Motivating Employees

Every employee is motivated by something. Some employees are motivated by things that are external in nature like money and status, while others are motivated by things that are intrinsic in nature such as a desire to do a good job or the desire to go a level up in the hierarchy.

We often argue that the type of leadership in Optometry as in healthcare is often the type of transformational leadership. One of the justice theories in the workplace is the equity theory as it focuses on determining whether resources are distributed in a fair way to both relational partners. Employees are driven by the rewards they get in exchange for their efforts. They seek to maintain an equity relation between the “inputs” they contribute to a job and the “outcomes” that they receive from it against the perceived “inputs” and “outcomes” others are receiving (Adams, 1965). In the equity theory, motivation is based on the concept of the tension created when an employee feels that his input/outcome ratio is higher than others ratio, which means that the rewards for the efforts he is contributing are less than others rewards for the same efforts or equal to other rewards for fewer efforts. Motivation occurs assuming that the employee has a clear thought of what fair amount of reward to be exchanged for his efforts, compares this exchange, and believes that this exchange is not equitable with what others are receiving.

Through equity theory, Adams tends to demonstrate that salaries and conditions alone do not produce motivation. “We arrive to our measure of fairness-Equity – by comparing our balance of effort and reward and other factors of give and take – the ratio of input and output- with the balance or ratio enjoyed by other people, whom we deem to be relevant reference points or example”

In organizations, understanding equity theory makes a good tool for motivating employees and snowballing effectiveness through increased employee retention and increased commitment. Employees who increase their effort when they understand the importance of the ratio comparison will get better rewards. For example, when part-time workers know that full-time workers have higher rewards when comparing to their inputs/outcomes ratio they will push to contribute more in time.