Every business, like it or not wins or loses through employee motivation. Achieving employee motivation is not easy. We are all different and all respond to varying situations in different ways. It is much more than employees doing their work properly. Motivated employees mean increased output, lower absenteeism, more effort and achievement, lower turnover rate, and increased loyalty. Employee motivation is worth your investment in attention and thought and when done right provides a massive investment in people and in the company’s future.

Employee Motivation is considered crucial in any organization, as it is well known that motivation is the key to performance enhancement. Several strategies are generally used for motivation of employees.

Job enrichment increases a job’s range and depth, which refers to the number of activities and the autonomy, responsibility, discretion, and control.

Organizations desiring to improve employee motivation need a system in place that consistently rewards employee achievements. I’m always surprised how few organizations have such an incentive program system.

Employees, after all, are always eager to please the boss. Employees develop self-discipline and self-development, and their own informal network of contacts within the company. They want difficult and challenging tasks, so good management will always provide ways in which staff can extend themselves doing just that.

Employers often make use of this by presenting challenges to the employees. In making use of this type of employee motivation employers often include incentives such as a promotion or cash.

Companies need to learn how to create a healthy balance between those things that affect job satisfaction or dissatisfaction to the benefit of their businesses. Hygiene factors can be surprisingly important, however the more obvious major dis-encouragements such as low pay and restrictive policies affect job dissatisfaction, while motivator factors, such as recognition and responsibility affect job satisfaction. Companies should consider explicitly using ideas of fairness in their presentation of the rationale for their ownership plan, and company values. Fairness may, you think already be a big part of company values, but often it is good to make such ideas much more explicit and core values for the well being and assurance of all.

Managers who can motivate employees assist the organization by improving employee retention and reinforcing positive behaviors (Ramlall, 2004). Management should evoke an image: of fairness, steadiness, rationality, analysis and control.

It is important that management ensures that all positive feedback from appreciative customers reaches all employees, all the time. In many businesses, positive customer feedback can become the ultimate motivator and be self perpetuating.

Management has to be concerned not only with the task of being able to get competent workers to do assigned jobs, but with providing an incentive to encourage and reward their cooperation and loyalty. Incentive programs should be aimed at all segments of the organization.