“PEDRO RUIZ GALLO” NATIONAL

UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF ADMINISTRATIVE,
ACCOUNTING AND ECONOMIC
SCIENCES

INFLUENCE OF MOTIVATION ON
WORK PERFORMANCE
Students:
Lopez Martinez Dead Joel
Roncal Wall Jose Eduardo
Silva Mino Victor Eduardo
Teacher:
Atoche Pacherres Jose

Lambayeque, December 2017

 INDEX
Introduction

Research approach

Goals

Motivation and the basics

 The Motivation
 Principles of Motivation
 Dimensions of Motivation
 Types of Motivation
 Factors that promote work motivation
 Emotional Salary

Theories of Motivation

 Content-centered theories
o Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
 Needs
o McClelland's learned needs theory
o Two-factor theory (Herzberg)
 Process-centered theories
o Locke's Goal Setting Theory
o Adams' Equity Theory
o Victor Vroom's Expectancy Theory
o Alderfer's Hierarchy Theory

Research strategies

 Means to diagnose and evaluate motivation

 Strategies used to motivate workers in an organization
 Motivating aspects of work
 Programs for motivation

Conclusions

Literature
 INTRODUCTION
In this monograph you will be able to see and understand the importance of
motivation from different areas, whether social, work, emotional, psychological,
among others, in relation to job performance. Motivation is important in organizations
today; it is a fundamental element, and it helps employees in all companies perform
well at work. It is also a key factor in the performance of your activities in order to
achieve your goals and thus have the staff to carry out their activities with greater
productivity. Motivation can be carried out in different ways in an organization, with
the aim of making them perform and give their maximum performance in the work
area.
One of the points that we are going to address in this monograph is how to propose
strategies that can contribute to raising the motivation of a worker or collaborator.
Based on the knowledge of the theoretical framework that underpins motivation in
organizations, as well as determining the level of influence of strategies on job
performance. Considering that motivation and job performance are directly related.
We will also understand that the various situations that occur in the organization can
be managed by applying general theories of motivation. We will also propose some
strategies so that the objectives set can be developed in the best way. Likewise, some
motivation programs will be mentioned, taking into account that not all types of
motivation that exist work for the different employees that exist.

RESEARCH APPROACH
Given the current economic crisis in the country, it could be considered that work is
only conceived as an economic source to satisfy the basic needs of any individual, and
that the individual will feel satisfied with it due to the climate of uncertainty about
economic and employment stability.
But the element of economic compensation alone is scarce and a poor motivator in the
working life of workers, especially from the point of view of the employer, who with
this compensation alone will not achieve the involvement of the worker or his greater
productivity, since the worker will limit himself to doing his job and not losing him,
without seeking to achieve the company's objectives.
 A worker motivated by the company will contribute to greater productivity and the
achievement of his or her individual objectives as well as the general objectives of
the company; there will be different factors to achieve the appropriate motivation
of the worker. (“WORK MOTIVATION: A SOURCE OF IMPROVEMENT IN
ORGANIZATIONS” - Vásquez Huaco, Rut)
GOALS
 General Objective
Propose strategies that contribute to increasing employee motivation
 Specific Objectives
1. Know the theoretical framework that underpins motivation in
organizations.
2. Know the theoretical framework that underpins strategies in
organizations.
3. Determine the level of influence of strategies on job performance.
MOTIVATION AND BASIC CONCEPTS
Motivation:
When doing any activity, from a regular activity to an academic one; whether it is
taking a simple step, finishing a study and/or finishing a career, among these and
others, there is some impulse or some need that leads to performing a function to
achieve them, since "needs are the engines of behavior, they are the forces that move
the individual to seek their satisfaction" (Rodríguez,
http://www.monografias.com/trabajos11/memoram/memoram.shtmlRamírez, 2004,
p.85)
It can be said that when entering into the subject of motivation, we are talking about
an impulse that allows us to achieve and improve our life expectations, an emotional
impulse that allows us to give a plus in our daily activities.

A motivation can be generated by a reason or a physiological need, including

emotional factors that give rise to an attitude of entrepreneurship and the desire to
achieve success, which can arise around us; in such a way that "motivation has its
origin in both personal factors and in the interaction with the environment; motivation
can be defined as the process that triggers, directs and maintains human behavior
towards what is considered important" (Olivares, González, 2009, p. 24). For this
reason it can be said that motivation is a very important factor in our lives since it is
the behavior that leads to satisfaction.

In the workplace and industry, motivation is considered a key tool in which both the
employee and the company benefit by creating a good working relationship. And "[…]
this includes both the work processes that lead a worker to act and that are linked to
their performance and satisfaction in the company, as well as the organizational
processes that influence both the worker's and the company's motives to go in the
same direction" (Olivares, González, 2009, p. 63).

