You Are a Leader of a Mid-Sized

A company consists of no more than the collaborative effort of employees who, through their work and determination, carve the company's success. The level of motivation of these employees, therefore, is of paramount importance to the success and achievements of a business. Lack of motivation is infectious in a workplace, and, as such, it is crucially important for managers to adequately motivate employees so that a business' operations run as smoothly as possible.

However, motivation is a result of numerous factors and, as a consequence, there are several motivational theories that attempt to delineate an employee's requirements in order to thrive in the work environment. Motivation can be broken down into two categories, intrinsic and extrinsic. Ryan & Deci (2000) define intrinsic motivation as "the doing of an activity for its inherent satisfactions rather than for some separable consequence", and not because of "external prods, pressures, or rewards". These intrinsic factors motivate workers and appeal to the need for growth, self-actualization and self-realization (Burke, 1966). On the other hand, Ryan & Deci (2000) define external motivation as a "construct that pertains whenever an activity is done in order to attain some separable outcome", and so is not for its intrinsic value, but for its instrumental value. This is most typically in the form of financial promotions, an option that is not available to the company in the present scenario due to the financial crisis. Therefore, in order to buffer demotivation, other alternatives need to be imposed which either boost intrinsic motivation or which supply a worthy non-financial reward as an incentive for extrinsic motivation.

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Firstly, it is important for a company to ensure that all basic needs of employees are in place, to guarantee that there are no dissatisfying characteristics in the workplace. This can be modeled after Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (Maslow, 1943), as illustrated in the image below:

Figure 1: Hierarchy of Needs (Simply Psychology, 2007)

By ensuring that the workplace ideally satisfies the categories above, the company will be providing an optimum environment for motivation to thrive. By announcing to employees that, despite the financial crisis, there will be no job cuts, will encourage feelings of safety and commitment. Additionally, fostering a strong sense of community, team work and acceptance will satisfy the employees' need for belonging and social interaction, as well as making their jobs dynamic and interactive rather than repetitive and monotonous. Furthermore, holding workshops to improve pertinent skills will improve self-worth and mastery, which will not only boost the employees' sense of having met meaningful achievements in the workplace, but also of being allowed to innovate