Motivation and Employee Engagement

The world of business in the present times has become much more competitive than it was in the earlier times and this can be seen as the end result of the large number of corporate houses which are entering into the world of business every year (Lepper & Greene, 2015). It is generally seen that the many of the corporate houses are finding it very hard to sustain themselves in the competitive business environment. Thus, the various corporate houses are increasingly taking the help of various kinds of creative as well as innovative methods to sustain themselves in the competitive business environment (Mekler et al., 2017). Furthermore, the insistence of the corporate houses of the contemporary times is on the enhancement of the net revenue gained by them. Thus, the various corporate houses are increasingly taking the help of the concepts of motivation, employee engagement, performance appraisals and others to improve the productivity of the employees who are associated with them (Mekler et al., 2017). The use of these concepts provide dual benefits to these corporate houses, firstly, they help the corporate houses to enhance the performance level of the employees who are associated with them and secondly, they also help these corporate houses to improve the organizational performance (Van Iddekinge et al., 2018). This report will shed light on the concepts of motivation, employee engagement and performance appraisals and they the manner in which they could be used by the various corporate houses to further enhance their performance.

The concept of motivation in the broader sense of the term can be defined as the reasons or the factors which propels the individuals to undertake a particular action, desires as well as needs (Kuvaas et al., 2017). Furthermore, motivation has a direct correlation with the behavior of the individuals and many experts are of the viewpoint the factor of motivation propels the individuals to undertake actions which are repetitive in nature or the actions that are totally outside their comfort zone  (Van Iddekinge et al., 2018). Thus, the various corporate houses are increasingly turning towards this particular concept to encourage the employees as well as the individuals who are associated with them to perform in a much better manner. Experts hold the viewpoint that motivation is an intrinsic factor and has to come from within the individual itself and not from the extrinsic sources (Kuvaas et al., 2017). However, the various corporate houses also take the help of effective leaders who in turn take upon the task of motivating the employees of the corporate house so that they perform in a much manner (Lepper & Greene, 2015). In the recent times, the corporate houses are taking the help of various kinds of effective methods like performance appraisals, reward and recognition, employee engagements and others to motive the employees in the best possible manner (Lepper & Greene, 2015). Some of the most commonly used motivational theories by the various business enterprises are Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Herzberg’s Dual Factor Theory and others (Lepper & Greene, 2015). The corporate house Starbucks took the help of the leader Howard Schultz to effectively motivate the employees who were associated with the corporate house (Van Iddekinge et al., 2018). Schultz in turn took the help of the concepts of transformational leadership to enhance the performance of the employees associated with the corporate house (Van Iddekinge et al., 2018). Richard Branson the cofounder of the Virgin Group of the United Kingdom, on the other hand, takes the help of the concept of emotional intelligence not only for the purpose of effectively leading the different entities of the organization but at the same time for motivating the different employees associated with the organization in the best possible manner (Van Iddekinge et al., 2018).  

Performance Appraisals

Employee engagement can be defined as the process which is utilized by the majority of the business enterprises to enhance the level of engagement or interaction among the different employees of a particular business enterprise (Anitha, 2014). Bailey et al., (2017) are of the viewpoint that a higher level of engagement among the different employees of a particular business enterprise can contribute in an important manner towards the improvement of the overall performance of the concerned enterprise. This can be attributed to the fact that a higher level of engagement among the different employees of a particular enterprise helps in the creation of a positive environment within the framework of the enterprise and this in turn helps in a significant manner towards the enhancement of the performance level of not only the individual employees of the enterprise but also towards the overall performance level of the enterprise itself (Albrecht et al., 2015). Furthermore, improvement of the engagement level among the different would at the same time improve the process of communication not only among the different employees associated with the enterprise but at the same time within the entire enterprise itself and this once again would contribute in an important manner towards the enhancement of the overall performance level of the enterprise itself (Mone & London, 2018). The various major business enterprises of the world like Telstra, Tesco and others take the help of this particular concept to enhance the prospects of their business (Mone & London, 2018). Thus, it is generally seen that these enterprises take the help of the concept of employee engagement methods like social events, recreational events, interactive sessions and others to further enhance the level of engagement among the different employees of the enterprise. Many experts are of the viewpoint that both the concepts of employee engagement and motivate contribute in a significant manner towards the creation of a positive organizational culture and at the same time affects the overall organizational behavior in a pertinent manner (Bailey et al., 2017).

