South African based Management Consultant, Adedipupo Osinloye decried the trend of poor employee motivation in many businesses. He noted that without proper motivation, employees cannot perform at optimum capacity. According to Adedipupo, employee motivation is the enthusiasm, energy level, commitment, and amount of creativity that an employee brings to the organization daily. He noted that motivated employees are a ‘frightful’ asset to any organization, as they are directly proportional to an organization’s success. Employee motivation is intangible, difficult to measure, and extremely difficult to control, but very easy to facilitate if done right. It is all about intention, intensity, and perseverance, he said.
He further stated that self-realization is a very human phenomenon. It is our basic nature to nurture something and see it flourish, it is applicable to most things we do in our day-to-day life. This is true for both social and societal spaces. Using rewards as motivators divides employee motivation into two categories: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic rewards are internal, psychological rewards such as a sense of accomplishment or doing something because it makes one feel good. Extrinsic rewards are incentives that other people give to you such as a money, compliments, bonuses, or trophies. This applies to Douglas McGregor’s Scientific Theory that formed Theory X, which applies to the extrinsic wants of employees. The basis for the motivation is supervision structure and money. Scientific Theory is based on the grounds that employees do not want to work so they have to be forced to do their job and enticed with monetary compensation. Theory Y, also derived from McGregor’s theory, says that employees are motivated by intrinsic or personal reward. With this theory different factors can be used to heighten the intrinsic benefit that employees are receiving at their job.” he noted.
The well-respected management consultant concluded by saying “Motivation plays a very important factor in a human’s life. Whether it is about improving ourselves or our organization’s performance. Motivated employees do not need to be told how to get things done. They take initiatives, are eager to take up additional responsibilities, and are innovative and go-getters.”