To achieve this close relationship and generate motivation in the employee, the
company is the one who must inject this motivation, fulfilling some of the
physiological, emotional and personal needs; since in many occasions "work
motivation is not presented as an isolated process, but is presented in administrative
issues such as salaries, incentives, promotions, job design, etc." (Olivares, González,
2009, p. 63).

(“WORK MOTIVATION: A SOURCE OF IMPROVEMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS” - Vásquez

Huaco, Rut)

Principles of motivation:
1. Motivating employees starts with motivating yourself.
Enthusiasm is contagious. If you are enthusiastic about your work, it is much easier for
others to be enthusiastic about it too. Plus, if you're doing a good job of taking care of
yourself and your own work, you'll have a much better understanding of how others
are doing the same.
A good start to learning about motivation in general is to understand your own
motivations. The key to helping motivate your team is to understand what motivates
them.

2. Always work to align the organization’s goals with personal objectives.

A team can be encouraged by its work and therefore each member works very hard.
However, if the results of the work do not contribute to the objectives of the
organization, then the organization is no longer effective and successful. Therefore, it
is critical for managers and supervisors to know what they want from their teams.
These preferences should be phrased in terms of the organization's objectives.
Identifying goals for the organization is typically done during strategic planning.
Whatever measures you take to increase your team's motivation, make sure they have
a clear idea of their own goals and that these goals are aligned with the organization's
goals.
3. The key to supporting your team's motivation is understanding what motivates
each person.
Each person is motivated by different things. First, you need to figure out what really
motivates each one. You can find this out by asking them, listening to them, and
observing them.

4. Recognize that supporting employee motivation is a process, not a task.

Organizations change all the time, and so do people. In fact, it is an ongoing process to
maintain an environment where everyone can strongly motivate themselves. If you
look at maintaining motivation as an ongoing process, then you will be much more
satisfied and motivated yourself.

5. Support motivation by using organizational systems (policies and procedures) to

ensure that good intentions are not limited.
Don't just strive to create a good climate of strong interpersonal relationships. The
nature of these relationships can change greatly, for example, in times of stress.
Instead, use reliable and comprehensive systems in the workplace to help people get
motivated. For example, establishing compensation systems, employee performance
systems, organizational policies and procedures, etc. In addition, establishing various
systems and structures helps ensure clear understanding and equitable treatment of
employees.

(http://www.ezequielacha.com/principios-basicos-de-la-motivacion/)

Dimensions of motivation:

 DIRECTION: is related to the activities towards which we direct our energy;

organizations want workers who have a direction, just as these workers want
their company to inspire commitment and motivation.
 INTENSITY: is defined as the energy that we apply to each activity that we carry
out. Organizations want their employees to use their energy fully without the
organization itself needing to incentivize them to work harder. Workers want
their jobs to be sufficiently motivating and to incentivize them to develop a
high amount of energy.
 PERSISTENCE: refers to the time that energy can be maintained and how long it
will take to expend said energy. Organizations want workers to maintain their
energy over time without giving up, just as workers want their work to be
interesting over time. Each of these three dimensions has direct implications
for organizations and workers (Muchinski, 2004).
(“WORK MOTIVATION: A SOURCE OF IMPROVEMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS” -
Vásquez Huaco, Rut)

Types of Motivation
1. By its source:
  Extrinsic: It is caused by the expectations of obtaining external
sanctions for one's own conduct.
 Intrinsic: It is caused by the gratification derived from the execution of
the behavior itself.
2. As a consequence:
 Positive: The individual initiates, maintains and directs his/her behavior
toward obtaining a reward, whether external or internal.
 Negative: It is the process of activating individual behavior, with the
expectation of avoiding an unpleasant consequence, whether it comes
from outside or inside the person.
3. By level:
 Micromotivation: It is the process by which organizations create a set of
material, social and psychological incentives to generate behaviors in
workers that allow them to satisfy their needs and achieve
organizational goals.
 Macromotivation: It is a process, usually unplanned, through which
society transmits certain messages that the individual internalizes and
that allow him to form an idea about himself and about work, ideas
that seriously influence the levels of individual motivation.
(“WORK MOTIVATION: A SOURCE OF IMPROVEMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS” - Vásquez
Huaco, Rut)

Factors that promote work motivation:

