Recent events in the banking sector have brought the issue of bonus payments into the spotlight. With reference to appropriate motivation theories, critically evaluate the statement the money motivates"

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Essay Question:

Recent events in the banking sector have brought the issue of bonus payments into the spotlight. With reference to appropriate motivation theories, critically evaluate the statement the “money motivates”.

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One of the most crucial features of a successful manager is the capacity to fulfill the continuously changing needs of employees and organizations. The organization always anticipates its employees to follow the regulations and have the highest performance at work. Besides, the employees also expect a good working condition, highly promotional opportunities and career secure involved in its decisions. Therefore, in order to reach the organizational approach, the manager need to perceive the key factors enhancing the workforce’s efficiency. In the other words, the understanding the employees’ work motivation is the basic requirement for the success of a company. However, it’s rather difficult for the manager in this competitive world to fairly motivate the employment for their best attempts. The common method applied by most of companies today is to provide the suitable rewards to people who have the best achievement. These rewards can be the position promotion, the salary appraisal and the extra bonus on payment. Money, apparently, becomes the common measure to assess how effectively they work. It also comes out the question whether money is regard as the major motivation for the employment at work. While most of people consider money as a motivator at work, there are some theories taking further opposite consideration about this complex viewpoint.

According to Ray French et al, 2011,  “ Motivation to work refers to the forces within an individual that account for the level, direction and persistence of effort expended at work”. Besides, The dictionary of Business and Management defines “Motivation may stem from processed taking place within an individual (intrinsic motivation) or from the impact of factors acting on the individual from outside (extrinsic motivation); in most cases these two influences are continually interacting”. Pinder (1998, p.11) describes ‘motivation’ as: “a set of energetic forces that originate both within as well as beyond an individual’s being, to initiate work-related behavior, and to determine its form, direction, intensity and duration”. This definition regards motivation at work as an “invisible, internal, hypothetical construct” (Ambrose & Kulik, 1999, p231).

The individuals motivate themselves to achieve their personal goals; therefore, they invest their time and their attempts to accomplish the work that also meets the organizational approach. Therefore, the motivation that the organization inspires its employees’ job satisfaction subsequently enhances the organizational satisfaction.

In addition, we can deny the important role of money related to the working goal of individual employees. Many workers consider money as an assessment of their achievement at workplaces. High position at work means high salary, better achievement related to higher promotion opportunities or extra higher bonus payment. Therefore, these typical questions such as:“ How much we can get from that work?” “Can you have stable promotion or salary appraisals” or “Whether my current salary is enough for us to meet our necessary needs and afford our entertainment-related services” are thoroughly considered whilst making decision to get a new job or transfer to other workplace. In spite of some popular opinions on the side of money as a motivator at work, some people insist that there is no need to emphasize the important role of money because there are still other valuable things beside it. On the research of Ephraim R. Mclean, Stanley J. Smits and John R. Tanner (1996) on “The importance of salary on job and career attitudes of information systems professionals”, this group of authors also mentions the relationship between money and work motivation, representing the study of McNeil and Kimmel as an experimental example for the uselessness of money to enhance the efficiency of the employment at work. This study examines the reaction of individuals to the problem-solving task with an incentive bonus. The results of this study surprisingly assumes that the offer of money have no positive effect on their work, on the contrary, reducing their motivation and their actual performance. “ Pay does not motivate people. People need enough money to live, but they need more than money to thrive. When polled on what matters most in a job, employees consistently cite half – a – dozen priorities, such as interesting work, before they mention pay. In contrast, when asked what employees care about, employers consistently rank money first” (Alfie Kohn, National Report on Human Resource, 1994, p.3).

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 Work motivation cannot properly be seen, having no direct measurement method. Therefore, we have to use established theories to perceive the understanding of this aspect as well as in order to figure out the relationship between money and work motivation. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, he assumed that money is only necessary to support the lower - needs in his hierarchy of needs - physiological needs which is considered as the most basic needs of human beings: food, water, entertainment and all of biological needs.  If the employees’ salary does not support their basic satisfaction, their performance ...

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