Paper Example on Employee Productivity and Satisfaction: Motivational Ideas and Theories

Introduction

A critical factor that determines the margin of employee productivity and satisfaction is the motivational strategy employed by an organization's administration. In most cases, the motivation of employees should occur on a regular basis. However, some organizations do not understand the importance of employee motivation which has brought about increased cases of employee turnover and disengagement. Employee motivation will not only allow accompanying to reach its objectives but will similarly ensure that it increases the levels of employee loyalty and commitment. The direct sum of interactions between an employee and his/her manager is what determines the motivational levels.

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Two years ago, I happened to work as a cashier at a local supermarket. The employees at the supermarket had a bad attitude towards new employees. It led to them leaving all the hard paperwork related duties to me. Additionally, being new, I did not know most of the work-related protocols and they would tease me when I did not deliver the work within the stipulated time. However, my department manager was not aware of the poor working environment and he would always ask why I do not deliver work in time yet i had successfully passed the interview process. It is here that I opened up and explained to him what was happening. According to him, most of the employees at my department were not welcoming for some of them had taken years to get to their current position. As for me, I had just started working with them out of nowhere and additionally, I was the youngest of them all. However, the department manager promised to help me fit in with the employees and be on the same levels of productivity. The strategy he employed was to help me build my self-esteem at the workplace (Pignatelli, 2015). The employees had trampled on my self-esteem such that I was even thinking of quitting my job after working for two weeks only. Through self-esteem, it helps one in approving oneself through feeling capable, significant and worthy (Pignatelli, 2015). My low self-esteem at the workplace most likely affected my work for I did not feel like I would fit in with the rest of the team. After the talk with the department manager, he would recognize and applaud my efforts every time I submitted work even though was past the deadline. Additionally, he was also kind and compassionate. Anytime I required assistance about anything, he was ready to help. The manager similarly encouraged me through my mistakes. Through this, it allows an employee to realize that failure is not an end but rather a step towards success. Two weeks after my manager's intervention, my productivity improved by more than 50%.I had the ability to meet most of the set deadlines. The manager had helped me in boosting my core-self-evaluation levels which made me feel confident and positive about my abilities at work (Pignatelli, 2015). In order to assist an employee in building their self-confidence, it must begin by having a real conversation and not mere surface accolade. The manager in this case had to first understand what was going on. By helping an employee to build the self-esteem, it goes hand in hand with building their competence as seen from my case.

During the 2nd quarter financial reporting period of 2017, it emerged that the firm had incurred huge losses as compared to a similar period during the previous year. The firm had seen a drop in its sales revenues by about 15%, and its operational expenses had additionally increased by about 20%.It is an indication that the company's outflows were much higher than the inflows. After the meeting, the company's management led by the CEO invited some the departmental managers whereby they decided that they would come up with a beer strategy which would see much more positive results during the 3rd quarter reporting period. The management agreed that they would increase rewards for its entire employee if they improved their productivity levels. The message was passed to the employees about the awards the firm was planning to put forward to its employees that would begin as from the following month. According to Vroom's expectancy theory, the motivational behavior of an individual is based on their ability to select behavior over another basing on the expected results (Quick, 1998). In this case, employees will increase their productivity efforts if they know that they hope to receive individual rewards in the end. During the first month, the middle-level managers would collect feedback from employees that involved their expectations and what they would want the company to improve so that the employees would work much better (Quick,1998). Additionally, they provided weekly updates on the employees' productivity levels. The employees fully participated in the efforts to boost the company's revenue growth margins.The employee's efforts reflected in the first month during the monthly reporting meeting, the company had improved by about 5%.It is an indication that the employees had begun to improve their productivity levels and thus an indication the administration's plan ad motivated the employees. However, during the 3rd quarter reporting period, the firm had incurred a drop in its sales revenue by 17%.

According to Vroom's expectancy theory the employees will only become motivate to work much harder if they know they will have a particular reward in the long-run that matches their efforts (Quick,1998). However, in the case of the company, during the first month, the employees only recede an additional $10.As compared to what the company had brought in during that month, it was only about 3% of the total profit incurred. Additionally, the company had promised training sessions for employees during the second month after implementing the new plans. However, the firm did not fulfill its promises. Through holding the sessions, the employees will feel motivated when working for they would have readjusted their work-related skills (Quick, 1998). Additionally, during the following months, the management did not take any necessary steps in trying to get or provide employee feedback. Employees need to hear from the management how they are performing on a regular basis (Quick, 1998). By providing employees with positive responses it will act as a motivational factor to put in more efforts. Additionally, it would help the employees to improve on areas that might have low productivity margins. As a result of these lapses in the company's ability to keep its promises, the employees lost faith in the firm which reduced their productivity. A considerable number of employees felt that even though they increase their productivity levels, the company will not keep its promises. During the same period, the company lost some of its employees including me. I had to look for another firm whereby my efforts would be valued. Employee satisfaction is crucial if a company is to meet its goals. Motivation is part of employee satisfaction

Communication involves the passing of messages from one individual to the next using various channels. Effective communication is necessary not only within social context but also within the business environment. Within a business environment, communication is more cordial and rational for it lacks any emotional content (Nistorescu, 2012). Additionally, in case an organization has inadequate and insufficient employee communication, it will affect employee motivation levels. The end result of this will see an increased level of unproductivity, turnover and reduced customer satisfaction. Through communication between manager and employee, it will lead to the development of effective relationships which form a foundation for trust (Rajhans, 2012). Internal communication will similarly lead to increased innovation and creativity as employees will be part of the decision making process thus motivating them.

Conclusion

It is essential that employees become part of the decision-making processes especially if they will impact them directly. In this case, the company wanted to reduce some of the employee benefits and fire some of its employees following a two-year loss period. However the firm did into involve its employees during its decision making process. No memos, notices or any other form of communication was communicated to the employees. The manager decided to remain tight-lipped until the end of the month whereby some employees received dismissal letters while the remaining employees had a deduction in some of their benefits ranging from $100-$300.Following this, all employees remained disgruntled as to why they were not involve in the entire process. The manager claimed that the administration did not want to affect the employee productivity levels with such information. However, what they did not know is that they had reduced the employees' motivational levels (Rajhans, 2012). Some of the employees even went and quit and decided to seek employment opportunities elsewhere. As for the employees who decided to remain behind, their productivity was highly affected due to reduced motivation in doing work.

References

Nistorescu, A. (2012). The importance of communication skills for business professionals. Annals of Eftimie Murgu University Resita, Fascicle II, Economic Studies, 516-523.

Pignatelli, A. (2015). Four ways to boost employee performance and job satisfaction. Government Executive, 1-3.

Quick, T. L. (1988). Expectancy theory in five simple steps. Training & Development Journal, 42(7), 30-33.

Rajhans, K. (2012). Effective organizational communication: A key to employee motivation and performance. Interscience Management Review, 2(2), 81-85.