UNIT5 - Motivation
UNIT5 - Motivation
UNIT5 - Motivation
What is motivation?
What is the importance of motivation
What are the different motivational theories?
What are the ways by which organisations motivate their employees?
What is the difference between motivation and inspiration?
Introduction
The biggest challenge faced by the organisations is to get the work done by their employees. This
entirely depends on the motivation levels of the employees. Their motivation is a result of their
needs and organisational expectations. If the employees are adequately motivated, the organisation
will be able to meet its objectives.
The term ‘motivation’ is derived from a latin word movere which means to move. A motive is an
inner state that encourages, activates or moves and that directs behaviour towards goals. Thus,
motivation is psychological force within an individual that sets him in motion for the achievement
of certain goals or satisfaction of certain needs.
Motives are somewhere a reflection of human needs. E.g. A factory worker knows if he will
complete his work on time, he will be rewarded with a bonus or some kind of financial incentive
which can be spent. Thus, here we can understand that needs are physiological and psychological
drives. On the other hand, drives for which an individual has money and wants to spend become
wants. The factors which are utilised for satisfying or motivating people are called incentives.
Definition of Motivation
According to Robert Dublin, “Motivation is the complex set of forces starting and keeping a
person at work in an organization.”
According to Stanley Vance, “Motivation represents an unsatisfied need which creates a state of
tension or disequilibrium, causing the individual to march in a goal-directed pattern, towards
restoring a state of equilibrium by satisfying the need.”
Characteristics of Motivation
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Psychological
Process
Positive
Continuous
or
Process
Negative
Characterisitcs
of Motivation
Pervasive
Function
Importance of Motivation
Motivating the subordinates is the fundamental duty of the manager as it ultimately helps in
fulfilling the goals of the organisation. The significance of motivation is discussed below and has
been summarised in Fig. 8.2.
1. Cooperation and Goals: Motivated employees cooperate willingly with the management
and thus contribute maximum towards the goals of the company.
2. Productivity: Motivated employees attempt to enhance their knowledge and skills. This
enables increase in the productivity.
3. High Efficiency: It has been observed that when motivated employees work sincerely
towards their given tasks; they develop a sense of belongingness which results in
conserving the organisational resources. This results in improvement in efficiency.
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4. Job Satisfaction: Higher motivation paves the way for a higher job satisfaction of the
employees. A motivated employee yearning for opportunities for satisfying needs becomes
loyal and committed towards his work and eventually the organisation.
5. Better Relations: The number of complaints and grievances reduce when the employees
are motivated.
6. Good Image: If the employees of the organisational are motivated and satisfied with the
work environment, the image of the company as a good employer boosts in the industry.
Goal
accomplishmen
t
Good
Image Productivity
Importance
of
Better Motivation
Relations Efficiency
Job
Satisfaction
Various theories of motivation have been classified on diverse bases in research. These have been
discussed below and shown in the figure 8.3.
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1. Content Theories
Content theories emphasise on the idea that motivation depends upon the individual needs.
Need could be defined as a state in person’s life that triggers action and activates behaviour.
Content theorists have gathered that there is a variation in the individual needs and hence the
motivation levels. These theories are also referred as needs theories, because they are
generally related with a view that focuses on the significance of determining 'what' motivates
us. They try to recognize what our 'needs' are and thus relate motivation to the fulfilling of
these needs. The important content theories are discussed as follows:
Need hierarchy model developed by Abraham Maslow is one of the earliest works in the area of
motivation. This theory has classified the human needs into five categories as shown in Figure 8.4.
According to him, once a lower level need of an individual is met, he moves towards the next level
needs.
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Self Actualisation
Esteem Needs
Social Needs
Security Needs
Physical Needs
Physical or Physiological Needs: These needs include the basis needs of an individual
which include food, air, water and shelter. They are lower-order needs and they need to be
met first in order to move an individual for higher level needs.
Safety needs: After meeting physical needs, an individual is concerned about the safety
needs which include staying in a safe and secure environment. At a work place, the
managers ensure meeting of the safety needs by providing job security, medical insurance
and safe gadgets and machines for working.
Social or Belongingness Needs: These needs include the needs for love, affection and
interaction with people. These needs are also called affiliation needs. Social needs are
essential to humans so that they do not feel isolated and depressed. Social needs are met
through friendships, family and intimacy. A manager can work upon satisfying the social
needs by ensuring that employees are provided with cooperative teamwork, kind
supervision and sufficient work-life balance.
