CHAPTER 2

Literature review
2.1 What is motivation?

Motivation in psychology, the intention of achieving a goal, leading to goal-directed behavior.

Some human activity seems to be best explained by postulating an inner directing drive. While a
drive is often considered to be an innate biological mechanism that determines the organism's
activity, a motive is defined as an innate mechanism modified by learning. In this view human
drives serve to satisfy biological needs, such as hunger, while motives serve to satisfy needs that
are not directly tied to the body requirements, such as companionship. Learned motives are
sometimes linked with drives. e.g., the motivation to achieve social status is often viewed as a
derivative of the sex drive. Motives are sometimes classed as deficiency motives, such as the
need to remove the physiological deficiency of hunger or thirst, or abundancy motives, i.e.,
motives to attain greater satisfaction and stimulation. American psychologist Abraham Maslow’s
has classified motives into five developmental levels, with the satisfaction of physiological needs
most important and esteem and self-actualization needs least important. According to Maslow,
the most basic needs must be satisfied before successively higher needs can emerge. Cognitive
psychologists such as Albert Bandura have suggested that individual mental processes, such as
beliefs, play an important role in motivation, through the expectation of certain reinforcements
for certain behaviors. Studies have shown that humans and other animals are likely to seek
sensory stimulation, even where there may be no foreseeable goal. In recent years, the use of
various tools for brain scanning has worked toward the discovery of a neurological basis for
motivation.

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition

2.1.1 The Importance of Motivation

Motivation can have an effect on the output of your business and concerns both quantity and
quality. See it this way: your business relies heavily on the efficiency of your production staff to
make sure that products are manufactured in numbers that meet demand for the week. If these
employees lack the motivation to produce completed products to meet the demand, then you face
a problem leading to disastrous consequences. The number of scenarios is extreme but you get
the general picture.

Your employees are your greatest asset and no matter how efficient your technology and
equipment may be, it is no match for the effectiveness and efficiency of your staff.
Motiva0tion involves getting the members of the group to pull weight effectively, to give their
loyalty to the group, to carry out properly the purpose of the organization. The following results
may be expected if the employees are properly motivated.

 The workforce will be better satisfied if the management provides them with opportunities
to fulfill their physiological and psychological needs. The workers will cooperate
voluntarily with the management and will contribute their maximum towards the goals of
the enterprise.
 Workers will tend to be as efficient as possible by improving upon their skills and
knowledge so that they are able to contribute to the progress of the organization. This will
also result in increased productivity.
 The rates of labor’s turnover and absenteeism among the workers will be low.
 There will be good human relations in the organization as friction among the workers
themselves and between the workers and the management will decrease.
 The number of complaints and grievances will come down. Accident will also be low.
 There will be increase in the quantity and quality of products. Wastage and scrap will be
less. Better quality of products will also increase the public image of the business.

BizHelp24.com 19/10/2005
2.1.2 Motivational Techniques

Various theories of motivation discussed above have implications on management practices .in
applying motivational theories at work place. Applying motivational theories at work place, both
intrinsic and extrinsic aspects of the job must be considered. Intrinsic factors are directly related
to the contents of job whereas extrinsic factors are related to the environment in which the job is
performed. Some of the motivational techniques that can be used by managers are:-

 Motivational job design

 Quality of work life
 Financial and non- Financial incentives

Motivational job design:-every employee spends a significant amount of his time at the work
place executing the tasks, activities and duties involved in jobs. Traditional job designing
produced job alienation resulting into monotony, boredom, meaninglessness, powerlessness and
absenteeism.

1) Individual Financial Incentives:-

 Performance based pay:-

Performance based pay is provided by same organizations to managerial personnel whose

contribution cannot be measured quantitatively on day to day basis. Annual pay increase of such
employees is determined on the basis of performance.

 Productivity:-

Linked incentives, managements of several organizations provide productivity linked incentives

to workers in the production department whose out put can be measured quantitatively.

2) Collective Financial Incentives:-

 Profit Sharing:-
Profit sharing is an arrangement by which employees receive a share of the profits of the
organization.

 Co partnerships:-

Under the co partnership employees become shareholders of a company and may exercise
control over it as other shareholders do.

 Stock option:-

Under this scheme, employees are offered shares of a company in such a way that they enjoy
long-term benefits due to appreciation in share prices with the progress of the company.

 Retirement Benefits:-

Managements of several organizations offer retirement benefits of different types of their

employees.
a) Provident fund scheme:-

Under the scheme employer as well as employees contribute certain percentage of salary of
employees to a common fund which is refunded to the employees on their retirement from the
job along with a reasonable interest from Provident Fund Authorities with whom the fund is
saved.
b) Pension scheme:-

Under this scheme employee is given a certain percentage of his wages or salaries after the
retirement of employee from the job.
c) Gratuity:-

Under scheme on ex-gratia payment acknowledging the long tenure of service is made by the
employer to his employees.

 Non-Financial Incentives:-
Though a man hankers after money and it is an important motivator, it is not the only motivator
and it is not always motivator. After satisfying primary and secondary needs of a man and after
raising his standard of living, it ceases to work as a motivator. Its is observed that in spite of
satisfying wage rate, bonus schemes and retirement benefits may employees do not take interest
in their work.

1) Individual Non-Financial Incentives:-

 Status:-
Status, in the organizational context means the ranking of position, rights and duties in the
formal organizational structure. Status is a strong motivator as it is extremely important for most
of the people. Companies relate the status of employees their abilities and aspirations.

 Promotion:-
If promotions to higher positions are given to employees on the basis of merit, skill, sincerity and
abilities employees strive hard to give what is best of them. Thus promotions to de serving
candidates motivates employees to higher their performance.

 Responsibility:-
People can also be motivated by entrusting them with higher responsibility. The employees feel
that the management has imposed its confidence in them and they must prove to be worthy of
such confidence by shouldering higher responsibility. This assignment of higher responsibility
also works as an incentive to individuals.

 Making job pleasant and interesting:-

Managements design the job to make them more enjoyable and pleasant through the satisfaction
if their instincts. It creates interest in work and motivates the employees to perform better. Job
enlargement and job enrichment techniques make the job more pleasant and interesting.

 Recognition of work:-
A worker gets satisfaction when his work is appreciated by his superior. Praise,
acknowledgement and recognition for the work done is a strong motivation for the employees.
Praise can do what money cannot do Recognition means acknowledgement with a show of
appreciation. When such recognition is given to the work performed, the employees feel
motivated to perform work at similar or even higher level.

 Job-security:-
Employees with a sense of security of job show keen interest, enterprising initiative and produce
better results as they know that their welfare is closely related to the welfare of the organization.
They stop worrying and concentrate on work.

2) Collective Nonfinancial Incentives:-

 Social Importance of Work :-
Some organizations like banks, insurance companies, railways etc. may motivate the employees
by convincing them about the social worth of their service.

 Team spirit:-
Team work is a coordinated action by a comparative small group is regular spirit where in
members contribute responsibility and enthusiastically towards the team task.

 Informal groups:-
When employees work together they develop a sort of affiliation among themselves. They create
some informal groups at work place.

2.1.3 Determinants of Motivation

Traditionally it is believed that employees are motivated by the opportunity to make as such
money as possible and will act rationally to maximize their earnings. The assumption is that
money, because what it can buy, is the most important motivator of all people.

Three types of forces generally influence human behavior

 Forces operating within the individual,
 Forces operating within the organization and
 Forces operating in the environment.

