Employee

Motivation
CHAPTER 5
MOTIVATIONS STARTS FROM THE INDIVIDUAL

 Motivation means inspiring the personnel/workers/employees with an

enthusiasm to work for the accomplishment of objectives of the
organizations.
 An unsatisfied need is the
starting point of motivation
process and becomes the
primary connection in the
chain of events leading to
behavior. The unsatisfied need
leads the individual to execute
behavior to satisfy the need.
Attaining the goal satisfies the
need and the process of
motivation is complete.
MOTIVATIONS STARTS FROM THE INDIVIDUAL

One of the major faults people make when trying to motivate others is not
taking their individual needs into concern.

The ideal approach to motivate a person is to know his individual needs

first then present him a reward that either:
 Helps him continue the favorable status he used to live in
 Or present him a reward that would permit him to get away from the
poor condition he used to live in
 CONTENT APPROACHES

 Motivation is a complex phenomenon.

Several theories attempt to explain
how motivation works. In management
circles, probably the most popular
explanations of motivations are based
on the needs of the individual.
CONTENT APPROACHES

 The basic needs model, referred to as content theory of motivation,

highlights the specific factors that motivate an individual. The content
approaches center on the factors within the individual which rejuvenate,
direct, sustain and stop behavior. These approaches try to determine the
particular needs that motivate or inspire people which have an influence
on managerial practices.

 They are: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Aldefer ’s ERG Theory,

Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory and McClleland’s Learned Needs Theory.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
 Abraham Maslow defined need as a
physiological or psychological deficiency that
a person feels the compulsion to satisfy. This
need can create tensions that can influence’s
a person’s work attitudes and behaviors.
Maslow formed a theory based on his
definition of need that proposes that humans
are motivated by multiple needs and that
these needs exist in a hierarchical order. His
premise is that only an unsatisfied need can
influence behavior; a satisfied need is not a
motivator.
Maslow’s
Hierarchy of
Needs
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s theory is based on the following two principles:

 Deficit principle – A satisfied need no longer motivates behavior because

people act to satisfy deprived needs.

 Progression Principle - The five needs he identified exist in hierarchy,

which means that a need at any level only comes into play after a lower-
level need has been satisfied.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Need Home Job

Self-actualization Education, religion, hobbies, Training, advancement,
personal growth growth, creativity

Esteem Approval of family, friends, Recognition, high status,

community responsibilities

Belongingness Family, friends, clubs Teams, depts.,

coworkers, clients,
supervisors,
subordinates

Safety Freedom from war, poison, Work safety, job

violence security, health
insurance
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

The levels of motivation are the following:

 In the first level, physiological needs exist which include the most basic
needs for humans to survive, such as air, water and food.

 In the second level, safety needs exist which include personal security,
health, well-being and safety against accidents remain.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

 In the third level, belonging needs exit. This is where people need to feel
a sense of belonging and acceptance. It is about relationships, families
and friendship. Organizations fulfill this need for people.

 In the fourth level, self-esteem needs remain. This is where people looks
to be respected and to have self-respect. Achievement needs, respect of
others are in this level.

 In the top-level, self-actualization needs exist. This level of need pertains

to realizing the person’s full potential.
Alderfer’s ERG Theory
 Clayton Alderfer ’s ERG (Existence,
Relatedness, and Growth) theory
is built upon Maslow’s hierarchy
of needs theory. To begin his
theory, Alderfer collapses
Maslow’s five levels of needs into
three categories.
Alderfer’s
ERG Theory
Alderfer’s ERG Theory

 Existence needs are desires for physiological and material well-being. (In
terms of Maslow’s model, existence needs include physiological and
safety needs)

 Relatedness needs are desires for satisfying interpersonal relationships.

(In terms of Maslow’s model, relatedness correspondence to social needs)

 Growth needs are desires for continued psychological growth and

development. (In terms of Maslow’s model, growth needs include esteem
and self-realization needs)
Herzberg’s Two-Factor
Theory

 Frederick Herzberg offers another

framework for understanding the
motivational implications of work
environments. In his two-factor
theory, Herzberg identifies two
sets of factors that impact
motivation in the workplace.
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

1. Hygiene factors include salary, job security, working conditions,

organizational policies, and technical quality of supervision. Although
these factors do not motivate employees, they can cause dissatisfaction if
they are missing. Something as simple as adding music to the office place
or implementing a no-smoking policy can make people less dissatisfied
with these aspects of their work. However, these improvements in hygiene
factors do not necessarily increase satisfaction.
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

2. Satisfiers or motivators include such things as responsibility,

achievement, growth of opportunities, and feelings of recognition, and are
the key to job satisfaction and motivation. For example, managers can find
out what people really do in their jobs and make improvements, thus
increasing job satisfaction and performance.
Herzberg’s Two-Factor
Theory
 Hygiene factors determine dissatisfaction,
and motivators determine satisfaction.
The two scales are independent, and you
can be high on both. Following Herzberg ’s
two-factor theory, managers need to
ensure that hygiene factors are adequate
and then build satisfiers into jobs.
McClelland’s Learned
Needs Theory

 David McClelland’s acquired

needs theory recognizes that
everyone prioritizes needs
differently. He also believes that
individuals are not born with
these needs, but that they are
actually learned through life
experiences. McClleland identifies
three specific needs.
McClelland’s Learned Needs Theory

1. Need for achievement is the drive to excel. High achievers differentiate

themselves from others by desires to do things better. These individuals
are strongly motivated by job situations with personal responsibility,
feedback, and an intermediate degree of risk.

