Motivation
Definition: The term motivation can be traced to the Latin word ‘movere’ which means ‘to
move’
Motivation is essentially what drives a person to work in a particular way and with a given
amount of effort and enthusiasm.
Motivation is the willingness to exert high level of effort toward organizational goals
conditioned by the effort/ability to satisfy individual needs.
The key in understanding the processes of motivation lies in the meaning of and relationship
between needs drives and incentives.
1. Needs
These can be defined as deficiency. Needs are created whenever there is physiological or
psychological imbalance.
A need exists when the personality is deemed (deprived) of other people who serves as
friends and companies.
2. Drives
Drives or motives are set up to alleviate needs. A drive can be defined as a deficiency
with direction.
Drives are action oriented and provide an energizing thrust towards goal
accomplishments.
3. Incentives
- Incentive is defined as anything that will alleviate a need and reduce a drive.
Attaining an incentive will tend to restore physiological and psychological
balance and will reduce or cut off the drive.
- When people’s needs are unsatisfied or the outcome are unsatisfactory, frustration
may be experienced leading to negative attitude towards employment and even
antisocial behavior.
- Negative behavior can be triggered by insignificant short comings in work place
conditions.
- Most people are demotivated if their contribution is neither recognized nor
rewarded.
- When employees feel that their work is valued by management, they will produce
high performances even if some aspects of working conditions are poor.
Factors influencing motivation at work
1) Needs (push motives)
Physical needs, psychological needs, economic needs
2) Personal goals (pull motives)
Psychological needs, intellectual stimulus, aesthetic and spiritual needs,
pleasure/satisfaction.
3) Personality types/characteristics
4) Abilities/intelligence – innate talents, acquired skills, critical thinking skills.
5) Perception of reality
6) Values – upbringing education, religious influence, peer grouping pressure, media
influence
7) Work environment
8) Pay and rewards
9) External environment
Theories of Motivation
1. The Maslow theory of Motivation
This is the most well-known theory referred to as Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Self -
actualization
needs
Esteem needs
Social needs
Safety needs
Physical needs
a. Physiological needs
They are the most basic level of needs in the hierarchy. They are the unlearned primary
needs. These needs include hunger, thirst, shelter, sex and other bodily needs. According
to the theory once these basic needs are satisfied, they no longer motivate.
b. Safety needs
He stressed on both emotional as well as physical safety
c. Love needs
This is the intermediate level need. It loosely corresponds to the affection and affiliation
needs.
d. Esteem needs
The needs for power, achievement and status are part of this level.
e. Need for self-actualization
It represents the culmination of all the lower, intermediate and higher needs of humans. It
includes growth, achieving one’s potential and self-fulfillment.
- As each needs become satisfied, the next need becomes dorminant.
- A substantially satisfied need no longer motivates.
- Maslow separated the five needs into higher and lower levels. Physiological and
safety needs are described as lower-order needs whereas love, esteem and self-
actualization as higher needs.
- Higher order needs are satisfied internally whereas lower order needs are satisfied
externally.
- According to Maslow, when a lower-level need is unsatisfied, we revert to that
level.
- Much as they may be widely recognized particularly among practicing managers,
Maslow provided no empirical substantiation and several studies that sought to
validate the theory found no support.
2. Alderfer’s ERG theory of motivation
- This was crafted by Clayton Alderfer. According to him Maslow’s five levels of
needs can be amalgamated into three i.e. Existence, Relatedness and Growth
resulting in the approach being termed as ERG theory.
- His ‘Existence Needs’ include all forms of physiological and safety needs or
Maslow’s first two level needs.
- ‘Relatedness needs’ include relationship with other people (social needs of
Maslow’s third level) and that part of Maslow’s fourth level (esteem needs) which
are derived from other people.
- ‘Growth needs’ like Maslow’s notion of self-actualization are concerned with the
desire to be creative and to achieve full potential in the existing environment.
- In ERG theory, the needs are arranged along a continuum.
- According to him, different types of needs can operate simultaneously and if a
particular path towards the satisfaction is blocked, the individual will both persist
along that path and at the same time regress towards more easily satisfied needs.
3. MC Gregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
- Douglas MC Gregor coined the above theory after viewing the way managers
dealt with subordinates.
- He had two sets of assumptions about people.
- The first set of assumptions basically negative are labeled Theory X and the
second basically positive he labeled Theory Y.
Assumptions under Theory X
1) Employees inherently dislike work and whenever possible will attempt to
avoid it.
2) Since employees dislike work they must be coerced, controlled or threatened
with punishment to achieve desired goals.
3) Employees will shirk responsibilities and seek formal direction wherever
possible.
4) Most workers place security above all other factors associated with work and
will display little ambition.
Theory Y assumptions
1) Employees can view work as being natural as rest or play
2) Employees will exercise self-direction and self-control if they are committed to
the objectives.
3) The average person can learn to accept even seek responsibility
4) Creativity – the ability to make good decisions is widely dispersed throughout the
population.
- According to MC Gregor Theory X assumes that lower order needs
dominate individuals
- Theory Y assumes that higher order needs dominate.
- MC Gregor held to the belief that theory Y was more valid than theory X.
4. Herzberg’s Motivation – Hygiene Theory
- He put it that relationship of people to their work is a basic one and their attitude
towards their work can determine their success and failure.
- He asked the question “What do people want from their jobs?”
- From the categorized responses, he concluded that the replies given when people
feel good about their jobs are significantly different from the replies given they
feel bad.
- Intrinsic factors (motivators) such as achievement, recognition, the work itself,
responsibility and advancement seem to be related to job satisfaction.
- On the other hand when they were dissatisfied they tended to cite extrinsic factors
such as company policy and administration, supervision, interpersonal relations
and working conditions (hygienes)
- Herzberg suggest that the opposite of satisfaction is not dissatisfaction
- Removing dissatisfying characteristics from a job does not necessarily make the
job satisfying or vice versa.
5. MC Clelland’s Achievement, Affiliation and Power Motives
David MC Clelland has proposed three major relevant motives or needs in work
situations.
1) The need for achievement: the drive to excel to achieve in relation to a set of
standards to strivet to succeed.
2) The need for affiliation: the desire for friendly and close interpersonal
relationships.
3) The need for power: the need to make others behave in a way that they would not
have behaved otherwise.
