Employee Motivation in the IT Industry

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There have been various definitions and theories for employee motivation. (Pinder , 2008) ,stated that the motivation can be explain as the method which reflect employees’ persistence, direction and intensity therefor, motivated employees deliver the maximum commitment to work. Motivation is the process which move employees from distress to desire (Ismail, 2008), in according to the (Korzynski , 2013) employee motivation depends on technological, generational and organizational changes. Idea that new generation more familiar with new technology and more practical when dealing with customers or organization further, employee like to work under modern organization culture and it will increase their effectiveness.

Today’s Information Technology (IT) organizations contain a very diverse workforce. Diversity exists in terms of in age, gender, organizational tenure, and professional versus administrator status (Irby, 2011).

(Perumal, 2008) Emphasis that the employee motivation has relationship with employee demographics further, employee gender, age, nationality and designation reflects the motivation level. The most successful motivation is self-motivation therefor; Employee can apply this for personal life or organization to achieve objects and targets (Diamond and Diamond , 2010).

Employee motivation is considered to be an important factor towards achieving targets as well as desired performance levels (Hettiarachchi , 2014). Among many of the IT service providing and Software Development companies in Sri Lanka, John Keells Computer Services (JKCS), Millennium Information Technologies (MIT) and Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) are found to be the industry leaders in Sri Lanka and they have become the preferred employers of Sri Lanka for many of the IT Graduates who are looking for job opportunities as well as training. This is mainly because of the way these companies treat and reward their employees which has led towards a higher level of motivation (Gunawardana, 2017).

Employee motivation can be defined as the drive which lead the employees towards success while contributing vastly towards the growth of the organization (Naduka & Obiekwe, 2016).              


IT industry plays a significant role towards the growth and the sustainability of the Sri Lankan economy. It includes Software development, IT consulting services, enterprise solutions, web applications development, re-engineering solutions and ready-to-deploy business applications for a Number of industries including e-commerce, banking and finance, Telecommunication and outsourcing services. Therefore, it is Important to look after the motivation of the employees in such a significant industry (Gunawardana, 2017). 

These companies have generated a substantial number of jobs for Sri Lankan youth. It has been seen that number of people are engaged in the IT industry of Sri Lanka starting positions from systems engineering, software engineering, database, graphics design, IT management posts, programming, web development, web design, networking, flash development, flex development, quality assurance, systems administration, academic and management information systems (MIS) (Meegama, 2015). IT industry of Sri Lanka has taken initiatives to empower IT professionals to maintain work-life balance while improving the opportunities of learning and development for all the staff members.

 

References

Diamond H and Diamond L.E, 2010. Perfect phrases for motivating and rewarding employees. 2 ed. s.l.:s.n.

Gunawardana, D. K. D., 2017. Software Industry in Sri Lanka. Current Status of Information Technology, p. 26.

Hettiarachchi , H., 2014. Impact of Job Satisfaction on Job Performance of IT. International Journal of Research in Information Technology (IJRIT).

Hughes, C., 2012. A Study of Motivation. How to Get Your Employees Moving.

Irby, T., 2011. The Situational Leadership Approach Effects on Employee Motivation in Multi-Generational Information Technology Organizations, s.l.: UMI Dissertation Publishing.

Ismail, R. I. A. Z. H., 2008. Employee motivation a Malaysian perspective. International Journal of Commerce and Management, Volume 18, pp. 344-362.

Korzynski , P., 2013. EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION IN NEW WORKING ENVIRONMENT. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL of ACADEMIC RESEARCH , Volume 5.

Meegama, G., 2015. INTRODUCTION. A Survey on Job Opportunities in the ICT Profession, p. 2.

Naduka & Obiekwe, N., 2016. Employee Motivation and Performance.

Perumal, M., 2008. Association between employee motivation and employee demographics in the banking industry, s.l.: Graduate School of Business Leadership.

Pinder , C., 2008. Work Motivation in Organizational Behaviour. Second Edition ed. London: Psychology Press.

 

Comments

  1. Divakar DavidNovember 10, 2021 at 2:02 PM

    Interesting points. Also I'd like to add that Dyer and Reeves (1995: 656–57) have further pointed out that an employee's performance is a result of skill and motivation. Therefore an organization should focus on both these aspects, when managing their employees.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amila ManeeshaDecember 20, 2021 at 8:57 AM

      Agree with your point Divakar, Further, skilled and efficiency of employees and their experience, qualification are asset to any organization this implies reputation and goodwill of organization (Rothberg, 2005).

      Delete
  2. D.P Dileep ErandaNovember 14, 2021 at 10:38 PM

    Well explained. Adding more to the post, money is one of the main motivational factors while other factors can be identified as rewards, recognition, appreciation, positive company culture, professional development, career development opportunities, flexible work schedules, job security and work environment. (Bender and Heywood, 2006)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amila ManeeshaDecember 20, 2021 at 8:48 AM

      agreed with you Dileepa, monetary or non-monetary values, employees should be rewarded so that they would feel satisfies about what they do. Once employees are satisfied, they work towards organisational success and growth (Anka, 1988).

      Delete
  3. Nirmika FernandoDecember 2, 2021 at 12:14 AM

    Hi Amila, You have detailed, excellent examples. Employee motivation is an essential tool for every business to flourish and achieve projected profits in the long run (Naseem et al., 2011). Even in today’s competitive environment, all companies want to be successful. As a result, the firm seeks to retain the most suitable people, regardless of size or market and recognises their critical role and impact on the organisation’s performance. Companies should build strong and good connections with their workers and help them through their responsibilities to overcome these obstacles (Castro and Martins, 2010).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amila ManeeshaDecember 17, 2021 at 2:42 PM

      agreed with you ,further .If employees are not satisfied with their work and are not willing to accomplish their work the organization cannot achieve the goal. Companies must build strong and positive relationships with employees and turn to solution fulfillment (Dobre,2013).

