Motivating your employee the Microsoft way

Types of motivation techniques
To maximize output and drive revenue, Microsoft needs to get their employees working as effectively as possible. To do this Microsoft must keep their employees motivated by using these 5 motivational techniques:

1.Giving attentions to employees- employees need to know that they are valued, understood and most importantly, listened to. if an employee has a concern or some other problem that may stop them from from working effectively, employees need to know that communication channels are open. Microsoft do this by taking time to converse with the employees to make them feel more comfortable with their jobs, more settled and better-motivated to work hard for the company. In addition Microsoft also help reinforce positive behavior so employers should always be looking for opportunities to provide positive feedback.

2. Reward strong performance- Microsoft rewards employees that perform well, This can be in term of extrinsic reward such as additional pay, benefits or opportunities for promotion through simple gratitude and recognition for an excellent job.

3. Involve employees in decision making- Microsoft involve employees in making processes will not only just motivate the employee, it will also identify their potential manager talent which could help to grow Microsoft in the process. As you can see Microsoft is trying to make employees feel that they can make suggestions and present new ideas which could potentially improve the way the organisation works.

4. Offering training and development- Employees want to feel that they are constantly developing in the workplace by learning new skills and gaining experience which will stand them in good stead in the future. As a result, Microsoft sends them to "off the job training" so that the employees will feel that they are that their development is supported by the company hence motivating them.

5. Define the employees's role- Microsoft provides a clearly defined job description and understand the role they are working in, this provides a context for everything and ensures the employees' feel a sense of purpose while at work.    

Would it motivate me?
By nature, i am a reward motivated person which means that i am only motivated if there is a reward in it for me therefore i will be highly motivated by Microsoft's motivation techniques which pays me more if i perform well on the job. However, giving me rewards is not the only way to motivated me, i will also be motivated by giving me attention and being recognize for what i had done well.

How does Microsoft get even more out from their employees?
According to Microsoft, the key to get you employees to perform to their fullest is to make them feel that they matter by doing the following:

1.Recognize the individual- In Microsoft, each staff member knows that he or she does make a different.

2.Be responsive- The feedback or suggestions from employees will never be simply be ignore.

3.Tap your top perfumers as teacher- Have employees share their expertise by training or mentoring other staff members.

4.Interacting with employees- Most Managers in Microsoft will constantly talk with their subordinates to let them know that they are not taken for granted.

5.Help employees to achieve their dreams and goals- Periodically people in leadership roles meet each of their subordinates to set yearly goals and accomplishments and keep a written record so that they can benchmark their progress.

Team based activity in Microsoft

In Microsoft, employee play a game called pirate power as a team based activity. The challenge is to create a them to distinguish this annual event from past ones while at the same time building on the success of past events. In this event employees took part in three different excises designed to draw out their inner pirate, each event is lead by pirates or also known as motivators. The result of this activity is interplay successfully engaged a diverse and highly intelligent group in a series of smart play activities that brought people together in common challenges that strengthened bonds between team members.

My personal thoughts on motivation in the work place 
In my own opinion i think that motivation is essential to the work place because motivation give the employees the drive to come to work to do their best. A workplace without motivated employees is equal to a ineffective and unproductive workplace therefore i think for the benefit of everyone if employees are constantly motivated by their bosses. I consider myself a reward motivated person because i work better if people offer me a bigger reward for every  job well done. Based on experiences, i feel that everyone can motivate themselves due to circumstances like due dates and motivational poster.