HOW TO MOTIVATE PEOPLE

Motivation of employees Is based upon two fundamental conditions in business.

1. There is a mutual interest among the people within an organization.

2. Different people have different needs. How do these affect motivation? Let's see.

Mutual interest

A symphony orchestra combines the abilities of many artists in a common Interest — the good performance of a musical composition. Every member of the orchestra must work with the director to achieve this common goal. If they do not, people will not pay to listen to them.

In most companies, too, the common goal is the best possible service to the customer. In achieving this goal, managers and their personnel are united in mutual interest. Each depends on the other. No matter how good managers become, they cannot accomplish the entire objective alone. Nor can their personnel operate alone. They would simply an unorganized group of individuals without a leader. Mutual interest, then, is a compelling reason for good human relations in business. It motivates both the manager and the employee.

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

But within the framework of mutual interest, there are many different personal goals. The psychologists explain these as "the concept of individual differences1'. This means that people are as different as their fingerprints. People are especially different in mental characteristics (such as personality, desires, intelligence, etc.)

These individual differences affect motivation and apply to both managers and to their employees? For example, what do managers want from employees? Perhaps these qualities;

1. Loyalty
2. Cooperation
3. Originality and creativeness
4. Initiative
5. Resourcefulness
6. Productivity
7. Honesty
8. Stability
9. Superior quality of work
10. Personal development

Indeed, there are many different qualities which managers expect of their personnel.
 

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Just as managers have different wants, employees also have different needs concerning their jobs* Some of them are:

1. Pair pay
2. Opportunity for promotion
3. Interesting work
b. Good physical working conditions
5. Opportunity for self expression
6. Fair leadership
7. A tense of belonging •"• *
8. Job security
9. Counsel on personal problems
10. Understanding and appreciation

Unfortunately, some managers do not know which are the most important to their personnel. If a manager does not know what his people want, he cannot do much to meet those needs, can he? If he does not meet these needs, he can't motivate his employees.

Several surveys of work groups show that there is not much correlation between what employees say their most important wants are, and what managers think their employees wants are.

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Actually, it is somewhat misleading to rank personnel wants in general) because the manager has to meet them in particular. He must deal with each employee as an individual. Wants apply to individuals, not groups. Managers sometime forget this.

And remember: no man's wants remain the same for very long. As one or more needs are satisfied, new ones demand his attention.

Principle Of motivation - By recognizing and satisfying the economic, social, and psychological needs of your employees, you can Improve their performance* The needs of individuals differ, and they change with time.

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