Question

Explain what motivation is. Why engineering managers need to be concerned about it?

Answer 1

Motivation refers to the drive or desire or a reason to make individuals, act in a particular way to satisfy the needs. For example, to meet and satisfy the physiological needs, individuals start doing work and follow the organizational guidelines. It fetches them wages and salaries to meet the needs. On a similar note, an employee gets motivated to deliver superior performance, because it brings appreciation, recognition and other benefits that satisfy the different level of needs. Hence, the urge being created in these individuals to satisfy the needs, are termed as motivation.

Engineering managers should be concerned about the motivation level of their employees as these employees work in the setting that involves task of repetitive nature. It causes the lapse of motivation among the employees due to the mechanized nature of their work. It increases the employee turnover rate, lower lever of employee engagement, higher cases of breakdown and lower productivity. It ultimately harms the organization. Hence, it is a big concern for the managers. To resolve it and maintain a good level of motivation, engineering managers should take following initiatives:

1. Conduct regular job analysis and bring job enrichment to the work profile

2. Delegation of authority to the employees

3. Create monetary and non-monetary rewards for the employees

4. Promote informal groups of the employees and encourage different types of activities among the employees

Above initiatives will improve the motivation level of the employees.