Читать книгу Motivating Today's Employees - Lin Grensing-Pophal - Страница 6

Motivation is a difficult term to define.

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary doesn’t offer much help:

Main Entry: mo.ti.va.tion

Date: 1873

1 : a : the act or process of motivating

b : the condition of being motivated

2 : a motivating force, stimulus, or influence : incentive, drive

Encarta’s definition is better, particularly if we’re thinking of motivation from a business standpoint:

Mo-ti-va-tion:

1. giving of a reason to act: the act of giving somebody a reason or incentive to do something

2. enthusiasm: a feeling of interest or enthusiasm that makes somebody want to do something, or something that causes such a feeling

3. reason: a reason for doing something or behaving in some way

4. PSYCHOLOGY forces determining behavior: the biological, emotional, cognitive, or social forces that activate and direct behavior

What do we, as managers, mean when we say we want to motivate our employees? Quite basically, we’re saying that we want to “give them a reason or incentive to do something.” That “something” is the act of performing certain tasks or duties that further the goals and direction of the organization.

How can we, as managers, generate “a feeling of interest or enthusiasm that makes somebody want to do something”?