      Delete
  4. Dineth PereraDecember 6, 2021 at 7:48 AM

    Hi amila, agree with you, adding to your points, motivate employees where organization able to earn long term benefits by having motivated employee. Organization may motivated employee financially and non financially(Yousaf et al., 2014).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amila ManeeshaDecember 20, 2021 at 8:52 AM

      agreed with you Dineth, monetary or non-monetary values, employees should be rewarded so that they would feel satisfies about what they do. Once employees are satisfied, they work towards organizational success and growth (Anka, 1988).

      Delete
  5. Lakshan SamaranayakaDecember 12, 2021 at 9:14 PM

    Hi Amila, agreed with your points, adding to that according to Steinhaus & Perry (1996) cited in (Samad, 2011) committed and satisfied employees are unlikely to indicate low performance and are normally highly productive who identify with organizational goals and organizational values.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amila ManeeshaDecember 22, 2021 at 8:43 AM

      Yes Lakshan adding more to your comment, Employee motivation and efficiency are important tools of successful organization. Employees are not satisfied with their work and are not willing to accomplish their work their goal, the organization cannot be successful (Jakobi,2013).

      Delete
  6. Gihan AmaratungaDecember 14, 2021 at 12:41 PM

    Hi Amila. Adding more to your points, Moreira (2013) mentions that involvement of motivated employees with the organization is critical in achieving success. Hence, considering the IT industry, most of the software firms such as, Virtusa, WSO2, Zone24x7, 99X Technologies have started to adopt a free open atmosphere in their workplaces, as well as flexible working hours for their employees as they grow more dynamic and agile (Perera, 2016).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amila ManeeshaDecember 17, 2021 at 2:35 PM

      Agreed Gihan. I would like add bit more to your comment. Motivation is important to level up dedication to the workers who always leads to increased productivity. So necessary for employee motivation in the organization to be strengthened to increase the performance (Srivastava and Barmola, 2011).

      Delete
  7. Upeksha PathiranaDecember 17, 2021 at 7:33 AM

    Well said Amila. Setting clear, achievable goals provide a real boost of motivation each time one is conquered and keeps team on the right track (George Dickson, 2021).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amila ManeeshaDecember 20, 2021 at 3:47 PM

      Agreed with you Upeksha adding more to it. the good environment that is offered to the worker enables him to offer the best that the organization needs for its achievement of goals and objectives (Paluku, 2016).

      Delete
  8. Ravi Dissanayake, PhDDecember 25, 2021 at 1:04 AM

    Managers perceive that intrinsic motivation have a larger influence on the psychological aspects of employee engagement than extrinsic motivation (Habte 2016). Management should know what motivates their workers and manipulate motivational techniques based on employees’s desires. Simple things like creating a new job tittle or positive feedback can motivate employees.

    Habte, A., 2016. The Effect of Reward Management Practice on Employee Engagement: The Case of Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (Cbe) (Doctoral dissertation, St. Mary's University).

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ijaz FaizDecember 25, 2021 at 5:34 PM

    Hi Amila, Well explained, The IT sector is developing extremely dynamically in Bulgaria. Although the leaders in the European Union remain (European Communities, EVROSTAT, 2019). Britain, Germany, France, followed closely by Italy and Spain, this sector has been growing more and more successfully in Bulgaria. According to the Bulgarian Association of Software Companies (BASCOM), the annual revenue from 2012 to 2018 has risen from 619 to 1502 million euros, with growth of between 15 and 29 percent in each year (BASCOM, 2019a).

    ReplyDelete
  10. Surangi PereraDecember 26, 2021 at 8:10 AM

    informative article, further to your points, a successful motivation system requires both a practical training qualification and re-qualification system for the employees, as well as assuring the working conditions necessary for performing the working process; In addition, however, companies must provide motivational payroll systems and different other measures that bring the employee to the delight of his work (Anguelov, 2020)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Employee RelationshipDecember 26, 2021 at 9:16 AM

    Agreed, with you, The importance of the motivation in all the organization as per the following main factors, (a) job security, (b) sympathetic help with personal problems, (c) personal loyalty to employees, (d) interesting work, (e) good working conditions, (f) tactful discipline, (g) good wages, (h) promotions and growth in the organization, (i) feeling of being in on things, and (j) full appreciation of work done,(James, R.L.).

    ReplyDelete
  12. Deshani RodrigoDecember 26, 2021 at 10:45 AM

    Well explained Amila, Further would like to add the it is important to motivate employees in an organization because it is inter related with the organization performance as well (Islam and Ismail, 2008). However the organization has to invest on these factor because it is directly impact on the retention and the reputation of the organization. Human resource team of the company and the top management will always looking for the intrinsic and the extrinsic factors to improve motivation and the performance of the organization (Honore, 2009).

    ReplyDelete
  13. Manoj JayasiriDecember 27, 2021 at 12:17 AM

    Informative Article Amila , further Pink (2009) state that there are three steps that managers can take to improve motivation, 1.Autonomy - encorage people to set their own schedule and focus get the work done not how it is done, 2. Mastery – help people to identify the steps they can take to improve and ask them to identify how they will know they are making progress.3. Purpose – when giving instructions explain the why as well as how.

    ReplyDelete

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