journal.

Wanjau, M.N. and Kyongo, J.K., 2013. Contribution of motivational management to employee performance.

Wirawan, H., Tamar, M. and Bellani, E., 2019. Principals’ leadership styles: the role of emotional intelligence and achievement motivation. International Journal of Educational Management.

Work Life Balance as a Key Motivational Factor

Velnampy (2009) states that, although motivated employees benefit the organizations in various aspects, Motivating the employees is challenged by the factors such as work-life imbalance, incompetent supervisors, lower self-confidence issues such as fear to be failed on the tasks, job stress, or achievement anxiety which effects organizational performance. Therefore, work-life balancing is a current main consciousness of the HR professionals as well the employees (Gautam & Jain, 2018). It is defined as the capability of managing resources to meet family and work demands so that individuals can show effective participation in both domains of life (Voydanoff, 2005). The studies has proven that improving the balance between work and personal life can uplift the productivity and profitability of the organizations (Gautam & Jain, 2018).

Kanwar et al., (2014) states that the work-life balance and job satisfaction are positively related to each other. The competition arise with the globalization, renewed interest in family values and aging workforce has contributed to improve the interest in balancing the work and life (Gautam & Jain, 2018). Furthermore, time flexibility, role clarity, co-worker support, family culture, working hours and head support were identified as factors responsible for WLB (Madhusudhan et al., 2013). The employers are becoming increasingly aware of the cost implications associated with over-worked employees such as: operating and productivity costs, absenteeism, punctuality, commitment and performance (Dhas, 2015). Moreover, Dhas (2015) explains the reasons for the companies to participate in work life balance programs: High return on investment, recruitment and retention of employees, legislation, costs and union regulations.

Vedio 1: The Importance of Work Life Balance

Source: Study Store (2019)

Practical Application of WLB in Organizations as a Key Motivational Factor

The reactions to work and family demands differ among people across countries and continents at various levels of economic development. Compared to Asian context of managing work-life conflicts, the Western context shows a positive impact on balancing with the policies such as flexible working practices and hours, more generous parental leaves and family friendly government policies (Chandra, 2012). Cooke and Jing (2009) highlights that women are more likely to feel the pressure of WLB than men and higher earners are able to reduce their WLB by commercializing their household responsibilities and are more likely to complain to their company about working long hours and ask for compensation in one form or another. Dhas (2015) mentions that improving work/life balance for employees includes flexi-hours, compressed work weeks, holiday offerings, job-sharing, telecommuting and child-care support. As the actual application of the theory in the industry, the above mentioned options allow employees to have more control over their lives, enabling them to be more satisfied and productive. 

Arunika M.M.A (2015) mentions that Sri Lankan Banking Sector is very competitive and it has resulted the bank employees to gear with new measures in pursuit of attracting new customers and increase the loyalty of existing customers for long term benefits. In order to attain the goals, both public and private sector banks have increased their opening hours, introduced more value added products and services, opened up more branches and have adopted the latest Information Technology infrastructure. Simultaneously, the above adding have made the banking employees working longer hours, having a greater and more complex work load, therefore, experiencing a lot of work pressure and creating a culture of poor work life balance resulting to their employees becoming highly dissatisfied with their jobs.

With the experience I have gained through my career as a banker, it can be proved that there are number of strategical approaches that the human resource professionals in the banks have applied to avoid the work-life conflicts of the employees. Few of the identified strategical attempts are pointed below.

·        Assessment of work-loads scientifically

·        Allocating sufficient staff for business units

·        Introduction of automated systems to reduce manual work and save time

·        Allowing off days between long work assignment period 

·        Providing holiday offs

·        Providing annual (long) leaves, casual leaves and medical leaves

·        Medical allowances

·        Empowering employees’ children education/ assistance

·        Insurance of employee families

·        Involving employees’ families in get togethers, day outings, trips etc

·        Offering Counseling services when required

·        Employee grievance handling mechanism in place

As a conclusion, the concept of Motivation is built upon the factors which fulfill the competing needs of the employees whereas boosting the performance by increasing job satisfaction (Paul & Vincent, 2018). Zhao & Pan (2017), highlights that the modern employees’ job satisfaction depends on the mental health and work-life balancing. Thus the HR practitioners must address the actual requirements of the particular employee before they implement any motivational strategy (Lee & Raschke, 2016).  

