Top 2 Techniques of Motivation – Explained!

Top 2 Techniques of Motivation – Explained!

two techniques of motivation, i.e., (1) Financial Motivation, and (2) Non-Financial Motivation!

1. Financial Motivation:

Financial motivation techniques are the incentives directly or indirectly related with money. Money is the most effective and important source of motivation. Money possesses purchasing power; hence it can be used to satisfy various wants, necessaries, comforts and luxuries. It can satisfy the status and prestige needs also by purchasing the commodities and services attached with prestige.

There are many commodities symbolic of status can be purchased with the help of money. In recent times some behavioural researchers’ findings reveal that money is not considered a prime motivator. Salary and wages, bonus, leaves with pay, medical and housing facilities, profit sharing, vehicle allowances etc. are some of the examples of financial motivators. The importance of this type of motivation depends upon certain factors such as standard of living and overall economic conditions.

When there is low standard of living, money becomes all the more important for a person. But as the standard of living goes up and economic conditions improve the importance of money as a motivator decreases. The managers drawing handsome salaries do not consider money as a motivator. For them prestige, status, delegation of authority, enrichment of jobs, appraisal, qualitative working conditions etc. serve as motivator. If monetary reward is more, then only it will increase the performance otherwise not; employees prefer to stick to leisure than to work.

Discriminatory assessment of performance by the superiors will also render financial motivator as ineffective. In this case employees will start appeasing the superiors instead of hard work. The effectiveness of money as a motivator also depends upon the attitude and outlook of people towards money and wealth.

Immediate distribution of monetary reward to its incumbent also has an effective role as motivator. It is very difficult to assess the effect of money as motivator as Saul W Gillerman has rightly remarked, “Money is so subtle an instrument that the ultimate effect of money itself is not easier to identify than is an egg in an omelets.”

2. Non-Financial Motivation:

As the name suggests money has no role to play in this kind of motivation. Non-financial incentives are psychological in nature. They provide psychological satisfaction to the employees. Status, respect, prestige, participation, job enrichment, recognition, safety of job, responsibility, competition is some of the instances of non financial motivators. These incentives satisfy socio-psychological needs. A short resume of various non-financial motivators are as under.

(i) Status:

Egoistic needs are satisfied by raising status. Organisations by providing sophisticated furniture’s, excellent interior decoration in the office and places of work, telephone, computers and now internet facilities to their executives etc. make deliberate efforts to provide higher status to their executives and employees. They not only feel at ease but feel a pride to work in such an organisation. It becomes a status symbol to work in the organisation. It motivates them to hard work and performs at their best.

(ii) Participation:

Employees’ participation in decision-making process serves as incentive because it satisfies the self esteem of the employees. They develop sense of belonging to the organisation and work with a high morale. They involve themselves not only physically but also mentally in the affairs of the organisation. Employees participation can be sought through establishing works committees, joint consultation committees etc. This also strengthens the industrial democracy.

(iii) Job Enrichment:

In order to motivate the employee further the improvements in job are to be made by enriching it i.e. making it more challenging and interesting. Job enrichment refers to up gradation of responsibility and makes it challenging. Job is made challenging. It means it provides employee a chance to get recognition, responsibility, growth and advancement. The modern techniques of production such as division of labour i.e., specialization, job simplification etc. has made the jobs monotonous and boring. People feel disinterested in them because they have to perform the same functions every day. They want change and dynamism.

Human beings by nature love to accept challenge and are prepared to take risk and shoulder responsibility. Through job enrichment job is enlarged and is made more challenging and interesting. Job enlargement provides an opportunity to the employee to show his managerial skills by planning and controlling his work. It is an extension of Herzberg’s theory of motivation. Job enrichment is done by adding more motivators to a job so that it becomes more rewarding.

Job enrichment possesses the following characteristics.

(a) More Authority and Direct Communication:

A job is enriched by providing more authority to the holder of the job. An enriched job also allows the holder to communicate directly with the higher ups in the organization and with the people with whom he has to work and with those who are the users of the company’s product.

