Motivation

A parallel example of the story that I observed, shows employees perceive their jobs differently in an organization. When I was a teenager, my very first job was  working as a cashier/barista/baker at a small bakery/cafe  in West village. There were about 10 people working at the cafe without a manager. Everyone had different motivations and reasons working at the place. Most of them were taking the job as an extra income source since the wage was low. People called it " an easy job" as my trainer told me
that " All you have to do is making coffee and keeping the cash register." The job consisted lots of manual labor such as cleaning, making drinks, baking and lifting. In fact, I felt physically tired of standing and working long hours. However, I always felt happy going to work  every morning. During the happiest time of my life, I met all kinds of people from all over the world. Probably, as a new immigrant to NYC, I was amazed to encounter so many interesting people with endless stories. The best part of the work was that I could play any music I like in the cafe. Early morning, I would bake pastries listening to my favorite music alone, then customers would come in and enjoy and have pleasant conversations. I felt that all my lower-order needs were satisfied. However, others were getting dissatisfied with the job, since there was no manager, we had to take care of the whole management. The big boss who used to visit the store occasionally,  did not even try to recognize that some employees were doing manager's job. However, the employees including myself still liked the work as we had autonomy and great interpersonal relations. For instance, we had a very flexible schedule, and individual freedom.
The task itself at the work was a simple repetitive work, however it gave us an opportunity for personal growth in another way . I remember that many employees were ESL students who barely spoke English in the beginning. Later on, all of them improved their English dramatically because of plenty of opportunities to have conversation in English at work. Especially, I felt as if I was working and learning things at the same time which may not be invisible outcomes, but great experiences and personal growth. Unfortunately, when recession came, the store had to be closed due to the financial crisis. Everyone was so sad to lose the work because it was the place where we found a lot of good friends and joy. It might not be difficult to find another bakery job for the employees, but the one with open space for sociable interactions were.
I would like to influence employees by making them realize how everyone in the store is important for the harmonious operation. Making them happy will make customers happy too. Maintaing and improving hygiene factors will be the keys to sitisfy them at work. Recognizing and praising good outcomes of employees will also give employess good reasons to keep hard working. I believe that most people are motivated depending on their backgrounds or needs. They tend to find their own motivations in any kinds of jobs. I think being motivated at work is one's choice of thinking more than employers making them to be motivated.