MOTIVATION : CONCEPT AND THEORIES

INTRODUCTION

Often, a person has the desire and ambition to get something

done or achieve a certain goal, but lacks the push, the initiative
and the willingness to take action. This is due to lack of
motivation and inner drive. If one is motivated enough to do a
challenging task, one will never give up however difficult the task
would be. You might have seen some people who are highly
inspired and dedicated to work and the others need to be pushed.
Motivation is defined as an urge in an individual to perform goal
directed behavior. Therefore, motivation cannot be inflicted from
outside but it is an intrinsic desire in a man to achieve the target
goal through performance or activity. This session will discuss on
concept of motivation, need and importance of motivation, types
of motivation, different theories of motivation and implications of
theories of motivation.

OBJECTIVES OF THE SESSION

At the end of the session, you would be able:

1. To Understand about motivation and its significance

2. To Learn different motivational theories

 3. To understand application of motivation theories

4. To understand what keeps people motivated in an

Organization

5. To understand integration of contemporary theories of

motivation.

MOTIVATION

What inspires you? What inspires employees? What motivates

employees to provide excellent service? What inspires companies
to market a company’s products effectively? What lead them to
work for the organization and achieve the goals set by the
organization? The answers to these questions are very important
if we understand and manage the work behavior of our peers,
subordinates, and even supervisors and others in an organisation.
If someone is not performing well, what could be the reason?

Performance is important as a function of three factors which

include : Motivation, Ability and Environment.

Performance = f (Ability X Motivation X Opportunity)

Motivation – Motivation is the word derived from the word
’motive’ which means needs, desires, wants or drives within the
individuals. Motivation is one of the forces that lead to
performance. Motivation is the desire to achieve a goal or a
certain performance level, leading to goal-directed behavior.
Motivation is important if someone is to perform well, however, it
is not sufficient.
Ability – Ability means possession of the skills and knowledge to
do something. It is important factor determining effectiveness.
Environment – Environment means the setting or conditions in
which a particular activity is carried on. The factors such as
resources, information, and support etc. which set conditions to
perform well are critical to determine performance.

At different times, one of these three factors may be the key to

high performance. For example, for an employee sweeping the
floor, motivation may be the most important factor that
determines performance. In contrast, even the most motivated
individual would not be able to successfully design a house
without the necessary ability involved in building quality homes.
Being motivated is not the same as being a high performer and is
not the sole reason why people perform well, but it is
nevertheless a key influence over our performance level. So what
motivates people? Why do some employees try to reach their
targets and perform excellent while others do show off at work
and finish the hours? There are several theories explaining the
concept of motivation.

Definition

Motivation is something that encourages action or feeling. By

motivating we mean to encourage and inspire. It is the process
by which a person’s efforts are energized, directed, and sustained
towards attaining a goal.

What is the need of Motivation?

Do you thing motivations is needed. Friends, Motivation is a fuel

in us which needs to be ignited with sparks, without motivation
the best powers of the mind remain in a deep sleep. Many a
times people have desire to do something or achieve something
but they lacks the push so that they can take action. Motivation
strengthens the ambition, increases initiative and gives direction,
courage, energy and the persistence to follow one's goals.
Motivation is like a driving force in our lives.
Types of Motivation

There are two types of motivation, Intrinsic and Extrinsic

motivation.

Intrinsic Motivation refers to motivation that exists within the

individual rather than relying on any external pressures like
money, reward, fame etc. The person having intrinsic motivation
wants to perform task and feel pleasure in an activity rather than
worried for the external reward means he/she would not be
worried about external rewards such as praise or awards. The self
motivated employees are always motivated. Intrinsically
motivated employees may be more dedicated towards their work.

So basically the intrinsic motivation may be due to happiness,

desire to learn, personal ambitions, self improvement etc.

Extrinsic Motivation refers to the type of motivation that is due

to outside sources. Here, the person’s desire of the person to do
work is controlled by the outside sources like money, reward,
fame etc. In organizations, Extrinsic motivation is the tool used
everywhere to get the work done efficiently by the employees,
students and thereby improves performance. Organizations
provide financial incentives like rewards, bonus and focuses upon
fame and promotion because in order to achieve these things
they will compete with each other and will try to perform better
than others. But in extrinsic motivation if there is no bonus,
rewards, money or fame the person is no more motivated this is
the drawback of extrinsic motivation.

