How does Communication Affect Motivation?

Motivation
Defined as the psychological forces within a person that determine direction of behaviour in an organisation, the effort and how hard people work and the ability to reach a goal.

Shareholders eager for a return on investment should look for companies with motivated employees, according to "Forbes" magazine.

Theories of Motivation

There are a number of different views as to what motivates workers.

1. Pay - the more produced the higher the pay or the higher the rank the higher the pay or bonuses. Pay is also the main reason for union groups going on strike.
2. Meeting their social needs - job security, better working conditions, maternity leave, sick leave, pension scheme etc
3. Better Communication - more management interaction and involvement, group work or team efforts
4. Recognition - To recognise their efforts help improve self esteem and motivate them further to improve.
5. Empowerment - Means delegating more power to employees to make their own decisions over areas of their working life

How Does Communication Affect Motivation?
Supervisors, top executives and managers spend most of their time communicating to others--from step-by-step tasks to overall company vision. The most effective communicators not only help workers carry out day-to-day tasks but inspire staff to challenge themselves and each other to outstanding performance.
Managers must communicate effectively to enable opinion and comment and encourage staff to generate ideas, reach decisions or even make mistakes. This motivates them to work harder and give them a sense of ownership of the company.
Leaders can destroy trust if they develop a reputation for quashing criticism or shooting the messenger.
They also can stifle motivation with an authoritarian stance on decisions instead of developing a sense of accord within teams by encouraging input to reach resolution of challenges or choices that affect the team’s effort and goals.
Effective  communication and employee satisfaction tends to go hand in hand.
Subordinates feel respected by management, and managers should in return feel respected by their staff. These higher levels of job satisfaction would increase the worker's drive to succeed and thus their motivation.



http://ctb.ku.edu/en/tablecontents/chapter7_section8_main.aspx