Motivation
Motivation is a psychological feature that induces an organism to act towards a
desired goal and elicits,
controls, and sustains certain goal-directed behaviors. It can be considered a
driving force; a psychological one that compels or reinforces an action toward
a desired goal. For example, hunger is a motivation
that elicits a desire to eat. Motivation is the purpose or psychological cause
of an action.
Theories of
Motivation
1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need
Elton Mayo and the Hawthorne Studies discovered that the informal organization, social norms,
acceptance, and sentiments of the group determined individual work behaviour.
(Mayo 1933. The Human
Problems of an Industrial Civilization)
Maslow, McGregor, Herzberg, and many others stressed the
importance of social relations in organizations, understanding workers and
managers as human beings with social and emotional needs.
(Abraham
Maslow, Motivation & Personality 1954)
Physiological needs
Physiological
needs are the physical requirements for human survival. If these requirements
are not met, the human body cannot function properly and will ultimately fail.
Physiological needs are thought to be the most important; they should be met
first.
Air,
water, and food are metabolic requirements for survival in all animals,
including humans. Clothing and shelter provide necessary protection from the elements. While maintaining an adequate birth rate
shapes the intensity of the human sexual instinct, sexual competition may also
shape said instinct.
Safety needs
With
their physical needs relatively satisfied, the individual's safety needs take
precedence and dominate behavior. In the absence of physical safety – due to
war, natural disaster, family
violence, childhood
abuse, etc. – people may (re-)experience post-traumatic stress disorder or transgenerational trauma. In the
absence of economic safety – due to economic crisis and lack of work
opportunities – these safety needs manifest themselves in ways such as a
preference for job
security, grievance procedures for protecting the individual from
unilateral authority, savings accounts, insurance policies, reasonable
disability accommodations, etc. This level is more likely to be found in
children because they generally have a greater need to feel safe.
Safety
and Security needs include:
·
Personal security
·
Financial security
·
Health and well-being
·
Safety net against accidents/illness and their adverse impacts
Love and belonging
After
physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third level of human needs is
interpersonal and involves feelings of belongingness. This
need is especially strong in childhood and can override the need for safety as
witnessed in children who cling to abusive parents. Deficiencies within this
level of Maslow's hierarchy – due to hospitalism, neglect, shunning, ostracism, etc. –
can impact the individual's ability to form and maintain emotionally significant
relationships in general, such as:
·
Friendship
·
Intimacy
·
Family
According
to Maslow, humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance among their
social groups, regardless if these groups are large or small. For example, some
large social groups may include clubs, co-workers, religious groups,
professional organizations, sports teams, and gangs. Some examples of small
social connections include family members, intimate partners, mentors,
colleagues, and confidants. Humans need to love and be loved – both sexually
and non-sexually – by others. Many
people become susceptible to loneliness, social
anxiety, and clinical depression in the
absence of this love or belonging element. This need for belonging may overcome
the physiological and security needs, depending on the strength of the peer
pressure.
Esteem
All
humans have a need to feel respected; this includes the need to have self-esteem and self-respect. Esteem presents the typical
human desire to be accepted and valued by others. People often engage in a
profession or hobby to gain recognition. These activities give the person a
sense of contribution or value. Low self-esteem or an inferiority complex may
result from imbalances during this level in the hierarchy. People with low
self-esteem often need respect from others; they may feel the need to seek fame
or glory. However, fame or glory will not help the person to build their
self-esteem until they accept who they are internally. Psychological imbalances
such as depression can hinder the person from obtaining a higher
level of self-esteem or self-respect.
Most
people have a need for stable self-respect and self-esteem. Maslow noted two
versions of esteem needs: a "lower" version and a "higher"
version. The "lower" version of esteem is the need for respect from
others. This may include a need for status, recognition, fame, prestige, and
attention. The "higher" version manifests itself as the need for
self-respect. For example, the person may have a need for strength, competence,
mastery, self-confidence,
independence, and freedom. This "higher" version takes precedence
over the "lower" version because it relies on an inner competence
established through experience. Deprivation of these needs may lead to an
inferiority complex, weakness, and helplessness.
Maslow
states that while he originally thought the needs of humans had strict
guidelines, the "hierarchies are interrelated rather than sharply
separated". This
means that esteem and the subsequent levels are not strictly separated;
instead, the levels are closely related.
Self-actualization
"What
a man can be, he must be. This
quotation forms the basis of the perceived need for self-actualization. This
level of need refers to what a person's full potential is and the realization
of that potential. Maslow describes this level as the desire to accomplish
everything that one can, to become the most that one can be Individuals may perceive or focus on this
need very specifically. For example, one individual may have the strong desire
to become an ideal parent. In another, the desire may be expressed
athletically. For others, it may be expressed in paintings, pictures, or
inventions. As
previously mentioned, Maslow believed that to understand this level of need,
the person must not only achieve the previous needs, but master them.
2.
Theory X and Theory Y
Theory X
and Theory Y are theories of human motivation created and developed by Douglas McGregor at the MIT Sloan
School of Management in the 1960s that
have been used in human resource
management, organizational
behavior, organizational
communication and organizational
development.
Theory X and Theory Y have to do with the perceptions
managers hold on their employees, not the way they generally behave. It is
attitude not attributes.
Theory X
In this theory, management assumes employees are inherently
lazy and will avoid work if they can and that they inherently dislike work. As
a result of this, management believes that workers need to be closely
supervised and comprehensive systems of controls developed.
