MOTIVATION

Motivation is derived from ‘motive’ which means needs, desires, want, drives within the
individual. It is the process of stimulating people to actions to accomplish the goals. In the work
goal context, psychological factors stimulating people’s behavior can be desire for money,
encouragement, recognition, job satisfaction, team work.

DEFINITIONS

Motivation is something that moves the person to action and make him continues the action.

According to MC Farland, ‘Motivation refers to the way in which urges, drives, aspirations and
needs, direct, control or explain the behavior of human beings’.

FEATURES OF MOTIVATION

 Motivation is a continuous process

 It can be positive or negative
 It is goal oriented
 It is complex in nature
 It is an art
 It is system-oriented
 It is different from job satisfaction

TYPES OF MOTIVATION

1) Intrinsic motivation is the motivation by interest or enjoyment in the task itself, and it exists
within the individual rather than relying on any external pressure. It is based on taking pleasure
in an activity rather than working towards an external reward.

2) Extrinsic motivation refers to the performance of an activity in order to attain an outcome,

which then contradicts intrinsic motivation. It comes from outside of the individual. Common
extrinsic motivations are rewards like money, grades, coercion and threat of punishment, crowd
cheering and trophies.

3)Self motivation: Tired feeling is one of the most common detterent to human action and its due
toemotional ractions within oneself.Things which affect the conscious mind are known as
anxiety, these include monotonous work, driven by boss, bad physical conditions, financial
trouble.

CLASSIFICATION OF MOTIVES

Psychologists do not totally agree on how to classify various human motives. However, some
psychologist has classify motives according as to whether they are unlearned or learned or
whether they are psychologically or physiologically based.
1. Primary Motives : are the ones that are unlearned but not physiologically based . They
include hunger,thirst,sleep,avoidance of pain,sex,etc.
2. General motives: are the ones that are unlearned but not physiologically based.Primary
needs seek to reduce tension and stimulation.Examples are curiosity,manipulative
activity and affection.
3. Secondary Motives:develop as a human society develops economically and becomes
more complex.Examples are needs for power,need for affiliation, need for achievement,
need for security, and need for statuss.
It can further be divided into :Achievement motive; Power motive and The Affiliation
motive.
THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
1) Content Theories: focus mainly on the internal factors that energise and direct human
behaviour
 Maslow hierarchy of needs theory
 Alderfer”s hierarchy of motivational needs theory
 Herzberg Two factor theory
 McClelland theory of needs
2) Process Theories: are cogntive theories of motivation
 Expectancy theory
 Goal setting theory
 Reinforcement theory
 Equity theory

MASLOW’S HIERACHY OF NEEDS

This theory was proposed by Abraham Maslow, and is based on the assumption that
people are motivated by a series of five universal needs. These needs are ranked
(hierarchial order) according to the order in which they influence human behavior.
A. Physiological needs are deemed to be the lowest-level needs. These needs include
the needs such as food and water. So long as physiological needs are unsatisfied,
they exist as a driving or motivating force in a person’s life. For example, a
hungry person has a felt need. This felt need, sets up both psychological and
physical tensions. Once hunger is sated, the tension is reduced and the need for
food ceases to motivate, and the next higher order need becomes the motivating
need.
B. Safety needs: are needs for shelter and security. These needs become the
motivators of human behavior. Safety needs include a desire for security, stability,
dependency, protection,freedom from threat, freedom from fear and anxiety and a
need for structure, order and law. At workplace, there is need for employment
security
 C. Social needs: include the needs for belongingness and love. Human have a need
to belong, and these need may be satisfied by an ability to interest with one’s co-
workers.
D. Self esteem needs: Ego and esteem needs become the motivating needs. They
include the desire to self respect, self esteem, and the esteem of others. When
focused externally, this needs also include the desire for reputation, prestige,
status, fame, glory, dominance, recognition, attention, importance.
E. Self actualization: is the highest need in Maslow’s hierarchy. The need for self
realization, continuous self development, and the process of becoming all that a
person is capable of becoming.

LIMITATION AND CRITICISM

-Little evidence support Maslow’s strict hierarchy.
-The order imposed by Maslow has been challenged by researchers.
-In some cultures,social needs are regarded higher than any other need.
-Little evidence suggest that people satisfy exclusively one motivating need at a
time.
ALDERFER’S HIERARCHY OF MOTIVATIONAL NEEDS

Clayton Alderfer reworked Maslow’s hierarchy to align it more closely with empirical
research.Alderfer”s theory is called the ERG theory.

E- Existence: This is similar to Maslow’s physiological and safety needs .

R-Relatedness: refers to the desire for maintaining interpersonal relationships.It is Similar to

Maslow;s social need and external component of self esteem need.

G-Growth: refers to an intrinsic desire for personal development.It is similar to Maslow’s esteem
need and self actualization.

Alderfer’s ERG theory differs from Maslow’s hierarchy in that ERG theory demonstrates that
more than one need may be operative at the same time.ERG theory does not assume a rigid
hierarchy where a lower need must be substantially satisfied before one can move on.

Moreso,Alderfer deals with frustration-regression .That is,if a higher-order need is frustrated

(frustration), an individual then seeks to increase the satisfaction of a lower need (regression).

TWO-FACTOR THEORY

This theory is also known as the Motivation-Hygiene theory,and was derived from a study
designed to test the concept that people have two sets of needs:

i) Their needs as animals to avoid pain

ii)Their needs as humans to grow psychologically.

According to Herzberg,the factors leading to job satisfaction are separate and distinct from
those that lead to job dissatisfaction.

1)Motivation (Satisfaction): Five factors act as strong determiners of job satisfaction.

-Achievement

-Recognition (achievement)

-Work itself

-Responsibility

-Advancement

The last three are the most important for bringing about lasting change of attitude.

2)Hygiene (Dissatisfaction):The determinants of job dissatisfaction were found to be:

-Company policy

-Administrative policies

-Supervision

-Salary

-Interpersonal relationship

-Working conditions.

Herzberg proposed that his findings indicated the existence of a dual continuum.The opposite of
satisfaction is “No satisfaction’ and the opposite of dissatisfaction is “No dissatisfaction’.

DOUGLAS McGREGOR ‘X’ AND ‘Y’ THEORY

Assumptions of theory ‘X’

 Employees inherently do not like work and will attempt to avoid it if possible.
 Employees dislike work,they have to be coerced or threatened with punishment to
achieve goals.
 Employees avoid responsibilities and do not work till formal directions are issued.
 At the end they get punished by their mangers.

Assumptions of theory ‘Y’

  Employees see physical and mental effort at work as natural as rest or play.
 People do exercise self-control and self-control and self-direction if they are
committed to these goals.
 Average human being agsree willing to take responsibility and exercise
imagination,ingenuity and creativity in solving the problems of the organization.
 They fulfill the organizational goals and get a reward from the managers.

MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS

Motivational factors can broadly be divided into two;

i)Monetary factors

ii)Non monetary factors e.g status/job title, appreciation and recognition, workers participation,
delegation of authority, working conditions, cordial relations, good superiors etc