Review of Related Literature

Robbins et al. (2007) defined motivation as the willingness to exert high levels
of effort to reach organizational goals, conditioned by the effort’s ability to satisfy some
individual need. Ebert and Griffin (2015) defined motivation as the set of forces that
cause people to behave in certain ways, hence motivation pushes people to act and
achieve. Motivation is an inner state that energizes, activates or moves and that directs
or channels behavior towards goals (Berelson & Steiner, 2014). However, managing
people is a difficult task, as everyone is different, and there is no universal recipe on
how to motivate an individual and increase productiveness at work. As it was noted by
Joshi (2013), what motivates one individual, does not necessarily motivate another.
Moreover, no individual can motivate others to do something, he can only create
favorable conditions for others to get self-motivated (Taylor, 2007). Showing employees
that you care about them creates a more pleasant atmosphere at a workplace and it
does not necessarily have to involve huge gestures, it is the attitude that counts. Small
things such as providing coffee and tea at everyone’s disposal matter a lot and do not
require a huge effort nor investment. Motivation, in brief, is not the simple result of
anything that a supervisor (or anyone else) does to other people (Gellerman, 2008). For
an organization to exist, there is assumed to be a goal or purpose that is sufficiently
wanted or needed to generate or motivate human energy in its achievement (Mee,
2013). From the point of view of a manager, a motivated person works hard, sustains a
pace of hard work, and has self-directed behavior toward important goals. 1

Work motivates an employee (Balarieve 2015). Work itself is being able to

apply various skills during the working process; opportunities to gain skills and
knowledge; having a job that is not mundane, but appealing and inspiring – all this is
commonly known to help an individual stay motivated and devoted to a workplace
(Serrie 2014). Managers and employees have the responsibility to make sure that the
work place can be the best that it can be. It has been explained what the managers can
do to make sure that employees are happy and motivated, but employees also have a
responsibility to make sure that they accepting the motivation from within. Employees
need to open themselves up to the examples of communication, coaching, challenging,
and recognition (Baldoni, 2009). A work place environment is more likely to succeed if
all parties are willing to participate.2Work also is connected with security.

Security is another non-financial motivator that can be used in the

workplace. This security is used in all senses. Employees want to feel that their job is
secure and will be there in years to come. This allows them to freely work and have to
worry about what will happen if they lose their job. It motivated the employees to work
their hardest because they are sure their work is benefiting the company. Security is
also used in the physical sense. Employees do not want to feel as though they are in
danger while they are at work (Manson 2016).

Another motivation factor is synergy. There were many researches usually

focused on the relationship between job satisfaction with self-autonomy, promotion or
incentive system or other external factors. However some of the studies also found that
the social factors such like the relationship with customer, colleague or management
and surrounding environment also played an important role towards job satisfactions.
More frequent communication with other people would have stronger effect on job
satisfaction. Employees might not get satisfaction through working autonomy, promotion
or other external factors, but through the good social relationship and interaction with
surrounding people, the satisfaction level might recover. Social support not only
predicted satisfaction beyond the task and knowledge characteristics, but it was also
unrelated to training and compensation requirements, so it is kind of a no-cost
improvement (Meyers, 2007). Jex (2012) indicated that when an individual works with
team, a positive attitude towards their job would be generated, especially when his or
her work was satisfied by surrounding people, the job satisfaction level would be raised.
But once the job has been denied by team members, the job satisfaction level would be
dropped. Thus a company needed to train its employees to face thesocial situation
positively.

Job satisfaction on the other hand can be defined as the overall effect that
one person has towards his job (Arnold and Feldman, 2006) or was a summary of
employee attitudes towards a multi-faceted job (Veck, 2013). Sempane, Rieger and
Roodt (2007) describes job satisfaction as a relation on one person's own assessment
on his job against the matters and concerns that matter to them, and these sentiments
and emotions involved will considerably have an influence on the person's work
attitude.3Job satisfaction is a worker's sense of achievement and success on the job. It is
generally perceived to be directly linked to productivity as well as to personal well-being. Job
satisfaction implies doing a job one enjoys, doing it well and being rewarded for one's efforts.
Job satisfaction further implies enthusiasm and happiness with one's work. Job satisfaction is
the key ingredient that leads to recognition, income, promotion, and the achievement of other
goals that lead to a feeling of fulfillment (Kallski, 2007). It refers to the attituted and feelings
people have about their work. Positive and favorable attitudes towards the job indicate job
satisfaction. Negative and unfavorable attitudes towards the job dissatisfaction (Armstrong,
2006). It is also the collection of feeling and beliefs that people have about their current job.
People's levels of degree of job satisfaction can range from extreme satisfaction to extreme
dissatisfaction. In addition to having attitudes about their jobs as a whole. People also can have
attitudes about various aspects of their jobs such as the kind of work they do, their coworkers,
supervisors or subordinates and their pay (George et al, 2008).

