EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION IN THE

WORKPLACE

CHAPTER 4
 LEARNING OUTCOMES
TOPICS
Employee Motivation in the Workplace (Page 64-79)

Introduction and definition of motivation (Page 64)

The important of motivation (Page 65)

Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy Theory (Page 67)

McClelland’s Theory of Needs (Page 74-75)

Expectancy theory of motivation (Page 79-80)

Goal setting theory (Page 75-76)

Equity theory of motivation (Page 77-79)

 INTRODUCTION
• Motivation was indeed a powerful force which pushed
the team to focus and work towards what was
expected of them.
• The rewards which were promised to them should they
achieve the set goal were the factors that kept them
moving.
 INTRODUCTION
• Manager or leaders need to know what factors would
create and instill motivation amongst employees.
• This is indeed important, as having motivated
employees will definitely lead employees to working
more efficiently and with greater enthusiasm.
 DEFINITION
• Motivation is defined as the process that accounts for
an individual ‘s intensity, direction and persistence.
• Motivation is the word derived from the word “motive”
which means needs, desires, wants and drives within
individuals. It is the process of stimulating people to
action to accomplish goals.
 THE IMPORTANCE OF MOTIVATION
1. Motivated individuals will know what they want in life. They have
directions and plans to achieve their wants.

2. Motivated individuals always have high confidence in themselves. They

will always find ways to solve the challenges which they have and the
chances of giving up is low.

3. Motivated individual are risk-takers and are always willing to try new
things. They understand that filures in achieving new things are actually
apportunities to do something new.
REASONS OF HAVING MOTIVATED EMPLOYEES

Leads to the achievement of organizational goals

Builds friendly relationships

Improves the level of efficiency of employees

Ensures a loyal workforce

More innovation and increased creativity

 REASONS OF HAVING MOTIVATED EMPLOYEES

• Motivated employees will help to achieve

organizational goals, build a friendly environment,
improve the level of efficiency, ensure a loyal
workforce, and assist with promoting more innovation
and creativity at work.
 MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEED
THEORY
1. Theory in psychology that
comprises a five-tier model
of human needs, often
depicted as hierarchical
levels within a pyramid.
2. The theory was proposed by
Abraham Maslow in 1943.
MASLOW’S NEEDS HIERARCHY THEORY
MASLOW’S NEEDS HIERARCHY THEORY (cont.)
 FIVE LEVELS OF NEEDS
• Fundamental of human needs.
Physiological • Lowest hierarchy to be satisfied first such as food, water, shelter
and other bodily needs.

• Security and protection from physical and emotional threat

Security • Job security, health insurance and retirement plan.

• Desire to be loved and accepted by others

Social/Belongingness • need for friendship, love and a feeling of belonging
 FIVE LEVELS OF NEEDS-cont’
• Represent the need for personal feelings of achievement and self-
worth.
Esteem • Internal factors such as self-respect, autonomy and achievement,
external factor such as status, recognition and attention.

• A need for self-fulfillment and to show one’ ability to the fullest,

includes the urge to become what one is capable of becoming or
Self- has the potential to become.
• The need for growth and self-contentment.
actualization • the desire for gaining more knowledge, social service, creativity
and aesthetics.
• Self-actualization needs are never fully satiable.
Limitations of Needs Hierarchy Models
Criticisms on the needs hierarchy:

1. Researchers have proved that there is a lack of hierarchical

structure of needs as suggested by Maslow even though every
individual would have some ordering for their need satisfaction.
2. The Maslow Hierarchy of Need Theory makes an assumption
about employees in general where all employees are alike, all
situations are alike and that there is only one best way to meet
Needs.
 IMPLICATION OF MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
THEORY FOR MANAGER
• Managers can use this theory as a guide to motivate their employees.
In order to fulfil the physiological needs of employees, managers need
to ensure that the salaries given enable the employees to have
necessities in life.
 IMPLICATION OF MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
THEORY FOR MANAGER
• To satisfy security needs, managers need to ensure that
employees have job security, a safe and hygienic work
environment, and retirement benefits in order to retain them.
• To satisfy social needs, managers need to ensure that teamwork
and trust among employees are there.
 IMPLICATION OF MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
THEORY FOR MANAGER
• Next, to fulfill esteem needs, managers can appreciate and
reward employees for accomplishing and exceeding their
targets. The management can give the deserving employee a
higher job rank or position in the organization.
 IMPLICATION OF MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
THEORY FOR MANAGER
Challenging jobs can be given to employees where their skills and
competencies are fully utilized. This helps to satisfy self-
actualization needs. Moreover, growth opportunities can be given
to them so that they can reach their peak performance.
 TAKE 5 MINUTES BREAK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IETlvTNWhPg

https://youtu.be/mLXpJmtzqTI
McCLELLAND’S THEORY OF NEEDS
(ACQUIRED-NEEDS MODEL)
Proposed by David McClelland in 1961,
McClelland Theory states that human
behaviour is affected by three needs:
1. Need for Power
2. Need for Achievement
3. Need for Affiliation
McClelland’s Theory of Needs (Acquired-Needs Model)
Need for Achievement Need for Power Need for Affiliation
(n-ach) (n-pow) (n-aff)
• N-ach is the urge to • N-pow is the desire to • N-aff is a need for open
excel, to accomplish in influence other and sociable
relation to a set of individual’s behaviour. In interpersonal
standards, to struggle to other words, it is the relationships. In other
achieve success. It is the desire to have control words, it is a desire for
desire to complete a task over others and to be relationship based on
more effectively than influential. cooperation and mutual
before. understanding.
McCLELLAND’S THEORY OF NEEDS
(ACQUIRED-NEEDS MODEL)
Need for Need for
Need for Power
Achievement Affiliation
• Drive to excel • To control • Friendship
• Achieve in others • Good
relationto a • To get desired relationship
set of things done
standards
• Strive to
succeed
 Expectancy Theory of Motivation
• The theory states that the intensity of a
tendency to perform in a particular
manner is dependent on the intensity of
an expectation that the performance will
be followed by a desired outcome and on
the attractiveness of the outcome to the
individual.
• Proposed by Victor Vroom of Yale School
of Management in 1964.
• Vroom stresses and focus on outcomes,
not on needs.
Effort-performance relationship (Expectancy)
• Amount of effort will lead to some degree of performance.
• Cognitive evaluation is heavily weighted by an Individual’s past
experiences, personality, self confidence and emotional state.

