Influence of selected macroeconomic indicators on employee motivation

Motivation is considered one of the most important prerequisites for the success and effectiveness of the resulting performances. Usually, we meet only with a perspective of employee motivation from inside the company. However, the external environment, i.e. macro-environment, also influences the motivation of employees. We decided to focus on exploring how macroeconomic indicators evolution affects employee motivation. By means of the research conducted in Slovakia during the period from 2008 to 2019 on a sample of more than 30,000 respondents, we define the dependence of selected macroeconomic indicators and employee motivation. The research focuses on the analysis of average annual wage and household debt influence on the most important employees’ motivational factors. Based on our findings, we can state that macroeconomic indicators affect the importance of motivational factors in Slovakia. Especially, the average annual wage strongly influences the six motivational factors (communication at the workplace, duties and type of work, working hours, working environment, superior approach, psychological burden). The results of the research also show that the seven motivational factors (atmosphere at the workplace, good team, communication at the workplace, working hours, working environment, superior approach, psychological burden) strongly depend on the macroeconomic indicator of household debt. Therefore, when creating incentive programs, business managers in Slovakia should take into account not only the effects of the company’s microenvironment on motivation but also the effects of the macro-environment and thus macroeconomic changes in the state. The role of a manager is to keep balance between external environment influence on employee motivation and internal actions. The paper presents inspiring ideas in a field of employee motivation and the influence of external environment on motivation