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.

 People learn to accept and seek responsibility

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.

 

 Motivator factors increase job satisfaction:

 Achievement, Recognition, Work itself, Responsibility, Advancement, Growth

 Hygiene factors are those whose absence can create job dissatisfaction:

 Supervision, Company policy, working conditions, Salary, Peer relationship,   Security

4.     Three Needs Theory

 Need for Achievement

 Need for Achievement, Personal responsibility, Feedback, Moderate risk

 Need For Power

 Influence, Competitive

 Need for Affiliation

           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.