 The Individual: Human needs are both numerous and complex. Some of the needs cannot
be described and identified because people hide their real needs under the cover of socially
accepted behavior. Further, each person is different and a variety of items may prove to be
motivating, depending upon the needs of the individual, the situation the individual is in and
what rewards the individual expects for the work done. It is the duty of the manager to match
individual needs and expectations to the type of rewards available in the job setting.

 The Organization: The climate in the organization must be conducive to human

performance. Climate plays an important part in determining worker’s motivation. The climate in
an organization is determined by a number of variables such as its leadership style, autonomy
enjoyed by members, growth prospects, emotional support from members, reward structure.

 The environment: A worker does not live in two separate worlds, one side the factory and
the other outside it. The troubles and pleasures of off-the-job life cannot be put aside when
reporting for work in the morning, nor can factory matters be dropped when returning home after
work. Culture, norms, customs, images and attributes accorded by society to particular jobs,
professions and occupations and the worker’s home life- all play a strong motivational role. The
factors such as social status and social acceptance play an important role in shaping the
motivations of people.

2.1.4 Process of Motivation

1. Identification of need
2. Tension
3. Course of action
4. Result –Positive/Negative
5. Feed back

2.1.5 Objectives of Motivation

1) The purpose of motivation is to create condition in which people are willing to work
with zeal, initiative. Interest, and enthusiasm, with a high personal and group moral
satisfaction with a sense of responsibility.
2) To increase loyalty against company.
3) For improve discipline and with pride and confidence in cohesive manner so that the
goal of an organization are achieved effectively.
4) Motivation techniques utilized to stimulate employee growth.
5) For the motivation you can buy man’s time. Physical presence at a given place.
6) You can even buy a measured number of skilled muscular motions per hour or day.
7) Performance results from the interaction of physical, financial and human resource.
8) For the achieve a desire rate of production.

2.1.6 Basic Characteristics of Motivation

 Effort. This refers to the strength of a person's work-related behavior.

 Persistence. This refers to the persistence that individual’s exhibit in applying effort to
their work tasks.
 Direction. This refers to the quality of a person's work related behavior.
 Goals. This refers to the ends towards which employees direct their effort.

2.2 Type of motivation

2.2.1 Monetary motivation

Overview: The value and importance of creativity has been well established in the business
world. The effective fostering of creativity, however, remains a somewhat elusive goal for most
organizations. Using the context of product design, we examine three factors that are likely to
have an important influence on the creativity of new product ideas: intrinsic motivation,
monetary rewards, and the accessibility of creative thinking skills. We present and test a
conceptual framework explaining the differential and interactive influences of these factors on
the two essential components of creativity - the originality and the usefulness of the end design.
Further, we identify effort and enjoyment as two variables mediating the effects of intrinsic
motivation and monetary rewards on originality and usefulness. The findings are integrated into
a discussion that clarifies the role of these factors in producing creative outcomes and highlights
their potential in the new product design process.

 Monetary Bonuses and Incentives versus Gifts & Awards:

Research on what employee’s value for rewards and recognition indicated a monetary reward
only ranked 12th in a list of items important to employees. It is true, we all need money for the
expenses of day to day living but studies indicate that when employees receive a monetary bonus
it is typically used to pay bills, expenses or purchase something that the employee needs, not
some thing they truly enjoy. Consequently money becomes a very in-personal gift.

Conversely, if you want to give a very sincere gift that not only says thanks but will help create
the loyalty, dedication and motivation you would like your employees to have, consider a gift or
award that will touch them personally. Something they will truly enjoy and use or some thing
that brings them pleasure in their leisure or family time.
Please see What Employees Want on our main menu under Recognition for more information on
this subject.

2.2.2 Effective Non-Monetary Motivation Ideas

The economic downturn has put a great deal of pressure on employers to find creative ways to
motivate employees. Gone are the days of quarterly bonuses, performance-based pay raises, and
other financial incentives that once kept noses to the grindstone. Motivating without money is a
challenging task, but it can be done with the right combination of leadership and management
skills.

While money is one of the proven ways to motivate employees, there are also other ways to
encourage your team to put their best foot forward. Here are three non-monetary motivation
techniques that are geared toward personal recognition and satisfaction.

 Paid Time Off

Your business expects to expend a certain number of dollars for payroll. One method of non-
monetary motivation is to create an incentive program that allows employees to earn paid time
off. For example, you could offer a paid day off to the sales associate who generates the most
revenue in the month of July. A paid day off is a miniscule cost to your business, and it is one of
the excellent ways to motivate a sluggish sales staff.

 Space and Status Motivation

You can use the space in your workplace and the status of your employees as a form of non-
monetary motivation. For example, in recognition of excellent customer service, you might
consider designated a special parking spot (one that is close to the front door) to be awarded each
month to an outstanding employee.
If you have a recently vacated corner office, you can host a contest to see who can generate the
most sales, who can go above and beyond the call of duty to solve a problem, or who exhibits
perfect attendance. These are simple events to coordinate, and employees will enjoy the spirit of
healthy competition. Having access to special spaces on the company property enhances their
feeling of accomplishment. These types of rewards are fast and easy ways to start motivating
without money.

 Share the Company Perks

Does your company receive incentive rewards from customers and organizations in the
community, such as tickets to concerts, free t-shirts, movie tickets or gift cards to local
restaurants? Perks like these are among the greatest forms of non-monetary motivation. Your
company receives these items at no cost, and you can turn them into rewards for employees by
passing them onto your workforce. Perhaps you want to recognize a manager for excellence or a
sales person for customer service. Sharing the company perks is a way you can start motivating
without money, and your employees will truly appreciate the gesture.
The economic downturn has most likely had a negative impact on morale in your workforce.
Motivating without money will become a necessity to keep your team engaged and active. It’s
important to develop a creative approach and find ways to motivate without dipping into
company funds. A little bit goes a long way when it comes to motivation and non-monetary
motivation is vital to the core of your small business.

2.3 Nature of Motivation

Based on the definition, we can derive its nature relevant for organizational behavior. Following
characteristics of motivation clarify its nature.

 Based on motives:
Motivation is based on individual’s motives which are internal to the individual. These motives
are in the form of feelings that the individual lacks something. In order to overcome this feeling
of lackness, he tries to behave in a manner which helps in overcoming this feeling.

 Affected by motivating:
Motivation is affected by way the individual is motivated. The act of motivating channelizes
need satisfaction. Besides, it can also activate the latent needs in the individual, that is, the needs
that are less strong and somewhat dormant, and harness them in a manner that would be
functional for the organization.

 Goal-directed behavior:
Motivation leads to goal-oriented behavior. A goal-directed behavior is one which satisfies the
causes for which behavior takes place. Motivation has profound influence on human behavior; in
the organization context, it harnesses human energy to organizational requirements.

 Related to satisfaction:
Motivation is related to satisfaction. Satisfaction refers to the contentment experiences of an
individual which he derives of need fulfillment. Thus, satisfaction is a consequence of rewards
and punishments associated with past experiences. It provides means to analyze outcomes
already experienced by the individual.

 Person motivated in totality:

A person is motivated in totality and not in part. Each individual in the organization is a self-
contained unit and his needs are interrelated. These affect hiss behavior in different ways.
Moreover, feeling of needs and their satisfaction is a continuous process. As such, these create
continuity in behavior.

