Chapter 4

Fundamentals of Motivation

4.1. What is motivation?

The term is derived from the Latin word ‘mover’, meaning ‘to move’. Motivation is one of the key
ingredients in employee performance & productivity. People won’t get the job done without
motivation, even when they have clear work objectives, the right skills, and a supportive work
environment,

Definition of motivation

Motivation is processes and it can be simply stated as psychological process that arouse and direct
goal, behavior. It account for an individual’s intensity, direction and persistence of effort toward
attaining a goal. This definition has 3 key elements such as intensity, direction and persistence.

Motivated people are willing to exert a particular level of efforts (intensity) for a certain amount of
time (persistence) toward a particular goal (direction).Intensity is concerned with how hard a person
tries. Effort requires persistence. And Persistence is a measure of how long a person can maintain his
effort. Motivated individuals stay with a task long enough to achieve their goal.

Motivation refers to the forces within a person that affect his/her direction, intensity, and persistence of
voluntary behavior. It is the result of the interaction of the individual and the situation. Individuals
differ in their basic motivational drive. What motivated individuals vary among individuals and
situations? Motivation energizes a person’s work. In essence, motivation governs behavior selection,
direction, and level of effort. In motivation, Needs produce motives which leads to the accomplishment
of goals and needs are caused because of deficiencies, either physical or psychological. Physical needs
are the need for food, shelter, clothing, etc., and psychological needs are feeling of security, acceptance
by the society, love and respect of friends, etc.

People have different needs that direct their behavior. Needs depend on the personal circumstances and
the outside events. Needs cause people to seek out experiences that enrich their lives, and also trigger
behavior to avoid threatening conditions and feelings of deprivations. A person who is motivated will
work harder, is more effective in his work, has initiative and is more innovative than a person who is
not motivated.

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 Several theories have evolved to explain different facets of motivation. Motivation theorists talk about
intrinsic motivators and extrinsic motivators. Intrinsic Motivators come from the person’s internal
desire to do something, motivated by such things as interest, challenge and personal satisfaction,
whereas extrinsic motivators motivation that comes from outside the person and include such things as
pay, bonuses, and other tangible rewards.

4.2. Features of motivation

a. Motivation is a psychological phenomenon: It is the inner desire of an individual to accomplish
something more. The very deficiency forces him to undertake certain amount of work.
b. Motivation is a continuous process: Since need is a continuous phenomenon if one need is satisfied
the other need emerges and so does individual propels to work and thus the continuous chain is
created.
c. Motivation is caused due to anticipated perceived value from an action: perceived value is the
probability or the expectancy.
d. There are unsatisfied needs: A person remains disturbed till they are satisfied. This disturbance or
tension causes disequilibria in human behavior.
e. An individual is motivated by positive motivation: It refers to incentives offered by the organization
to achieve efficiency. Incentive can be monetary like increase in pay, allowance and payment of bonus-
payment for additional or overtime work. It can be non-monetary like issuing of certificates for
excellence, awards, recognition, and status.
4.3. Importance of motivation
a. High level of performance: it is the duty of every manager to ensure that the employees have a high
degree of motivation. He should offer monetary and non-monetary incentives. Highly motivated
workers would be regular for work and have a sense of belonging for the organization. Performance
level will be high, quality of product will be improved, and wastage will be minimum.
b. Low employee turnover and absenteeism: Employee turnover and absenteeism is caused due to low
level of motivation. When dissatisfaction is increased employees do not enjoy the work assigned to
them. Therefore there is a tendency of absenteeism. The workers hunt for an alternative job and leave
the organization whenever they get an opportunity. High level of absenteeism causes low level of
production, wastages, poor quality and disruption in production schedules. Increased turnover is
disastrous for any organization as it puts strain on financial position of the organization due to
additional recruitment, selection, training and development.

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 c. Acceptance of organization change: Management must continuously scan the external and the internal
environment. There has been a great impact of social change and technology evolution on the
motivation level of employees. Management must ensure that the changes are introduced in the
organization and its benefits explained to the employees so that there is no resistance to change and
organizational growth is achieved.
d. Organizational image: Employees are the mirrors of any organization. Managers must lay down high
performance standards coupled with high monetary and non-monetary rewards. Training and
development programs should be regularly organized and employee skill improved. It will also reduce
employee turnover and better employee will look forward to join the organization.
4.4. Theories of Motivation
Motivation theories are the foundations of employee motivation. They fall into two main categories
such as early theories and contemporary theories.

