Motivation In Business

By: Crystal Duong
College Now Course - BA 10

Employees must always be motivated in order to be productive. If there is nothing to keep the workers motivated, they will have no interest in doing their work or they might just do enough to get by. They might do work but no motivation in their working environment will make them feel like they are wasting their time. However, there are different ways of motivating and encouraging subordinates to produce high quality work.

If a group of workers in my department at Macy's are not motivated, I would motivate them with money and benefits that are made available to the employees. According to Taylor, his idea of a piece-rate system can be used as a motivation technique. The worker would get paid by each product he/she produces but in a department store, it is all about sales. The more sales the representatives in my department make, the more money they will get from the commission of each sale. This will push them to sell more of Macy's products in order to get commission on top of their regular hourly salary.

Aside from giving them more money to meet their needs, benefits is a form of motivation. Everyone has different needs. Maslow's theory of the Hierarchy of Needs shows that people need to satisfy their human needs first. Everyone has physiological needs and that is the basic need for people to survive. It includes food, clothing, and shelter. Another step higher into his theory is the safety and protection of their lives in which I, as a manager at Macy's, can provide to them. Benefits such as insurance and retirement plans can be offered to them along with their employment in the company. Another need is social needs. I would like a comfortable atmosphere in which the employees will be friendly and open with others. It will make them feel like they belong there and play an important and satisfying role when at their jobs with co-workers and customers. This can increase the employees' self-esteem. They will feel respected and recognized when others praise them for their accomplishments. The next need up the pyramid is self-actualization in which people need to develop. They need to take in and learn from what happens around them. If everything appears to the workers as routine, every day work, they will eventually lose their enthusiasm. They will feel that they cannot move up in the company. If employees have worked for a certain amount of time and have sufficient experience, they should be recognized by being promoted.

There are many other techniques of motivation to bring enthusiasm and stimulation to my subordinates. If they are earning commission from each sale they make, they will be convinced to sell more products to their customers. When they go to work, they will have something to look forward to. The employees will feel more comfortable in their work space. Their attitudes toward customers and coworkers might also change in a good sense so that they will be more enthusiastic and open.

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