 

Reference

Arunika, M.M.A. and Kottawatta, H., 2015. The effect of work life balance on employee job satisfaction among non-executives in the public banking sector in Colombo district.

Chandra, V., 2012. Work–life balance: eastern and western perspectives. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(5), pp.1040-1056.

Cooke, F.L. and Jing, X., 2009. Work-life balance in China: sources of conflicts and coping strategies. NHRD Network Journal, 2(6), pp.18-28.

Dhas, B., 2015. A report on the importance of work-life balance. International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, 10(9), pp.21659-21665.

Gautam, I. and Jain, S., 2018. A STUDY OF WORK-LIFE BALANCE: CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS. International Journal of Research in Engineering, IT and Social Sciences.

Goud, V.M. and Nagaraju, K., 2013. Work life balance of teaching faculty with reference to Andhra Pradesh Engineering Colleges. Global Journal of Management and Business Studies, 3(8), pp.891-896.

Lee, M.T. and Raschke, R.L., 2016. Understanding employee motivation and organizational performance: Arguments for a set-theoretic approach. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 1(3), pp.162-169.

Paul, A.K. and Vincent, T.N., 2018. Employee motivation and retention: issues and challenges in startup companies. Int. J. Creat. Res. Thoughts, 6, pp.2050-2056.

Velnampy, T., 2009. Job Satisfaction and Employee Motivation: An Empirical Study of Sri Lankan Organizations. Research Gate.

Voydanoff, P., 2005. Toward a conceptualization of perceived work‐family fit and balance: A demands and resources approach. Journal of marriage and family, 67(4), pp.822-836.

Zhao, B. and Pan, Y. (2017) Cross-Cultural Employee Motivation in International Companies. Journal of Human Resource and Sustainability Studies, 5, 215-222.

 

Herzberg’s two-factor Model of Motivation

 

Ramlall, 2004 stated that motivation will drive a person’s behavior in such a particular way that will achieve organizational goals as well as employee benefits. Explanations of motivation developed by various scholars influence to the outcomes of employee satisfaction (Badubi, 2004). Dion (2006) Highlights Herzberg’s Two-Factor model of Motivation as one of the most significant content theories in job satisfaction. Motivation-hygiene theory is also known as Herzberg’s two-factor theory or Herzberg’s duel-factor theory (1959). As stated by Jones (2011), in 1959, Herzberg, Maunser and Snyderman published the two-factor model of work motivation and developed the motivation-hygiene theory, which was influenced by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

The main concept of this theory is the difference between motivation factors and hygiene factors. Herzberg et al. (1959) described the motivation factors, as intrinsic to the job and hygiene factors as extrinsic to the job. Hence, motivation factors are only operated to increase the job satisfaction whereas hygiene factors work to reduce job dissatisfaction. As well as, the actual content of the job tasks impacts the employees either positively or negatively. Furthermore, if the job is interesting or boring, if the job tasks are easy or too difficult impact the job satisfaction or dissatisfaction (Alshmemri, 2017). Herzberg mentions motivation factors are the six “Job content” factors including achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility, advancement and possibility of growth, hygiene factors are “job context” factors, which include company policy, supervision, relationship with supervisors, work conditions, relationship with peers, salary, personal life, relationship with subordinates, status and job security (Ruthankoon et al., 2003).

According to Riley (2005), Herzberg’s Two-factor theory still resonates with both scholars and practitioners with its common sense approach and the simplicity of the model. The two-factor theory has been applied by the HRM Practitioners in a variety of innovative ways. Stello (2011) highlights that appraising a concept like job satisfaction requires to pay the attention on the most valid sources of employee data available. Considering the implementation of the theory, it is not recommended by the scholars to apply the theory strictly as modeled. However, Area managers can influence the satisfaction level of the employees.

