Motivating employees is essential in business. A motivated will lead to increased productivity , which will help businesses achieve their goals. And this should be a main objective in organizational and business plans. Motivation can be generally defined as the "psychological forces that determine the direction of a person's behavior in an organization, a person's level of effort and a person's level of persistence".
It is the driver that a person has in a job or activity to reach an end goal. There are multiple theories of how best to motivate workers, but all agree that a well-motivated workforce means higher output. The determining factors can vary from job design to the rewards offered.
Before building a tactic for motivation, the first step is to understand what motivates employees. What drives them to their peak performance will better help businesses develop programs that both motivate and keep the best employees for the business. While not every employee will be motivated by the same thing, focusing on a list of major motivating programs such as incentives, rewards and recognition, programs,and cozy office environments will help attain motivation in the workforce.
This content aims to elucidate the methods by which Google tries to motivate the individuals among its organization and their unorthodox approach to employee engagement.
Factors Affecting Motivation
Job Design
The design of the job can have a significant effect on their job motivation. Job design implicates designing jobs that create both challenging and interesting tasks for the employee and is effective and efficient in the completion of the job. The main elements of job design are: Simplification, Enlargement and Enrichment. Google excels at optimization of the design and proper balance of these elements.
Rewards
This factor is comprised of two main elements: Intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Extrinsic factors are types of tangibles benefits from money to compliments. Intrinsic factors on the contrary are psychological rewards such as a sense of accomplishment. Interns are paid $5800 and software engineers make $6700 per month at Google, this proves the significance of Extrinsic Rewards at Google. As for Intrinsic rewards,Google is matched by very few in creating an environment in which these surpass palpable benefits". It’s less about the aspiration to be No. 1 in the world, and more that we want our employees and future employees to love it here, because that’s what’s going to make us successful.” says Google’s Vice President at People Development.
Job Quality
This aspect is somewhat more vague and harder to discern from the main elements of job design. The created value and the importance and prominence of the outputs define the framework of this element. Google aspires to “To create the happiest, most productive workplace in the world.” to set forth a feeling of superior job quality. Google’s employees are allowed flexibility on their hours of work and also on when they can go and have some fun whether it involves getting a massage, heading to the gym or just indulging in volleyball. In addition, the firm allows each of its employees to give 20 percent of his time (1 day every week) to doing anything they like. This can range from assisting with another project to even just sleeping. Anything that is ethical and lawful is okay with Google.
Theories of Motivation
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
Basic physiological needs, Safety and security needs, social affiliation and belonging, esteem needs and Self-Actualization are the 5 subsequent levels for needs that Maslow’s Theory postulates. Each need has a provision of the previous one being attained to be achieved. The company in our case aims to achieve the highest level in Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs by providing the environment and circumstances for the achievement of its prequels.
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
Two-factor theory of motivation based on satisfies and dissatisfies. Satisfies are motivators associated with job satisfaction while dissatisfies are motivators associated with hygiene or maintenance. Satisfies include achievement, responsibility, advancement, and recognition. Satisfies are all intrinsic motivators that are directly related to rewards attainable from work performance and even the nature of the work itself. Google likes to create “high density clusters” to spur innovation and interconnections by creating a cozy and innovative environment.
Expectancy Theory
Proposes an individual will behave or act in a certain way because they are motivated to select a specific behavior over other behaviors due to what they expect the result of that selected behavior will be. In essence, the motivation of the behavior selection is determined by the desirability of the outcome. However, at the core of the theory is the cognitive process of how an individual processes the different motivational elements. This is done before making the ultimate choice. The outcome is not the sole determining factor in making the decision of how to behave. Google’s work culture and environment is such that it triggers maximum creativity. The organization knows well that great ideas cannot be forced. Strategies such as accidental meetings between creative people and engineers, the freedom to explore, tailored work stations to help them feel more relaxed and a heavy dose of independent time are all fuel for the creative process and ultimately, for more innovative products.
Employee Motivation Methods
Taylorism
Taylor’s basic theory of motivation claims that money is what motivates employees. This approach views employees not as individuals, but as pieces of in a grander scope; in doing so his theory emphasizes that giving employee’s individual tasks, supplying them with the best tools and paying them based on their productivity was the best way to motivate them. Taylor’s theory was asserted in the 19th century and can still be seen today in industrial engineering. Apart from the high wages Google offers, Taylorism presents itself in the following ways at Google:
● Reimbursement of up to $5000 to employees for legal expenses
● Maternity benefits of a maximum of 18 weeks off at about 100 percent pay.
● Financial support for adopting a child (Google’s Adoption Assistance)
● Free of charge lunch and dinner
Conclusion
In this flat hierarchy organization, engineers have plenty of flexibility when it comes to selecting the projects they work on. The organization also encourages its staff to seek company-related interests. In addition, instead of being trained by top management for tasks, employees can approach tasks in their own unique ways. For example, employees are allowed to express themselves by writing on the walls. They can also arrive for work at any time they like, wear pajamas if they want or even bring their dog along. The relaxed, creative and fun environment psychologically benefits Google’s employees while giving Google the benefit of a more motivated, dedicated and productive workforce. At Google, things are different with the organization putting in effort to make sure its employees have inspiring work. The 20 percent allowance for projects of their own interest is one step in this direction.
References
Jones, Gareth R.; George, Jennifer M. (2008). Contemporary Management.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/12/technology/google-intern-pay/index.html
https://www.payscale.com/career-news/2013/03/how-google-continues-to-keep-employees-happy