Employee Motivation vs. Employee Engagement

Employee Motivation vs. Employee Engagement

“You don’t build a business. You build people, and people build the business.” – Zig Ziglar

Building up a strong employee engagement which is a key, linked up with employee motivation and job satisfaction has been proposed as one of the top five global business strategies (SHRM, 2020). As previously discussed, although we live in a digital era, artificial intelligence is nowhere near to the human resources which have been the key to determine the success of a business with the personnel capabilities and traits along with much sapience.

Employee motivations and employee engagement has been the buzzwords in the recent contemporary emerging business environment. Though it sounds similar and together effects in improving the productivity of the organization, the factors distinguish themselves with ordinary and extraordinary. It is important to understand the subjects before analyzing the relativity.

As mentioned earlier, motivation is a psychological factor that derives a behavioral change within personnel, in order to satisfy his need or interest (Osabiya, 2015). This can be broadly classified as Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation based on the nature of the motivation (Andries, Nalinh & Patrick, 2016). Intrinsic motivation refers to the satisfaction of an individual with regard to his inner pleasure, interest with the work itself without any consideration of external factors. This can be simply narrated as the self-actualization needs, which are self-generated to fulfill something constructive (Datuk, 2018). Whereas extrinsic motivation refers the external factors which influence the individual. This can be the job related benefits such as bigger salary scale, job promotion and incentives which is controlled by the environmental factors which are financial need, social norms and peer influences (Datuk, 2018). The organizations have to manage a proper balance between both the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as the extrinsic motivation impacts on the performance for a short period while intrinsic motivation influence on a long run (Andries, Nalinh & Patrick, 2016).

Also it is a sensible art of management to have a perceptual understanding on the application of the above, as discussed in Herzberg’s two factor theory. Employees might fall in to either category of intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. But for example, it is highly evident that though the employee seems to be motivated by intrinsic factor, and if that individual is seriously in a need for an external element where he is pushed to seek for an extrinsic motivator, the intrinsic motivation provided to him alone does not work anymore (Mohammed et al, 2014). So it is understandable, according to the content theories like Maslow’s hierarchy of need and Herzberg’s two factor theory, it is primary that an individual should be satisfied extrinsic to be pleased with intrinsic factors which will not work the other way (Daniel, 2018).

Employee engagement on the other hand can be defined as the extent of psychological, emotional commitment towards the organization and its goals, which constructs the employee behavior by completely understanding his job role and its contribution to the organization, enabling him to perform beyond his job description with enthusiasm, loyalty and extraordinary effort, to be felt valued (Hotner, 2016). It is a condition comprised full of positivity and happiness. Employees, who are engaged, enhance a friendly working environment by encouraging and supporting the other employees with influence of positive energy and enthusiasm to achieve the organization goals (Chandra, 2013).

Engagement is a positive psychological condition beyond job satisfaction. As the job satisfaction is referred to a positive emotional state of happiness, contentment and enthusiasm towards the job they perform (Masooma, Rifat & Fatima, 2014) while engagement is referred to an emotional commitment towards the entire organization.

 Though the engagement is an emotional connection over the job satisfaction, the engagement levels of the employees depends on the satisfaction levels (Chandra, 2013). We can classify employees on above context, in a broader concept as engaged, disengaged and actively disengaged employees (Melanie, 2014).  Here the author explains that disengaged employees limit themselves only to the exchange of need to the effort given whereas actively disengaged employees are unhappy about the job and the work environment which eventually leads to lower performance. An engaged employee can transform into disengaged employee if his satisfaction is questioned by the lacking motivation. Therefor building and retaining engaged employees are in the hands of management by formulating customized motivation strategies to improve employees’ satisfaction levels to reinforce and stimulate the employee performance towards organization vision (Hotner, 2016).  

  (Engagement Multiplier, 2020)

The above diagram illustrates how the employee engagement levels go up, aligning with the satisfaction of employee needs, complying with Maslow’s hierarchy.