Ruthankoon et. al., (2003) indicated that the possibility of growth was an important motivator, with the study tested Two-factor theory in the construction industry. As well as the study implied that salary is a first ranked source of job satisfaction which leads to the vice versa of satisfaction similarly. The Interpersonal relations were also important in reducing dissatisfaction as a hygiene factor.

When evaluating a concept such as job satisfaction, it seems that employee’s own perceptions and memories are the most valid source of data available (Riley, 2005). According to Rathankoon et al., (2003), the motivation patterns are different from each employee, depending on various contextual factors. Hence, understanding the actual requirement is important to increase the job satisfaction.

 Reference

Akhtar, Robina & Mohamad, Nizam & Nazarudin, Mohamad & Nazarudin, Colonel Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamad Nizam. (2020). Synthesizing literature of leadership, job satisfaction and trust in leadership. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure. 9. 1-16.

Alshmemri, M., Shahwan-Akl, L. and Maude, P., 2017. Herzberg’s two-factor theory. Life Science Journal, 14(5), pp.12-16.

Badubi, R.M., 2017. Theories of motivation and their application in organizations: A risk analysis. International Journal of Innovation and Economic Development, 3(3), pp.44-51.

Dion, M.J., 2006. The impact of workplace incivility and occupational stress on the job satisfaction and turnover intention of acute care nurses. University of Connecticut.

Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., & Snydermann B. (1959). The motivation to work. New York: Wiley.

Jones, T.L., 2011. Effects of motivating and hygiene factors on job satisfaction among school nurses (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University).

Ramlall, S., 2004. A review of employee motivation theories and their implications for employee retention within organizations. Journal of American academy of business, 5(1/2), pp.52-63

Ruthankoon, R. and Ogunlana, S.O., 2003. Testing Herzberg’s two‐factor theory in the Thai construction industry. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management.

Stello, C.M., 2011. Herzberg’s two-factor theory of job satisfaction: An integrative literature review. In Unpublished paper presented at The 2011 Student Research Conference: Exploring Opportunities in Research, Policy, and Practice, University of Minnesota Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy and Development, Minneapolis, MN.

An Overview of Motivation Theories

Motivation is the strength and direction of behavior and the factors that influence people to behave in certain ways (Armstrong & Taylor, 2020). Most of the businesses understand that the effective employees who are motivated are those that are intellectually and emotionally invested in their company. Badubi (2017) states that the motivation theories which are introduced by different authors using different approaches mostly give a relation or influence the outcomes of employee satisfaction.

Figure 1: Classification of Motivation Theories

Source: Jayawardena, N.S. & Jayawardena, D., (2020) 

The study of motivation has created two major theories applicable to employee motivation programs namely Content theories and Process theories (Jayawardena, N.S. & Jayawardena, D., 2020). Content theories focus on WHAT, while process theories focus on HOW human behavior is motivated. Figure 1 provides classification and contents of both types of theories. Saif et al., (2012) adds Contemporary Theories as another category to above mentioned two categories of motivational theories. The Content theory category include Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory, Alderfer’s existence, Relatedness and Growth Theory and McClelland’s needs theory. The process theories explain about the way motivation comes and how it leads to employee satisfaction. Theories that fall into Process theory category include Porter-Lawer’s model and Expectancy Theory by Vroom. Contemporary theories of motivation incorporate equity, control and agency theory, as well as goal setting, reinforcement and job design theory (Ramlall, 2004).

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Smith & Cronje (1992) defines that Maslow’s Theory is developed, based on the fact that needs of the people are prioritized according to the importance to lives, namely

·        Physiological Needs (food, shelter, and clothing)

·        Safety and Security Needs (Physical protection)

·        Social Needs (Association with Others)

·        Esteem Needs (Receiving acknowledgement from others)

·        Self- Actualization Needs (the willing for accomplishment or to leave behind a legacy)

Herzberg’s Motivation/Hygiene Theory

Focuses on two factors, which what causes job satisfaction are the opposite of those things that cause job dissatisfaction (Haque et al., 2014).

