MOTIVATION VBS111

Study Motivation by distance learning

Learn how to motivate staff and improve productivity and morale  

Motivated staff can make a big difference to sales and profit.  Getting staff to work efficiently, effectively, and to their best ability, is often simply dependant on a little motivation.

Imagine being able to go for a job interview and explain in detail how you would increase staff productivity and therefore profit.  Companies are always interested in employing people who they believe can bring much more money into the business.

  • This is an invaluable course for managers who want to understand how to get the best from their staff.  Time is money, and motivated staff can make all the difference to business success.

 

Study Motivation - discover the secrets of motivation your staff

Increase staff productivity - improve their performance for your business and customers

  • Understand what motivates people; and how to use that knowledge to increase workplace motivation.
  • Increase your employability. Companies value supervisors/managers who get the most out of their employees.
  • Increase productivity (and profitability) in a workplace, by improving the motivation amongst workers.

 

Course Structure and Lesson Content

This course is comprised of eight lessons, as follows:

Lesson 1. Introduction

  • How important is the study of motivation
  • What is motivation
  • Maslow's theory of motivation
  • Incentives
  • Internal or intrinsic incentives
  • Incentives external to the working environment
  • The relational character of incentives
  • Social reinforcers

Lesson 2. Awareness

  • Motivation and goals
  • Motivation and distress
  • Reinforcement
  • Classical conditioning
  • Operant conditioning

Lesson 3. Tangible Rewards

  • Self determination theory
  • Hygiene and motivation theory
  • Tangible rewards

Lesson 4. Intangible Rewards

  • Intrinsic motivation
  • Security - Cultural, Production of community, Gender, Age, Vocation, Education, etc.
  • Ethics
  • Gratitude
  • Belief systems
  • Peer pressure
  • Extrinsic and intrinsic reinforcement at work

Lesson 5. Negative Motivators

  • Punishment
  • Pain
  • Suffering
  • Discipline
  • Threat

Lesson 6. Initiating Motivation

  • Explain how to initiate motivation with an individual or group for a situation not previously confronted.

Lesson 7. Maintaining Motivation

  • Goal setting
  • Influence of Groups on individual motivation
  • Social loafing
  • Employee motivation in the workplace by managers
  • Expectations
  • Job design
  • Motivation for a personal trainer

Lesson 8. Applications

  • Space management
  • Time management
  • Staff appraisals
  • Expectations
  • Vicious and virtuous cycles
  • PBL Project: Create and present a plan with specific strategies for improving the employee’s motivation in the workplace, based on a clear understanding of the person’s needs, values and situation.
 

Course Duration: 100 hours.

Course Aims

  • Describe the nature and scope of motivation.
  • Identify the differences between people that distinguish the application of motivational skills.
  • Explain the significance of knowledge and understanding to motivation.
  • Explain the effects of Tangible Rewards (e.g: Money, Services, Goods) as a major motivator.
  • Explain the effect of intangible Rewards (e.g: Security, Ethics, Gratitude, Belief Systems/Religion, Peer Pressure) as a major motivator.
  • Explain how actions can be motivated by negative motivators such as pain, suffering, discipline, threat), and distinguish this type of motivation from positive motivation.
  • Explain how to initiate motivation with an individual or group in a situation not previously confronted.
  • Explain how motivation can be maintained or increased in both successful and unsuccessful environments.
  • Identify a range of situations where motivational skills can be applied, and determine an appropriate way to initiate and maintain motivation in each of those situations.

 

What Motivates People?

Incentives

Overall incentives

Incentive can be illustrated by an example of animal learning. A hungry rat, if placed in a maze, will quickly learn to make those turns which lead to food. This is a reaffirmation of Maslow's physiological level. The rat will not take the particular route if the food is not there, or is of insufficient quality and quantity to provide incentive for the rat to go to the food. Thus, an incentive can be regarded as a pulling force, different to a drive, which is a pushing force.

Let us now consider the individual's incentive to work. The incentive to work may be innate, or it may be acquired.

Two most powerful innate incentives are:

  • To keep oneself alive. This is work to provide food. (Maslow's physiological level).
  • To provide for one's family. To provide a home. (Maslow's physiological level).

In both of these cases, the financial incentive is very important. The necessity of earning enough to satisfy one's physiological and security needs is a strong incentive to work.

