Fundamentals of Management

Introduction

Maximising effectiveness and efficiency is a priority of many organisations to remain competitive in their industry. The people pivotal in ensuring effectiveness and efficiency most often are the managers. In order for managers to be successful, there are many factors such as having good decision making skills, key leadership abilities and professional knowledge. One key area is their ability to motivate employees to increase productivity and hence, benefit the company.

Motivation refers to the psychological forces that determine a person's behaviour and is central to management because it often explains why people behave the way they do. (Fang & Kant, 2011) With motivation, effectiveness and efficiency of an individual is increased, which in turn has the potential to greatly boost the company's productivity and influence earnings positively. Moreover, having a motivated team has its non-financial benefits such as improving teamwork and interpersonal communication skills. This emphasises the importance businesses must place on motivating its employees effectively.

In a workplace, the manager plays a key role in motivating others. They are responsible for the performance of the employees and thus play a significant role in instilling the desired work attitude in employees. Managers are also responsible for monitoring the motivational levels of the employees. Should motivation levels fall, managers need to evaluate the cause and solve the root of the problem. Similarly, when motivation levels are high, managers may identify successful factors that lead to such a situation and modify a continuous motivation strategy from then on to sustain that level of energy.

Being an effective motivator is not easy. Managers must reflect key traits of a good leader like fair-mindedness, patience and the ability to take care of the welfare of the employees. Leadership is not about positions, status or power. It is about one person influencing another to draw out the latter's potential. (John C.Maxwell, 2008) Hence, it is important that managers gain the trust of his employees through sincerity and act as a guiding beacon for the employees to model on.

In the 21st century, KITA has been demonstrated as a total failure. People are influenced by two distinct factors of needs which function in different ways. (Herzberg, 1968) Lower needs must be satisfied to a substantial level, before an individual will seek higher level needs. (Maslow's, 1943) Once the basic needs of employees are met, different strategies must be used to fulfil the higher level needs of different individuals. Some examples of such strategies are goal setting, rewards and welfare of employees.

It is to be noted, however, that every strategy comes with benefits as well as drawbacks. Managers must exercise caution not to create 'equity tension', which is when people feel unjustly