Esteem Needs: These needs include two aspects- self esteem or self respect through
personal achievement and social esteem through respect and appreciation from others.
Managers should motivate their subordinates by giving those awards and appreciation
certificates for their achievements.
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Self Actualisation Needs: It is the pursuit of reaching one's full potential as a person.
These needs are not necessarily fully satisfied owing to the exploration of new
opportunities by an individual. This depends upon the individual to individual. The
management should help in meeting these needs by providing the employees with a
challenging tasks and inviting them for decision making.
Frederick Herzberg developed motivation-hygiene theory on the basis of studies to understand the
factors affecting satisfaction or dissatisfaction in a work environment. These factors have been
classified as motivators and hygiene factors respectively.
Hygiene Factors: These are the basic factors in a job and also known as extrinsic factors.
Although, they may not provide positive satisfaction but absence of these factors lead to
dissatisfaction. Examples of hygiene factors include status, job security, salary and fringe
benefits.
Motivators: These factors are internal to the jobs that provide satisfaction. These are called
intrinsic factors. Absence of these factors may not to yield to dissatisfaction but their
presence in a job give a sense of satisfaction. Examples of motivators are job challenge,
advancement, autonomy, responsibility, etc.
Need for Achievement: People with a high need for achievement seek to excel and thus
tend to prefer moderate risks. They choose those tasks whereby they can take personal
responsibility for finding solutions to the problems. Achievers require regular feedback in
order to check the progress of their achievements. The management should give high
achievers challenging projects with attainable goals.
Need for Affiliation: Those with a high need for affiliation look out for pleasant
relationships with other people and need to feel accepted by other people. Such people are
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desirous of companionship and helping each other. High affiliation individuals prefer work
that provides them with significant personal interaction. They tend to conform to the norms
of their work group. The managers should create an atmosphere of supportive interpersonal
relations for the individuals seeking for affiliation and thus such kind of group formation
leads to achievement of goals.
Need for Power: The need for power is stated by the desire to influence others. People
seeking a need for power tend to be outspoken and forceful. They are willing to engage in
confrontation. Need for power could be one of two types - personal and institutional.
Those who need personal power want to direct others and this need is often considered as
undesirable. Persons who need institutional power want to manage the efforts of others to
promote the goals of the organization. It has been seen that managers with a high need for
institutional power tend to be more effective than those with a high need for personal
power.
Alderfer developed a model of motivation aligning with Maslow’s motivation theory by reducing
the five needs suggested by Maslow to three needs. These needs are Existence, Relatedness and
Growth. According to Alderfer, there is no hierarchy of needs and any desire to fulfil a need can
be activated at any point in time. This results in the lower level needs not requiring to be satisfied
in order to satisfy a higher level need.
Growth Needs
• Self Actualisation
• External Esteem
Relatedness
• Internal Esteem
• Social Needs
Existence
• Safety Needs
• Physical Needs
2. Process Theories
Process theories concentrate on “how” part of motivation. They describe and analyse how
behaviour is energised, directed and sustained. The theories under process theories are
discussed as follows:
2.1. Expectancy Theory
Expectancy theory was propounded opposing the Herzberg’s two-factor theory. This theory
was developed by Vroom. The theory explains the behavioural process of why individuals
choose one behavioural alternative over another. It suggests that individuals are motivated
towards objectives if they think that their performance will be rewarded for the efforts they
will put. Vroom suggested three variables in this study-Expectancy, Instrumentality and
Valence.
It is the faith that the individual will receive an award if he performs well. This depends
upon trusting the people who decide who recieves what outcome, understanding the
relationship between performance and reward and finally the transparency in the system
that decides who get what outcomes.
Valence:
Valence is the importance associated by an individual with respect to the expected
outcome. It is an expected and not the actual satisfaction that an employee expects to
receive after achieving the goals. This is dependent on individuals’ needs, values, goals,
preferences and source of motivation.
Inputs: These constitute of the quality and quantity of employee’s contribution to work.
They include time, effort, loyalty, hard work, commitment, ability, adaptability, flexibility,
tolerance, determination, enthusiasm, trust in management, support from colleagues and
skills.
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Outputs: The outputs encompass the positive and negative results that an individual gets
after putting inputs into a task. They can be tangible and intangible. Examples of outputs are
job security, esteem, salary employee benefits, praise, recognition, etc.
