There has been extensive research into whether employees are motivated Essay

There has been extensive research into whether employees are motivated purely by money, or whether there are other factors which - Essay Example One such theory is that employees are purely motivated by money. There are other theories that contradict this and argue that there are various other factors that motivate the employees and impact employee behavior. In this essay I evaluate both viewpoints and conclude my opinion on the debate. Motivation Before going on to see what motivates employees, it is first necessary to understand what exactly motivation is and the various motivation theories. Motivation is best defined by Armstrong (2002, p. 56) as a reason for a person to do something and move in a certain direction. Most people are motivated when they believe that a certain course of action leads to the achievement of a goal or results in a reward that satisfies a particular need. There are mainly two types of motivation: Intrinsic Motivation: This is motivation through work itself. This is a result of self generated factors which leads to people behaving in a particular way or particular direction. The various factors tha t are responsible for intrinsic motivation are creativity responsibility, challenging environment, scope for development of skills and abilities, growth opportunities, etc (Armstrong, 2007, p. 121). Extrinsic Motivation: Extrinsic motivation is inspired by what is done to or for people if they act in a certain way. That is, what is done to motivate people. These factors includes rewards such as pay, praise, recognition, raise and even punishments such as criticism, pay withholding, disciplinary action, etc (Armstrong, 2007, p. 121). Employee motivation depends on the individual. Each individual reacts to a situation in a different way and are motivated by different factors. Therefore, some employees are motivated by intrinsic factors while others are motivated by external factors. Money as motivator One of the very first theories that were published discussed how money is motivator for employees to perform better. It even concluded that money is the only factor that influences emplo yee motivation. Research was conducted by Fredrick Taylor in 1911 and according to him employees worked only on money. The reason for this is that when employees were offered pay based directly on their performance or productivity, it was observed that productivity increased. This resulted in greater productivity and proves the fact that money is an important motivator. There are various other researches that were conducted in order to prove the role that money plays as a motivator. It is argued that financial rewards give employees an opportunity to secure their personal lives. Main motive behind employees to work is that they want to earn money to take care of their personal life and their families. If money is taken out of the equation, irrespective of what the job offers, no employee would be willing to work. Hence money is a vital motivator. Money may not be the only motivator but is definitely the most fundamental one. There is evidence from various researches that have proved that where financial rewards are offered, better is the productivity and the commitment of the employees. One of the best examples of this is how the changes in the pay system made a direct impact on the productivity and growth of General Electric. CEO Jack Welch’s strategy of greater rewards for those employees with better individual and organizational performance made motivated the employees and resulted in the revitalization of the organization (Rynes et al., 2004, p. 392). In a recent survey,