Employee Engagement and Motivation

Employee engagement is defined as a positive, rewarding work-related mental state marked by vigor, dedication, and absorption (Schaufeli, 2013). The concept is becoming increasingly significant as research reveals that engaged workers perform better. Work motivation has been studied throughout the twentieth century; however, employee engagement was almost unknown before the 1990s (Ghosh, et al., 2020). It is suggested that as the nature of work has shifted from a mostly self-employed economy to one where the majority of people are hired by an organization, motivational and employee engagement aspects have become more important (Ghosh, et al., 2020)

Employee engagement and employee motivation may appear to be synonymous, yet they are not. Motivation is the willpower and desire to act on such feelings, whereas engagement is a sense of purpose, belonging, and dedication to an institution (Schaufeli, 2013). Employee engagement lays the groundwork for your staff to execute their best work, whereas motivation provides the fuel or energy to get the job done (Khan & Iqbal, 2013). For instance, if an employee feels good about his workplace motivation and when finishes his task enthusiastically before the given deadline is engagement. (Khan & Iqbal, 2013).

Motivation and engagement both have a big impact on company success. According to Globoforce, when recognition and prizes are used to motivate staff, nearly 80% report being more productive. Gallup discovered that businesses and teams in the top quartile of employee engagement are 22 percent more lucrative than those in the lowest quartile.

Creating a work environment where team members are both engaged and motivated is the key to unlocking an employee's full potential (Varma, 2018). Although the two notions frequently coexist, managers should distinguish between them for the greatest results (Varma, 2018). Some management and HR strategies address both at the same time, but in order to properly implement these programs, the company must first understand how engagement and motivation differ among organizations (Khan & Iqbal, 2013).

According to Self Determination Theory, intrinsic motivation promotes employee engagement by meeting core psychological needs such as autonomy, competence, and relatedness, Employees, in other words, have the freedom to choose which tasks to undertake and when and how to finish them (Khan and Iqbal, 2013). Employees that are intrinsically motivated are more inclined to accept tough work and like novelty and the need to apply a variety of talents, they also facilitate idea exchange, coordination, and collaboration in order to make meaningful contributions and influence employee engagement levels (Haque, et al., 2014) (Khan & Iqbal, 2013)

Employee engagement and motivation are crucial to the health and success of any organization (Ghosh, et al., 2020). Employees that are engaged are 69 percent more likely to be productive, Productivity suffers, and corporate outcomes are less prevalent when employees are disengaged and unmotivated, for maximum performance, leaders must design their motivation methods around employee engagement (Ghosh, et al., 2020). Employee engagement is the strength of an employee's mental and emotional connection to the task they accomplish (Varma, 2018) Employee motivation is defined as an employee's desire to do something, employee motivation and productivity increase when there is a high level of employee engagement (Varma, 2018). For instance, an employee needs to be motivated for them to engage in the organization. If the employee does not see his responsibilities at the workplace as a burden, they may perform his tasks well and will not wait for others to assign tasks but take initiation (Vance, 2006).

The connection between intrinsic motivation and engagement is interesting and more prominent on the other hand. Intrinsically motivated employees enjoy what they do, try to learn new abilities, and are eager to put their skills to use. And there's a lot to be said about how an engaged staff can improve the bottom line of any business (Khan & Iqbal, 2013) According to Aberdeen Group, engaged employees boost customer loyalty by 233% and revenue by 26% on an annual basis. If the organization identifies intrinsically motivated individuals, they should be provided with a clear goal, defined roles, and a purpose. Thus, they will perform well and engage in the organization effectively. (Khan & Iqbal, 2013).

On the other hand, extrinsically motivated individuals should be handled differently to make them engaged and committed, they expect external motivators like words of appraisal, recognition, and many other factors. For instance, if an extrinsically motivated individual is not provided external motivators, they will not be engaged and committed (Ghosh, et al., 2020).

Thus, employee motivation and engagement can be identified as two interrelated factors. Employee engagement is critical since maintaining talent is less expensive than hiring and training new staff (Vance, 2006). Employee engagement is viewed as a long-term and continuous process that must be continuously enhanced (Haque, et al., 2014). The organization should understand individual characteristics and motivate them appropriately. Consequently, they will become engaged in the workplace and perform to their maximum potential (Haque, et al., 2014).

Reference list

Ghosh, D., Sekiguchi, T. & Fujimoto, Y., 2020. Psychological detachment: a creativity perspective on the link between intrinsic motivation and employee engagement. Personnel Review

Haque, M. F., Haque, M. A. & Islam, S., 2014. Motivational Theories – A Critical Analysis. ASA University Review, 8(1)

Khan, W. & Iqbal, Y., 2013. an investigation of the relationship between work motivation (intrinsic & extrinsic) and employee engagement study on the allied bank of Pakistan

Schaufeli, W., 2013. What is engagement? In C. Truss, K. Alfes, R. Delbridge, A. Shantz, & E. Soane (Eds.). Employee Engagement in Theory and Practice. London: Routledge.

Vance, R. J., 2006. Employee Engagement and Commitmen. SHRM Foundation, Volume 1, p. 53

Varma, C., 2018. IMPORTANCE OF EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION & JOB SATISFACTION FOR ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE. International Journal of Social Science & Interdisciplinary Research, 6(2), pp. 10-20.