4.4.1. Early theories of motivation

1. Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy Theory

2. Herzberg’s motivation Hygiene theory, and
3. McGregor’s theory x and theory y

1. Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy Theory

The most well-known theory of motivation is Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. He stated that
human beings have five types of needs. Needs are hierarchal in nature and only one need dominates at
any one point of time. Once the strongest need is satisfied then the second need emerges as being the
strongest need and human behavior is regulated in process of achieving satisfaction in series of need
requirements. The Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy Theory is Abraham Maslow’s needs hierarchy theory. It
is one of the earliest & best known content theories that explain why people have different needs at
different times. Maslow identified five basic categories of human needs and placed them in a
hierarchy.

S self-actualization

E esteem

S social

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 S security

P physiological

Fig: Maslow’s Hierarchy of need’s theory.

1. Physiological: Includes hunger, thirst, shelter, sex, and other bodily needs

2. Safety: Includes security and protection from physical and emotional harm

3. Social: Includes affection, belongingness, acceptance, and friendship

4. Esteem: Includes internal esteem factors such as self-respect, autonomy, and achievement; and
external esteem factors such as status, recognition, and attention

5. Self-actualization: The drive to become what one is capable of becoming; includes growth, achieving
one’s potential, and self-fulfillment.

A satisfied need is no longer a need. Once that need is satisfied, the next level need becomes stronger.
As to Maslow, behavior is primarily motivated by the lowest unsatisfied need at the time. As the
person satisfies the lower level need, the next higher need in the hierarchy becomes the primary
motivator. This is known as the satisfaction-progression process.

Critics of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory

Maslow has laid down that individual has a particular pattern and hierarchy of needs which may not be
true. There are individuals who have devoted their entire life towards fulfillment of self-actualization
without having satisfied physical, safety or even social needs. To some people esteem need may be
more important than social need. Level of need satisfaction generally differs from person to person
hence the theory cannot be universally applied.

For some people social need may be dominant as compared to physical need or safety need. On the
other hand a worker who is a sole income earner for the whole family may feel job security as his most
dominant need. It is therefore fair to state that we may not find the needs in the given order and that the
strength of a particular need is situation based. Other studies reported that needs vary according to a
person’s career stage, the size of the organization and even geographical location. Culture is also
important when the hierarchy of needs is examined. For instance, social needs tend to dominate in
more collectivist societies, like Mexico.

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2. Herzberg’s motivation— hygiene theory (Two factor theory)

Motivator-hygiene theory is developed by Frederick Herzberg.

A. Motivational Factors

– They are intrinsic in nature and help increase one’s output.

– These factors have positive effect on morale, productivity, and job satisfaction and overall efficiency
of the organization.

They are used to improve job satisfaction. These factors include achievement, recognition, work itself,
advancement and responsibility. When these factors are available there is high satisfaction and strong
motivation. When these factors are not available there is high satisfaction.

B. Maintenance Factors:

– These factors are also called hygiene factors or dissatisfies.

– When these factors are present they do not motivate in a strong way, when absent they dissatisfy.

– Hygiene factors are sources of job dissatisfaction.

– Therefore they do not contribute towards motivation.

– These factors are related more to the environment in which people work than to the nature of the work
itself. These factors include company policy and administration, supervision, interpersonal relationship
with superiors, interpersonal relationship with peers, salary, job security, personal life, working
condition, status.

3. McGregor’s theory X and theory Y

Douglas McGregor introduced theory X and theory Y which are opposite to each other.

Theory X

The average human being dislikes work.

People would be passive therefore management must persuade, reward and punish the worker to
achieve the desired result.
Workers lacks ambition, dislike responsibility, prefers to be lead/directed.
An individual is self-centered and indifferent to organizational needs
By nature people resists change

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 The manager will have to structure, control and closely supervise employees
Most people must be closely controlled and often coerced to achieve organizational objectives

Theory Y

The average human being does not inherently dislike work.

