Motivation in the Workplace

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, to motivate employees effectively, managers must understand and appeal to the varying values and attitudes of a diverse workforce. The author points out that incentive programs, which are designed to reward employees in straightforward and simplistic means, will not be as effective at motivating employees as strategies that are adaptive, flexible and individualized. The paper relates that incentives that are actual investments in the long-term success of employees, including education, training and tangential rewards, are more effective than one-to-one rewards because they can actually improve the employee's feeling that he or she is valuable to the company. The author stresses that the most important characteristics that managers can pursue to build relationships of trust include dependability, transparency and confidentiality.

From the Paper:

"In industries that have a strong customer service component, creating a staff that is happy and motivated is a requisite for a staff that is productive and able to deal with the public in a positive and effective manner. To accomplish this requires continuous support and investment from the organization and from management to constantly improve the level of staff involvement and continue to provide them with appropriate and tailored incentives to improve motivation. One specific tack would be to reward behaviors and actions that are only tangentially related to the job task."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Acland, H. (1998, September 24). Morale boosters). Marketing, pp. 36-38.
• Alonzo, V. (2000, February). Motivation for a smart and wired world. Sales & Marketing Management, 152(2), pp. 34-35.
• Cathcart, J. (1999, Summer). Searching for the hot button--what really motivates people? Canadian Manager, 24(2), pp. 12-14.
• Cole, M. and Cole, L. (1999, October). Trust: an integral contributor of managerial success. Supervision, 60(10), pp. 3-4.
• Costigan, R.D., Liter, S.S., and Berman, J.J. (1998, Fall). Journal of Managerial Issues, 10(3), pp. 303-317.

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