Carrot-And-Stick vs Higher Order Motivation

Introduction

Morale is the key to productivity. Most organizations want their employees to utilize their abilities to the maximum and by so doing ensure high productivity in the organization. The way to do this is by motivating their employees using various motivation tools and techniques. This paper will discuss the carrot and stick motivation theory to motivation and also high order motivation and also compare and contrast both of the techniques.

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Carrot and Stick Methods of Motivation

The carrot and stick approach of motivation is basically about changing the behavior of people by force or by choice. The carrot acts as an incentive motivating the employees to work hard while the stick is used to instill fear and force the employees to cooperate. The use of the stick is not very practical as it only works when the motivator is around and once he/she leaves everyone relaxes. Another challenge is that instilling fear or applying force to people makes them more rebellious, and thus, the productivity is lowered. The carrot approach also has problems since the motivator is not sure which incentive is the best since different things motivate people. If the motivation is finally found, there is the problem of what quantity of the incentive to offer. It, therefore, ensures that the employee being motivated does not get too comfortable and stop working. The incentive should also not be slight as it will discourage other employees who were working hard with an aim of being the best.

Theory of Motivation Relating to Higher-Order Needs

Higher order motivation is about developing self-motivated employees who will work to achieve the best not only going beyond the minimum. It aims at empowering employees. By using Herzberg's idea of motivation, employers need to motivate employees through factors such as achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement, and growth. Employees when handling a task, need to feel they have achieved something by gaining the attention of the employer. The organization should assign them responsibilities and trust them to carry them out entirely. The employees need to feel that they are growing and becoming better skilled at doing their tasks.

Comparison of Motivation Theories

Though the two methods are similar in that they act as motivation to employees the difference is that the carrot and stick approach brings short term change while the higher order motivation has long-term changes since it has intrinsic motivation. Employers should only apply the carrot-stick method when things are getting out of hand . Otherwise, the higher order motivation techniques should be used since they are friendlier.

Applying a more moderate carrot stick approach would make the carrot stick approach better that the higher order motivation as the motivation of the employees without fear will lead to higher productivity.

Conclusion

In conclusion, both methods of motivation are good for productivity and thus employers should always find the one that works best for them and apply it.