Week 5 Beh 225

The question arises, is it possible for a manager to motivate an employee? Personally, I believe it depends on the employer's tactics and motives for motivating an employee. It also depends on the employee's perception of the motivation; if an employee is disgruntle, any sort of motivation from an employer or manger may be hopeless. The employee has to be willing to be inspired before any type of motivation will work.
Intrinsic motivation cannot be forced by anyone; it needs to come from within the employee's own personal feelings or willpower. The employee must get some sort of enjoyment or satisfaction from doing a good job or wanting to do a better job. A person climbing the corporate ladder, achieving a better positin with higher pay, is a prime example of intrinsic motivation. The inspiration came from within the employee to want better for him/her. This type of motivation must come from within the employee, not forced by a manager or employer.
Extrinsic motivation can be a resourceful way to motivate employees. With the Hoiliday season that's coming up, many companies have employee incentives for top-selling sales associates. For instance, Verizon associates are participating in an incentive program during the holiday season. The program is giving the top-seller in each store a 5-day vacation for two to anywhere in the Contiental United States. This type of motivation offers a reward when something is accomplished. Employees are subjected to extreme amount of competition for this reward. Extrinsic motivation should be used with extreme caution because some employees will come to rely on the reward to follow motivation.
My past experience with extrinsic motivation has proven to be beneficial for the company; however, it has also created many hard feeling among coworkers in situations as explained in the previous paragraphs. Some people cannot handle being second best, therefore creating hard feelings between the winner and the runner-up. I have always been...