 Complex process:
Motivation is a complex process; complexity emerges because of the nature of needs and the
type of behavior that is attempted to satisfy those needs. These generate complexity in
motivation process in the following ways

a) Needs are internal feelings of individuals and sometimes, even they, themselves, may not be
quite aware about their needs and the priority of these. Thus, understanding of human needs and
providing means for their satisfaction becomes difficult.

b) Even if needs are identified, the problem is not over here as a particular need may result into
different behavior from different individuals because of their differences. For example, the need
for promotion may be uniform for different individuals but all individuals may not engage in
similar type of behavior; they may adopt different routes to satisfy their promotion needs.

c) A particular behavior may emerge not only because of the specific need but it may be
because of a variety of needs. For example, hard work in the organization may be due to the need
for earning more money to satisfy physiological needs, or may be to enjoy the performance of
work itself and money becomes secondary or to get recognition as a hard working person
(L.M.Prasad, ‘Organizational behavior, “Sultan Chand & Sons”, New Delhi,2000)

2.4 Motivation Concept

The Incentive Theory of Motivation

A reward, tangible or intangible, is presented after the occurrence of an action (i.e. behavior)
with the intent to cause the behavior to occur again. This is done by associating positive
meaning to the behavior. Studies show that if the person receives the reward immediately, the
effect would be greater, and decreases as duration lengthens. Repetitive action-reward
combination can cause the action to become habit. Motivation comes from two things: you, and
other people. There is extrinsic motivation, which comes from others, and intrinsic motivation,
which comes from within you.
Rewards can also be organized as extrinsic or intrinsic. Extrinsic rewards are external to the
person; for example, praise or money. Intrinsic rewards are internal to the person; for example,
satisfaction or a feeling of accomplishment.

Some authors distinguish between two forms of intrinsic motivation: one based on enjoyment,
the other on obligation. In this context, obligation refers to motivation based on what an
individual thinks ought to be done. For instance, a feeling of responsibility for a mission may
lead to helping others beyond what is easily observable, rewarded, or fun.

2.4.1 Reward and Reinforcement

A reward is that which follows an occurrence of a specific behavior with the intention of
acknowledging the behavior in a positive way. A reward often has the intent of encouraging the
behavior to happen again. There are two kinds of rewards, extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic
rewards are external to, or outside of, the individual; for example, praise or money. Intrinsic
rewards are internal to, or within, the individual; for example, satisfaction or accomplishment.

Some authors distinguish between two forms of intrinsic motivation: one based on enjoyment,
the other on obligation. In this context, obligation refers to motivation based on what an
individual thinks ought to be done. For instance, a feeling of responsibility for a mission may
lead to helping others beyond what is easily observable, rewarded, or fun.
A reinforce is different from reward, in that reinforcement is intended to create a measured
increase in the rate of a desirable behavior following the addition of something to the
environment.

2.4.2 Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic Motivation: Stems from the direct relationship between the worker and the task and it is
usually self-applied.

 Intrinsic motivation occurs when people engage in an activity, such as a hobby, without
obvious external incentives.
In knowledge-sharing communities and organizations, people often cite altruistic reasons for
their participation, including contributing to a common good, a moral obligation to the group,
mentorship or 'giving back'. In work environments, money may provide a more powerful
extrinsic factor than the intrinsic motivation provided by an enjoyable workplace.

In terms of sports, intrinsic motivation is the motivation that comes from inside the performer.
That is, the athlete competes for the love of the sport.

Extrinsic Motivation
Extrinsic Motivation: Stems from the work environment external to the task and it is usually
applied by someone other than the person being motivated, extrinsic motivation comes from
outside of the performer. Money is the most obvious example, but coercion and threat of
punishment are also common extrinsic motivations.

In sports, the crowd may cheer the performer on, and this motivates him or her to do well.
Trophies are also extrinsic incentives. Competition is often extrinsic because it encourages the
performer to win and beat others, not to enjoy the intrinsic rewards of the activity; Social
psychological research has indicated that extrinsic rewards can lead to over justification and a
subsequent reduction in intrinsic motivation.

2.4.3 Coercion

The most obvious form of motivation is coercion, where the avoidance of pain or other negative
consequences has an immediate effect. Extreme use of coercion is considered slavery. While
coercion is considered morally reprehensible in many philosophies, it is widely practiced on
prisoners, students in mandatory schooling, within the nuclear family unit (on children), and in
the form of conscription. Critics of modern capitalism charge that without social safety
networks, wage slavery is inevitable. However, many capitalists such as Ayn Rand have been
very vocal against coercion. Successful coercion sometimes can take priority over other types of
motivation. Self-coercion is rarely substantially negative (typically only negative in the sense
that it avoids a positive, such as undergoing an expensive dinner or a period of relaxation),
however it is interesting in that it illustrates how lower levels of motivation may be sometimes
tweaked to satisfy higher ones.

2.4.4 Self-control

The self-control of motivation is increasingly understood as a subset of emotional intelligence; a

person may be highly intelligent according to a more conservative definition (as measured by
many intelligence tests), yet unmotivated to dedicate this intelligence to certain tasks. Yale
School of Management Professor Victor Vroom's "expectancy theory" provides an account of
when people will decide whether to exert self control to pursue a particular goal.

2.5 Motivation at Workplace

Having a well motivated staff is essential to a productive and pleasant work environment. As a
manager, or leader, motivation must be one of your chief concerns. Every one is motivated by
something. When you go to the supermarket, you are motivated by hunger; when you run, you
are motivated by the desire to be healthy, etc. So what motivates a person to work? Not just
work, but work efficiently and loyally? That depends on that individual’s personality. For people
with an alpha personality, recognition might be what drives them. Being the best at what you do
is worth nothing unless someone is there to see it. For others it could be money, others still
responsibility. Sometimes, it’s even as simple as acknowledging when someone has done a good
job. It makes them feel appreciated, and if they don’t get that at your place of business, then they
are just a commodity. Employees are your internal customers, in a sense. You want the service
and support to be the best in the world, because that’s how it needs to be to keep your customers
returning to you.

Many business managers today are not aware of the effects that motivation can (and does) have
on their business, and it is therefore important they learn and understand the factors that
determine positive motivation in the workplace. The size of your business is irrelevant: whether
you are trying to get the best out of fifty of your staff or just one, everyone needs some form of
motivation. Motivation is something that is approached differently by different businesses and
the responsibility of its integration lies with all immediate supervisors of staff. However, it is the
business owner who must initiate motivation as a strategy to attain corporate goals.
 
2.5.1 Motivating Employees

Unmotivated employees have rightly been called "the black holes of the business universe."
Fortunately, motivation is not something a person is born with or without. Here are a few basics
to try at your workplace to ensure that you are doing everything you can to motivate your staff:

 Ask: - Ask them how they like their job, they will tell you. If you notice a reoccurring
theme, you might want to address it.
 Listen: - Don’t just hear them talking. Active listening is a vital skill to the survival of any
workplace. The vast majority of resignations are a result of employees not feeling appreciated.
 Recognize Regularly: - Show them that you notice their hard work. Let them know that
you appreciate what they’ve done, and do it publicly. People want others to know when they
have worked hard, because it gives them a feeling of satisfaction to know that they had a hand in
shaping the team's environment. It also raises the bar for the rest of the team.
 Don’t Be Cheap: - Buy them something. It doesn’t have to be expensive; lunch will do in a
pinch or doughnuts and coffee in the morning. If they perform well, get them a gift certificate to
the local mall, or their favorite video store.

