Definition of Motivation

The term ‘motivation’ is derived from the word ‘motive’.

Motive may be defined as needs, wants, drives or
impulses within the individual. Motivation is defined as
the processes that account for an individual’s intensity,
direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a
goal.
 Motivation
 Motivation- means inspiring, stimulating or encouraging the
sub-ordinates with zeal to work. Positive, negative, monetary,
non-monetary incentives may be used for this purpose.
Motivation refers to the process by which a person’s efforts are
energized, directed, and sustained toward attaining a goal. This
definition has three key elements: energy, direction, and
persistence.
R. W. Griffin: Motivation is the set of forces that cause people to
behave in certain ways.
Mc Clelland: Motivation leads to an increase in productivity but
only to a certain level, where further increase in motivation
leads to a decrease in productivity.
 Elements of Motivation
The three key elements in motivation are
 Intensity
 Direction
 Persistence
 Intensity: It describes how hard a person tries. This is the element most of
us focus on when we talk about motivation.
 Direction: High intensity is unlikely to lead to favorable job-performance
outcomes unless the effort is channeled in a direction that benefits the
organization. Therefore, the quality of effort as well as its intensity matters.
Effort directed toward, and consistent with, the organization’s goals is the
kind of effort once should be seeking.
 Persistence: It measures how long a person can maintain effort. Motivated
individuals stay with a task long enough to achieve their goal.
 Importance of Motivation for an
Organization

1. Improves Performance Level 9. Development of Friendly

2. Indifferent Attitudes can be Relationships
Changed 10. Stability in Work Force
3. Reduction in Resistance to 11. Combines Ability with
Change Willingness
4. Reduction of Employee 12. Need-Based Motivation
Turnover and Absenteeism 13. Development of Leaders
5. Healthy Corporate Image 14. Better Industrial Relations
6. Productive Use of Resources 15. Easier Selection
7. Increased Efficiency and 16. Facilitates Change
Output
8. Achievement of Goals
 Motivation Process

Needs/
Motives/ Reward/
Deficiency Behavior Goals

Need Satisfaction
 Motivation Process
Motivation concerns those processes which produces goal-directed behavior. The
basic elements of the process of motivation are:
 Behavior: All behavior is a series of activities. Behavior is generally motivated
by a desire to achieve a goal. In order to predict and control behavior managers
must understand the motives of people.
 Motives: Motives prompt people to action. They are the primary energizers of
behavior. They are the ‘ways’ of behavior and mainsprings of action. They are
largely subjective and represent the mental feelings of human beings. They are
cognitive variables. They cause behavior in many ways. They arise continuously
and determine the general direction of an individual’s behavior.
 Goals: Motives are directed toward goals. Motives generally create a state of
disequilibrium, physiological or psychological imbalance, within the individuals.
Attaining a goal will tend to restore physiological or psychological balance.
Goals are the ends which provide satisfaction of human wants. They are outside
an individual; they are hoped for incentives toward which needs are directed. One
person may satisfy his need for power by kicking subordinates and another by
becoming the president of a company. Thus, a need can be satisfied by several
alternate goals.
 McClelland’s Theory of Needs
McClelland’s theory of needs was developed by David McClelland and his
associates. It looks at three needs:
● Need for achievement (nAch) is the drive to excel, to achieve in
relationship to a set of standards. The desire to accomplish a goal or task
more effectively than in the past.
● Need for power (nPow) is the need to make others behave in a way they
would not have otherwise. The desire to be influential in a group and to
control one’s environment.
● Need for affiliation (nAff) is the desire for friendly and close
interpersonal relationship. The desire for human companionship and
acceptance.
McClelland and subsequent researchers focused most of their attention on
nAch. High achievers perform best when they perceive their probability
of success as 0.5—that is, a 50–50 chance. They dislike gambling with
high odds because they get no achievement satisfaction from success
that comes by pure chance. Similarly, they dislike low odds (high
probability of success) because then there is no challenge to their skills.
They like to set goals that require stretching themselves a little.
 Relying on an extensive amount of research, we can predict
some relationships between achievement need and job
performance.
 First, when jobs have a high degree of personal responsibility
and feedback and an intermediate degree of risk, high achievers
are strongly motivated.
 Second, a high need to achieve does not necessarily make
someone a good manager, especially in large organizations.
People with a high achievement need are interested in how well
they do personally, and not in influencing others to do well.
 Third, needs for affiliation and power tend to be closely related
to managerial success. The best managers are high in their need
for power and low in their need for affiliation. In fact, a high
power motive may be a requirement for managerial
effectiveness.
 Goal Setting Theory – Edwin locke
 Goal Setting Theory implies, specific goals increase performance and that
difficult goals, when accepted, result in higher performance than do easy
goals.
 First, working toward a goal is a major source of job motivation. Studies on
goal setting have demonstrated that specific and challenging goals are
superior motivating forces.
 Next, will employees try harder if they have the opportunity to participate in
the setting of goals? Not always. In some cases, participatively set goals
elicit superior performance; in other cases, individuals performed best when
their manager assigned goals. However, participation is probably preferable
to assigning goals when employees might resist accepting difficult
challenges.
 Finally, we know that people will do better if they get feedback on how well
they’re progressing toward their goals because feedback helps identify
discrepancies between what they have done and what they want to do. But
all feedback isn’t equally effective. Self-generated feedback—where an
employee monitors his or her own progress—has been shown to be a more
powerful motivator than feedback coming from someone else.
 Three other contingencies besides feedback influence the goal-performance
relationship:
i. Goal commitment: Commitment is most likely when goals are made
public, when the individual has an internal locus of control, and when the
goals are self-set rather than assigned.
ii. Adequate self-efficacy: refers to an individual’s belief that he or she is
capable of performing a task.
iii. National culture/ Organizational Culture.
The relationships among goals, motivation, and performance. Our overall
conclusion is that the intention to work toward hard and specific goals is a
powerful motivating force. Under the proper conditions, it can lead to higher
performance. However, no evidence indicates that such goals are associated with
increased job satisfaction.
 Expectancy Theory
 Psychologist Victor H. Vroom is one of the leaders in
advancing and explaining the Expectancy Theory. He holds
that employees are motivated to work with a view to a goal if
they consider that goal worthwhile and if they believe that
what they do will help them in achieving it.
 Vroom believes that people’s motivation for work is
determined by the value they place on the outcome of their
effort, multiplied by the confidence they have that their efforts
will materially aid them in achieving a goal.
 Expectancy Theory

