Why Is Employee Motivation Important?

Why is employee motivation important? Employee motivation can be the difference between success and failure for your business. Encouraging employees to behave as if they are owners of the company has proven to be a successful strategy for business growth. At the other end of the spectrum, canned employee motivation programs often lead to a lack of motivation because they lack the personal touch that shows an individual employee that you care.

It doesn't matter what product or service your company provides. If your employees are not motivated to meet your needs, they won't.

More than a Paycheck

Many are of the mindset that the almighty paycheck should be all the motivation employees need. Others believe it will bankrupt the company to invest in employee motivation strategies, failing to see that they can't afford not to. Some cynical managers even believe it isn't possible to motivate employees to grow a business at all. Others recall past employee motivation strategies that failed. Many companies have performance pay structures that reward the employee who shines with the same pay as the employee who merely warms a seat.

Failure to maintain a culture of employee motivation will not lead a company toward achieving its goals, but will instead foster mediocrity and apathy among the team. Companies that are most successful at keeping their employees motivated to exceed expectations have gone beyond implementing performance standards and rewards. They have created a culture of employee motivation that feeds into every level of the organization and is a foundation for every process.

Case Studies

The power of employee motivation was demonstrated by Springfield Remanufacturing Corp. (SRC), according to Jack Stack's book, The Great Game of Business.

During a recession in 1991, net profits actually increased at SRC. Stack, SRC's CEO at the time, saw firsthand the results of a team of motivated employees when the company achieved a production goal beyond any previously imagined. Very solid profits were earned for the company and the employees were not forced to do anything different. They solved several business issues themselves and achieved the goal because they wanted to do it. He coined the phrase, "You gotta wanna." He motivated his team, which had historically produced 2 or 3 tractors each day, to push 800 tractors out the door in only 20 work days.

When International Harvester, now Navistar International Corp., was faced with the looming likelihood that the company would be forced to shut down, the executive team presented the facts to the frontline workers. The company opened its books and taught the employees what issues were causing and creating the financial dilemmas. Employees who had no formal training in accounting or business management were empowered to change the fate of the company. To save their jobs, the employees had to change the way the company did business. They succeeded and became international cheerleaders for open-book management.

These examples demonstrate that when employees clearly understand the specific goals and expectations of the company and realize what their rewards will be, they are motivated to succeed.

What Works

Numerous human resource professionals have researched employee motivation over the years. The results consistently demonstrate that employee motivation, and ultimately job satisfaction, is not usually driven by pay. Employees are motivated or satisfied by other factors, such as work environment, advancement opportunities, feeling as though they are part of a greater good, recognition for a job well done and having managers who value their contributions to the company. Companies that consciously enact strategies to create a culture of employee motivation are the companies that attract and retain the best talent and surpass their corporate goals.