McGregor’s X and Y Theories

Saif et al. (2012) defines the theory as Theory X assumptions take a negative perspective of people, while theory Y assumptions take the opposite view. Theory X in simpler words means people have an inherent dislike for work and will avoid if possible. Hence, the employees need to be corrected, controlled, directed and threatened with punishment to make them work while Theory Y take the view of the mental and physical inputs expended at the workplace are equated and par with those rest or play.

McClelland’s Needs Theory

Saif et al. (2012) defines the basis of the theory as some people are driven to success through seeking personal achievement rather than rewards themselves. 

Expectancy theory by Vroom

According to Badubi (2004)) the basis of theory is identified as the behavior is a product of choices that are available to be prioritized.

Equity Theory

Badubi (2004) states that equity theory postulates that employees will weigh their input into a job against the output they receive from it. 

Porter – Lawer Model

According to Wagner and Hollenburg (2007) this theory’s assumptions are that individual behavior is influenced by both internal and external factors, rational and make own choices about their behavior, have different goals, desires and needs. Finally, individuals decide between alternative behaviors. 

Ramlall (2004) states the critical factors among the motivation theories and the implication for developing and implementing employee retention practices namely needs of the Employee, Work Environment, Responsibilities, Supervision, Fairness & Equity, Effort, Employee Development and Feedback. 

As a conclusion, motivation  will  drive  a  person’s  behavior  in  such  a  particular  way  that  will  achieve organizational  goals  as  well  as  individual  employee’s  benefits (Ramlall, 2004). Haque et al., (2014) states that, although  more  valid explanations of  motivation have been developed, these early theories are important because they represent  the  foundation  from  which  contemporary  motivation  theories  were  developed  and because many practicing managers still use them. 

Reference

Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2020. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice.

Badubi, R.M., 2004. Theories of motivation and their application in organizations: A risk analysis. International Journal of Innovation and Economic Development, 3(3), pp.44-51.

Haque, Mohammad & Haque, Mohammad & Islam, Md Shamimul. 2014, Motivational Theories – A Critical Analysis. 8.

Jayawardena, N.S. and Jayawardena, D., 2020. The impact of extrinsic and intrinsic rewarding system on employee motivation in the context of Sri Lankan apparel sector. International Journal of Business Excellence, 20(1), pp.51-69.

Ramlall, S., 2004. A review of employee motivation theories and their implications for employee retention within organizations. Journal of American academy of business, 5(1/2), pp.52-63

Saif, S.K., Nawaz, A., Jan, F.A. and Khan, M.I., 2012. Synthesizing the theories of job satisfaction across the cultural/attitudinal dimensions. Interdisciplinary journal of contemporary research in business, 3(9), pp.1382-1396.

Smit, P.J. and CRONJe, G.D.J., 1992. Management principles: a contemporary South African edition. Kenwyn: Juta.

Intrinsic Rewards and Extrinsic Rewards

Employees are the greatest asset to a company, as they are critical to the company's performance, providing drive, inventive ideas, and a desire to go the "additional mile" to complete tasks. As a result, their involvement with the organization is critical in achieving success (Moreira et.al, 2013). Furthermore, Bruzelius & Skärvad (2004) mentions that the organizational structure is heavily rely on the employees, which impacts the organization through employee engagement, attitudes and motivation. Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it (Achim et al., 2013).

Bruzelius & Skärvad (2004) argue that to get employees motivated to work more efficiently and to support the company’s values and goals, they need to get compensated through rewards. The reward structure should encourage skilled employees to stay within the organization as well as increase the motivation and commitment to the organization and therefore increase the productivity. (Brickley et al, 2002). Armstrong & Taylor (2020) discuss that there are two types of motivation namely Intrinsic and Extrinsic.

Intrinsic Rewards	Extrinsic Rewards
A simple description for Intrinsic motivation is that the motivation by the work itself which is not created by external incentives (Armstrong & Taylor, 2020). Hennessey et.al, 2015 mentions that Intrinsic Motivation is the motivation to do something for its own sake, for the sheer enjoyment of the task itself.	Armstrong & Taylor (2020) defines that extrinsic motivation happens when things are done to or for people in order to motivate them. Extrinsic motivation is the motivation to do something in order to attain some external goal or meet some externally imposed constraint (Hennessey et.al, 2015).