 Have A Little Fun: - Don’t lock your ability to have fun behind your suits. Let them play
around a little. If it starts to get out of hand, that’s why you are there. Bring it back to being
productive fun. Make a game out of accomplishing a task, tape a picture of a dog driving a mini-
van on someone’s computer screen. Enjoy yourself; you spend more time at work than you do
awake in your own home. If you find a job you love, you will never work a day in your life.

 Foster Friendly Competition: - It’s in our genes. We need to compete against one another,
to prove to ourselves and everyone out there that we can do it, and do it the best. The Olympics
are a good example, with the vast majority of the countries on the face of the planet competing
against one another.

 Be Friendly With Everyone, But Don’t Become Friends: - Favoritism is a hard

accusation to live down, especially if it’s true. Don’t put yourself in a position that could result in
an environment of favoritism. Giving preferential treatment to a person, on a non-work related
basis, is unfair. Unfairness in the workplace leads to turn-over.

 Share: -Don’t keep all the information to yourself. Let them know where they stand often;
this will keep them in the loop. One of the most common downfalls of any organization is a lack
of communication. It’s tough trying to be motivated in the face of goals that you can’t measure.

 Coach and Accept Coaching: - Nothing will take your legs out from under you quicker
than thinking you are doing a great job, only to find out later that you aren’t. Also, don’t make
the mistake of thinking you always have the best idea. When managers don’t listen to their
employees and include them in the action planning process, they feel like their opinions don’t
matter. When your employees feel like their opinions don’t matter, start putting up the “Now
Hiring” signs. Everyone likes to feel like they can effect change, too.

 Additional Responsibility: - There are definitely employees in your organization who are
begging for and can handle additional responsibility. Our job as managers is to identify who they
are and if possible match responsibilities to their strengths and desires.

2.5.2 Five Motivational Factors Every Employee Wants From Work Place

What do employees want from work? There are five factors that must be present in your
workplace for your employees to be happy and motivated at work. Your employees need respect,
to be members of the in-crowd, to impact decision making about their jobs, to have the
opportunity to grow and develop, and access to reasonable leadership. The following describe
what employees want from work

 Respect is the fundamental right of every employee in every workplace. If people feel as if
they are treated with respect, they usually respond with respect and dignified actions. Part of
respect is praise and feedback so people know how they are doing at work.
 Employees want to feel as if they are members of the in-crowd. This means that they know
and have access to information as quickly as anyone else in your workplace.

 Employees want to learn new skills, develop their capabilities, and grow their knowledge
and careers. Making developmental opportunities available to each employee demonstrates your
commitment to helping them develop their careers. They appreciate this.

 Employees want to have an impact on decisions that are made about their jobs. Employee
involvement and employee empowerment help to create engaged employees willing to put forth
their discretionary energy for the business.

 Employees do want leadership. They want a sense of being on the right track, going
somewhere that has been defined and is important. They like being part of something bigger than
themselves. Employees like to know that someone, who is trustworthy, is in charge.

By Susan Heathfeild , About.com Guide

2.5.3 Most Common Causes of Employee Poor Performance

There are two main causes of performance problems. The first has to do with employee
characteristics. Employee performance is based on the following: employee skill levels,
motivation, ability, training, and other factors that "belong" at least in part, to the employee.

The second type of cause has to do with the system in which work is done. In this category are
included: managerial behavior, allocation of resources, the effects of colleague behavior, and a
wide range of variables that are, by and large, beyond the control of the individual employee.

When trying to identify the causes of poor employee performance it's absolutely critical that both
kinds of causes be examined. Even something like "poor employee motivation", something that
would appear on the surface to be related to employee characteristics, is heavily influenced by
the work environment. A work environment can be frustrating or demoralizing, so apparent poor
employee motivation can itself be caused by a poor working environment.
2.5.4 Motivation is the Key to Performance Improvement

There is an old saying you can take a horse to the water but you cannot force it to drink; it will
drink only if it's thirsty - so with people. They will do what they want to do or otherwise
motivated to do. Whether it is to excel on the workshop floor or in the 'ivory tower' they must be
motivated or driven to it, either by themselves or through external stimulus. Are they born with
the self-motivation or drive? Yes and no. If no, they can be motivated, for motivation is a skill
which can and must be learnt. This is essential for any business to survive and succeed.

Performance is considered to be a function of ability and motivation, thus:

Job performance =f (ability) (motivation)

Ability in turn depends on education, experience and training and its improvement is a slow and
long process. On the other hand motivation can be improved quickly. There are many options
and an uninitiated manager may not even know where to start. As a guideline, there are broadly
seven strategies for motivation.
There are broadly seven strategies for motivation.

 Positive reinforcement / high expectations

 Effective discipline and punishment
 Treating people fairly
 Satisfying employees’ needs
 Setting work related goals
 Restructuring jobs
 Base rewards on job performance
Essentially, there is a gap between an individual’s actual state and some desired state and the
manager tries to reduce this gap. Motivation is, in effect, a means to reduce and manipulate this
gap.

2.6 Strategies of Employee Motivating

Bernard in Stoner, et al. (1995) accords dye recognition to the workers saying that, “the ultimate
test of organizational success is it’s to create values sufficient to compensate for the burdens
imposed upon resources contributed.”Bernard looks at workers, in particular librations, in an
organized endeavor, putting in time era of the information superhighway, employers of
information professionals or librarians must be careful to meet their needs. Otherwise, they will
discover they are losing their talented and creative professionals to other organizations who are
ready and willing t meet their needs and demands. The question here is what strategies can used
to motivate information professionals, particularly librations? The following are strategies:

 Salary, wages and conditions of service: To use salaries as a motivator effectively,

personnel managers must consider four major components of a salary structures. These are the
job rate, which relates to the importance the organization attaches to each job; payment, which
encourages workers or groups by rewarding them according to their performance personal or
special allowances, associated with factors such as scarcity of particular skills or certain
categories of information professionals or librarians, or It is also important to ensure that the
prevailing pay in other library or information establishments is taken into consideration in
determining the pay structure of their organization.

 Money: Akintoye (2000) asserts that money remains the most significant motivational
strategy. As far back as 1911.Frederick Taylor and his scientific management associate described
money as the most important factors in motivating the industrial workers to achieve greater
productivity. Taylor advocated the establishment of inventive wage systems as a means of
stimulating workers to higher performance, commitment, and eventually satisfaction. Money
possesses significant motivating power in as much as it symbolizes intangible goals like security,
power prestige, and a feeling of accomplishment and success. Katz, in Sinclair,et al.(2005)
demonstrates the motivational power of money through the process of job choice. He explains
that money has the power to attract, retain, and motivate individuals towards higher performance.
For instance, if a librarian or information professional has another job offer which has identical
job characteristics with his current job, but greater financial reward, that warder would in all
probability be motivated to accept the new job offer. Banjoko(1996)states that many managers
use money to Reward or punish workers .This is done through the (e.g., premature retirement
due to poor performance).The desire to be promoted and earn enhanced pay may also motivate
employees.

