Motivation of the Workforce to Excellence: Literature Review

Why do we need motivated employees? The answer is survival (Smith, 1994). Motivated employees are needed in our rapidly changing workplaces. Motivated employees help organizations survive. Motivated employees are more productive. To be effective, managers need to understand what motivates employees within the context of the roles they perform. Of all the functions a manager performs, motivating employees is arguably the most complex. The answer to "Why is employee motivation important?" is because in today's down economy, it's more important than ever to have a motivated workforce. A motivated employee is a productive employee. And a productive employee is a more profitable employee. When people aren't motivated, they become less productive, less creative, less of an asset to your company. Now more than ever, we need motivated employees! (http://www.businessburrito.com/why-is-employee-motivation-important.html)

The economic crisis, with its imperative to reduce costs and to balance short- and long-term performance effectively, gives business leaders a great opportunity to reassess the combination of financial and nonfinancial incentives that will serve their companies best through and beyond the downturn. (http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Motivating_people_Getting_beyond_money_2460) The purpose of this study is to describe the importance of certain factors in motivating employees and the need for motivating employees to keep the organization successful. For decades, motivation of the workforce to excellence and taking more responsibility is always a goal but is often not achieved by companies. Many companies treat employees as disposable. At the first sign of business difficulty, employees—who are usually routinely referred to as "our greatest asset"—become expendable. Employees generally receive inadequate recognition and reward most workers report receiving little or no credit, and some say management is much more likely to criticize them for poor performance...