Motivation and Work: A Survey of the Motivational Aspects in Industries

Several generations work together in the workplace today, with very different desires, qualifications and experiences. In this scenario, we must increasingly question how to motivate the employees and how to conduct them in order to align their strengths with the company’s strategic objectives. The objective of this research was to identify the motivational aspects of the staff, from the point of view of some companies. The survey developed through an electronic questionnaire applied on responsible for Human Resources of 65 industries of Paraíba Valley. The discovered aspects related to the existing and best-known motivational theories, in such a way that it was possible to understand the tendency and the convergence of the companies’ motivational thinking to the aspect: recognition of work. It has founded that even today, limited attention given to subjective and intrinsic needs, such as recognition of work, whereas there is emphasis mainly on basic and extrinsic aspects as salary, safety and relative stability. These results, associated with new theoretical studies such as Strengths Based-Development Theory, suggest the need to rethink the current HR management, in a way that is actually possible to offer employees what they expect to grow personally and professionally in subjective levels, internal, in other words, to fulfill the need for self-realization.