Motivating Employees Page 2
Yes a manager has the ability to motivate an employee. Depending on the employee and the type of motivation the manager is trying to use. An employee will respond to positive stimuli as opposed to negative stimuli for motivation.
Motivation can be offered in a positive way offering such things as a bonus, extra paid time off, gift cards, cash, raffle tickets, other tangible goods and rewards. Motivation can also be offered in a negative way such as blackmail or threats. Both of these things are in all reality highly unmotivational and illegal. Usually that sort of thing doesn’t work out in the end.
Intrinsic motivation gives a person a sense of satisfaction from doing the job or behavior. It is motivation based purely on the actual accomplishment of the job. Examples of intrinsic motivation are things such as my daughter taking our dog for a walk, the kids swinging on swings, and my cooking and baking. All of these things are done for the pure enjoyment we get from doing them and not for any reward we are given. If you can get someone to feel good about what they are doing intrinsic motivation is and can be a very powerful and useful tool.
Extrinsic motivation is when someone performs a certain job or acts in a specific way in order to obtain an outside reward or in order to avoid punishment. Examples of extrinsic motivation are things like the kids making their beds or cleaning their rooms, for money, doing dishes or eating all their dinner for ice cream or so they will not get in trouble. This sort of motivation though very affective takes the emphasis away from the actual reward or behavior and places it upon the reward. If they no longer get the reward the likelihood that the behavior or the job stops is higher. If it is an unwanted behavior than extrinsic motivation may be the way to go. It can be very beneficial in