The first thing to note is that human behavior is oriented toward achieving certain
goals, which will help us better understand the factors that will foster motivation at
work; that is, a motivated worker will put all his efforts into achieving the company's
goals, since the company's goals will have become part of his own goals.
The motivations are very diverse, there are as many motivations as there are people or
specific situations. A worker's motivation can range from obtaining financial
compensation to cover his or her basic needs and those of the people who may be in
his or her care, to the search for recognition and social prestige.
In addition, the motivating elements of workers evolve over time as the worker meets
his needs and desires.
To motivate workers, their personal characteristics must be taken into account, such as
their scale of values, their cultural level, the economic situation of the environment in
which they live or the objectives or goals that they are interested in achieving through
the development of their work.
Obviously, the goals or objectives of a worker in a developed country are radically
different from those of a worker in a developing country.
The personality and needs of employees are the main factors that employers and
managers must consider in order to ensure employee motivation.
We can specify that for workers, the main sources of external motivation are the
following:
 Financial compensation:
Although, sometimes, as a worker's economic status increases, the importance
he gives to money begins to decrease. Therefore, we can say that money will
not motivate a worker who has his basic or primary needs covered in the same
way as a worker who needs to cover them.
 Recognition within the company:
Continuous recognition of the worker may no longer be motivating; recognition
must be proportional to the work carried out.
 Responsibility for work:
It must correspond to the training and capabilities that the worker possesses.
 Social recognition:
It is a great source of motivation, and sometimes a source of motivation greater
than money, that the development of a job is valued and recognized by society.
(“WORK MOTIVATION” DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF SOME VARIABLES” – Virginia García
Sanz)
Emotional Salary
Emotional salary is the remuneration that a worker receives other than salary, which is
provided to a worker for his/her work contribution.
There has been a generational change in the workforce; today, there is a search for
professional growth accompanied by benefits that allow the worker to grow personally
and achieve economic stability. The company's benefits are not limited to economic
benefits, and the worker seeks emotional benefits. If the worker is motivated, he will
be more capable and more committed to achieving the company's goals or objectives,
seeking to cover his needs or achieve his individual goals, while simultaneously
achieving the company's objectives. Hence the importance of human capital being
motivated.
Through emotional salary, the company seeks to enhance the following variables:

 Looking for emotional and social benefits

 Managing flexibility in work life, which seeks a balance with personal life.
 Improving the quality of life of its employees and their families.
 Preaching social values that are put into practice in the organization
 Boosting the emotional factor, which becomes a differentiator.
 Getting your employees to be loyal and feel like an integral part of the company
they work for.
  Personally involving all managers in the emotional salary marketing policy,
seeking to manage employees as the organization's internal clients.
Nowadays, Emotional Salary is a concept used by many companies, but it still does not
have the importance and relevance that it should, causing demotivation, low
productivity and lack of commitment in the company. More and more companies are
looking to invest in motivation strategies and a sense of belonging among their
employees, projecting to the outside world a good work environment, the best
working climate and with professional workers.
Companies are looking for strategies focused on motivation with personal or family
benefits, training, improving the work environment, career opportunities and
promotion.
The 4 C's theory of emotional salary is the basic conditions that companies have in
order to have a highly motivated staff, they are:
 Sufficient conditions to work comfortably
 Environmental conditions of the workspace
 Camaraderie in labor relations
 Reconciling work and family.
Its purpose is to seek elements that provide satisfaction to workers.
(“WORK MOTIVATION” DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF SOME VARIABLES” – Virginia García
Sanz)
Theories of motivation
 Content-centered theories:
o Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
A basic concept of motivation is the following: each individual is a world and
each one seeks to satisfy his needs, from the most basic to those of a higher
nature.
In order to better understand human resources in an organization, it is
necessary to know the causes of their behavior because beyond being
employees or workers, we are human beings.
In his book Motivation and Personality, Abraham Maslow proposed the concept
of the Hierarchy of Needs, which largely underpins the development of the
humanistic school in administration and allows us to delve into the reasons that
drive people to work in a company and contribute part of their lives to it.