According to Zhao & Pan (2017), Motivation is driven by cross-cultural variances. The examples the study suggested to prove the statement region wise, was Middle East employees are fixated on religion, Japanese employees focused on prestige and social stages and the Employees from Western countries are more concerned about mental health and work-life balance. Hence, depending on the statement and the examples give, it can be assumed that the global context of motivational factors are more based on intrinsic rewards. With the knowledge drawn from several studies, most of the recent studies have indicated that extrinsic rewards are old-fashioned (Pink, 2011; Kohn, 2009; Bhattacharya & Mukherjee, 2009).

Vedio 1: Intrinsic Vs Extrinsic Motivation Explained

                                                        Source : Learn my Test (2019)

Jayawardena, N.S.  & Jayawardena, D. (2020) differentiated the way that the intrinsic rewards and extrinsic rewards impact on the employee motivation in Sri Lankan Apparel sector. The research identifies The Basic Salary, bonus scheme and Job Performance are the Extrinsic Rewards which are used to motivate the employees, while recognition, Learning opportunities and achievements are acting as Intrinsic Rewards. According to the study, the major extrinsic reward which motivates the employees in Sri Lankan Appeal industry is the job promotions given by the firm. The recognition was identified as the next motivational factor which is an intrinsic reward.

As per the knowledge gathered through the studies, considering the Banking industry which I have my work experiences, The Extrinsic rewards provided to the banking employees can be identified as salary increments and bonus scheme, presenting monthly vouchers for the higher performer, while intrinsic rewards are recognized as Training Sessions & workshops, Recognition, Team Building activities and Brain storming sessions. Kuvaas et al. (2017) discussed the role of employees, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and their performance in the finance trade sector and as store managers and concluded that intrinsic and extrinsic rewards are considered a principal motivator for the employees.

As a conclusion, Armstrong & Taylor (2020) mentions that motivation is the strength and direction of behavior and the factors that influence people to behave in certain ways. Weather the rewards are intrinsic or extrinsic, the human resource managers must address the actual requirements of the particular employee before they implement any motivational strategy (Lee & Raschke, 2016). 

Reference

Achim, I.M., Dragolea, L. and Balan, G., 2013. The importance of employee motivation to increase organizational performance. Annales universitatis apulensis: Series oeconomica, 15(2), p.685.

Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2020. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice.

Bhattacharya, S. and Mukherjee, P., 2009. Rewards as a key to employee engagement: A comparative study on IT professionals. ASBM Journal of Management, 2(1), p.160.

Brickley, J.A., Smith Jr, C.W. and Zimmerman, J.L., 2002. Business ethics and organizational architecture. Journal of Banking & Finance, 26(9), pp.1821-1835.

Bruzelius, LH and Skärvad, PH, 2004. Integrated organizational theory .Student literature.

Hennessey, B., Moran, S., Altringer, B. and Amabile, T.M., 2015. Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Wiley encyclopedia of management, pp.1-4.

Jayawardena, N.S. and Jayawardena, D., 2020. The impact of extrinsic and intrinsic rewarding system on employee motivation in the context of Sri Lankan apparel sector. International Journal of Business Excellence, 20(1), pp.51-69.

Kuvaas, B., Buch, R., Weibel, A., Dysvik, A. and Nerstad, C.G., 2017. Do intrinsic and extrinsic motivation relate differently to employee outcomes?. Journal of Economic Psychology, 61, pp.244-258.

Moreira, P.A., Dias, P., Vaz, F.M. and Vaz, J.M., 2013. Predictors of academic performance and school engagement—Integrating persistence, motivation and study skills perspectives using person-centered and variable-centered approaches. Learning and Individual Differences, 24, pp.117-125.

Pink, D.H., 2011. Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. Penguin.

Zhao, B. and Pan, Y., 2017. Cross-cultural employee motivation in international companies. Journal of Human Resource and Sustainability Studies, 5(4), pp.215-222.