One of the most puzzling issues in modern management is employee motivation. There are plenty of employees that just "punch the clock." They go to work just for the paycheck and nothing else. They have no self-pride in their work and do the bare minimum for managerial satisfaction. Not only are these employees hurting themselves, they are hurting the company as well.
Well then, how do you get people to do things? The answer rests on an understanding of what motivation is all about, for it is motivated workers who ultimately get things done, and without such people no organization can hope to be effective. What motivates an individual to act in a given way? Let's look at what motives are: motives are needs, drives, wants, or impulses within the individual. Regardless of how we define motives; however, motives arouse and maintain activity as well as determine the general direction of an individual's behavior.
Motivation is then the willingness to exert high levels of effort toward organizational goals, conditioned by the effort's ability to satisfy some individual needs (Robbins, 2001). For some business analysts, employee motivation is a good way to increase productivity in an organization. When people get motivated, they will have a reason to put more efforts on what they are doing. Motivation is a crucial management tool in lifting the organization's work force's ability. There are many different ways to motivate employees. Employers can motivate their workers as individuals, groups, teams, or the organization as a whole. Motivation takes forms like offering rewards, improving working conditions, or employee recognition.
For example, there may be a situation where there may be overtime needed to finish a project. The employer may provide a reward to entice the employee. He may want to give him or her paid time off later in the year or give a small promotion or even lighten the workload for the next week.