MOTIVATION

Chapter 2

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2.

MOTIVATION
(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) Define Motivation Motivation is the core of Management Discuss. Sources of Motivation Explain briefly Abraham Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Theory Herzbergs Two Factor Theory Basic Assumption of Theory X & Y Motivation is a psychological persuasion - Explain

(viii) What Role does Money Play in Motivation Employees ? (ix) Methods of Motivating People

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Define Motivation
"Motivation" is a Latin word, meaning "to move". Human motives are internalized goals within individuals. Motivation may be defined as those forces that cause people to behave in certain ways.

In the words of Lewis Allen, "Motivation is the work a manager performs to inspire, encourage and impel people to take required action".

According to William G Scott, "Motivation means a process of stimulating people to action to accomplish desired goals".

Motivation is a process by which a need or desire is aroused and a psychological force within our mind sets us in motion to fulfill our needs and desire.

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Motivation is the Core of Management ? /Features of Motivation

1.

Psychological Process : Motivation is a psychological process useful for

encouraging employees to take more interest in the work assigned. It relates to human relations.

2.

Initiative by Manager : The initiative for motivation is by the manager by

offering guidance and also by other methods like appreciation of good work or offering incentives.

3.

Continuous activity : It

is a continuous and circular process. Subordinates need motivation in a continuous manner as their needs and expectations change from time to time.

4.

Goal-oriented and action-oriented :

Motivation diverts human behavior towards certain goals. Attainment of organizational and individual goals depends on the motivational plans.

5.

Broad concept : Motivation covers needs, human relations and satisfaction of

employees. Job satisfaction is one such need and is useful for their motivation.

6.

Essence of management process :

Motivation is an essential function of a manager. He has to motivate his subordinates for achieving organizational objectives.

7.

Beneficial to employees and management : Motivation offers

benefits to employees and Organisation. It avoids crashes and encourages cooperative outlook among employees.

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Sources of Motivation
The results have demonstrated that five unique sources of motivation exist:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Intrinsic process motivated by FUN Instrumental motivated by REWARDS Self-Concept-External motivated by REPUTATION Self-Concept-Internal motivated by CHALLENGE Goal Internalization motivated by the cause or PURPOSE

Intrinsic process (fun)

motivation is characterized by task pleasure and sheer enjoyment of the work. Behavior
that suggests an employee is motivated by intrinsic process includes:

being easily taken off tasks when one doesnt enjoy the tasks assigned talking about how much one likes or dislikes the tasks assigned volunteering freely for the activities that one enjoys most

Instrumental (Rewards)
motivation is characterized by a concern for tangible incentives (e.g. pay, bonus, or leave allowances). Behavior that suggests an employee is instrumentally motivated includes:

expecting compensation for any and all extra work performed talking about how much money one makes or should make frequently talking about the relative wealth of others
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Self-concept external (reputation)

motivation is characterized by a concern for others opinions. An employee motivated this way is very interested in preserving and enhancing his or her reputation among peers and supervisors. Behavior that suggests an employee is motivated by self-concept
external includes:

frequently ask for feedback seeking praise and recognition for work performed being attentive to who gets the credit when work is finished

Self-concept internal (achievement)

motivation is characterized by a concern for meeting ones personal standards of job performance. An employee motivated this way is not concerned with feedback and tends to be self-driven. Behavior that suggests an employee is motivated by self-conceptinternal includes:

seeking to perform the most difficult tasks at work working best when ones skills are needed for the tasks performing the most important tasks with little supervision or direction

Goal internalization (principles)

motivation is characterized by a need to believe in the cause at work. An employee motivated this way uses value-based principles to guide decisions and actions. Behavior
that suggests an employee is motivated by goal internalization includes:

asking about the purpose of tasks (Why are we doing this?) commenting on the strategic focus of the operation working hard when one believes in the cause and not at all if one doesnt
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Explain Briefly A braham Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Theory

Physiological Needs
According to Maslow's theory, if such needs are not satisfied then one's motivation will arise from the quest to satisfy them. Higher needs such as social needs and esteem are not felt until one has met the needs basic to one's bodily functioning.

Safety
According to Maslow's hierarchy, if a person feels that he or she is in harm's way, higher needs will not receive much attention.
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Social Needs
Once a person has met the lower level physiological and safety needs, higher level needs become important, the first of which are social needs.

Esteem
Once a person feels a sense of "belonging", the need to feel important arises. Esteem needs may be classified as internal or external. Internal esteem needs are those related to self-esteem such as self respect and achievement. Maslow later refined his model to include a level between esteem needs and self-actualization: the need for knowledge and aesthetics.

Self-Actualization
Self-actualized persons have frequent occurrences of peak experiences, which are energized moments of profound happiness and harmony. According to Maslow, only a small percentage of the population reaches the level of self-actualization.

Implications for Management

If Maslow's theory holds, there are some important implications for management. There are opportunities to motivate employees through management style, job design, company events, and compensation packages, some examples of which follow:

Physiological needs: Provide lunch breaks, rest breaks, and wages that are sufficient to purchase the essentials of life. Safety Needs: Provide a safe working environment, retirement benefits, and job security. Social Needs: Create a sense of community via team-based projects and social events. Esteem Needs: Recognize achievements to make employees feel appreciated and valued. Offer job titles that convey the importance of the position. Self-Actualization: Provide employees a challenge and the opportunity to reach their full career potential.
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Herzbergs Two Factor Theory

Hygiene factors

Hygiene factors are those job factors which are

essential for existence of motivation at workplace. These do not lead to positive satisfaction for long-term. But if these factors are absent / if these factors are non-existant at workplace, then they lead to dissatisfaction. Hygiene factors include: a.

Pay - The pay or salary structure should be appropriate and reasonable. It must h.
be equal and competitive to those in the same industry in the same domain.

b.

