Motivating employees

Motivating Employees al Affiliation Motivating Employees What motivational techniques, methods, or strategies does (or did)your current or past employer use to try to keep employees productive, satisfied, or motivated?
The motivational techniques used by past employer to keep employees productive, satisfied, and motivated included the provision of intrinsic and extrinsic motivating factors (Ryan & Deci, 2000). The intrinsic factors included incorporation of features that make the job inherently interesting and challenging. Likewise, extrinsic factors included competitive pay, acknowledgement, opportunities for promotion, as well as varied benefits.
What worked and didn’t work to keep you productive, satisfied, and/or motivated?
The ability of motivating factors to keep employees productive, satisfied, and motivated actually depends on the needs and drives that influence the employees to work (Martires & Fule, 2004). For employees whose drives and needs are focused on satisfying lower order needs (physiological, social and security needs), extrinsic factors (money or compensation) could be the most effective motivators. However, for employees who crave for satisfying higher-order needs (self-actualization and fulfillment), intrinsic factors must be the most effective motivators of performance.
What motivational theories explain why your employers’ efforts worked or didn’t work to keep their employees productive, satisfied, or motivated?
The motivational theories that were evidently applied included Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, as well as Herzberg’s two factor model (Martires & Fule, 2004). By accurately identifying the level of needs, as well as the motivational (or hygiene) factors, employers are assisted in designing motivational programs that would keep employees productive, satisfied and motivated.

Based on your experiences and the readings, what would you recommend that your current or past employer do to try to keep their employees productive, satisfied, and/or motivated?
Based on one’s personal and professional experiences and from the readings, one would recommend that employers need to accurately assess the needs and drives of employees to enable them to design motivational or incentive programs that match these needs. As disclosed, intrinsic and extrinsic factors (or hygiene and motivational factors) need to be incorporated in the job to make the tasks inherently interesting, challenging, satisfying, and rewarding.
References
Martires, C., & Fule, G. (2004). Management of Human Behavior in Organization. Quezon City: National Book Store.
Ryan, R., & Deci, E. (2000). Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions and New Directions. Retrieved December 28, 2014, from Contemporary Educational Psychology: http://www. selfdeterminationtheory. org/SDT/documents/2000_RyanDeci_IntExtDefs. pdf