2.5 motivation

What is motivation?

• Motivation refers to the desire, internal need, effort and passion to achieve something. In organization, motivation refers to getting someone to do something.

Benefits of increased motivation of workers

• Motivation is important in an organization as:• The more motivated an employee is, the more

productive he is, leading to increased revenue• It improves corporate image helping to attract

customers and employees• It brings better relationship between

management and employees• It results in lower absenteeism and turnover of

staff

Poor motivation can result in:

• High rate of absenteeism and labor turnover• Low productivity and low quality of output• Increased number of disciplinary problems

and levels of conflict

Intrinsic / extrinsic motivation

• Intrinsic motivation occurs when a person engages into an activity out of his own desire because he finds the activity challenging or satisfying for the person.

• Extrinsic motivation occurs when a person participates in an activity because of the benefits associated with the activity. These rewards can be tangible (high salaries) or intangible such as recognition or praise. Extrinsic motivation can also come in the form of threats such as avoiding punishment.

Theories of motivation

• Motivation theories can be classified as:• content (needs) theories or• process theories.

Content theories

• Content theories of motivation explain the factors that motivate people. They answer the question: What makes people to behave in a certain way? The theories include:

• Maslow Hierarchy of Needs• McGregor Theory X and Theory Y • Herzberg Two Factor Theory• Taylor’s scientific Management theory • Mayo ‘s human Relations theory(HL)• McClelland Needs theory(HL)

Process Theories

• Process theories explain the thinking processes that influence behavior. They answer the question: why people behave in a certain way?

• They include: • Vroom’ Expectancy Theory (HL)• Adam’s Equity Theory (HL)

MASLOW HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

• Abraham Maslow, in 1943, put forward the theory that people are motivated by certain needs. These needs consist of five types and levels which he calls the hierarchy of needs.

• Maslow argued that people tend to satisfy their needs systematically, i.e. higher level needs cannot be address before lower level needs are satisfied.

illustration

• Physiological needs refer to the basic needs for survival such as food, clothing and shelter. At work, it refers to the amount of money a person earns to meet these basic needs.

• Security or safety needs refer to the feeling of safety, order and freedom from threats. In a work situation, these needs will refer to job security, such as contract of work, sick leave, maternity leave , pension and protection from arbitrary actions.

• Social needs also known as love and belonging needs refer to the human need to be accepted by others, e.g. as part of a social group or family. At work, these needs include opportunities for interaction, teamwork, absence of discrimination, a sense of belonging to the organization, social events, etc.

• Esteem needs refer to the desires for recognition or esteem from others and self respect leading to a feeling of confidence. At organization level, employees have a need to have their efforts recognized. Promotion, job title (Head of department), training and development, opportunities to participate in decision making are ways to satisfy these needs.

• Self actualization is the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It refers to the needs for fulfillment of personal potential, i.e. the best of oneself. Businesses can encourage this by providing opportunities for personal development.

The theory is important to managers because

• Firstly, it helps managers to clearly identify, in a simple context, the variety of workers needs that must be satisfied if employees are to be motivated;

• Secondly, workers would not be motivated by higher level needs if lower ones are not satisfied. If a worker paid starvation wages is unlikely to be motivated by praise from managers.

Critics of Maslow’ theory

• Levels of needs are difficult to measure• It is not a consistent form of behavior

especially for many people. Freelance artist, professionals like doctors, self employed do not fit this model of hierarchy.

• There is no explanation of what motivates people once they have achieved self-realization.

Assignment

• Hall

(a) i: What is meant by lack of motivation

• An employee with a lack of motivation means that he does not have the _______ to contribute as fully as he could or does not fulfill his ________ at work

(a) ii: What is meant by physiological needs

• According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, physiological needs refer to the needs of ______, ________, and ______ of a person. At work, they refer to ………..

• It is suggested that they are the most basic needs of employees which must be satisfied before other higher needs such as ______ in order to motivate them to contribute fully to the organization.

C: Using Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, examine reasons …….

• Using Maslow’s Hierachy of needs, it may be possible to _______ Lee’s needs which are not satisfied leading to his _______

• Firstly, it appears that his ________ needs are being met. Lee is not complaining about ______. It can also be suggested that his _______ needs are met as there are no physical threats at work.

• However, it might be argued that his real difficulties lie on meeting his ______, _______and _______ needs. For example, Lee talked about ….

HERZBERG’S TWO FACTOR THEORY

• According to Frederick Herzberg’s theory (1959), there are two groups of factors which are important to workers’motivation:

• hygiene factors and• motivating factors.

Hygiene factors (mainly physical aspects)

• Hygiene or maintenance factors contribute very little to motivate workers but prevent dissatisfaction. Workers can be de-motivated, if hygiene factors are absent or inadequate. These include:

• Adequate salary• Security such as job contracts, pension, leaves• Safe working conditions• Proper policies and procedures• Quality of supervision• Relations with colleagues, subordinates and supervisors

• They are the basic requisites for the workers to work but more of these factors would not make them work any harder.

• For example, higher wages may not lead to higher performance but workers’ performance would deteriorate if they feel that they are underpaid.

• The above can be compared to hygienic food. It is the food that promotes good health and hygiene alone does not, but the absence of hygiene can lead to ill-health

Motivators (mainly psychological aspects)

• Motivating factors or satisfiers encourage personal development and pride. When they exist, motivating factors create job satisfaction and high performance. They include:

• Challenging work• Responsibility• Opportunities for promotion and

advancement• Recognition for good work• Sense of achievement

• Motivators, therefore, increase job satisfaction and motivate workers to higher performance. They are concerned with improving the nature and content of the job.

Importance of Herzberg’s theory

• Herzberg’s theory allows managers to see clearly two simple categories of factors. They can, thus, motivate workers by making the work rewarding and also ensure that hygiene factors are present so that workers are not de-motivated.

Assignment

• QA : M08 S2 Q3

Mc Gregor’s Theory X and Theory Y

• Douglas Mc Gregor (1960) outlined two opposing management attitudes towards workers and their effect these have on their motivation. He referred to managers as either Theory X or Theory Y managers.

Theory X managers assume that workers:

• are lazy and will try to avoid work as far as possible

• lack ambition, dislike responsibility and prefer to be led

• want security above all and would work mainly for money

• must be forced, controlled and threatened with punishment to get them to work effectively

• A theory X manager is basically authoritarian and sees his job as to direct and control the workers

Theory Y managers assume that worker:

• Enjoy work and in fact consider work as natural as play

• Are ambitious ,will not only accept but also seek responsibility (if motivated)

• Can gain job satisfaction and would work not just for money

• Are capable of working independently (no need of control) and are capable of imagination to solve problems

• A Theory Y manager sees his functions as to organize work and to create the right conditions so that all workers can achieve their goals and organization’s goals.

• McGgregor also suggest that there are possible behaviors between the two extremes.

Assignment

• Case Study handout

• To what extent does Mr Hayward subscribe to a Theory X or Theory Y approach to management?

Answer

• Theory X managers think that ……...

• It can be argued that, to a certain extent, Mr Hayward is a Theory X manager. He promised to operate the subsidiaries in a more _______ management style. He said that the subsidiaries must be commanded and ________ from above. He also said that the subsidiaries will ____ operate as completely independent functional units, meaning that there will be a lot of c_______ on them.

• However, Theory Y managers are of the view that …..

• It can also be suggested that Mr Hayward is also a Theory Y manager. ……

• Overall, we can say that Mr Hayward is more …

Taylor’s Scientific Management Theory