Assignment:
Motivation is a complex subject, but its understanding and application is central to the success of management and the organization. Imagine that the CEO of your organization (current or past) has tasked you with recommending actions to promote employee's involvement. This is a very important task. We recommend you start by drafting an outline of you potential ideas. Thereafter, you can explain in detail your proposal to the CEO. The outline should not be a reiteration of motivation theory, but should provide succinct points that cover the key topics of motivation and provides a road map that management can implement to improve motivation within the organization.
Read the attached studies and then write a four to five (4-5) pages paper in which you:
1. Create a one (1) page outline in which you select topics and subtopics around your recommendations to improve the employee's involvement.
2. Explain three (3) of the most critical topics you have included in your outline, and propose a potential course of implementation. (3-4 pages)
3. Use at least three (3) quality academic resources. Note: Wikipedia does not qualify as an academic resource, and neither do web-based blogs.
4. Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
a. Typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
b. Include a cover page and a reference page. These pages are not included in the required page length.
c. Include an introduction and a conclusion.
d. Citations and references must follow APA format. An in-text citation must be in each paragraph (intro and conclusion are exceptions).
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
Gamification and it's application to learning environments is not without a bit of controversy. The area of controversy surrounding gamification is the argument of intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic motivation. It is argued that gamification relies too much on external factors to motivate learners and not enough on internal factors. So let's back up a moment and define both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is when someone is motivated by internal factors,such as wanting to partake in an activity because it provides satisfaction.Or taking part in an activity, because it provides an opportunity to learn or for the feeling of accomplishment that the activity evokes. Intrinsic motivation in gamification would come from a learner mastering new content, feeling a sense of accomplishment and having a sense of control over their own actions. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation is when an activity isundertaken simply to earn a reward or to avoid
punishment. With extrinsic motivation, a person is not motivated by internal factors.Instead, they are motivated solely by the prospect of earning a reward at the end of an activity.Extrinsic motivation consists of the learner receiving points, earning badges and gathering trophies for learning, content and feeling good about the reward, but not about the learning.Extrinsic rewards tend to work best, when the learners do not have an inherent interest in the subject matter or don't see the initial value of the learning content. Critics of gamification argue that gamification is all about external rewards, the extrinsic motivation.
And therefore, after the external motivation goes away, the learner will stop being interested.Because a reward no longer exists and if gamification is only focus on external rewards that can indeed be the case. However, it's not as simple as extrinsic motivation is bad and intrinsic motivation is good. They are not polar opposites as many people think. And in fact, both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation coexist in many educational settings.
For example, if someone is studying to become a certified computer operator, they might be doing it. Because being certified, looks good on a resume and they'll get a raise at their job. So we could say, they are extrinsically motivated. But they might also be studying, because they enjoy mastering the content. Engaging with the subject matter and feel good about improving themselves. These are all intrinsic elements of
motivation. When designing effective instruction using gamification, the best approach is to craft both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards into the experience.As you are implementing gamification, strive for a balance between extrinsic and intrinsic motivational elements in the following ways. Use a point or reward system to both motivate the learner and to give them feedback as to how well they perform a task. The points or rewards, will be extrinsic motivation and the feedback on performance will be the intrinsic motivation. If a task or activity is seen as having low initial value or interest for the learners, rely more heavily on extrinsic motivation.If the activity is of initial high value, use feedback, sense of accomplishment and selfconfidence to motivate the learner. Whenever possible, combine both intrinsic motivational elements like mastery, opportunities for a series of small successes and a sense of accomplishment with extrinsic elements, such as points, badges and trophies. Keep in mind that different learners may be motivated differently to approach the content. Some may be intrinsically motivated and some extrinsically motivated.So having both elements, increases the likelihood of engaging the learners. The proper balance of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation will balance your gamification efforts and keep learners motivated to learn.
Understanding what motivates and engages employees
One of the most talked about aspects of leadership is how to motivate and engage employees.Throughout this course, we'll talk about many tactics and approaches you might try. But first, it's important that we set the context. Let's start by clearly differentiating a few terms that are often seen as similar. Job satisfaction, Motivation, and Engagement. years ago everyone thought job satisfaction was the ultimate goal. Job satisfaction refers to how content one is with their overall job or certain aspects of their job.
What we learned the high job satisfaction doesn't necessarily translate into high productivity.Some time it does some time it doesn't. Under the right conditions it is entirely possible to have high job satisfaction and low productivity. If standards are low and accountability is low, management has created a situation where people might be quite content and yet not accomplish much. As thinking evolved we became more focused on the concept of motivation.The questions became what drives people, and how can we use this knowledge to make happier, more productive, and more satisfied teams.