Employees can be satisfied financially and non-financially (Roberts 2010). The most
common financial reward is either a cash bonus or a salary raise. More than half the employees
surveyed by the Society for Human Resources Management in 2009 said that benefits and
compensation are important. With the recent economy, compensation may be more important,
but it may not serve as a strong motivator and satisfactor for all. A cash bonus is extra payment
on top of the regular salary to encourage employees to work harder and meet company goals
(Horbert 2011). A bonus motivates the employee to3understand exactly what the organizational
goals are as well as to be a productive employee and make sure the goals are met. There are
certain deadlines for bonuses which are usually around Christmas time or in the summer.
Bonuses benefit the employee as well as the employer. The employee receives money that they
would have not had and the employer gets the best work possible from the employee. An
increase in the employee’s salary is called a raise. Raises are usually done once or twice a year.
These raises are based on performance, sales, and many other factors that are important to the
specific organization. Raises are usually a percentage of the current salary. Raises are also
associated with promotions. Promotions and raises motivate employees to be on their best
behavior and perform at the top level (Necks 2013).

Scott (2005) noted that good working environment means employees want the
same condition in work lines as management, they need challenge, support from superiors
equally, workplace, friendly coworkers and respect. To have a good working environment,
managers have to trust them and value them when they fail, they must know that the managers
will have a defined process to help them get back on track. Finally, managers need to listen to
them and accept their workplace ideas. Thus to better understand how to motivate employees,
Managers should understand the basic theories of motivation (Judge & Church, 2009).

It is also important to recognize the employees. There are many different ways to
conduct effective recognition. The most basic way is to give a verbal compliment to the
employee. This could be an acknowledgement of job well done or a particular action that the
employee did that benefited the organization. The compliment could be done in public or in
private. 4

Another good way to provide motivation as well as a since of cohesion to a group is

to allow the employees to work in teams and develop relationships with other workers (Luther
2012). This is great for a task that takes different people with different skill sets. It allows
employees from a range of departments to work together and become a group with a mission.
The team is responsible for the decisions made, so they have to work together (Rezeley & Mere
2016). Being appointed to the group is a form of non-financial motivation because it can be a
prestigious accomplishment to be part of working groups. This gives each employee the
opportunity to demonstrate their talents to the whole organization (Smith 2007).

There's a difference between having freedom at work and knowing what to do with
it. In the workplace, giving employees the room to reach their objectives in the ways they see fit
can be a solid leadership move -- if done right. But as challenging as it can be to define what
exactly freedom means, it can be equally challenging, and weirdly paradoxical, to define its
boundaries. Freedom in the workplace can be the ability to keep non-traditional hours, work
from home, take unlimited vacation days, exercise creativity in how to approach immediate job
goals, or otherwise (Jones, 2014). As far as why companies both large and small are considering
or embracing employee autonomy, the reasons run the gamut. There is mounting evidence that
suggests employees who exercise autonomy regularly at work are happier and more productive.
The right workers in the right role can transform an entire department--maybe even an entire
organization--but only if their ability to act on their intuition and creativity is unleashed.
According to Doody (2007), "People don't just want a job anymore; they want a fulfilling job".
Fulfillment at work comes with the freedom to make decisions and own your position.
Employee empowerment breeds elevated customer service, because everyone treats their job
like it's their own company. Because of the work the employees do, “freedom” takes on a very
specific meaning that is completely separate and far more distinct than “independence”.
Freedom means the ability to wipe the slate clean (Thakur, 2007). Nothing makes one happier
than the sense of freedom. When the sense pervades a workplace, you have a bunch of happier
colleagues around.

A satisfied and motivated work force can undoubtedly help sustain productivity.
Locke (2006) lists some individual characteristics of workers which can affect their level of
satisfaction. They include demographic factors like: age, sex, education and length of service.

Ajala (2014) posit that gender may affect work role and job satisfaction such that
women and men have different perceptions and expectations toward work.

Also, education increases job satisfaction. The provision of training will foster an
increase in professionalism and further exploitation of management methods, whereas
a lack of training can cause frustration and lack of job satisfaction (Wright and Davis,
2013). Well-trained individuals know the scope expectations and dept of their jobs and
will be able to add building blocks to their professionalism as they progress through their
careers (Priti, 2009). 5

The majority of studies on the relationship of age and job satisfaction have
found some association between employee age and job satisfaction (Herzberg et al.,
2007; Clark et al., 2009). Job satisfaction is U-shaped in age, with higher levels of
morale among young workers but that this declines after the novelty of employment
wears off and boredom with the job sets in. Satisfaction rises again in later life as
workers become accustomed to their role. In contrast, other studies report a linear
positive relationship based on age (Lee and Wilber, 2006).

Regarding length of service, the underlying assumption appears to be that

dissatisfied workers resign while satisfied ones stay with the organization (Oshagbemi
2005). Other explanations are that workers tend to adjust their work values to the
conditions of the workplace, resulting in greater job satisfaction (Baldamus 2007), or
that workers who experience little responsibility, interest, recognition or achievement are
more likely to experience dissatisfaction and leave the organization (Savery, 2006).
Workers with longer service may experience higher satisfaction because they have
found a job that matches their needs (Clark et al., 2016), or find opportunities for
promotion which might lead to higher job satisfaction (Kalleberg and Mastekaasa,
2011). However, longer tenure in a job may result in boredom and lower levels of
satisfaction (Clark et al., 2006).6