One of the many challenges that managers face in the workplace deals with motivating employees, while simultaneously maintaining job satisfaction and performance. In today’s diverse working environment managers often have to be skilled when it comes to implementing innovative ways to improve employee morale, while motivating and encouraging performance and job satisfaction. According to John Honore (2009) Motivation represents the forces acting on or within a person that causes the person to behave in a specific, goal directed manner. (Honore, 2009 pp 63) Every individual is motivated by a number of external and internal factors, and it is these factors that direct their performance, job satisfaction and motivation while they work toward the end goal. The work begins when we as managers attempt to uncover those intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence behavior so that we are able to then use those motivators to encourage and promote employees to perform at their best. This is where a good positive influence plan comes in, in that these plans can be created to aid in building and improving motivation, satisfaction and performance in the workplace. These plans can be integrated into the workplace by conducting motivational team building sessions, employee surveys, and incorporating extrinsic rewards like direct and indirect compensation plans and rewards systems. A good positive influence plan will seek to not only motivate employees, but it will help them better understand their value within the organization and encourage them to perform.
One of the biggest challenges manages face is managing employees with diverse backgrounds, work experiences, and personalities. When assigning projects, or task for a group of individuals to complete as a cohesive unit, it is often difficult because each individual within the group is motivated by different factors,...