Chapter 3 Importance of Motivation
Chapter 3 Importance of Motivation
WHAT IS MOTIVATION
- The process of activating behavior, sustaining it, and directing it toward a particular goal.
- Moves people to act and accomplish.
- In the workplace, motivation may be more specifically defined as the set of internal and external forces that cause a
worker or employee to choose a course of action and engage in certain behavior.
As motivation is one of the requisites of performance, a basic understanding of what motivation is and how it facilitates the
achievement of goals would benefit both managers and individual employees
KEY ELEMENTS OF MOTIVATION
Motivation consists of the following elements:
1. Intensity
2. Direction
3. Persistence
THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
They may be classified as either (1) content, or (2) process theories.
Content Theories are those that focus on analyzing the wants and needs of an individual. The four better-known content
theories are the following:
1. Physiological needs – include hunger, thirst, shelter, sex, and other bodily needs
2. Safety needs – include security and protection from physical and emotional harm
3. Social needs – include affection, belongingness, acceptance, and friendship
4. Esteem needs – include internal esteem factors such as self-respect, autonomy, and achievement
5. Self-actualization – the drive to become what one is capable of becoming, which includes growth, achieving one’s
potential, and self-fulfillment
1. Existence (€) - refers to needs satisfied by such factors as food, air, water, pay, and working conditions
2. Relatedness (R) – refers to the needs satisfied by meaningful social and interpersonal relationships; and
3. Growth (G) – refers to the needs satisfied by an individual making creative or productive contributions
Alderfer, like Maslow, also believed that individuals progress up the hierarchy of needs as a result of the satisfaction of lower-order
needs. He maintained, however, that if a higher-order need cannot be satisfied, a lower-order need becomes dominant as a
motivating factor.
Alderfer, unlike Maslow, however, more than one need may be activated at the same time.
1. Need for achievement – refers to the desire to do something better or more efficiently, to solve problems, or to
master complex tasks
2. Need for affiliation – refers to the desire to establish and maintain friendly and warm relations with others; and
3. Need for power – refers to the desire to control others, to influence their behavior, or to be responsible for others.
The job context or work setting relates more to the environment in which people work. The factors associated with job context
are called hygiene factors which include the following:
1. Organizational policies
2. Quality of supervision
3. Working conditions
4. Base wage or salary
5. Relationship with peers
6. Relationship with subordinates
7. Status
8. Security
According to this theory, improving any of the hygiene factors will not make people satisfied with their work; it will only prevent
them from being dissatisfied.
The job content relates more to what people actually do in their work. Those that are related to job content are called motivator
factors and they consist of the following:
1. Achievement
2. Recognition
3. Work itself
4. Responsibility
5. Advancement
6. Growth
EXPECTANCY THEORY
Developed by Victor Vroom, this theory sees people as choosing a course of action according to what they anticipate will give them
the greatest rewards.
Motivation is a product of the following factors:
EQUITY THEORY
- A theory that individuals compare job inputs and outcomes with those of others and then respond to eliminate
inequities
- Assumes that employees are motivated by a desire to be equitably treated at work.
Inequity leads to the experience of tension, and tension motivates a person to act in a manner to resolve the inequity. The person,
however, will be confronted with any of the two types of inequity:
1. Over rewarded; or
2. Under rewarded
Employees who feel over-rewarded will think there is an imbalance in their relationship with their employer. They will seek to restore
the balance through any of the following:
Three concepts are important in designing jobs. They consist of the following:
1. Job enrichment
2. Job characteristics model
3. Job crafting