Motivating Employees

It is possible for an employer to motivate an employee by using extrinsic motivation and/or intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is “A desire to perform a behavior to obtain an external reward or avoid punishment” (Morris and Maisto, 2010, p. 261). Intrinsic motivation is “A desire to perform a behavior that stems from the enjoyment derived from the behavior itself” (Morris and Maisto, 2010, p. 261).

I believe that an employer can help motivate an employee by giving them praise for the great work that they have done for the company. If the employee enjoys their job and likes to go above and beyond to show that they are being productive and conduct outstanding performance skills then they do not need any type of extrinsic motivation to get them to do their job. When an employer shows gratitude and appreciation for the employees work it helps boost their confidence even more because they just got a pat on the back for doing what they love to do.

When an employer provides extrinsic motivation to the employees then it can get the employees who are not as motivated as the others to want to put in that extra work that they should be doing already but they are only doing it to receive some type of reward whether it’s a bonus, or to stay out of the punishment area which could lead to probation or being fired from the job due to their unproductive ways. I feel this type of motivation can hurt more than help only because they are more productive when receiving a reward and that will never help them succeed within their position. Of course there can be some employees who will change and work harder to receive a reward and because they want to show and improve so they can get promoted or receive a raise for their outstanding work. An employer should give praise to all the employees especially the ones who need the most motivation. There has to be something positive about them that the employer can point out besides the fact that they are