Employee Motivation Theory

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Introduction It was once thought that all employees were looking to climb the corporate ladder, break the glass ceiling, compete ruthlessly for the promotion, and lived for their yearly raise; however, employers are realizing that their workforce has other factors of motivation that are more personally tailored to each individual employee, and they do not relate to salary. Employers are taking into account an employee’s emotional and physical needs in order to motivate their employees and create positive working environments that lead to success for the organization. “The Principles of Management” text elaborates on various theories of motivation that will assist a manager in planning, leading, organizing, and controlling their team to attain …show more content…
735-43). These theories reinforce that contemporary managers not only need to assess goals and figure out how to achieve them, but they provide insight to management on how to relate to employees and be sensitive to an employee’s need for recognition, personal connections, respect, and appreciation; all of which support these respected theories (Saylor, 2014, p. 735-43). Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory states that hygiene factors such as: “policies, supervisors, relationships, working conditions, salary, and security” do affect an employee’s happiness in the workplace, but these factors do not motivate employees (Saylor, 2014, p. 739-40). Herzberg’s theory further emphasizes that “motivators include: achievement, recognition, interesting work, increased responsibility, and advancement and growth are intrinsic” to job satisfaction (Saylor, 2014, p. 739-40). The Acquired Needs Theory posed by Douglas McClelland takes into account a person’s “life experiences” and how their experiences shape their need for “achievement, affiliation, and power,” emphasizing that each person is at a different stage and will succeed only through differentiating motivational practices …show more content…
Additionally, empathy is an important aspect when dealing with people because leaders need to be intuitive to the needs of employees, and empathy helps a leader understand and “anticipate reactions” (McKee & Wortham, 2013). Organizational awareness is imperative to be able to gauge the “mood of the organization” and will allow a leader to create a positive work environment by “moving the mood toward excitement, appropriate challenge, and optimism” when necessary (McKee & Wortham, 2013). Finally, self-awareness and self-control are emotional tools that exceptional leaders are able to evaluate and can assist them to “navigate constant changes, political pressures, and overwork” amongst their employees (McKee & Wortham, 2013). Emotional intelligence “differentiates outstanding

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