Employee Motivation - Self-Motivation

Self-motivation is a power that drives the employees to move forward and act. It is a rudimentary means to realize any set goals by human beings. It creates inventiveness in setting vibrant goals and establishes the confidence that the organization possesses requisite skills and competencies for achieving the goals.

Managers or employers in small organization need to be self-motivated and for them self-motivation is more necessary as they need to motivate others. As a team leader or manager you will be looked to for reassurance and guidance in a job, and if you give the impression that you are merely going through the motions, your lack of motivation can become contagious and may prove disastrous for the organization as a whole.

Even if you are responsible solely for yourself, personal motivation remains vitally important. Motivation is what keeps us from giving up and refusing to get out of bed in the morning. Improving our personal level of motivation is essential to stay motivated.

Hence, finally we have come to a stage, where an individual or an employee need to be self-motivated, because a self-motivated person will give his 100%, as he/she has been motivated by himself/herself, but not with any other external forces. In this chapter, we will discuss, how to make an individual or an employee motivated by self.

Employee Motivation by Self at Work

Following are the ways/techniques for self-motivation −

Prepare a clear roadmap of your vision or goal
Ensure effective communication and rapport with people you work with
Discover your interest area and decide to act on it
Self-acknowledgement of the goals set
Monitor and record your success to observe progress
Stick to continuous learning
Break your bigger goals into smaller goals
Work in a fair way and create trust among the people you work with

How to Stay Motivated and Accomplish Work?

Sustaining motivation can be tough even under the best of circumstances. So how can you stay motivated when your to-do list runs to four pages, you just got another rejection letter, your adult child announced his plans to move back home, the car and washing machine went on the fritz at the same time and you can’t find time in the day to work on your own personal projects?

We know those pop-psych directives to put a photo of you at your most fit on the fridge or write yourself a check for $1 million and tape it to your computer monitor or plaster your mirrors with affirmations, like “I attract my perfect soul mate.”

Following are Seven Steps to Stay Motivated −

Set a goal and visualize it down in detail
Make a list of the reasons for which you want to accomplish
Breakdown the goal and set the targets
Have a strategy, but be prepared to change course
Get the help you need
Pre-determine how to deal with flagging motivation
Check with your reasons continuously

Identifying Personal Motivators

Factors that motivate differ from person to person. It is very important to identify the motivators that motivate a person.

Without a clear, identifiable set of personal motivating factors, it can be easy to fall into either a de-motivated condition or to rely on other people’s motivations to keep you going forward. There are times when we cannot rely on other people to give us the motivation we feel we need, and when you are on your own you need to motivate yourself.

Identifying your own personal motivators is something that takes some self-knowledge and some thinking time.

What is it that you want to take from your job?
Are you happy to keep cashing the pay checks, or do you wish to advance further in the company?
Why did you apply for the job in the first place and are you close to satisfying that goal?

Motivators influence our actions and behaviors. They are the “why” behind an individual’s choices and actions. Individuals who understand their motivators can become more aware of others who have different motivators.

Some of the Key Motivators are as follows −

Conceptual Objective and critical
Aesthetic Visual awareness
Economic Desire for economic and material gain
Social Genuine concern for the welfare of others
Power and Authority
Enjoy being in positions of power
Business Doctrine Centered on tradition and customs

How to Maximize Your Motivators?

Motivators are dynamic and they need regular evaluation to ascertain their utility and relevance in the context of work.

Long stay in a job decrease the sense of urgency and motivation in you. It is essential to know the reasons for your being demotivated and establish whether the factors that demotivates you are of organization’s or yours. Think of yourself ten years ago and the principles you held which you believed to be as solid as a rock. Do you still feel the same way now, or has life given you a different outlook?

When you started in the job, it might have been about the money, but may be you have enough money now. In this case, it can help to think of something that you want to do which will require more money taking a break to travel for a while, building a new house, or whatever suits your means. This is a way of maximizing an old motivator which may have ceased to be that effective.
Maybe one of your motivations has been in recognition. In this case, seeking to mentor a newer member of staff can be beneficial. While you may have achieved almost all there is to achieve in this job, someone else do with the benefit of your experience.
Taking the factors which have motivated you in the past and updating them for the future is one way to maximize your motivational factors. In addition, it helps to look at both your home and work life.
Pushing yourself to achieve as much as possible will eventually pay off, especially when other people have ceased to push you because they know how good you are.

To conclude, motivators lose their force and effect with the passage of time. The person who needs motivation need to change into other useful motivators considering his/her position, time and choices. However, the foremost thing in keeping yourself motivated is a positive attitude to get motivated.