The bottom line connection reveals that it is transparent that an employee should be motivated with his need to be satisfied with his job, which would eventually lead to employee engagement (Faisal et al, 2017).

Belly (2015) states that “It is a costly mistake to assume that Money = Happy Employees”. While Brad (2017) proved it by explaining that engaged employees are naturally the individuals who are motivated intrinsically. As they show much interest in showing their capabilities in order to achieve big for the organization, involves in adopting new skills to expertise themselves with continuous learning and contributing to the solutions and decision making of management while enhancing their potential with career growth and self-development which reflects the self-actualization needs (Hotner, 2016). Ryan (2014) and John et al (2009) specified that engaged employees perform with some of the below common characteristics,

• ·         Happy and enthusiastic.
• ·         Spreads positive energy.
• ·         Highly productive.
• ·         Highly innovative and creative.
• ·         Team Player - Enabling a good relationship with co-workers.
• ·         Low absenteeism with improved attendance.
• ·         Continuous Learning - Adopts new skills and knowledge.
• ·         Confident on the future of organization change.
• ·         Stays loyal to the employer and organization on mutual trust.
• ·         Develops more networking beyond his team level.
• ·         Active participation in meetings and social events.
• ·         Contributing to the work performance without restricting themselves to 09 – 05 clock hours.

An employee who is engaged with such characteristics increases the overall productivity and performance of the organization with the lower rate of trained employee turnover. Faisal et al (2017) explains that a truly motivated and engaged employee is the real asset to the organization as they commit themselves to the organization with positive energy, enabling a drastic improvement on the productivity. 

Though Chandra (2013) remarks that personal traits also do have an impact on employee engagement, those can be analyzed closely with the need behind to construct flexible strategies. As we have been discussing throughout, the line managers have a huge contribution in molding a satisfied motivated engaged employee. Amit (2017) emphasizes that a manager should be aware of the needs behind the employees and the applicable theories in line with scenarios to prioritize satisfying there needs time to time, aligning with their performance.

Walk the Walk, is a best way of influencing employees to engage with the organization. Employees look up to managers for their guidance, support and respect. A recent study of Mike (2018) has revealed that employees look for a coach to assist not a boss to work under, as this enables a good relationship among team leaders and team members enabling a supportive workable environment. The author also further explains, that a meaningful real conversation between a leader and an employee would be effective than having a formal conversation. Ken (2019) states, that only 15% of the employees around the world have got managers who were able to construct the behavior towards employee engagement, assisting the study of Gallup which stated the global employee engagement rate to be 15%.

Marriott International is a best example for an organization which stood out of the crowd with the excellence of premium services and performance over 85 years which was enabled through the strategy of employee engagement. They follow a culture of “peoples first”, along with the core value of the organization which is “Take care of associates and they will take care of the customers” (Marriott International, 2020). Amit (2017) stated that the founder has rooted this culture of valuing the employees, which has enabled the employee engagement from the early days, by ensuring the employees to feel, being a part of Marriott family with having contact with all individuals personally providing them counseling for problems to ensure employee happiness. The founder also accounted the managers for the employee satisfaction. The organization also has been listed as one of the “100 best companies to work for” in the year 2019 for the 23^rd time which itself reveals the foundation of its success (Fortune, 2019).

As pointed out earlier employee engagement has become one of the most attracted strategy in current business market. Managements are investing money over this project to accelerate their organizational performance. But it is not about the money invested, the employee engagement itself narrates the need of intrinsic motivation. Therefor look closely, and bind together as a team, identify employee needs, increase motivation to make employees satisfied and walk the walk with the team, making the right strategy which will lead its way to success with the acquisition of employee engagement.

References

·         Amit, S. (2017) EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION: A STUDY ON MODERN WORKPLACE MOTIVATION.  International Journal OF Engineering Sciences &Management Research, 4(4), pp. 68 – 77.

·         Andries, J.P., Nalinh, D. and Patrick, D. (2016) HRM in Relation To Employee Motivation and Job Performance in the Hospitality Industry. Journal of International Business Research and Marketing, 1(4), pp. 12 – 21.

