Romero and Kleiner (2000) detail the global trend in employee motivation in the article aptly titled “Global Trends in Employee Motivation.” They assert that organizations all over the world use positive reinforcement to improve employee motivation. It helps in rewarding behaviors that organizations would like their employees to repeat. For any scholarly to be relevant, it should use quote the results of studies by other parties that support their position. As such, Romero and Kleiner (2000) use the findings of several studies on employee motivation to highlight some of the trends in employee motivation. They quote a study undertaken by Richard Lynn in 1991, which strived to determine the differences in national attitudes towards competitiveness, work, and money among students in 41 countries. The study proved that people in different countries have different attitudes towards money, competitiveness, and work. Europeans had lower regards towards competitiveness, money beliefs, and savings than American employees. On the other hand, Americans had the highest score on savings, work ethic, mastery, and savings. Finally, students from the Far East had the highest score on money beliefs and competitiveness.
The results of the study may help in determining some of the factors that help in improving employee motivation. Romero and Kleiner (2000) claim that the results of the study indicate that competitiveness is a better motivation for employees in developing countries. However, when the countries attain economic well-being, competitiveness is no longer a major driver for employee motivation. Instead, cooperativeness is the key factor that affects employee motivation.
Romero and Kleiner (2000) also provide examples of trends in employee motivation, which help in strengthening their position. They claim that incentive pay is not a major factor that determines employee motivation in certain countries. This is highlighted by Eastern European countries that do not usually worry about the bonus they would receive. Instead, their main worry is whether they would keep their jobs. As such, job stability is the major factor that determines employee motivation in these countries. The importance of job security in employee motivation poses a challenge to companies that would like to cut jobs but still maintain a high level of employee motivation. Employees in these companies are bound to have low motivation since they do not have job security.
Romero and Kleiner (2000) assert that attendance and safety are some of the most common and basic activities that employers around the world recognize. The two are used to provide employees with incentives that strive to improve employee motivation. Nonetheless, it is vital to acknowledge the fact that good attendance and safety is witnessed in areas where employees work in a positive and reinforcing work environment. Romero and Kleiner (2000) use the example of two companies, The Atlantic Envelope Company in Atlanta, Georgia, and New York Life Insurance Company. These companies have developed initiatives use attendance and safety to reward their employees. This has consequently led to an increase in attendance and safety in these companies. It has also led to increased employee motivation and productivity. In so doing, these companies use positive reinforcement to encourage some of the activities they would like their employees to repeat while also discouraging the occurrence of certain activities that they deem as undesirable.
In conclusion, the article provides some valid points on some of the trends in employee motivation. The fact that it acknowledges that employees in different regions are different issues makes it relevant to managers regardless of the location of their companies. Romero and Kleiner (2000) also use several examples, which improves the validity of their opinions in the article.
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