Cultivating the Filipino Workers’ Motivation and Engagement

• Main Author: Teng-Calleja, Mendiola
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2021
• Subjects: motivation; employee engagement; Philippines; leadership; Industrial and Organizational Psychology; Leadership Studies; Psychology
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/psychology-faculty-pubs/305; https://unipress.ateneo.edu/product/filipino-leadership-stories-and-science
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

“Why do you work so hard?” “Who do you get up for in the morning?” “Why do you put up with your job?” These are questions we ask ourselves and others when we try to understand why we work and why we try to do a good job. Answers to these questions are important information for leaders since motivation and engagement are highly desirable work attitudes among employees. For Filipinos; a common answer would be for our family. There are also those who would say it is because of the sense of fulfillment they get from the job or the impact they make on others . There are many reasons why people work and stay in their jobs and workplaces. Most of the time; these reasons can be understood from the worker’s contextual and even cultural realities. The chapter will present insights from researches on what motivates Filipino employees and what contributes to their job and organizational engagement. It will also describe how Filipino workers’ contextual and cultural experiences shape motivation and engagement.