Question

Please discuss 3 employee motivation, compensation, performance, or other issues related to human resources. What are three challenges and what 2 strategies would you propose using to address those issues (6 total strategies). Your discussion should be at least 500 words

Answer 1

ISSUES/ CHALLENGES FACED IN MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES:

(1) Finding a unanimous tool to motivate diverse employees is tough:

Organizations nowadays have diversity of employees working under one roof. Employees come from different cultures, backgrounds, nations thus forming diverse workforce. Managing all types of employees is a tough task for the management and keeping all the employees motivated is a challenge faced by the management.

Strategies to address this issue are:

• Using a common motivational technique or way for all the employees in the organization irrespective of any differences in caste, color, creed. Giving equal importance to all the employees, giving chance to everyone for promotions, appraising extra efforts put by the employee are some examples of common motivational techniques.
• Setting up rules, policies for everyone to follow in the organization and also making the employees feel their presence in the organization by involving them in decision making and asking for their opinions from time to time.

(2) The organizational culture in itself is not motivated:

The culture present in the organizations lack motivation in itself. In other words, the management is not enthusiastic enough to frame new policies or modify the old ones to motivate the employees. The superiors do not motivate the employees from time to time on different grounds. Nor any kind of initiative is taken by managers at any level to provide the employees with non financial motivation or build up their morale for the organization.

Strategies to address this issue are:

• The organizations should try to spread and infuse the common values and beliefs within the employees at all levels so that the employees work towards the fulfillment of common goals and objectives. This will help bind all of them as one, increase coordination among the employees, and inculcate the feeling of motivation among them.
• The organizations should follow better employee recruitment and selection process. The employees should be recruited with care and only motivated, optimistic and energetic candidates should be hired in the organization. This is help the organization in the later stages when less level of supervision will be required and no extra efforts will have to be applied to motivate the employees.

(3) The actual need of the employees remain unexplored:

According to the Maslow need hierarchal theory every employee has five levels of motivation which are fulfilled step by step. The needs form a pyramid and include physiological need, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs and self actualization needs. For every organization it is hard to decide and find the level of motivation at which each employee is at. And sometimes the organization provides the wrong sort of motivation to the employees and face problems in the later stages.

Strategies to address this issue are:

• Effectively communicating what the organization is planning for the employees beforehand and in a transparent manner. This will help the employees in knowing well in advance what are they being offered and if it satisfies them and motivates them to the fullest. If in case the organization is giving out wrong incentive, then the employees can help organization correct.
• Formulating the employee motivation policy so that the employees know well in advance what initiatives organizations are about to take for their welfare. This will avoid confusion in the minds of the employees and they will be knowing well in advance, what benefits they are being provided with.