Maslow's concept of hierarchy of needs, proposed within his theory of
personality, shows a series of needs that concern every individual and that are
organized in a structural way (like a pyramid), according to a biological
determination caused by the genetic constitution of the individual. The highest
priority needs are located at the bottom of the structure, and the lowest
priority needs are located at the top.
(MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION OF CIVIL CONSTRUCTION WORKERS: BASIS
FOR FUTURE RESEARCH – Walter Alonso Gutiérrez León)
Thus, within this structure, when the needs of a certain level are satisfied, the
individual does not become apathetic but rather finds in the needs of the next
level his next goal of satisfaction. Here lies the flaw of the theory, since human
beings always want more and this is within their nature. When a man is
hungry, the most normal thing is that he takes very big risks to get food. Once
he has managed to feed himself and knows that he will not die of hunger, he
will worry about being safe. Feeling safe, he will want to find love, etc.
 The Needs:
According to the pyramid structure shown in the illustration, the needs
identified by Maslow are:
 Physiological needs:
These needs constitute the individual's first priority and are related to their
survival. Within these we find, among others, needs such as homeostasis (the
body's effort to maintain a normal and constant state of blood flow), feeding,
quenching thirst, maintaining an adequate body temperature, and there are
also other types of needs such as sex, motherhood, etc.
 Security needs:
Its satisfaction seeks the creation and maintenance of a state of order and
security. Among these we find the need for stability, the need for order and
the need for protection, among others. These needs are related to the fear of
individuals of losing control of their lives and are closely linked to fear, fear of
the unknown, of anarchy.
These first two needs correspond to the lower order needs, to the extent that
these are reasonably satisfied, a person emphasizes the higher order needs
which are:
 Social and Belonging Needs:
Once the physiological and safety needs are satisfied, motivation comes from
social needs. These are related to the human being's need for company, his
emotional aspect and his social participation. Among these needs we have the
need to communicate with other people, to establish friendship with them, to
show and receive affection, to live in a community, to belong to a group and
feel accepted within it, among others.
 Recognition Needs: Esteem and Status:
Also known as ego needs or self-esteem needs. This group is based on the
need of every person to feel appreciated, to have prestige and to stand out
within their social group, and also includes self-esteem and self-respect.
 Self-improvement needs:
Also known as self-realization or self-actualization, which become the ideal for
each individual. At this level, human beings need to transcend, leave their
mark, create their own work, and develop their talent to the maximum. We
can see that physiological needs are the first to appear at the base of the
pyramid, and finally, at the top, the needs for self-development of one's own
potential appear.
According to Maslow, needs are met as those at the immediately lower level
are satisfied. Therefore, a person's work behavior can be guided, in principle,
by the satisfaction of physiological and protection needs. Hence, when an
individual feels satisfied with his or her remuneration and has minimum
conditions for work-life balance, he or she will try to cover the needs of the
next level.
Next, the individual will move on to cover social needs, that is, belonging to
some type of organization. Within the company, this person will try to satisfy
the needs of esteem and consideration, achieving this through a good
relationship with the other members of the group.
Finally, having covered the needs of the other levels, the individual will go on to
satisfy the secondary needs (Social Needs, Need for Esteem and Self-
Actualization) of self-development. You will achieve these by achieving success
at work, through: Recognition from others, good performance of your tasks,
training, etc.
(MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION OF CIVIL CONSTRUCTION WORKERS: BASIS
FOR FUTURE RESEARCH – Walter Alonso Gutiérrez León)
o McClelland's “Learned Needs”:
David McClelland established the existence of three types of needs, depending
on the profile of the individual and their cultural environment. These are:
 Achievement or fulfillment needs are based on the individual's desire to
perform tasks in the best possible way. The subject will look for
situations where it is easy to solve problems and provide a quick
response according to the tasks performed. In addition, he will try to
set goals that are easy to achieve.
  Power needs are based on the individual's interest in exercising
authority over others. The profile of this game would be that of a
person interested in his own prestige (authority, fame, respect, etc.),
and not in the correct performance of his tasks.
 Affiliation Needs are based on the individual's desire to be accepted
and liked. These subjects prefer to get involved in collaborative
situations, rather than competitive ones.
(“WORK MOTIVATION: A SOURCE OF IMPROVEMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS” - Vásquez
Huaco, Rut)