In this course I'll share a lot of what we've learned, but I'd like to be clear about what you're really trying to achieve. As we moved from a myopic focus on job satisfaction to a more productive focus on the roots of motivation, we discovered the concepts of employee engagement. Whereas motivation is a broad concept including many types of psychological theories and tactics, engagement is more specific. Employee engagement is viewed by many as the modern version of job satisfaction. Defined as an employee's involvement with commitment to and satisfaction with their work.Engagement can be positive or negative, but the goal is clearly to create strong positive engagement. Engaged employees feel emotionally attached to their work as if their work has purpose. They identify not only with their role, but the whole organization. That means they have moved past short term compliance, into real, long term commitment. These are the employees capable of boosting morale an productivity in the organization to new levels. So how common are engaged employees. Research suggests that maybe 30% of American workers are engaged, or strongly engaged. that means that 70% of employees are some level of disengage at work. The number one cause for most businesses is the cost of labor. So low engagement is estimated to cost the US economy a few hundred billion every year. A similar dynamic would appear in any economy around the globe. This tells us that leaders have a huge opportunity, some would say an urgent need, to increase employee engagement. Let's begin addressing this opportunity by first focusing on you.One reason leaders fail to engage employees is because leaders tend to be among the most engaged group of professionals. One very common mental mistake is to assume others are experiencing things the same way you experience things. Because leaders are often very engaged, they assume others are too, which is a huge mistake. Another big challenge for busy leaders is to realize that motivation an engagement one size does not fit all. Too often we think about things that will be motivating, instead of thinking about individual people and how we might motivate them.Everyone is different. So motivation and engagement are just about company programs and incentives. But tailored efforts directed at individuals as well. As we move through the course I will help you think about additional challenges for engagement in many specific tips and practices that will help you. For now remember that you will find personal and team success by developing engaged employees. Employees who do more then just comply, they feel genuine commitment.
Communicate to Motivate
A recent study in Harvard Business Review concluded to thrive as a C-level executive an individual needs to be a great communicator, a collaborator, and a strategic thinker. We covered collaborating and strategic thinking. When it comes to executive leadership communication,here's a principle I want you to prioritize. Communicate to motivate. One of the things new CEOs report being most surprised about in their role is how everything they say counts. People around them are prone to take offhand comments as directions.This happens as you rise through the ranks. The more responsibility you have, the more consequences come from everything you say. When you speak as an
executive, take a cue from a famous part of the Hippocratic oath that physicians take. First, do no harm. Be thoughtful and intentional about what you say. Don't let words fly out of your mouth that will do damage to your team, your organization, or your reputation. Don't communicate to demotivate. A few years ago, I ran a session for an aerospace leader who wanted his team to generate innovate ideasfor reaching their challenging goals.
After the team worked energetically all day, he came in to hear their proposals. Before they even finished the first one, he said, ah, that'll never work. In two seconds, he decimated their morale. There was a study of the Fortune 500 CEOs that determined a sizable majority were introverts instead of extroverts. This surprised many people, because being a CEO calls for so much communication, in so many situations, in front of so many audiences, you'd think most would be extroverts, but no.A key factor, extroverts often speak before they've fully formulated their thoughts and are more prone to saying something that turns out to be wrong or inappropriate. They can be seen as high risk communicators for high level positions. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't speak with passion. For introvert executives, that can sometimes be a challenge. You can be energizing. Just know what you're saying and why you're saying it. Ensure your words and motives have integrity. Speak thoughtfully and with positive purpose.
Mayor Billy Kenoi of Hawaii Island put it well in a wonderful commencement speech. He said, my father used to tell me don't just think before you talk, think and feel before you talk. That way, everything you say comes from your heart. Whether people agree or disagree with what you say, at least you're being honest. So, it's both, think and feel, head and heart. You don't have to say everything on your mind. Chose what will best serve the people you want to lead. Choose what best helps their performance, growth, and morale.
This leads to another key point. Add inspiration to information. As an executive leader, you're not just dispensing data, passing instructions along, and doling out information. Given your role, you're constantly seen as the spokesperson for why questions. Why should we care? Why should we try harder? Why should we believe we can succeed? Think of the best answers to the why questions that are most likely to be on the people's minds for your meeting, conversation, or presentation.That's the path to feeling, engagement, motivation. That's why I say, don't just inform but also communicate to motivate. Speak to their motives. That's where their passion is, their concerns, their fears, their hopes. That's where people get aligned and engaged and do great things, from strong motives. Gilbert Amelio, president and CEO of National Semiconductor Corporation put it this way. The leader must be able to share knowledge and ideas to transmit a sense of urgency and enthusiasm to others. If a leader can't get a message across clearly and motivate others to act on it, then having a message doesn't even matter. Make your message matter. Communicate to motivate, add inspiration to information.