'Employees cannot be motivated with money' Discuss Essay

'Employees cannot be motivated with money' Discuss - Essay Example from GE since as a company it has been focused on HR and committed to its employees in many ways which go beyond the norms of motivation as compared to other companies. It has an innovative way of rewarding employees who uphold the values considered important by GE and this has given the company the respect and admiration of many business gurus (Demos, 2006). While the rewards for working at GE are many, the reward selection process uses a ranking system that connects with both the process and content theories by punishes those employees who do perform up to the expected level. The overall effect of GE’s motivation techniques has been very positive and is well regarded by industry experts therefore it becomes a good example for matching with the theories of motivation. A theory based on content considers the idea that individuals are motivated by inner desires to fulfil their needs and such fulfilment can come from their work if the work they do is able to combine the rewards for working with their desires. The primary work in this branch of motivation comes form Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs which includes five levels including the basic needs of nourishment, second order needs for safety and security, third order needs for social affiliations, fourth order needs for esteem and fifth order needs for self-actualization of the individual. Clearly while the first, second and third order needs might be fulfilled by having enough money, fourth and fifth order needs might not be obtainable just by getting a salary alone. GE is one company that recognises this and uses a peer recognition system called QuickThanks! to show appreciation of the work done by one member of the company to another. Kerr (1996) gives an inside view of what happens at GE where this program is used for increasing the level of motivation of employees. Broadly speaking, this system allows employees to nominate other employees (even across departments) with a $25 gift certificate for certain