Motivational Theories

For better understanding motivation, different motivation theories

need to understand. Basically these theories prepare the
foundation for learning how to motivate self and others.
Motivational theories focus on human needs examination and
considerations for meeting better in work. Some of different
theories of motivation are :

o Maslow’s need hierarchy theory

o McGregor’s theory X and theory Y
o Herzberg’s motivation hygiene theory

1. Maslow’s need hierarchy theory

American psychologist Abraham Maslow in 1943 defined Maslow's
hierarchy of needs. The given figure shows the Maslow’s model
for need hierarchy theory.
The most fundamental and basic four layers of the pyramid
contain what Maslow called "deficiency needs"

o Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sleep,

etc.
o Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order,
law, limits, stability, etc.
o Social, Belongingness and Love needs - work group, family,
affection, relationships, etc.
o Esteem needs - self-esteem, achievement, mastery,
independence, status responsibility, etc.
o Self-Actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-
fulfilment, etc.

With the exception of the most fundamental (physiological)

needs, if these "deficiency needs" are not met, the body gives no
physical indication but the individual feels anxious and tense.
Maslow's theory suggests that the most basic level of needs must
be met before the individual will strongly desire the secondary or
higher level needs. The theory can be summarized as follows:
o Human beings have wants and desires which influence their
behavior. Only unsatisfied needs influence behavior, satisfied
needs do not.
o Since needs are many, they are arranged in order of
importance, from the basic to the complex.
o The person advances to the next level of needs only after the
lower level need is at least minimally satisfied.
o The further the progress up the hierarchy, the more
individuality, humanness and psychological health a person
will show.

2. McGregor’s theory X and theory Y

Douglas McGregor developed theory X and theory Y. According to
theory X, management assumes employees are inherently lazy
and will avoid work if they can and that they inherently dislike
work. Here, management believes that workers need to be
closely supervised. A hierarchical structure may be implemented
with control at each and every level. According to this theory,
employees will show very little interest in work if no extrinsic
motivation and will avoid responsibility whenever they can. The
managers who follow theory X needs extrinsic motivators to get
the work done efficiently. A Theory X manager believes that his
or her employees do not really want to work, that they would
rather avoid responsibility and that it is the manager's job to
structure the work and energize the employee.

According to theory Y, management assumes employees may be

ambitious and self-motivated and exercise self-control. It is
believed that employees enjoy their mental and physical work
duties and work can be as natural as play and rest. Managers
believe that employees will learn to seek out and accept
responsibility and to exercise self-control and self-direction in
accomplishing objectives to which they are committed. Theory Y
managers assume that people will be self-directed to meet their
work objective if they are committed to them. So basically
managers with this theory assumes that employees are
intrinsically motivated and if provided with the work friendly
environment they can produce the excellent results. Though
theories are very basic in nature, they provide a platform for
future generation to understand the changing dynamics of human
behaviour. Theories X and Y seem to represent unrealistic
extremes. In organization, Most of employees fall somewhere in
between these extremes. Recent studies have questioned the
model, yet McGregor's X-Y Theories act as guiding principles to
the management.

3. Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory

Another theory given by Herzberg is Motivation Hygiene Theory.
It States that there are certain factors in the work place that
causes job satisfaction and some set of factors that cause
dissatisfaction. Because of this reason it is also called a two
factor theory. Herzberg reasoned that because the factors
causing satisfaction and dissatisfaction are different, the two
feelings cannot simply be treated as opposites of one another.
The Hygiene and Motivational factors are involved at different
levels in Herzberg’s two factor theory.

The factors that may lead to dissatisfaction involves :

o Work place and work conditions

o Salary
o Relationship with Boss/Manager
 o Company policy and procedures/ Rules
The factors which may lead to satisfaction involves:

o Career Growth
o Good salary
o Advancement
o Achievements etc.

