Intrinsic Employee Motivation in HRM

 

Intrinsic Employee Motivation in HRM

Employee motivation is a critical role in HRM. In general, there are two ways that could be used for the employee motivation which are intrinsic & extrinsic rewards. In this article it is expected to discuss on the relationship between the intrinsic rewards & the employee motivation. The motivation that is derived from the genuine interest of the employees are called as intrinsic employee motivation. The employees who are motivated intrinsically working by their own satisfaction & preference without any influence from the external environment. HRM has a critical role to play in creating intrinsically motivated work environment for employees. By having regular communication & close contact with an employee, a HR manager could observe the employee's motivations and might learn creative ways to reward him or her intrinsically. (Castrogiovanni et al., 2010)

According to Dysvik & Kuvaas, (2011) there are three core concepts in intrinsic motivation as autonomy, purpose & mastery. Intrinsically motivated employees are preferring to work independently & they mostly be satisfied by gaining more & more skills. Creating of positive emotions at work is one effective way of encouraging intrinsic motivation. HRM has less cost on employee engagement & motivation when the employees are voluntarily contributing up to their level best. When the intrinsic motivation factors are considered, as stated by Karatepe & Tekinkus, (2006) work content, possibility for the training, nature of responsibilities & working environment plays a major role in ensuring employee motivation.

Developing intrinsic motivation within the employees could be considered as one of the less focused area on most of the HR Managers. Improving of intrinsic motivation is addressing the inner feelings of the employees focusing on positive behavior changes. As HR Managers the best way to promote intrinsic motivation is to recognize how different employees commit to their work, understand their attitude & unique preferences to encourage the commitment to internal changes to work for the organization with a self-motivation. (Amabile, 1993)

In the rapidly changing HRM world, stimulating the employee behavior with a psychological approach such as intrinsic motivation would develop the next level of employee motivation & commitment.

 

References

Amabile, T.M. (1993) “Motivational synergy: Toward new conceptualizations of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the workplace,” Human Resource Management Review, 3(3), pp. 185–201. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/1053-4822(93)90012-s.

Castrogiovanni, G.J., Garrigos-Simon, F.J. and Peris-Ortiz, M. (2010) “Human Resource Management Practices and the importance of managers' perceptions,” Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences / Revue Canadienne des Sciences de l'Administration, 28(2), pp. 122–133. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/cjas.182.

Dysvik, A. and Kuvaas, B. (2011) “Intrinsic motivation as a moderator on the relationship between perceived job autonomy and work performance,” European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 20(3), pp. 367–387. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13594321003590630.

Karatepe, O.M. and Tekinkus, M. (2006) “The effects of work‐family conflict, emotional exhaustion, and intrinsic motivation on job outcomes of front‐line employees,” International Journal of Bank Marketing, 24(3), pp. 173–193. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/02652320610659021.