Motivation denotes the psychological aspect that provokes people to action regarding the desired goal and educes controls while upholding objective-directed behavior. Job satisfaction signifies the gratifying or positive psychological condition emanating from the evaluation of a person’s work experiences. Job satisfaction marks employees’ attitudes and sentiments towards their work (Mafini & Dlodlo 2014). The motivation of workers may be taken to be the intrinsic zeal and gusto to realize the set goal. The motivation of employees is mainly significant as it can lead to tangible gains for a company. When workers feel that their contributions are valued, they develop a sense of belonging that motivates them to perform even better. To overcome challenges, leaders in organizations ought to generate a positive and strong relationship with workers and motivate them to perform excellently, which results in facilitated job satisfaction and continued success.
Motivation and Job Satisfaction
The motivation of employees may either be intrinsic or extrinsic and plays a vital role in enhancing job satisfaction and organizational success. Extrinsic motivation denotes concrete rewards such as monetary enticement, job security, work conditions, and fringe benefits, to mention a few. Intrinsic motivation represents the desire of an employee to work excellently with the aim of achieving self-satisfaction (Nisar, Riasat & Aslam 2016). Intrinsic motivation develops job satisfaction when workers accomplish the desired task as it generates stimulation and creates a chance for growth and achievement. Some of the factors that boost motivation, which in turn influences job satisfaction, have been discussed below.
Ability to Show One’s Skills and Abilities
The degree to which a job demands a variety of skills and abilities influences workers to learn. Upon understanding the required competencies, employees develop job satisfaction when they complete the set tasks successfully. The greater the skills entailed, the more significant the job becomes for workers. Inculcating different skills and abilities evokes a sense of belonging and attachment to the company (Benedetti et al., 2015). One way in which companies may reinforce this feeling is through the training of employees. Training of workers offers them opportunities for growth, which boosts their knowledge and proficiencies for effective development. Employees who have undergone training are highly motivated with their work when compared to untrained workers. Enrolling in training programs raises the employees’ job satisfaction since it makes them gain self-assurance and have a positive mindset towards the organization.
Engagement
The involvement of workers influences their motivation and job satisfaction as it facilitates power-sharing and boosts a feeling of responsibility. The engagement of workers offers them opportunities to create crucial managerial decisions that influence other employees hence improving performance (Albrecht et al., 2015). Moreover, it makes them identify with the organization and be ready to safeguard its interests. To engage workers and motivate them, it is vital for managers to call for their contribution and employ their ideas. In this manner, employees develop a vested interest in ensuring that the tasks are accomplished. Therefore, the engagement of workers does not just motivate and empower them but also results in new and more productive approaches.
Life Satisfaction
Life satisfaction could be anchored in particular domains of one’s existence, for instance, prosperity, physical well-being, psychological health, social interrelations, and a general feeling of success. With regard to its impact, studies have established that life satisfaction is linked to numerous personal and organizational aspects such as motivation, self-esteem, personality attributes, work and family responsibilities, performance, and fulfillment. Life satisfaction necessitates a work-life balance, which acts as a new aspect of human resource management that is increasing in significance as the level of workers grows (Lee et al., 2018). Workers desire the opportunity to satisfy both the job demands and home responsibilities. In this aspect, when managers issue a reasonable amount of tasks, and not so much that the work interferes with personal life, employees are motivated to accomplish them, and this builds job satisfaction.
The work-life imbalance makes employees overwhelmed and increases burnout, which results in less being accomplished in the place of work. On the contrary, work-life balance makes workers productive, inventive, dedicated, and motivated. Life satisfaction results in fewer sick days, shorter leaves, and readiness to promote an organization to others (Mas-Machuca et al., 2016). Additionally, a happy, healthy, and less stressed employee has high job satisfaction. Organizations that are known for ensuring life satisfaction have a positive perception, which assists in the attraction of would-be workers hence the creation of a wide pool of talents. Over and above, work-life balance lifting the spirit of employees enhances the success of the company and gives it a competitive benefit in the market.
Team-Feeling/ Team-Building
Team-feeling among employees could be promoted through empowering workers and valuing their contributions with respect to the creation of objectives and policies. Team-building makes workers feel part of the group and results in quicker decision making, which enhances self-sufficiency, facilitates productivity, and intensifies the wisdom of employees. Feeling part of the team generates motivation and energy in employees, which makes them undertake the set tasks effectively and professionally (Mas-Machuca et al. 2016). Team-feeling boosts communication amongst workers and enhances their capacity to collaborate. Team-building assists in facilitating innovation and enables workers to improve their abilities and skills.
Workplace Environment
The environment in the workplace is vital for the sustained motivation of employees. In modern times when talented workers have numerous working options, the workplace environment is a crucial aspect of either retaining or changing jobs. This is because it goes a long way in determining the degree of employees’ motivation, consequent performance, and excellence. The extent to which workers enjoy the workplace environment influences their error rate, the degree of cooperation with colleagues and innovation, absenteeism, and eventually the period of stay in the job (Raziq & Maulabakhsh 2015). Workplace environment may be defined with respect to the behavioral and physical factors. Such aspects may further be split into several independent variables.
