Thanks for nothing paper

Posted: October 17th, 2013

Thanks for nothing paper

Name:

Institution:

Lecturer:

Course:

Date:

Thanks for Nothing Paper

Introduction

Motivation is a fundamental human resource strategy. It contributes a lot to the performance of the company. When employees are well motivated, they give better results than those who are not. There are many avenues that an organization can utilize in line with efforts to motivate employees. It is, therefore, the obligation undertaken by the human resource personnel to determine the most effect one for the given company.

1. If praising employees for doing a good job seems to be a fairly easy and obvious motivational tool, why do you think companies and managers do not often do it?

Companies avoid frequently praising employees because of various reasons. The best ways used by companies to praise employees is by using rewards. This has become a problem because employers do not know how employees will perceive these rewards. For example, when USA was experiencing high unemployment rates, enormous monetary rewards became controversial. Some executives received exceptionally high rewards, which were considered unfair. Some companies tend to use unusually cheap ways of rewarding their employees (Bruce & Pepitone, 1999). This could make employees feel inferior and not appreciated. Some would prefer no rewards at all instead of cheap rewards (Emerson & Loehr, 2008).

2. As a manager, what steps would you take to motivate your employees after observing them perform well?

Despite the limitations in reward programs, managers should not eliminate it. Monetary reward is one of the best but not an absolute way of motivating employees. Other forms of non-monetary rewards include giving tangible gifts. Money will be spent and forgotten, but gifts are there to stay. Every time an employee sees the gift, he or she feels motivated. Managers should find out the most appropriate gift and give employees. Another important form of motivation is promoting employees. If an employee is competent to take a higher position, it should be done immediately (Murrell& Meredith, 2000). It will motivate him or her to continue working harder and other employees.

3. Are there any downsides to giving employees verbal praise? What might these down sides be and how could you alleviate them as a manager?

Giving too much praise to the employees may end up being destructive. Some employees may develop too much pride, and this occurrence results in unacceptable character in the workplace. Others are likely to have too much ego and think they are the best. This problem will bring division among employees. In cases where some receive praise, and other are left out, it becomes unfair. According to Bruce and Pepitone (1999), it does not matter whether the ones being praised are better performers. Those who are left out consider themselves inferior hence, affects work performance. In several cases, it has been observed to be a factor of labor turnover. Most companies that do excessive verbal praising give an impression that the employees are perfect (Murrell & Meredith, 2000)

4. As a manager, how would you ensure that recognition given to employees is distributed fairly and justly?

Mangers should ensure that employees are appreciated in a fair and just way. To achieve this, they should come up with strategies of recognizing their employees without unfairness. Some of them are rewarding them according to their performance. In cases of verbal praise, all of them should be recognized and in the same way. Buying small tokens for employees is a convenient way of showing that they are valuable assets in the company. Managers should be approachable and inform employees that they can come forward with anything they feel managers should know. This strategy will make the employees feel the management recognizes their opinions, grievances and any other issues. Most of all a rise in their pay is one of the best ways of showing employees that the company recognizes their efforts (Katzenbach, 2000).

Conclusion

Companies should embrace other motivation forms, which are more effective than verbal praising. This method seems to have too many problems associated with it. It should be avoided and used at minimal circumstances. Forms of motivation should not be necessarily monetary. Many other forms could have a better influence than rewarding money. The best way to determine effective ways is by learning the needs of the employees.

References

Bruce, A., & Pepitone, J. S. (1999). Motivating employees. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Emerson, B., & Loehr, A. (2008). A manager’s guide to coaching: Simple and effective ways to get the best out of your employees. New York: AMACOM/American Management Association

Murrell, K. L., & Meredith, M. (2000). Empowering employees. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Katzenbach, J. R. (2000). Peak performance: Aligning the hearts and minds of your employees. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press.