Pay plays a crucial role in motivating people at work. How far do you Essay

Pay plays a crucial role in motivating people at work. How far do you agree, or disagree, with this statement - Essay Example It is all very well to say that money does not matter. Actually it matters unless an individual is living in an island like Robinson Crusoe. If the person has to live in a society, with the ordinary requirements that other people have, he need to have money to have a roof over his head, to feed his family and to fulfil his and their desires and necessities. Hence, it is not possible for any person to live without money and not to appreciate its power over humans. There is nothing wrong in assuming that the most significant place at work is taken by the pay. Without pay no worker would work, unless it is a part time kind of work for charity in which he believes. Even then, he has to earn his living and no charity worker can do voluntary work full time, unless he has some other adequate income coming in. There is an important place for the pay at work and there exists a belief that pay could motivate people at work. I agree with the statement to some extent, but not fully. There are areas like Sales, where keeping people motivated without pay and incentives could be difficult. But it need not apply everywhere. Pay definitely is the source of motivation to do better work and this perhaps depends on the kind of motivation the worker is looking for. No doubt, there is an enormous impact when the minimum wage is increased; but motivation could be connected to many needs and desires. MOTIVATION "Motivation is the force that energises, directs and sustains behaviour" http://community.ocr.org.uk/core/community/public/download_filerid=202 Motivation is connected to Reinforcement Theory, Need Theory and Cognitive theories. Reinforcement could be different things to different people and cannot be applied to all. Need theory has fallen short of expectations and cannot be applied everywhere. "Research has not found much support for the theory and application of the theory to motivate workers in the workplace has fallen short of expectations. The main asset of Maslow's theory is its humanistic appeal: it projects the idea that many human needs are bound up with work, not just the need for a pay cheque as earlier theorists proposed," (ibid). But according to cognitive theories like Equity Theory, etc., workers are motivated by a desire to be treated equitably and fairly, but research shows that this too cannot be a measuring stick. Hence, motivation cannot be generalised easily, because one person's motivation need not be another person's. At the same time, it has to be connected with the organisational behaviour. Organisat ional behaviour is usually a collective behaviour and not an individual one. Just like motivation, organisational behaviour cannot be generalised, because every organisation is unique and the behaviour changes according to the organisation in which the worker is working. As the worker is always a small part of the team, his behaviour will be more of one in the crowd, and not highly individualistic. IMPORTANCE OF SALARY Pay influences people individually and collectively both. Pay perhaps is the most motivating of all the perks, with position following it closely. Money definitely motivates people to a very large extent at work. After all, people work for money and to collect wealth which provides security in life. In addition, it is the visible form of appreciation and the means of saying that his work is worth a lot for the organisation. It gives the