Workers seek direction and exercise self-control. He dislikes punishment
The average human being learns under proper condition. He accepts/seeks responsibility
People can be self-directed and creative at work
4.4.2. Contemporary theories of motivation
1. Alderfer’s ERG Theory
2. McClelland’s theory of learned Needs.
3. Expectancy theory
4. Equity theory &
5. Goal-setting theory
1. Alderfer’s ERG Theory
ERG theory Developed by Clayton Alderfer’s, to overcome the problems with Maslow’s needs
hierarchy theory. He further studies on Maslow’s theory of need hierarchy and he identified three
basic needs of human being against five needs of Maslow. It Groups human needs into three
broad categories arranged in a hierarchy existence (E), relatedness (R) & growth (G).
a. Existence need- related to provision of basic material requirement of human being and is related
to Maslow’s physiological and safety needs.
b. Relatedness need- related to desire of an individual to maintain interpersonal relationships. It is
related to Maslow’s social and external component of esteem needs i.e., status, recognition and
attention.
c. Growth need- an intrinsic desire for personal development. It is related to intrinsic component
of esteem need like advancement, self-respect, autonomy, achievement and self-actualization
need. ERG theory is motivation theory in which people progress to the next higher needs when a
lower one is fulfilled, and regress to the lower need if unable to fulfill a higher need. All the
needs need not be in rigid stepwise progression. Any need may be stronger and individual is
forced to fulfill that need. More than one need may be operative at any one time. A person can,
for instance, be working on growth even though existence or relatedness needs are
unsatisfied; or all three need categories could be operating at the same time.
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 ERG theory also contains a frustration-regression dimension. Maslow argued that an individual
would stay at a certain need level until that need was satisfied. ERG theory counters by noting
that when a higher-order need level is frustrated, the individual’s desire to increase a lower-level
need takes place. Inability to satisfy a need for social interaction, for instance, might increase the
desire for more money or better working conditions. So frustration can lead to a regression to a
lower need.
2. McClelland’s theory of learned needs
The models described so far look at the individual’s primary or instinctive needs and their
relative importance in life. But there are secondary needs or drives, i.e. learned needs that are
learned and reinforced through childhood learning, parental styles, and social norms. Several
learned needs can motivate us at the same time.
David McClelland studied 3 secondary needs considered important sources of motivation.
a. Need for achievement
b. Need for affiliation, and
c. Need for power
A. Need For Achievement
Need for achievement concerns issues of excellence, completion, challenging goals, persistence,
and overcoming difficulties. A person with a high need for achievement is one who seeks
excellence in performance, enjoys difficult and challenging goals, and is persevering and
competitive in work activities. McClelland found that people with a high need for achievement
perform better than those with a moderate or low need for achievement. People with moderate
and low needs for achievement will be satisfied with less challenging goals, lower levels of
excellence, and less persistence in the face of difficulty. However, these same people may have
high needs for power or affiliation.

B. Need For Power

The need for power is concerned with making an impact on others, the desire to influence others,
the urge to change people or events, and desire to make a difference in life. Social and
hierarchical statuses are important considerations for people with a high need for power. The
more they are able to rise to the top of their organizations, the greater is their ability to exercise
power, influence, and control so as to make an impact.

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 C. Need For Affiliation
The need for affiliation is concerned with establishing and maintaining warm, close, intimate
relationships with other people. People with a high need for affiliation are motivated to express
their emotions and feelings to others while expecting other people to do the same in return.

3. Vroom’s Expectancy theory

He believes that employee is motivated to exert high level of efforts when he believes that efforts
will lead to good performance and therefore organizational rewards that will satisfy achievement
of personal goals.
 Efforts-performance relationship. Exerting a given amount of efforts will lead to performance.
 Performance-reward/outcome relationship. Performing a particular level will lead to
attainment of desired outcome.
 Reward/outcome- personal goal relationship. The degree to which an organizational reward
will satisfy individual needs and goals. Refers to the anticipated satisfaction or dissatisfaction
that an individual feels toward an outcome. Expectancy theory is a process motivation theory
based on the idea that work effort is directed towards behaviors that people believe will lead to
desired out comes. Through experience, we develop expectations about whether job performance
and work behaviors lead to particular outcomes. Finally, we naturally direct our effort toward
outcomes that help us fulfill our needs.
Employee motivation is influenced by all three components of the expectancy theory model. If
any component weakens, motivation weakens.