 Staff Training: No matter how automated an organization or a library may be, high
productivity depends on the level of motivation and the effectiveness of the workforce. Staff
training is indispensable is an indispensable strategy for motivating worker. The library
organization must have good training programmed. This will give the librarian or information
professional opportunities for self-improvement and development to meet the challenges and
requirements of new equipment and techniques of performing a task
 Information Availability and Communication: One way managers can stimulate
motivation is to give relevant information on the consequences of their action on others (Olajide,
2000).To this researcher it seems that there is no known organization in which communicate,
cooperate, and collaborate with one another. Information availability brings to bear a powerful
peer pressure, where two or more people running together will runners. By sharing information,
subordinates compete with one another. Studies on work motivation seem to confirm that it
improves workers’ performance and satisfaction. For example, Brown and Shepherd (1997)
examine the characteristics of the work of teacher-librarians in four major categories: Knowledge
base, technical skills, values, and beliefs. He reports that they will succeed in meeting this
challenge only if they are motivated by deeply-held values and beliefs regarding the
development of a shared vision. Vinokur, jayarantne, and Chess (1994) examine agency-
influenced work and employment conditions and asses their impact on social workers’ job
satisfaction. While Colvin (1998) shows that financial incentives will get people to do more of
what they are doing, Silverthorne (1996) investigates motivation and managerial styles in the
private and public sector. The results indicate that there is a little difference between the
motivation needs of public and private sector employees, managers, and non-managers.

2.6.1 Creativity and Innovation

At many companies, employees with creative ideas do not express them to management for fear
that their input will be ignored or ridiculed. Company approval and toeing the company line have
become so ingrained in some working environments that both the employee and the organization
suffer. When the power to create in the organization is pushed down from the top to line
personnel, employees who know a job, product, or service best are given the opportunity to use
their ideas to improve it. The power to create motivates employees and benefits the organization
in having a more flexible work force, using more wisely the experience of its employees, and
increasing the exchange of ideas and information among employees and departments. These
improvements also create an openness to change that can give a company the ability to respond
quickly to market changes and sustain a first mover advantage.

2.6.2 Minimize Rules and Policies

Every person is motivated. The challenge at work is to create an environment in which people
are motivated about work priorities. Too often, organizations fail to pay attention to the
employee relations, communication, recognition, and involvement issues that are most important
to people.

The first step in creating a motivating work environment is to stop taking actions that are
guaranteed to demotivate people. Identify and take the actions that will motivate people. It’s a
balancing act. Employers walk a fine line between meeting the needs of the organization and its
customers and meeting the needs of its internal staff. Do both well and thrive.

We’ve got employees who, left to their own devices, will choose to do bad things. You can’t
trust supervisors to treat employees fairly and consistently either.

2.7 How to Improve Employee Performance 

Employee performance reviews are typically the most dreaded task of managers. The new
approach is for transparency and providing an ongoing conversation with employees on how
their performance has a direct effect on the organization's overall performance.

Step 1

Demonstrate to employees that there is a connection between the individual's performance and
the organization's performance goals. Employee performance is the foundation for a business
achieving it's larger goals, whatever they may be. Employees should understand that the targets
that are used in their performance evaluations are directly related to the company's overall goals.
Step2

Train supervisors and managers on how manage employee performance. It can be difficult to
measure if goals have been attained if there are no quantifiable metrics. Because of this,
managers must become better at coaching and constructive communicating there desired goals
and performance outcomes.

Step3

Ensure that there is complete transparency about how employee performance is measured and
what the company's expectations are. One way of doing this is increasing open communication
between managers and their employees. Companies may also rely on employee performance
management software that will track goals and performance and be available for all to access.
Employee satisfaction will tend to grow when there is a performance management system in
place that they understand and can review throughout the year.

Step4

Don't make changes to employee performance systems too quickly. It is difficult to change the
performance review system and the connected reward or compensation system at the same time.
It's important that employees understand and trust the performance review before they will buy-
in to a new compensation plan. Roll out the employee performance standards and get feedback
from stakeholders before taking on more.
2.8 Employee recognition

Employee recognition is not just a nice thing to do for people. Employee recognition is a
communication tool that reinforces and rewards the most important outcomes people create for
your business. When you recognize people effectively, you reinforce, with your chosen means of
recognition, the actions and behaviors you most want to see people repeat. An effective
employee recognition system is simple, immediate, and powerfully reinforcing.

When you consider employee recognition processes, you need to develop recognition that is
equally powerful for both the organization and the employee. You must address five important
issues if you want the recognition you offer to be viewed as motivating and rewarding by your
employees and important for the success of your organization.

2.8.1 The Five Most Important Tips for Effective Recognition

You need to establish criteria for what performance or contribution constitutes rewardable
behavior or actions.

 All employees must be eligible for the recognition.

 The recognition must supply the employer and employee with specific information about
what behaviors or actions are being rewarded and recognized.
 Anyone who then performs at the level or standard stated in the criteria receives the reward.
 The recognition should occur as close to the performance of the actions as possible, so the
recognition reinforces behavior the employer wants to encourage.
 You don't want to design a process in which managers "select" the people to receive
recognition. This type of process will be viewed forever as "favoritism" or talked about as
 "it's your turn to get recognized this month." This is why processes that single out an
individual, such as "Employee of the Month," are rarely effective.

By Susan M. Heathfield / Human resource guide

2.8.2 Letting them Know You Care

When we think of recognition, we think of praise and awards, but there is a more integrated
approach to ensure that members of your crew know their importance. Nearly everything small-
business owners do in the workplace either contributes to or takes away from how recognized
employees feel.

Doug Dolan leads by example at The Rose Restaurant in Prescott, Ariz. "If I come into work as a
victim to the down economy, my team will take on the same attitude," he says. "I use recognition
to keep my employees present with the belief that they work for a company that cares."
But all recognition is not created equal. Almost all businesses use some degree of "inherent
recognition" in the form of health-care benefits offered, flexible work hours and annual company
awards.

But after speaking with hundreds of workers, Ventrice found that the cornerstone of meaningful
recognition was actually opportunity. "An award may be a tangible sign of recognition, but
employees see an opportunity as a sign that their manager truly values them, “she says.
Opportunities don't have to be expensive, either. It could be as simple as trusting employees with
important customers or introducing them to an instrumental figure within the organization. It's
also been shown that employees find recognition more valuable when it's administered
individually rather than as part of a team, Ventrice says
The business owner or manager is the integral piece when it comes to recognizing staffers.
Ventrice talks about the 50/30/20 rule--employees respond best to different kinds of recognition.
Only about 30 percent of an employee's overall recognition can come from peers before it's
saturated. Thus, 20 percent can come from the business (i.e. inherent recognition, awards), and
the other 50 percent must come directly from the manager.
"When you think about it, it makes so much sense," says Ventrice. "Who decides whether we get
a promotion? Whom are we trying to impress? So that's who we want to know what we're
doing."
2.8.3 Short Overview on Motivation Aspects of Teams

Dean McFarlin says that motivation needs to be ongoing process Understanding the Roles of
Intrinsic Motivation, Monetary Rewards, and Creative-Thinking Skills in New Product Design.

Nothing scientific, but if you need a quote about motivation - there is a great variety

This article provides an introduction to importance of improving human relations in the

workplace, and summaries of the motivational research and theories by prominent writers.

This paper examines the internal and external factors that influence the motivation to learn, as
well as the principles of motivation as applied to instructional design. The intent of the paper is
to be pragmatic in focus and it is written to educators for use in the classroom.
What you can do to resolve (what is sometimes) the biggest cause of a lack of employee
motivation. 