o Herzberg: Two-factor theory (1966):

Frederick Herzberg established the existence of two factors that influenced
work motivation. These are:
- Hygiene or Extrinsic Factors.
With this type of factors, primary biological needs are satisfied. Workers feel
dissatisfied because these factors do not motivate them to carry out their
tasks, although they may help to eliminate some of the subjects' concerns.
Among them we can find remuneration, organizational planning, work
environment, security, status, etc.
- Motivating or Intrinsic Factors
They are those that influence the individual making his work carried out
efficiently, therefore the worker will be happy with his job. Among them we
can find: achievement, responsibility, promotion, etc. With these factors the
needs of self-realization are satisfied.
(“WORK MOTIVATION: A SOURCE OF IMPROVEMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS” - Vásquez
Huaco, Rut)
 Process-Centered Theories:
The development of these theories began in the 1960s. They are based on the analysis
of all those processes that exist in the individual's work, and that make him act in one
way or another.
These theories are also called Instrumental theories, because they establish that the
subject's behavior is an instrument through which an explanation can be found for the
behaviors that he has when trying to achieve his goals.
o Locke's Goal Setting Theory:
Locke considers that the subject's will when undertaking a task has an
important motivating role. The effort that the subject makes in the execution of
his tasks is a function of the goals that he has to achieve in the objectives. The
individual must keep in mind the goals, and what needs to be achieved in them.
You must also be aware that you have to work to achieve them.
 Locke and Latham formulate another theory related to goal setting, and define
a series of factors that increase motivation. This theory postulates that:
- The more complicated the achievement of a goal, the greater the effort the
individual will put into achieving it (degree of difficulty).
- The better defined the goal is, the greater the individual's effort will be and
the better his or her behavior will be (specific goals).
- The better and faster the response on the individual's performance in
achieving goals, the more effective the effort to achieve them (Feedback).
- The more participation the individual has in defining goals, the better his or
her response will be when solving problems (Participation).
o Adams' Equity Theory
This theory is based on the so-called “Theory of cognitive dissonance”
formulated by Festinger. It states that the individual always seeks the way to
create a balance in his ideas.
Based on this, Adams stated a theory about motivation in the work and social
environment, in which he established that within every organization,
individuals make comparisons between what they contribute to the company
(contribution). In addition, the individual compares his or her contribution and
compensation with that of other coworkers to see if they are fair. If there are
injustices in this comparison, the individual will try to eliminate them.
This process can produce:
- Equity: When in the same organization, the comparison between the
contribution-remuneration of an individual is equal to that of another
colleague.
- Lack of equity: When within the same organization, there are inequalities in
the comparison between the contribution-remuneration of two subjects.
o Victor Vroom's Expectancy Theory
It was Victor Vroom who developed the so-called theory of valence (V),
instrumentality (I) and expectation (E). This theory establishes that an
individual's behavior is subject to the predisposition that he has to achieve
another goal, all depending on his performance. The concepts that Vroom
proposed in his theory can be defined:
- Valence: Value that the subject attributes to the result of his effort in carrying
out a certain task. There will be as many valences as results generated by the
subject, and they will also be positive or negative depending on the individual.
- Instrumentality: Relationship between the result desired by the individual and
his/her work performance. The higher an individual's performance, the higher
the result, and therefore the better and more motivated he or she will be.
There will be as many instrumentalities as results obtained.
- Expectancy: Relationship between the effort made by a subject in achieving a
certain task, and the performance obtained. When evaluating this relationship
as a probability, the increase or decrease in a subject's effort does not
necessarily translate into an increase or decrease in their performance. In this
case there will only be one expectation value.
 Therefore, it can be said that work (valence) is evaluated as a mechanism
(instrumentality) to achieve objectives (expectations).
According to his theory:
- If the worker has the feeling that his effort will lead to an increase in work
performance, he will give his maximum effort.
- If the worker believes that adequate work performance will certainly lead to
the achievement of the desired results, he or she will make an effort to achieve
them.
- If these results are presented as something positive and suggestive for the
worker, he will try again.
o Eric De Alderfer's theory:
Alderfer (1969, 1972) attempts to reformulate Maslow's model by grouping the
needs of individuals into three categories and tries to reformulate the
hierarchical relationships between them:
- Need for existence. Existence needs relate to the material requirements for
survival, such as food, water, oxygen, etc.
- Need for interpersonal relationships and interaction with other people
- Needs for growth or personal development in those capacities, aptitudes,
feelings, etc., that the subject himself values positively in his person.
Alderfer avoids a strict hierarchy of needs since empirical research does not
support this aspect of Maslow's theory. Formulates a series of propositions
about the relationships between the desire for objects related to a certain
group of needs and the satisfaction or frustration related to those objects.
Propositions stating that the less a need is satisfied, the more its satisfaction is
desired; the less a "higher-order" need is satisfied, the more satisfaction of
lower-order needs is desired; and the more a type of need is satisfied, the more
satisfaction of higher-order needs is desired. Lower order needs do not need to
be fully satisfied for higher order needs to be dominant.
Failing to address higher-order needs can increase not only their own intensity
but also the intensity of higher-order needs.
Other taxonomies reduce the levels even further, suggesting only two sets of
needs: biological needs versus all others; so that the notion of hierarchy
becomes something akin to Herzberg's two-factor theory.
(“WORK MOTIVATION: A SOURCE OF IMPROVEMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS” - Vásquez
Huaco, Rut)

