Money as a Motivator

INTRODUCTION:

It is a fact that for a living, food, shelter and clothes are needed. To get all these necessities one has to possess money. This is a great truth that one cannot deny. Money is an indispensable thing like oxygen for survival which can buy anything to everything in this world. It is therefore a precious thing of our life and belongings. Money makes the world go round, and nowhere is this more true than in the workplace. With money, all the necessities including luxuries can be bought for living as well as enjoying life. This is the sole reason why money attracts people, exhibiting its novel character of being a great motivator at work places. Everyone work to earn and get money and better wages can induce or motivate workers to do the best.

Employers know that money is one of the best motivators. However, are bonuses or cash awards always the best way to reward employees?

There are some circumstances where money is the best recognition for extra work, there are other times it is inappropriate.

The primary reason why people have to work is because of money. People are motivated by money the most, and cash is a fair and effective way for management to show appreciation to hardworking staff. Employers know this, and many companies reward outstanding employees with bonuses and cash rewards for good work.

But, in the same time this is demeaning, trivializing, and bad for morale. People are motivated by different things. Some employees have financial goals, others have professional goals, and others have personal goals. So, money alone cannot work for achieving everything. Since every person is motivated by something different, money may not work for every employee. Some people have motivation from within or intrinsically. These people do not often need rewards or encouragement to keep them motivated to complete or finish a task. They have the mind set to succeed. Others are extrinsically motivated, or need outside forces to keep them interested in completing a chore or tasks. These are the people that need a lot of encouragement, rewards or praise in order to stay motivated to complete a task.

Money awards are effective:

•  Hunger is the greatest motivational force.Money is the tool to achieve many things in life. If you sum up them all, money does assume a great importance.


•  Money motivates people, and extra money motivates people to work extra.


• · Employees compete to raise productivity or standards.


•  It is not always possible to promote people, so money is a simple way to reward workers.


• Money is acceptable for all workers - some may not appreciate a particular present, or some gifts may be insulting.


•  Money often plays an important role in someone's decision to join or leave a company.

Money is only sometimes effective, or sometimes does not work:

•   If employees are highly paid, money may not be sufficient. They may prefer other benefits, such as an award ceremony or dinner, a club membership, a travel ticket, a car, a window office, etc.


• Money may set employees against each other, leading to conflict in the office.


• It may be difficult to determine the standard or basis for the decision to award the employee.


• Employees may feel forced to compete.

Money is not effective:

•  Employees work for a salary - they do not want to perform like circus animals if paid more.


• Money trivializes work, which for many professional employees should be its own reward.


• The amount may not bear relation to what the employee does.


•  If the employer finds it motivating to award money, perhaps the salaries are too low.


•  There are many other ways to motivate employees such as appreciation, admiration, performance recognition, fringe benefits, job security, personal growth, good atmosphere, top technologies, interesting products or well-organized processes  etc.


•  Empowering workers with responsibility, respecting personal boundaries, recognizing employees as valued resources and creating supportive relationships will go further than just a pay increase towards satisfying employees.  


• Happy, motivated employees who clearly know what is expected of them and who are given the opportunity to learn and grow in their careers are much more likely to make long-term commitments to their place of work. There is no requirement of motivating them by money.

CONCLUSION:

Money is the greatest motivator for those people who want it to be because if people go around living and breathing for money than it is. Everyone does need money to survive but you don't need a lot of it to survive because there are some people in this world who can survive with Rs.500 to Rs.1000 in their pockets. Let's say that there is a stock broker or a wall-street banker, they live it and breathe it, they make commissions or get promoted with every correct quote or point or how much money is in their bank - that's what motivates them, and the same goes for someone who grew up badly, their motivation is to make it any way possible by making a name for themselves and staying on top; never wanting to return to their past life. A person who is comfortable living the simple life and simply surviving, they may not want to change their lifestyle because they think that money is the root of all evil or are scared of success, period or afraid of losing themself in the money but money can be a motivator but it depends on your outlook on money and what you personally want to do with it or where you want to go.