MOTIVATION

MOTIVATION


Motivation is the inner drive that directs a person’s behavior toward goals. Motivation can be defined as a process which energizes, directs and sustains human behavior. It refers to person’s desire to do the best possible job or to exert the maximum effort to perform assigned tasks. An important feature of motivation is that it is behavior directed towards goal.


Motivational Theories

Motivation theories seek to explain why employees are motivated by and satisfied with one type of work than another. It is essential that mangers have a basic understanding of work motivation because highly motivated employees are more likely to produce a superior quality product or service than employee who lack motivation.

A) Maslow’s Need Hierarchy

Abraham Maslow organized five major types of human needs into a hierarchy .The need hierarchy illustrates Maslow’s conception of people satisfying their needs in a specified order, from bottom to top.

The needs, in ascending order, are:

1. Physiological (food, water, and shelter.)

2. Safety or security (protection against threat and deprivation)

3. Social (friendship, affection, belonging, and love)

4. Ego (independence, achievement, freedom, status, recognition, and self-esteem)

5. Self-actualization (realizing one’s full potential; becoming everything one is capable of being.)

According to Maslow, people are motivated to satisfy the lower needs before they try to satisfy the higher need. Also, once a need is satisfied it is no longer a powerful motivator. Maslow’s hierarchy, however, is a simplistic and not altogether accurate theory of human motivation. For example, not everyone progresses through the five needs in hierarchical order. But Maslow makes three important contributions. First, he identifies important need categories, which can help managers create effective positive rein forcers. Second,it is helpful to think of two general levels of needs, in which lower-level needs must be satisfied before higher-level needs become important. Third, Maslow sensitized managers to the importance of personal growth and self-actualization.

B) Existence Relatedness Growth (ERG) Theory

Alderfer focuses on three needs: existence, relatedness, and growth.

Existence needs are similar to Maslow’s physiological needs, and to the physical components of Maslow’s security needs.

Relatedness needs are those that require interpersonal interaction to satisfy the needs for things like prestige and esteem from others.

Growth needs are similar to Maslow’s needs for self-esteem and self-actualization.

C) McGregor’s Theory-X and Theory-Y

McGregor’s Theory-X represented the traditional management view that employees are lazy, was uninterested in work, and needed to be prodded to perform.

In contrast his theory Y viewed employees as creative, complex, and mature individuals interested in meaningful work.

McGregor believed that under the right circumstances, employees would willingly contribute their ingenuity and their talents for the benefits of the organization. He suggested that the mangers motivate employees by giving them the opportunity to develop their talents more fully and by giving them the freedom to choose the methods they would use to achieve organizational goals. In McGregor’s view the mangers role was not to manipulate employees but to align their needs with needs of the organization so that employees would regulate their own actions and performance. These insights lead researches to investigate the origins and processes of motivation more closely.

D) Expectancy Theory

Expectancy theory states that a person’s motivation to exert a certain level of effort is a function of three things: expectancy (E), instrumentality (I), and valance (V). Motivation = E x I x V.

“E” is the person’s expectancy that his or her effort will lead to performance,

“I” represents the perceived relationship between successful performance and obtaining the reward, and

“V” refers to the perceived value the person attaches to the reward.

E) Reinforcement Theory

In 1911, psychologist Edward Thorndike formulated the law effect: Behavior that is followed by positive consequences probably will be repeated. This powerful law of behavior laid the foundation for country investigations into the effects of the positive consequences, called rein forcers that motivate behavior.Organizational behavior modification attempts to people’s actions.Four key consequences of behavior either encourage or discourage people’s behavior

1. Positive Reinforcement- applying a valued consequence that increases the likelihood that the person will repeat the behavior that led to it. Examples of positive reinforcers include compliments, letters of commendation, favorable performance evaluations, and pay raises. Equally important, jobs can be positively reinforcing. Performing well on interesting, challenging, or enriched jobs is much more reinforcing, and therefore motivating,then performing well on jobs that are routine and monotonous.

2. Negative Reinforcement- removing or withholding an undesirable consequence. For example, a manager takes an employee (or a school takes a student) off probation because of improved performance. Frequent threatening memos admonished people to achieve every one of their many performance goals

3. Punishment- administering an aversive consequence. Examples include criticizing or shouting at an employee, assigning an unappealing task, and sending a worker home without pay. Negative reinforcement can involve the threat of punishment, but not delivering it when employees perform satisfactorily. Punishment is the actual delivery of the aversive consequence.

4. Extinction –withdrawing or failing or failing to provide a reinforcing consequence. When this occurs motivation is reduced and the behavior is extinguished, or eliminated. Examples include not giving a compliment for a job well done, forgetting to say thanks for a favor, or setting impossible performance goals so that the person never experiences success. The first two consequences, positive and negative reinforcement, are positive for the person receiving them:The person either gains something or avoids something negative. Therefore, the person who experiences these consequences will be motivated to behave in the ways that led to the reinforcement. The last two consequences, punishment and extinction, are negative outcomes for the person receiving them: Motivation to repeat the behavior that led to the undesirable results will be reduced.Thus, effective managers give positive reinforcement to their high-performing people and negative reinforcement to low performance. They also punish or extinguish poor performance and other unwanted behavior.

F) Herzberg’s Two-Factor Approach

Herzberg Two-Factor theory divides Maslow’s Hierarchy into a lower-level and a higher-level set of needs,and suggests that the best way to provide motivation for an employee is to offer to satisfy the person’s higher-order needs, ego and self-actualization. Herzberg said that lower-order needs, or hygiene factors, are different from higher-order needs, or motivators. He maintains that adding more hygiene factors to the job is a very bad way to motivate because lower-order needs are quickly satisfied.

G) McClelland (Needs for Affiliation, Power, and Achievement) Theory

McClelland agrees with Herzberg that higher-level needs are most important at work. He believes the needs for affiliation, power, and achievement are most important. He and his associates use the Thematic Apperception Test to identify a person’s needs for achievement, power, and affiliation. People with a high need for achievement strive for success, are highly motivated to accomplish a challenging task or goal,prefer tasks that have a reasonable chance for success, and avoid tasks that are either too easy or too difficult. People with a high need for power enjoy roles requiring persuasion. People with a strong need for affiliations are highly motivated to maintain strong, warm relationships.

H) Adam’s Equity Theory

Adams’s equity theory assumes that people have a need for fairness at work, and therefore, value and seek it. People are motivated to maintain a balance between what they perceive as their inputs or contributions and their rewards as compared to others. This theory seems to work when people feel they are underpaid,but inequity due to overpayment does not seem to have the positive effects on either quantity or quality that Adams’s equity theory would predict.