A young trainee in a fast food chain was asked recently what did he believe was the best type
motivation for him. Be replied, “To motivate me, let me do what I like to do best.”
An apprentice cook replied to the same question by saying, “Being motivated, I believe, is
trying to achieve something useful.”
A training supervisor for a restaurant chain lecturing to a room full of trainee managers explains, “Motivation is a word derived from the two words “motive+action” which together mean “a reason for movement.”
A zoologist recently defined motivation as “the act of rational or reasonable movement from
point A to point B. For an organism to ‘act’ there must be some benefit derived by going from A to B or the creature would remain at point A.”
A business tycoon claims that, “the accurate definition of motivation is the progressive
realization of pre-determined personal goals.”
Each of these definitions captures some essential qualities of the meaning of motivation. But
for the restaurateur, motivation can be summed up simply as a method for increasing an employee’s efficiency.
Experience has shown, that workers who “want” to do a good Job, who have a “positive
attitude” towards their daily tasks and who “enjoy” coming to their place of employment every day are going to accomplish better work with less supervision than those who don’t have these attributes..
We can define an efficient employee as one that produces a greater output. In engineering terms they speak of —–
PRODUCTIVITY = OUTPUT / INPUT
In restaurants, if a worker produces more with the same or less input than before, we claim that the employee is “more productive.” Thus, productivity in our business increases when an employee with the same or similar effort can handle more customers, wash more dishes, can cook more orders or can clear end reset more tables; accomplishing all of these within a reduced time span.
Spectacular productivity results have been observed when groups of similarly motivated workers labor together on a Joint project. When normally efficient people cooperate to achieve a specified productivity goal, working together with close teamwork and giving each other helping hands, the results due are amazing. This is due to what production experts refer to as “reinforcement of effort.”
When people work well together they tend to develop good interpersonal relationships that
reduce bickering, back-biting and jealousies. Such an environment allows them to concentrate on the job at hand. This results in tasks being finished quickly, effectively and accurately.
To receive additional information on motivating employees and the best methods to use, see “How-To-Do” Answers for Specific Questions