RESEARCH STRATEGIES
 Means to diagnose and evaluate motivation:
The human resources department uses different tools to diagnose and evaluate the
motivation of workers as well as their work environment in the company. The most
commonly used instruments are the following:
 o Observation and assessment of workers' attitudes:
Observation, provided it is carried out under conditions that guarantee
reliability, can diagnose whether workers display a positive or negative attitude
towards their activities and duties in their workplace.
o Interviews:
During the interview process, the information collected in the exit interview is
applied to employees to detect the factors that generate dissatisfaction, an
employee voluntarily leaves the company.
o Analysis of working conditions:
If the conditions are not favorable or do not meet minimum standards in the
company, there will be a bad work environment and very low motivation, with
the consequent decrease in performance in work activities. Good working
conditions help to improve and have better productivity and performance in
their activities.
o Complaints and suggestions mailboxes:
It is important that employees are informed that their opinion is necessary to
improve the work environment. This is why complaints and suggestions must
be answered within a short period of time, so they will know that their opinions
are taken into account more carefully.
o Suggestion plan:
All suggestions should be acknowledged and the reasons why they will or will
not be implemented should be stated. Companies usually reward employees
for suggestions that have been useful. This is something that helps the
employee and they will feel proud of their work and very motivated to continue
doing it.
(“MOTIVATION AND WORK PERFORMANCE” - Mónica Ivette Sum Mazariegos)
 Strategies used to motivate workers in an organization:
Motivating your employees is essential for the success of your company. You can't
have a thriving business when your employees are slow, late, and misbehaving. Often
this type of behavior is the result of a lack of motivation or a feeling of being
undervalued. Managers and business owners alike benefit when they give employees
reasons to perform at their best. Motivating factors include verbal recognition,
monetary rewards, increased responsibilities, and assistance in achieving career goals.
o Ask your employees what they want and listen to them:
Some people are motivated by the prospect of more money, but for others, it's
the possibility of more free time. And others want more challenges at work and
greater responsibility. Each person has their own reasons for feeling motivated.
The fact that you take the time to listen to your employees is a great motivator
for employees who may have previously felt underappreciated.
o Create an action plan:
After you've talked and listened to your employees, sit down with them and
come up with a plan for success together. Engage in one-on-one conversations
 with each member of your team, giving each person a clear goal and
performance expectation. At work, everyone prefers clear objectives rather
than generalities. If your employee isn't clear about your expectations, he or
she will spend more time imagining what you want instead of doing it.
o Lead by example:
If your company has a strong work ethic, but you always go home early, you
can't expect your employees to be motivated. If you expect quality and
dedication from your employees, show them how it's done. A good leader
understands that actions are more important than words, and therefore, what
you do has a stronger motivational influence than your words.
o Look at your employees for signs of what really motivates them:
A good manager pays attention to the non-verbal conversation his employees
give. What one says motivates them may actually be different from how they
act. This is not necessarily being a liar. However, it may be the result of a
miscalculation of what he really wanted. For example, a person who said he
wanted to work on a prestigious project realized he didn't enjoy the work as
much as he thought he would. In this case, talk to the employee again to find
out how you can come together to work together to achieve mutual goals.
o Provide the appropriate amount of encouragement to each of your team
members:
No one wants to work without feeling that someone appreciates their hard
work. While some enjoy public praise, others prefer a more discreet approach
to flattery. A quick “good job” or “thanks for your hard work” is all employees
need to feel motivated to please the boss. If you think an employee has done a
considerably good job, consider leaving a thank you card on their desk or in a
private meeting.
o Delegate tasks:
This shows that you have faith in your team to get the job done. Delegating to
your team members encourages them to come up with better ways to solve
problems, create more efficient procedures, and develop new products. Set a
clear goal for those tasks and give them ownership of the task. Employees who
enjoy increased responsibilities will be motivated to perform at their best.
o Encourage your employees to increase their knowledge:
When you show genuine interest in your team members' career goals, they'll
be more willing to work hard for you. Give your employees the opportunity to
increase their knowledge and skills, and provide them with the connections
they need to make their dreams come true. As a result of your interest in their
long-term goals, your employees are likely to stay with the company for a long
time, working their way up the ranks. This benefits you and the company in
that you have an expert family force in the inner workings of your particular
business.
o Keep your team members' skills and training up to date:
New technologies emerge daily, and the competitive business environment of
many professionals requires ever-increasing knowledge of the latest updates.
 Whether your job involves extracting and storing electronic data, or you are
involved in sales, staying on top of relevant new product updates can help
streamline business practices.
Employees using old, outdated equipment may feel as though the company
doesn't care enough about them to invest in high-quality tools.
o Resolve conflicts quickly and cleanly between employees:
While this may not seem like an obvious motivating factor, it is. A decisive and
reasonable resolution to office problems helps motivate team members by
showing them that you take their needs seriously. A perceived troublemaker
may be an employee concerned about drawing attention to unsafe practices or
unethical business practices by his or her coworkers. Abstaining from
prejudices is the best solution. Listen to complaints and problems and
investigate the issue before making your decision. Workers who realize that
their boss is fair are more likely to feel motivated to perform well.
o Find out how to get your people moving:
Frank McNair, author of "The Golden Rule for Managers," said you can't
motivate stick figures with carrots. This metaphor brings to light a core
difference between two types of people: those who are motivated by rewards,
and those who are motivated by fear. If some members of your team, after
receiving positive rewards and praise, are not working to their best capacity,
fire one to motivate the others. Termination of an employment relationship is
the last resort after all other efforts have failed.
(“WORK MOTIVATION: A SOURCE OF IMPROVEMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS” - Vásquez
Huaco, Rut)
