The Impact of Motivation on Employee Job Performance

Introduction

People within an organization are harmoniously working together to satisfy one

certain goal, whether short or long-term goal. The organization, as the collection of

people, are expected to be deliver the best assets that they have which are the people

bearing the knowledge and skills suitable to their position in the organization. Through

the desirable performances of the employees, the organization can realize the

competitive advantage in the market and among their competitors.

Background and Statement of the Problem

Its very optimistic to assume that every organization can compete according to

their strategies and obtaining the competitive advantage. In an industry where the

uncertainties are freely roaming, the growth and success of the business is completely

threatened. With the help of the valuable players, who are the employees, the

organization still has their option and chance towards the future success. The most

appreciated approach in an industry other than training and development is through the

use of motivational approaches that almost all of the organizations, in whatever size or

type, used to apply (Byham and Moyer, 2005). Considering the fact that the motivational

approaches can drive the job performance of an employee, what would be the other

impact that it might create in the employee, itself?

Research Aim and Objectives

The study aims for assessing the impact of motivation on the job performance of

an employee. To decipher the important ideas regarding the area of motivation, there

are three objectives that can serve as the propeller of the study. First is to determine the

concerns of motivational approach as well as its true purpose within an organization.

Second is to determine the benefits and drawbacks brought by the motivational

approach in the entire organization, particularly among the employees. And third is to

measure the effectiveness of the motivational approaches in answering the challenges

in an organization and satisfying their goals.

Literature Review

From the previous studies regarding the motivational approaches and its impacts

on various business dimensions, it deliberately identified that organizational involvement

and commitment can be the other factors that might contribute to the overall job

performance of the employees. Motivational approaches definitely satisfy the needs of

the employees and in return, the employee repays it through their hard work. Identifying

the needs and answering it is the most basic approach of every organization to earn the

organization commitment of the employees (Chughtai, 2008). With the good employer-

employee relationship, an employees performance can be only manifested on the

organizational effectiveness. In the implementation of the motivation across the

organization, it allows the individuals to focus on the development of their work, in terms
of behavior, skills and knowledge, ethics, and effectiveness. It is also defined that

motivational approaches tend to energize the workforce which can result in their

expected job performance (Byham and Moyer, 2005). In addition, the motivational

processes increases or influences the job performance and other work outcomes of an

individual that can reach to the employees outmost performance and even their job

satisfaction (Strain, 1995; Chughtai, 2008). On the other hand, some study contradicts

that the information regarding the effectiveness of motivational approaches in building

the employee performance. The performance is based on the perception and choice of

an individual and it can be only achieved if the skills and knowledge are suitable to the

position of the employees (Christensen and Wright, 2009). However, the idea regarding

the continuous training and development within the workforce is not set aside. In fact,

even if an employee manages to handle all the challenges and there are still rooms on

their abilities that should be improved.

Methodology

The study will apply the same method previously implemented by Byham and

Moyer (2005) which is the use of the motivation assessment test and motivation

assessment inventories. The motivation assessment test is adopted to measure the

individuals work-related issues such as the things that an individuals likes and dislikes

regarding the area of their work that can, at least, affect their decision. On the other

hand, the motivation assessment inventories which is almost similar to the tests, only

not focusing on decision making but in relation to the employees nature of work and

how do they feel on the motivational approach of the organization. The motivational
tests and inventories can be determined through the use of survey around the

organization and can duly determine the impact of the motivation in establishing the job

performance of every employee.

References:

Byham, W., & Moyer, R., 2005. Using Competencies to Build a Successful Organization

[Online] Available at:

http://www.ddiworld.com/pdf/ddi_usingcompetenciestobuild_mg.pdf [Accessed

10 June 2010]

Christensen, R., & Wright, B., 2009. The Effects of Public Service Motivation on Job

Choice Decisions: Exploring the Contributions of Person-Organization Fit and

Person-Job Fit [Online] Available at:

http://www.pmranet.org/conferences/OSU2009/papers/Christensen,%20Robert

%20K%20and%20Wright,%20Bradley%20E.%20%20The%20Effects%20of

%20Public%20Service%20Motivation%20on%20Job%20Choice

%20Decisions.pdf [Accessed 10 June 2010].

Chughtai, A., 2008. Impact of Job Involvement on In-Role Job Performance and

Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Journal of Behavioral and Applied

Management, Vol. 9, No. 4 [Online] Available at:

http://www.jbam.org/pubs/jbam/articles/Vol9/no2/JBAM_9_2_4.pdf [Accessed 10

June 2010].
Strain, C., 1995. Need for Autonomy as a Moderating variable in the Model of the

Determinants of Salesperson Performance. [Online] Available at:

http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/research/swma/1995/pdf/08.pdf [Accessed 10 June

2010].