Chapter # 3
Concepts of Motivation
What is Motivation
Employee’s willingness to put effort to achieve Organizational objectives.
Primary reason people do what they do is to meet their needs or wants.
Example: You are thirsty (need) and have a drive (motive) to get a drink. You get
a drink (behavior) that quenches (satisfaction) your thirst.
Motivation is an account for an individual’s intensity,
direction and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal
Shows the hard work of an
attempt
Intensity
Shows the flow of intensity
Direction Persistence Shows how long a person
can maintain such an
effort
Why is motivation important
Motivated and satisfied work force contributes significantly to
organizational effectiveness.
One study found that self-motivation is one of the MOST IMPORTANT
SKILLS companies look for when hiring an employee.
Motivation affects behavior and human
relations
To understand human behaviour we need to understand needs and motives.
We cannot observe motives, we can observe behaviour and INFER what the
person’s motive is.
How Motivation affects behavior and
human relations
It is not easy to know a person’s behavior because people do the same thing
for different reasons.
People with high need for socialization tend to be more outgoing and friendly
and those who do not have high need tend to be more reserved.
How Motivation affects performance
Performance is not simply based on motivation.
The level of performance is determined by three factors:
Performance = Ability x Motivation x Resources
For performance level to be high, all three factors must be high.
Motivation theories
Focus on identifying workers’ needs in order to understand what
motivates them.
FOUR motivation theories are:
1. Maslow Hierarchy of Needs Theory
2. McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
3. Herzberg Two Factor Theory
4. McClelland Theory of Needs
Maslow Hierarchy of Needs Theory
Theory is based on three major assumptions:
1. People’s needs are arranged in order of importance going from basic
needs to more complex needs.
2. People will not be motivated to satisfy higher level need unless lower
level need has been satisfied.
3. People have five classification of needs.
Maslow Hierarchy of Needs Theory
Physiological needs:
Includes air, food, shelter.
In organizational settings:
Includes adequate salary, breaks and working conditions.
Safety needs:
Includes safety and security needs.
In organizational settings:
Includes safe working conditions, job security and salary increase.
Social needs:
Includes belongingness, friendship, acceptance.
In organizational settings:
Includes opportunity to interact with others, to be accepted, to have
friends.
Esteem needs:
Includes ego, status, self respect, recognition, self confidence.
In organizational settings:
Includes titles, satisfaction for completing the job itself, merit pay rise,
challenging task, participation in decision making.
Self Actualization:
Includes need for growth and to develop one’s full potential.
In organizational settings:
Includes development of one’s skills, chance to be creative,
achievement & promotions and ability to have complete control over
one’s job.
McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
Theory X attributes Theory Y attributes
• X represents negative • Y represents Positive
attributes attributes
• Employees inherently dislike • Employees naturally like to
work learn and work
• Employees must be directed • Employees can seek
even good performance responsibility
Herzberg Two Factor Theory
Classifies needs into two groups:
Those that are part of work environment (Hygiene).
Those that are part of job itself (Motivator)
Hygiene:
Needs that are extrinsic to the job itself, which do not themselves
satisfy but may be sources of dissatisfaction.
Extrinsic Factors can be:
Status, Job security
Working conditions, Fringe benefits
Policies and administrative practices, Human relations
Motivators:
Needs that are intrinsic to the job itself that can result in a sense of
satisfaction of the workers.
Intrinsic Factors can be:
Meaningful and Challenging work
Recognition for accomplishments
Feeling of achievement
Increased responsibility
Opportunity for growth and advancement
McClelland Theory of Needs
Needs are based on personality and are developed as people
interact with environment.
Classification of needs:
Need for Affiliation
Need for Achievement
Need for Power
All people possess these needs but to varying degrees
Any one need dominate in each of us and motivates our
behaviour
Need for Achievement:
People tend to be characterized as:
Wanting to take personal responsibility for solving problems
Goal oriented
Willing to work hard
Motivating employees with achievement needs:
Give them non-routine, challenging task.
Give them fast and frequent feedback on their performance
Give them increased responsibility for doing new things.
