How to Motivate Employees Located in a Foreign Country

My Expectations based on Maslow’s Hierarchy 

Abraham Maslow developed the Hierarchy of Needs theory that is always used by many organizations as a basis of motivating employees. The theory is mainly based on the assumption that human beings have a hierarchy of needs starting from physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization ( Lee & Raschke, 2016) . Based on Maslow’s theory, safety is the most important thing for me regarding employment. Importantly, I value physical and environmental safety. I would not be motivated to work in a place where I am exposed to a lot of physical safety risks. I believe that the organization gives physical safety of employees the top priority than even emotional safety. I would not be productive in a workplace where I fear for my safety. At the same time, environmental safety should be maintained in the workplace, including a favorable working condition. Although emotional safety is essential, it is not as critical as a physical and environmental safety in the workplace. 

Also, I highly value self-actualization, especially concerning career growth and development. I would not want to work in an organization where I do not see the possibility of getting a promotion or moving to higher management positions. Therefore, I expect my organization to provide me with training and development opportunities that can enable me to actualize or realize my career dreams. I am highly motivated when I see the opportunity for growth and achieving my dreams. However, I believe that this is only possible after meeting my basic or physiological needs. As a result, I expect better pay that I can use to meet all my basic needs. 

Motivating Employees Located in a Foreign Country 

The modern world is highly globalized, and companies now hire employees from different countries or culture. Many workplaces are now culturally diverse, especially in international companies. To improve productivity through motivation, companies must address the challenge of cultural difference ( Zhao & Pan, 2017) . Therefore, as an executive of a car manufacturing company, I must find effective ways of motivating employees who are allocated in foreign countries. The motivation strategies should be sensitive to the needs of employees from different cultures. 

According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, some human needs are common to employees across cultures ( Zhao & Pan, 2017) . The needs that are related to the working environment, safety, and relationships between colleagues are common across cultures. Thus, to motivate employees who are located in a foreign country, I will first provide a safe, secure, and favorable working environment for all employees. I will ensure that the safety needs of employees are satisfied completely to enhance performance or productivity. Secondly, I will enhance the social needs of employees in a foreign country by ensuring that they have an effective relationship with one another. I will achieve this by encouraging teamwork and the provision of joint solutions to emerging problems or issues in the workplace. Besides, I will meet the physiological needs of employees through better and competitive remuneration and benefits. 

However, some needs differ across cultures. For instance, employees from individualism culture like France are likely to be motivated when they are provided with opportunities for personal growth and development. On the other hand, employees from a collectivist culture like Japan are motivated by encouraging teamwork and enhancing the feeling of belonging ( Zhao & Pan, 2017) . As a result, I will motivate employees from individualist culture through promotions to higher management positions. To motivate employee from countries like Japan where personal social status and prestige are not necessary, I will organize them to work as a team in accomplishing the assigned tasks. Cross-cultural employee motivation strategies will improve the performance of the manufacturing company. 

References 

Lee, M. T., & Raschke, R. L. (2016). Understanding employee motivation and organizational performance: Arguments for a set-theoretic approach. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge , 1 (3), 162-169. 

Zhao, B., & Pan, Y. (2017). Cross-Cultural Employee Motivation in International Companies. Journal of Human Resource and Sustainability Studies , 5 (04).