3. Reinforcement Theory
Reinforcement theory is the process of influencing behaviour by controlling the
consequences of the behaviour. The theory is based upon “law of effect” which means an
individual tends to repeat behaviour which is rewarded while the behaviour which gives
punishment is not repeated. They learn from the past and thus develop patterns of
behaviour to regulate the future consequences. This approach is called operant
conditioning. This theory was propagated by B.F.Skinner. Application of operant
conditioning is called Organisational behaviour modification whereby the managers focus
on positive rewards to elicit desirable behaviour.
4. Behavioural Theories
Behaviour is described as the way a person conducts themselves towards others. When
workers are treated as humans rather than machines, they take action to their particular
work situation in a constructive way by increasing individual productivity. Thus, in lines of
understanding and improving the human behaviour, McGregor and William Ouchi
suggested Theory X and Y and Theory Z respectively.
Theory X revolves around the traditional approach to motivation and control. It represents
traditional stereotyped and authoritarian management style. It has following assumptions:
i. An average human being is lazy and doesn’t like to work. He will avoid work if he
can.
ii. Most human beings lack ambition and thus don’t want responsibility. They prefer to
be directed rather than to lead.
iii. Most human beings are self centred and indifferent to the organisational goals.
iv. Most people are not creative to solve organisational problems.
v. Most human beings are motivated with physiological and safety needs.
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These assumptions suggest that the human beings can be motivated by money and the
benefits required for satisfying the physical and safety needs. According to the theory,
the employees are managed by punishments and strict control. This type of motivational
process can only work in the environment whereby the work is repetitive in nature and
promotions are not frequent. McGregor advocated Theory Y refuting the assumptions
of Theory X as nowadays the employees don’t just get motivated with money and
related benefits.
Theory Y
Theory Y assumes that people are not unreliable and lazy by nature. It has a positive view
on employee motivation and their behaviour. The management undertakes the responsibility
of helping the employees to develop and express their creative skills. The assumptions of
McGregor’s Theory Y are as follows:
i. An average person doesn’t dislike work rather work is natural as play.
ii. An average human being will exert self control and direct himself for his objectives.
iii. An average individual knows that he will be rewarded if he is committed for the
objectives. And generally these rewards are higher order needs namely ego
satisfaction and self-actualisation.
iv. An average person tends to seek responsibility and is ambitious.
v. Imagination, creativity, and ingenuity can be used to solve work problems most of
the people.
vi. Considering the present scenario of present industrial life, the intellectual potential
of an average man is only partly utilized.
Theory Y is more real and generally used in the organisations. In support of this
theory, McGregor suggested motivational practices like decentralisation, delegation,
job enlargement, participation and consultative management.
and higher concern for happiness and well-being of the employees. Following should be the
features of an organisation according to Theory Z:-
Trust, integrity and openness should be essential ingredients of an effective organisation.
Theory Z says that involvement of employees in related matters improves their
commitment and performance.
The leader’s role should be to coordinate the efforts of his subordinates.
The organization and management team should ensure that measures and programs in
place should be there to develop employees.
Employees should be given greater responsibility to make decisions and understand the
organisational aspects; they should be generalists. But still, they should also undertake
specialised job tasks.
The organization should recognize the contributions of individuals, but always within
the context of the team as a whole.
This theory has its limitations as well as it does not provide complete solution to
motivational problems owing to difference in the environments of different organisations.
But still, it is considered as a philosophy of managing organisations.
An incentive is something that stimulates a person towards some goals. It stimulates human needs
and generates the desire to perform. Therefore, an incentive is a method of motivating employees.
Incentives are directly linked to increase performance in companies.
involvement, etc.
Incentives have been classified into different types in the following Table 8.1.
Financial Incentives
Financial incentives also known as monetary incentives are needed for meeting the basic needs of
the employees. The usual incentives given to employees are discussed below:
1. Pay and Allowances: Pay and allowances include salary and allowances in form of
dearness allowance, house rent allowance, etc. Salaries differ from company to company
whereas allowances are dependent on various factors like inflation. Some organisations
offer a compensation including both salary and allowances while some provide a
consolidated salary.
2. Bonus: Some organisations have a tendency to distribute bonus to the employees.
Minimum bonus limit is 8.33% of salary or wages in India under the Payment of Bonus
Act, 1965.
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3. Profit Sharing: Under profit sharing scheme, the employees are given a certain share in the
profits of the company when the profits increase beyond a given limit. This conduct of the
management induces the workers to perform more hard to gain their share of company’s
profits.
