What is Motivation
Motivation is the reason behind a specific behavior particularly human behavior. Reasons for motivation may vary such as basic needs, an object, goal, state of being or ideal. Motivation for behaving in a certain way could also be due to morality.
Geen (1995) defines motivation as the
initiation, direction, intensity and persistence of human behavior.
Twyla Dell writes of motivating employees,
"The heart of motivation is to give people what they really want most from work. The more you are able to provide what they want, the more you should expect what you really want, namely: productivity, quality, and service.
People differ in wants or needs. The theories of motivation, in part, aim to explain the reason behind these wants and needs. Most theories are based on the needs of the person and the idea that satisfying this need is important before the person can focus on other needs.
Importance of motivation in a business environment
A positive motivation philosophy and practice should improve productivity, quality, and service. Motivation helps people:
- Easier for business to achieve its set goals and targets
- improves efficiency and productivity
- Reduces wastage
- lower level of staff turnover which leads to lower recruitment and training costs
- Lower rate of absenteeism
- Better quality of products which improves the business image in the long run
