Extrinsic Motivation and its Various Types

An organization may experience obstacles in the midst of its development to achieve targets. This usually encourages managerial parties to do something that is expected to bring change to their employees.

The encouragement that comes from the managerial side is an external variable that may be limited in nature. However, this is often the quickest and easiest motivating factor to implement in reality in a company and is known as extrinsic motivation.

Understanding Extrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic motivation are factors that function as external encouragement and can be classified in the form of compensation or punishment. Even though it is often considered a negative thing, extrinsic motivation also has many positive sides.

Compensation can be in the form of salary, bonuses, goods and money, while punishment can be in the form of fines, warnings or even dismissal of employees. These are factors that are often used by companies to "force" employees to make changes quickly.

Types of Extrinsic Motivation

Stimulation given to employees to encourage a certain action is usually included as extrinsic motivation. However, there are several types of extrinsic motivation that may be implemented to achieve business goals, including the following.

1. Prize-Based Motivation (Reward)

This type of motivation is probably the only type of motivation that many people know about. This motivation is popularly implemented in sales teams in many companies to be able to compete to achieve certain sales targets.

In practice, promising bonuses in salary components or setting certain bonuses will motivate people to work harder. Unfortunately, this type of motivation does not last long because people are used to being encouraged in the form of certain rewards.

As it is called, extrinsic motivation involves rewards that are more than just feelings. If no incentives are provided, this kind of motivation will not be considered an encouragement.

However, prize or reward-based motivation can go hand in hand with achievement-driven motivation. Rewards given for achieving targets provide personal satisfaction that is intrinsic and long-lasting.

2. Strengths Based Motivation

In the organizational structure of a company, power is one of the factors that can change the situation. Power-based motivation is based on people's desire to have power over other people and change situations in their lives.

Even though it has a negative connotation, controlling other people is not always bad. This also doesn't necessarily mean control over something, but it can also mean they are motivated to lead.

A good example of power-based motivation is leadership. A leader is a person who has the motivation to lead a group of people or society.

Great leaders inspire people to overcome challenges and help organize their work. A leader will take this responsibility for them and will lead.

Incompetent managers can ruin a team atmosphere, reduce productivity, or even increase employee turnover. Therefore, strength-based motivation must be considered according to the company's response and how it utilizes it.

3. Fear-Based Motivation

This is a type of motivation that drives people to achieve something that was previously unattainable. It is not based on any reward, but on the fear of pain or awkwardness.

Fear-based motivation is always interpreted as negative, even though it is not. Although fear-based motivation can have negative results in providing motivation, it can usually have a positive impact.

One good example is trying to come to work on time because managers will fine employees who are late. To avoid this, you wake up early in the morning to avoid traffic jams and go to work.

This sudden change in work resumption was based on fear, not love of work. Maybe there will be some changes that employees initially make forcedly, but which end up being beneficial for the company.

However, this should not be relied on too much as the negative aspects of this motivation can outweigh any positive results. Instead of increasing productivity, constantly spreading fear also has the potential to cause demotivation, decreased job satisfaction, stress, and even increased turnover.

In order to encourage and recognize the potential of each individual, companies can carry out an Assessment Program. Through the evaluation process, employee potential can be identified based on psychological characteristics so that the company can provide the right motivation to achieve common goals.