Motivating Employees: Carrots over Sticks

Course Description:

Many individuals believe that the difference between what employees can do and will do depends on the level of motivation. Leaders struggle with the fact that some people use more of their skills and talents than others. As leaders have searched for ways to stimulate less-productive employees to contribute more, behavioral scientists have spent years researching the factors that influence employee motivation.

There is general acknowledgement that motivation refers to forces within and outside of a person that push that individual to try to satisfy or fulfill basic needs or wants. It is also known that one individual alone cannot motivate another. However, individuals can provide the environment, relationship, and situations that make it possible for people to motivate themselves. In the workplace, by knowing more about the motivation of others, a leader can more effectively meet organizational goals through the people he or she supervises.

This one day workshop is designed to enable participants to identify the factors that affect employee performance in the workplace and those that influence the employees' own internal motivation needs. Motivation theories are reviewed to increase understanding of ways to influence employee performance. Role play, problem solving, and goal setting are utilized to encourage creative ways of providing recognition, growth, and the development of employees for the achievement of personal and organizational goals.