Effort
Effort Performance Reward

Perceived effort– Perceived Perceived

performance performance– value of reward
probability reward probability
“If I work hard, “What rewards “What rewards
will I get the job will I get when do I value?”
done?” the job is well
done?”
 In other words, Vroom argues that motivation is a product of the
anticipated worth that an individual places on a goal and the chances he
or she sees of achieving that goal. Vroom's theory may be stated as
Force = valence × expectancy, where “force” is the strength of a
person’s motivation, “valance” is the strength of an individual's
performance for an outcome, and "expectancy" is the probability that a
particular action will lead to a desired outcome.
 When a person is indifferent to achieving a certain goal, a valence of
zero, meaning the existence of “no motivation,” occurs. Likewise, a
person would have no motivation to achieve a goal if the expectancy
were zero. Thus the force exerted to do something will depend on both
valence and expectancy.
 Moreover, a motive to accomplish some action might be determined by
a desire to accomplish something else. For example, a manager might
be willing to work hard to achieve company goals for a promotion or
pay valence.
 Different Motivational
Theories

 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory

 Herzberg’s Two-Factors Theory
 Alderfer’s ERG Theory
 Douglas McGregor’s Theory X & Y
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Theory
 Developed by Abraham H. Maslow
 A motivational theory
 Laid the foundation for job satisfaction theory
 People seek satisfy 5 specific needs:

 Physiological needs
 Safety and Security needs
 Social needs
 Esteem needs
 Self-actualization needs
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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Theory

SELF-
ACTUALIZATION

ESTEEM NEEDS

SOCIAL NEEDS

SAFETY AND SECURITY NEEDS

PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS
Herzberg’s Two-Factors
Theory

– Developed by Frederick Herzberg

– Hygiene / Maintenance factors:

• Elements of the job context.
• Sources of job dissatisfaction.
– Motivation factors:
• Elements of the job content.
• Sources of job satisfaction and motivation.

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 Herzberg’s Two-Factors
Theory
Motivation factors increase
• Salary job satisfaction
• Status
• Job Security
• Personal Life
• Company policies
• Supervision • Achievement
• Interpersonal relations • Recognition
• Working conditions • Work itself
• Responsibility
• Advancement
• Growth opportunities
Hygiene factors cause
job dissatisfaction
 Douglas McGregor’s
Theory X & Y

 Developed by Douglas McGregor.

 Two sets of Assumptions are called:
 Theory X
 Theory Y
Douglas McGregor’s Theory
X&Y
Theory Y - a set of
SA assumptions of how
to manage
Esteem individuals
motivated by higher
order needs
Social

Safety & Security Theory X - a set of

assumptions of how
to manage individuals
Physiological motivated by lower
order needs
 Alderfer’s ERG Theory

– Developed by Clayton Alderfer.

– Three need levels:

• Existence needs — desires for physiological and
material well-being.
• Relatedness needs — desires for satisfying
interpersonal relationships.
• Growth needs — desires for continued
psychological growth and development.
Alderfer’s ERG Theory

SA
Growth
Esteem

Social Relatedness
Safety & Security
Existence
Physiological