Section 3.2: The Importance of Employee Motivation & Engagement
Amarjot Uppal; Gab Sandhu; and Gurneet Kaler
Employee motivation is the level of energy, commitment, and creativity an organization’s workers bring to their jobs. Employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals. But why are these concepts so important? And why are they so necessary in the workplace? Let’s explore these questions!
The Importance of Employee Motivation in the Workplace
Employee motivation is vital to a workplace. Motivation is high-level energy focused on productive action. According to Galloway (2016), it is the reason why we act, and it helps management meet the organization’s goals. Motivated employees can lead to increased productivity and allow an organization to achieve higher levels of output (Heryati, 2019). If employees are not motivated and do not have the drive to work towards a goal, successfully reaching workplace goals becomes much more difficult. These are the reasons why employee motivation is important and needed in a workplace.
The Importance of Employee Engagement in the Workplace.
Employee engagement is just as important as employee motivation, and it is also as necessary in a workplace. Like employee motivation, employee engagement helps enhance productivity in the workplace. Employee engagement is also critical to retaining valuable talent (Brook, 2021). If employees are not satisfied in their jobs, they are not likely to be engaged. This makes them more likely to leave the job, which can contribute to higher turnover rates. There is just overall more trouble when employee engagement is tied to job satisfaction. Therefore, for the well-being of an organization it is important that employee engagement remains a priority. At the end of the day, employees are the ones who make up an organization, for the better or worse.
Training and Development
Employee training and development involves many employee learning practices. Training involves programs that help gain knowledge and learn specific skills to improve their short-term performance (Bester, 2019). Development involves more expansive plans, such as employee growth plans and the improvement of future performance (Bester, 2019). The overall purpose of training and development is to help with the career development of employees in the organization.
How does training and development relate to employee motivation and employee engagement? When employees see management heavily involved in the training and development of employees, it shows them that their bosses want to improve the organization and that they care about employees. When the skillsets and knowledge of employees are expanded, it makes them feel good. It gives the employees the opportunity to learn instead of being thrown into something they are unprepared for. Listening to employee feedback on training and development requirements helps the organization gain in-depth insight into what is working and what needs improvement. This also promotes employee empowerment by giving them a channel through which they can share their insights.