(b) Removal of Control and Retaining Accountability:

Unnecessary controls are removed from the job holder giving him free hand in dealing with the people. This will motivate him further and increase his efficiency. But at the same time he is held accountable for the work done by his superior. So accountability is retained.

(c) More Knowledge and Mental Growth:

An enriched job carries with it more authority, less control but job holder is accountable to his superior hence he works cautiously and he has to move at new places and meet different persons; so he gains new knowledge which helps him to make his mental growth.

(d) New Task and New Challenge:

Job enrichment is associated with acceptance of new tasks and challenges, qualities and features. An employee has to accept those once he holds the job.

(e) More Freedom and New Experience:

Enriched job carries more freedom. The job holder gets a free hand in dealing with the people working under him. He has to meet various people, hence he gains through experience. Job enrichment is an important technique of motivation. To know the usefulness of this technique a study was conducted in an American telephone company AT and T with its employees. The findings revealed significant improvement in the performance and job satisfaction among the employees. The employees include clerks, sales representatives, engineers and technicians.

Job enrichment can become an effective motivational technique in the cases of the employees whose career is plateaued. Working for longer periods they don’t have any opportunity for promotion. They develop frustration and the job becomes uninteresting.

Job enrichment provides some relief to the employee and starts taking interest in his work. But in such cases this is not a permanent solution. Some alternative is to be found out. Very tall claims are made in favour of job enrichment as for example job satisfaction, giving more opportunities to grow and self realization and of course better performance.

(iv) Job Enlargement:

Job enrichment refers to a process of adding more tasks and making it more complex so that it seems more appealing which satisfy higher order needs of the employee. It provides varied tasks to perform. It is an effort to improve quality of work at the workplace.

The employees gain in deriving more satisfaction from the job because he has to apply his working caliber more strenuously. Enlarged jobs are challenging jobs involving complexity. It, therefore, becomes more interesting to perform and after its performance employee gets satisfied. For perfuming enlarged jobs training is required to be given to the employee performing. It is an effective motivational technique.

(v) Delegation of Authority:

Authority is the right to command and seek performance from the subordinates. Delegation of authority is essential for effecting performance. With the delegated authority from his superior, subordinate feels trusted, his morale goes up. He is motivated to put up better performance.

(vi) Job Security:

Job security serves as a motivator for many employees. Those who want to continue in the same job and in the same organisation they are worried about its security. Job security to them is a means for economic and social security. They feel at ease if security of job is confirmed. They get medical and retirement benefits through job security and they are satisfied. Some employees do not even want to be transferred from one place to another. Not transferring them also serves as a motivator to them.

(vii) Job Rotation:

Job rotation refers to shifting of employee from one job to another. The object of job rotation is to remove monotony and boredom and free the employee from them. The job rotation takes place at the same level. This keeps the interest of the employee live and to diversify the activities. Employees retain variety of skills by working on various jobs. Management faces no problems in making changes and rescheduling the work in the organisation. Employees feel happier as they have to perform differently as the job in shifted. It is also an effective motivational technique.

(viii) Job Loading:

It refers to make the job more interesting through increase in work at the same level or increasing the responsibility.

Job loading is of two types:

(a) Horizontal Job Loading:

It is increasing the work load at the same level.

(b) Vertical Job Loading:

It involves increase in work load with change in job and more responsibility. Job loading makes the job more interesting and challenging breaking the monotony and boredom. Employees have to give higher performance and enjoy more responsibility. Employee’s performance is recognized and is held accountable for his own work. More job freedom is given to him. He gets a chance to handle more difficult tasks to learn and grow in efficiency.

(ix) Praise and Recognition:

Praising an employee for his work done means recognizing his performance. Through recognition employees self esteem needs get satisfied. It is a frequently used tool of motivating an employee at work. It is a natural tendency of an employee to get a pat for his work performance from his superior. Praise or recognition is more effective motivator than a financial incentive. Reward of recognizing the work performance on some occasions comes in the form of recommending the rise in pay, certificate of better performance etc. In this way the employee enters in the good books of his boss.