Company Policies and administrative policies - The company

policies should not be too rigid. They should be fair and clear. It should include flexible working hours, dress code, breaks, vacation, etc.

c.

Fringe benefits - The employees should be offered health care plans

(medical), benefits for the family members, employee help programmes, etc.

d.

Physical Working conditions - The working conditions should be safe,

clean and hygienic. The work equipments should be updated and wellmaintained.

e.

Status - The employees status within the organization should be familiar and
retained.

f.

Interpersonal relations - The relationship of the employees with his

peers, superiors and subordinates should be appropriate and acceptable. There should be no conflict or humiliation element present.

g.

Job Security - The organization must provide job security to the employees.

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Motivational factors

These factors motivate the employees for a

superior performance. These factors are called satisfiers. These are factors involved in performing the job. Employees find these factors intrinsically rewarding. Motivational factors include:
a)

Recognition - The employees should be praised and recognized for their

accomplishments by the managers.

b)

Sense of achievement - The employees must have a sense of achievement.

This depends on the job. There must be a fruit of some sort in the job.

c)

Growth and promotional opportunities - There must be growth and

advancement opportunities in an organization to motivate the employees to perform well.

d)

Responsibility - The employees must hold themselves responsible for the work.
The managers should give them ownership of the work. They should minimize control but retain accountability.

e)

Meaningfulness of the work - The work itself should be meaningful,

interesting and challenging for the employee to perform and to get motivated.

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Basic Assumption of Theory X & Y

In 1960, Douglas McGregor formulated Theory X and Theory Y suggesting two aspects of human behavior at work, or in other words, two different views of individuals (employees): One of which is negative, called as Theory X and the other is positive, so called as Theory Y.

Theory X.
Theory X is based on traditional assumptions about people (employees).

Assumptions of Theory X.
1. The average human being is inherently lazy by nature and desires to work as little as possible. He dislikes the work and will like to avoid it, if he can. 2. 3. 4. 5. He avoids accepting responsibility and prefers to be led or directed by some other. He is self-centered and indifferent to organizational needs. He has little ambition, dislikes responsibility, prefers to be led but wants security. He is not very intelligent and lacks creativity in solving organizational problems.

Theory Y.
Theory Y is based on modern or progressive or professional approach.

Assumptions of Theory Y.
1. 2. 3. Work is as natural as play, provided the work environment is favorable. People can be self-directed and creative at work if they are motivated properly. Self-control on the part of people is useful for achieving organizational goal.
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4. 5.

People have capacity to exercise imagination and creativity. An average human being learns under proper conditions. He is also willing to accept responsibility.

Theory Y Management Implications

Decentralization and Delegation - If firms decentralize control and reduce the number of levels of management, each manager will have more subordinates and consequently will be forced to delegate some responsibility and decision making to them. Job Enlargement - Broadening the scope of an employee's job adds variety and opportunities to satisfy ego needs. Participative Management - Consulting employees in the decision making process taps their creative capacity and provides them with some control over their work environment. Performance Appraisals - Having the employee set objectives and participate in the process of evaluating how well they were met.

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Motivation is a Psychological Persuasion

The most common definition of motivation states that motivation is the psychological process that gives behavior purpose and direction. It has also been defined as the inner force that drives us to do something.

If a person is to a job and do it good, they need some sort of employee motivation or motivation factor behind it. In most cases it is the responsibility of the boss or supervisor to motivate his or her employees. When employees are motivated they are more likely to enjoy what they do and therefore will produce better result from their work. Therefore, the manager or boss is to motivate the employees then he or she should also be motivated.

You can also look at employee motivation from a psychological point of view. According to a psychologist named Maslow, there are five different levels to motivation. These levels are based on people's needs. These needs include, physiological, safety, social, ego, and selfactualizing. Maslow argued that lower level needs had to be satisfied before the next higher level need would motivate employees. There are other psychologists who believe that there are other factors that lead to motivation amongst people. These include, motivators or intrinsic factors, such as achievement and recognition, produce job satisfaction. Hygiene or extrinsic factors, such as pay and job security, produce job dissatisfaction.

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What role does Money Play in Motivating Employees

Recently, author Daniel Pink and others have shed a new light on the role that money should-and should not--play in motivating people. The bottom line is that money is not a good longterm motivator and that if organizations want to keep their people focused on the right things, they need to pay people slightly above the going rate to take the issue off the table.

Money Does Not Motivate Most Employees Today

Money can motivate some people under some conditions. so the issue isn't really whether or not money can motivate the more relevant question is: does money motivate most employees in the work force today to higher performance? The answer to this question we all argue is "NO". For money to motivate an individual in performance, certain conditions must be met. First money must be important the individual. Second money be perceived by the individuals as being a direct reward for performance. Third ,the marginal amount of money offered for the performance must be perceived by the individual as being significant.

Finally, management must have discretion to reward high performers with more money. Money is not important to all employees.

Money would motivate if employee perceived a strong linkage between performance and rewards in organization. Each job typically has a pay grade. His boss cannot pay more than his pay grade whether his sub- ordinates does very well during his job and bad. So money might be theoretically ca- pable of motivating employees to high level of performance, but most managers are not given enough flexibility to do much about it.

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Methods of Motivating People

There are three (3) types of motivational programmes to improve a person's behavior towards his job. These are:-

1. 2. 3.

Pay incentive plans, Job enrichment and Management by objectives.

There are four (4) important factors governing employee response to the measures of motivation:

Past Experience - can he rely upon the promises given by the boss. Amount of Reward - The quantity and quality of the reward can influence the amount of
extra effort put forth by the employee.

Time Relationship of Response to Reward - Long range promises are less effective than
immediate fulfillment.

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