Theory Y
In this theory, management assumes employees may be
ambitious and self-motivated and exercise self-control. It is
believed that employees enjoy their mental and physical work duties. According
to them work is as natural as play. They possess the ability for creative
problem solving, but their talents are underused in most organizations. Given
the proper conditions, theory Y managers believe that employees will learn to
seek out and accept responsibility and to exercise self-control and
self-direction in accomplishing objectives to which they are committed. A
Theory Y manager believes that, given the right conditions, most people will
want to do well at work. They believe that the satisfaction of doing a good job
is a strong motivation.
Theory
X Assumptions:
People inherently
dislike work
People must be controlled to do work to
achieve objectives
People prefer to be directed
Theory
Y Assumptions:
People view work as
being as natural as play and rest
People will exercise self-direction and
-control towards achieving.
3.
Two-factor theory
The two-factor
theory (also known as Herzberg's
motivation-hygiene theory and dual-factor
theory) states that there are certain
factors in the workplace that cause job satisfaction, while a separate set of factors cause dissatisfaction. It was developed
bypsychologist Frederick
Herzberg, who theorized that job
satisfaction and job dissatisfaction act independently of each other.
The two-factor theory developed from data
collected by Herzberg from interviews with 203 engineers and accountants in the Pittsburgharea, chosen because of their professions'
growing importance in the business world. Regarding the collection process:
“
|
Briefly, we asked our respondents to describe periods in their
lives when they were exceedingly happy and unhappy with their jobs. Each respondent
gave as many "sequences of events" as he could that met certain
criteria—including a marked change in feeling, a beginning and an end, and
contained some substantive description other than feelings and
interpretations...
The proposed hypothesis appears verified. The
factors on the right that led to satisfaction (achievement, interest in the
work, responsibility, and advancement) are mostly unipolar; that is, they
contribute very little to job dissatisfaction. Conversely, the dis-satisfiers
(company policy and administrative practices, supervision, interpersonal
relationships, working conditions, and salary) contribute very little to job
satisfaction.
|
”
|
From
analyzing these interviews, he found that job characteristics related to what
an individual does — that is, to the nature of
the work one performs — apparently have the capacity to gratify such needs as
achievement, competency, status, personal worth, and self-realization, thus
making him happy and satisfied. However, the absence of such gratifying job
characteristics does not appear to lead to unhappiness and dissatisfaction.
Instead, dissatisfaction results from unfavorable assessments of such
job-related factors as company policies, supervision, technical problems,
salary, interpersonal relations on the job, and working conditions. Thus, if
management wishes to increase satisfaction on the job, it should be concerned
with the nature of the work itself — the opportunities it presents for gaining
status, assuming responsibility, and for achieving self-realization. If, on the
other hand, management wishes to reduce dissatisfaction, then it must focus on
the job environment — policies, procedures, supervision, and working
conditions. If management is equally concerned with both, then
managers must give attention to both sets of job factors.
4. Three Needs Theory
Acceptance and Friendship, Cooperative
Current Issues in Motivation
A. Cross-cultural challenges of motivation
B. Challenges managers face in motivating unique
groups of workers
C. Open-book management and employee recognition, pay-for-performance,
and stock option programs
Several significant workplace issues are important to look at in
understanding motivation.
A. Motivating a Diverse Workforce.
One of these current issues is motivating a diverse workforce. To
maximize motivation among todayÕs diverse workforce, managers need to think in
terms of flexibility. To motivate employees with diverse needs a
diverse array of rewards are needed.
B. Flexible Working Schedules.
1. A compressed workweek is a
workweek comprised of four 10-hour days.
2. Flexible work hours (flextime) describes a scheduling system in which employees are
required to work a number of hours a week, but are free, within limits, to vary
the hours of work.
3. Job sharing is the practice of having two or more people split a
40-hour-a-week job.
4. Telecommuting allows
employees to do their work at home by linking their computers to the office.
a. The advantages of telecommuting are the decrease
in the time and stress of commuting and the increase in flexibility in coping
with family demands.
b. The drawbacks revolve around the lack of social contact, the
reward system used, and the separation of organization work and home work.
C. Specific
Workforce.
1. Motivating professionals, typical employee today is likely to be
highly trained professional with a college degree. They have a strong and
long-term commitment to their field of expertise. Their loyalty is often to
their profession not their employer.
2. Contingent workers, these represent part time, contract, and other
forms of temporary workers. These workers may not identify with the
organization or display the commitment that other employees do.
3. Low skilled, minimum-wage employees, additional money may not be
an option, managers might look to employee recognition programs for these
employees.
Managers can design appropriate rewards programs
by using one of the following;
1. employee recognition programs
2. open book management
3. pay-for-performance programs
4. stock option programs
Several suggestions for motivating employees are
given and are based on what is currently known about motivation.
A. Recognize individual differences in
terms of needs, attitudes, personality, and other important individual factors.
B. Match people
to jobs by identifying what needs are important to individuals and
trying to provide jobs that allow them to fulfill those needs.
C. Use goals,
because the literature on goal setting suggests that managers should ensure
that employees have hard, specific goals and feedback on how well they are
doing in pursuit of those goals.
D. Ensure that
goals are perceived as attainable. Employees who see goals as
unattainable will reduce their levels of effort.
E. Individualize
rewards. Because employees have different needs, what is a reward and
reinforcer to one may not work for another.
F. Link rewards
to performance by making rewards contingent on desired levels of
performance.
G. Check the
system for equity. Employees should perceive that the rewards or
outcomes are equal to the inputs given.
H. Use
recognition. Using recognition is a low-cost means to reward employees and
most employees consider it valuable.
I. Do not ignore money. The
allocation of performance-based increases, piecework bonuses, and other pay
incentives is important in determining employee motivation.
Summary
Understanding and predicting employee motivation
continues to be one of the most popular areas of management research. Today,
studies of employee motivation is influenced by several significant workplace
issues-cross cultural challenges, motivating unique groups of workers, and
designing appropriate reward programs.
