Motivation in workplace

What is motivation?

The set of forces that causes people to behave in a certain way

Motivation is a kind of internal energy which drives a person to do something in order

to achieve something.

what it takes to motivate an employee, we need to examine the following:

Meeting the basic needs.
Designing jobs that motivate employees.
Creating the belief that desired goals can be achieved.
Treating people equitably.
Following are the approaches to human relation in the workplace

Classical theory of motivation

Industrial engineer Frederick taylor in his seminal 1911 book the principle of
scientific management, proposed that workers are motivated solely by money

Behavior theory: the Hawthorne studies

The Hawthorne effect (also referred to as the observer effect) refers to a phenomenon whereby
individuals improve or modify an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being
observed.

Contemporary motivational theories

The major motivational theory include the human resources model, the hierarchy of
needs model, the two factor theory, expectancy theory and equity theory

Human resources model: Theory X and Theory Y

Behavioral scientist Douglas Murray McGregor concluded that how managers use behaviours and
tools in the workplace to encourage productivity.
Managers who subscribe to theory X tend to believe that people are naturally lazy and
uncooperative and must therefore be either punished or rewarded to be made productive
Managers who subscribe to theory Y tend to believe that people are naturally energetic, growthoriented, self motivated and interested in being productive

Maslows Hierarchy of needs model

Psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed that people have several different needs that they attempt to
satisfy in their work. According to Maslow, Individuals must satisfy lower-order needs before they can
satisfy higher order needs.

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs PHYSIOLOGICAL OR SURVIVAL NEEDS Food, drink,

shelter, sex, warmth, physical comfort MOST NEEDS HAVE TO DO WITH SURVIVAL
PHYSICALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY

SAFETY NEEDS Job security, safety regulations

SOCIAL NEEDS Friendship, love, affection, belongingness
ESTEEM NEEDS Ego, status, respect, prestige, promotion, influence, power, recognition etc.
Self actualization needs This tendency might be phrased as the desire to become more and more what
one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming."

Two factor theory:Hygiene factors involve the presence or absence of job dissatisfiers. When
the hygiene factors are present, the individual is not dissatisfied; however
when they are absent the individual is dissatisfied. In any case hygiene
factors to not motivate.
Motivators are factors that influence satisfaction and consequently motivate
the person from within as he or she achieve the higher-level needs of
achievement, recognition, and personal growth

Equity theory:A process theory that focuses on individuals perception of how fairly they are
treated relative to others.
A situation that exists when the ratio of one persons outcome to input equals that
of another person
According to the theory individuals assign a degree of importance to their input and
outcomes. Individuals feel that they are treated fairly when they perceive that their
outcomes to inputs are equal to that of others.
Any deviation from this perception leads to a feeling of inequity and demotivation.
Such inequity feeling results in various actions the individuals are likely to take.

Expectancy theory:A process theory simply states that people are motivated to work when they believe
that they can achieve things they want from their jobs. Such expectation depend on

their ability to perform the task, given their effort and the attractiveness of the
reward..