Effort Performance Outcomes

Figure. 7.3 Expectancy theory of Motivation

4. Equity Theory
Equity Theory explains how people develop perception of fairness in the distribution and exchanging
of resources. And also explains what employees are motivated to do when they feel inequitably treated,
i.e. perceived inequity motivate employees to complain and try to change the source of the previous
inequity.
Equity theory has four main elements:-
1. Outcome/ input ratio
2. Compression other

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3. Equity evaluation and
4. Consequence of inequity

Outcome /Input Ratio

Inputs include skills, efforts, experiences, amount of time worked, performance result and other
employee contributions to the organization. And Outcomes are the things employees receive from the
organization in exchanging for the inputs, such as pay, promotions, recognition, or an office with a
window. Both inputs and outcomes are weighed by their importance to the individual. These weights
vary from one person to the next. People value outcomes differently b/se they have different needs.

Comparison with Others

Equity theory states that we compare our situation with a comparison other. The comparison other in a
particular situation may be another person, group of people, or even yourself in the past and also it may
be someone in the same job, another job, or another organization. Most of the time we compare
ourselves with others who are nearby in similar positions, and with similar backgrounds. It is easier to
get information about co-workers than people working elsewhere.

Equity evaluation
We form equity evaluation after identifying our outcome/input ratio and comparing this with the
comparison others ratio, e.g. in you are assigned to a project with another student in your class, and
both of you get the same project grade whether one of you contributes more than the other this means
that your outcomes are the same as the other students outcome’s. But in the equity condition, both of
you contribute the same effort and value to the project i.e. you and the comparison other have the same
outcome / input ratio.

Person Comparison Other

Equity Outcomes = Outcomes

Inputs Inputs
NegativeOutcomes< Outcomes
Inequity Inputs Inputs

Positive Outcomes> Outcomes

Inequity Inputs Inputs

Consequences of inequity
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 Employees are motivated to reduce or eliminate their feelings of inequity by correcting the inequitable
situation. There are 6 possible ways (strategies) to reduce feelings of inequity such as:
1. Changing inputs: Under-rewarded workers tend to reduce their effort and performance if these
outcomes don’t affect paycheck. Overpaid workers some times (but not very often) increase their input
by working harder and producing more.

2. Changing outcomes: People with under-rewarded inequity might ask for more desired out comes,
such as pay increase. If this does not work, some are motivated to join a labor union and demand these
changes at the bargaining table.

3. Changing perception: Employee may distort input and out comes to restore equity feelings. Over
rewarded employee typically follow this strategy because it’s easier to increase their perceived inputs
(seniority, knowledge, etc.) than to ask for less pay.

4. Leaving the field: Some people try to reduce inequity feeling by getting away from the inequitable
situation. Thus, equity theory explains some instances of employee turnover and job transfer. This also
explains why an under-rewarded employee might take more off work even though he or she is not paid
for this absenteeism.

5. Acting on the comparison other: Equity is sometimes by changing the comparison other’s inputs or
outcomes.

6. Changing the comparison other: If we can’t seem to alter the outcome/input ratio through other
means, we might eventually replace the comparison other with someone having a more comparable
outcome/input ratio.

5. Goal setting

Goal setting is one of the most effective and widely practiced theories of motivation in organizations.
Goals are the immediate or ultimate objectives that employees are trying to accomplish from their
work effort. Goal setting is the process of motivating employees and clarifying their role perception by
establishing performances in two ways (1) by stretching the intensity and persistence of effort is
channeled and (2) by giving employees clearer role perceptions so that their effort is channeled toward
behavior that will improve work performance.

Characteristics of effective goals

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A goal setting is more complex than simply telling someone to ‘do your best’. OB scolders identified
5 conditions that are necessary to maximize task effort and performance.
Specific goals: Employee put more effort in to task when they work toward specific goals than “do
your best” targets.

Result-oriented goals: Result-oriented goals improve work performance more than the process-
oriented goals. A result-oriented goal is one that directly refers to the person’s job performance, such
as the number of customers served per hour.

Challenging goals: Employees tend to have more intense and persistent work when they have
challenging rather than easy goals. Challenging goals also fulfill a person’s need for achievement or
growth needs when the goal is achieved.

Goal commitment: of course there are limits to challenging goals. At some point, a goal becomes
difficult and those employees are no longer committed to achieving it. At that point, work effort falls.

Participation in goal formation: Another way to build or maintain commitment to goals is to ensure
that employee is involved in the goal setting process. Participation in goal formation tends to increase
goal commitment because employees take ownership of the goal, compared to the goal that is merely
assigned by supervisor.

Goal feedback: Feedback also an essential ingredient in motivation process because our growth needs
cannot be satisfied unless we receive information on goal accomplishments.

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