Employee Motivation and Maslow’s Pyramid

Employee motivation plays a crucial role at the workplace and can directly impact organizational success.

Motivating your employees needs to be a regular routine.

Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation Motivation is commonly separated into two different types based on the nature of the motivator: Intrinsic (arising from internal factors) or extrinsic (arising from external factors).

Incentive theory argues that behavior is primarily extrinsically motivated as people are more motivated to perform activities if they receive a reward afterwards. This is compared to performing without potential benefits at all.

1. Intrinsically motivated behaviors are performed because of the sense of personal satisfaction that they bring. These motivators last longer and form a stronger bond between the individual and the purpose.

2. Extrinsically motivated behaviors are performed in order to receive something from others—such as a promotion, praise, candy, money, or attention.

3. Studies have shown that intrinsic motivation will decrease over time if extrinsic incentives are introduced for behaviors that an individual already found motivating.

The link between employee motivation and Maslow’s Pyramid

We know that the workplace is not a mediation place for employees to relax. Yet, understanding the pyramid of motivation can help employers identify opportunities to make their employees more effective

It is becoming better understood, that the experience employees have working for your company directly influences customer experiences. Sometimes, it might even affect employer branding

7 actions employers should take to encourage motivation at work:

1. Allow free speech and communication in the workplace

Everyone appreciates to have their voice heard and their opinions taken into account. Allow your employees to speak freely and feel psychologically confident in the work environment

2. Use your voice 

Extrinsic rewards such as cash, tickets, coupons, a car etc, will not keep the individual motivated after the reward is removed from the equation.

Verbal Recognition on the other hand, has been directly linked with intrinsic motivation and should be practiced daily. Every employee appreciates a “pat on the back” after they have done a good job as this is a more efficient way of maintaining motivation levels high.

3. Provide flexible deadlines

Managers need to start providing their employees with flexible deadlines. As a result, employees will put  more effort and detail on a deadline they have agreed on, as opposed to one set by the management team without being discussed before

4. Encourage Teamwork

Teamwork increases productivity, innovation and cross functional collaboration. Managers and employees should encourage teamwork within the organization as it leads to higher employee motivation rates in the long term with higher retention rates.

5. Engage to motivate your employees

In order to keep engagement and motivation high, companies need to be sensible towards what motivates their employees, to make sure they are interested and effective in their current role. Encourage internal mobility and move around different project and functions.

6. Create a dynamic internal culture

Create and maintain a company culture that is linked directly to the core values of the organization. This will hep the employees to feel the belong to a community with people they can trust and grow together which will lead into higher motivation levels.

7. Align Management to accept and encourage changes

Management should have a clear understanding of what they want to achieve and what kind of environment they want to have at the workplace. In addition, a monitoring strategy needs to be implements in order to follow the progress and new challenges that may arise.