The Use of Money as a Motivational Factor in the Workplace

Haohan Wu Vladimir V Kalugin PHIL 305 08. 19. 2012 The Use of money as a Motivational Factor in the Workplace Claim: This paper aims at proving that the use of money as a motivational factor in the work place is equitable to a bribe and should not be allowed. Explanation of the Claim: To start off, there is need to explain as to what motivation means and how money comes into the equation. According to Saddiqui, motivation is the act of giving another person the incentive or a reason to do something (1).That is, giving the individual the hope or support to carry out a particular act. Psychology Today quips that motivation is the desire to do something (2). As such, motivating is the act of creating the desire to do something in an individual. That is, propelling someone towards doing a particular thing as opposed to pushing an individual away. To further explain the aspect of motivation, Bizhelp (para. 1) explains the Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory of motivation, which has it tha t there are two types. First of all are the factors that motivate the individuals to continue working.These are the factors that make the people appreciate their job; hence they continue putting all their efforts at it. On the other hand, there are the factors, which prevent job satisfaction. These are not, in whichever way, related to the happiness of the individuals. Rather, they just remove the unhappiness from work; hence making the people work more comfortably. In other words, they are referred to as the hygiene factors. Business Plan Hut explains that there are many ways of motivating the employees and those monetary incentives are one of the many ways (para. ). With the concept of motivation well explained, there is the need to look at the definition and explanation of a bribe, so that a comparative analysis of the two can be carried out to show that monetary incentives and the bribe are one and the same. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, a bribe is â€Å"money or favor given or compromised in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust, or something that serves to induce or influence† (1). By bringing these two definitions together, that is the efinition of motivation by money and that of a bribe, it can be seen why this essay takes that monetary motivation is equivalent to a bribe. It comes out quite clearly that money is a major factor in bribing, just as it is when used as a motivation factor. The above explanations bring about a controversial issue as pertains to the issue of using money as a motivational factor. It is, therefore, quite important to look at the issue in more detail so as to come up with a solid argument as to whether money should be used as a motivation factor or not.The argument will be largely based on the definitions given, and will rely on the understanding of the writer as pertains to the issue of money and motivation. These factors will be explained in detail in the followin g section of the argument. Reasons for the Claim Below are some of the reasons as to why this paper holds that monetary incentives should not be used as a motivation factor within the workplace: 1. From the definitions given above, it can be seen that a bribe is a monetary incentive given to an individual so as to sway his decision or act in a given manner.In other words, it is practically buying an individual so that he can act in a manner that is in accordance with the desire of the individual giving the bribe. The same happens when an individual is given an incentive as a motivation factor. It is aimed at making the individual feel kind of obliged to give a particular service or deliver given results so as to get the incentive. By any means, this is a bribe in disguise, and should not be allowed at all since it leads to the corruption of morals within the organization. 2. Monetary motivation can be seen as a form of manipulation of the employees.This is where they are put in a po sition where they have to fulfill a particular requirement so that they can have the incentive. Practically, it is the kind of analogy where the employee plays the dangling carrot with the employees. The employees feel or assume that they are working hard so as to get a specific reward, while in the real sense; the employer is playing his cards so as to make the employees work even harder for him. The monetary gain seems so enticing for the employees that they work so hard just to get it, while all the time, the employer gets the lion’s share. The trick works in the exact manner as a bribe.Give something little and get much in return. 3. Monetary incentives can ruin or corrupt the morals within an organization. This can be seen in the cases where the employees understand that they have to achieve something or hit specific standards so that they can get the reward that is promised to them. As such, they can go to whichever ends so as to reach these standards, due to their need for the money. This works the same way as a bribe does. When people are bribed in order to do something, they have to make sure that they use whichever means possible to arrive at the expected result.Whether the means are wrong or right. In other words, there is total disregard of transparency or the ethics code of conduct. 