Ok, this is my first (real) blog entry. I didnt think that this would be interesting but Aaron (my co-worker) encouraged me to post it. This is an essay i wrote for my management class that emphasizes the importance of motivating employees. I received a 90% on it btw....well here it is.....
Motivation
Motivation is an essential aspect to creating a positive and efficient workspace. Proper motivation of employees by management can substantially raise morale and improve the turnover rate. Motivated workers feel like they have a good reason to put forth their best efforts and do what is in the best interest of the company and its goals. Worker’s who are not properly motivated start to believe that their work doesn’t matter and that they will not be noticed either way. They feel unimportant and unappreciated. Unmotivated workers tend to do unsatisfactory work and they quit caring about the organization’s goals.
Motivation is one of the most important skills that a manager must possess. A manager who can motivate his or her employees will notice happy employees with a positive work ethic. Studies have shown that there is a direct link between recognition received and performance on the job. Employees and Supervisors agree that recognition help strive employees toward the desired performance. A simple thank you for doing good work can increase the likelihood of a repeat performance. (“The Leaders Role”)
I am currently employed at the Washington Wal-Mart so I know a lot about what proper motivation can do for employees. The managers at Wal-Mart have no skill at properly motivating Wal-Mart “associates”. The managers’ lack of interest towards their
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employees really shows in the employee’s work ethics, including my own. I often hear other employees utter the words “I just don’t care anymore”, and it shows in their work.
Wal-Mart managers care more about what the employees are doing wrong then what they are doing right. If the managers would take some time to notice the hard work that the
employees put into their jobs, the employees would be a lot happier and their work would be more satisfactory.
Most defects at the workplace is a result of managers who do not encourage or motivate their employees. Studies show that most people quit a firm because of frustration with a supervisor or manager. A gallop poll was taken last year and the results show that 19 percent of workers felt no connection with their job. The workers complained that they received no recognition from their supervisors and that their managers didn’t care about them as people or how they developed within the company. (Kazel)
Another important factor of proper motivation is the turnover rate. If employees are happy and motivated to do good work, they will be more inclined to stay. If the employees feel unimportant and unappreciated, they may see no reason to stay. At Wal-Mart we have a whopping 62% turnover rate. Just last month, we had 20 cashiers quit at the same time. We are severely short handed in every department because it is impossible to hire enough help due the rate that the employees are quitting. This actually has multiple negative effects. Not only does it cause us to be severely shorthanded, but being shorthanded lowers the morale of the employees even more. I hear the employees constantly complaining because they have to wait so long into their shift before they get
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their lunch since there is nobody to relieve them of their job. It is like a constant downward spiral that cannot be fixed until worker morale is raised, and a quick easy solution is for the managers to show appreciation to the employees and give them a little motivation.
A good way to show appreciation is to offer raises, bonuses, or even an employee dinner of some sort for the employees that have to work on holidays. Nothing shows appreciation and motivates employees more then a raise. If an employee receives a raise, he knows that the managers appreciate him and he will strive to do his best at work. Another good way to motivate workers is to set out food or entertainment for them during
their breaks. For example, have a Christmas dinner out for the employees who have to work on Christmas Eve. At Wal-Mart, employees never earn a raise that isn’t a scheduled raise and the managers took away every bonus that we used to have. This doesn’t bode well for the moral or turnover rate.
Avis Car Rental has a program that recognizes its outstanding workers. The workers nominate their co-workers online. John Harland recognizes its star workers by mentioning them in a company newsletter and showcasing them in a video. Sovereign Bank recognizes their workers with rewards like gift certificates and travel vouchers. (Dunham) These companies do this in an attempt to raise worker morale and motivate them to do the best of their abilities.
When I first started at Wal-Mart I didn’t really realize the importance of managers motivating the employees. After working at Wal-Mart for an extended period of time, I started to feel unappreciated. I realized that almost all of the workers at Wal-Mart were
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unmotivated. If the managers would have taken some time to thank some of the hard working employees it would have greatly improved the workspace. I didn’t know when I started that motivation was an attribute that most managers are required to have. After reading thru this lesson, I am happy and surprised that it is important enough of an issue to be covered in a class like this. I agree with everything this lesson said about motivation, especially the part about employee bonuses.
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. He also told Aaron and me that he lost his powers for two weeks because the gods became angry with him when he used his powers for destructive purposes. What he said he did was he prayed for his sister's boyfriend to get into a car accident and apparantly he actually wrecked....He says that there were two women in the car with the guy when this happened and the accident caused one of them to have a miscarriage...Suprisingly, Warren seemed more upset about losing his powers then his murder of the unborn fetus.