The concept of performance appraisals have emerged as one of the most important ones within the domain of the modern day business world. It is significant to note that the employees who are associated with a particular business enterprise have various kinds of expectations from the concerned company and one of the most important ones among them is the fact that their hard work as well as the dedication that show towards the concerned enterprise will be rewarded by them in the most effectively manner by the enterprise (Ayers, 2015). It is a reflection of this particular fact that the entities of performance appraisals, incentives, reward and recognition and others have been some of the most important entities for the various individuals within the framework of the various organizations (Ayers, 2015). It is generally seen that the various major organizations of the world normally provide performance appraisals to the employees who are associated with them on a quarterly or yearly basis depending on the level of performance as well as dedication that they have shown towards the organization within that particular time period (DeNisi & Smith, 2014).

Contemporary Best Practices

Many experts are of the viewpoint that the concept of performance appraisal is being used by the majority of the organizations of the present times to not only motivate the individuals who are associated with that particular organization in the best possible manner but at the same time to boost the overall performance of the concerned organization as well (Iqbal, Akbar & Budhwar, 2015). For example, if an organization decides to reward the hard work as well as the dedication shown by a particular employee associated with the concerned organization by providing him or her with a good performance appraisal then this is not only likely to influence the concerned individual and also the other individuals associated organization in a positive manner. The performance appraisal will motivate the concerned individual to perform even better in the future times since he or she has seen the results of the hard work as well as dedication which he or she has put in for the concerned organization and at the same time has become sure that the concerned organization is willing the respect and also appreciated the hard work and the dedication shown by him or her. This is likely to motivate the other non-performing or average performing employees associated with the concerned organization as well since they will get to know the kinds of benefits that they are expected to get if they perform well and this is likely to propel them to perform in a much better manner and this in turn will further enhance not only the individual performance level of the different employees but of the entire organization itself. Thus, it would be apt to say that the concept of performance appraisal is directly associated with the overall prospects of any organization since it directly affects the productivity level of the individual employees of the organization.

There are various factors which affects the performance appraisals that are provided by the employees by the organization with which they are associated. The primary consideration for the majority of the organizations is obviously the kind of performance that the concerned individual has given in the stipulated time period for the sake of the company (DeNisi & Murphy, 2017). In addition to this, it is also seen that the various organizations of the world also take into consideration the number of leaves or offs which the concerned employee has taken during the entire course of the stipulated period (DeNisi & Murphy, 2017). Furthermore, there are various organizations which also take into effective consideration the behavior of the concerned employee and the level of contribution made by the concerned employee towards the enhancement of the performance of the other employees who are associated concerned organization (Ayers, 2015). It is significant to note that there are other factors as well like leadership qualities, dedication and others that are taken into consideration during the process of performance appraisal. Thus, it would be apt to say that the concept of performance appraisal is one of the most important factors that affects the performance as well as the productivity level of the various employees and if effectively utilized can lead not only towards the enhancement of the individual performance of the individual employees but the overall performance of the concerned organization itself.

The STA Appraisal Process

I would like to mention here that right now I am working in an advertising agency which prepares advertisements for the other companies and thereby helps them to promote the products as well as services offered by them to the customers or the end users. At the same time I would say that most of the policies as well as regulations followed by our company are based on the standard ones followed by the majority of the multinational companies of the world. It is a reflection of this particular factor that the employees associated with our company not enjoy working here but at the same time have a much higher job satisfaction level.

One of the best aspects of our company is the performance appraisal policy which it has in place for the employees who are associated with us. At this particular juncture I would like to add that performance appraisals are being conducted by our twice a year and the individuals who have completed a time period of atleast one year within the organization are given appraisal, that is, in the months of January and July. There are various perks which comes along with the performance appraisal that are given to the employees on the basis of various factors like-

• The performance of the employees all round the year
• The manner in which the concerned employee has contributed to enhance the performance level of the other employees of the organization
• The initiatives which have been taken by the concerned employee to groom and also to enhance the performance level of the new employees
• The manner in which the concerned employee has contributed to make the organization a much better one
• The new initiatives taken by the employee
• The achievement made by the concerned employee within the time period of the past one year
• The number of difficult, critical and also urgent projects completed by the concerned employee
• Others

