The Correlation between Motivation and Performance for Supervisory Roles

Abstract

In a knowledge-based organization, the employees, as holders of intangible knowledge, play a particularly important role in these organizations, as they can foster productivity, creativity, and innovation that ultimately leads to high performance. The scope of our study is to see if a higher intrinsic motivation, tracked by using Charles Handy’s four “E” factors: effort, energy, excitement, and expenditure, is related to a higher organizational performance for supervisors in the Romanian branch of a multinational company. We have used a quantitative method, by administering a questionnaire, with Likert scale questions, to a sample of 57 supervisors, then correlating their score with the performance score they have obtained from their direct supervisor. The results revealed that there is undeniably a connection between the importance that employees are self-imposing on the “E” factors when they are in pursuit of achieving organizational goals, that is, bringing a higher organizational performance.