·         Belly, O. (2015) The Effects of Motivation on Job Performance: A Case Study of KCBCoast Region. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 5(9), pp. 1 – 13.

·          Brad, R. (2017) Are Employee Engagement and Employee Motivation the Same Thing? Forbes [Online].Available at: < https://www.forbes.com/sites/paycom/2017/03/09/are-employee-engagement-and-employee-motivation-the-same-thing/#405c25082933 >. [Accessed on 5^th May 2020].

·         Chandra, S. P . (2013)  The Impact of Employee Engagement on Organization’s Productivity, 2nd International Conference on Managing Human Resources at the Workplace. Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Institute for Management Development, 13th - 14th Dececember. 

·         Daniel, T.B. (2018) Herzberg's Two Factor Theory of Motivation: A Generational Study. Honors Theses, Eastern Kentucky University.

·      Datuk, M.Z.S.S. (2018) Impact of Employee Motivation on Work Performance. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 8(3), pp. 295 – 308.

·    Engagement Multiplier, (2020) Applying Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to Engagement and Growth. Engagement Multiplier [Online].Available at: <https://www. engagementmultiplier.com/blog/applying-maslows-hierarchy-needs-engagement-growth/ >. [Accessed on 4^th May 2020].

·      Faisal, N. A., Husam, A., Faiz, S. and Dia, Z. (2017) The Impact of Employee Motivation on Organizational Commitment. European Journal of Business and Management, 9(15), pp. 134 – 145.

· Fortune (2019) 100 Best Companies to Work For. Fortune [Online].Available at: <https://fortune.com/best-companies/2020/marriott-international/>. [Accessed on 9^th May 2020].

·        Hotner, T. (2016) THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT, JOB MOTIVATION, AND JOB SATISFACTION TOWARDS THE EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE. Corporate Ownership & Control, 13(2), pp. 473 – 477.

·  John, S., Dave, U., Theresa, M.W. and Patrick, M.W. (2009) Employee Engagement [Online].Available at: <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/300917033_Employee _engagement >. [Accessed on 8^th May 2020].

·    Ken, R. (2019) What Engaged Employees Do Differently Gallup.Analytics & Advice about Everything that Matters [Online]. Available at: < https://www.gallup.com/workplace/266822/engaged-employeesdifferently.aspx>. [Accessed on 7^th May 2020].

·         Marriott International (2020) Core Values & Heritage. Marriott International [Online].Available at: <https://www.marriott.co.uk/culture-and-values/core-values.mi >. [Accessed on 9^th May 2020].

·         Masooma, J., Rifat, B. and Fatima, H. (2014) Determinants of Job Satisfaction and its Impact on Employee Performance and Turnover Intentions. International Journal of Learning & Development, 4(2), pp. 120 – 140.

·       Melanie, A. (2014) Employee Engagement – A Culture Change, Immediate Impact – Endless Possibilities, The Insights Group Ltd.

·      Mike, M. (2018) Do Your Measures Make Employees Mad? Or Motivate Them?  Gallup.Analytics & Advice about Everything that Matters [Online]. Available at: <https://www.gallup.com/workplace/231659/performance-measures-motivate-madden-employees.aspx >. [Accessed on 6^th May 2020].

·         Mohammed, F.H., Mohammed, A.H. and Shamimul, I. (2014) Motivational Theories – A Critical Analysis. ASA University Review, 8(1), pp. 61 – 68.

·      Osabiya, B. J. (2015) The effect of employees’ motivation on organizational performance. Journal of Public Administration and Policy Research, 7(4), pp. 62 – 75.

·         Ryan, F. (2014) A Primer on Measuring Employee Engagement. Forbes [Online].Available at: <https://hbr.org/2014/11/a-primer-on-measuring-employee-engagement?autocomplete >. [Accessed on 7^th May 2020].

·         SHRM, (2020) Developing and Sustaining Employee Engagement. SHRM [Online].Available at: <https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/ toolkits/pages/sustainingemployeeengagement.aspx >. [Accessed on 8^th May 2020].