 Motivating aspects of work
To better understand the context in which motivated behavior occurs, it is useful to
differentiate between two groups of aspects of work that typically motivate work
behavior: work environment motivators and job content motivators. The former have
an “external” character to the task itself since they refer to the characteristics of the
environment in which the work activity takes place and are of a material and social
nature. The second, those related to the content of the work, are those aspects
directly related to the activity required for its performance, hence they have an
“internal” character. Since these factors will be studied by construction management
researchers, we identify and briefly discuss them below.
o Workplace Motivators (External)
This group includes money, job stability, the possibility of promotion, working
conditions, the possibility of participation and the social environment of work.
 Money is one of the most important results of work and is desired
because it allows us to obtain other material goods. It also grants status
and social prestige.
 Job stability is also a highly valued aspect because, in addition to the
economic value associated with having a permanent and stable job, the
 individual has the feeling of being competent, that his or her efforts
contribute something to society and that he or she can plan his or her
life outside of work. As we will see in Chapter III, this factor turns out to
be critical in construction due to the high temporality of employment.
 The possibility of promotion and advancement throughout one's
working life is appreciated by workers because it is associated with a
higher employment and social status, business recognition of a person's
skills, efforts and abilities, and higher income. In addition, promotion
can also satisfy the desire for psychological development and growth
and provide the opportunity to perform more interesting tasks and have
greater responsibility and autonomy at work.
 Working conditions refer to all circumstances relevant to the
performance of work, including the availability of material and technical
resources and good physical working conditions (lighting, ventilation,
spaces, etc.) and regularity of schedules. In construction, the fact that
the production process takes place outdoors has significant
consequences on this factor due to the inclement weather that workers
must endure.
 The possibility of participating is attractive to most individuals because,
among other things, it represents a means of developing as a person
and satisfying self-actualization needs. It can also increase the chances
of achieving business objectives and facilitate involvement in achieving
them.
 The social environment of work refers to the possibility that work offers
to satisfy the needs for affiliation and social contact that we all have.
Through contact with others (colleagues, superiors, etc.) we obtain
recognition for the work done. The work group is also an important
extrinsic motivating factor.
o Work Content Motivators (Internal)
Among the factors of work content considered motivating, we highlight the
characteristics of the task, autonomy, the possibility of using knowledge, skills
and abilities, and the feedback received.
 Task characteristics
Tasks can be motivating depending on the interest shown by the subject, the
variety, importance or significance, and identity. Indeed, the next chapter will
show how construction workers obtain great intrinsic satisfaction from carrying
out work that contains these characteristics.
Let's see below the meaning of these terms.
 Interest:
An interesting activity or task is one that a person enjoys doing.
Thus, for example, although people differ in the interest shown
towards certain tasks, it is a reality that “interesting work” is
often more highly valued.
 Variety:
 It refers to the number of different activities as well as the
diversity of skills and competencies required to perform a job.
Work activity, if varied, can be motivating and stimulating, while
the continued repetition of a small number of tasks can lead to
boredom and monotony. At the same time, it allows you to put
into practice a significant combination of personal talents.
However, we must not lose sight of the fact that variety has an
optimal point, since it could be demotivating and a source of
stress and anxiety if it is excessive.
 Importance or significance:
It is the degree to which work has a substantial impact on the
lives of other people inside or outside the organization. As a
generator of motivation, the key is that the worker thinks he is
doing something important for his company and for society. Thus,
when a worker feels that participating in housing construction
contributes to the progress of society to the extent that he is
building a “habitat,” he is referring to the identity of his work and
that satisfies him.
 Identity:
Refers to the degree to which the position involves performing a
complete and identifiable part of the job. When a person
performs the complete work cycle to generate a finished product
or service or a subunit thereof, he or she is doing work from start
to finish with an identifiable result, therefore, he or she has
identity.
Seeing the globality of the work is motivating for people. As we
will see in Chapter III, this aspect of construction work is one of
the greatest sources of job satisfaction for both workers and
professionals.
 Possibility of using knowledge, skills and abilities:
Being able to use and develop one's own knowledge, skills and abilities
in the workplace is a relevant motivating factor. Each job requires a
series of knowledge, skills and competencies from the person who has
to perform it. To the extent that there is an optimal fit between the
characteristics of the job and those of the person performing it, the
latter will be motivated. By “optimal” we mean that the position is
challenging and challenging for the person, but that he or she has the
necessary resources to carry it out successfully.
 Autonomy:
Autonomy is the degree to which work allows independence, freedom
and decision-making capacity to plan one's own work and choose the
procedures with which it is carried out. Achieving autonomy and
independence at work carries with it an implicit motivational
component: feeling free to carry out work activities.
 When there is autonomy, the worker will feel that the results of his
work depend solely on his effort, initiative and decision. Thus, the
greater the autonomy, the greater the personal responsibility
individuals tend to feel for their successes and failures.
 Feedback:
It refers to the amount of information that workers receive about the
quality and quantity of work performed. Formally, it can be defined as
“the degree to which the work activity required by the job provides the
individual with clear and direct information about the effectiveness of
its execution” (Hackman and Oldham, 1980: 80). This information about
performance efficiency can come from other people such as colleagues
or superiors, and also from the work itself. Based on the concepts we
have just described, Hackman and Oldham (1976) developed their
model of job characteristics of work motivation. This model allows
predicting the influence that the characteristics of a job will have on
internal motivation, satisfaction and effectiveness at work.
MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION OF CIVIL CONSTRUCTION WORKERS: BASIS FOR
FUTURE RESEARCH – Walter Alonso Gutiérrez León

