Keywords

1 Introduction

At the global level, organizations are adopting changes according to market trends, however, few are those that implement new systems exclusively for human talent that make them feel motivated to carry out the assigned activities, because their work is not valued or compensated adequately, creating a job dissatisfaction that minimizes the productivity of the organization.

In order for employees to feel motivated, there must also be an adequate work environment that generates confidence when carrying out their work, that is, it has the appropriate conditions to do a good job, for this it must be focused on the well-being and safety of the same.

A large part of the organizations chooses to implement strategies in the product or service, leaving aside the human talent that plays a fundamental role for it to achieve success, because they express that it causes them expenses when carrying out performance evaluations, training, even that the worker has the necessary resources to achieve their job.

Thus, motivation becomes a relevant factor in the performance of organizations’ collaborators [1] in 2015 conducted a study by Global Engagement Index (GEI) worldwide to measure the level of motivation, took as a reference 13 countries: United States, China, India, Brazil, Italy, Australia, Great Britain, Germany, France, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Spain; by means of an evaluation reaching the conclusion that very few employees are really committed to the company and their position. The countries with the highest percentage of fully motivated people are: The United States and China with 19%.

[2] mentions that companies or organizations that suffer from low labor productivity is because they do not give the necessary importance to the causes that produce it, although it is easily observed from outside the organization that there is no other reason greater than the motivation of the workers. collaborators.

Worldwide, all organizations need to maintain a good relationship between bosses and subordinates to achieve the goals of this, because human capital is considered the most valuable asset of the same, since with a satisfied staff we can maintain or improve the productivity, due to behavior, commitment that the employee has with the organization, therefore it is essential that the boss assumes the role of leader, maintaining certain guidelines with his collaborators that strengthen motivational aspects such as: respect among themselves, adequate communication, recognizing the work of the employees, this will help them to assume their work with responsibility, approaching the mission and vision of the organization, on the other hand, if we have an unsatisfied staff it will lower their performance and quality of work will suffer.

This research is structured as follows: the second section presents the principles and theories regarding motivation and job performance; the third section describes the methodology used and the results obtained from the study. Finally, in the fourth section, the discussion with the conclusions and recommendations is presented.

2 Motivation and Job Performance

2.1 Motivation

To begin with, the study of [3] is valued where they indicate that human motives consist of needs, conscious and unconscious, some are primary, such as the physiological ones of water, food, sleep and shelter, others can be called secondary, such as self-esteem, status, such as affiliation with other affections, achievement, and self-assertion. Motivation is a factor used to satisfy needs and desires.

On the other hand, [4] defines motivation as “an internal impulse that activates the predisposition of an individual to carry out any activity or behavior oriented towards a goal, in the direction of achieving a specific objective. People’s motivations can be identified within the framework of any area of action. In the work environment, the reason for the actions of the collaborators who perform specific functions can promote or slow down the performance that each one may have in their work. This implies that it is necessary to know what each subordinate needs and try to satisfy his demands to obtain better results of productivity, quality and service.

In conclusion, the motivation must be considered in the institutions and companies to obtain positive results in their subordinates so that all the activities that are carried out are carried out through the objects of this, that is, in relation with work. Motivation is often linked to incentives due to the enthusiasm that is noticeable in the workers, positively influencing the behavior of the individual, thus having intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, both constituting as impulses to achieve their objectives in the workplace. organization, in addition to achieving their personal goals because it improves the level of satisfaction in the activities carried out.

2.1.1 Motivation Theories

The findings of [5] indicate that it is essential to describe the approaches of each of the motivation theories established, which are mentioned below.

Need:

within the organization, individuals have different needs, the leaders are in charge of motivating the workers, satisfying those desires. For this approach, the following theories are specified:

  • Maslow’s theory of needs

  • lderfer’s ERG theory

Individual Difference:

individuals can be differentiated by various aspects are these: personal traits, key values and the work they perform. Likewise, this approach contains the following theories:

  • McClelland’s theory

  • Herzberg theory

Cognitive:

people feel motivated when they have the objectives set, because they feel capable of achieving them taking into account that with their effort they will receive rewards and incentives. It is necessary to detail the following theories:

  • Goal setting theory

  • Expectations theory

  • Equity theory

2.1.1.1 Maslow’s Theory of Needs

The contributions of [6] on this theory show that Maslow’s pyramid of motivation is based on the so-called pyramid of needs, that is, needs can be ranked or classified in order of importance and influence on behavior human. Abraham Maslow stated the following needs:

  • Physiological needs

  • Security needs

  • Social needs

  • Esteem needs

  • Self-realisation needs

2.1.1.2 Alderfer’s ERG Theory

In the research work carried out by [7], it is stated that the ERC theory is established considering Maslow’s pyramid, where it is summarized in three needs that are summarized below:

  • Existence needs

  • Relationship needs

  • Growth needs

2.1.1.3 McClelland’s Theory

In their article [8] they included the contribution of (McClelland and Burnham 1976) pointing out that achievement, power and affiliation are the three important needs that help to explain the motivation of people like this:

