Motivation

• What is motivation?
• Motivation & work
• Job satisfaction
• Need/content theories
• Process/cognitive theories
• Applying lessons to leading & managing
people
 MOTIVATION DEFINED

• A motive is a reason for doing something.

• Motivation is goal-directed behaviour: it is
concerned with the factors that influence people to
behave in certain ways and to take discretionary
action.
• Motivating people is about getting them to behave
in a way that will produce a desired result.
• Self-motivation is about deciding for yourself where
you want to go and ensuring that you get there.
• Well-motivated people are those with clearly
defined goals who take action that they expect will
achieve those goals. 1
 TYPES OF MOTIVATION

Intrinsic motivation: the internal factors that influence people to behave in a

particular way or move in a certain direction.
Self-generated factors or factors that are intrinsic to work - responsibility (feeling that
the work is important and having control over one’s own resources),
Autonomy (freedom to act), scope to use and develop skills and interests,
Interesting and challenging work and opportunities for advancement.

Extrinsic motivation: what is done to or for people. Includes rewards

(more pay, recognition, praise or promotion), and punishments,
(disciplinary action, withholding pay or criticism.)

Source: Herzberg F W, Mausner B and Snyderman B (1957) The Motivation to Work, Wiley

2
 Motivation - Content Theories
• All behaviour is motivated by a desire to
fulfil unsatisfied needs.
• Unsatisfied need create tension and
disequilibrium.
• Maslow, Herzberg, Taylor are main
contributors
• However there is no simple relationship
between needs and goals.
 Instrumentality (reinforcement)
theory
• Instrumentality theory (Frederick Taylor), scientific
management approach
• “It is impossible, through any long period of time, to get
workmen to work much harder than the average men
around them unless they are assured a large and
permanent increase in their pay.”
• Money is an instrument for gaining desired outcomes Its
effectiveness depends upon:
• the strength of need
• the degree to which people believe their behaviour
will result in a monetary reward adequate to satisfy their
need
 Abraham Maslow ‘hierarchy of
needs’
• "man is a wanting animal"; only an
unsatisfied need can motivate behaviour.
• The dominant need is the prime motivator
of behaviour.
• Best known theory of needs but based on
very limited research with limited support
from empirical research.
 Herzbergs two-factor model
• The two groups of factors in operation: motivators
(satisfaction) and "hygiene" (dissatisfaction):
• The motivators, or "satisfiers", are intrinsic to the job.
These include achievement, recognition, the work itself,
responsibility and growth.
• The second group comprises the hygiene factors,
which act as "dissatisfiers".
• These are extrinsic to the job, primarily relating to job
context & include pay, company policy and
administration, status and security.
• These factors cannot create satisfaction, unless
preventive action is taken, they can cause
dissatisfaction.
 HERZBERG’S RESEARCH FINDINGS
Factors characterizing 1,844 events on the job Factors characterizing 1,753 events on the job
that led to extreme dissatisfaction that led to extreme satisfaction

% frequency: 50 40 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40 50

achievement

recognition
work itself

responsibility
advancement
growth
company policy
and administration
supervision
All factors All factors
relationships with supervisor contributing to contributing to job
job satisfaction
work conditions dissatisfaction

salary
69 hygiene 19
relationships with peers
31 motivators 81
relationships with subordinates
80 60 40 20 0 20 40 60 80%
status
ratio and percentage
security

Source: Herzberg F W, Mausner B and Snyderman B (1957) The Motivation to Work, Wiley
 Motivation
Cognitive or Process theories
• Equity Theory (Adams, 1963)
• VIE-Expectancy Theory (Vroom, 1964;
Porter & Lawler, 1968)
• Goal setting (Locke & Latham, 1985)
 Equity theory
Perceptions of inequity
• Social comparisons (Inputs & Outcomes)
– Overpayment inequity
– outcome:input ratio greater than comparator
(guilt)
• Underpayment inequity
– outcome:input ratio less than comparator
(anger)
• Equitable payment
– outcome:input ratio equal (satisfaction)
 VIE theory (Vroom, 1964)
• Effort will result in performance
(Expectancy)
• Performance will be rewarded
(Instrumentality)
• Perception of the value of reward offered
for performance (Valence)
• Motivation = Valence x Instrumentality x
Expectancy
 How to motivate using
expectancy theory

• Clarify the expectation that working hard

will improve job performance
• Clearly link valued rewards to the job
performance needed to attain them
• Administer rewards that have high
positive valence (value) to workers
 Application of VIE:
• Ensure employees
– perceive they have the necessary skills to do
their jobs adequately (expectancy)
– perceive that if they perform their jobs well (or
at least adequately) they would be rewarded
(instrumentality)
– find the rewards offered for successful job
performance attractive (valence)
 Goal setting
• Goal specificity • Goal acceptance
– specific goals lead to – Extent to which the
better performance individual accepts the
than ‘do your best goal as legitimate
goals’ • Goal commitment
• Goal difficulty – Extent to which the
– specific goals should individual is interested
be paired with difficult in attaining the goal
but attainable goals • Feedback
 Expanded model of goal setting
(Latham & Locke, 1979)
Goal Goal Organisational Intrinsic
difficulty acceptance support rewards

Goal-directed
effort Performance Satisfaction

Goal Goal Individual Extrinsic

specificity commitment abilities & traits rewards
 MOTIVATION AND PERFORMANCE
AND JOB SATISFACTION

Boxall and Purcell’s formulation of the relationship is:

P = M + A + O where P is performance, A is ability and O is opportunity to
deploy skills and, more broadly, contribute to work group and
organizational success.

Motivation and job satisfaction

There is no research evidence that there is always a strong and positive
relationship between job satisfaction and performance.
A satisfied worker is not necessarily a high producer (and vice versa) .
Satisfaction may lead to good performance but, good performance may
just as well be the cause of satisfaction.

Sources: Vroom V (1964) Work and Motivation, Wiley

Boxall P and Purcell J (2003) Strategy and Human Resource Management, Palgrave Macmillan
 FACTORS AFFECTING MOTIVATION
STRATEGIES

• The complexity of the process of motivation means that simplistic

approaches based on instrumentality theory (carrot and stick) are unlikely to
be successful.
• People are more likely to be motivated if they work in an environment where
they are valued for what they are and what they do.
• The need for work which provides people with the means to achieve their
goals, a reasonable degree of autonomy and scope for the use of their
abilities should be recognized.
• The need to provide people with the opportunity to develop and grow
should also be recognized.
• The culture of the organization in the shape of its values and norms will
significantly affect motivation.
• Motivation will be enhanced by effective leadership.
 Leading and managing people-
good practice
1. Performance management processes should be agreed and allow feedback.
2. Develop total reward systems (financial and non-financial rewards).
3. Design jobs and roles which take account the factors affecting motivation ,
especially variety, responsibility, autonomy and the scope to use and develop skills
and abilities.
4. Provide opportunities and facilities for learning (personal development planning).
5. Implement career development and planning processes.
6. Focus on leadership qualities and the behaviours expected of managers and team
leaders.
7. Ensure that leadership potential is identified through performance management
and assessment centres.
8. Provide specific training to managers on how they can motivate.
9. Develop a culture in which the values and norms support valuing and rewarding
employees.
10. Avoid strategies based on simplistic notions of motivation and do not take into
account individual differences and the limitations of money as a motivator.