The Impact of Motivation on Employee Performance in Real Estate

The Impact of Motivation on Employee Performance in Real Estate

Literature review

Introduction

Employees, by nature, need motivation at the workplace for them to deliver attractive outputs. A motivated employee is most likely to encourage and motivate others to achieve the goals of the organization. Compensation is positively related to the performance of the sales personnel, job satisfaction, job morale, and organizational loyalty (Sirgy, 2014). There are two types of’ compensation elements direct and indirect aspects of compensation. The immediate payment includes; salaries, commission wages, incentives, and bonuses. While the indirect factors include health and life insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, and social security plans. Motivational theories came up the Maslow hierarchy of needs theory (1943), Herzberg two factor theory (1959), and expectancy theory (1964). The relationship between performance and employee motivation in the past Vroom’s research (1964). With various evidence, it is clear that the relationship between the two is mutual.

Motivation in management can be defined as the process of encouraging people to work better for the ultimate benefit of the organization by providing motives or compensation based on their needs. According to Lauby (2005), here are different ways to motivate employees; some employees want power; some want money while others wish to praise. It essential that the employer knows what type of motivation each employee requires.

Maslow’s hierarchy of Needs Theory.

Psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed that employees first need to satisfy their basic needs.

Psychological needs: These are the most basic needs that a person needs for survival. They include necessities such as food, sleep, and shelter. Lacking these needs may make a person not functioning to their best capacity. Psychological needs are more essential and should be satisfied first. Employees are motivated to fulfill these needs as they are a significant influence on their behavior.

Safety needs: This needs that re meant to protect it from threats. The absence of safety needs, such as earthquakes, wars, and violence, may result in trauma among the employees. Lack of safety due to economic crises and lack of work may show themselves in preference for job security.

Belongingness and love need: This is the need of a person to feel accepted in a particular group, such as family, associations, and work. Maslow argued that people need to feel accepted a social group they find themselves in. Either large or small, having a sense of belonging in a specific group is essential for all people.

Esteem needs: This represents the desire for people to feel accepted and valued by other people. When people join different professions, they are usually after an identity; these activities give one a sense of recognition and often boost self-esteem and self-respect.

Self-actualization needs: According to Abraham, these needs at this level are those that one feels that they need to achieve all they can, and the most one can be.

Maslow argued that people should have their lower basic needs satisfied before satisfying the needs higher on the hierarchy of needs. When a level has met the requirements in the next level in the hierarchy motivate employees.

Herzberg theory

Herzberg proposed a theory that states that people have two needs motivation needs and hygiene needs. He argued that all elements could either be satisfiers (Motivators) or dissatisfies (Hygiene). Therefore it’s the responsibility for the managers to remove the factors that result in dissatisfying the employees while improving these that satisfy the employees (Lauby, 2005). Both hygiene and motivators are important while looking at motivation in an organization. Employees can be motivated in various ways; extrinsic factors, intrinsic factors, or both.

Expectancy theory

This theory was created in 1964; this theory shows the connection between a person’s efforts and motivation with the expected outcome. Meaning a person’s action is dependent on the strength of an expectation that the act will follow the consequences which will attract the person who did the deed. The expectancy theory has three components the expectancy, instrumentality, and valence. Employees believe if their actions are rewarded, they will provide motivated performance; they will work extra hard for them to gain the reward. According to Vroom, expectancy is defined as believing that acing at a certain level of performance will result in a specific outcome. For example, working harder with the expectation that the customers will be more satisfied with your services. Instrumentality is referred to as an employee’s belief that their performance id linked to later results, either rewards or punishment. Employees tend to show more effort in their work when they believe that they will be rewarded for their achievement. The performance of an employee and the effort exerted is directly associated with the employee’s previous experience with rewarding. The last component is valence, a person’s belief about the amount of reward or punishment or receives due to the performance. If an employee feels that the awards were well earned, they will put more effort in trying to achieve it. Vroom, in his theory, believes that people are motivated to work towards a goal if they feel the goal is worthwhile and believe that their efforts will help achieve the ultimate goal. The expectancy theory generally implies that when a person meets all the components mentioned, they will be highly motivated and will work hard to achieve the desired results.

Motivation and performance in a real estate business

Job performance is referred to as the value of the set of employee behavior that contributes either positively or negatively towards the organizational goal (Colquit, Lepine, & Wesson, 2014). Motivation and the motivation theories were mentioned as they are significant aspects of the employee’s performance. According to Maslow, employees have needs that need to be satisfied. The first need one has to acquire a job, and after getting it, the need to secure the job arises. By obtaining a job, the additional requirements of an employee are reached. The organization can meet necessities such as belonging, esteem, and self-actualization by training people, allowing employees to help in solving problems. By providing training opportunities to the staff, they will be more motivated in their jobs, therefore, increasing their performance hence the productivity. In real estate, there is the problem of insecurity in positions due to the fluctuation of the business. Employees may have a challenge in having a sense of belonging. Socialization between employees from different departments may be minimal; therefore, people lacking a sense of belonging. Also, there is a tendency of top-down management in real estate firms where executives make significant decisions. This deprives the staff of having a sense of value; their opinions are not valued. Maslow argues that esteem needs are motivators of people as the people feel valued, and it boosts their esteem.

Herzberg’s theory of satisfiers and dissatisfies applies as well in the real estate world. Employees in all organizations feel the need to grow from their present positions and become something different in an organization. Motivators that drive employees can be identified as recognition by the superiors. It is important to note that the leadership practices of managers and executives towards the employees also add the employee’s motivation and commitment and performance. When we are given more responsibilities on top of our daily activities, it provides us with a sense of fulfillment. More motivational factors in Herzberg’s theory include achievement, affiliation, and power. When managers show interest in the work of their employees, it motivates the employees as they feel the managers believe in their work. These feelings make the employees more committed towards the managers and hence the organization. This means the performance of the employee will grow substantially as the employee is determined to satisfy the manager. In real estate, if the management ensures that all employees feel this important, their performance will increase and, therefore, their productivity in the organization.

Another process to consider in the real estate firms is the expectancy theory. According to this theory, employees put more effort into their performance, expecting a guaranteed reward in return. If this theory is implemented in a real estate firm, it’s clear that employees who show specific abilities and skills in the organization will be rewarded. This could motivate employees to improve their performance. Competent employees are likely to be confined if they are not motivated to perfume. Employees are most likely to improve their performance if the return and a reward are connected. Rewards are essential elements that motivate employees to perform as expected. In most real estate firms, they have two types of employees the support staff and the property agents. Both sets of employees are rewarded differently. The agents create a touch between the clients and the organization. The agent’s salaries are based on commissions, and therefore they know that the better they perfume, the better their remuneration. Incentives offered to employees are linked with the motivation of an employee, which affects the performance of the employees and the productivity of the organization at large (Oloke, Oni, Babalola, & Ojelabi, 2017).