Are you happy with your work? Do you drag yourself to work everyday? Are you satisfied with your job? Or is it a question that you would not want to be asked? Better think a hundred times before you answer these questions. In recent years, there have been paid increasing attention to “factors” in job satisfaction. Bearing in mind that we spend most of our day at the workplace, I personally feel that one should not be caught in a job that does not yield any contentment. I have listed a few aspects that might help you to assess your level of job satisfaction. This may vary from one person to another.

  * Advancement for salaried men
  * Meaningful work for salaried women
  * Job security for hourly paid men
  * Benefits for hourly paid women

by: Christine Zafra

Previous posts here (like this, this and this) have included theories from different theoreticians and experts. Now you ask, “why is this so and how important can these be?” Well, theories are important in understanding a certain phenomenon. Although these statements are still unproven (the reason why it’s called theory), they provide an overview about what the experts have observed about the said phenomenon and have provided conclusions that will help people understand the phenomenon further.

These theories are indeed helpful to those managers and company executives who feel their employees are losing interest. They can experiment with the working atmosphere in the office using different kinds methods to motivate their subordinates, hoping to yield positive results in the end.

Photo taken from http://www.theories-itsagame.com

Procrastination is one of the biggest problems that most people have. Sometimes when we are at work, we think that we  do not “manage our time very well” and hence we get upset with the little work we have done. This may be true but, for a few people only! Most of the people, do not get any work done because they are “Procrastinators”! Here’s How:

1. Identify which tasks you can do and not? Assess yourself if you lack the knowledge in keeping you on  doing something, and get help. Break down each task into small manageable parts. Work on each part for a set amount of time, ie.g. ten minutes, and then stop. Don’t forget to take a break and then work on the next part. And Reward yourself for completing a task.

Tips:

1. Organize your work area.

2. Complete tasks you don’t like doing, when your mind is clear.

3.Sometimes we avoid tasks we don’t think we can do well — make sure you ask for help if you don’t understand how to do something.

by: Christine Zafra

Have you heard of the name Maslow? No? Well, he’s actually a pioneer of the social sciences and is known to those who took up psychology, political science or behavioral sciences as their degrees. The social scientists would probably say, “if economics got Marx’s triangle, we got Maslow’s hierarchy of needs”.

Maslow’s triangle is composed of 5 goals that a human being should attain:

1. The physiological part.
2. His/her own safety.
3. Love.
4. Self-Esteem.
5. Self-fulfillment.

It’s something transitional. The person must fulfill first number 1 before proceeding to number 2; it is therefore implied that for a person to be motivated (reach number 5), he must first accomplish the first 4.

Photo taken from http://goosei.info

Why use icebreakers?

•to create a positive group atmosphere
•to help people relax
•to break down social barriers
•to energize and motivate
•to help people think outside the box
•to help people to get to know one another

The right icebreaker games make a vital difference to your meeting, training or team building, and in building your reputation as a good facilitator? Ice Breakers can be an effective way of starting a training session or team-building event. As interactive and often fun sessions run before the main proceedings, they help people get to know each other and buy into the purpose of the event.

In a job interview, the employer usually ask questions on what motivates a candidate. I, myself, encountered such questions from my previous employers in describing the work environment or culture in which you are most productive and happy.

Here are some frequently asked questions that you should not tend to forget:

•Imagine you have received a coveted national award five years from now. Why did you receive the award, what is the award, and what are the circumstances under which you are receiving the award?
•What goals, including career goals, have you set for your life?
•How would you define “success” for your career? At the end of your work life, what must have been present for you to feel as if you had a successful career?
•Describe a work situation in which you can demonstrate that you motivated another person.

by: Christine Zafra

As seen here on this website (previous post), Douglas McGregor created a theory regarding job motivation. Now, another theoretician made his own hypothesis about it. Frederick Herzberg, a prominent psychologist who has published his own book regarding job motivation, said that hygiene is the key to every office that has motivated employees. If you think hygiene refers to the physical cleanliness of the office, well, it’s more than that. It requires cleanliness in the organization (people-related), policies, management (type of leadership), working conditions, job security and so on and so forth. Basically, it envelopes all the qualities of a “perfect” job arena. Can managers really do that?

Photo taken from http://www.wpclipart.com

Motivation starts with the desire to be free. Total freedom is not possible or desirable, but the struggle to achieve that ideal is the basis for motivation.

Motivation is built on three basic elements:

1.Motivation starts with a need, a vision, a dream or the desire to achieve the seemingly impossible. Creativity is associated with ideas, projects and goals, which can be considered a path to freedom.

2.Develop a love-to-learn, become involved with risky ventures and continually seek new opportunities. Success is based on learning what works and does not work.

3.Developing the ability to overcome barriers and to bounce back from discouragement or failure. Achievers learn to tolerate the agony of failure. In any worthwhile endeavor, barriers and failure will be there. Bouncing back requires creative thinking as it is a learning process. In addition, bouncing back requires starting again at square one.

Most likely the answer would be “goals”. Goal Setting is extremely important to motivation and success. A goal should be moderate, not too hard or too easy to complete. Certainly, you need some intelligence, knowledge base, study skills, and time management skills, but if you don’t have motivation, you won’t get far. Interest is also an important motivator as well as the desire to learn. When you link these two things together, you create success. Oftentimes, success in an endeavor that leads to more interest and a greater desire to learn, creating an upward spiral of motivation toward a goal you have established.

If you’re a manager then you’ve been told at least once that you have to “motivate your people.” But how do you do that? Here’s what you can do to get the job done.

Change your mindset. Forget about “motivating” people. You can’t see motivation. Motivation is inside another person’s head and heart. You can’t touch it. You can’t measure it. And, therefore you can’t manage it.

Think about managing the things you can see and measure. Start concentrating on behavior and performance. The things people say and do are behavior. The results of their efforts are performance.

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