Friday, January 28, 2011

Motivation - An Effective Human Resource Management Strategy

Motivation refers to a strategy used for improving employer- employee relations in an organization. Motivation is a driving force within the employees by which they attempt to achieve their targets and goals in order to fulfill organizational expectations. There are several different theories of motivation and it is important for both employer and employee to be aware of them.

An appropriate starting point is considering money as a motivator. Many employers believe that the workers would be motivated by obtaining the highest possible income. Of cause the most basic and primary motivating factor of a rational economic man is the maximum gain. In this strategy employers can motivate their labors through increasing their salaries and wages, extra payment through performance evaluation and other financial benefits such as transport allowance, medical allowance etc

Another factor that can motivate people is socialization at work. According to this thinking strategy, top management and employers should pay attention to peoples needs. The manager should always try to be a coordinator or a guide rather than being a discretionary controller. And group work and team work would improve good human relations within the company. This will result in increase in worker’s efficiency and job satisfaction.

Carrying out social activities that provide opportunity for employees and management to get-together and interact with each other can be recognized under this category. Some common activities organize by companies all around the world are New Year festivals, Christmas parties, annual trips and sports and cultural events. These types of events will give the chance to both sides to get to know each others needs and ideas which will later help to improve industrial relations.

Self-fulfillment can be seen as primary driving force behind some workers. Such employees expect a certain pride at the work, challenges and responsibility at workplace. Recognizing employees for their special contribution to the company will help to establish the pride at work. This can be done by individual or team basis. Awards such as best employee of the month, best sales team, best cost cutting unit can be given to workers in order to motivate them.

But these types of motivation factors should always establish equal treatment among the labor force. No discrimination should be done on the grounds of gender, race, religion or social status. Treating all workers equally is a crucial factor in increasing the job satisfaction. If one worker or groups of workers are discriminated on some ground, they will be unsatisfied. And human resource management strategy of such a company would become a total failure.

Another effective motivation factor is open and two way communication. The labors should have the opportunity to inform their matters and problems to the management while the top managers should inform the workforce about the decisions they made regarding the company. Promoting of both upward and downward communication in a company may help to improve the trust between employees and employers and decrease the number of disputes arise in a workplace.

In order to maintain a good industrial relationship, training and skill development of employees can be used. Some companies may think training and development of labor skills is an unwanted cost for the organization. But as this will increase the skill and knowledge of a worker, it will help to reduce production cost and improve productivity of a company. Employer should identify the importance of employee training for their higher performances and good labor relations.

Most recently developed motivation plan is welfare activities. Providing housing loans, insurance schemes and death donation schemes are most commonly practiced welfare activities. Providing nutritious meals, transport facilities and daycare center facilities are also some welfare activities that can be helped to improve labor motivation.

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