Performance-reward relationship (Instrumentality)

• It is the perception that performing at a particular level will obtain a
desired reward

Reward –personal goals relationship (Valence)

• An individual believes that the reward obtained can satisfy personal
goals.
Expectancy Theory suggests that individuals are motivated to
perform if they know that their extra performance is recognized
and rewarded.
 E-to-P expectancy
• The individual’s perception that his or her effort will
result in a particular level of performance
• In other words is the level of expectations in giving
performance to complete the task or job
 P-to-O expectancy
• The perceived probability that a specific
behavior/performance level will lead to outcome
• Employees may believe that accomplishing a particular
task (performance) will result in a particular outcome
 Outcome Valences
• A valence is the anticipated satisfaction or dissatisfaction
that an individual feels towards an outcome
• (+) valence when they are consistent with our values and
satisfy our needs
• (-) valence when they oppose our values and inhibit need
fulfillment
 GOAL-SETTING THEORY
• Goal-Setting Theory is a theory which involves setting specific
and measurable goals for employees to achieve.
• A major factor that contributes to the success of this theory is
self-efficacy, which is an internal belief about one’s
capabilities and competencies.
 GOAL-SETTING THEORY
• Goals tell employees what needs to be done.
• Goals indicate and give direction to an employee
about what needs to be done and how much effort
is required to be expended.
• Challenging goals results in higher performance than
easy goals and feedback is crucial which then leads
to higher performance than the goals which do not
have feedback.
GOAL-SETTING CRITERIA
GOAL-SETTING THEORY
SPECIFIC
• The goal set must be specific not general.
• Increase profitability by 10% by the end of year 2012.

MEASURABLE
• The goal must be measurable such as in Ringgit Malaysia, US Dollar
• 10% increase in profitability can be measured in monetary value.

ACTION-ORIENTED
• Determine actions to be taken to achieve the goal. Good action are able to produce good
outcome.
• To achieve 10% increase profitability, employees can choose to produce a variety of products,
improve services to customers
GOAL-SETTING CRITERIA
REALISTIC
• Goals are relevant to organizational success
• A 10% increase in profitability is relevant and realistic for the
success of an organization.

TIME
• There must be a time range set to achieve the goal.
• Time has been set to increase 10% profit by December year
2012.
EQUITY THEORY
• Equity theory is defined as “a theory of
motivation that focuses on people’s
perceptions of the fairness of their work
outcomes relative to their work inputs.
• Inputs – resource contributed in performing
the job such as time, effort, skill, experience,
etc.
• Outcome – rewards, benefits, recognition,
career opportunities and other items which
the individual receives from the organization.
 EQUITY THEORY
• The individual compares his own outcome–input ratio
with a referent’s outcome–input ratio.
• A referent could be another person, a group of people
similar to oneself, oneself in a previous job, or one’s
own expectation of what the outcome–input should be.
 REFERENT COMPARISON
• 4 types of referent a person can make a comparison with:
1. Self-inside- an employee is comparing himself with his own self in the
same organization.
2. Self-outside- an employee compares himself with his own self if he were
in other organization.
3. Other-inside- an employee compares his input and outcome with
another person in the same organization.
4. Other-outside- an employee compares his input and outcome with
another person in a different organization.
 REFERENT COMPARISON
• The comparison later would lead to 3 probabilities of outcome:
1. Feeling Under Rewarded (Inequity)- under rewarded is the feeling of inequity
which exists when a person believes that his input-output ration is less or lower
than the referent. When he feels that he is under reward, he may feel unhappy,
unmotivated and dissatisfied.
2. Feeling equal or Equity – Equity is the justice, impartiality and fairness to which
all organizational members are entitled. This is a feeling where the individual
feels that the output which he receives from the organization is worth the input
which the individual contributes to the organization.
3. Feeling Over Rewarded (Inequity) – Over rewarded is the inequity that exists
when a person perceives that his or her own outcome-input ration is greater than
the ratio of a referent. He is being paid more or getting more than what the
referent are getting.
 RESPOND TO INEQUITY
1. Change in input such as contribute and work less than usual.
2. Change in outcome. If over-reward, then a person may
increase input to ensure that it matches output and if under-
reward, then a person may request for al higher pay cheque
and other rewards from the bosses.
3. Choose a different referent. The individual may choose a
different referent just to have a different feeling. He compares
himself to a person who is getting much more than what he is
receiving.
4. Quit the job or exit from the organization.
5. Change self-perception. E.g. I know that I have performed
better and harder than any hone else.
6. Change perception of others. E.g. Jack’s job is not as
desirable as I earlier thought it was.
 END OF
CHAPTER 4
 ONLINE CLASS PRESENTATION:
Students are divided into 4 groups, required to find any articles about the
following topic in the Internet as well as referring to the Text Book and present
it in the online class. You need to summarize the article and share the topic into
5 slides of PowerPoint. You can apply your creativity in delivering the topic.
You are given 15 minutes to present the topic in 1 hour online class.

1. McClelland’s theory of needs (acquired-needs model)

2. Expectancy theory of motivation
3. Respond to inequity
4. Goal-setting criteria