A company’s physical factors that influence the motivation of employees include office layout and design. The impact of physical factors on employee behavior influences job satisfaction either positively or negatively with time. Upgrading of the physical appearance of the place of work leads to about a 10% rise in the productivity of workers. The physical layout of the office or workplace should be planned around the needs of workers to capitalize on job satisfaction and productivity. Studies assert that innovative workplaces may be used to enhance the distribution of information and networking irrespective of job boundaries by enabling ease of communication across departments (Awan & Tahir 2015). The contemporary physical settings of the workplace are typified by technology and the use of computers, machines, and furniture. To realize increased rates of employee motivation, organizations ought to make sure that the physical and behavioral aspects of the workplace environment are favorable to the needs of workers and facilitate interrelations and privacy. On this note, the workplace environment may be leveraged both to boost organizational success and the well-being of workers.
Monetary Compensation
Workers desire to be paid reasonable remuneration and strive to make employers receive value for their money. The monetary benefit is the essential enticement, which motivates workers to report to work each day. Money has the ability to attract, retain, and motivate employees toward excellent performance (Cerasoli, Nicklin & Ford 2014). Monetary enticements are employed to retain the most talented workers in an organization by rewarding them as recognition for their having done the work remarkably. To ensure that monetary compensation is an effective motivator, companies should use salary structures that encompass the significance attached to every job, offer payment that is consistent with performance, and issue fringe benefits, allowances, and pensions, among others.
Equitable rewards and remuneration systems that are deemed fair and consistent with the anticipations of workers motivate employees and act as strong aspects of job satisfaction. For instance, public employees have been found to attribute dissatisfaction with their jobs to poor remuneration and low or no benefits. Furthermore, in their study, Olafsen et al. (2015) established considerable positive connections involving job satisfaction and monetary compensation amid civil servants. This shows that when workers identify their remuneration to be fair, they are highly likely to be motivated to perform well, which makes them experience a sense of satisfaction. Monetary compensation motivates workers because it assists them in satisfying their universal needs. In this aspect, poor remuneration negatively affects motivation, job satisfaction, and subjective welfare.
Promotion
Research has established that self-actualization in the place of work may only be achieved through motivating employees with the generation of chances for promotion. This perception is backed by Henker, Sonnentag, and Unger (2015), who affirm that the inclusion of promotional opportunities motivates employees to excel and is strongly and positively associated with job satisfaction. When workers feel that they stand a chance of being promoted, they are motivated to work harder towards the realization of organizational objectives with the aim of drawing the attention of the management (Bhuvanaiah & Raya 2015). On the contrary, employees in organizations having poor or no promotion opportunities feel dissatisfied with the job and express a high intention to leave.
Factors Which Will Motivate Me and Enhance Level of Job Satisfaction
Ability to Show Skills and Abilities
The capacity to demonstrate my skills and abilities will motivate me to give my best at the workplace and increase my personal level of job satisfaction. This will be perpetuated by my organization’s regular training for employees. Over and above equipping employees with additional skills and abilities, I have found the training to boost performance and enhance productivity. The demonstration of skills and abilities will not just help me to like my job, but the organization will benefit from my performance and be better placed to compete with other companies to remain at the top. Training will ensure performance improvement through the advancement of my proficiencies, competencies, knowledge, behavior, and abilities (Howard, Tang & Austin 2015). Inculcating skills and abilities will not just boost my overall performance in my organization but will also facilitate the proficiencies, knowledge, and attitudes required in future jobs. The demonstration of skills and abilities will allow me to execute job-associated tasks effectively and realize organizational goals in a competitive way. Moreover, being skilled will reduce my absenteeism and organizational turnover as it will make me enjoy satisfaction related to achievement emanating from my inherent abilities.
Monetary Compensation
Being well-paid will motivate me to give my best to my organization and increase my level of job satisfaction. The most important aspect of compensation is money, although other nonmonetary benefits and enticements will equally encourage me to work harder (Awan & Tahir 2015). Monetary compensation will be crucial to the facilitation of my productivity in the workplace as it will make me feel that the organization values and rewards my efforts (Menges et al., 2017). Additionally, monetary compensation will not just attract me to my organization but also ensure my retention and elicit continued improvement of my performance.
Workplace Environment
A favorable workplace environment will motivate me to perform well and boost my rate of job satisfaction. For instance, ensuring that sufficient facilities are offered will be vital to evoking my commitment. Moreover, having quality and adequate facilities will increase my intention to remain in the organization and my perception of being cherished (SardĹžoska & Tang 2015). From a welfare point of view, a favorable workplace environment will influence my sense of safety in the organization.
Conclusion
Motivation signifies the psychological aspect that rouses people to act toward a desired goal and educes controls while upholding excellence. If employees feel that their contributions are treasured, they develop a feeling of belonging that motivates them to improve their performance. Some of the motivation factors that increase job satisfaction include monetary enticement, workplace environment, team-building, and promotion.
Reference List
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