According to Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson, motivation is defined as a set of energetic forces that originates both within and outside an employee, initiates work-related effort, and determines its direction, intensity, and persistence (Colquitt, Lepine, & Wesson, 2011). When it comes to job performance in the workplace, if employees have no motivation to be successful or contribute to the organization, then there will be a serious lack of performance and growth in the organization and with the employee themselves. Just as in school, if we have no motivation to do our homework, for example if good grades is not enough motivation for someone, then they will not do the homework. However, if they focus on the motivating factor of eventually graduating, this goal could motivate them to want good grades, which will then motivate them to study and do their homework.
In organizational behavior studies there are many different aspects of motivation that are evaluated. Marylene Gagne and Edward L. Deci examine the Cognitive Evaluation Theory in there article Self-Determination Theory and Work Motivation. First, they discuss that there are two different kinds of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation comes from employees finding satisfaction and interest in the work itself. Extrinsic motivation needs some kind of outside source to motivate employees, such as tangible or verbal rewards. The Cognitive Evaluation Theory focuses a lot on autonomy in the workplace and how important it is for motivation in employees, whether it is intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. Autonomy, as defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is the quality or state of being self-governed. The CET suggests that outside sources such as tangible rewards and deadlines create a decrease a person's feelings of autonomy. However, external factors such as providing choice can increase a person's feelings of autonomy. For example, an employer can allow employees to have a choice in what they work on. So, if an employee has low intrinsic motivation, this can be increased by letting them choose on the variety of tasks they perform to help them stimulate more interest in the work itself. The CET proposes the idea that employees need to have a strong sense of autonomy to be successful and highly motivated in the workplace. So, according to this theory, employers need to focus on giving employees a say in what they do in the work place(Gagne & Deci, 2005).
Another aspect of motivation is The High Performance Cycle model, discussed by Locke and Latham in their article, Work Motivation: The High Performance Cycle. The model is basically focused on challenges or goals set by employees or managers, it is a type of Goal-Setting Theory. It is not as simple as the manager setting goals and challenges that creates performance, however. There are certain moderators to this model. The moderators are ability, commitment, feedback, expectancy and self-efficacy, and task complexity(Locke & Latham, 1990).
Ability relates to an employees ability to meet goals set by managers because if an employee simply does not have the ability, whether it be a physical ability or a resource, then the challenge can not be completed. An employee must also be committed to reaching a goal. Simply setting a goal is not enough to get the job done. In this article, it discuses the solution found to the commitment motivation factor is that mangers could give employees a say in what the goals are, in other words, they can collaborate on creating goals with their employees rather than simply assigning them tasks. It will give them more attachment to the goal. Feedback does not create motivation completely nor does it take away from it completely. Knowing how they are doing does not automatically make employees more effective in performance. It is possible that having constant feedback on performance helps improve performance, but feedback itself is not enough motivation for employees on its own. If employees have high expectancy and self-efficacy, then they will be confident in their abilities to complete challenges given to them by employees. This confidence could then motivate them to perform more effectively until the goal is met. This article points out that task complexity has been defined as having three dimensions: component complexity (number of elements in a task), coordinative complexity (number and nature of relationships among elements), and dynamic complexity (number and types of elements and relationships over time). When summarizing these motivation factors, Locke and Latham state that the best results will come from a specific challenging goal when the employees have high ability, are committed to the goal, there is feedback showing progress in relation to the goal, they have high expectancy and self-efficacy of performing well, and the task is simple(Locke & Latham, 1990).
You may be thinking, so how does this help me stay motivated at work? These motivation factors have a lot to do with how employers can help motivate their employees. An article on Fox Business (2012) discuses how we can help motivate ourselves at the workplace despite conditions controlled by managers. The four main suggestions this article gives are finding deeper meaning in our work, prioritizing, taking time for yourself, and using your skills. Finding deeper meaning in your work can help increase your intrinsic motivation because you are focusing on aspects of your work itself that interest you and motivate you. Prioritizing and taking time for yourself helps more with the stress of having a lot of work and keeping motivated and not getting overwhelmed. Using your skills means finding what natural talents you have and focusing on how you can use your skills and talents to their fullest ability. A combination of increasing motivational factors from employers as well as employees focusing on how to create motivation for themselves, effective job performance in the workplace can be fulfilled.
References
Colquitt, J., Lepine, J., & Wesson, M. (2011). Organizatinal Behavior: Improving
Performance and Commitment in the Workplace. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc.
FOXBusiness. (May 3, 2012). How To Stay Motivated At Work.
FOX Business. Retrieved from
http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2012/05/03/how-to-stay-motivated-at-work/
http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2012/05/03/how-to-stay-motivated-at-work/
Gagné, M., & Deci, E. L. (2005). Self‐determination
theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational behavior, 26(4),
331-362. Retrieved from
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (1990). Work motivation:
The high performance cycle. Work motivation, 3-25. Retrieved from
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