  • Achievement needs

  • Power needs

  • Membership needs

2.1.1.4 Herzberg Theory

Regarding this theory [9] he added the contributions of (Herzberg 1968) that summarizes his theory as follows: “The components that contribute to job satisfaction (and motivation) are different and independent of the factors that tend to incite dissatisfaction”, and which are described below:

  • Motivational factors (satisfaction)

  • Hygienic factors (dissatisfaction)

2.1.1.5 Goal Setting Theory

In the report carried out by [10] he details that the goal setting theory put forward by Locke determines:

“The motivation of the worker arises from his actions and that the level of his performance is directed at the level of difficulty that it has to achieve an established goal. In which objectives are established that are granted to workers and convince them to concentrate their efforts”

In the same way [11] he emphasizes this theory, where he emphasizes that it is of great importance that organizations and institutions establish goals, since they help to have a better direction in the employees.

2.1.1.6 Equity Theory

[2] states “The role that equity plays in motivation, employees compare what they contribute to their jobs with what they get from them in relation to those of other people. We perceive what we get from a job in relation to what we contribute, then we compare our input-output ratio with that of others that don’t even matter”.

We can summarize that there is a variety of motivation theories that play an important role in collaborators within the organization, because different types of intrinsic and extrinsic incentives are applied considering their personal and professional needs.

2.2 Job Performance

To begin with, [12] sustains that “Job performance is a tool that measures the perception that both suppliers and internal customers have of a collaborator. This tool proposes information on their performance and their individual competencies in order to identify areas for continuous improvement that increase their collaboration in achieving the organization’s objectives”.

In addition, [13] indicates that “Work performance measures the performance exhibited by workers to the organization, the same that allows identifying areas with positive and negative effects, the intention of measuring performance is to improve them to achieve compliance with the proposed objectives”.

Work performance refers to the performance that each worker has at the time of carrying out the assigned activities, the development with which he acts, that is why a large part of the organizations evaluate performance to measure the degree of effectiveness and efficiency with which carry out their activities.

2.2.1 Competences

For [14] in their article they add the definition of (Urbina 2007) who conceptualizes competences as the integration of knowledge, skills, behaviors, attitudes, aptitudes and motivations leading to adequate and timely performance in various contexts.

In addition, [15] include the contribution of (Tobón 2010) which indicates that the competencies are integral actions in the face of activities and context problems with suitability and ethical commitment.

Knowledge:

[16] mentions that “the knowledge possessed by individuals is considered an asset of the company, it is also emphasized that the knowledge of the areas and levels allows them to have a greater commitment and obtain a better result from according to their level of performance shown in the work area”.

Skills:

[17] considering the contributions made by Vicente Caballo, the skills comprise a set of behaviors that the individual expresses within a context where they relate to other people, showing attitudes, feelings and opinions to provide alternatives that contribute to problem solving.

The competences are immersed in each individual and they are developed through the attitudes, capacities, abilities with which they develop in the different situations that arise and that allow them to achieve an appropriate performance.

2.2.2 Behavior

We highlight what was stated by [18] that defines behavior as the attitude of the employee that has a fundamental contribution to job performance. Indeed, [6] establishes that behavior in an organization is classified into three groups:

Individual Behavior:

within the organization, it is due to the preparation, values, desires and desires, indicating that each person has different characteristics, for them the individual must be directed to the interests of the institution [19].

Group Behavior:

the authors [20] consider it as acts and the capacity that individuals present in the work team, promoting the participation of all those involved and focusing personal interests to achieve the objectives of the organization.

Organizational Behavior:

understands the attitudes of employees since success rests with them. Behavior is immersed in different changes, but nevertheless adequate behavior is a tool that benefits the institution and reflects the extent to which motivation and productivity are promoted [21].

In conclusion, through good organizational management, an adequate organizational behavior can be achieved and therefore take advantage of the effort of human talent in order to achieve the strategic goals.

2.2.3 Performance Evaluation

Regarding this issue [12] defines performance evaluation as “a systematic and periodic process that serves to quantitatively and qualitatively estimate the degree of effectiveness and efficiency of people. Its main objective is to determine if employees are doing their job correctly. This can provide information on the need to improve the collaborator in terms of knowledge and skills”.

For [3] the performance evaluation is a system that allows defining the objectives of the company with all its subordinates so that progress can be verified until reaching the goal. But this control and measurement scheme is not the fundamental component to efficiently manage the development of the institution’s human talent.

Performance evaluation is an instrument used to verify the degree of fulfillment of the objectives proposed at the individual level. This system allows a systematic, objective and comprehensive measurement of professional conduct and performance or achievement of results.

3 Methodology

The main objective of this research is to analyze the motivation and work performance of the personnel in the Government of the province of Santa Elena, being a non-experimental study of a non-probabilistic nature carried out between 2018 and 2019.

Thus, for the present research a qualitative and quantitative approach was used with a descriptive research scope, relying on a bibliographic research method related to motivation and job performance, as well as field research that in the present project was applied to collect primary information in situ provided by the appointing authority, departmental heads, administrative personnel and workers belonging to the Government of the province of Santa Elena, applying information collection tools such as interviews and surveys that allowed identifying the qualities and characteristics of the problem posed, as well as for its analysis, understanding and measurement of results.

