It is known that the key functions of managers are ‘getting things done’ through the employees. In this essay I want to discuss about the role of motivation and that why it is essential for the managers to be aware of the various motivational theories and how the motivational theories could be implemented in a professional context to achieve organizations goals. So, if you happen to be interested in a manager’s position in the future after Proakatemia, you’d might want to keep reading.

Motivation itself has been defined as “the psychological process that gives behaviour purpose and direction”.  Organizations exist to achieve corporate objectives and employees working in those organizations aide in achieving those objectives by working towards their individual goals and targets.

In an ideal world, if every individual was providing their best performance, then organisational goals would be met sooner too. However, in the real world this is often not the case. Organisations lag behind and usually the reason is a demotivated staff. An understanding of the basic human nature is important for effective employee motivation in the workplace and also for effective management and leadership.

I have myself been in workplaces where the managers don’t really pay attention to the employees that much and this behavior can cause many quitting their jobs. In today’s business world with rapid changes happening all around, it has become even more important for managers to motivate their staff and help their staff in optimising their performance. Besides, research and observation proves that motivated employees are more creative and productive in the work place.

Motivation theories provide an insight into what makes an employee perform better. It provides managers with a tool to motivate employees and helps them in understanding how the staff can be managed better. The theories has helped the managers in understanding that individuals have different needs. It might be that employee A prefers to have more responsibility as compared to employee B.  Similarly, employee C might be a single mother who would prefer to have more flexibility in the job and would be able to perform better if the work that she is doing enables her to look after her child and work. The above examples prove that in a professional environment for a manager it has become even more important to understand the needs of his customers.

Thus the main tools a manager must have to motivate his/her staff are:

• Approval, praise and recognition
• Trust, respect and high expectations
• Loyalty
• Removing organisational barriers which might stand in the way individual performance
• Job enrichment
• Providing Financial incentives
• Good communication.

Even though there is not a perfect formula for motivation in the workplace however, an understanding of how the human nature works can help managers to perform better and keeping the end goal in mind the challenge for every leader and manager to reach a balance where organisational and individual performance can be maximised to reach the same goal.