Motivating staff is beneficial to both employer and employee

In my universe, the higher the reward, the worse the performance. Since I came to this world over three decades ago, money has never motivated me, at all, but I must admit that my emotions do. Staff motivation is a vital factor in a staff’s ability to perform at work and excel in their careers. With managers being key to the development of this motivation, the interaction of managers and staffs in the offices is worthy of analysis. I spent my last night reading a recent study that showed how manager- staff relationships influence working motivation. Small technology companies, when staff enter a new working environment, they get more engrossed in outside activities and enter “puberty of employment,” is often the point when staff lose motivation.

Approximately 2,000 staff and 100 managers at 25 SMEs were followed for the study, which included a questionnaire, office observations and video recordings of manager-staff interactions. The study reached four main findings that human resource experts should note. First, the quality is crucial determinant for staffs’ motivation. In dominant environments that ranges from strict, judging, structural, determined, organized and cooperative environments that range from friendly, humorous, understanding and patient managers were significantly influenced whether staff developed autonomous motivation, which happens when employees are driven by self-determination and inherent values to achieve career goal. This contrasts with controlled motivation from external sources that drive a staff to achieve professional’s goal. Interestingly, contrary to the findings numerous studies, controlled motivation proved positive for motivating staff.

The study show staffs’ appreciate “push” from managers to finish tasks and according to the study it seemed eventually to contribute to the development of autonomous motivation, making controlled motivation as important and constructive as autonomous motivation. Nevertheless, it’s important to instill a sense of self-determination in employees. It is advisable to be sensitive to varying situations and adapt their levels of dominance and cooperativeness accordingly. At the start of the working year, staffs’ perceived their managers as dominant and were unsatisfied with their relationships. As time went by, managers and employees alike reported levels of a balanced situation, leading to a greater level of satisfaction among staff. Stimulating employee motivation is a major role of managers. Office situations and staffs’ reactions should always be the starting points for managers to adapt their styles. Luckily for me I’m fully motivated.