How to motivate?

Psychology education expert, Kendra Cherry, states that motivation is a process that makes a person act to achieve what they desire. A team of motivated employees is visible to your external stakeholders. It will also help you achieve a competitive advantage as motivated employees will have higher productivity levels, so the cost of labour will be reduced. Conversely, a demotivated team of employees can destroy relationships with external stakeholders, and you will likely lose your competitive advantage.

There have been many motivation theories that accredited researchers have put forth; most of these theories have limitations. The most common motivation theories:

Incentive Theory

• applies to teams and individuals
• the reward is the motivator to take action
• the higher the reward, the greater the motivation to take action

Instinct Theory

• the motivation for behaviour is based upon their internal evolutionary programming
• this internal evolutionary programming becomes human instinct for basic survival
• survival instincts include fear, anger, love, shame, and modesty

Drive Theory

• this theory suggests that people are driven to meet their unmet needs and will thus be motivated take action

Arousal Theory

• this motivational theory works around the person’s feeling of arousal
• high arousal suggests action to lower the feeling of arousal
• low arousal suggests action to increase arousal feeling

Highly acclaimed personal development expert, Mr Brian Tracy, states that if an organisation wants to gain better productivity and performance, it must use the psychological factor to motivate individuals and teams of employees. Because it demonstrates why companies succeed and fail, the psychological factor has been one of the strongest breakthroughs in management in recent decades, showing that:

• across all industries, 20% of the organisations will generate 80% of the overall industry profits
• the most talented people are attracted to these organisations, and
• why people working in the top organisations will outperform those same type of people working in average or below-average organisations.

The psychological factor harnesses the motivators and power to achieve better productivity and performance.