For the development of this project, 11 people made up of the appointing authority and departmental heads were considered as the population for the interview. While for the survey there was a population of 66 people made up of departmental heads, administrative staff and workers; in this case, the sample corresponds to the total population as it is finite and achievable, which will contribute with their opinion about the degree of motivation and job performance in the Government of the province of Santa Elena.

The main research instrument were the surveys, which were applied to the 66 collaborators; It is made up of 17 closed questions, structured in three parts: the first with sociodemographic data, a second section with questions related to motivation and a third section with questions oriented to job performance, the last two sections with options for scale of evaluation. Likert.

4 Results and Discussion

Fig. 1.
figure 1

Satisfaction of physiological needs (Maslow’s theory of human needs)

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In Fig. 1, referring to the satisfaction of physiological needs, it can be highlighted that 52% of the collaborators are totally satisfied, 30% satisfied and only 3% dissatisfied. Concluding that most of the collaborators feel satisfied with the remuneration received, which allows them to meet their own physiological needs and those of their family environment, constituting a motivating factor for the development of tasks.

Fig. 2.
figure 2

Satisfaction of power needs (McClelland’s theory of needs)

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Figure 2, related to the satisfaction of power needs, shows that 40% of employees are satisfied, 21% are fully satisfied and 9% are completely dissatisfied. Therefore, it can be concluded that for 60% of collaborators they have the power to direct, influence and control their own activities and / or a certain group within the institution; being a way of intrinsic satisfaction for them.

Fig. 3.
figure 3

Satisfaction for equity between contribution/reward (equity theory)

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In Fig. 3, concerning the level of satisfaction with the equity between contribution/reward, it can be seen that 42% are dissatisfied, 22% satisfied and 9% totally satisfied. With this, it can be deduced that the relationship of equal result achieved equal recognition in comparison with other co-workers is not emphasized, recommending that the work be recognized equitably, to motivate staff and strengthen performance work and thus be more productive.

Fig. 4.
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Work competencies

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In Fig. 4, referring to the degree of contribution of the competences, knowledge and skills for the job, it shows that 78% of the collaborators consider that their labor competences do need a lot for their work and 22% sufficient. The aforementioned characteristics are a very important role in them, ensuring that the activities are achieved in the best way, positively favoring the work performance of each one.

Fig. 5.
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Work efficiency

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In Fig. 5, regarding the level of work efficiency, it can be seen that the majority with 66% always indicates and 27% almost always. Being able to argue that more than 90% of employees carry out their activities within the scheduled time, which benefits good individual performance.

Fig. 6.
figure 6

Motivation and job performance

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In Fig. 6, about the implementation of motivational strategies to improve job performance, 67% of employees indicate that they fully agree, also 21% agree and 12% are neutral. Consequently, the proposal of motivation strategies would allow collaborators to feel valued, identify with the institution, feel part of a good work environment and as a result an effective work performance.

5 Conclusions and Recommendations

In today’s world, staff motivation has become a key element for adequate work performance to exist, allowing organizations to fulfill that mission and vision outlined for the benefit of society.

In this research, the motivation and work performance of the personnel in the Government of the province of Santa Elena has been analyzed.

Being able to conclude regarding the motivation of the staff at work, on the one hand, that more than 80% of the collaborators have a high level of satisfaction with the remuneration received with which they manage to cover their own physiological needs and that of his family nucleus; very closely with 60% of collaborators they would be satisfied of being able to have the power to direct, influence and control their own activities and/or a certain group within the institution. On the other hand, it can be seen that 42% are dissatisfied in the relationship of the same result achieved the same recognition compared to other co-workers.

Consequently, concluding about job performance that 100% of employees consider that their skills, knowledge and abilities do contribute significantly to their daily work; Furthermore, 90% of employees always mention carrying out their activities within the scheduled time. In this way, 88% of employees mention that they fully agree that the implementation of a plan of motivational strategies would allow improving job performance.

Finally, it is possible to establish that in a general way that there is an adequate level of work motivation in most of the collaborators in relation to remuneration and the need for power, however, it would be necessary to look for alternatives that allow to reduce the perception of lack of equity between contributions and rewards obtained for work performed compared to other co-workers. And that in relation to job performance in general, employees would be fulfilling their obligations efficiently and effectively. In short, there is an adequate degree of motivation, which would positively influence the work performance of the employees of the Government of the province of Santa Elena.

It can be recommended according to the results obtained that the authorities of the Government of the province of Santa Elena, through their human resources department, can implement a plan of motivational strategies that allows maintaining job satisfaction in some and improving job satisfaction in others, emphasizing that it becomes a key factor in the construction of human capital, all with the purpose of positively influencing the commitment and work performance of all members of the institution.

The present investigation was limited in some cases by the limited availability of time on the part of the collaborators of the Government of the province of Santa Elena. Future research could compare and contribute to the discussion of results in different contexts regarding the level of motivation and its influence on job performance. In addition, the recommendations are expected to make viable and improve work motivation in all members of the institution.