Motivation ignites our desire to live or do something. It is derived from the word ‘motive’ which means wants, or needs, desires within us. For me, motivation acts like the gas that ignites the fire inside us to stay excited and driven over doing something. This is one of the key drivers of our willingness to satisfy something and influence us in taking actions over our social, emotional and cognitive behaviors. If we want to get hyped up, it requires a reason for it. Something that will influence for us to have goals and the desire to reach the goal over a specific reason in mind. Like all the theories that explain how motivation works, it all boils down to our internal desire in being satisfied and goal-driven and the process of obtaining our wants.
In the workforce, there are many personal reasons why someone works hard. Motivation is personal and we all have reasons why we do things and why we want to excel. Of course, at work, the reason why we do it is for the money. Frankly, money is such an important factor of motivation in the workforce to do well and reach their optimum level because it is a strong driving force as money is important to live. People work to get compensated. That is enough motivation to wake up the next day to do the same routine and task, still, some motivations are more than that. We get driven because of our passion and love in doing what we do. This explains why some workers really do well because they love what they are doing while some do it for the sake of finishing the job. If we are motivated, we initiate in doing things even before our bosses tell us to do it because we want to get over it fast. Others get motivated when they see people become satisfied with their work and skills. Making people happy is such a warm feeling that we all want. However, it is important to note that we can never please everyone and that is okay. For me, the best motivation is self-fulfilment and our desire the honor our God. It may not happen always because we are flawed and self-centred but being reminded that we live to glorify God is important and precious.
Filipinos and all other individuals around the world are highly driven by rewards. The idea of it is stimulating and motivating to begin with. Most organizations have this system where they reward their best employees in exchange of doing a great job or task. In the end, both the organization and the workforce benefit from this kind of motivation.
The concept of total rewards means that employers give their employees proper return and benefits for their hard work and contribution in the company. Most of the time, it is monetary rewards and as I have said in the previous question, money is a strong driving force to push workforce in excelling knowing that they will get the well-deserved reward in the end. As long as, organizations apply this reward, compensation or any system that will improve the employment relationship and work environment, everything is going towards better performance and healthy workforce. Both sides will benefit from total rewards in a way that employers will give back the reward and the employees will return the favor by doing well and becoming loyal. Maintaining this benefits system would mean agreeing to stay on the same page and expecting greater things from both point of views on organization.
Different employees want different rewards. There is a diverse workforce in every company and it is only right to have a more diverse choices in the benefit program of a company. Like the Flexible Benefit Program entails, employees can have the freedom to avail the most suitable benefit of their own choice available on the company’s list of benefits. The analogy here is related to the cafeteria and turo-turo pointing style and I believe that makes the organization stronger and tighter in relationship.
Example: Pregnant employees would definitely want maternity leave as their benefit, while, those young ones would prefer travel leave. Some may prefer scholarship and monetary reward in return.
As we all know, we all want different things in life and that also applies in the rewards we want to receive in exchange of our hard work. We get more motivated if we get what we wanted and that is why flexible benefit program is better in a way that employees get custom-made benefits fit for their needs and priorities. The advantage of this is certain people may want health benefits while others prefer travel benefits to unwind. This flexible benefit is a great thing to cater specific needs and priorities of employees and it gives more compassion and attention to the welfare of the workforce who are the backbone of the company.
I can’t really pinpoint enough pitfall from this benefit program but maybe in the point of view of the employer, it may get complicated and overwhelming for them. The list of available benefits may become too much work in the department that deals with it and some may take advantage of this opportunity to use the company without exerting more efforts to benefit them in the end. Still, we can get more advantages from this flexible benefit program because it will not only benefit the workers but also the market value of the company when their financial performance and strength reflect the motivated outlook and goal-driven people working in the company.
In the work environment, balanced give and take is important. Show the people who work under you that they matter and what they want are heard and as an employee, we can expect them to do their best for the company.