 Programs for motivation:

Employers have a wide variety of elements at their disposal to motivate their
employees, but it should be noted that not all types of motivation that exist work for
different employees. It must be taken into account that factors such as the employee's
mood, personality, individual goals, their scale of needs or values influence the
process.
Below are some methods to encourage employee motivation:
o Management by Objectives (MBO): based on setting goals in a participatory
manner. The interesting thing about this theory is that it focuses on converting
the general objectives of the organization into specific objectives for the
different sections of the organization and the individual members that make it
up. There are four common factors observed in APO programs: Goal specificity,
participatory decision making, explicit time frame, and performance feedback.
o Employee Recognition Programs: These programs are based on staff-centered
attention, where interest, approval and appreciation for a job well done are
expressed. Currently there is a great diversity of ways that organizations use to
achieve this objective, which can be defined as personal recognition, written
messages, recognition before the organization or structured recognition
programs, the latter being the most well-known and used, the suggestion
system.
 o Employee Participation Program: This is a participatory process that attempts
to take advantage of all the capacity that workers possess and is intended to
foster commitment to the success of the organization.
Some ways in which we can achieve employee participation are through:
 Participatory Management: characterized by joint decision-making by
employers and workers, with workers sharing part of the decision-
making power with their superiors.
 Representative Participation: This type of participation is observed in
most Western European countries. Workers are represented by a small
group, thus constituting a representative participation, achieving a
distribution of power within the organization. This is achieved through
the Labour Councils, which are a group of elected employees that the
company management must consult when making decisions that affect
the workers; and also through the Council of Representatives, which
represents the interests of the workers on the Board of Directors.
 Quality Circles: formed by a group of supervisors and employees who
share a responsibility. They meet regularly to monitor and analyse any
potential quality problems that may arise and investigate their causes.
They may also recommend solutions to management and initiate
corrective action.
 Motivational techniques

Ruiz, et. (2012) define these techniques as the way in which they can be used in
companies with the purpose of motivating collaborators, since this helps the
employees of an organization to carry out their daily work activities with greater
productivity.

o Reconciliation policies
Some of the techniques to motivate staff, and these are made up of
measures to reconcile the personal, work and family life of individuals,
some examples may be, flexible hours, part-time work, maternity and
paternity leave, childcare services, leave of absence to care for family
members, and others.
o Improving working conditions
Conditions for improvement may include salary, physical conditions of the
environment, such as lighting, temperature, decoration or adequate work
equipment, and the security that the organization will provide to the
collaborator, since in this way he will be able to carry out the assigned tasks
with greater productivity and efficiency.
o Job enrichment
It consists of modifying the way in which work is carried out since this is less
routine for the collaborator. This can give the worker the autonomy to
participate in decisions that affect their work, since it is the workers
themselves who know how to do it.
 o Suitability of the person to the job
For each specific position, the right people are selected who meet the
objectives and have the ideal skills to perform the position excellently. Since
this will make the worker motivated and interested in his work.
o Recognition of work
It is important to recognize and congratulate the worker for a job well done
and if they have improved their performance. Recognition can be given
simply in the form of a few words of thanks, a congratulatory email, a letter,
a favorable report for the immediate superior, or a promotion proposal.
Recognition can also be given to collaborators in the form of gift baskets.

“WORK MOTIVATION” DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF SOME VARIABLES” – Virginia García

Sanz

CONCLUSIONS:
This monograph allowed us to delve a little deeper into what concerns work
motivation and we can say in general terms that in the workplace motivation is a main
tool in which both the employee and the company benefit by generating a good
working relationship. And this includes both the work processes that lead a worker to
act and that are linked to their performance and satisfaction in the company, as well as
the organizational processes that influence both the worker's and the company's
motives to go in the same direction.
 Job performance depends on motivation, which means that the greater the
motivation, the better the job performance of employees and therefore the results
will be seen in the future. Keeping employees motivated is something essential
that every company must take into account; the more they are motivated, the
more available they will be to do their job.
 Strategies to increase employee motivation are used in organizations and if these
organizations want to improve they must apply these motivation strategies. There
are various motivation strategies, which can be very useful. These strategies not
only benefit the managers and owners of a company but also the employees, who
through these strategies can perform as well as possible in their workplace and can
achieve feeling satisfied with it.
 Motivation strategies positively influence the improvement of job performance. So
much so that the level of productivity that said employee can have depends on the
motivation provided to the worker.

LITERATURE:
 “WORK MOTIVATION” DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF SOME VARIABLES” – Virginia García
Sanz
 “WORK MOTIVATION THEORIES AND RELATED PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTS” -
Yolanda Cid Olmo
 “WORK MOTIVATION” – David Antonio Gonzales Esquivel
 “WORK MOTIVATION: A SOURCE OF IMPROVEMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS” -
Vásquez Huaco, Rut
 “MOTIVATION AND WORK PERFORMANCE” – Mónica Ivette Sum Mazariegos
 MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION OF CIVIL CONSTRUCTION WORKERS: BASIS
FOR FUTURE RESEARCH – Walter Alonso Gutiérrez León
 http://www.ezequielacha.com/principios-basicos-de-la-motivacion/