 Seek personal responsibility for finding solutions to problems.

 Want rapid feedback on their performances so that they can tell easily
whether they are improving or not.
 Set moderately challenging goals and perform best when they
perceive their probability of success as 50-50
McClelland’s Learned Needs Theory

2. Need for power is the desire to cause others to behave in a way that
they would not behaved otherwise. An individual with a high need of
power is likely to follow a path of continued promotion over time.
Individuals with a high need of power often demonstrate the following
behaviors:

 Enjoy being in charge

 Want to influence others
 Prefer to be placed into competitive and status-oriented situations.
 Tend to be more concerned with prestige and gaining influence over
others than with effective performance.
McClelland’s Learned Needs Theory

3. Need for affiliation is the desire for friendly, close interpersonal

relationships and conflict avoidance. People with the need for affiliation
seek companionship, social approval, and satisfying interpersonal
relationships. People needing affiliation display the following behaviors:

 Take a special interest in work that provides companionship and social

approval
 Strive for friendship
 Prefer cooperative situations rather than competitive ones
 Desire relationships involving a high degree of mutual understanding
 May not make the best managers because their desire for social
approval and friendship may complicate managerial decision making
McClelland’s Learned Needs Theory
 McClleland associates each need with a
distinct set of work preferences, and
managers can help tailor the environment to
meet these needs. Interestingly enough, a
high need to achieve does not necessarily
lead to being a good manager, especially in
large organizations. People with high
achievement needs are usually interested in
how well they do personally and not in
influencing others to do well. On the other
hand, the best managers are high in their
needs for power and low in their needs for
affiliation.
PROCESS APPROACHES

Process approaches are concerned with “how” motivation happens. They

provide a description and analysis of how behavior is energized, directed,
sustained, and stopped. In other words, it explains how an employee’s
behavior is initiated, redirected, and halted.
PROCESS APPROACHES

Implications of process theories include the following:

 Establishing goals to direct behavior is an important part of a

motivational program.

 Motivational programs should be perceived as equitable and deliver

desirable outcomes the individual has an exception of achieving.
Expectancy Theory

 Expectancy Theory argues that humans act according to their conscious

expectations that a particular behavior will lead to specific desirable
goals.

 Victor H. Vroom, developed the expectancy theory in 1964, producing a

systematic explanatory theory of workplace motivation. Theory asserts
that the motivation to behave in a particular way is determined by an
individual’s expectation that behavior will lead to a particular outcome,
multiplied by the preference or valence that person has for that outcome.
Expectancy Theory

Here is the equation suggests that human behavior is directed by

subjective probability.

Motivation = Expectancy X Instrumentality X Valence

Where:

 M (motivation) is the amount a person will be motivated by the situation

they find themselves in. It is a function of the following:

 E (expectancy) is the person’s perception that effort will result in

performance.
Expectancy Theory

 (Instrumentality) is the person’s perception that performance will be

rewarded/punished. I. e the person’s assessment of how well the amount
of reward correlates with the quality of performance.

 V (Valence) is the perceived strength of the reward or punishment that

will result from the performance. If the reward is small, the motivation
will be small, even if expectancy and instrumentality are both perfect
(high).
Equity Theory

 Developed by John Stacey Adams in 1963, Equity Theory suggests that if

the individual perceives that the rewards received are equitable, that is,
fair or just in comparison with those received by others in similar
positions in or outside the organization, then the individual feels
satisfied. Adams asserted that employees seek to maintain equity
between the inputs that they bring to a job and the outcomes that they
receive from it against the perceived inputs and outcomes of others.
Equity Theory

Adams identifies six types of possible behavior as consequences of

inequity. They are:

 Changes to input – a person may increase or decrease the level of his

inputs.

 Changes to outcomes – a person may attempt to change outcomes such

as pay, without changes to inputs.
Equity Theory

 Cognitive distortion of inputs and outcomes – Adams suggests that it is

difficult for people to distort facts about themselves but it is possible to
distort the utility of those facts; for example, the belief about how hard
they are really working.

 Leaving the field – a person may try to find a new situation with a more
favorable balance, for example, by absenteeism.
Equity Theory

 Acting on others – a person may attempt to bring about changes in

others, for example is lower their inputs or accept greater outcomes.

 Changing the object of comparison – means changing the reference

group with whom comparison is made. For example, where another
person with a previous similar outcome – input ratio receives greater
outcomes without any significant increase in contribution, that other
person. The essential aspect is a similar ratio of outcomes to inputs. For
example by attempting to change a person’s inputs or encouraging a
different object of comparison.
Goal-setting Theory

 Edwin Locke proposed Goal Theory in 1968, which proposes that

motivation and performance will be high if individuals are set specific
goals which are challenging, but accepted, and where feedback is given
on performance.
Goal-setting Theory

The attributes that Locke made emphasis in this theory are:

 Goal specificity – the degree of quantitative preciseness of the goal

 Goal difficulty – the degree of proficiency or the level of goal

performance that is being sought.

 Goal intensity – the process of setting a goal or of determining how to

reach it.

 Goal commitment – the amount of effort that is actually used to achieve

a goal.
Goal-setting Theory

The two most important findings of this theory are:

 Setting specific goals (e.g. I want to earn a million before I am 30 )

generates higher levels of performance than setting general goals (e.g. I
want to earn a lot of money)

 The goals that are hard to achieve are linearly and positively connected
to performance. The harder the goal, the more a person will work to
reach it.