4. Commission: Commission is the variable part of compensation. This is generally given as a
percentage of sales to the sales personnel as per their contribution to the sales. The
commission rate varies from organisation to organisation.
5. Performance linked incentives: Organisations also provide salary/wages linked incentives
where the amount of incentive is associated with the performance of the employee.
6. Stock options: There are many companies which offer this kind of financial incentives. The
stock options give employees the right to purchase company’s shares at a future date on a
predetermined price. The companies offer shares in lieu of profits to the employees which
make them co-owners of the companies and hence a higher sense of belongingness in the
organisation.
Non-Financial Incentives
Financial incentives are linked to money which is meant for meeting basic needs and hence they
can motivate the employees to a certain extent. Employees cannot be always be satisfied by
financial needs. The management also uses non-financial incentives to motivate the employees.
These are explained as follows:
1. Status: Status means rank in the society. It is also applicable in organisational structure
whereby the individuals are given designations or positions as per their abilities, skills and
experience. This is a way of promotion which provides motivation to the employees.
2. Praise: Praise is more effective than any other incentive. However, this incentive should be
used with great care because praising an incompetent worker would create resentment
among competent workers. Of course, a pat on the back of an incompetent worker may act
as an incentive to him for improvement.
3. Group Incentives: At times, group incentives act as more effective than individual
incentives to motivate the employees. Particularly, when the prestige or even existence of a
group is at stake, the group members work with a team spirit. This result in high morale and
sequentially, increases in its productivity.
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Job Enrichment
Job enrichment basically means adding the contents to a job leading to increased responsibility,
scope and challenge in its performance. This concept was pioneered by Frederick Herzberg in
1968. It is also referred as vertical loading of the job. He suggested that the management should
make following efforts to enrich the job:-
i. By providing more freedom to the employees regarding the decision about pace and
techniques at the place of work.
ii. By encouraging participation from the employees
iii. By increasing the responsibility for the job.
iv. By giving continuous feedback to the employees.
v. By instilling a feeling of achievement.
It has been observed that the executives working at the higher levels often prefer to job enrichment
because it makes job more challenging. They derive higher satisfaction by performing more and
more challenging jobs. Thus, job enrichment as an incentive stimulates the executives to exert for
achievement of their objectives.
Job Enlargement
Job enlargement is a technique by which scope of the job is increased by increasing the number of
tasks associated with the job but at the same level in the organisation. It is the horizontal expansion
Unit 5 – Motivation
of job as it includes performing a variety of jobs or operations at the same time. It is done to reduce
monotony in a job.
E.g. A person is administration who is doing typing work may also be assigned the tasks of
drafting letters, sorting of incoming mail and filing the letters.
1. Variety of tasks: In job enlargement, horizontal loading of the tasks is there. Increasing the
number of tasks can reduce the level of boredom of the employees.
2. Optimum utilisation of abilities: Enlarged jobs ensure better utilisation of the physical and
mental skills abilities of the workers.
3. Worker paced control: The workers enjoy his work more, if they control the pace of their
tasks. This reduces fatigue and exertion.
4. Meaningful feedback: Enlarged jobs allow for a meaningful performance feedback. It
becomes more motivating when it is tied to evaluations and organisational rewards.
1. Increases work burden: - Job enlargement increases the work of the employee and every
organisation does not provide incentives or extra salary for additional work. Therefore, the
efforts of the individual may remain unrecognized.
2. Increases frustration of the employee: - In many cases employees end up being frustrated
because increased activities do not result in increased salaries.
3. Problem with union members: - Many union members may misunderstand job enlargement
as exploitation of worker and may object it.
Summary
Motivation is the complex set of forces starting and keeping a person at work in an
organization.
Motivating the employees is the fundamental duty of the management as it helps in
accomplishing the goals of the organisation.
Different types of motivational theories are content theories, process theories,
Reinforcement theory and Behavioural theories.
Firms motivate employees using financial incentives and non-financial incentives.
Job enlargement and Job enrichment are also tools of motivation.
Motivation process is facilitated by external parties while inspiration is internal.
Unit 5 – Motivation
Self-Test Questions
Q 1. What could be the reasons for Amit was feeling disillusioned? Answer the questions using
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?
Q 2. What should Amit do to overcome his tension? What can a team leader do to ensure high
levels of motivation among his/her team members?