Motivation and Organisational Performance
In an organisational context performance is a function of motivation, ability, and environment. Based on this premise if organisations want to improve performance, they must focus firstly on ensuring their employees have the right capabilities for their roles. Secondly, the environment must be conducive to productive work i.e. appropriate job design, access to required equipment and the removal of internal barriers such as ineffective leadership or an obstructive internal culture. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly employee’s motivations align with organisational goals.
The study of organisational behaviour has resulted in many theoretical conceptualisations of workplace motivation not the least of which includes goal theory. Goal theory is one of the most influential theories in the study of work motivation and is premised on the assumption that goals are the central organising mechanism through with motivated action is initiated. Motivation drives both our choices and behaviours and relates to how people choose to allocate their limited resources.
Another important tenet of goal setting theory is that goals are hierarchically arranged. At the top sit superordinate goals which represents long term strategic goals. These goals must remain relatively stable for motivation to be maintained and this is where many organisations fall down by far too often changing the ‘goal posts’, (pun intended), leaving employees feeling confused, disconnected and demotivated . Additionally, long term goals must be grounded in core aspects of both the organisation and the employee’s self by way of shared values, needs and purpose.
Further down the hierarchy at the level of frontline motivation are the pursuit of action goals that represent the concrete tasks and behaviours that relate to an individual’s engagement with both the immediate tasks and objectives as well as the broader long-term goals.
While it would be too simplistic to suggest that motivating employees is as simple as setting goals there has been considerable research showing that the most productive organisations are those that pay specific attention to the role of goal setting in employee motivation. Their focus includes the deliberate linking of individual and organisational goals as well as ensuring an alignment between organisational and employee values, needs and purpose. Not only does this set up a motivational bond between an organisation and its employees, but has the added bonus of enhancing employee satisfaction, improving overall performance and increasing the likelihood of employees engaging in organisational citizenship behaviour. Making this approach a win win win win situation
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Lee Spencer
BBus(Mgt), BSocSc(Psych)
References
Diefendorff, J. M., & Seaton, G. A. (2015). Work Motivation (Second Edition ed.): Elsevier Ltd.
Latham, G. P. (2012). Work motivation : history, theory, research, and practice.
Locke, E., & Latham, G. (1990). A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance: Pearson College Div
Truxillo, D. M., Bauer, T., & Erdogan, B. (2016). Psychology and Work : perspectives on industrial and organizational psychology. New York, New York ;: Routledge.
Wood, J., Zeffane, R., Fromholtz, M., Wiesner, R., Morrison, R., Seet, P., . . . Osborn, R. (2013). Organisational behaviour: core concepts and applications (Third Australasian ed.). Milton, QLD 4064: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.