Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Mayo’s Hawthorne Effect research, Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory; there are countless more studies, like the one outlined in this blog, and theories that attempt to decode employee motivation.

It is often said that employees are an organization’s most valuable assets. Therefore, keeping these ‘assets’ motivated has become crucial. Demotivation leads to absenteeism, higher labor turnover, deteriorated staff morale, altogether causing lost productivity and essentially lost revenue.

Google seems to be the undoubted exemplar of a motivational workplace. Aside from its spectacular amenities available to its employees, FREE OF CHARGE, its corporate culture also plays a major role in fostering such motivation. Scott Henry has mentioned hiring the right people is the first step to creating a satisfied and harmonious workforce. And “right” is measured against Google’s corporate culture. As a company that considers “Googleyness” as a criterion when hiring, the organizational hierarchy is presumably fairly flat. This encourages creativity and teamwork within each level of the hierarchy. In addition, reduced power distance also fosters a greater sense of cohesiveness within the corporation.

All in all, there is a multitude of dimensions to the concept of motivation. Hardware is one, as Google has perfectly exhibited, but the intangible aspects are also equally, if not more, important.

External blog: <http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/11/what-would-make-you-more-satisfied-and-productive-at-work/>

Images from:

<http://www.bangkokstartup.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/bangkokstartup_googledublin01.jpg>

<http://smashinglive.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/google_dublin_office_20.jpg>