How do you motivate employees -- justifiably cynical, skeptical employees -- who have been
merged, acquired, downsized and right-sized?

2.8.4 Short Overview, Concepts Involved and Theories

Motivating a team is often more challenging than motivating a single individual. Individuals
within teams operate with different goals, values, beliefs, and expectations.

Article discusses the impact of great opportunities and great threats on motivation
The authors used person-environment fit theory and polynomial regression analyses to
investigate data taken from 833 respondents of different occupations.
Intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, and the value individuals placed on those rewards, predicted
three dependent variables positively, but not necessarily via similar (linear, curvilinear,
interactive) forms. 
The authors analyze the value placed by rational agents on self-confidence, and the strategies
employed in its pursuit. Confidence in one’s abilities generally enhances motivation, making it a
valuable asset for individuals with imperfect willpower. 

How to keep the team motivated over the long haul; by Peter Grazier

2.9 ‘Stop De-motivating Your Employees’

Most companies have it all wrong. They don't have to motivate their employees. They have to
stop de-motivating them.

The great majority of employees are quite enthusiastic when they start a new job. But in about
85 percent of companies, our research finds, employees' morale sharply declines after their first
six months and continues to deteriorate for years afterward. That finding is based on surveys of
about 1.2 million employees at 52 primarily Fortune 1000 companies from 2001 through 2004,
conducted by Sirota Survey Intelligence (Purchase, New York).

The fault lies squarely at the feet of management—both the policies and procedures companies
employ in managing their workforces and in the relationships that individual managers establish
with their direct reports.

Our research shows how individual managers' behaviors and styles are contributing to the
problem and what they can do to turn this around. Three key goals of people at work
to maintain the enthusiasm employees bring to their jobs initially, management must understand
the three sets of goals that the great majority of workers seek from their work and then satisfy
those goals:

 Equity: To be respected and to be treated fairly in areas such as pay, benefits, and job
security.
 Achievement: To be proud of one's job, accomplishments, and employer.
 Camaraderie: To have good, productive relationships with fellow employees.

2.9.1 How Management De-motivates

There are several ways that management unwittingly de-motivates employees and diminishes, if
not outright destroys their enthusiasm.

Many companies treat employees as disposable. At the first sign of business difficulty,
employees—who are usually routinely referred to as "our greatest asset"—become expendable.

Employees generally receive inadequate recognition and reward: About half of the workers in
our surveys report receiving little or no credit, and almost two-thirds say management is much
more likely to criticize them for poor performance than praise them for good work.

Management inadvertently makes it difficult for employees to do their jobs. Excessive levels of
required approvals, endless paperwork, insufficient training, failure to communicate, infrequent
delegation of authority, and a lack of a credible vision contribute to employees' frustration.

‘Stop De-motivating Your Employees’ Harvard Management Update, Vol. 11, No. 1, January
2006.

2.10 Theories of Motivation

Understanding what motivated employees and how they were motivated was the focus of many
researchers following the publication of the Hawthorne study results (Terpstra, 1979). Six major
approaches that have led to our understanding of motivation are McClelland’s Achievement
Need Theory, Behavior Modification theory; Abraham H Mallows need hierarchy or Deficient
theory of motivation. J.S. Adam’s Equity Theory, Vroom’s Expectation Theory, two factors
Theory.
2.10.1 Contribution of Robert Owen:

Though Owen is considered to be paternalistic in his view, his contribution is of a considerable

significance in the theories of Motivation. During the early years of the nineteenth century,
Owen’s textile mill at New Lanark in Scotland was the scene of some novel ways of treating
people. His view was that people were similar to machines. A machine that is looked after
properly, cared for and maintained well, performs efficiently, reliably and lastingly, similarly
people are likely to be more efficient if they are taken care of. Robert Owen practiced what he
preached and introduced such things as employee housing and company shop. His ideas on this
and other matters were considered to be too revolutionary for that time.

2.10.2 Jeremy Bentham’s “The Carrot and the Stick Approach”:

Possibly the essence of the traditional view of people at work can be best appreciated by a brief
look at the work of this English philosopher, whose ideas were also developed in the early years
of the Industrial Revolution, around 1800. Bentham’s view was that all people are self-interested
and are motivated by the desire to avoid pain and find pleasure. Any worker will work only if the
reward is big enough, or the punishment sufficiently unpleasant. This view - the ‘carrot and
stick’ approach - was built into the philosophies of the age and is still to be found, especially in
the older, more traditional sectors of industry.

The various leading theories of motivation and motivators seldom make reference to the carrot
and the stick. This metaphor relates, of course, to the use of rewards and penalties in order to
induce desired behavior. It comes from the old story that to make a donkey move, one must put a
carrot in front of him or dab him with a stick from behind. Despite all the research on the
theories of motivation, reward and punishment are still considered strong motivators. For
centuries, however, they were too often thought of as the only forces that could motivate people.
At the same time, in all theories of motivation, the inducements of some kind of ‘carrot’ are
recognized. Often this is money in the form of pay or bonuses. Even though money is not the
only motivating force, it has been and will continue to be an important one. The trouble with the
money ‘carrot’ approach is that too often everyone gets a carrot, regardless of performance
through such practices as salary increase and promotion by seniority, automatic ‘merit’ increases,
and executive bonuses not based on individual manager performance. It is as simple as this: If a
person put a donkey in a pen full of carrots and then stood outside with a carrot, would the
donkey be encouraged to come out of the pen?
The ‘stick’, in the form of fear–fear of loss of job, loss of income, reduction of bonus, demotion,
or some other penalty–has been and continues to be a strong motivator. Yet it is admittedly not
the best kind. It often gives rise to defensive or retaliatory behavior, such as union organization,
poor-quality work, and executive indifference, failure of a manager to take any risks in decision
making or even dishonesty. But fear of penalty cannot be overlooked. Whether managers are
first-level supervisors or chief executives, the power of their position to give or with hold
rewards or impose penalties of various kinds gives them an ability to control, to a very great
extent, the economic and social well-being of their subordinates.

2.10.3 Abraham Maslow’s “Need Hierarchy Theory”:

One of the most widely mentioned theories of motivation is the hierarchy of needs theory put
forth by psychologist Abraham Maslow. Maslow saw human needs in the form of a hierarchy,
ascending from the lowest to the highest, and he concluded that when one set of needs is
satisfied, this kind of need ceases to be a motivator.

As per his theory these needs are:

(i) Physiological needs:
These are important needs for sustaining the human life. Food, water, warmth, shelter, sleep,
medicine and education are the basic physiological needs which fall in the primary list of need
satisfaction. Maslow was of an opinion that until these needs were satisfied to a degree to
maintain life, no other motivating factors can work.

(ii) Security or Safety needs:

These are the needs to be free of physical danger and of the fear of losing a job, property, food or
shelter. It also includes protection against any emotional harm.

(iii) Social needs:

Since people are social beings, they need to belong and be accepted by others. People try to
satisfy their need for affection, acceptance and friendship.

(iv) Esteem needs:

According to Maslow, once people begin to satisfy their need to belong, they tend to want to be
held in esteem both by themselves and by others. This kind of need produces such satisfaction as
power, prestige status and self-confidence. It includes both internal esteem factors like self-
respect, autonomy and achievements and external esteem factors such as states, recognition and
attention.

(v) Need for self-actualization:

Maslow regards this as the highest need in his hierarchy. It is the drive to become what one is
capable of becoming; it includes growth, achieving one’s potential and self-fulfillment. It is to
maximize one’s potential and to accomplish something.