Ask yourself this rather interesting question - If you had sufficient funds to satisfy your needs, would you still wish to work? It is difficult to imagine people working on routine processes wishing to do so. However in the case of gardeners, artists, etc. the desire to work may continue. One should be careful, though, about making assumptions, because this is a trick question. If one stops working, then what is one going to do? It is all very well saying "I have the means to relax and enjoy myself", but after a while, if there is no longer any achievement, one is likely to "fall down" Maslow's levels with a resultant deterioration in one's lifestyle.

Internal or intrinsic incentives

There are other incentives primarily within oneself, apart from those already stated. These incentives are mainly connected with the person's attitude to work. These incentives are:

Pride in workmanship

Individuals find great satisfaction in a piece of work well done. This pride occurs not only in work which could be termed "craftsmanship" but also in work of a routine nature and which to an outside observer may not be the type of work to inspire pride.

  • The desire to see a thing through

This is sometimes revealed in a statement such as "I have done all those". The individual has a pride in the things which he has accomplished and he does not wish to leave such a task unfinished.

  • Competition with oneself

Individuals sometimes set their own standards and rate of working. By doing this they are issuing a challenge to themselves and thus providing incentive.

  • Subconscious satisfaction in having power

This occurs if the power is over people or even if it is over a machine.

  • The symbolism of the aggressive instinct

This is symbolised in doing work that involves a lot of noise, for example, banging, cutting, etc.

Internal incentives within the working environment

Incentives are also provided within the working environment. These incentives are external to the individual, but within the sphere of his work. These incentives are tabulated below:

Part of the whole

An individual gains satisfaction by being part of the working team. However this depends on management keeping the workers in touch with the organisation as a whole and letting each person know how he or she fits into the whole.

Ambition for promotion

If there is a possibility of promotion this can affect the incentive situation. Not everybody is desirous of promotion, but many are, so if it is made known to the staff that possibilities for promotion exist, the incentive to work will increase. Of course, these promises of promotion must be real, or they run the risk of "backfiring".

Personal relationship

Some individuals prefer working near other individuals or groups and if management fails to set up these human relationships they will lose much willing work. It has been found that some workers prefer monotonous work because it gives them greater opportunities for conversation with their colleagues.

Financial gain

In the nineteenth century industrial revolution it was often expressed that the financial incentive was the only important one when considering work. This has since been proved wrong. The financial incentive can not be viewed in isolation; it must be considered along with other incentives such as working conditions, fringe benefits and medical aid. When considering financial incentives it is necessary to take the age, and temperament of the individual into consideration.

Incentives external to the working environment

Certain incentives are caused by environmental effects which take place outside of the workshop environment. There are three main cases which are tabulated below:

Incentives provided by the general economic and social situation

The general social environment can cause incentive or disincentive. If the country is involved in a war, if there is widespread unemployment or any other crisis, there will be a movement in the social structure or the community that tends to either frustrate or stimulate the will to work.

Effects of the culture pattern

The social background to which one is accustomed has a large effect on one's incentive to work. In the nineteenth century, especially among the puritanical religious groups, there was a general belief that work was good for the soul and that work in itself could save one from the devil. This 'Protestant work ethic' promoted the value of working every day from dawn to dusk, with the exception of the Sabbath day, and still has an enormous influence on the northern American, and European values in regard to work.

Also, certain occupations gain a higher prestige value in any society than others. Some people will work harder to enter the more valued occupations and, when in these occupations, they will work hard to retain the position. In some societies, for instance, domestic service has suffered in this respect, mainly because the community at large tends to look down on people who work with their hands, such as trades people (carpentry, bricklaying, plumbing etc.) and crafts men and women (weavers, potters etc.). In other cultures, the opposite is true, and such work is held in esteem, and considered highly desirable employment. Such communal ideas may be quite arbitrary, and have no relation to the actual importance of the work in that society. However, the social standing of those areas of work can have important effects on the motivation of those working in those areas.

Routine work

It is recognised that some people will be content to work in a position where only routine work is performed. They are happy to do this kind of work to earn enough for their needs, and to pursue their real interests (chosen work) during their leisure hours. Such people many prefer routine work because it allows them to leave their minds free to carry out creative and interesting work as a pleasure, or because they do not want the additional stress or responsibility that comes with more variable or creative work.

 

Learn to motivate others

  • Learn to motivate others in sports, business, leisure, and other areas of life.
  • Become a motivational leader.

You can enrol on Motivation today, or if you have any questions or want to know more, please get in touch with us by -

Phone (UK) 01384 442752, or (International) +44 (0) 1384 442752, or

Email us at [email protected], or use our FREE COURSE COUNSELLING SERVICE.