Why is motivation important?

Motivation is generally considered as the impulse that leads people to obtain something. It is the force that initiates, guides and maintains the behaviour until reaching the desired goal or objective. If you were not motivated, it would be almost impossible for these goals or objectives to be achieved.

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What are the benefits of work motivation?

Although motivation is essential for all existential fields, the importance of motivation in the workplace is greater from the point of view of the social and economic benefits that the productivity of companies implies, hence many administrative theories are based on This concept.

For example, one of the most well-known motivational theories is that of Abraham Maslow, who maintains that the human being as part of his accomplishment ascends by a pyramid of scales, starting at a level of basic physiological needs (eating, sleeping …) and then rise to the level of security, social level, esteem and finally reach self-realization.

According to Maslow, a normal individual with basic physiological needs covered when entering a company that provides security tries, by all means, to integrate into a group, to find friends by increasing their self-esteem and thus their willingness to work.

This theorist also states that the motivation is not only important for the employee but also for the company because it, due to the greater willingness and effort on the part of the employee, obtains excellent benefits of work motivation.

In other words, one of the benefits for the company is precisely the achievement of greater productivity. This is mainly due to the fact that once the worker is established in the workplace and their safety and social needs are satisfied, these conditions make them more productive in their work.

Like Maslow’s motivational theory, there are others such as McClelland that raise the implications of motivation in productive activities based on the satisfaction of needs for achievement, power and affiliation.

Although all these theories have different perspectives, some take into account personality, others culture or organizational values as the elements that support this motivation, all agree that to achieve an excellent performance you need to be motivated.

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How have companies adopted the importance of motivation in their plans?

In essence, these organizational theories of modern administration interpret motivation as a way towards the stimuli to which individuals and groups respond in order to give their best.

For this reason, in many companies, although they do not neglect the technological factor, they adopt these theoretical hypotheses and focus on motivating the employee in order to obtain better returns.

Specifically, these companies rely on authors such as Daft and Steers who argue that despite the technological level achieved by mechanization and automation in production processes or services, behind them is always the human being and his need to be motivated.

This way of thinking about organizations has generated certain concerns about how to motivate their employees and for this purpose, various strategies have been devised to achieve this goal.

One of the strategies that companies have adopted the most to motivate their employees has been the improvement of working conditions. Well, they have noticed that a satisfied employee of the surrounding environment tends to produce more.

This improvement in working conditions includes from the establishment of schedules according to productivity, to the placement of facilities (daycare centres, transport, entertainment room, among others) in work centres or delivery of discount cards.

Participation and professional training are some of the benefits of work motivation

Another element that has been noticed by the management of many companies is that a worker who feels heard tends to be more creative, ingenious and participatory. Precisely the motivation that produces to an employee to feel that his expositions do not fall in the emptiness but that are well received by the company led him to give more spontaneous support in the solution of problems.

Hence, in the workplace, suggestion boxes are placed or social networks are activated to collect the workers’ approach to a certain matter of collective interest.

The vision of the importance of motivation in the work has also been channelled through professional training, observing how the stimulation to improve their knowledge or their professional degree has resulted in the employee a greater commitment towards the company and efficiency in his labours.

The recognition systems have also served to verify the importance of motivation in the employee, noting that when the public distinction of a worker occurs and based on a transparent evaluation the result not only motivates the worker honoured but also all the staff.