As each of these needs are substantially satisfied, the next need becomes dominant. From the
standpoint of motivation, the theory would say that although no need is ever fully gratified, a
substantially satisfied need no longer motivates. So if you want to motivate someone, you need
to understand what level of the hierarchy that person is on and focus on satisfying those needs or
needs above that level.
Maslow’s need theory has received wide recognition, particularly among practicing managers.
This can be attributed to the theory’s intuitive logic and ease of understanding. However,
research does not validate this theory. Maslow provided no empirical evidence and other several
studies that sought to validate the theory found no support for it.

2.10.4 “Theory X and Theory Y” of Douglas McGregor:

McGregor, in his book “The Human side of Enterprise” states that people inside the organization
can be managed in two ways. The first is basically negative, which falls under the category X
and the other is basically positive, which falls under the category Y. After viewing the way in
which the manager dealt with employees, McGregor concluded that a manager’s view of the
nature of human beings is based on a certain grouping of assumptions and that he or she tends to
mold his or her behavior towards subordinates according to these assumptions.

Under the assumptions of theory X:

1. Employees inherently do not like work and whenever possible, will attempt to avoid it.
2. Because employees dislike work, they have to be forced, coerced or threatened with
punishment to achieve goals.
3. Employees avoid responsibilities and do not work fill formal directions are issued.
4. Most workers place a greater importance on security over all other factors and display little
ambition.

In contrast under the assumptions of theory Y:

1. Physical and mental effort at work is as natural as rest or play.
2. People do exercise self-control and self-direction and if they are committed to those goals.
3. Average human beings are willing to take responsibility and exercise imagination, ingenuity
and creativity in solving the problems of the organization.
4. That the way the things are organized, the average human being’s brainpower is only partly
used.

On analysis of the assumptions it can be detected that theory X assumes that lower-order needs
dominate individuals and theory Y assumes that higher-order needs dominate individuals. An
organization that is run on Theory X lines tends to be authoritarian in nature, the word
“authoritarian” suggests such ideas as the “power to enforce obedience” and the “right to
command.” In contrast Theory Y organizations can be described as “participative”, where the
aims of the organization and of the individuals in it are integrated; individuals can achieve their
own goals best by directing their efforts towards the success of the organization.
However, this theory has been criticized widely for generalization of work and human behavior

2.10.5 Contribution of Rensis Likert:

Likert developed a refined classification, breaking down organizations into four management
systems.

1st System – Primitive authoritarian

2nd System – Benevolent authoritarian
3rd System – Consultative
4th System – Participative
As per the opinion of Likert, the 4th system is the best, not only for profit organizations, but also
for non-profit firms.

2.10.6 Frederick Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory:

Frederick has tried to modify Maslow’s need Hierarchy theory. His theory is also known as two-
factor theory or Hygiene theory. He stated that there are certain satisfiers and dissatisfiers for
employees at work. In- trinsic factors are related to job satisfaction, while extrinsic factors are
associated with dissatisfaction. He devised his theory on the question: “What do people want
from their jobs?” He asked people to describe in detail, such situations when they felt
exceptionally good or exceptionally bad. From the responses that he received, he concluded that
opposite of satisfaction is not dissatisfaction. Removing dissatisfying characteristics from a job
does not necessarily make the job satisfying. He states that presence of certain factors in the
organization is natural and the presence of the same does not lead to motivation. However, their
nonpresence leads to demotivation. In similar manner there are certain factors, the absence of
which causes no dissatisfaction, but their presence has motivational impact.
Examples of Hygiene factors are:
Security, status, relationship with subordinates, personal life, salary, work conditions,
relationship with supervisor and company policy and administration.
Examples of Motivational factors are:
Growth prospectus job advancement, responsibility, challenges, recognition and achievements.

2.10.7 Contributions of Elton Mayo:

The work of Elton Mayo is famously known as “Hawthorne Experiments.” He conducted

behavioral experiments at the Hawthorne Works of the American Western Electric Company in
Chicago. He made some illumination experiments, introduced breaks in between the work
performance and also introduced refreshments during the pauses. On the basis of this he drew the
conclusions that motivation was a very complex subject. It was not only about pay, work
condition and morale but also included psychological and social factors. Although this research
has been criticized from many angles, the central conclusions drawn were:

 People are motivated by more than pay and conditions.

 The need for recognition and a sense of belonging are very important.
 Attitudes towards work are strongly influenced by the group.

2.10.8 Vroom’s Valence x Expectancy theory:

The most widely accepted an explanation of motivation has been propounded by Victor Vroom.
His theory is commonly known as expectancy theory. The theory argues that the strength of a
tendency to act in a specific way depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will be
followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual to make
this simple, expectancy theory says that an employee can be motivated to perform better when
their is a belief that the better performance will lead to good performance appraisal and that this
shall result into realization of personal goal in form of some reward. Therefore an employee is:

Motivation = Valence x Expectancy.

The theory focuses on three things:

 Efforts and performance relationship
 Performance and reward relationship
 Rewards and personal goal relationship
This leads us to a conclusion that:
2.10.9 The Porter and Lawler Model:

Lyman W. Porter and Edward E.

Lawler developed a more complete
version of motivation depending upon
expectancy theory.
Actual performance in a job is primarily determined by the effort spent. But it is also affected by
the person’s ability to do the job and also by individual’s perception of what the required task is.
So performance is the responsible factor that leads to intrinsic as well as extrinsic rewards. These
rewards, along with the equity of individual leads to satisfaction. Hence, satisfaction of the
individual depends upon the fairness of the reward.

2.10.10 Clayton Alderfer’s ERG Theory:

Alderfer has tried to rebuild the hierarchy of needs of Maslow into another model named ERG
i.e. Existence – Relatedness – Growth. According to him there are 3 groups of core needs as
mentioned above. The existence group is concerned mainly with providing basic material
existence. The second group is the individuals need to maintain interpersonal relationship with
other members in the group. The final group is the intrinsic desire to grow and develop
personally. The major conclusions of this theory are:

1. In an individual, more than one need may be operative at the same time.
2. If a higher need goes unsatisfied than the desire to satisfy a lower need intensifies.
3. It also contains the frustration-regression dimension.

2.10.11 McClelland’s Theory of Needs:

David McClelland has developed a theory on three types of motivating needs:

1. Need for Power

2. Need for Affiliation
3. Need for Achievement
Basically people for high need for power are inclined towards influence and control. They like to
be at the center and are good orators. They are demanding in nature, forceful in manners and
ambitious in life. They can be motivated to perform if they are given key positions or power
positions.
In the second category are the people who are social in nature. They try to affiliate themselves
with individuals and groups. They are driven by love and faith. They like to build a friendly
environment around themselves. Social recognition and affiliation with others provides them
motivation.
People in the third area are driven by the challenge of success and the fear of failure. Their need
for achievement is moderate and they set for themselves moderately difficult tasks. They are
analytical in nature and take calculated risks. Such people are motivated to perform when they
see at least some chances of success.
McClelland observed that with the advancement in hierarchy the need for power and
achievement increased rather than Affiliation. He also observed that people who were at the top,
later ceased to be motivated by this drives.

