Motivation in the Workplace

All employees analyze their environment and strive to be recognized and rewarded for their hard work and dedication they put into the company, in a word they are seeking justice. Justice can be defined as a person receiving what they feel they are entitled to and if they do not receive what they deserve the situation may board on injustice. Unfortunately in today’s society justice and appreciation are not given out to all those deserving (Pinder, 1998). A major problem to address is how to keep the motivation level high in a company when the employees do not feel appreciated.

The Equity Theory touches on the effects these situations have on the employee’s motivational level. In society today employees are constantly comparing how they are treated compared to others within the company (Carpenter, Bauer, Erodgogan & Short, 2013). A major challenge being faced is the fact that everyone will see themselves as unappreciated for the things they contribute to the company when in fact they may be receiving the same treatment as their colleagues (Pinder, 1998). A person tends to base fairness on how other people or groups, otherwise known as referents, are rewarded for their “input-to-output” ratio compared to their own. The ratio has to deal with the way a person feels they are giving back to society compared to the “outputs” or rewards they feel they are entitled to for their contribution. Another theory in the work place is the expectancy theory. This theory says that employees will consider if the hard work will pay off, second is if their efforts will lead to greater rewards, and third is if the award valuable to the individual. Managers can use these facts to their advantage to motivate employees by awarding their hard work (Carpente...

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...e heard” (Carpenter, Bauer, Erodgogan & Short, 2013). Self-appraisal evaluations help the employers assess what are some positives and negatives of meetings, and if they need to change the structure of meetings to help motivation of employees than they can do so.

Works Cited

Carpenter, M., Bauer, T., Erodogan, B., & Short, J. (2013). Principles of management. (2nd ed.).

Flat World Knowledge, Inc.

Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality. New York, NY: Harper & Row, Publishers,

Inc.

Solomon, M. (2002)."What do i say when.." a guideline for getting your way with people on the job. (pp. 85-194). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.(Solomon, 2002)

Pinder, C. (1998). Work motivation in organizational behavior. (pp. 182-428). New Jersey:

Prentice Hall.(Pinder, 1998)

Steers, R. M., & Porter, L. W. (1983). Motivation & Work Behavior (Third ed.). New York:

McGraw-Hill.