Why Learn It?
Managers must motivate employees to produce desired results. But what does it really mean to motivate someone, and how can it be done successfully? Motivating employees is not merely a matter of making them happy or giving them directions. Harnessing an employee's energy, directing it to a goal, and sustaining it until the goal is completed requires more.
Motivating an employee requires a full understanding of that particular employee's situation and an array of tools to use as appropriate. No single thing motivates all people at all times, and what is motivating to a manager may not be motivating to an employee. Also, employees in the same role may perceive the same situation differently, and those different people may require different approaches to motivation. Having firsthand experience with how people perceive the same actions and events differently because of their positions, personality, experiences, or expectations is critical to understanding motivation.
This course is not just about motivating the demotivated; it is also about not demotivating the motivated. Managers must avoid taking actions that demotivate already motivated employees.
Workplace Scenario
Before you move on to the rest of the course, view the following illustration of a motivational problem in a workplace.
Joan is a new store manager for a large department store chain. She's been working for just a short time, and she feels very pressured by the district manager to make this store recover from a year of declining sales. In a recent memo he stated that "Cutting costs is our main goal. Store managers must cut back on providing unnecessary services to customers so that our stores show some profitability." Problems abound everywhere in the store. Joan asks one employee in the clothing department to help her understand why the problems exist.
Watch the video below and see how Joan handles the situation.
Performance Gap
View animation
So how do roles and perceptions affect motivation and behavior? Read the following for an expert analysis of the video.