2.10.12 Equity Theory:

As per the equity theory of J. Stacey Adams, people are motivated by their beliefs about the
reward structure as being fair or unfair, relative to the inputs. People have a tendency to use
subjective judgment to balance the outcomes and inputs in the relationship for comparisons
between different individuals. Accordingly:
If people feel that they are not equally rewarded they either reduce the quantity or quality of
work or migrate to some other organization. However, if people perceive that they are rewarded
higher, they may be motivated to work harder.

2.10.13 Reinforcement Theory:

B.F. Skinner, who propounded the reinforcement theory, holds that by designing the
environment properly, individuals can be motivated. Instead of considering internal factors like
impressions, feelings, attitudes and other cognitive behavior, individuals are directed by what
happens in the environment external to them. Skinner states that work environment should be
made suitable to the individuals and that punishment actually leads to frustration and de-
motivation. Hence, the only way to motivate is to keep on making positive changes in the
external environment of the organization.
2.10.14 Goal Setting Theory of Edwin Locke:

Instead of giving vague tasks to people, specific and pronounced objectives, help in achieving
them faster. As the clarity is high, a goal orientation also avoids any misunderstandings in the
work of the employees. The goal setting theory states that when the goals to be achieved are set
at a higher standard than in that case employees are motivated to perform better and put in
maximum effort. It revolves around the concept of “Self-efficacy” i.e. individual’s belief that he
or she is capable of performing a hard task.

2.10.15 Cognitive Evaluation Theory:

As per this theory a shift from external rewards to internal rewards results into motivation. It
believes that even after the stoppage of external stimulus, internal stimulus survives. It relates to
the pay structure in the organization. Instead of treating external factors like pay, incentives,
promotion etc and internal factors like interests, drives, responsibility etc, separately, they should
be treated as contemporary to each other. The cognition is to be such that even when external
motivators are not there the internal motivation continues. However, practically extrinsic rewards
are given much more weightage.

2.11 Commitment Theory

One of the primary benefits of embedding commitment within a model of motivation is that it
helps identify the mediating mechanisms explaining how employees’ relationships with social
foci influence behavior relevant to those foci. There are at least two important implications of
this. First, some authors (e.g., Randall, 1990) have pointed out that observed relations between
measures of organizational commitment and job performance are modest. This can be explained
by recognizing that (a) the organization is only one of several foci of commitment, (b)
commitment is only one of many forces involved in goal choice, and its effects are indirect, and
(c) the effects of goal choice on performance are mediated and moderated by various internal
mechanisms and contextual factors. Further, most measures of organizational commitment were
developed with the objective of predicting employee retention. With retention as the goal,
staying with the organization represents the focal behavior (Meyer & Herscovitch, 2001). In this
case, job performance would be considered discretionary behavior in the sense that performance
above the minimum required for retention is not specified in the goal (nor included in the
measures). Thus, the absolute level of the impact of organizational commitment on performance
will generally be lower than on retention. The strength of the observed relations between
organizational commitment and job performance should be stronger if the measures of
commitment are constructed to include working toward the attainment of organizational
objectives as the focal behavior (see Meyer & Herscovitch, 2001).

Second, including multiple foci of commitment in a model of work motivation helps explain how
these multiple commitments work, Spreitzer (1995, 1996) developed a measure of psychological
empowerment capturing four sets of essential cognitions: meaning (fit between work-role
requirements and personal beliefs and values), competence (work-specific self-efficacy), self-
determination (sense of choice in initiating and regulating actions), and impact (perceived
influence on strategic, administrative, and operating outcomes at work). Authors have identified
several practices (e.g., participative decision making, delegating leadership, job enrichment) that
lead to greater empowerment among employees (for a review, see Sagie & Koslowsky, 2000).
However, as noted by Sagie and Koslowsky, it is likely that these practices operate at least partly
through mediating mechanisms, including commitment to joint decisions and identification with
management. According to our model, empowerment practices generate more autonomous forms
of regulated behavior if they elicit identification and value congruence as bases of commitment,
hence, strengthening affective commitment to relevant foci such as management. However, if
empowerment practices engender a sense of reciprocity (e.g., because employees feel valued by
receiving rewarding jobs), they might produce a strong normative commitment.
Finally, if empowerment practices are ineffective, they could be replaced by directive leadership
practices that, by emphasizing the instrumental nature of the relationship, would promote
continuance commitment. Thus, the effects of empowerment practices on behavior may depend
on the nature of the commitment they produce.

2.11.1 Bases of Commitment

The final component in our integrative model, the bases of commitment, was included to
acknowledge those factors believed to contribute to the development of employee commitment.
According to Meyer and Herscovitch (2001), the bases for the different forms of commitment are
similar regardless of the target of that commitment. Thus, the same bases apply to the
development of commitment to social foci and to goals. This does not mean, however, that the
specific antecedent conditions will be the same, or that the nature of the commitment to a goal
will necessarily be the same as the nature of the commitment to relevant social foci. For
example, employees might have a strong affective commitment to the organization because the
company culture is compatible with their personal values. Nevertheless, their affective
commitment to a goal set by the organization (e.g., reducing the length of service calls) might be
weak if they believe that attainment is not in the company’s best interest. Similarly, employees
might have little invested in their employment in the company (i.e., low continuance
commitment to the organization) but have a lot to lose (e.g., a bonus) by failing to achieve a
performance goal (i.e., high continuance commitment to the goal). The bases of commitment
identified by Meyer and Herscovitch (2001) and included in our model represent basic
mechanisms presumed to be involved in the development of commitment. They therefore
represent some of the most proximal causes of commitment. There are many other factors (e.g.,
human resources management practices and policies) that serve as more distal causes.

2.12 Organizational Commitment

A wide variety of definitions and measure of organizational commitment exist. Beekeri,

Randal,and Riegel(1995)defined the term in a three dimensions:

1. A strons desire to remain a member of a particular organization;

2. A willingness to exert high levels of efforts on behalf of the organization;
3. A define belief in and acceptability of the values goals of the organization
To Northeraft and Nealr (1996), commitment is an attitude reflecting an employee’s loyalty to
the organization, and an ongoing process through which organization members express their
concern for the organization and its continued success and well being. Organization commitment
is determined by a number of factor, including personal factors (e.g., age, tenure in the
organization, disposition, internal or external control attributions); organizational factors
(availability lf alternatives). All these things affect subsequent commitment (North craft and
Neale, 1996).
Monday, porter and Steer (1982) see commitment as attachment and loyalty. These authors
describe three components of commitment;
 An identification with the goals and values of the organization
 A desire to belong to the organization
 A willingness to display deport on behalf of the organization

A similar definition of commitment emphasizes the importance of behavior in creating it.

Salancik (1977) conceives commitment as a state of being in which an individual becomes bound
by his actions and it is these actions that sustain his activities and involvement. From this
definition, it can be inferred that three features of behavior are important in binding individuals
to act; visibility of acts, the extent to which the outcomes are irrevocable; and the degree to
which the person undertakes the action voluntarily. To Salancik therefore, commitment can be
increased and harnessed to obtain Based on the multidimensional nature of organizational
commitment, there is growing support for a three-component model proposed by Meyer and
Allen (1991).All three components have implications for the continuing participation of the
individual in the organization. The three components are:

Affective commitment: Psychological attachment to organization.

Continuance Commitment: Costs associated with leaving the organization.
Normative Commitment: Perceived obligation to remain with the organization.
The following research questions were developed to guide the study.
1. What is the relationship between work motivations, job satisfaction?
2. Will there be difference in the commitment of library personnel based on their Years of
experience?