4. Lastly, there is the fact that monetary incentive as a motivation factor can plant conflicts and unnecessary or unhealthy competition amongst the employees. It is well known that different people are motivated by different factors just as they are gifted differently. As such, when the rewards are given in terms of cash, there is a high possibility that those who get the reward work hard and continue delivering the results while those who do not get the reward are de-motivated.This works out exactly like a bribe. Some people are favored and others are not. Rivalry comes in within the organization and the performance is hindered. This caps the reasons as to why monetary motivation should be avoided. Therefore, there is always the other side of the coin in everything. In this case, there is another argument as concerns the use of monetary motivation, which tries to indicate that it should be allowed. The reasons are as stated below. i. First of all, it is acceptable that there are many ways of achieving a set goal. The same applies in the work place.When there is the need to motivate the employees, there are various methods that can be applied. The use of monetary incentives is just one of them. Therefore, there should be no hullaballoo as to why the monetary motivation is not used. In fact, monetary incentives hit the charts as one of the most effective ways of motivating the employees to achieve the goals of the industry, which puts the organization on the right track to achieving its overall objectives (Anon. , 1). ii. Just like in any other setting, it is agreeable that there are always the positive and the negative sides of any given act.As such, there are the advantages and the disadvantages of using monetary incentives as a form of motivation. As such, there is no need to demonize the act and term it as a bribe. Otherwise, if this was to be taken as the standard in different arguments, then a lot of activities would be written off since there would be the dark side in every single of them. In this case, the focus should be on the positives and the negatives, and whichever wins carries the day. Monetary motivation should not be ruled out even before it has been tried. iii.It is well known that in the business setting, the ultimate goal is to make profits and be the most competitive. This does not come all that easily since there are various hurdles that have to be overcome. Just like in any field, there have to be ways of going about these hurdles. When it comes to the employees, motivation, nothing seems to work out better then the use of the monetary incentives. As such there is no reason as to why this shoul d not be employed in the business setting. iv. Lastly, it can be said that the main reason as to why people seek for employment is so that they can make money.This means that they work hard so that they can achieve this goal. As such, it can be seen that the main reason as to why they are motivated is what they get from the employment. As such, when monetary incentives are used as a motivation factor, they do not come in as a bribe. Rather, they just indicate to the employees that their hard work is all that matters. The more you work, the more you get. Simple and clear. Decision After looking at the reasons and the arguments presented above, this paper goes in favor of the claim. It, therefore, agrees that the use of monetary gains as a motivation factor should not be encouraged in the work place.It is equitable to a bribe, which is ethically and morally wrong. The reasons for taking this stand are well explained in the section that follows. Rebuttals i. While it is acceptable that there are many ways of motivating the employees, it is also important to look at the various outcomes of the different strategies that are applied. In this case, it has been proven that the use of money as a motivation factor has quite a lot of disadvantages that put the organization’s integrity at risk. As such, there is no reason as to why this method should be chosen while there are others that deliver the same result but at a much lower risk.Business entails making wise decisions, and using monetary motivation does not pay out in this case (Burns, 1). ii. As already explained above, being in business entails looking at the prevailing situation, analyzing the benefits and demerits of a given decision then making a decision from this analysis. This calls for a very practical and critical mind that cannot be deceived by the face value of a deal that seems to be so good. For this reason, it is agreeable that the use of money as a motivation factor has its advantages and disa dvantages. After weighing both, it appears that the disadvantages are more.Why, then, should an organization take the risk while there are other safer ways of getting the work done? iii. It is commonly said and known that two wrongs do not make a right. In the business sense, it cannot be denied that there are the hurdles that have to be overcome. But just because the hurdles are there, it does not mean that anything passes as long as it aims at dealing with the hurdles. Rather, the spirit of doing things right should apply in this case. The hurdles should be overcome in a manner that does not create more problems. The methods used should be very ethical and straight. v. It is true that the reason as to why people seek employment is so they can make more money and live more comfortable lives. It is also true that people who get into crooked deals such as corruption, vandalism and embezzlement of funds also do so in a bid to make more money and live good lives as well. As such, this cannot be used as the reason fro using money as an incentive. After all, human wants are insatiable and money cannot quench them all. Instead of providing a shortcut to making more money, organizations and businesses should focus more on doing this in the right manner.Works Cited Anonymous. Employee Morale. Business Community, 2012. Web, 24th July 2012, http://www. ehow. com/employee-morale/ Bizhelp. Motivation in the Workplace. Bizhelp24. com, July 21, 2012. Web, 24th July 2012, http://www. bizhelp24. com/personal/employment-and-personal-development/motivation-in-the-workplace. html Burns, Gabriel. The Disadvantages of Extrinsic Motivation. Ehow. com, 2012. Web, 24th July 2012, http://www. ehow. com/list_6534932_disadvantages-extrinsic-motivation. html Business Plan Hut. Motivating Employees. 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