It is on the basis of these key areas that the performance level of a particular employee is judged during the time of the performance review and they are provided the appraisal in likewise manner. Some of the perks which our company provides to the employees in the form of performance appraisals to the employees who have been with us for more than a year are listed below-

• The employees get a hike on their existing salary of atleast 15% and depending on the kind of performance that they have given to the organization in the past one year some of the deserving employees even get a salary of almost 40% which is far higher than the ones provided by the other organizations. I would like to say at this particular juncture that this certainly has a positive impact on the employees and often motivates them in a positive manner to perform in a better manner. This particular process even motivates the ones who are not performing as per the expectations of the organization since they are being able to see the perks which await them if they perform as per the expectations of the organization.
• The employees also get a hike on the incentives which they normally get for over-achieving the targets that are normally given to them. I believe that this particular factor also acts as a motivation for the employees since the prospect of earning a higher amount of incentives is likely to boost the morale the employees.
• The employees who have performed as per the expectations of the organization in the past one year also get additional paid leaves which they can either take to go on vacations or if they do not want to take them then they can even encash them at the end of the fiscal year.

These in short are some of the major benefits or the perks which our organization provides to the employees who are a part of the organization. As the discussion makes it clear almost all of them have a positive impact on the employees and seen that they motivate the employees to work in a much better manner and also to enhance the level of their performance or productivity.

Conclusion

To conclude, the performance of the employees has become an important area of focus for the majority of the business enterprises of the present times. The factor of the individual performance level of the employees is important for the various business enterprises since it is directly related to the overall performance or productivity of the concerned business enterprise. Thus, the various business enterprises take the help of diverse methods to effectively enhance the performance of the employees like motivation, employee engagement, performance appraisal and others. However, for the effective utilization of these concepts the business enterprises need to take several factors into consideration like whether the policy adopted by them is likely to positively affect the employees or not, the manner in which the employees are going to react to it and others. Therefore, a thorough consideration of both the positive as well as the negative aspects of the policy adopted is very important before their implementation.

References 

Albrecht, S. L., Bakker, A. B., Gruman, J. A., Macey, W. H., & Saks, A. M. (2015). Employee engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage: An integrated approach. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 2(1), 7-35.

Anitha, J. (2014). Determinants of employee engagement and their impact on employee performance. International journal of productivity and performance management, 63(3), 308.

Ayers, R. S. (2015). Aligning individual and organizational performance: Goal alignment in federal government agency performance appraisal programs. Public Personnel Management, 44(2), 169-191.

Bailey, C., Madden, A., Alfes, K., & Fletcher, L. (2017). The meaning, antecedents and outcomes of employee engagement: A narrative synthesis. International Journal of Management Reviews, 19(1), 31-53.

DeNisi, A. S., & Murphy, K. R. (2017). Performance appraisal and performance management: 100 years of progress?. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 421.

DeNisi, A., & Smith, C. E. (2014). Performance appraisal, performance management, and firm-level performance: A review, a proposed model, and new directions for future research. The Academy of Management Annals, 8(1), 127-179.

Iqbal, M. Z., Akbar, S., & Budhwar, P. (2015). Effectiveness of performance appraisal: An integrated framework. International Journal of Management Reviews, 17(4), 510-533.

Kuvaas, B., Buch, R., Weibel, A., Dysvik, A., & Nerstad, C. G. (2017). Do intrinsic and extrinsic motivation relate differently to employee outcomes?. Journal of Economic Psychology, 61, 244-258.

Lepper, M. R., & Greene, D. (Eds.). (2015). The hidden costs of reward: New perspectives on the psychology of human motivation. Psychology Press.

Mekler, E. D., Brühlmann, F., Tuch, A. N., & Opwis, K. (2017). Towards understanding the effects of individual gamification elements on intrinsic motivation and performance. Computers in Human Behavior, 71, 525-534.

Mone, E. M., & London, M. (2018). Employee engagement through effective performance management: A practical guide for managers. Routledge.

Van Iddekinge, C. H., Aguinis, H., Mackey, J. D., & DeOrtentiis, P. S. (2018). A meta-analysis of the interactive, additive, and relative effects of cognitive ability and motivation on performance. Journal of Management, 44(1), 249-279.