Need for Power:
People tend to be characterized as:
Wanting to control the situation
Want influence or control over others
Only enjoy that competition in which they can win. Do not
like to lose
With little self control may exhibit unstable behaviour when
in a position of power
Always seeks position of authority and status
Motivating employees with Power needs:
Plan and control their jobs as much as possible
Include them in decision making, especially when they are
affected by decision
They tend to perform best alone, try to assign them to a
whole task rather than just part of task
Need for Affiliation:
People tend to be characterized as:
Seeking close relations with others
Enjoying lots of social activities
Wanting to be liked by others
Achieve better results in teams
Motivating employees with Affiliation needs:
Give them lots of praise and recognition
Be sure that they will work as a part of team
Delegate responsibility for orienting and training new employees by
them. They make great buddies and mentors.
Process Motivation Theories
Focus on describing the relationship between the nature of the goal and the
individual’s need
Attempts to understand how and why people are motivated.
Why do people select certain goals to work toward?
Why do people select particular behaviour to meet their needs?
How do people evaluate need satisfaction?
Two process motivation theories:
◦ Expectancy theory
◦ Equity theory
Expectancy Theory
Under expectancy theory, motivation depends on how much people
want something and how likely they are of getting it.
Theory is based on following assumptions:
◦ Both internal (needs) and external (environment) factors affect
behaviour
◦ Behaviour is individual decision
◦ People have different needs, desire and goals
◦ People make behaviour decisions based on their perception of
outcome
◦ Two important variables of theory must be met for motivation take
place
◦ Motivation = Expectancy x Value
Expectancy Theory
Expectancy:
Refers to person’s perception of his ability (probability) to accomplish
an objective.
Higher one’s expectancy, the stronger the motivation
When employees do not believe that they can accomplish objectives,
their motivation to try will be low.
Also important is the perception of relationship between performance
and outcome or reward.
Higher one’s expectancy of rewards or outcome, the better the chance
for motivation
Example:
If employee believe that he would be a good supervisor and wants to get
promoted. However, he has an external locus of control and believes that
working hard will not result in promotion anyway. Therefore, he will not
be motivated to work hard for promotion.
Expectancy Theory
Value:
Value a person place on a outcome or reward
Higher the value (importance) of the outcome the stronger the motivation.
Example:
Supervisor want his employee to work hard. Supervisor tell employee that
working hard will result in promotion. If employee want promotion, he
will be motivated. If promotion is not of importance to employee then he
will not be motivated.
Expectancy Theory
Motivating with expectancy theory:
Clearly define objectives and necessary performance needed to achieve
them.
Tie performance with rewards.
Be sure rewards are of value to the employee.
Make the job challenging but achievable.
Equity Theory
Based on contention that people seek social equity in the rewards they
receive (output) for their performance (input).
People compare their inputs (effort, experience, seniority, status) and
outputs (praise, recognition, pay, promotion) to that of relevant others.
If employees believe there is inequity, they will change their behaviour to
create equity.
Equity Theory
Most people tend to inflate their own efforts or performance when
comparing themselves to others.
Employees may be very satisfied and motivated until they find out that
another is earning more for the same job or earning the same for doing less
work.
When inequity is perceived, employees attempt to reduce it by reducing
input or increasing output.
Comparison with relevant others lead to three conclusions:
Equity Theory
Equitably rewarded:
Inputs and outputs are perceived as being equal.
Employees believe that they should have greater outputs when they have
more experience, education and so on.
Under rewarded:
When employees perceive that they are under rewarded, they may reduce
the inequity by:
Trying to increase outputs (getting a pay raise)
Reducing inputs (doing less work, absenteeism)
Changing other’s inputs or outputs ( getting them to do more or get less)
Leaving the situation (transferred, leaving for better job)
Equity Theory
Over rewarded:
Over rewarded is not too disturbing to most employees
Research suggest that employees may reduce perceived inequity by:
Increasing inputs (work hard)
Reducing output
Equity Theory
Motivating with equity theory:
Using equity theory in practice can be difficult because you do not know
who the employee’s reference group is and what their view of inputs and
outcomes are.
Some useful recommendations are:
Rewards should be equitable.
When higher performance is rewarded, employees must understand the
inputs needed to attain certain outputs
Porter-Lawler Extension of Expectancy
Theory
Assumptions:
If performance in an organization results in equitable and
fair rewards, people will be more satisfied.
High performance can lead to rewards and high satisfaction.
Types of rewards:
Extrinsic rewards—outcomes set and awarded by external
parties (e.g., pay and promotions).
Intrinsic rewards—outcomes that are internal to the
individual (e.g., self-esteem and feelings of
accomplishment).
Porter-Lawler Extension of Expectancy
Theory