Some key points in Herzberg’s Theory:

o According to Herzberg hygiene factors are necessary to

maintain a reasonable level of satisfaction among
employees. These factors do not provide satisfaction to the
employees but their absence will dissatisfy them.
o Motivational factors are intrinsic part of the job. Any
increase in these factors will satisfy the employees but a
decrease will not cause dissatisfaction.

Herzberg argued that job enrichment is required for intrinsic

motivation, and that it is a continuous management process.
According to Herzberg:

o “The job should have sufficient challenge to utilize the full

ability of employees.”
o "Employees who demonstrate good ability should be given
more responsibility."
 o "If a job cannot be designed to use an employee's full
abilities, then the firm should consider automating the task
or replacing the employee with one who has a lower level of
skill. If a person cannot be fully utilized, then there will be a
motivation problem."

4. Other Contemporary Theories

McClelland's Theory of Needs

McClelland classified his needs theories into three categories.

 The Need for Achievement: the drive to excel, achieve in
relation to a set of standards, strive to succeed.
 The Need for Power: The need to make others behave in a
way that they would not have behaved otherwise.
 The Need for Affiliation: The desire for friendly and close
interpersonal relationships.

Goal -Setting Theory

The theory that specific and difficult goals lead to higher

performance. Goals tell an employee what needs to be done and
how much effort will need to be expended. Specific goals increase
performance; that difficult goals, when accepted, result in higher
performance than do easy goals; and that feedback leads to
higher performance than does non-feedback. Specific hard goals
produce a higher level of output than does the generalized goal of
"do your best." The specificity of the goal itself acts as an internal
stimulus.

Self-Efficacy Theory

Self-efficacy refers to an individual's belief that he or she is

capable of performing a task. The higher your self-efficacy, the
more confidence you have in your ability to succeed in a task.

Reinforcement Theory

A counterpoint to the goal-setting theory. In reinforcement

theory, a behaviorist approach, which argues that reinforcement
conditions behavior. Reinforcement theorists see behavior as
being behaviorally caused. Reinforcement theory ignores the
inner state of the individual and concentrates solely on what
happens to a person when he or she takes some action. Because
it does not concern itself with what initiates behavior, it is not,
strictly speaking, a theory of motivation. It does however provide
a powerful means of analysis of what controls behavior.

Equity Theory

Individuals compare their job inputs and outcomes with those of

others and then respond so as to eliminate any inequities. Equity
theory recognizes that individuals are concerned not only with the
absolute amount of rewards for their efforts, but also with the
relationship of this amount to what others receive. Equity should
also consider procedural justice or the perceived fairness of the
process. Equity theory considers distributive justice or the
perceived fairness of the amount and allocation of rewards among
individuals. It is one of the important theory of motivation

Expectancy Theory

The strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the

strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given
outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the
individual. The theory focuses on three relationships:
 Effort-performance relationship or the probability perceived
by the individual that exerting a given amount of effort will
lead to performance.
 Performance-reward relationship or the degree to which the
individual believes that performing at a particular level will
lead to the attainment of a desired outcome.
 Rewards-personal goals relationship or the degree to which
organizational rewards satisfy an individual’s personal goals
or needs and the attractiveness of those potential rewards
for the individual.

Integrating Contemporary Theories of Motivation

While integrating contemporary theories of motivation, consider
employees’ opportunity, ability and the objectives of the current
performance evaluation system in which they work. Secondly,
consideration of the link between individual effort – individual
performance, organizational rewards and personal goals need to
be established.

SUMMARY

Motivation is the word derived from the word ’motive’ which

means needs, desires, wants or drives within the individuals.
Motivation is one of the forces that lead to performance.
Motivation is the desire to achieve a goal or a certain
performance level, leading to goal-directed behavior. Motivation
is important if someone is to perform well, however, it is not
sufficient. Motivation can be intrinsic or extrinsic. There are
various types of motivational theories like Maslow’s hierarchy
needs, McGregor’s theory, Hertzberg Theory, McClelland, equity
theory, Reinforcement theory, expectancy theory etc. Integration
of contemporary theories of motivation is also very important for
building up the organization.