Self Motivate yourself to overcome tough times.

Motivation is the most discussed and least understood phenomena. Right from Maslow’s theory till now, there has been an unending debate on how or what motivates an individual. But what has definitely emerged form this debate is that self motivation or intrinsic motivation is the one that stays a long time.

Extrinsic motivation is caused by external factors where someone else tries to get things done in a certain way and gives out rewards/punishments for adherence. Needless to say that intrinsic motivation comes from within where in the person really wants to do his/her work.

During the tough times such as the current economic recession, even keeping one’s job is getting difficult. Thus there is no question of high rewards or incentives for employees during these times. But it is still important to keep your motivational levels high because this can help you tide over difficult period.

So, what exactly is “motivation”? Motivation is a psychological process that gives behavior purpose and direction. Or it is an internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied need.

Staying motivated is a constant struggle even in good times for most of us. We as humans are constantly exposed to negative thoughts from others as well as self induced doubts and depressions. And this is what separates the highly successful from the others. Although there is no simple solution for a lack of motivation, it is important to sustain it to stay afloat in the current job scenario. Keeping employees happy and motivated is one of the key challenges of Human resource people. Actually, sometimes it is more important for an employee to be recognized for his good work rather than be awarded. Little gestures of recognition and understanding can ago a long way in producing self motivated employees.

Let us look at some common tips to help one self motivate himself during slump times. But before that let us understand why we lose our motivation. It could be because of external factors such as bad vibes in the workplace or situation such as that of today of economic recession or they could be internal such as Lack of confidence, direction and focus. Out of these, there is not much we can do about external factors, but we can definitely control our internal motivational factors. And this is how we can do it --

1. Set Goals -- Short and long term goals - Use both short and long term goals to guide yourself to your ultimate aim in life. Keep reminding yourself of these goals as and when possible.

2. Make Work fun - Work is most enjoyable when it doesn’t feel like work at all. Add activities that you find most enjoyable and create positive environment to get better results.

3. Create challenges – you will be happy when you are progressing towards a goal which is not only attainable but requires you to be more creative. Winning small battles gives the motivation for tackling bigger issues.

4. Finish what you start. A half finished project is of no use to anyone. Quitting is a habit. Develop the habit of finishing projects.

5. Keep self learning or learning new things. First this will help to reduce dependency on others for knowledge and second it will open up new worlds of opportunities and most importantly, it will keep you interested in doing something new.

6. Align and Harmonize natural talent with interest that motivates. Natural talent creates motivation, motivation creates persistence and persistence gets the job done.

7. Learn to take risk. Failure and bouncing back are elements of motivation. Failure is a learning tool. No one has ever succeeded at anything worthwhile without a string of failures

Keeping track of your most important tasks will direct your energy towards success. So, keep yourself occupied with step by step goals and see how it takes you to the ultimate one.

Motivating Employees

EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION

So, what exactly is “motivation”?

Motivation is a psychological process that gives behavior purpose and direction. Or it is an internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied need. We can also describe motivation as the primal force that drives employees to excel or to do better. Most of the theories of motivation are based on the concept of workplace or employee motivation.

The traditional ‘stick and carrots’ theory of Sigmond Freud assumed people to be generally lazy and not wanting to work. In order to get them to work, they must be rewarded, coerced or punished. But it is not money alone that motivates people, their behavior is linked to their attitudes and different factors prevalent at work

It has also been proved that the person starts from satisfying his basic physiological needs first and moves up to satisfying his higher need such as esteem and self actualization. But it is quite obvious that people may or may not follow this hierarchy in terms of satisfaction of their needs. People are different and so are their requirements. Not all humans are driven by same set of needs though they may be at the same economic or social level

In our careers, everyone is motivated by something—it could be money for some, or it could be position and power for others. Some people are happy with a pay rise while others look at accompaniments such as good atmosphere, relaxed attitude, flexible timing etc.

Human resource people use a combination of many such rewards or incentives to keep their employees happy. Depending upon the level of the employee, the incentive schemes are put in place. Almost all organizations have such schemes in place. No organization can afford to have unmotivated employees – loss of motivation is dangerous for employers as it directly affects the productivity and quality of work. It is important for HR personnel to understand what will work for which type of person. Though it is impossible to satisfy each and every individual, companies should employ incentive schemes for groups depending upon the type of work they are doing. Going for a scheme that covers all employees is not a good idea as the playing rules are different for each department and the goals and objectives are separate. We cannot really compare the work of a software engineer and a shop floor workman. Putting them under the same umbrella is bound to create problems.

Keeping employees happy and motivated is one of the key challenges of Human resource people. Actually, sometimes it is more important for an employee to be recognized for his good work rather than be awarded. Little gestures of recognition and understanding can ago a long way in producing self motivated employees. Different techniques such as offering monetary rewards for achieving high productivity and quality, awarding certificates for exemplary work, providing a fun filled picnics or get together on achieving the given targets are used to keep motivation at higher levels.

Self motivated employees are generally seen at the top ranks of an organization. These employees are already heavily compensated for their efforts and are recognized persons in their fields, thus the ordinary forms of motivation do not work for them. At their levels, they are self motivated and work for the love of the work and not for any rewards and recognition. Similarly, freelancers and business owners are supposedly self motivated as they work for themselves setting their own goals and targets and try to better their own performance again and again.

But whether it is self motivated freelancers or HR induced motivated employees of an organization, it is obvious that no one can work without a bit of motivation to take them one step further.